My Summer Vacation in California Provides Some Spectacular Scenery

My summer vacation was in a different spot this year. I traveled to California to visit my youngest son.

One of our first stops was Newport Beach for a little sunshine. The water was freezing cold so we didn't go in the water to deep. We did run into some people who brought a bulldog to the beach. My son loved see the Marine mascot breed out on the beach enjoying the water.

It's been years since I've been to the west coast and things have changed quite a bit. I actually flew into Vegas and made the 2 1/2 hour drive to 29 Palms where my son is stationed for his school in the Marines.

As you can tell from my pictures, the drive across the Mojave Desert is spectacular. You can see from one mountain range to another which is probably 50 miles apart.

It is simply stunning. As you can tell from the pictures, it's quite hot. The temperature in the desert during the day was above 100, but it's a dry heat. That makes it feel even hotter to me.

During my trip, we ventured into Long Beach to watch the 4th of July fireworks aboard the Queen Mary.

This event attracts quite a crowd, but I did my research and found that I could park in downtown Long Beach and ride a free shuttle out to the mega-ship. This was one of the best fireworks displays I've ever seen.

We had free run of the boat and it was exciting to see all the detail that went into building this massive ship.

On my drive back to Vegas on the way home, I stopped in the town of Amboy which is on the famous Route 66 in the Mojave Desert.

There's only one gas station and one post office. It is actually a spooky little town.

Overall, this was a very special vacation and I got to spend some quality time with my son.