Palm Desert, CA

My destination yesterday was Lake Havasu City, AZ, not only so that I could enjoy the desert and get off the beaten path a little, but I have some family in the area. My sister, Lynn and her husband Wally are enjoying relief from the rain of Vancouver Island, and cousin Gary and Maggie are there getting relief from the usually even more severe winter in Winnipeg. Unfortunately, in my hurry to get on the road in the morning, I forgot, of all things, my camera. So these photos are taken with my iPhone.

To get there, driving across the desert outside of Palm Springs area is gorgeous with the taupes and browns of the desert contrasted against the blue sky, with the lush green of the occasional natural or man-made oasis of palms and cacti. Shadows and shapes peak your interest, especially in the early morning sun.

I followed Interstate 10 for some time and then headed north along CA- 177 and then east along CA-62 to Parker where I joined up with CA-95 and headed north. All along these stretches the mountains poked their sometimes smooth but increasingly craggy heads above the flat desert floor. There is the odd bit of red in the hills, but mostly the same taupe tones of the desert sands and sage brush. I thought back to the challenging road from CA-101 over to CA-1 in northern Californian and how different these roads were. Flat, except for the odd dips and some grade as Interstate 10 passes over Chiriaco summit on the southern side of Joshua Tree National Park, and for the most part, straight as an arrow. And with very little traffic, let’s just say I made good time on the drive. I always feel like I’m in an old western movie when I’m in this environment and expect a war party or cavalry to come down out of the hills at any moment.

On CA-62 I was driving along enjoying the desert, and I started to see trucks pulling boats on trailers, and bill boards for dock installations and boat storage signs. What the heck? Oh, yes, I remember, Parker is where I am connecting with the Colorado River. One of the very few waterways in the American south west. I’ve come across the Colorado frequently in my former travels through several states in this part of the world by motorcycle. (One of my favourite places to enjoy the Colorado is in Moab, UT).

There is a damn on the Colorado just north of Parker (and 155 miles downstream from the more famous Hoover Damn) built from 1934 and 1938 for electricity production and to provide a water reservoir which they called Lake Havasu.

In 1963, a businessman and owner of McCulloch Motors, Robert McCulloch was flying over the area looking for a place to test his outboard engines when he got the notion that the area around Lake Havasu would make an excellent site for a new community. Since then Lake Havasu City has never looked back. It is now home to more than 50,000 people, over 750,000 thousand visitors annually, and the London Bridge.

The London Bridge was taken apart, brick by brick and transported and reconstructed on dry land on a peninsula in Lake Havasu City. Then a canal was built under the bridge creating an island in the Colorado. It completed and dedicated in 1971.

My visit there started with a quick catchup visit with Lynn and Wally and tour of the great house they have rented for a few months, and then we joined Gary and Maggie for lunch at Chilis. It’s a U.S. chain restaurant that I have seen but hadn’t been to before with a really extensive menu. I chose the Quesadilla Explosion Salad, which was really tasty and huge. The flat bread looked great too.

After a lot of rag chewing as well as lunch chewing, Lynn and Wally showed me around the waterfront, and we went for a short walk in the park along the Bridgewater Channel. We got a great look at the London Bridge from water level as well as some of the miniature lighthouses that are dotted along the shoreline all around the island. Nearby was Maggie and Gary’s RV Park, Crazy Horse Campground so we dropped by for a visit and enjoyed their hospitality. It’s right on the lake with a great beach. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic while I was with Gary and Maggie! My mind seems to be doing a great job of being on vacation from photography and blogging!

I headed “home” late in the day, as the sun was setting and managed to get a great pic as the light was just draining from the sky. Gotta love the desert sunsets seen above.

Palm Desert, CA

Yesterday I headed to the Street Fair at the College of the Desert here in Palm Desert. On weekends they turn the college’s parking lot into a huge market selling everything from fresh dates and other produce, to clothing, yard sculpture, hot dogs, shoes, jewelry, etc. And in the evening, Karen and Allen and I headed out to a movie – Trumbo. It’s a great flick, that I’d highly recommend. It’s a true story about Dalton Trumbo and the “Hollywood Ten” that got blacklisted in 1947 for their political beliefs and not testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Once again makes us thankful for the freedom we have in Canada to speak about our beliefs.

