Touring around San Diego

      MAE has returned to the frozen tundra we call home after spending a wonderful week in sunny San Diego.  We found out that Red truly is a color!  We had to have visited every tourist haunt within 60 miles cause my feet are still killing me!   Shop..shop...shop...that's their motto!  Joanne was able to get an extra day free and met us up in Carlsbad at the factory outlets up there.  MAE scored big with ANOTHER coach purse, and even Debbie worked the sales pretty hard.  I spent $3.29 on a pretzel!   I've checked with a few of my sources, and they all advise that there's no reason to rush home.  The weather at home is still cool and it doesn't look very promising for spring anytime soon.  So we booked an additional week here on San Diego Bay and we'll check the weather up north next week.
     Ben and Joanne were able to join us for a visit at the San Diego Zoo.  The weather was perfect...mid 70's...nice and sunny.

They have completely changed the zoo since the last time we were out here.  Lots of new exhibits....3 polar bears!....2 grizzly bears!.... a tiger!  Is he looking at me???  It's a great place to visit if you're coming out here.  We would highly recommend it. There are several different snack bars/restaurants throughout the park so there's something for everyone.  We even met a bus driver from Rochester who thought he lived in upstate NY.  We got him straightened out!  Debbie and MAE steered clear of the reptile display, but they had lots of snakes to look at.  They even have a tortoise that they believe is about 135 years old!  He's been at the zoo since 1935!

                                     On Tuesday, we headed over to Coronado and Pt Loma.

We had to wander around The Hotel del Coronado!  You never know who you might run in to over there. The view out into San Diego Harbor is quite amazing and the beach looked very inviting.  We spotted this guy lingering up on the roof of the Hotel Del and wondered what he was doing.  We found out he was hard at work keeping the birds away from the guests and tourists.
      Yesterday, Debbie and I spent the day wandering around the USS Midway, which is now a floating museum in downtown San Diego.  Again, it's another tourist trap that you have to visit if you get the chance.  There are multiple planes and helicopters on display up on the flight deck and in the hanger deck.  Kids seemed to be enjoying the multiple flight simulators that were available.  Lots of old retired sailors were wandering around and were anxious to answer any questions one might have.  They provide all visitors with an audio tour of the ship and numerous stations are located throughout the ship.  They even provided a guided tour up to the ship's bridge, and Debbie got a chance to practice driving.  They receive no funding from the gov't / county / city to keep the museum open, so it's nice to be able to support them.

 Last night, Ben arranged a tour of the POE at San Ysidro for us.  We didn't bring along the camera with us as i knew they didn't want any pictures taken.  We were both pretty busy hanging onto our wallets on the trolley we took down to the border.....after dark!  Actually we had a great time and were given a great tour.  Debbie was quite impressed and I was very kind and didn't ask any stupid questions.
     Guess I better start plotting my route over to Nashville!!!  

Is red a color???

     Is red a color?  That would seem to be a silly question.....unless the Princess in involved!  but we'll get to that later on.  The Princess arrived safe and sound in San Diego after a grueling flight across the U.S.  Debbie was exhausted by the time she got here.  She'd been helping fly the plane all the way across.  She was pretty excited seeing MAE coming down the stairs toward baggage claim to say the least.  Ben and MAE greeted each other as normal siblings would who haven't seen each other in quite a while.

