CALIFORNIA DREAMING

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So we left Las Vegas on 9th September for our flight to San Diego and the start of our California road trip. Quite strangely we got checked in on the pavement outside the airport, never done that before but it was well organised once again. Life just feels so good at the moment, we are both really happy and looking forward to our life when we get home. A few of you may be surprised by this but we are happy to be coming back. We cant wait to see our family and friends and I cant wait to get back to work where a new challenge awaits me. Things just seem so perfect and were feeling really good.

So we hit San Diego and have to pick our hire car up which is no big deal as there was a shuttle bus to take us to the office. Now we have been a little extravagant but a few months ago we decided the only way to travel California was to do it in style and therefore we booked a convertible. We sorted out all the paperwork and loaded in our backpacks, dropped the roof and set off........Having got quite lost and spending a hour trying to get our bearings we finally pulled into dennys diner by the marina to fill our screaming stomachs. Tim ordered an omelette and I went for a steak dinner. When the food arrived I havd been served chicken and Tims looked to be okay but his potatoes were swimming in fat. I asked them to chnage mine which they did and Tim tucked in. When they bought my meal back it looked exactly the same. turns out a steak dinner is a piece of ground beef, breadcrumbed and deep fried. gravy is a qhite cream sauce and the mash potatoe had the consitency of cream. I cut into the so called steak and watched the fat ooze out onto my plate. The mash was just so sloppy and I wasnt too impressed. Tim was half way through his and said how fatty his was so I picked at a bit and ate all the veg but was bitterly disappointed. It is no wonder that some americans have a weight issue if that is what they are served and it wasnt cheap either!! However, we did manage to pick up a booklet with discounts on hotels so that was a bonus. We chose one from the listing and headed in that direction it actually took us within 12 miles of the mexican border but it was clean and quiet so we settled in for an early night.

The following morning we headed into the city to take a look around taking full advantage of the sunshine and loving having the roof down. We firstly went to the old quarter and fell in love with the dated decor and architecture of the buildings. meandering round we happened across an area which was set out exactly like it was in the early 1900's. We spent a while wondering round the old buildings taking in the original decor and dated furnishings. This place was once the original town area before it was later moved to another area of the city. The open shop sells all kinds of trinkets from that era and even the staff dress in authentic clothing of the time which was really quaint. It was very interesting to see and the old carriage set in the middle of the grass added to the nostalgia. We left here and stopped by the port area where we saw an old battleship which was open for viewing. We decided to go and take a look and paid our entry fee. The history of this battleship is truly remarkable and as neither of us had been on one before it was a brand new experience.

Some History.....
The USS Midway steamed through a 47-year career of service to her country. A carrier that was commissioned in 1945 and served as a flagship in Desert Storm in 1991. No other carrier served as long as the USS Midway. It set new standards of naval aviation in the latter half of the 20th century. A captured German V-2 rocket was launched off the USS Midway in 1947—the dawn of naval missile warfare. The USS Midway blazed new trails of sub-Arctic air operations off the coast of Greenland. It was the first carrier homeported in a foreign country, calling Yokosuka, Japan home for 18 years. When others came home, the USS Midway remained at the “tip of the sword” on an odyssey shared by 225,000 Americans that spanned the surrender of Japan in WWII, the Cold War, Vietnam, the era of détente and Desert Storm.

Okay so I took that off the website cause I couldnt remember all the facts but it helps to understand the achievements in battle this craft made. We started our tour looking at some of the smaller aircrafts inside and then progressed to the living quarters. Tiny and compact it is hard to believe so many people lived in such a small space. the bedsd were on just long enough for Tim to get on. We followed the arrows through here and up onto the top deck where all of the large aircarft are presented. Very Top Gun which interestingly was filmed in the area at Mirimar the training school is no longer there which is a shame. The aircraft date from many eras and we both enjoyed walking round them and actually sitting in them. There are so many switches i wondered how they ever new what was what!!! We spent ages up here before heading to the island which is the name of the viewing deck where the launching and landing of the craft would have been coordinated and also where the captain resides. It was truly incredible the sheer size of the ship is one thing but when you consider that they were also in control of millions of dollars worth of aircraft too it must have been pretty daunting. We went into the kitchen are and down into the engine room. We spent far longer than we intended and 3 hours later we emerged and decided that we need to start heading north to get everything in. Before that though we drove to the historic gaslamp quarter where all the restaurants were and stopped and enjoyed alovely mexican meal in the sun. San Diego was a quick stop but the city is truly beautiful. there are theme parks nearby and it has a famous zoo in balboa park, so much to do but with a lot of ground to cover we headed off north in the late afternoon sun.

We drove for a couple of hours opting to stay in a place called Encinitas on the coast. Our vouchers are coming in handy at this point and the rooms are very good value. They have a fridge and microwave for around 50-60 dollars. As the weather here was so good we decided to stay two nights as we arrived late in the day and spend the next day at the beach. Our first night was pretty uneventful as we were tired from the journey but we woke the next morning and packed our beach bag for the day. Heading in what we thought was the right direction your attention is immediately captured by the lifestyle our here. the houses are pristine set against the coastal front. As we pulled down a side road and got our first glimpse of the beach it is easy to understand why. The road led down to a small cul-de-sac which sat directly next to the volleyball areas on the beach. the sand bank is wide and white, pretty as a picture and inviting into the bargain. The day was already hot and it was only 10am, we settled in a spot and got all our bits out, loaded with cream we baked the morning away. later we took a walk along the beach to see some of the house all of which have their own steps down to the beach. Some of which did look a little precarious as they have taken a pounding from the sea. The sea itself was much colder than I had expected and very full of dense seaweed I opted to stay in the beach in the warm!!! It was a very nice first experience of Californian beach life and we both had a really good day. Once it got past early lunch though the heat was pretty full on so we left and headed back to the hotel. We stocked up on sandwiches from the deli, a few beers and had a relaxing picnic and card games before bed and an early start in the morning to our next destination.

We were heading for Hollywood but took a slight detour to Longbeach. The drive there was bautiful right alongside the coast and the weather was so hot we decided the soft top had been a good choice. Finding another hotel in our voucher booklet we booked in and went to check out the beach. California life really is what they tell you. people skating, biking, playing games and surfing of course. The beach was huge and pristine clean. We hung around for a while watching the world go by and then with another day drawing to a close we headed back home to enjoy the last few hours of daylight. We only stayed one night as Hollywood was calling..........................

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Comments

[mariah]

hey, hey! you passed through my hometown (long beach)!