San Diego in a Day?

That was a quick trip and you cannot 'do' San Diego in a day, but we did have a really good sense of what we would like to come back and see.  Our RV park arranged a one day bus trip to Old Town San Diego, with the option of an additional discounted ticket on the Old Trolley Tour of the city, which we took advantage of.

The weather was very cool and misty/cloudy and with the plastic covers over the windows in the trolley, seeing everything was fine, but photo taking was not the best.  The trolley tour takes just over two hours, going to Coronado Island, downtown and different areas.  Donald had the map of the route and decided that we should hop off at the second to last stop, which was Little Italy, for lunch.   We only had about 5 hours total at our disposal as we had to meet back at our tour bus stop at about 3 pm.
My favorite place that I would like come back to was Balboa Park and the magnificent museums and architecture.  I think Donald wanted to go back to the Island and the beach.

Our lunch was wonderful, with access to this rather large seating area through a rather small store hallway! The outside was tiny, and you almost would have missed it. Inside, there must have been over 100 people enjoying their meals and busy with a great wait staff.

walk through to Felippe's eatery

In Hyder, Alaska and Oatman, Arizona you can enter into the pub and write your name on a dollar bill and post it on the wall. Here, you can get an empty bottle of Chianti, write on the straw/wicker part and hang it from the ceiling. There were hundreds of bottles hanging.  Of course, the bottle closest to our table was written by a couple from Vancouver.

Donald had the lasagna and sausage and I had spaghetti, and both were the best we have ever had. Nothing now in a restaurant will compare to the lasagna that Donald enjoyed at Felippe's. I could not even finish my one meatball. Delicious. We hopped back on the trolley, sitting with other neighbours from our RV park,and then did a walk about through Old Town till we had to meet up with the bus. Old Town is pretty much a tourist zone, with Mexican goods that you can get at Los Algodones for 1/4 of the price as there. We enjoyed an afternoon coffee with a look at some beautiful flowers.

It was nice for Donald not to have to drive, and instead he got a kick out of looking down into vehicles as we passed, or as they passed, to see how many people were talking or texting on the interstate as they drove along. He wanted to be back in time for his Gold Rush show on the Discovery Channel to see what mess the Hoffman brothers were up to now.  We did make it in time, but our dish must have dis-aligned itself and it took us about 30 minutes to set it all back up! Errrg.

Today is Clubhouse Quilting and the Park Appreciation Lunch at noon. Better get going.........

So, when is there time to get the truck washed?

Poor Donald. We all have lists in our heads, specifically the 'to-do' lists, and on his list is to take the truck to get a proper wash at the Airport Truck Wash.  There just seems to be no time! He arrived back from golf with Rick, Rick and Mel on Sunday, only to have me at the door of the rig asking for some cash in order to buy 2 tickets to San Diego from a couple that cancelled their trip.  When are we going to San Diego, he asked?  Tuesday! When do I get the truck washed? Don't know, no time! After his golf game on Sunday there was a Superbowl Party at Mel and Debs with Rick, Paulette and another Rick and his wife, Kathy. Then yesterday was a day at the quilt clubhouse for me, and he helped ( or supervised ) Michael and Darcy leaving the park. After that, it was off to pick up a couple of things at W*mart, and then back here for the 3 - 5 pm Quilters BBQ at Judy's, hosted by Rick  and Paulette. Rick is going to be in so much trouble for the picture and little words about Sandy and her delicious Red Velvet Cake. It was a wonderful time with great friends.  Siena's husband, Jack, made the circle of men, asking each one if they knew what a Fat Quarter was.  Yep, some did know, some did not want to admit it, and I heard one shout " And what is a Stitch in the Ditch?".

Well,  today we are off to San Diego. There is a bus group organized at a very reasonable rate per person for just a day trip to Old Town San Diego. Can he get the truck washed on Wednesday? Maybe, but I have our regular Clubhouse Day, and we also have a Park Appreciation Lunch at 12:00.  Ah! The regular Happy Hour is cancelled because of the lunch, so yes, there is time after lunch.

We love being so busy here, and of course the weather helps. 

