Desert View Road Trip

We decided to do a little road trip today, out to the Desert View Tower.  It's east down the 8 freeway for about 70 miles.  We had 'Flat Sage' with us as well - the last of my sister Amanda's kids to do the Flat Stanley project for school.

The girls with Flat Sage in front of the tower.  We were surprised by how chilly it was out there since we were going inland where its usually warmer.  It was hotter near the beach than it was at the tower because of the elevation.

We went inside and up to the top to check out the views.  It was so windy at the top, we were afraid Sage would blow away.

Eliza with a buffalo carving and one of the many, many dogs that were just roaming around the tower.  (The man inside said they were all friendly)

The Desert View Tower was built in 1922-23.  In the 1930's the stone animal figures were carved into the rocks nearby, forming one of California's "exceptional folk art environments" known as Boulder Park.

The entrance to Boulder Park and the caves.

Audrey and Sage in the Snake.

Eliza and Sage on a Buffalo.

This Indian head was cool.

Indian Chief Dominic.

We think this was an Eagle, or some kind of bird.  It was funny.

Eliza liked the big Dog.

The caves and tunnels were fun to climb through.

My loves.

Holding up this giant boulder.

I know, kind of creepy.  Audrey was pretty impressed with this big skull though.

On our drive back we decided to take the scenic, Olde Highway 80.  Luckily we missed some of the traffic going around this big brush fire.  There was a lot of smoke, and even some ash floating around, but the fire seemed to be on the opposite side of the main highway from where we were.

The girls thought it was really cool to see the helicopter dumping water on the fire.

We stopped at the Viejas Outlets on the way back, grabbed some lunch, and did a little shopping.   It was a fun adventure!