End of our Stay In San Diego

It has been a few weeks since we have posted our activities here in So. Cal. so here it is. As we come to the end of our stay in San Diego we would like to tell you about our Thanksgiving weekend and our other activities. Sharon and I had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant called the Butcher Shop. It is about 10 minutes from our apartment.  We were met in the parking lot by Valet Parking. There was a doorman to open the door into the restaurant and we were quickly seated by the maitre'd. Our waitress got us our drinks and proceeded to tell us about the all you can eat buffet, located in a separate room. The restaurant was very elegant with nice leather seating and chandeliers everywhere. When we walked into the buffet area the was every kind of food known to man available. A full salad bar, a seafood raw bar, fruits and melons of all types,  four types of potatoes, several vegetables, various sauces and the meat, this is what they are known for. There was hand carved ham, prime rib, veal and turkey. There was stuffing (dressing) etc. You name it, they had it. Of course after you are completely full, there are the desert tables with pies, cakes, a chocolate fountain for the fresh strawberries and so much more. When we left we felt full with a great Thanksgiving dinner, but it just isn't the same without family.
     We went back to the apartment, jumped in our bathing suits and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the pool and the hot tub. Tomorrow would be a day of travel for us.
   We got up Friday morning, nice and early, jumped in the car and headed to Las Vegas, about a 5 hour drive. Neither of us had ever been there. It was a nice drive up through the San Bernardino Mountains and out into the desert. Traffic was light and a very enjoyable drive.

   We had reservations at the Golden Nugget, one of the older casinos in Vegas in the downtown area. Binion's, Golden Gate and several other casinos are all there. They are located on Fremont Street, which used to be the main drag for all the old casinos.The hotel has a huge swimming pool with a shark tank inside the pool, so it looks like you are swimming with the sharks and sliding through the shark tank. With the expansion of Vegas since the 80's, they have made a new road called The Strip where all the new casinos are. In order to get people to go to the older casinos the created the Fremont Street Experience. It is a half round cover over the entire length of Fremont Street, about 5 city blocks long, that is a video screen and it has shows every hour from 6 PM until 1 AM. A really unique item. The shows last between 8 to 12 minutes and feature different performers every hour, quite a light show. I am glad we stayed here, that gave me something to do every hour while Sharon was breaking Vegas at the slots (haha). In between the hourly shows there are several stages that have live performances, one musical, one magical, motorcycle Sphere of Death, etc.

   We went to a so called burlesque show at the MGM Grand Hotel on The Strip on Saturday night, it was probably the worse show I have ever seen, that includes elementary school shows. The only thing good about the show was two guys did a couple comedy skits and they were very funny.
    Sunday we got up and headed home, about 10 miles south of Las Vegas we realized we screwed up, traffic was all backed up, everyone going home from Thanksgiving weekend. Good old Gary isn't sitting on the highway in traffic, we jumped off the highway and went back roads, what few there are out in the desert. We saw some more desert and finally we started seeing snow on some cars coming the other way. Saturday night they had a storm and it dropped over 6" of snow in the San Bernardino Mountains, so we got a chance to see that too. 10 hours later we got back to the apartment in San Diego. It was a long day.
   We can check Las Vegas off on our bucket list, been there, done that, don't see a reason to do that again.

We head home to New England on Sunday, December 13. We actually will get home on Monday, late morning.  Not looking forward to the cold, but can't wait to see our friends and family.

November 19

We have been having a good time in San Diego. I have had most weekends off so we have been doing the tourist stuff as much as we can.  On the 1st of the month we went up to Carlsbad for a local street fair that Sharon has seen on the news. We got there about 9:30 and it was already very busy. About 10 city blocks were roped off and the were all kinds of vendors there.

By 11:00 we could hardly move, so we left and went up to Palomar Mountain to

see the 200" telescope in the observatory. This was the last day of this year for tours of the telescope. Atthe end of the tour they actually rotate the whole scope for us. It was pretty interesting for an old optical guy.

Sharon was not too thrilled about the ride up or down the mountain side. We went from an elevation of about 400 feet above sea level to over 5000 feet above sea level in about 7 miles, almost straight up a little narrow winding road. There were some beautiful views off the mountain looking over the mountain range and 80 miles south west to the ocean. We would have some nice pictures but Sharon's finger prints are still firmly embedded in the passenger seat in the car.

I had Veteran's Day off so we took a ride over to Coronado Island to check out the views, shops, food and fresh air. The ferry landing on Coronado is a little tourist trap with about 40 little shops and restaurants. I got a coffee and just sat around gawking while Sharon looked in the shops. This is the view of downtown San Diego from Coronado and the ferry coming into the landing.

And some lady just hanging around the Ferry pier.

 

We are just enjoying the weather and each other.

October 31 Halloween

The fall air has come to Southern California. In the morning I am waking up to the temperature in the upper 50's and by 10 AM it is around 70 degrees.  Last Sunday we took a San Diego Harbor Cruise on the ship High Spirits. The boat was used by Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe for the movie "Some Like It Hot" in the early 1960's.

