Just Some Fun Pictures

Imperial Beach

Point Lomas

Looking over the San Diego skyline

As the rain rolls in

Great color and contours

Today we have our Monday morning planning meeting. Now remember Jan is a retired principal so she is used to having plans and lists and yadda yadda yadda. However this meeting comes complete with home made muffins:)

Pondering

But first pictures and adventures to share:
Point Lomis has a military cemetery that is pretty fascinating in that it is so peaceful and serene. The flowers are called Bird of Paradise and are quite striking. David and Mikey (both ex Navy men) taking a minute to reflect.

This lighthouse on Point Lomis makes a great picture, it looks like an estate. Anyway this light house replaced..... This one. Apparently this one was too high (is on the point while the new one is below on the ocean) and the light confused boaters because it was so high.

David and Mikey have played a few games of cribbage. David pegs...constantly

While poor Mikey scratches his head wondering how can it be?

The waves have been fabulous this past week and many were out to enjoy them. This is taken on Coronado Beach with Point Lomis in the background.

The beaches here have black sand running through them. Those are Jan's feet strolling along.

One of THE places to stay is Del Coronado or for those in the know it is just 'The Del'. This is apparently where the rich and famous stay. In fact, according to our tour guide (Jan) the apartment at the top shown here is where the presidents stay.

Bob G if you are following this blog I just want you to know that I have decided to stay

And open up my own shop....whatchya think Bob?

I can get my taste of Mexico in Old Town. Our two old boys posed for us trying to look old. I think they just managed to look danged crabby!

While on Isla I have posted pictures of the island church. Many of the churches you see here are the old world look churches. I love that style.

Yup there are even vendors selling items from Mexico.

Since the day that we arrived I have been trying to figure out why I so enjoy this place. After all we live in the woods (and this is far from the woods). At home our nearest town has a population of maybe 200 (I have no clue how populated this area is but given all of the roads and cars it is definitely more than 200:). I have never liked big busy towns (this is big and busy). Well you get the idea. And I guess we are both surprised that we do enjoy it so much. I think it is the diversity of the area and the lifestyle of many. Surfers, joggers, bike riders, rich, poor and homeless side by side and it all seems to work. We can spend hours sitting or walking on the beach, riding our bikes into town to have coffee on the street or enjoying one of many farmer's markets. There is also Bourbon Street, LA and of course the Price is Right. Dozens and dozens of parks to enjoy, Sea World, the Zoo, Balboa Park and a boat load of museums....nuff said? And yes Bugs you were right:)

Beaches Beaches Beaches

Mission Beach is Jan and Mikey's favorite beach and I can understand why. This beach seems to have it all. Sun, sand, rolling waves, sunbathers, t-shirt and more shops, places to eat and drink and rows of homes and apartments to rent. It seems that most everyone is jogging or walking, biking or skate boarding and the ever present suffer. For some reason I just can't resist taking pictures of these surfers. Of course the 'true' surfer looking guys are way more fun to look at and this one just does not fit that bill but oh well. David and I walking our way down the beach.

Pacific Beach is very nice as well. For some reason my camera was not out and I didn't get any pictures but I did get myself a nice sweatshirt and David got a hat:)

Silver Strand Beach is so close that we are able to ride our bikes to it....in fact Jan and I did just that. We watched this fella enjoying the wind para sailing and walked along picking up a few shells her and there. The shells here are much different than the ones on Isla, these seem to be much bolder in color...I have not a clue why that would be.

Along the bike trail we saw what we are sure are loons. This must be a winter time spot for our northern loons. Who can blame them given this is one of the few US places that has the most consistent enjoyable weather.

Ocean Beach. Yet another wonderful San Diego beach. This is one of the piers that Mikey and David may wet a line.

This pelican had some wonderful color and he was happy to show it off.

Waiting for the perfect wave. Everywhere you go here you see people enjoying the water in one form or another. It is a great place this San Diego!

Suffice it to say that I love it here and it is so far my favorite spot of the trip. There really is just so much to see and do and most of it involves close proximity to the ocean or just being outdoors. And nope I do not miss our little island of Isla Mujeres as of yet.

San Andreas Fault And Joshua Tree

Our last day trips were to the San Andreas Fault and Joshua Tree National Park. The SA Fault is pretty amazing, an oasis in the desert...just amazing. I think that you can click on the Palm Oases sign so as to read the posted info.

There were, what I think of as 'swamp' type plants, growing right in the middle of the desert.

Here David is dwarfed by one of the palms. These palm trees are one of only a very few that are native to the area.

OK so let me see if I can get this right...if not Jan please add a comment and correct me. This area was at one time owned by the McCullum family. And this wonderful lake (again in the middle of the desert!) is McCullum lake. Absolutely gorgeous and oh so peaceful.
These two friends do make a good picture while they are looking/exploring the scenery.

This visitor center was once the McCullum family's home. Very small but interesting

These palms are growing right along the fault line.

The lighter colored sand that you see in this picture is where the fault is making new mountain ranges because the faults are pushing against each other thus pushing the new sand to the top.

I loved this place and will certainly go back again next year.

Palm Springs is known for it's dates. Sheilds (sp?) grows 95 % of the dates in the US. Believe it or not they show a very interesting film titled The Sex Life Of A Date. No shit....and an interesting film it is. Gives an understanding of why the little buggers are so expensive. The dates are hand pollinated by shaking off the pollen. Oh it is a long and labor intensive process...trust me.