Today Karen and Allen and I had a great day with two completely different but equally fun activities. It went from the gregarious, colorful, and loud to the serene, quiet and beautiful.

First off we headed east to downtown Indio for the 2015 Annual Tamale Festival. What fun! Instead of traffic the streets were covered with lively booths selling food – primarily tamales of course- but drinks, hats, pashminas, sorbet, churros, sandals, jewelry and a whole pile of other things. There were several stages set up throughout the area with entertainment and beer gardens for the big kids; and for the smaller ones a play area with bouncy space ship and climbing/sliding castles, amusement rides, face painting and pony rides.

Having never had tamales we were off in a search of the best booth to choose. We found one that had a whole line up of trophies and quite a few people in line so we stepped right up and ordered one each to try. They were OK, but not terrific. They had a thick corn bread type covering that was kind of tasteless. So we tried one at another booth and they were much tastier, had less bread and more substantive amount of protein, and we all agreed they were much better. After walking around we came upon “Grandmother Lupe’s Tamales” booth, and it had a huge long line up compared to all the rest. So I suspect it might have been the best. But one never knows, and like anything it’s individual taste. And yes, there were churros so of course I had those as well. Not surprisingly, they were much better than the ones at Disneyland.

When I was at the College of the Desert Street Fair on Saturday, I sat and chatted with a fellow Canadian from Nelson, BC, who had spent winters in Desert Hot Springs for the past several years. He told me about some things to do while in the desert including an oasis in Coachella Valley Preserve that you could walk through and approximately where to find it, so after the Tamale Festival we headed out to see if we could find it. And sure enough we did. It’s called the Coachella Valley Preserve. There is a small parking lot with an old log cabin visitors centre, manned by volunteers, and well marked paths through the desert from one oasis to another.

We started off at the Thousand Palms Oasis near the visitors centre, where there was some standing water and we hiked for 30 minutes or so out to another oasis, called McCallum Oasis. Between the two, the path meandered through the sand and dry brush and there are some plaques marking native desert plants such as the smoke tree. Once at the McCallum Oasis, you come upon a gorgeous, large pond produced by hot springs. This area is on the San Andreas Fault so there are many springs in the whole area. There is a path around the pond with a viewing platform and several benches, and you can even have a picnic if you haven’t eaten tamales and churros all morning. There is also a lookout point up the hillside you could hike to, but we were losing light and energy and hadn’t really come prepared for hiking so we headed back.

It is very different to hike among a palm tree forest, or oasis, than it is in other kinds of forests. The palm trees are surprisingly huge up close and with the fan palms and other grasses it felt jungle-like near the water source and yet you’re just steps from the dusty taupe desert. There are two types of native palms at these oases which produce tiny fruit the size of wild blueberries rather than the larger fruit of the imported date palms found elsewhere in the valley. Once back at the visitors centre we asked about the fruit and they had some samples there for us to try. They tasted much like dates, but with their small size and the pit there was very meat.

What a great way to spend a Sunday.

Palm Springs, CA

Today Karen and Allen and I headed in to Palm Springs to check out a new bagel restaurant and to check out the strip along Palm Canyon Drive. I was last in the area 3 years ago as I was in the process of getting my position at International Trade. Karen and Allen graciously hosted me during that visit. Not a lot has changed, but there seems to be some attempts at revitalization of the downtown core with the construction of a new convention centre and hotel under way.

Palm Springs is a unique city with no end of golf courses, interesting architecture, art and design shops and a million or so restaurants. New communities have gradually built out along Highway 111 and a lot of the cities you’ve heard about are strung out along the Highway into Coachella Valley, running from one to another. Indian Wells, Cathedral Grove, Indio, Palm Desert to name just a few.

