something new....and returning to favorite places

sunday.october 14. 2012  for the first time since we've begun this particular journey, we set an alarm to wake us this morning.  I know!  What?  On vacation?  But there was motivation behind the madness, you see.  Our plan was to make it to the 8:00 a.m. worship service at The Rock Church in San Diego    http://www.sdrock.com/  and make it we did!   This place has been in the news in San Diego apparently, because the needs for parking for the 20,000 worshippers that attend every Sunday (5 services) exceed the space provided in their huge parking lot and are spilling over into the surrounding neighborhoods.  Naturally, being the peace-loving folks that we are, we didn't want to contribute to the 'later in the day' parking problem, which we assumed might be worse.  We were blessed with a primo spot, the service was wonderful, the hospitality exceptional and we were glad we were there.  The area that this huge church occupies and the surrounding acres full of shops, restaurants,  and offices was once the site of the Naval Training Center.    It was sold and became largely commercial property sometime in the '80s, but this was where your dad (Rob) spent Christmas 1968 (his first time away from home) in enlisted boot camp.  Many of the walks and buildings and gardens are the same (but have been maintained/renovated) as were there then and even before so there's lots of history here.  So naturally, we walked and walked and walked......and, if you really concentrate on this picture, you may be able to see Seaman Recruit Searcy OR Tom Cruise (remember the scene from 'Top Gun'?) walking this promenade.......

 

We spent a good couple of hours strolling, enjoying our lattes (3 Starbucks on the property!), talking and reminiscing....enjoying the feel of the sunshine....just wandering among places familiar to him (your dad/rob), new to me (mom/cathie)...being so thankful to God for that which almost came to ruin in San Diego (our relationship) is still growing and thriving......

 

After we left this area, we headed back down to the Embarcadero, specifically Seaport Village, where we'd been the other day....just enjoyed the walk and the scenery there so much.  We enjoyed some awesome fish tacos at a place called The Pier, because it was.....built out over the water.....and the dressing.....well, let me tell you, we're gonna be tryin' this one at home: plain yogurt and lime juice!  Yummerinos!!!!

 

Then we just browsed the shops, enjoyed the music of the buskers, and walked and walked (gotta make that fitbit scream "10,000 steps" everyday or we don't get to call it 'good', y' know)!

 

Watched some folks fly some astonishingly HUGE kites and then admired admired these 'littles' (and I flew one of them in my imagination;))

 

 

And this lovely bird of paradise, of which there are thousands in this area, is for our precious Laura and Keith, to wish them a happy and blessed wedding anniversary, on their special day~october 15.

 

 

 

 

 

hangin' out near 'home'

saturday. october 13. 2012  when we travel by car we have a tendency to bring everything we think we might even remotely...possibly....'outside chance' need or want to have to make our time away more enjoyable.  For instance,  we bring our own Vitamix, because even though these condos always have blenders (for our smoothies) we're never sure if they'd be able to handle the frozen fruit we throw at 'em.  Well, this time, since we're both hooked (line and sinker) on yoga, we brought that 'gear', too, and it's been so wonderful....not only during our three days of travel (after spending much of each day in the car), but for use here, too, plenty of time....space....and immediate pay-off.

And, altho at home we usually pull up the yoga station on Pandora, today we mixed it up a bit and did our routine during the OU/Texas game.....we're not purists, y' know......namaste, sooners;)

Midday we strolled through the Cedros Design District, a shopping/dining/artsy part of solana beach just a block from Sand Pebbles

 

took a picture of one of the prettiest pieces of sidewalk we've ever seen........

 

 

 

 and, now that I'm writing this I'm wishing I'd taken more pics of the unique shops we spent most of the day browsing through....but maybe that's for another time.

 

We came back to our own kitchen for some Braised Beef and Portobello Torteloni (thank you Stouffers!) and a salad and then walked to the beach for the 'sunset show'.  Catching some Oceans 11 now (how many times have we seen that?) before our nightly excursion to the hot tub.