A date palm loaded with dates

And here is Mikey stealing grapefruit....not really. There is a parking lot in a government building where anyone can in fact pick grapefruit, oranges, limes and lemons for free. Of course all of the low growing fruit had been previously picked so good ole Mikey crawled up on our truck bumper and picked away.

And then there was Joshua Tree National Park. It was a cold and windy day when we were there so we didn't get out and walk around but the drive was nice. Joshua trees make interesting looking trees with their many formations.

And another fun thing to see were the many rock climbers. Oh to be in half the shape that these people are.

We left the Palm Springs area Monday and are now in the San Diego area and we love it here as well. Yesterday our tour guides started our day at 5am which meant we got up at 4am to walk the dogs, shower etc. Off we went for a three hour drive to LA to sit for 4 additional hours just to hope to hear, 'David Woelpern come on down you are the next contestant on the Price Is Right'. Alas none of our names were called and despite the long long day driving and waiting it was a good day. I am glad that we had the experience but probably don't need to have it again:) Mikey and Jan have gone before a few years back and because of their horrible experience Mikey did not watch the Price Is Right for a year...seriously. They were there when it was still Bob Barker and his crew. Apparently Bob was not a gracious host and his team were terrible to the waiting contestants....rude and just all around shitty. Needless to say Drew and his crew are good. Drew puts on a pretty good show during commercials etc. To see how a show such as this is put together was a new experience for me and I was pretty amazed at how many people on stage (outside of camera shots) that it takes. Anyway, watch the show on March 24th and you may see one of us as the camera panned by.

Here is the proof that yes we were there. Our name tags....Roberta. I did protest the use of that name to no avail.

More from San Diego in the days to come.

Day Trips And Doctor's Visits

This one's for you Ry. Certainly an old piece of steel running down the tracks.

Our days this week have been spent driving through the mountains. I could drive these same roads over and over again and never get bored with the views.

The windy route we took down this particular mountain.

We actually drove high enough up to be at snow level.

Our eagle eye guide Mikey spotted this coyote resting on a hillside. When Mikey spotted him he was laying down and all Mikey could see were his ears sticking up.

I love this church that we found in one of the mountainside towns. These mountains looked like a painter's color pallet.

And then there are the fields (yes fields not gardens) of vegetables being grown. I guess I just always think of cabbage and lettuce being grown in gardens. Sure some of those gardens are large but I just never think of them being grown in fields like we grow corn and beans! What a sheltered life I lead huh?

We have seen cabbage, lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and many other fields of greens. It's pretty incredible.And grape fields with the gorgeous mountains as a backdrop

I liked this as it shows a growing product in front with one that has just been planted directly behind and the one behind that looks to have just been worked up; then hedges, trees and as always the mountains.

Orange, lemon, lime and grapefruit trees....they all have no trespassing signs but we wanted our picture taken so we braved it. I did not go so far as to pick one of the tempting oranges though.
And then there were the doctor visits. I woke up Tuesday with horrible flu symptoms, body aches, chills etc. And then the rash came. It was all over and itched like crazy. I went to the doc who diagnosed contact dermatitis. In other words I came in contact with something that I am allergic to and I developed hives...oh they are not fun. She prescribed cortisone pills and Benedryl. That nasty case of the hives fought the meds so back to the doc I went yesterday. I got a different doc who is from England originally but from 2000 to 2003 he ran the hospital in LeSueur MN of all places! Anyway he decides that it was something that I ingested (I have no clue what) and because it was not clearing up he gave me a shot of cortisone as well as two different pills to take over the course of the next month. My flu cleared up within three days but here I am 7 days later and the hives are finally starting to fade as well as the itching. I have been so doped up on steroids that I have not had an ounce of pain...no fibro no nothing. I remember now why I liked the dose that I got when I received my chemo....took away all of my pain! Anyway I think I am on the road to recovery for now!

We are having an absolute blast and cannot believe that almost two months have passed.

I Have Died And Gone To Heaven

As we drove from Quartzsite to our destination in the Palm Springs area we could not believe the views. Mountains were topped with snow and it was an incredible site. As the sun set later in the day this is our view from our resort.

I always wonder if those who live in areas and see these views every day become complacent to the beauty. It should be noted that I referred to our home for the next two weeks to a resort as opposed to a campground. While in Quartzsite we ran across a great deal on a club of sorts. It is a bit like the time share deals that were so popular. You buy into a home park for a certain fee and in our case our 'home park' is in Oregon. We are able to stay there free for two weeks at a time. We then get a huge discount at participating 'resorts'. For instance our home here is charging us $10 a day as opposed to $30 or $40. We have two great pools, hot tubs, beautiful sites, activities, pot lucks etc etc. Very nice.

Anyway, Lenny sent me this picture yesterday. Poor Julia is not feeling well and I am sorry that she is ill.....but look at what she is snuggled up in! Gamma's (she is finally saying it and that is pretty much how she pronounces it) Christmas present to her seems to be a hit for sure when she is not feeling well. And yes Bugs one cat in particular likes to sleep on the chair too. However Julia will push him and say"Out". Oh I so miss those grandbabies.

More to come from this beautiful place as we explore with Mikey and Jan.