Our first stop was breakfast at a new bagel joint that Karen and Allen had heard about. It makes boiled bagels in a dozen or so varieties and if you love these type of bagels you’ll love Townie Bagels. It’s a small cute little place, off the beaten path, but worth finding. They serve breakfast and lunch bagel sandwiches, and other baked goods. The cinnamon bun with orange-flavoured icing was to die for. The staff are uber friendly and willing to go the extra mile. You even get an extra bagel of your choice when you buy a bakers dozen.

http://towniebagels.com

Then it was over to Palm Canyon Drive where we started at the Palm Springs Art Museum – Architecture and Design Museum. Their current exhibit explores light through various media. My favourite was a full size glass dress made using moulds of an art model.

Then we checked out the great shops along Palm Canyon Drive. A lot of them are retro themed and they have some really funky stuff. We stumbled across some retro travel trailer Christmas ornaments, and you just have to know they’ll be showing up on my tree next year.

It was overcast most of the afternoon and didn’t reach higher than 20 degrees or so. But we crazy Canadians were in capris and short sleeve shirts. The Californians of course were wearing down jackets and complaining and making fun of us.

After our fill of window shopping we drove back to Palm Desert to El Paseo, one block south of Highway 111 and running for a km or so. It’s a high end shopping district nicknamed “the Rodeo Drive of Palm Desert”, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue. It is beautifully landscaped, has valet parking and at night the palm trees boles are all lit up with white lights and it’s quite magical. The first and third Fridays of the month in late afternoon, there is a parade of antique cars that we went to take a look at. There weren’t really very many out tonight, perhaps because it was a little chilly.

It was early, but we’d had an early breakfast so we headed for Thai Smile on El Paseo and it was really enjoyable.

All in all, a great day!

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.

San Diego, CA

Well, I didn’t really go to Spain, but it felt like I did. I had a busy day yesterday trying to take in as much as I could before I leave the San Diego area Tuesday.

I started my day in Balboa Park near downtown San Diego. I’d been there once already, as it’s home to the San Diego Zoo, but today I wanted to focus on the museum area. Several of the buildings built for the Panama-California Exposition in 1915-16 have been preserved or recreated and turned into a plethora of museums, performing arts centres, and art studios. There are 28 buildings and museums organized around a pedestrian corridor called El Prado. The architecture for the most part is Spanish-Renaissance style, there are multiple fountains (which Vera will remember with affection from Spain) and with names like Prado and Alcazar it’s not surprising that it has a Spanish feel to it.

I wandered around the grounds, the gardens and in and out of some of the buildings, did some window shopping in the Spanish Village Arts Centre, grabbed a great chicken quesadilla for lunch and took way too many pictures. It was 3 hours later before I realized it.

Next I headed to the San Diego Mission, or Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala and another visit with Father Juniper Serra. This was the first of the missions Father Serra founded in 1769 and the first of the 21 California missions. The mission was burned to the ground by Indian attacks in 1775 but was rebuilt with more reinforced defences by 1790. In 1821 whenMexico gained independence the Mission was handed over to the Mexicans, but after the US/Mexican war it was transferred to the Americans and the US Cavalry used the mission for some years having to repair decaying buildings in order for it to be used. In 1862 the mission was turned back to the church by President Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately much of the mission was not open yesterday because of a wedding in the church but I did tour the grounds and the museum.

It was a beautiful afternoon, so I headed towards one of the coastal areas I hadn’t seen yet and read about, Sunset Cliffs Natural Area. It was hopping with surfers and people walking, running and just enjoying the warm afternoon. And fortunately it was on the way to Cabrillo National Monument on Point Loma.

You’ll recall that I was not able to get in to Cabrillo NM last Thursday because it was closed for Thanksgiving, but instead I stopped at the Rosecrans National Cemetery. Today it was open and crawling with people. There is a fabulous view from the monument, and displays about an interesting part of the area history, both military use and the Point Loma Lighthouse.

Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo sailed north from Mexico in 1542 and landed at this spot. Point Loma, San Diego because of the great natural harbour. He died shortly thereafter without finding the route to Asia and the Spice Islands or gold which he set out to do.

