Changes...

I practically grew up in San Diego.  I was a Navy brat, so spent two years here, then two years there and two years somewhere else again until I was ten, but in and out of San Diego and back again permanently at thirteen until three years ago...so, I've seen a lot of changes over the years.  I've seen San Diego grow up you could say.  Jack first moved here in 1970.

And "grow up" it has!  When I first moved here, almost sixty-five years ago, it was practically a "small town".  You could get from one end to the other in less than fifteen minutes!  We used to take Sunday Drives out to the north county for the day.  ;-)   Now, all my children have moved away to other parts of the country.  I still have some family and a lot friends here, so we still come back once or twice a year to visit.  One of the things we like to do tho, is to drive around and see all the changes the city has undergone while we've been gone...because it continues to grow, and change.

We had such a chance the other day.  We started off by going downtown to look for the new library that we heard had finally been built.  Now, if you've ever lived here, or are now, you know how long that's been coming.  It's been talked about and been voted on for decades!  Certainly something this city has needed for many, many years.  It took us awhile to find it, but it sure was worth the hunt.  What a beauty!  I think it's actually in a good location too.  Right at a trolley and bus stop, has parking (pay), out of the way of the Gaslamp District, near condos and apartments, etc.  San Diego can be proud.

We did have to shake our head tho at the continued building of more housing, knowing how bad the drought is.  Where do they think they are going to get the much needed water for all these people?  Jobs building these now, but how will these people get water later?  Short sighted planning, I'm afraid...

From there we mossied toward the Embarcadero and admired the progress of the enlargement of the airport.  We also noticed all the new signs and how they "dropped" the name Lindbergh, and are just using "San Diego International Airport" now...poor Charles.  They even painted over his picture and did a new mural!  Guess he just didn't make the cut.  While there, we drove on around to Spanish Landing to see the progress of the building of the replica of the San Salvidor.  What a lovely surprise, as she's almost complete!  They should be launching her in about a month.  What a great sight that should be for San Diego.  We wish we could be here for that.  It's been fun to follow the building of her over the years.  The Bandy Blacksmith Guild has been forging all the ironwork for it, which Jack is a member of that Guild, so we feel proud if only by association.

Leaving there, it was time for lunch, so naturally we had to stop at a favorite stop...El Indo!  Thank goodness some things never change!!  YUM!  Chips to take with (of course!)  and off to Pacific Beach...

When Jack first moved to San Diego, he lived in Pacific Beach, just a few blocks from the beach.  I also didn't live very far from there for many years, only "fifteen minutes", and was there often.  It was "my beach" hangout.  So it's the one we go to, when we are in town.  (there are beaches all along the coast in San Diego that people think of:  Pacific, Ocean, & La Jolla).  Now, PB (as it's called) is always changing.  There are some places that change constantly, and always have - same building, but new name.  It's like a game "what will it's name be this year?"  Then there are the ones you know will always be there, like the Denny's that's been there for sixty years, etc.  But the "old ones" are getting old and it's the beach after all, and the sea takes it toll, so buildings need repair, and times change, etc.  So, one never really knows...such was our discovery.

As we drove down our favorite streets and remarked on the various buildings, we had very little surprises.  We loved that we actually found a parking spot right at the beach (that's rare).  We have a favorite restaurant, one that has been Jack's since the very beginning.  It's a simple, clean, nothing fancy place, called The Green Flash.  It always had a line, breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It catered to the quiet crowd, beach people who just wanted good food with a good view, as it is right on the beach.  There are plenty other places catering to the 20s-30s drinking crowd.  We loved it.  So as we walked the beach, I asked, "do you think it's still there?"  Just as Jack was saying "of course, The Green Flash will always be the...OMG what have they DONE TO MY RESTAURANT?"  ...we had turned the corner and saw the change...ugh.  It was no longer The Green Flash...but the garish Baja Beach Cafe...filled with the 20s-30s sipping their huge Margaritas...and enjoying the changes....

...but that's ok, life is still good!

...kicking back in San Diego CA,  Marie

Welcome home!

Although San Diego CA is not our "legal" home state, it is where we spent the last 40+ years (husband) and 55+ years for me.  So, every January we come here to visit friends and family and to "thaw out" from the last couple of months of the cold, damp weather of the north.

We don't usually drive an 8 hour day, not our style.  If you follow my blogs, you know it's all about enjoying the day, so usually we drive about 4 hours, settle in and see our surroundings.  Well, we were a bit anxious to get there, so we pushed it - 8 hours!  We were familiar with the drive, reminded of the traffic (ugh) and determined to get into town in time for the sunset.  We weren't disappointed - it was beautiful!  I didn't bother taking my camera, I just dashed to the water's edge (we always stay at Mission Bay RV Park) and just enjoyed it.  I leaned against the fence and said to myself "welcome home Marie".   It was warm, the sky was orange and for the first time in weeks all I had on that evening was a long sleeve shirt.  Lovely.

Don't get me wrong, Southern California isn't "perfect", it's crowded, over-priced, noisy, has crazy politics and probably a bunch of other problems, but...the weather is heaven!  After driving all over the country, enjoying low gas prices, "normal" traffic, reasonable food prices, etc, coming back into California, especially through Silicone Valley for three weeks, it was almost a shock to our system!  There were times when the traffic was so bad that I had to close my eyes for fear of screaming - and I'm the passenger!  My daughter told me to stop grimacing and scaring her, that this was "normal" here!  I'd forgotten how awful the drivers were here!  Last night, in San Diego, there were a couple of small accidents and all of the side roads, freeways, etc were bumper-to-bumper for hours! For hours!  I remember those days, yuck, no more, thank you.  Yep, it has lovely weather.  Keep reminding yourself of that. You don't even want me to get started on the price differences on food and gas!  ha ha

But...our wonderful friends and family live here, so we get the luxury of visiting and enjoying this great weather, in January when the rest of the world is freezing (I'm so sorry).  Seeing the Zoo, seeing how the progress is going on the San Salvador with the Blacksmiths, going to lunches and dinners, seeing all the changes in the city since last year (and in our previous jobs).  Then there's always the job of weeding all the "stuff" out that we've collected along the way (how does that happen?) and taking it to storage.  Good ol' spring cleaning!  Then...we're off for the next year's adventure!

We are so excited for 2014!  Several of our friends are getting back into RVing and I think that we will be seeing them more this year, which we are really looking forward to!  We've also made some new friends along the way, who are making plans on meeting up with us as well, so that will be great too.  It's always nice to have company!  After we leave the San Diego area we are heading to Quartzsite AZ to one of the largest RV shows there is.  About 150,000 folks converge on this tiny desert town for a week to see every possible thing that you could ever even think you might want for your rig, or maybe a brand new or a used rig to buy!  We are meeting 3 other couples there for the week!  I'm really excited - both for the experience of the show, but also for the first time of being with friends camping for the week!  Cool!

This is last year at Mission Bay, it always looks the same!

Our day at the Zoo!

Jack catching up with his Blacksmith buds at the San Salvador site

 See, 2014 is going to be a great year!  Glad you are coming along with us!

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/