San Diego, Part One

We arrived in San Diego area on Sunday November 9/14.  We are staying in an RV Park in El Cajon which is about 20 miles from down town San Diego.  The weather has been a perfect 70 ish degrees every day.

This is what we see right outside our door.  The park is right at the base of a mountain and is actually in 3 tiers.  Very pretty!
San Diego is actually California's second largest city.  It is also home the US largest Navy base on the west coast.  On base are 20,000 military personnel as well as 6,000 civilians.

This is the USS Midway museum.  It is a giant aircraft carrier that is right in the San Diego Bay.  It is a very hands on museum and we spent half a day looking at the interactive displays and listening to some very knowledgeable people tell us about the carrier.   A lot of them were in the service so had some interesting stories.  A number of people visiting the museum were also former military and stopped to tell us what they did etc.  Kind of timely with it being the week of Remembrance/Veterans day.

This was taken by an electrician who served on an aircraft carrier in Viet Nam. There were lots of decks to look at and a lot of ladders and cramped quarters.  I wouldn't have lasted 10 minutes as it was very claustrophobic.  The galleys and sleeping quarters, engine rooms etc. were very interesting and the sheer size of it quite amazing.

This is the same area that the cruise ships leave from as well as the tuna boats.    Nearby is a very busy area with much of the ships bringing in and sending out goods.  There were lots of naval ships as well as another aircraft carrier.

After the museum we walked along the bay and just enjoyed the scenery. 

That is one huge statue!  You would not believe the men that just happened to take a look up her skirt (yup, Don too).  Funny stuff.
We stopped in for lunch at a wonderful seafood place right on the edge of the bay and sat on the deck right over the water.

I had mahi mahi sliders with wasabi aoli and ginger.  Oh man, that was soooo good!

One day we wanted to see a lot of the area so we parked in a big lot right down town and took this Old Time Trolly Tour.  It is a great way to see a lot of things and be able to hop off and catch the next trolly whenever you want.

There are so many beautiful buildings in the down town the one above is the convention centre where they host the huge comic-con.  It would be fun to be here when it is on and see all the costumes.

This is one big ass bridge and really high up! It is the Coronado Bay Bridge.

These are shots from the bridge. I would not like to go over it in the motorhome.

This is the Hotel Del Coronado.  It is a beachfront luxury hotel in the city of Coronado, which is just across the San Diego Bay from San Diego.   It is the second largest wooden structure in the United States When it opened in 1888, it was the largest resort hotel in the world. It has hosted presidents, royalty, and celebrities through the years. The hotel has been featured in numerous movies and books.  Our tour guide told us it cost 5.00 a night then and included dinner.  Now, a beach front deluxe room in prime season is 1200.00 a night (no dinner).  The hotel even had a garden with fresh veggies and herbs.
A home on this island, 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1000 sq feet starts at 1 million dollars.
The beach was absolutely beautiful, the sand was soft and white.

 Those islands off in the distance are actually part of Mexico.  Mexico is really close here,  only about 6 miles away.  Interesting to think that this area at one time was all desert.

We stopped in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.  There were many Mexican restaurants and shops as well as the old town preserved and made into museums and shops.  We could have spent a lot more time here as the history was very interesting.  We watched tortillas and tacos being made and decided to have lunch at Miguels as we had a coupon for free appetizer.  This is my lunch and it was a vegetable enchilada with salsa verde, avocado and cheese.  Just thinking about it makes me want it NOW!

 Look Karen, they like your idea of the succulents in pots too!!  I saw a whole wall of succulents that was so cool but I was too slow with the camera.

 So many interesting trees and shrubs and flowers.  They have many gum (eucalyptus) trees as they are very drought resistant and grow fast.  These pods were really interesting and opened up with bright red seeds inside but I have no idea what kind of tree it is. There were so many plants and flowers and a lot more history - might have to come back to this area another day!
Today, Don wanted a not too much driving day.  We went to a casino that is only about 15 minutes away and a really nice drive right along the mountains.  It is called the Barona  Resort and Casino.  It is on one of the nicest reserves I have ever seen.  I was just calling Don to tell him that they selected me to play some kind of spin the wheel game when he called to tell me they selected him too.   There were 6 of us who got to go up and spin a wheel (just like the one on the price is right).  Anyway, long story short I got 120.00 and Don got 200.00.  Not only that we both hit the 100 once and all kinds of paper confetti stuff shot out of gizmo  - heh, it was pretty neat.  Very strange that we both got selected and the guy was writing down our names said, hey are you husband and wife?  We had a great lunch there with crab legs and tenderloin and so much yummy stuff!  Even brie cheese.  For desert I had a piece of rice krispie cake with a marshmallow on top and then a strawberry on top of that.  It was all skewered together and dipped in chocolate and colorful sprinkles on top.  It was a fun time and the friendliest casino we have ever been to.  Didn't realize until I downloaded the pictures that is is our anniversary today.  Well, happy anniversary to us!  Now we have extra money for more tours around San Diego!

I bet you thought I forgot about the birds didn't you??  Well  nuh uh!  These are red-crowned Amazon parrots.  They flock into the big trees at around 4:30 by the city hall in El Cajon. We watched them (approximately 500 in the flock) noisily flying into the area.
They suspect the beautiful birds originated from south of the border, survivors of the black market pet trade that was strong in the 1980s and 1990s. They also say the parrots are from an endangered species that know how to fend for themselves, and they have an intelligence of a 3 year old child.
 The parrots are seeking safety in numbers, and  there's a reason they're roosting in pine trees that closely match their color: they're camouflaging themselves from nighttime predators. As soon as the sun sets, almost magically, all the squawking suddenly goes silent.
They disappear in to the trees. They have perfect camouflage and they just blend right into the tree, and when  the sun goes down the night owls and predators  come out. So they've quieted down and they literally don't make a peep until tomorrow morning's sunrise.
And so will I . . .