Escape Day Three

Day 3 brings an open day, we have nothing planned, no schedules, just site seeing. We take off in the Lincoln heading north, go towards the coast at Torrey Pines and catch 101 North. Beautiful sceanry up the coast. We stop at this pier I believe in Carlsbad and walked out to the end.

 We drove as far up the coast as San Clemente, which didn't see much there that was worth anything. Then headed back down I5 to San Diego. But that was not to be easy. The traffic was stop and go, mostly stop for quite a ways, then at Oceanside we decided to get off the Interstate to head over to the Coastal Hwy again, but being later in the day the traffic was all backed up there also. In Oceanside they had the main highway closed for a parade, so had to wind our way thru back roads.  Finally found our way through. Got back to Torrey Pines then headed back to I5 which at that point was moving smoothly. We then took a ride out to Cabillo Monument at Point Loma. Visited the old lighthouse.

 Here is a picture of the new lighthouse.

 Then we took a hike down the Bayside Trail.

 Which went down the hill to along side the ocean.

 The bay was busy with many sailboats and other commercial vessels.

Now we're headed out to dinner at Lighthouse Restaurant at the end of Harbor Island.  And I better get my act in gear or I will miss dinner. So Good Night! (Sorry, no editing as I'm late, so sorry for any errors.)

Escape Day Two

Friday morning brought the usual early morning overcast, but with a promise of another nice day here in San Diego. After breakfast at the Club Lounge we headed off to the Zoo to catch all the animals (both human and mammal) before the stampede. First we start at the hotel we are staying at.

 Thought we would get to the zoo before the animals took their morning naps, but guess we were just too late. This lion had his breakfast and was fast at the zzzzzz's.

 This guy was wide awake and looking all around for something to get into mischief with.

 Here's the chief overlooking his tribe.

 Another napper after his morning breakfast.

 Panda's are just so cute.

 After spending 3 hours at the zoo, getting lost on their numerous trails, seeing all the animals and having a hot dog, it was time to move on for another adventure.

 We took the 2 hour harbor cruise on the Adventure ship. It was a pleasant sightseeing cruise, although a bit chilly. The winds picked up in the afternoon and out on the water cooled it right down. Below is a Southwest flight landing at the airport just next to the bay (and our hotel).

 We were treated on our cruise to have the opportunity to see the USS Carl Vincent Aircraft Carrier coming into the bay to dock. It is just returning after a 6 month tour at sea. As most of you NCAA basketball fans know, the beginning of last season, one of the opening games was played on this Aircraft Carrier when it was in dock. It was between North Carolina and Michigan State and I believe that North Carolina won.

We were treated to many wonderful sailing boats out on this beautiful day. Notice the men up on the front mast.

 Of course, we got thirsty enjoying all the beautiful scenery.

After getting off the cruise ship, we took the shuttle back to the hotel. But what a ride we had, it took over 50 minutes that should have taken only about 15 minutes. The driver thought he was a fabulous tour guide, but in reality he was a bit strange. His mouth never closed for more than 2 seconds to take the next breath and he talked so loud that the person in the car next to us could hear. Instead of just taking the stops on the route, he kept circling around and going back to the stops again. But we finally made it back to the hotel. I'm almost afraid to take the shuttle again, but believe me if this driver is ever present again, I will not step foot on that bus!

After that experience, we definitely needed a wine down time on our deck overlooking the fabulous view.

Escaping the Heat

Where else do Tucsonian's go to escape the heat except San Diego. A 6 hour drive west of Tucson we arrived at a beautiful 75 degree sunny day, oh the glorious relief from the 100+ degrees we have been having in Tucson. Since this was a quick get away for 3 days, the motorhome stayed parked in Tucson and we drove over and am staying using our Starwood points at the Sheraton Hotel and Marina on the Harbor Island. As you can see our view out the window is spectacular.

We arrived in San Diego just before noon and we immediately took off from the hotel and walked the approx. 2.5 miles down to the USS Midway to take the tour of this aircraft carrier. It was quite interesting and quite BIG. After 2.5 hours of winding our way through this ship, we started back to the hotel. Needless to say, by the time we walked all the way back, my legs were quite tired. I was ready for a beer, but we will have to wait for that pleasure.

Our hotel room is a Jr. Suite, since we are platinum members of Starwood so we get an automatic upgrade on our room. For dinner we took the shuttle down to the piers then walked into Little Italy looking for a spectacular restaurant, which we found after walking only about 15 minutes. After dinner we took the shuttle back to the hotel then went up to the Club Room (only for silver and platinum members) on the top floor and enjoying some cookies for desert watching the boats on the bay.

Here is another view from our room as the sun is setting. After I finish this post, I'm heading for bed, my feet and legs are tired.  We need to rest up for another fun filled day tomorrow. And guess what - another day filled with walking many miles. Maybe tomorrow night I will be able to stay up late enough to take a pictures of the city lights.

Reid Park Zoo

Last Saturday presented itself with not much on the agenda, so I suggested we visit the zoo, it's been a long time since we have been there. I always enjoy seeing the many feather/furry friends there. It promised to be another hot day, but we started out around 9:30 and with the zoo being quite shady, the heat did not pose a problem.

Here are several of the many animals we saw. The first one is an anteater. I always pictured them being much smaller, but he(or she) was quite sizable.

 It was nap time for several of the residents.

 There were several unusual birds like these two. Don't know how he can eat with that long beak.

 This is the first all white peacock I have ever seen.  He put on quite a show.

 Here is the normal peacock that I'm familiar with.

 I just love a giraffe's expressions.

 This parrot has such beautiful color.

 Then there is the stalking tiger.

All in all, our few hours at the zoo was quite enjoyable. Even though the Tucson zoo is small, it is well kept and has many animals. It's well worth the minimal admission that they charge.