San Diego, CA
Wow, has it really been since last Sunday since I posted to my blog? Well, time to get caught up I guess. Last Monday was my last day in San Diego so I retraced my steps to one of my favourite places, Seaport Village and I headed up to Mount Soledad to see the Memorial to Vets at the top of the mountain and the view from there.
My first stop was the Memorial. It was a beautiful day for a drive up there, snaking through residential areas of lovely homes with hints at the views to come at the top. It is a perfect spot for reflection and to pay homage to the American (and a couple of British) Veterans. The cross was put up in 1913 and the black granite slabs to hold memorial plaques were added in 1952. The plaques honouring those who served in every war, even the Civil War, cover the majority of the walls. The docent who was there to help explain the memorial, or to help visitors find specific plaques showed me the two British plaques since there are no Canadian ones. The Memorial is maintained by a NFP group with volunteers providing all the necessary administration, fundraising, cleaning etc.
The view from the top of the Memorial was spectacular with a near 360 degree exposure of the hills and waterways around San Diego and out into the Pacific. A perfect place to say so long to San Diego, for now.
Then I hopped back on the freeway and down to the waterfront adjacent to downtown to Seaport Village, an area of shops and restaurants for a great lunch on a patio overlooking the walkway along the water. I had a great grilled cheese and tomato basil soup lunch that was awesome, at the Edgewater Grill. I did a bit of shopping and they headed back to my trailer to get ready to move on the next day.
The trip from San Diego was short, only 2 and a half hours or so, and I took the route through the mountains rather than on the freeways as it’s a much more interesting and pretty drive. From Temecula on Highway 15 I headed over the mountains on Highway 79, on to 371 and over to 74 and down into Palm Desert where my beautiful oasis awaited me.
Emerald Desert RV Resort, in Palm Desert is by far the nicest of the Parks I’ve stayed in. The grounds are manicured daily with scissors, I’m sure. The pool area is as nice as I’ve seen anywhere. It has a well equipped exercise room (not that I’ve stepped foot in it), and the showers are even nicer and bigger than the ones at Cape Lazo, the previous winner in that category. And the good news is that I’m here until January 4th.
My close friends, Karen and Allen from North Vancouver, who you met in my blog on October 20th, winter in Palm Desert so I have great company during my stay here in Palm Desert. We went out for dinner on Tuesday night to a great restaurant on El Paseo Drive (the “Rodeo Drive of Palm Desert”), California Pizza Kitchen. Since then I’ve been puttering around at the Resort, getting caught up on some reading, getting my rig cleaned and waxed, etc.
So for the next month or so you will only hear from me sporadically if I do anything interesting or get any great pics.
Lois' Adventures 