The lighthouse was put into use from 1855 (using a Fresnel lens I learned about in Oregon) and was extinguished for the final time in 1891, and the light keeper moved down the hill to a newer light station. There is also an area developed to allow people to spend time wandering the tidal pools down at the ocean’s edge but I arrived too late in the day to participate in that.

Then it was back “home” to get snuggled in before the heat of the day turned in to a cool, cool night.

P.S. Just an aside about one of my most favourite things about my trip. Where ever I go, I end up chatting with people; in lines at tourist spots, in restaurants, at the campground, at gas stations. Often the conversation gets around to my travels. Am I alone, how long am I away, where am I going, do I like my little trailer, where are they from, has it always been home, etc.? They are always interesting conversations which I cherish.

Last week a lovely lady stopped over to my campsite to say hi because she noticed my plates were from Ontario. Although she has been a long time resident of San Diego area, she was born in southern Ontario. She and I chatted for some time before her grandson came to politely let her know it was dinner time and so she re-joined her visiting family. We talked about how she’d ended up in San Diego, my trip, her job and what she was doing in retirement, what I should do in San Diego while I was here, and my travel blog among other things. It was a delightful conversation which I thoroughly enjoyed. She stopped in before she left to go to her nearby home that evening to tell me about a couple of things I ought to try and see while in the area, and also to ask if she could read my blog as she was interested in my travels. Her family left the campground last Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving at home and the woman from San Diego, (Marilyn is her name I have since discovered) headed to their home to spend that special time with them.

Today, just before coming out to write my blog, Marilyn dropped by my campground to let me know that she hadn’t received my blog and would I mind trying again, and to drop off a book of all the national parks in the U.S. for me. How nice is that! She made my day! That’s one example of the nicest kinds of things that have happened on my journey.

Chula Vista, CA

Yesterday was Thanksgiving in the United States of America. The campground was packed with families either camping here while visiting nearby family, or just spending a few days together in the campground. Living in a campground you have a little bit of a window into how other people live since you’re packed in to a small space and you spend so much time outside. Just a walk to the washroom is instructional.

Camping is a great thing for kids to grow up doing and I love staying in parks where there are lots around. I avoid the 55+ ones for that reason. Given that the wifi is practically non-existent or useless in many campgrounds and lots of the sites don’t have cable hookup, kids are forced to find other things to do, which their parent encourage (“get out of that trailer, now!”). And they do. In most cases their parents do stuff with them. The playgrounds are swarming with little tots to early teens with parents standing and sitting around the perimeter chatting among themselves. You really have to drive 5 mph through the park because there are so many kids and adults on the roadways on their bikes, etc. In the early evening you can hear “Home free” throughout the park as a game of hide and seek breaks out which takes me back to my own youth. The young teens find each other and swarm from one part of the park to another in a pack.

One of the things that surprises me is how much paraphernalia people brought with them specifically for preparing their dinner. (some of this happens even when it’s not Thanksgiving but things seemed to be on overdrive this weekend). Patios were covered with propane ovens, stoves and/or deep fryers. The little chimney fireplaces augmented the fire pits provided. Folding tables were produced to add to the picnic table supplied at each spot. Pop up canopies and tents with sides used by event companies were produced. Cases of drinks were piled high. Lights of all kinds were added – some Christmas lights, some fancy lanterns, and strings of red, white and blue ones. Even the LED ropes were laid along the outline of the patios in a couple of instances.

As the day progressed and the preparations for dinner were well underway, groups played games of horse shoe and other tossing games, threw footballs around, rode bikes or scooters (both human energy and electric models), and lots of people sat around their big screen TVs built into their huge rigs doing that other traditional Thanksgiving thing, watching football. At least they were outside.

I enjoyed sitting around reading and chatting with people as they passed by, and given the weak wifi, even finished a 786 page book I’d only started a few days ago. By early afternoon I was ready to venture out to see some more of San Diego. I chose to go to the Cabrillo National Monument, which had been recommended to me by a fellow camper (and former Canadian), and to re-visit Coronado.

