A trip to San Diego

   With our good friends Dan and Barb Bloem, we packed and prepared to visit San Diego, California to visit with John and Carol Berends. The Berends moved to San Diego from Phoenix when John retired from the ministry in the Christian Reformed Church. That was a year and a half ago and we wanted  to visit them at their new home. Carol was a class mate of Mary's from Blodgett School of Nursing and we re-connected when John was the pastor in Phoenix.  We got reservations at a hotel near the Berends'  home and left on Monday morning, January 28 for the 6 hour drive to the California coast.

We climbed up and over some mountains to the east of Yuma dropping into the valley of the Colorado River. This river is the one that has carved the Grand Canyon in northern Arizona and has been dammed several times creating Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Near Yuma , the river is used for irrigation and it has become the lettuce capital or the US. We saw acres and acres of leaf and iceberg lettuce begin cut and wrapped for market right along the interstate.

On the west side of the Colorado and just across the border into California are the Imperial Sand Dunes - a sea of sand. We saw several ATVers having fun and also in the distance a long black fence that marks the Mexican border to prevent illegal migrants from gaining access to the US

Our GPS showed that we were descending lower than sea level for the next several miles - we got as low as  65' below sea level. Outside the town of El Centro, we saw this water tower where sea level was marked half way up the side of the tank!

John and Carol have a lovely two bedroom condo in El Cajon and they were eager to show us their place and then take us around to interesting places in San Diego. We began our morning on Tuesday by heading to Balboa Park. This park was built to celebrate the centennial of the opening of the Panama Canal. It now houses a Space Museum, Botanical Gardens, Art Galleries and much more.

This bandshell houses a mammoth organ and concerts are held here periodically.

Japanese Friendship Garden

The California Tower in Balboa Gardens

The orchids in the Botanical Gardens were spectacular!

And so were the ladies!

A recreated Spanish village with many little shops of hand made crafts kept us busy looking into the doorways and even further in to touch and feel the unusual and beautiful items made by the craftspeople who manned the shops. Mary bought a lovely pair of copper earrings and chatted with the artist.

     Driving across San Diego Bay, we had good views of downtown San Diego and the protected harbour for ship and container traffic. Coronado Island is actually a peninsula attached to the mainland by a long thin isthmus of sandy beach. Most of the island is taken up with the active Navel and Submarine Base. But part of the island is home to wealthy families and the Coronado Hotel. A gracious dowager of nineteenth century hotels, this is a gorgeous property right on the Pacific Ocean beach. We walked to the edge of the water and got our feet wet in the ocean and then the guys had a beer on the verandah (3 beers in plastic cups for $24 USD!) while the ladies did a bit of window shopping in the (expensive) shops on the lower level.

 Jack took pictures of each of the ladies with a red conical "hat". Here is Carol with her hat.

The day was drawing to a close but there was one more place that John and Carol wanted to take us - Old Town San Diego. This is the place where the town began - first with a mission and then with homes and businesses. There is a market with lots of colourful clothing and gifts that we took a quick look at; as well as historical buildings - some still with their original purpose (school, courthouse, home, tobacco shop) and others with modern day items. We finally sat down and rested our tired feet and had a genuine Mexican dinner at Guadalajara restaurant - carne ascada burritos with salsa and guacamole - yummm!

     After a good rest at the Quality Inn overnight, we met our hosts again on Wednesday morning. We drove to Point Loma and Cabrillo National Monument. This is the spit of land that folds around Coronado Island and overlooks the Navel Air Base. We could see some of the aircraft carriers in port, a submarine tied up and the navel air base straight ahead of us with lines of military jets and helicopters on the tarmac.

 In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo and his crew landed here on this point of land - the first European to set foot on the west coast of what is now the United States.

Also on this tip of land is the Point Loma Lighthouse - formerly manned by a light keeper and his family who lived in the lighthouse. Their children had to row a boat to the mainland - a multi hour task - where they stayed for the week while they went to school.

Fort Rosecrans Navel Cemetery - with a view to both the bay and the ocean - row on row of headstones.

We had lunch at Point Loma Seafood where we picked the seafood fresh in the cases and they fixed it for us just as we liked. We took our trays to to the second floor deck overlooking the marina and were treated to a seal lolling in the shallow water having a nap.

Satisfied with a great seafood lunch, we drove a short ways north to Oceanside Beach (or OB) and walked out on the long pier.

  OB is a great beach for surfing - long roller curls for those who enjoy a long paddle out and a second or two of riding on top of the wave!

La Jolla was our next stop along the coast. A protected beach was built for children to swim in safety from the ocean currents. Only used for a few years for that purpose, the seals decided it made a wonderful place to come up on the sand to nap - and have babies. Their numbers grew and in true California fashion, the children were banned and the seals had a new home. We were allowed to only get so close lest we disturb the dear creatures but they were fun to watch - rolling and grunting and scratching themselves in the sun - only to fall asleep again. Occasionally a teen would lumber into the ocean and one or two friends would follow for a brief swim before they returned for another nap.

Back in San Diego, we parked on the Embarcadero and walked past the USS Midway - that great aircraft carrier from the Second World War.

There was a wonderful bronze statue of Bob Hope and several additional statues of servicemen and women sitting and standing as they listened to one of his USO show. Speakers played some of his wonderful jokes in his own inimical voice.

The sun was dipping lower in the sky as we walked along the sea front and looked as some of the lovely views. A Hispanic man was building these towers of balanced rocks - how does he do it? we asked.  He explained that one must hold the rock and very gently and great calmness, lower it onto the previous rock - a skill he had honed and we knew we could not do nearly as well as he.

  The sun sets over San Diego harbour on another perfect day - great friends, interesting sights and wonderful conversations! Thank you, John and Carol for a memorable "tour around town".

 Thursday, January 31, we drove home again to Phoenix. We stopped at an oasis east of Yuma and in the desert. Because of ample water, date palms are cultivated here and they sell lots of date items - pies, muffins, cookies and........

   





.........the most yummy date milk shakes you have ever tasted!!