Ohhhh those time share presentations. The things we're willing to do to get a free trip. A couple years ago, Jake and I sat through one and went on a trip to Disneyland. This time, we got to go on a quick getaway to beautiful San Diego. I wouldn't say I love sitting through the presentation and repeatedly but politely saying no, and they sure make the trip as short and inconvenient as possible, but in the end I'm glad we did it. They flew us out on a Monday evening, and we came back on Wednesday morning, so it was short and sweet, but we had one full day to pack full of adventure! Grandma and Grandpa Yospe were kind enough to watch the girls for us while we were gone, and they had tons of fun of course. We were so ready for a mini vacation- it was so good to be able to get away!
I kinda stressed over the trip because I had to plan out all my food. I hadn't travelled since being on SCD, but with no processed foods or grains or eating out, it makes things tricky! I froze meatloaf, beef stew, pork chops, carrot and butternut squash puree, apple sauce and pear sauce. I stuck them in a little cooler, and packed it in a big ol suitcase along with my wedge pillow. haha...I'm such a high-maintenance sick old lady. I packed avocados, bananas, coconut oil and spices. I was set. The frozen food stayed nicely frozen, and then our hotel room had a little fridge with a freezer. Then I used the microwave in the lobby to heat up whatever I needed. Tedious process, but it worked!
Here's me with our decent Chevy Malibu rental outside our hotel. Driving around the freeway and different places, I was just struck by how LUSH everything is. Green and flowers and trees everywhere- I loved it!
Can I just say how much I love palm trees. It was so good to see them again. And I just love California, my old stompin grounds! Growing up in San Jose, I don't know how I don't remember ever visiting San Diego, but I don't. So this was a first for me. Jake and I were just excited to see and do new things. Starting with....the San Diego Temple!
Holy. Beautiful. The day started out overcast, so we didn't get the bright blue sky I wanted in these pictures, but it was still breathtaking. I always think of this as the fairytale castle. Cami would have loved it!
The flowers there were beautiful.
We walked around the outside and drank in the beauty.
From the temple, we decided to check out the La Jolla District, since we were in the neighborhood. I love the houses along the beachfront, they're so extravagant and unique.
The BEACH! It was so fun to drive down a side street and see the ocean looming out directly beyond it. We parked and walked down to the sand and enjoyed looking for seashells. I love the sand between my toes!
It was only about 70 degrees that day, so not super warm, but the water wasn't freezing, and the clouds went away to reveal blue sky for the rest of the day!
Giant lifeguard chair.
I did a quick google search to see if we were missing anything cool in La Jolla, and it said the Childrens Beach was one not to be missed. It's been overtaken by SEALS. We quickly found it, amongst tons of other tourists, and walked down to the beach to watch the silly seals.
It was a really cool cove type place, with seals all over the place.
Jake and the great big ocean.
A surfer venturing out to the waves. I wondered how he knew where all the rocks were in order to avoid them. He knew what he was doin.
Seals are lazy little beasts! And it's so funny and pitiful to watch them flop around. They look like they're disabled.
But as you can see from their little smiles, they seem pretty content. We were afraid that the one on the edge was a little tooo relaxed, and thought he'd fall into the water at any moment!
We drove down to Old Town, which is a cool Mexican cultured little town.
We headed straight for the Mormon Battalion Museum, which was really cool. I love this flowered archway.
Posing with one of the soldiers who marched in the battalion.
The museum/visitors center is cool in that it's interactive. This cute sister missionary dressed in time period clothing took us on the tour, and introduced us to the people in these photos who came alive! That was a surprise. They talked to us, and then took us on a journey through different rooms and settings, with props and videos and special effects.
We were entertained. Jake got to be the soldier and model all the gear that they would've worn back then.
After the tour, we panned for gold! Fool's gold, that is. But it was fun, we could've done it all day. :) They let you take your 2 biggest pieces home- score!
I just couldn't get enough of the flowers and architecture everywhere we went.
Jake smelling the....trumpet flower? Whatever it was, they were huge and beautiful.
Gorgeous!
We ate lunch in Old Town, and Jake was on a mission to find a good authentic burrito. He asked a couple Mexican ladies at a shop, and they told us to go here. I think he was pleased! I whipped out my can of tuna, mixed it with avocado, and called it good.
Love this scene!
From Old Town, we decided to go to Balboa Park. We debated whether to go to the zoo or Seaworld, which would've both been super fun, but decided that we wanted to see as much as we could in one day. We'd heard that Balboa Park was a pretty, cultural place to walk around, with tons of museums and things to see.
It didn't disappoint! We rode the tram into the middle of the park, and walked ALL OVER the place. This was a cute random duck family in a pond.
Holy gorgeous!
The cactus garden was funky and unique. I loved this gnarly giant cactus.
And the rose garden was beeeautiful. I couldn't help taking some pictures of the delightful blooms!
This one was practically the size of my head- it was huge! And they all smelled. SO. good. Words of wisdom to live by: Definitely stop and smell the roses.
The botanical building was really cool, too. It had all kinds of exotic, unique plants and flowers. Like this display of carnivorous plants, for instance. The sign says "Caution: Do Not Touch. Carnivorous Plants Produce Digestive Acids and Enzymes." I was like, hey, that's what I need!
Lovely.
There were these long hallways of arches between the buildings. Jake loved the architecture.
I loved this massive tree.
Nerd! (I'm on a bench, but it looks like I'm standing on the fountain, doesn't it)
Hello, weird art structure!
After Balboa Park, we drove across the bridge to Coronado Island. What a beautiful land! I loved seeing all the picturesque houses, and the beach was breathtaking. Jake wanted to visit Hotel del Coronado, so we pretended to be residents and walked around inside and out.
The hotel sits right on this beautiful beach, where the sand is soft and perfect.
The happy love birds! It was such a perfect day, we had so much fun together! We need little mini getaways more often.
The one thing I really wanted to do was watch the sunset on the beach. Can you believe that we left Coronado Island and drove to yet another beach? We wanted to see Mission Beach, and visit the little boardwalk amusement park called Belmont Park. The sun setting on the ocean was goorrrgeous.
We wandered and played skeeball in the arcade, and then Jake got the urge to ride the wooden rollercoaster!
I'm a wuss now, and I think my rollercoasting riding days are over. But I had fun watching him keep his arms up through the whole entire ride. Hehe. There he is at the very top!
It was so special, sitting there on the beach, watching the sun sink down below the horizon. We kissed when the sun disappeared. :)
We finished off the fun-filled day with the Gaslamp District, downtown. We actually drove around for an hour looking for a parking spot, because a Padres baseball game was going on at the same time. We finally parked, walked up and down the streets looking at the menus of restaurant after restaurant, and decided on an Oyster Bar seafood place because it had simple, pure sounding dishes. This was my first restaurant experience since being on SCD, so over 4 months! I think Jake would have rather enjoyed a nice Italian or steak dinner, but I was proud of him for being adventurous and ordering sushi!
He finished it all off! But he did NOT like the wasabi. Baha. I ordered prawn shrimp and salmon. The prawns came out and surprised me!
Holy tentacles and eyeballs! Kinda freaked me out. But I dug in like a champ, ripped those babies apart, and enjoyed them.
It was a great way to end our day in San Diego, and I'm so glad we got to make so many memories in one little trip. We got back to our hotel around 11, woke up at 4 to catch the plane home, and got back to our sweet girls that afternoon! We're already making plans to take a trip out there again with the girls this time, and hit up Disneyland! Ohh California, how I love thee.