 

 

 

2012 Miramar Air Show

friday.october 12. 2012  what a blessing it was to be in the area on the weekend of this spectacular opportunity!  It was a 'first' for both of us.  It's the 'little things' that are the 'big things' like parking in the morning in nice, neat rows on 80 acres of unlandmarked tarmac.....trying to imagine how on earth you'll find your car hours later......(ah-ha) seeing a label 'S-4, I & L' on a barricade at the end of your row (yeah, we're good to go)...then noticing that ALL the barricades read 'S-4, I & L'.....but wait, now you see the words 'Self Help' (I'm not kidding!) stenciled on ONE barricade adjacent to YOUR ROW ONLY.  Fast forward to the end of the day when thousands of cars 'dot' this 80 acre tarmac, no longer in anything that resemble rows at all......but there it is.......'Self Help'.....like a compass rose, directing us to our car while so many others were using their key fob remotes, pressing the 'panic' button and cars everywhere were 'singing' and 'honking' and 'beeping' in a hilarious chorus of 'here I am, find me, over here'......makes you wonder if someone in the control tower was filming this for America's Funniest Air Show Parking Videos!!  Anyway, I (way) digress........

In addition to the amazing Blue Angels, we saw spectacular ordinance demonstrations, the stealth Raptor, the Harrier, a B-25, Super Stallions (heavy lift Helicopters), and various armored elements.  There was always something exciting in the air or on the ground worthy of our attention.....and servicemen and women everywhere worthy of our gratitude!

 

and, if that weren't enough, we were then able to fill up our gas tank at the base station for 20 cents less/gallon than anywhere off base AND pick up a few items at the base Exchange before heading back to......yes, the hot tub!   Since we'd had a pretty yummy hotdog at the air show, we weren't ravenously hungry, so we decided to get a carry-out pizza from California Pizza Kitchen, a very popular place adjacent to San Pebbles (that's where we're staying).  Now, everytime we walk past this place, we inhale the deep delicious aromas of what we think must be applewood smoked bacon and barbecue (are you getting the olfactory picture I'm paintin'?)  So I was sure that when your dad (rob) looked at the take-out menu he'd surely want whatever THAT was on our small pizza.....never a dull moment!  He suggested that we order the vegan japanese eggplant with sundried tomatoes, red onions, broccoli, mushrooms and goat cheese on whole wheat!  What?  No bacon!  No bbcue!  Ohmigood-to-the-last-finger-lickin'-crumbiness!!! Hideaway and Brothers Pizza, you got your work cut out for ya!

 

 

 

thursday. october 11. 2012~ well, the cooler temps and rain that had been forecast came thru during the night (it was so fun to listen to the rain thru the screen door that we leave open to the patio overnite) so it was a great day for a very s~l~o~w start and getting some laundry done...even the walk to the laundry room was scenic and refreshing......

 

 

by early afternoon the skies were blue again so we headed north a bit to Encinitas to explore some new areas......found a de.li.cious burger place, picked up some groceries and on the way back spied a perfect beach spot~Cardiff-by-the-Sea~to which we'd return shortly with our beach chairs and jackets and camera and coffees to watch the sunset.  When does one ever just SIT and watch the sun set over a two hour period?  This is the first time we've ever allowed ourselves this luxury, sad to say.....but it won't be the last.  Of course, the pictures we took don't tell the real story of how magical it really was.  And it was fun~and funny~to try out a little camera tripod (called a 'gorilla) for the first time.....fun, because we're learning.....funny, because, well, you be the judge.......

The art of leaving the driving to someone else

Wednesday. October 10. 2012~Your dad (rob) has been looking forward to this day ever since he was a little guy......growing up loving trains.  Whenever he talks about trains, train trips he remembers, train adventures he wants us to take.....his face 'lights up'........ so there was a kick in our collective step as we assembled a day pack, anticipating anything we might need on our day-long excursion from this sleepy beach community of solana beach 30 minutes south to the embarcadero area of san diego........

we had looked forward to this train trip (of which we have three planned during this two week stay) for several reasons: the joy of getting there and back without the issues of navigating I-5 (which, at times, encompasses 7 lanes, various mergings, and oh well, you know the drill), the joy of getting to take in the views, and just to experience this Coaster ride, which turned out to be sleek, smooth, so comfortable, and, as you can see by the picture, there is seating on three levels~naturally we opted for the upper deck and, to tell you the truth, there's not a bad seat 'in the house'.  What we hadn't expected were the delightful conversations in which we'd become engaged with our fellow travelers both on the 'to' and the 'return' trips.  People just want to be 'heard', y' know, just want to connect.....and it was so sweet to be part of that in those moments.  All this for $5.50/person for the round trip and for frugalistas like us, you know that's gonna make us smile.

 

We stepped off the Coaster around noon at the Santa Fe Station in downtown SanDiego, all art deco and beautiful tile walls....walked out into the sunshine and headed further south about six blocks to the Embarcadero~ shops, restaurants, some good coffee and a spontaneous sea lion show on the pier...

