Flagstaff behind us, we head for the end of this little road trip. One last Arizona marvel is the appearance of large bodies of water that on closer examination are hundreds of military aircraft parked in the desert. From a distance they appear to be glittering lakes. Now with the war over they set waiting to be destroyed. Years later after learning to fly/pilot aircraft, I wonder what it would be like to have one of the old "War Birds" to play with. What a shameful end for some great aircraft. 

One last wonder before California is the Hoover Dam. Truely a marvel and testimony to mans ability to change his surroundings. Huge best describes this structure. I was amazed by the size and impression it makes on everything around it. Remember to view this Dam in the eye's of a young child from backwoods Alabama. As my grandma Lula would say" it just made my head swim".

We crossed into California about mid-day. If I recall right the first town in California was Needles. The final leg took us well into late afternoon before we reached Long Beach. We would have to wait until the next day to continue. My folks rented a hotel room for the night. It was at this point that Tittle left us to continue on to his sisters home. I never saw him again. I hope he had a good life!

The overnight hotel stay was also a new adventure for me. Because of the night time ocean fog everything took on ghostly appearance. The air smelled kind of bad with the mixture of salt and creosote blowing in from the docks.

Our final destination was Catalina Island. We would have to board a boat to reach the island which was about 25 miles off the coast.