 "Hi dummy" "Hi Re Re".  You could just feel the love between them.  Actually I guess with today's multiple levels of communication, they really do stay in pretty close contact with each other.  Not like the old days where there was the Sunday afternoon phone call home because that's when the cheapest rates were.  And I think that was about a $/minute! Remember those days?   Probably not...but it seemed so.
     Joanne and Ben put together a wonderful dinner welcoming MAE to San Diego, and even Jamo seemed excited to have everyone together again.  He had a whole house full of people to pet him now!  As far as Debbie and Jamo were concerned, life couldn't get any better.  Princess spent the night at B&J's and they visited late into the night.  I think MAE said she was sound asleep at 9 PM.  I guess we can't blame her since it was 12 M her time.  We gave MAE 1 day to get acclimated to the time change, and then it was time to start the birthday celebration.  Papa was turning 60!
     But first, MAE needed to get started on her tanning.  Being a father with "Irish skin", I have come to know that tanning is not good for you.  Which is why I frequently use sunscreen with factor 55.  If I can go higher, I do, but 55 seems to work very good.  I can be out in the sun, and not burn up.  But MAE wouldn't listen and insisted on sitting in the sun without protection.  So we discussed how "tan" she wanted to get.  She decided she was looking for the "color" bronze.  Not white...but not real dark.  As Debbie and I sat underneath the awning of the camper enjoying the beautiful day, MAE sat out in the blazing sun, soaking up the rays.  Not very long mind you.  Maybe an hour or so.  Then we decided to shift over to the pool.  I applied my "factor 55" and headed over with them, again  finding shelter in the shade.  Pretty soon we started noticing a "glow" to MAE's arms and legs.  "Better get some sunscreen on" I said.  You can guess the answer I received.  Another hour passed and we headed back to the camper.  Soon MAE realized just how "tanned" she was.  Of course to me it looked a little more "red" than tan.  As the evening progressed, we were soon looking for some aloe vera juice to help with the "tan".  Being the strong supporter that I am, I couldn't resist the opportunity when it presented itself, to remind MAE that "red is a color too".  Now, 3 days later, she's starting to see the humor in that.  Must be, cause she's back over at the pool, working on that "tan".
      We spent my birthday doing the tourist thing in SD.

 We purchased our daily pass for the trolley and headed north to Old Town.  After wandering through some shops, we headed over for lunch at a great little Mexican restaurant, and enjoyed some cool margaritas with lunch.    We were soon serenaded with a Mariachi Band's version of Happy Birthday"!

It was really a great afternoon.  We moved over to Seaport Village, another tourist haunt, and worked our way through numerous shops.  Then we headed over to Shelter Island for dinner at the Bali Hai Restaurant.  What a spectacular view of San Diego harbor and downtown.  The Bali Hai is famous for it's Mai Tai's, so MAE and I ordered a round.  The restaurant keeps a running tab of the # of Mai Tai's served, and I think they are up over 2 million now.  You have to remember they've been serving them for about 50 years. We didn't realize at the time that it contained 3 different rums, and was quite a powerful drink.   It was a great evening, and we topped it off with a visit up toward Pt. Loma to show MAE the views of the Pacific ocean.

     On Saturday Ben and Joanne are taking us to a Padre baseball game at the new Petco Park.  We used to attend the games over a Jack Murphy Stadium near Mission Valley.  The new stadium is in downtown San Diego and looks like a very nice park.  Should be a great evening.

     I wonder what color MAE is over at the pool?  

       

Chula Vista RV Resort & MAE arrives today

     We've been working our way through the daily grind of visiting "So Cal" as the locals like to call it. It's amazing how these days seem to fly by, and we are only able to get a few things accomplished.  Of course there's the "almost" daily trip north to visit with Ben before he's off to work down at the border at San Ysidro, although I think Debbie looks forward to her visit with her "PGD" (Precious Grand Dog).  Jamo seems to get quite a kick out of seeing Grammy coming through the door, although the other day we arrived while Ben was in getting ready for work.

 Jamo wasn't sure if he was supposed to play with Grammy or guard the hallway leading down to Ben.  He was certainly relieved to see Ben emerge from the bedroom.  Now he could devote all his attention to Grammy!   Although he seems to really enjoy chewing on his bone.  He has lots of item to chew on, and he'll go get them all if you want him to.  Anything to keep you interested....he's always interested!  Joanne is working too many hours at her job, so we don't get the chance to visit with her as much as we'd like.  We tend to catch up on her days off.
      We've been staying up in Lakeside at the Los Coches RV Park, which is a very nice park.  It's nice and quiet, seems to be very clean, but it is more like a trailer park than an RV Resort.  People have discovered that it's cheaper to purchase a fancy fifth-wheel or camper and pay the monthly camping rate and stay at the numerous parks located throughout San Diego County, than to purchase or pay rent on a house.  Can't blame them for that.  Seems like an average home out here runs in the $400K range.  I don't know how they do it.  We've had some great neighbors, and we've had just neighbors.  Some are interested in meeting, sharing a cocktail in the evening, and just plain visiting.  Some could care less.  Of course many are commuting to and from work out of their campers.
     I was able to chase down an old co-worker from the California Highway Patrol.  He still lives out in Boulevard, and his son is now the Deputy Patrol Agent in Charge at the Pine Valley BP Station.  When Bob and I were working, we "owned" I-8 out to the east, and we had quite a time chasing bad guys out there.  Of course, back then we didn't have the fancy radios in our cars that allowed us to talk with each other.  We had scanners in our patrol cars, and Bob and I could talk to each other by scanning the other guy's frequency.  I think we would completely baffled each agency's dispatchers since they would only hear one side of the conversation.  But it worked for us and that was the important part.
     San Diego County certainly has made great progress in their transportation system since we were last out here.  The have completed a trolley system which services a large part of the county down through the city of San Diego.  Debbie and I were able to pick up the trolley in Santee and for $5 we were able to get on and off at numerous stops as we worked our way into San Diego.  We made stops at Old Town and had a nice lunch at on of the many Mexican restaurants located there.