Cabrillo National Monument is on the tip of Point Loma, a high point overlooking San Diego and Coronado, and it’s where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was the first European to set foot on the west coast of the US in 1542. The park includes a visitor centre, Point Loma lighthouse, hiking trails and tidal pools for exploring. Unfortunately, I hadn’t clued in that since it was Thanksgiving Day, it was closed. So I’ll have to try to fit it in again before I leave Tuesday next week for Palm Springs.

But I did have a chance to wander through the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery also located on Point Loma. The “national cemetery” designates important cemeteries where military personnel, veterans and their spouses and children are usually buried. Arlington National Cemetery across the river from Washington, DC. which has 400,000 graves is the best known, but there are 147 of them across the US. The Fort Rosecrans one has approximately 100,000 graves (which still seems like an overwhelming number) in the same kind of layout as Arlington. It was an appropriate place to spend some time on Thanksgiving I thought.

Then I was on to Coronado, across a huge big bridge on Highway 75 running off Interstate 5. I learned something new while looking up Coronado to see if it was truly an island as it is sometimes called. Seems it’s a “tied-Island”. The definition I found is as follows:

“Tied islands, or land-tied islands as they are often known, are landforms consisting of an island that is connected to land only by a tombolo: a spit of beach materials connected to land at both ends.”

Who knew?

Coronado is an upscale neighbourhood whose economy is tied to the local tourism business. There is a beach that was once rated as a top10 beach on the continent, and is similar to many of the California beaches, long and wide, with fine white sand. In addition to the historic Hotel Del Coronado there are other major hotels and smaller ones running along the beach along with some newer mega-houses and smaller older ones. I had been to Coronado almost 30 years ago and stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado when we attended a sales conference in the late 80s.

The Hotel Del Coronado, shown above, has a long and interesting history. Architecturally, it’s classified as a wooden Victorian Beach Resort genre, and is the second largest wooden structure in the US (after the Tillamook Air Museum in Tillamook, OR which I saw earlier this fall). It’s a California Historical Landmark which, when it opened in 1888, was the largest resort hotel in the world. It was also the first hotel to have electric lighting and the first electrically lit outdoor Christmas tree on the hotel’s lawn (1904). When we stayed at the hotel in the late 80s, the power frequently went off between 4 and 5 pm during the high demand of people getting prepared for dinner. Hopefully by now it’s been re-wired.

Many celebrities have stayed there. Presidents Taft, Wilson, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, JFK, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, HW Bush, Clinton, GW Bush, and Obama to name a few. Hollywood celebrities Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn and Mae West were frequent guests. There is even a rumour that Edward, Prince of Wales met Wallis Simpson there in 1920 but in both of their memoirs they noted they met much later.

There is also a rumour that the hotel is haunted by the ghost of a woman dying of cancer, who shot herself at the hotel in the late 1800’s.

Chula Vista, CA

Well, an Escondido Safari, not African. I drove the 30 minutes or so north to San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido.

I visited San Diego Zoo a few days ago, and yesterday I headed out to the 1800 acre Safari Park facility of the Zoo which houses species from all continents except Antarctica. The area is semi-arid so the African animals are quite a home. The free range enclosures are huge and they emulate the natural habitat of the animals as best as they can including putting several different species in the same enclosures. The park is divided into several different areas.

I started my visit with a tram ride of the African area since the waiting line gets longer as the day goes on. Even with seeing the largest area by tram, there is still lots of walking and some of it up and down hills. There is an elevator to get you from one area to another where there is a dramatic change in elevation.

Overall, the visitor facilities are really well done, with lots of shade, lots of restrooms and areas for kids to let off steam. And of course there are frequent opportunities for purchasing souvenirs and places to eat. Oh yes, and there are photographers everywhere looking to help you remember your trip to the Safari Park, with a photo they have taken along the way. For a price of course. I found the map of the site a little confusing, I think because it wasn’t to scale but they include sign posts and locator numbers that help to keep you on track.

