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Sizzlin sun at La Jolla
A scorcher of a day in San Diego, unusually warm for early May Well it's finally got hot here in Phoenix, 105/41 degrees these last couple of days; but we didn't expect to get burned in San Diego earlier in the week...
A good friend of ours, Nicola, was in San Diego on business this week, and as it's so close (relatively! - Only 380 miles or 6 hrs on cruise control) we thought we would go and pay her a visit. Ginnie had never been to SD, so it seemed like a good opportunity to catch up with a friend from home, see a new city, escape some heat and avoid some work! An all round winner!
We made the decision to go and took off an hour later on Monday morning for the drive across the southern desert of Arizona and California - travelling along I-8 flanking the Mexican border passing through Border patrol stops - Hint - even as a legal permanent resident, carry your British passport when travelling down there! The Imperial Sand Dunes are amazing as you cross from AZ to CA - real sahara-like dunes either side of the freeway - not at all like the desert around here - but they only last for
about 10/15 miles then back to the normal scrub desert.
We left home at 11am and by 5pm, we were driving along the Pacific coast in southern California and pulling into our cheap and cheerful Travelodge hotel. We were hoping that Nic would have 2 beds in her posh (on expenses) hotel, but no joy so we had to find somewhere to suit our budget!! It was nice, clean and well located just up from the beach in La Jolla (pronounced La Hoya), about 5 miles from where Nic was staying. Having checked in, whilst waiting to hear from Nic, we took a stroll down to the beach and got our first glimpse of the pacific ocean since our days in Hawaii back in October. Later, having heard from Nic, we picked her up from her hotel and went in to San Diego - The Gaslamp Quarter - and had supper in a mexican restaurant called Fred's - sounds very authentic! A couple of Margaritas for the girls and a beer for designated driver!
The next day (Tuesday), Nic went to work so we went to Seaworld. A waterborn adventure park, with a variety of performance shows with
Margaritas at Freds
Ginnie & Nic doing what they do best! Killer whales, dolphins, seal lions etc, various aquaria (if that is the plural of aquarium!) and a couple of rides designed to get you wet! We had forgotten (until the end of the day) that we had previously been to the Seaworld in Florida together, but never mind, it was a good day. It was great to see the shows and how they manage to train these wonderful creatures, but also good to see the conservation and rescue work that they do. But this is where the 'sizzlin' comes in; having come from the desert to the supposed cool of San Diego (normal temp this time of year 69f/20c, we did not expect 90f+ and therefore applied no sun-cream - after a day out in that sunshine, our arms and necks were a little rosy to say the least! That night (after the application of plenty of moisturiser!) we met up again with Nic for a late dinner as she had to work pretty late, then goodbyes were said and we left her to the next part of her whirlwind work trip around the States - next stop San Jose.
On Wednesday morning we decided we would make the
most of the day, rather than just head immediately home. We drove into Old Town San Diego - the original european settlement in California - and strolled around taking in the sights and the sounds before boarding a 'trolley' to take us on a whistle stop 2 hr tour of the sights of San Diego, figuring that it would give us good clues as to where we should head back to for our next visit. The tour took in the Old Town, Downtown San Diego, the bay/marina area and Coronado island that sits just off the coast and is connected by a 2 mile bridge. Coronado Naval base is the home to the navy's Top Gun school, and the movie of the same name was filmed in and around San Diego. In fact, the bar in the movie where Tom C and the guys serenade the girl with 'you've lost that loving feeling' is featured on the tour, for those of you who class Top Gun up there with your favourite movies (you know who you are!) you'll know what I'm talking about!! The tour then continues up to the museum district and loops back around to finish in Old
Town. $30 well spent to give you a better idea of the city.
After the tour, we had some lunch and then thought we better hit the road as it was approaching 3.30pm and we had a 6 hr drive home ahead of us! An uneventful drive back accross the desert got us home before 10pm and just like that our 48 hours in San Diego was over!
All in all, we would highly recommend San Diego as a place to visit and look forward to an opportunity of going back there again! Maybe later in the summer here, when we are sizzlin in Gilbert we'll head back to the beach to cool down - this time taking some sun cream with us!
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Carlos y Josi
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suertudos!!!
hemos disfrutado mucho de vuestro viaje a San Diego. Espero que estén bien. Josi operada de su tumor -benigno- de perótidas y en plena recuperación. Yo con mucho laburo pero contento. Besos