 

     The cruise was a two hour cruise split in two halves. The first half was the inner bay. There were tons of military ships in the harbor, the nuclear surface craft, LSD's & air craft carriers, over at North Island. The conventional engined surface craft down at 32nd Street. These were the fast frigates, destroyers, ammo supply ships and conventional supply ships. The boat in the picture below is one of the Seal delivery boats. They were traveling in a pair and I got a real nice photo of this one passing us.
There were beautiful views of the city, Coronado Island, the Silver Strand and you could even see the mountains over the border in Mexico. It was a nice guided tour. As you can see from the picture, the airport is right next to the harbor and downtown.

The second half took you out of the downtown area and headed toward the open sea. We passed Harbor Island with its hundreds of multi-million dollar yachts. Then we went past Shelter Island where the "not quite so rich" kept their million dollar yachts. After we passed Shelter Island we came to the California Sea Lions resting on the bait pens. These pens are used by the sport fishermen to purchase bait prior to entering the Pacific Ocean. The Sea Lions are just hoping for some free lunch.

 As we were heading back to the dock for the end of the tour, a pair of FA-18 fighter were taking off from North Island just as we were passing the end of the runway

It was a wonderful tour followed by lunch at the Kansas City Bar-B-Q, where they shot the sleazy bar scene from the movie "Top Gun".

October 24 San Diego Zoo

We have had a busy weekend visiting the San Diego Zoo on Saturday. The weather was just beautiful, upper 70's and sunny, just a little hazy.  We got a chance to see the Giant Panda's. We have missed them the other times we have gone to the zoo.

We also saw a nice Polar Bear exhibit.

We really enjoyed the orangutan and gorilla exhibit. They were laying there cleaning each other and once in a while they would stop and look up to see what was going on.

The Sky Ride is an aerial tram that takes you over the zoo from one end to the other. The views of San Diego were real nice.

And then we finally ended our day at the zoo.

We waited ten minutes and they would not turn around for the camera.

Gary & Sharon

October 12 Los Angeles

I had Columbus Day off so we took the Amtrak train, the Surfliner, up the coast line from San Diego up to Los Angeles. Here are a few pictures we took from the train.

We went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, lots of stars on the side walk. Here are a couple.

We saw the Hollywood Sign.

Went to Grauman's Chinese Theater

Saw the Kodak Theater. TV makes it look a lot fancier than it really is. Amazing what they can do with the right camera angles, like Times Square in New York City.

October 11, San Diego Arrival

We arrived Monday the 5th of October in San Diego to 75 degrees and beautiful sunshine. We have a very nice second floor apartment. This is a picture out our bedroom window.

The fall weather was about to hit. Woke up Tuesday morning and went to work, it was about 65 and overcast. By 10 Am it had cleared on the coast and was a beautiful afternoon, about 72 degrees. By Wednesday the cool fall air had hit and it was only 69. By the weekend it had warmed up nicely, back to the mid seventies.
I worked Saturday and Saturday night Sharon & I went out to dinner and found a nice wood fired pizza place just down the road. It was excellent.
Sunday we slept in til 7 o'clock. Boy did that feel good. We went to the Seaport Village for lunch and listened to a live band playing 60's & 70's music outdoors in the village. They were very entertaining.

We went back to the apartment late afternoon to relax by the pool. Sharon is laying in the sun on the far side of the pool.

We are taking the Amtrak train to Los Angeles tomorrow, Monday, to do some sight seeing there. I have to go back to work on Tuesday so we are trying to make the most of my time off. I will take some pictures while we are there and post them..

September 30 Preparing for travel to San Diego

         As we get ready to travel to San Diego for my last work travel assignment, we have been getting the house and the motorhome ready for winter. When we return, Old Man Winter will have his fingers dipping in the ice cold ponds and lakes.
       But before we go we must have a few hours with our precious new grandaughter, Hannah Marie.

Sharon had the pleasure of taking care of Hannah one last time on Tuesday. She is such a joy to have. She loves to laugh.

Brian came to pick up Hannah and her face just brightens up when he arrives.

She loves her Gramma and her Daddy.

     She loves her Mommy too, but she was working late, so that is why Gramma got to have a play day with Hannah.
  We will miss them all, greatly, while we are gone.

September 16 Our Life's Next Chapter

The Beginning

As we end one Chapter of our lives (working for a living) and embark on another new and exciting Chapter (Retirement or as I will call it, Refinement) we will keep a journal of our transition. Hope you enjoy our journey as much as we intend to enjoy it ourselves.
My final travel assignment for work takes us to San Diego, CA for the fall. We have traveled to San Diego several times before in all different seasons. It is a lovely place to visit.
We will try to update this blog at least once a week with pictures and words of our travels. Our travels will take us far from home and our many friends and family. We hope this is a way we can bridge the gap and keep in contact with those that are near and dear to our hearts.