 

 

Another thing that had been on our 'list' was a meal at The Top of the Market, a place where we'd eaten when we were here 5 years ago and definitely a 'splurge' for us.....it lived up to our expectations!!  After that delicious experience we headed toward the aircraft carrier Midway for a two hour tour and, on our way, stopped by a very neat bronze statuary tribute (complete with original audio soundtrack) to Bob Hope's USO tours.....

 

then we boarded the Midway for an outstanding tour, part of which was self-guided, part of which was augmented by audio headsets we wore and part of which (the best part) was conducted by a veteran (early Viet Nam era, probably)....we went up on the Bridge and other areas of the mighty ship and this certainly brought back memories to you dad (rob) of his ship-board experiences.  My main 'memory imprint' of Midway was that that was the movie we were watching in San Diego  (one of the first theaters to advertise 'sensoround') in 1976 when I first felt Laura 'kick' (june 21, 1976).  Needless to say, after this tour, altho I will still carry that 'precious memory', I (cathie) have a much deeper understanding of the significance and impact of Midway;)

 

Luckily, I had enough cash to spring this handsome sailor from the 'brig'......memory escapes as to why he ended up in the slammer;)

 

Soon it was time to head back to the Santa Fe Station to board the 5:34 Coaster for the 30 minute ride north to Solana Beach.....enjoy another conversation and the beginnings of the sunset over the water and look forward to the hot tub;)

 

 

 

first, of several (oh yeah!), beach days!

This morning we made the short walk to highly recommended Fletcher Cove and it was everythng we'd been told....easy beach access (by car or foot)....a simply beautiful area.....so we headed back to the condo, loaded up our 'beach cart' (so glad we opted for the 'sand wheels') and walked back for the remainder of the day....and a lovely day it was.

Both beach umbrellas (purchased during our '86 trip to Padre Island) came in so handy and we used our REI beach/camp chairs (purchased last November in Seattle) for the first time....well, except for that time that Silas used one on the front porch.  Protein bars, apples, and water kept us happy for the day and kept the sea gulls more than a little interested in us.  Lots of waves and surfers to watch and families playing in the waves.

We  were wondering if the sign we encountered was a commentary on someone's failed ability to maintain a 'poker face'.......not sure........

 

Enjoyed the hot tub here at San Pebbles after dinner and.....oh my......we SHALL be doing that quite often while we're here.....watched the clouds roll in while in the hot tub as we have a pretty good chance of rain over the next couple of days......when we were driving out here in November '72 a popular tune on the radio proclaimed "It never rains in Southern California", but I bet we find out different before the weekend!

coronado

our memories of this beautiful, idyllic island are both sweet and painful.....the site of our first apartment when we moved here in november 1972 and your dad's/rob's first duty station (North Island Naval Air Station).....the small house we lived in on "B" Avenue when we decided to separate in 1973.....the coffee shop that I (Cathie) used to wait in front of for the bus to take me to San Diego State University.....and the apartment we moved into when we reconciled on April Fool's Day 1974.....so, mostly sweet and beautiful and redeemed, when you add it all up.  The mud flats area which used to be adjacent to the Oakwood Garden Apartments we called home at the foot of the 'necklace bridge' (Laura and Ally, that's for you) have been transformed into a high-end shopping/hotel/restaurant/condo area and we spent a lovely part of our day there today.  We rented a surrey bike and did the perimeter of the island (got some sore muscles tonite!) and really enjoyed the sunshine and seeing the neighborhoods, and flora and fauna in a different way than by car.

 

We stopped by Starbucks and then headed out to the beach via the Hotel Del Coronado veranda just as they were setting up for some lovely event (probably to occur at sunset)....picture 30-40 tables with white table cloths, huge white balloons, bar and buffet tables being arranged in the sand...it looked so fun!  We sat on the rocks out by the water for awhile, watching families play in the surf, imagining little Searcys, Wileys and Grissos doing the same.  Oh, and while we were out and about on the island, we stopped by the home where L. Frank Baum lived while he was writing the Wizard of Oz........

 

There's even a sign over the door that reads 'Wizard of Oz Avenue' even though the name of street is Star Park Circle.  Just a bit of cinematic trivia for ya!  After we relinquished our wheels we walked up and down Orange Avenue (the main street) reminiscing.  We rounded out our day by finding 'the perfect park bench' on the bay side with a view of the city of SD so we could watch the city lights come on as the sun set.....we were close enough to North Island Naval Air Station to hear the bugle Retreat played as the sun set.

Back at the condo in solana beach now and have pampered one another with foot massages!  We highly recommend that you do the same.:)