San Diego

San Diego.. here to start?

The ride in was really good and may I say right here and now
that it was a good road and the landscape very very pretty.
 Almost Meditterrean.

We were early so stopped in little towns on the way in.
 Found an amazing Indian Casino Outlet mall
Veijas.. not much going on there I tell you ,
most stores are closed.
Walked into what we thought was the mall and it turned out to be a studio where posters and bilboards are made.
They had just done one of Brett Michaels.
Nice guys and they directed us to where we should have been!
Shopped a bit and got some very cool shoes at Nike...
 that is it.. oops,
got a glam sweater in some uptown kinda store.
 Lee picked it out.

Got to our friends place unloaded camera gear
and oh yes we did take some clothes too!

First stop was the Wild Animal Safari Park.
Spent a beter part of the day there and was wowed.
It is amazing, awesome and downright like Disneyland for me.
Our friends are members and saved us a pass each.
That was huge as this is a pricy park to visit.
Favourite animals...?
By far the Lowland Gorillas.
My friend bought me a gorilla tee shirt from the gift shop..
We went to a wonderful place for lunch and I have to say that I tried something brand new..
deep fried artichoke hearts!
They were beyond fantastic!
From there we decided to go walk on the beach.
Why not?
Southern California and the ocean.. complete with surfer dudes!
It was fun, no shells but who really cares?
Not me.. then we went up to the Torry Pines outlook where there used to be a lodge
now it is a visitors center.. must have been soime lodging in it's day..
gorgeous scenery too.
Day is done for me and I barely make it to 8pm... caught purring ............er snoring to you purists!

Balboa Park was next day and the sun was shining first thing.. so we wasted no time getting there.
This park was constructed in 1915 for the World Exposition.
It is to this very day a world class center of the arts, museums, gardens, history and everything else in between.
Very people friendly and families making use of it all the time every day.
 Amazing to see young mom's with three wheel strollers running.. all in syncopation..
Classes taking in science exhibits, jewellry displays,  you name it they have it..
Lunch took place at a fave of our friends and may I say avocadoes make great sandwiches!!!!
When we came out.. grey skies and beau coup wind.
oh well, off to Mystic Seaport Village...
and while half the stores we remember are gone, it was still fun to go back there.
It started pouring.. and we got caught..
got a plastic bag from the camera store and away we went in and out of every store there.
Bought candy, it was the only thing we wanted.
Went and saw the Midway and met a French bulldog named Kikoman.
Checked out some local beach areas and got some pics othe skyline of downtown San Diego.
Another day done..

The Coronado Hotel.. what a grand old place this is.. but not at all what I expected.
I was met with feeling of "oh my word am I in Banff"?
Crowds of folks there and we managed to get some people-less shots and away we went..
Toured the Strand and several downtown streets and wandered through some area near the ocean.
I really did not know that ordinary folks lived like that. Me oh my!!!

We ventured to the Tijuana Estuary, the Eljio Preserve, the back bay of San Diego and the mouth of the San Diego River.
Found some fabulous birds at the last stop. The entire time our friend was driving us every where..

Another friend made it down from San Pedro and he was excited to be coming along
We toured the Ramona Valley and saw the much anticipated Pamo Valley.
Very pristine and much of what California was back at the turn of the century before it became "lala land"!
Just absolutely a gorgeous place.

After our friend left to go back home(he had to work on the Monday) we decided to do the parts of Balboa Park I had not seen.
So back we went and I believe I have thouroughly explored every mile of that beautiful park.
As I was really tired now and we decided to watch movies..
it was cold and rainy again.
So I watched a couple really good movies.
I actually saw Iron Man.. and then Salt..
 liked them both.
Have not just sat back and watched movies in a long time.
Lee and I decided we both really enjoyed that and are going to buy a blueray dvd player and start doing that at home.

We left San Diego and our friends and I can tell you honestly that frinds are not easily come by
and when you have some like the ones we have
they become family to us.

We drove through the beautiful San Bernadino Mountains and the San Jancinto Valley to get back to Yuma..
 Went through a place called Palm Desert.
Very posh looking and very sterile too.
Lots of seriously old people.
I think I need to look in the mirror once in awhile!lol
Stopped in at a date farm we remembered and the dates were all dried up
and it looked like no one had bought anything there in months maybe years!!!
We moved on.. to Salton Sea.
I wanted to see if we could get some Burrowing Owls..
we did an all on our own too.
Found a couple of moms with young ones. What a kick.
We headed home to our RV then, as there was nothing else I wanted.
Oops we did stop and get obsidian rocks for the cousin.

3200 images on two cameras for me.. and now all that sorting and editing.. argh.
We are here for just under three weeks, then start our northern journey home.
 But first meeting up with Laura and Gordie in Moab..
Steve will also be joining us.
So there is the latest bit of news from the desert county of Yuma...

Thanks for coming along.
Gaye and Lee