I woke up early around 5:00 and got out of bed around 5:25. I pussyfooted around the RV and waited for J to get ready. I worked up a blog entry then downselected the images from yesterday morning in Capture One (C1). J was awake by 7:10 and I had my normal breakfast and made my coffee to go. It was mostly cloudy when we left in the Jeep at 7:45 with J driving.

We went to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area and got some great images of a snowy egret fishing in a small pond near where we photographed them the first day (below left). Then we got some fantastic images of a snowy egret in a field of goldfields (below right). It was in the same area where we photographed a snowy on the first day, but the snowy was much closer to the road this time. :) We also got some nice images of red-winged blackbirds feeding on the ground and saw some American avocets in non-breeding plumage.


On our way out of the wildlife area, we stopped to photograph a cooperative western wood-pewee (left).

We returned to the RV around 11:37, and after a short stop there we went to go photograph the California ground squirrels and California quail in the campground. They weren't very cooperative, and I didn't get any good images.

We returned to the RV at 12:55 and I was starving! J showered while I had Clif Bars for lunch. A ranger came by to make sure we knew that the park was closed tomorrow and that we had to leave today — we knew. I showered, then we prepped the RV to move. We left at 1:55 with me in the RV and J in the Jeep.

We used the dump station in the campground then hooked up the Jeep to tow while taking on water. We left at 2:15.

We stopped at the WalMart in Perris at 2:50 to go online through the strong Verizon Wireless Broadband signal. We went in to shop around 4:20. We left at 4:52 and got on I-215 south.

We saw some sky divers descending on parachutes near Perris Valley Airport. Skydive Perris is located at the airport, and I made two tandem jumps there in 2003.

We stopped at a Circle K gas station just south of Perris around 5:15 to get gas in the RV and Jeep at $3.029/gal. We got underway again at 5:35.

We went to a Ralph's grocery store in Murrieta at 5:58. J had selected a Ralph's that was close to a freeway, so I was surprised that it took us so long to get to it from I-215. When we were leaving at 6:30, I saw that we were very close to I-15 — I-15 and I-215 come together a few miles south of Murrieta, and J picked a Ralph's that was close to a freeway we weren't on. :)

We stopped at the Souplantation in Temecula at 6:51 for dinner. "Soup" was a favorite place for Friday lunch when I was at McDonnell Douglas and then Boeing in Long Beach. They have a huge salad bar, a selection of soups and breads, and a dessert bar — all very tasty! We left at 7:56.

We went to a BevMo! (liquor store) in Temecula at 8:05 to pick up some supplies. We got underway again at 8:13 and took CA-79 east out of town.

I went right by the Warner Springs Post Office, where J had wanted to send off a package, around 9:30. When I turned onto a side road to try to circle back around, our GPS took us to a locked gate for some private property. :( So, I got to unhook the Jeep so we could turn around. J took the Jeep to the Post Office while I turned the RV around, then we hooked up the Jeep to tow and got underway around 9:45.

We took County-S2 down to CA-78 — a winding narrow road.

We entered Anza-Borrego Desert State Park around 10:15.

We went to the Yaqui Well Campground around 10:30 and occupied the same site we used in February. J went straight to bed and I took about half an hour to unwind after the drive before going to bed.