More Fun in San Diego…

There were a few final places on our list to see with Katie and Brooks before they left San Diego. One of which was a visit out to Point Loma. The Cabrillo National Monument is a great place to be during low tide. We timed it perfectly and got there at the peak of low tide so we could easily navigate to the tidal pools to see what we could find.

While we didn’t find any starfish we did see lots of hermit crabs towing their new homes around and lots of anemones including one that was brooding. I also spotted a small grass crab who blended in with the seaweed perfectly and was hard to find.

The final place we visited with them was Coronado Island and we simply couldn't have picked a better weather day. It was sunny and warm yet when we arrived we were surprised how uncrowded it was. There were times we felt as if we had the beach all to ourselves. It was also low tide and we were finding sand dollars everywhere!

It was a great day at the beach and we enjoyed the Christmas decorations at the Coronado Hotel. Afterward we made one final stop at the Coronado Brewing Company for a frosty beverage and had some spirited games of cornhole out on the back porch.

It sure was fun having them but the next day we dropped them off at the airport where Katie and Brooks headed back to North Carolina. While it was great having them with us it sure was nice getting our space back. Four adults in an RV is really two too many!  Sharon is happy that the clutter has gone and we are back in our little nested home. It didn’t take long for us to get back into our winter routine in San Diego.

Our time too is soon coming to an end so we had a few more events and places we wanted to revisit. First up was the Saturday Little Italy farmer's market. This is one of the largest and best farmers markets we have seen. It is here that we first found Bitchin’ Dip, an almond based spicy dip we love. Rain is back in the forecast but we hope there will also be some sunshine so we can be out and about a little more before we depart.

NOTE: We are currently in El Centro CA until Jan. 4th before moving over to Arizona.

Cramming in All the Sights in San Diego CA…

We had a lot of places we were saving to see until Brooks and Katie came to visit from North Carolina. We tried to cram in a lot of sights before they had to leave San Diego. Of course, that included another trip to see the seals in La Jolla and a stop at the nearby Torrey Pines Golf Course so Brooks could do a little Christmas shopping.

The Torrey Pines GC was all decked out in its finest Christmas garb. Large Christmas trees were decked out with the finest ornaments providing an inviting backdrop for some Christmas photos. On the way back we took a detour to show them the odd architecture found at the UCSD. The library is still one of my all time favorite buildings we have seen in our eight plus years of traveling.

We also checked out the Embarcadero on another short excursion and made the obligatory visit to the Farmer’s Market in Little Italy. While the farmers market is a lot smaller than I last remembered it still was about 8 or 9 blocks long. And no visit to San Diego would be complete without a visit to Coronado Island.

One of the grandest beaches in California is on Coronado Island. It is also home to the famous Coronado Hotel which is an architectural gem itself. There was some restoration work being done on the hotel but we still strolled through to check out the Christmas décor. Lastly we stopped at Coronado Brewing for some cold adult beverages…

The beach of course was grand and the weather was some of the best we have had this fall. There were only a few people out on the beach which we found quite surprising and as it turned out that was good as we were able to find several sand dollars in the low tidal zone of the surf.

We also made a trip over to Point Loma for panoramic city views before Brooks and Katie had to return to North Carolina but that will have to wait till the next blog…

NOTE: We are currently in San Diego CA until Dec. 28th before spending the rest of the winter in Arizona

Enjoying Time with Katie and Brooks in SD, CA…

One thing we were looking forward to during our stay here in San Diego was that our daughter Katie and her husband Brooks would be flying in to visit. They came to San Diego for two weeks and arrived on Thanksgiving day.

Since they would have a long travel day we thought it best to wait until the day after to cook up our Thanksgiving feast. We decided on the traditional turkey but without a turkey roaster to cook the bird we were going to find a smaller bird (less than 12 pounds) which would fit into our RV convection/microwave. Following the directions I left in previous blog when we succeeded in cooking a turkey we ended up with a fabulous looking turkey that was moist and delicious.

Since Katie and Brooks came in from North Carolina they stayed the first four nights at an Air BnB to get used to the three hour time change. Then they moved over into our RV making it quite cozy for their last ten days. During these ten days we tried to cram in a lot of San Diego sightseeing…

We made a trip over to Balboa Park for a walk around the park . Christmas decorations were beginning to go up and the large tree in the park was being erected for the park’s big Christmas ceremony. There was also a cool display of hand made ornaments on display in one of the museums there. We always enjoy a good hike around such a beautiful city park.

Of course there were many bike rides around beautiful Mission Bay where there are now many migrating birds calling the bay waters home. Seeing the birds, the bay and palm trees makes the ride very enjoyable and it becomes quite easy to ride many miles without realizing how far we went because of the scenery around us.

While the weather hasn’t been perfect we still managed to squeeze in a little cornhole over at nearby Campland. We also enjoyed walking along the boardwalks at Mission and Ocean Beaches. We were lucky enough to have gotten to photograph several wonderful sunsets and of course enjoyed a few happy hours.