There are also all sorts of upgrades available in addition to your ticket. You can go on the back of a truck to tour the Africa area, which includes a stop in the giraffes pasture where they feed them to enable you to get a picture with a giraffe. There is a behind the scenes tour which allows you to see the areas that are for the zoo keepers only, and learn more “hands on”. There is a balloon ride where you can go up in a tethered hot air balloon, and some other specific animal packages. You can also pay extra to get more convenient parking (on top of the $12 just to park in the regular lot), to get to the front of the line-up for the tram, to get into a VIP area to watch the cheetahs run, etc. So bring your wallet.

The Safari Park facility is used for research into breeding and conservation and their mandate is to bring back as many endangered species as possible. The facility includes the world’s largest veterinary hospital and they have an extensive Conservation Research facility which includes holding frozen samples for breeding purposes. They have several global awards for conservation and breeding research.

In 2014 one of their Northern White Rhinos died at the zoo which leaves only 5 in the world, including a female at Safari Park. They hope in the future to use invitro fertilization to impregnate the female to start a comeback for the Northern Whites.

They are noted for their California condor breeding program. In 1987 they took the last remaining 22 condors into captivity and by removing eggs from nests, they induced females to lay a second egg which they left for the females to hatch. The egg which they removed was hatched in an incubator. By 1992 they started reintroducing them into the wild and by 2011 the population was 191 in the wild and close to 400 overall.

Over all, it was a great day but again I was left wanting to visit the real thing in Africa in the not too distant future. And to be honest, I’m not sure it was worth visiting both the Zoo and the Park. Since the Zoo is closer in, and the grounds are a little smaller, if you only have time for one, I’d hit the Zoo. If you are going to both parks take a look at the ticket package deals that can save you some money.

I didn’t get this posted last night because the RV Park is so full the wifi is ridiculously slow. Overnight it rained and the cooler weather has come in, but it’s sunny with just a few fluffy white clouds left hanging around and about 18. Still very usable.

La Jolla, CA

This morning proved to be as perfect weather-wise as was forecast, so I was off to La Jolla along with piles of other people. I drove a slow route to get there along the downtown waterfront, along Mission Bay Beach, past Belmont Park where the 1920s “Great Dipper” wooden rollercoaster is the only part left of a bygone amusement park and up into La Jolla.

La Jolla is a beautiful community, one of the most desirable areas in San Diego, with houses set among the hills looking out to the ocean. It’s home to the Salk Institute (founder Jonas Salk, was the developer of the polio vacine), and UCSD, and nearby is Torrey Pines Golf Course.

I walked along the walkway overlooking La Jolla Beach and Cove, and watched the seals or sea lions (I need to figure out the difference, don’t I?) kayakers, swimmers, snorkelers and joined those wading and walking the beach.

Next I was south on the I-5 to Old Town. It is a State Historic Park which commemorates the beginnings of San Diego (the first European settlement on the west coast) in the early 1800’s. Guess who started a mission and settlement there in 1769? Those of you reading my blogs no doubt got it, the then-Father Junipero Serra and the same year a Presido was built to protect the growing community. The Mission (Mission San Diego de Alcaia) moved upriver after a few years, but the settlement at the base of the hill where the Presidio was built continued to grow. Several of the original adobe buildings are still standing, although some have been turned into commercial entities.

Nearby is Whaley House Museum which was built in 1857 by the Whaley family to house their home and general store and was even a commercial theatre at one point. It is rumoured to be haunted and has received attention from various movies and TV shows as a result.

San Diego was part of Mexico before California was admitted into the United States in 1850. So it’s natural that Mexican themed gift shops and restaurants have sprung up around the State Historic Park and I grabbed lunch on the patio of one of them. It wasn’t great food but it was billed as “californian” so I probably should have gone with one of the numerous Mexican choices.

After lunch I wandered some shops and sat to listen to entertainment provided in a commercial area adjacent to the Park, called Fiesta de Reyes. It’s a huge outdoor restaurant in the centre with a stage for entertainment, and shops around the perimeter. It’s definitely a tourist trap, but it’s a really well done one. The displays are nice, the stores carry quality items, and I was sorry I hadn’t chosen it as my lunch stop the food looked so good.

