San Diego- Day 8, 9 and 10 (Sept 14th-16th)

So we spent about 2 1/2 days in San Diego with Carlos and Maria, my cousins. We stayed at Maria and her boyfriend Brendan's Beach house, but Carlos was right next door. They lived less then 1/2 a block to the boardwalk right on the Ocean.

When we arrived Maria was quick to take us for a bit to eat at Carlos' workplace- Mission. It was as wonderful breakfast and lunch place. Great prices and even better food. I tried something different every morning- mom stuck with her House Quesadilla.

We headed to Maria's kickball game- part of a social league of sports that is held in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. Because her team, which she manages, was short a girl I got to play the last half of the game. I brought in home run, got a run myself, and kicked a great ball that was caught for an out. Maria kicked a few balls that were out, but she had three great catches. She even has the battle wound to prove it. I did play catcher- since no one else wanted to; however, it was fun...










Since our first day in San Diego was Sunday- football took some of our time. However, once Brendan rejoiced for his team and we all mourned the Charger's unfortunate game we headed to Mount Soladad. It is a high point where you can see the Skyline, but also a memorial for fallen soldiers. We then had an authentic Mexican dinner.

On Monday Carlos and Maria took off - so after breakfast at the Mission- we took a beach bike ride on the boardwalk and to a lookout point near La Jolla. Because of the hills we decided to drive to the shops a little later. On the way back we were able to bike the rest of the boardwalk and the bay side. It was fun- there was a nice breeze- and always interesting people to look at.

Of course we could not pass up the chance to see seals in the southern part of California. We have seen seals in San Francisco, Moro Bay and now San Diego. I must admit these are not the cutest ones I have seen.

We did run into lots of Birds of Paradise... my mom loves them.

After a short rest and realizing that we all got burnt in some form or fashion, we headed up to Cabrillo National Monument in the Point Loma area of San Diego. Maria was super excited to take us and I can see why. There were these neat tidal pools with fish, crabs, plants, and some other weird things that moved. Maria insisted that we head over to this section where she once saw a snake. Instead of a snake we found slippery rocks where Maria's glasses fell into a small tidal pool. Maria refused to put them back on- they are still sitting on her desk until she feels the urge to clean them.















Before heading out of the National Park Maria took us to a lookout to see Downtown San Diego and to see the Habor Lighthouse. Of course mom wanted a picture of it.

Monday night was Maria's birthday dinner. It was a nice place where we ate outside and had a great time by the fire.

Tuesday Carlos and Maria had to work so we took it as a day to relax. Once the sky cleared- cloudy mornings are a norm on the coast- we headed out to the beach. Mom and I got about 2 1/2 hours of sun and Derek tried some surfing. Unfortunately, it was low tide and by the time the waves started to break Derek was on the shore. So it wasnt the greatest session, but at least he can say he did it.

We also quickly ran by this mural on Garnett Blvd as we ran into a few stores that were loaded with PEACE things for mom. Of course mom wanted her picture with it.

By the time Maria got home from work we were ready for dinner. We decided to hang out and get pizza from Carlos' old job The Spot. It was really good! We took the pizza out to the boardwalk with Rowdy (Maria and Carlos' dog- a puggle) and watched the sunset. Around 8ish Maria crammed us into her car to take us to her favorite frozen yogart place- Bogarts. It was good, but her car was tight.

By the time we got back it was time to pack and get ready to head back to the East Coast. Too bad because we could have handled another few days out there.

Lets just say 4am comes early and it stinks when you lose 3 hours to your day. Heading out was one of the longest days and heading home just flew by.

San Diego...

We have been in San Diego since Sunday around noon. Due to the internet situation I will be posting our 2 1/2 days in San Diego sometime in the evening on the 17th EST.

Hope you are doing well. We are loving our trip and not ready to head home tomorrow.

Los Angeles- Day 7 (Sept 13th)

Happy Birthday Maria!

We left Moro Bay this morning and made our way down the coast to Los Angeles. We are staying on Ventura Blvd in the lower part of Woodland Hills.

On the way down we stopped at Solvang- a dutch town that was created back in the 1800s. It was a cute little place. Mom wanted to stop at the famous mission. They had a rose garden and a rosary garden. I stuck to taking pictures of the roses.

We made our way to Santa Barbara where we could check out the coast line. We stopped at an authentic Mexican Restaurant while looking out onto the ocean. Too bad it was cloudy.

By mid-afternoon we made it down to LA. I wont lie it was not all it has ever been cracked up to be; however, I still love checking out the tourist stuff. Plenty of stars on the walk of fame (and we only went about 4 blocks in each direction). I took a ton of pictures. We also got to check out the Chinese Theatre and Kodak Theater.

On our way out we cruised through Rodeo Dr. No one famous, but we did see some paparrazi!

I wanted to go check out UCLA. The campus was pretty dead, but it was pretty. I saw the famous Royce Hall and most of their medical school. We did this via Sunset Blvd and Santa Monica Blvd.

By the time we made it back from LA we stopped at Jerry's Famous Deli. The portions were huge and the food was great.

Moro Bay- Day 6 (Sept 12th)

Today we headed back to the west coast. That sounds so funny... and trust me... we have caught ourselves using East Coast navigation out here.

Leaving the Sequoia/Three Rivers area was bitter sweet. It is so beautiful; however they are having such an issue with the lack of rain. To be honest water is realitively null. On the way back to the coast we passed over at least 2 dozen bridges with signs for rivers and creeks. Guess what- they were dry. I am not sure where the water came from for crops or the cows. Poor cows... they simply wander the brown farms kicking up dust searching for water. Ok maybe it is not that bad, but it is dry and there were was natural water source.

We took 41 from the moutains down to the coast. It is a road mom used to travel back in the 70s... in the middle of nowhere. However, I am glad we got to see the land and its small/nonexistent towns. Have you ever heard of: Lemon Cove, Hanford, Lemoore, Kettleman City, Cholame or Atascadero? Neither have I. Well only some because my mom talks about them.

We arrived to Moro Bay to find clouds and 65 degree temps. We were a little disappointed, but got our jackets and headed down to the little town of cute artsy fartsy store.

There was one thing you could not miss- Moro Rock. It is a HUGE volcanic mass that sits just outside the coastline.

The next thing we knew we saw pelicans everywhere. They must be used to people because Derek was able to pet one and i got within about 3 feet of another. They really are interesting birds. Even the gulls were too friendly.

Of course a familiar smell and sound came from the pier. As we ventured closer we discovered Sea lions; however, here they are refered to as Elephant Seals. They were HUGE and the 5 or 6 we saw on the pier was just as loud as the 100s we saw in San Francisco. Well maybe not the same level of loud, but they were loud.

Finally dinner time rolled around. We discoverd this little place called the Flying Dutchman. It was great with a great view of the sunset behind the Rock. Boats, birds, seals, rock, and the sun. It made mom's day!