I’ve been on the road for almost a week now, driving along Route 8 from San Diego through to Tucson, Arizona. With no solid plans, I’ve managed to find out about upcoming highlights and worthwhile detours from my Twitter followers and Facebook fans – as well as a few people I’ve met along the way.

One of the first unplanned stops that I came across was the Desert View Tower in Jacumba, California. It is a stone tower in the middle of nowhere that was built in the 1920′s by a local land owner (Bert Vaughan) to commemorate a route which was once a difficult pass, but was becoming more trafficked as railroads and improved roadways were being constructed nearby. A stone sculptor added some carvings around the tower in the 1930′s, which I came across while hiking across the field of boulders leading up to the tower.

I met the current owner, Ben Shultz, who has lived there for the past 10 years. He has so many pets running around, I suggested that he start a zoo to bring more people in to see the tower.  Being quite a prankster, he sent me on what turned out to be a wild goose chase for the famed “desert springs” up on top of the tallest peak in the area. Here are a few snapshots from that hike up to the springs (click to view full size). The Desert View Tower can be seen in the background of the final shot (behind the springs):

For the past three years, I’ve spent the holiday season through the New Year driving around Baja Mexico in a Jeep.  I enjoyed it because the weather was gorgeous and it gave me time to get away from civilization, which always helps me think about where I am in my life and what I’d like to do in the coming year. The result of my first drive through Baja, in fact, led to my changing coasts to set up shop in Southern California a few months later.

This year, after tossing around a few ideas including the Pacific island Kauai, I decided to stay a little closer to home and skim the Mexican border, from California, through Arizona to Patagonia for a few weeks. Instead of a Jeep, which is great for off-roading, I’ve recently become a fan of RVs, which let me have all of my gear along and many of the comforts of home. If I need to stop and wait for the sun to set in order to get the shot that I’m looking for, no problem!

Another thing that is driving this road trip through Arizona is a new website that I recently launched to host my constant exploration for great food and dining experiences. If you’ve read my blog for awhile, you may remember my tinkering around with tossing in restaurant suggestions from my travels here and there. Well, now I’ll have Hit the Dish to handle my restaurant and recipe raves from across the country. I encourage you to check it out and pass along any “must try” spots, especially Arizona restaurants, in the near term.