Chula Vista, CA

I had driven right past San Juan Capistrano on my way down to San Diego, wanting to get my “house” settled and then backtrack for a trip all along the coast at my leisure. Given today’s forecast was for “summer-like” temperatures, I decided to make today the day I did that. The temperature got up to about 26-28 degrees just after noon.

So I headed north on the freeway to San Juan Capistrano and the Mission there as my frist stop. This is my favourite of the Missions I’ve seen so far. It has been more romanticized because of “the return of the swallows” but it is one of the Missions most associated with now-Saint Junipero Serra, as well. (the swallows come back in March, BTW) So it’s got lots of history. And the grounds are by far the nicest, despite the fact that there was a special event going on there this evening and the events team were there setting up. I ran around and took as many pictures as I could before they put their tables and light standards, etc up in the way.

This mission was founded in 1776, the 7th of the 9 missions established by then Father Serra and is one of the most historically significant. The Serra Chapel, still standing, and dating back to the 1780’s is California’s only chapel still standing where Saint Serra celebrated Mass.

After leaving San Juan Capistrano, I headed back down I-5 to the point where Historic Highway 101, the original coast road splits off and then I spent the rest of the day meandering down the highway. I stopped at a crazy diner in Oceanside called Cafe 101 which was originally opened along Highway 101 in 1928 and they still serve a mean burger.

There are beaches all the way down the coast, some rustic with just access, and no facilities to some that had parking lots, food stands, showers, washrooms, etc. My two favourites were Carlsbad and La Jolla Cove with the later winning out because of the beautiful hills dotted with mansions surrounding the cove.

I’m sitting at a Starbucks in La Jolla in the dark, having not even gotten back to San Diego. It’s getting cool out so I will head for home and carry on the beach journey tomorrow.

San Diego, CA

Today I decided to spend the day at the San Diego Zoo, and so apparently did the whole San Diego school system. It was the first day of Thanksgiving break for some of the local school boards and there was a special offer for kids to visit the zoo today. Wouldn’t you know. It is probably as busy on any day in the summer though and the lines for anything weren’t too long.

The 100 acre San Diego Zoo is situated in urban Balboa Park, and both it and the San Diego Museum of Man (buiiding which looks like it has a church clock tower attached) and other structures are remnants of the 1915 Panama-California Exposition, held to celebrate the opening of the Panana Canal. The zoo has 3700 animals, give or take a few, and no, I didn’t get a chance to see all of them.

I started my day at the zoo with the narrated bus tour (included in the one day pass) to get my bearings and get an overview of the zoo. Earlier is better for most of the popular activities and I only waited 15 minutes or so for the tour. It was really well done, and seeing some of the things from the bus meant that I didn’t have to walk back to see those areas that were out of the way.

The tour/driver pointed out that the zoo is also a botanical park and plants required for the feeding of some of the animals as well as just for display are grown throughout the property.

Then I wandered through the exhibits that I was interested in such as the monkeys, elephants, giraffes and pandas.

The longest line was to see the Panda Trek Exhibit. There was one lone two year old panda being shown today, and he was adorable. Well worth the 15 min wait in line to get my turn to walk past as slowly as possible.

One of the things they didn’t talk about but which I read about was an orangutan, named Ken Allen, who became famous in the 1980s after he escaped three times from enclosures which were thought to be escape-proof. He got the nickname “Hairy Houdini”, had his own fan club, and even had a song written about him. He died of cancer in 2000.

I ended the day taking the Skyfari Aerial Tram back to the entrance/exit area. It was a bit of a wait (15 mins) to get on, but it was a great way to get from the far back of the zoo back to the front to save wear and tear on tired body parts.

I will try and get to the Zoo’s Safari Park which is a larger park outside of the city associated with the Zoo where animals have much larger areas to wander. The animals are moved between the two facilities when necessary or for variety for the animals.

I came away, having enjoyed my day, but also thinking that I can’t wait to get to see these animals in the wild.