 Old Town represents the beginning of San Diego with many exhibits of the original homes, churches, and businesses dating back to 1542 when Explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the area.  Over the years, the Spanish and the Russians made claim to the land, and finally in 1846, a Navy Lieutenant and marine raised the first american flag in Old Town's plaza.
      After Old Town, we climbed back on the Trolley and headed down to Seaport Village and the Gas Lamp section of San Diego.  As we headed back to Santee, we looked out on I-5 and I-8 at the bumper to bumper, stalled traffic, and wondered why more people weren't using the train.  Especially while gas prices are shooting up out here and may be pushing $5/gal soon.
      Over the weekend we reached out to Cousin Andrea up in Temecula.   We made arrangements to visit on Saturday after Ben went to work.  We told her not to pull an Aunt Anita and have a big lunch for us, but she ignored us and had  2 great quiches and salads waiting for us when we got there.  After a delicious lunch we went for a walk around the neighborhood and over to the lake.  She lives with husband Paul and son Ethan on a street that reminds you of Cherry Tree lane in Mary Poppins.  Neat little homes with front porches overlooking a small lake.  Debbie commented that she would give anything to live on a street like that.

Andrea gathered up some frozen bread, and we headed over to the lake to get some exercise and feed the ducks.  Ethan and Debbie seemed to have a great time as Andrea and I sat and watched.  Ethan is definitely into the game of soccer and has promised to send me tickets when he's a famous soccer player.  We'll have to wait and see.  Everyone seems to be doing fine in Temecula and it was very nice getting the opportunity to visit.  Andrea and Paul were great hosts and Ethan kept Debbie busy over at the pond.  It was a very nice visit.
     Yesterday we moved down to the Chula Vista RV Resort.  It's located on San Diego Bay next to the Chula Vista Marina.  The flowers are in bloom down here, and the palm trees are swaying in the breeze coming off of the bay.  The "snowbirds" appear to have gone home and it's nice and quiet here.

 There's a great pool area, and a walking path all around the bay.  Debbie and I went for a nice walk around the bay to check things out.  The Marina has a restaurant which gets great reviews, and I'm sure we'll check it out while MAE is visiting.  She arrives in about an hour and a half, and Mrs Doody is pretty excited!
      That just about catches me up.  I'm sure I've forgotten a few things but I'll get them into the next visit.  Hopefully the weather stays nice and MAE gets the cold out of her bones before she heads back.

Touring the Anza Borrego Desert

     We've spent 2 days here at The Springs at Borrego and it is truly quite a comfortable RV Resort.  We've enjoyed the pool and the mineral springs hot tubs, and the views from anywhere in the park are truly amazing.  The mountains surrounding Borrego Springs are truly remarkable and even though they look like they are nothing more than rocks and sand, they actually are home to many different species of animals.  Big horn sheep and cougars can be spotted occasionally, along with numerous species of birds.

 We took a ride over to the Anza Borrego Desert State Park Visitor Center, and discovered that millions of years ago, this area was actually covered with a fresh water lake which was fed by the Colorado River.  Fossils of pre-historic animals have been found throughout this 60,000 + acre park.  We were hoping to catch the desert during its spring bloom, but the lack of rain the last few years has severely limited the flowers this year.