I think I need a day-timer to keep track

There was a phone call last evening from #2 son, asking what we have been doing. I told him we hardly get about 10 minutes of down time a day, we seem to be so busy, but doing what was hard to relate back to him, other than we are having a great time.

The weather has finally turned for the better, with temperatures hitting just about 80F/28C during day.  I finally no longer have to wear a touque on my head to swimming in the morning, as by the time aerobics are done, it is nice and warm and I am not running to get a jacket and windpants on as soon as I step out of the pool.  Awesome. Today was a big grocery shop, as it was long overdue and the larder was getting fairly bare, followed by dog sitting Miss Ellie Mae and enjoying the 1 acre dog park here, drop by visits from friends, and then off to a pizza place in Desert Hot Springs for supper for 8 of us. Darcy showed up with her mini Valentines quilt in the afternoon and we managed to get some binding cut and sewn on lickety-split.  Very good pizza afterwards. Very good company.

my Valentines Day runner, mini-group taught by me at Quilt Clubhouse

This morning is the pancake breakfast at the main hall at 8 am, then we have to go to Kohl's, then a Happy Hour celebration later in the afternoon as Michael and Darcy will be leaving next Monday. I think that means I won't have to make supper again - yahoo!

Sunday is Superbowl time, and of course, all the local quilt shops have a superbowl sale on, so guess where I will be, and guess where D will be! I think he will be looking for an invite to watch the game on US cable or dish tv. Our Shaw system, which is Canadian does not show all the cool Superbowl commercials.  My favorites are the Budweiser big horses.

Red sky in morning sunrise, coming through the window - Quartzsite

Dragons and Boulders

Palms at Anza-Borrego

This was our destination for our hike with Ken,Karen,Darcy,Michael,Jim and Linda. Same crew as Sunday. The day was so much fun, with an early morning start at 8 am, a lovely drive to Borrego and a quick breakfast in town before heading off to the State Park.  The trailhead is just at the end of the campground, and there was easy access and parking.

Yes, there were a few boulder to climb over and around, but that was fun, too. The little river valley was simply beautiful and we were fortunate to have great weather, and in particular, not too hot!!

The sands were damp in area, so we could tell that water had come down the valley in greater amounts than the little creek that we had to cross a couple of times.

Of course, it is great to hike with good friends and lots of laughs.  Darcy and Michael had not been to Borrego before, and we wanted to show them a little bit of the metal sculptures that we had taken a tour of last winter.  The hike was going to take up a major portion of our day, so we only visited a couple of sculptures, namely the dragon that goes under the road.

the road is after the 2nd 'hump'

There seems to be a bit of a wind that has kicked up after swimming this morning, so not too sure what we will get up to. Some chores, some grocery shopping perhaps. Maybe a nap.

Happy Birthday, Mom. Love you.

Flash Warning-no, not hot and we're clothed

The usual whirlwind has been happening here and we love it. After doing lap swimming and water aerobics, we were invited out to Whitewater Preserve for a hike. Such fun. You can see by the picture above, the our fearless little trail leader, AKA Coco the Rescue Dig, is staring up at someone's pocket, because he always has dog treats in his pockets.

There has been a few days of rain here in the valley, and with that rain comes the danger of flash floods. Two years ago we witnessed rain one day, then with a beautiful day the next day that is when the mud, boulders and rocks came running down the streets of Desert Hot Springs and other areas close by. So, yep, we drove out to the nearest water place, Whitewater Preserve where part of the access road was already flooded and yep, we drove through it! Ken and Michael have big 4x4's, so no worries!

Karen is pointing to the sign noting:" Extreme Flash Flood Danger", and then of course, we picked the trail leading to the river. The area around the river had been wet, but still very beautiful. The preserve has a number of stocked fish ponds with 'steelhead'. Not near the size of our ocean travelling steelhead in the north, but the water is clear with bright shallow parts to see the fish easily.

This will be a place where we will return and it is so close to our park. Sunday we are dog sitting Ms. Ellie Mae again, and Monday we are off to Borrego Springs and the state park there for another hike, but that will be a long day!

Luckily it won't be as far as walking to Canada. 2445.4 miles from this beautiful rock.