Day 18 – Tourists

Robert and I had agreed the evening before that this day would have to be devoted to catching up with a bit of work and housekeeping. The remainder would go to relaxing, reading and simply doing nothing. I was just getting ready to start working on the travelog of the previous day – our trip from Valle to Corona – when the phone rang at 6 am. On the phone was Jeff, the president of PRA chapter 1. Jeff said he would like to meet with us. Robert craves strong espresso in the morning and I like a good cappuccino myself. So we thought we´d ask Jeff to show us a place where we could sit down, have breakfast and chat a bit. Jeff took us to a Starbucks that satisfied all our early morning cravings.

As we were getting to know each other better and discussing what our plans were, we mentioned to Jeff that we needed to visit botanical gardens at some time. Jeff pricked up his ears because his girls friend is a horticulturist and probably can give us some guidance as to where to go. So he got on the phone right away.



Upon recommendation of his girl friend, we drove out to Rancho St. Ana in Claremont, where there is a beautiful botanical garden I can only recommend to anybody for a visit. It is a bit hard to find a specific species of plant since there is no one who can tell you where to look, so we simply set off on our own to explore. We got a little map from the visitor information desk to help us find our way around the expansive grounds.

Talking to some knowledgeable people we met tending some plants, they told us of a very unusual tree that we just have to see: the so-called Boojum tree. We looked at our map and, lo and behold, it was marked on the map! So off we went. We soon discovered, though, that the markings on the map did not correspond to the few signs posted along the ways and trails in the garden. There were numerous crossings, and the snaking paths wound hither and yon. It was all very confusing. At one point Jeff thought he heard the sound of a rushing stream, but we soon found out that it was the distant noise of a freeway going past the edge of the park. We thought it was all a bit embarrassing for two pilots who had found their way 3000 miles across the country to finally get lost in a botanical garden. 

I believe we were on the quest looking for the elusive Boojum tree for more than one hour without being able to find it. Here you see Rob and Jeff critically examining the plants along the path for any sign of the Boojum tree.



After about one hour we got a little suspicious and thought that, maybe, they had just invented the Boojum tree to see who of the visitors would be gullible enough to go looking for it. Along the way, however, we managed to travel pretty much all the paths and areas of the garden. Robert found three species that he was very interested in and could use for his homeopathic research.



(Upon returning to our hotel, I did, of course, look up the Boojum tree on the internet. And it really does exist, despite its kind of bogus sounding funny name. It is indigenous to the Baja peninsula and closely related to the Ocotillo plant. And it does look kind of funny, like a cross between a cactus and a tree.)

After the park we had lunch at an In-n-Out place, of which I have been told that they have the best burgers in southern California. They tasted great and I herewith contribute to the spread of this information, despite my having a still pitifully small sample size of other places.

Jeff then took us by the place where he keeps his two “ladies”, his two beloved horses.



If you didn´t know that he was talking about his horses, you´d think he was pimping on the side:) But in reality Jeff is a professional bee keeper and gave us a couple of jugs of his own citrus honey. I can´t wait to taste it and will probably have to break open one of them at breakfast tomorrow.

Jeff then took us to Balboa island from where we took the ferrry to the Balboa peninsula. A great little ride across the harbor there !



Before going home we simply had to go and visit Aircraft Spruce. I quickly came up with a reason why we just had to go there: I needed a San Diego Terminal Area chart. And we all immediately agreed that Aircraft Spruce was the best place to get it. We made it there just before closing time, and it is a great place that somehow conjures up emotions I last had as a kid in a toy store. We got to our hotel at around 6:30 pm and I hadn´t even started yet on the write-up for the trip to Corona, the day before. 

Our sincere thanks to Jeff for taking the time to spend the day with us and show us some of the sights around Orange County and the LA area. We will take tomorrow off, too, to go touristing on our own. Talking to John Rountree (“All_in”), we agreed to shoot for a Thursday 2 pm arrival at Gillespie.

– Robert & Chris.