On bad weather days when we were cooped up we enjoyed each others company chatting, watching football and playing mind games on the computer. It was wonderful having them here and sharing what we love in San Diego.

NOTE: We are currently in San Diego CA until Dec. 28th before spending the rest of the winter in Arizona…

Having Some Fun In San Diego, CA…

I still have a bit of catching up to do on the blog. After the first 10 or so days of nice weather we fell into a pattern of chilly days with wet and rainy weekends. It’s okay with us when it rains on the weekends as we rarely venture out on weekends leaving them for the working folks to enjoy. It is the weekdays we get out and about…

One of our favorite sights to visit in the greater San Diego area is La Jolla. The shoreline in La Jolla is a scenic beauty. The craggy cliffs hide coves where seals and sea lions lay out on the large black boulders sunning their bodies to get warm.

The water temperature was in the low sixties and with daytime temperatures not much higher we didn’t don our wetsuit shorties and flippers to go snorkeling with the seals this year. Nevertheless simply strolling along the shoreline in La Jolla is still one of our favorite California pastimes.

One of the benefits of staying at Mission Bay RV park is the close proximity of places to bike and walk. There are great walks along the water adjacent to the park at Mission Bay Park. When it isn’t raining we will usually make our way out to the park for a mile or so walk each morning.

There won’t be a lot of hiking for us (more biking) as my knee has been a bit painful so much so that when we were in College Station Texas I had a steroid injection into it for pain relief. The down side of steroid injections is that they recommend you don’t get more than four per year. That would be great except each injection doesn’t offer four months of pain relief.

While in San Diego I recently had my second injection and I will admit these injections offer wonderful pain relief for by bone-on-bone knee pain! There is little doubt that a knee replacement is in my near future. That and the fact I will turn 65 next summer and have to go on Medicare means I need to decide soon if I want to get it done before or after I go on Medicare.

One fun encounter I should mention is that we finally met up with Jeff and Fran, who both are from San Diego. Jeff pens a blog called Ruffin it with Rufus. His blog is a great resource for those who like to hike in San Diego as he writes about the trails and some of the history of the area. We met Jeff and Fran in Old Town at a quaint little Mexican eatery, Casa De Maria, where we shared stories. It was great to finally visit with them after missing out on previous meet up opportunities over the years. Thanks for lunch Jeff and Fran! It was great fun!

NOTE: We are currently in San Diego CA until Dec. 28th before spending the rest of the winter in Arizona…

Reminiscing in San Diego, CA…

We have stayed in San Diego many times over the past eight years and have for the most part always enjoyed excellent sunny and mostly warmer weather. That is not the case this year… Sigh!

Our first 7 to 10 days mostly lived up to our expectations but then a cold front out of Alaska came this far south and dumped snow on the mountains around San Diego and rain on our park. It has been much of the same off and on ever since that first front came through.

Mind you when daytime temperatures are mostly in the very low 60’s we’d still be ok but with the coastal breeze and moisture in the air near the coast it has felt colder than it is. Throw in the fact that it has also been cloudy most days and has rained a whole lot. In fact, I read that San Diego had more rainfall than Seattle Washington did in the month of November!

It has us discussing the likelihood of us ever returning to San Diego. Not only is the weather cooler than normal but the since we were last here the price for our stay has gone up about 35%. Gas prices are around the $4.00 per gallon mark, craft beer pints are $7 to $10 for a pint unless we search to find more affordable happy hour pricing and groceries in general are higher too

Another disappointment is the appearance of our RV park.  Three years ago we knew that the City would be relinquishing the park to the neighboring Camp Land RV park.  Little did we know that during the changeover which finally occurred while we have been here, the city would quit watering the grass and keeping up the landscaping.

The facilities are locked up and broken down. Even the little snack bar is gone. Our walk around the park and the bay is not as appealing because in the three years we have been gone, the empty park model homes have not been removed so they have been vandalized and it’s just depressing to see.

That being said, when there are nice days we are able to fully enjoy those days. We have ridden our bikes all along the bay as well as over to the nearby stores of Trader Joe’s, Sprouts and Vons for our grocery shopping. We have also ridden over to Ocean Beach or Mission Beach to ride along the boardwalk to enjoy the sounds and sights of the Pacific Ocean surf. And where else can we buy an almond based delectable dip called bitchin sauce???

Thankfully we have found a few nice happy hours in the area such as at a new Coronado Brewing location by our park, Rock Bottom when we are in La Jolla, OB Noodle House at Ocean Beach and the Draft House in Mission Beach. Coinciding happy hour with the time for the sun to set over the ocean has made the Draft House one of our very favorite places to be for happy hours!

While we do still love a lot about San Diego we both have come to the realization that it is in all likelihood our last time to be in this part of Southern California…

NOTE: We are currently in San Diego CA until Dec. 28th before spending the most of the rest of the winter in Arizona…