Southern Tier from San Diego: A virtual tour: Through California into Arizona

  I will not take the couple months to travel across the country, but I do ride my bike every day.  I will ride for an hour or two.  As I follow a route generated by Google maps. A couple of years ago a friend did this route with five other friends.  You may find he journal on Crazy Guy on a Bike dot org web site.  Two other travelers did journals.  Look under the names Jim Walter, Ed Shultz, Rich Ostrowski.  This trip started on September 10th.

First stop. Always good to get out of the big city.

Starting point at Ocean Beach.

I picked this route because it was less elevation gain. It did not work out. I messed up.

I saw this sign and took a side trip. I love trains.

Steam locomotives are the best.

Barrett Reservoir

I passed this and checked it out.  You need a reservation to use the lake.  It is one of 9 reservoirs used by the city of San Diego.  This current dam was built 100 years ago.  I guess the reservations help preserve the water quality.  We all know that is important.

Came to Brawley from El Centro.

Bring your water and stay hydrated.  This is a desert area.

By Glamis there were sand dunes like we have in Michigan.

Colorado River outside Blythe, CA and now into Arizona.