 The desert needs rain and sunshine in order to bloom, and the plants out here seem to be perfectly happy to wait.  Many looked like they were completely dead, but just a little bit of rain could wake the desert up.  We took a ride out toward the Saltan Sea and soon noticed we were traveling through an area known as the Badlands.  The area looked like a mini Grand Canyon with absolutely nothing anywhere around.

Not a place where you would want to break down. The Salton Sea was visible in the distance, and it was a little eerie standing there in the complete silence around us.
     Today we headed into the town of Borrego Springs and stumbled into a Farmers Market.  The area was known as Christmas Square, but I don't know what the significance of "Christmas" was.

 But the town is completely surrounded by desert, and in the middle is a lovely green circle full of local farmers pressing their wares.  Across the street I spotted a little park with a stage coach, burro and prospector.  Upon closer inspection I discovered that it was all metal construction.

 Seems like a local businessman has hired an artist from Mexico to build all sorts of these and they are scattered all over the area.  From the visitor's Center, Debbie spotted some of these creations sitting out in an empty field a mile or so away.  I guess it gives the locals and the tourists something to talk about.
      Debbie worked her way through the Farmers Market while I headed back to Weezie to pick up my wallet.

 Seems I headed out this morning without it.  I got away pretty easy though.  She was only able to find some delicious strawberries that were calling our names.  Can't wait for dessert tonight!  

The Springs at Anza Borrego

     We've given the San Diego weather girls 2 weeks to get things straightened around, but it seems like their blond hair was the major criteria for the job!  It's been in the 60's most days.  Pleasant but not the kind of weather Debbie needs to get the cold out.  We had seen The Springs at Borrego website in NY while making plans to come west.  It looked like it would be a nice place to visit for a few days while Ben and Joanne get through their work week. (LOL!)  As Wednesday approached, the weather girls from TV San Diego started talking about rain and snow and high winds.  Just the kind of weather we needed to travel from Lakeside to Anza Borrego.  A few days earlier we had visited Pt Loma to see if we could spot a whale out in the ocean. There's a great view of the ocean on the back side of Pt. Loma and Debbie and I had visited the area few times when we lived out here 30 years ago.

  A few surfers were working the waves down below us as we found a nice vantage point on the campus of Pt Loma College. After catching a glimpse of 1 whale, we worked our way down to the beach area around Ocean Beach. I'm sure glad we hadn't spent our money on a whale watching excursion.  I don't think the tourists got their money's worth this day.

    For any of you who have been out here, you know the types of mountain passes and steep grades we were going to have to negotiate to get down here.  Pretty exciting on a nice day....really exciting on a windy day.  We worked the maps pretty hard figuring there had to be a better way to get from up here to down there!  Being the terrific navigator that Debbie is, a new route was plotted that would take us to the north just a little and then ease us down to the desert floor. We departed Lakeside and headed north on I-15 up to Poway.  Then we worked our way over through Santa Ysabel, and then toward Warner Springs before turning east toward the desert. We could see the mountain peaks above us covered with a thin layer of snow.  Glad we weren't up there.  Then the weather closed in on us, and we were soon working our way through a little hail storm. Probably would get some Californians excited, but that NY plated MH worked her way down the road without skipping a beat.  Piece of cake!  Nice gentle grades all the way, and we coasted into the Anza Borrego State Park without any difficulties.  Pretty sure that the next MH is going to come equipped with an exhaust brake though.
     We checked into The Springs, and settled into our site as Debbie mixed a couple of Rondackers to celebrate our safe passage.  I guess she was a little more nervous than I was!  I wandered over to the pool area as Debbie made preparations for dinner.  The Springs have a salt water pool, and several hot tubs that are fed from the hot mineral springs here in the desert.  Time to check it out!  Back to the MH, a quick change into our swim suits, and we were soon sipping Rondackers in the hot mineral springs. It doesn't get much better than this!

     This morning we awoke to bright sunny skies.  Temperature should reach the high 70's...just perfect for me since I'm not a sun worshiper.  Plenty of shade for me and plenty of sun for Debbie.

 If you're looking for me. I'll be sitting in that red chair under my awning.  Deb will be somewhere outside the shady area.  Tonight there's a wine tasting get together.  Better get rested up!