Road Trip to SoCal

With only three days, we took a whirlwind trip to visit family in SoCal!

We were treated to the most PERFECT view of the Grand Canyon during the flight to Las Vegas.  We have not had the chance to travel here yet, and it's on our list.  These pictures don't do it justice, but the sun's angles gave us a beautiful view for several minutes.

Upon landing, we snagged a car and hit the road.  Um.....I think they were just a little tired.  Five minutes into the car ride, these guys were out cold.  Aren't they so cute?  My oldest craves the ocean like man craves air, so whenever we are close to one, we make a point to get there.  We drove an hour to Oceanside, CA and spent the afternoon at the beach.

We built sand castles, walked through the waves, watched the surfers, and enjoyed the peace of a beautiful afternoon.  Dinner at Ruby's 1950's Diner on the pier, and then it was time to head to the house.  

Just down the road lies the Air Force base where a family member is currently stationed.  Part of that base is the March Field Air Museum, covering aircraft history from the birth of flight through the future space program.  They have a fabulous collection of retired and restored planes!

We spent the better part of a day at the museum to check out all the cool airplanes!  And when they got out of hand, we stuck them in a German WWII POW camp...it was only for pilots.

After exhausting the inside of the museum, we headed out into the desert heat.  It was eye-opening to see the temperature swings out here!  So cold during the night...blisteringly hot during the day!  But all the best stuff was outside...  The 45-minute tram ride was both entertaining and educational.  We learned about World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and current conflicts, as well as the development of the military flight technology to back them.  The kids were interested in the aircraft and had lots of questions...they picked up a few history lessons along the way, too.

Waiting for the tram to arrive, the boys played around a little bit, trying on that 'Top Gun' cockiness for a bit.  They were adorable in the way that only little boys can be!  We saw the bomber that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki, an Alaskan Coast Guard rescue plane, the Tomcats from 'Top Gun,' and many more.

This bomb was neat...it's a replica, about a quarter-scale, that was made by a local Boy Scout troop.  The kids are in scouts and asked several questions about how you get the privilege of building a bomb and being praised for it............scary!  (Laughing)  It was pretty neat, though.

Further on, in the Vietnam area, we had a history lesson all of it's own.  Grandpa spent many years, and a couple of tours, in Vietnam.  The boys learned about that war, the environment and things that Grandpa may have experienced, and his job during the war (conflict?).   They took some time to explore the Cobra and other helicopters used during this time.

We returned home from our 80+ temperatures to snow! Home again, home again, jiggity jig!