Tuesday 28th February – San Diego

We weren’t washed away in the night then!  But the creek looked totally different this morning now that the water level has subsided somewhat:

Same section of river as yesterday's pic.... looking a little calmer!

Despite being a pricey site the wi-fi here is rubbish. This led to the disappointment this morning of a failed connection right at the moment my four-year-old nephew was about to open his birthday present from us! Not impressed, I thought we wouldn’t have to miss these things with modern day technology?!?

We had considered getting public transport into San Diego but as we didn’t have a campsite to leave the RV at anyway, we drove in instead, past swollen rivers and flooded fields (right).  First stop was the Cabrillo National Monument on Loma Point.  Using our national parks pass we saved $10 and got amazing panoramic views of the whole of San Diego, Coronado Island and the Pacific Ocean.  Our first proper views of the West coast, we’ve finally made it East to West!

The Pacific Ocean

Amazing views of the San Diego skyline.  Below: Cabrillo's statue and map of his journey from Mexico

The monument heralds Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo who was officially the first European to set foot on the West Coast of America in 1542 when he sailed into the harbour and landed at this very spot.  For Simon there was plenty of military activity, as there is a massive naval base in San Diego.  This is where Navy SEALS are trained and there were helicopters, powerboats, jet planes and freighters galore all around us (right).  For me there was the promise of the gray whale migration.  According to the leaflet the best time of year to see whales off this stretch of coast is January to February.  Was the 28^th February cutting it too fine?!  The Gray whales make the longest migration of any mammal on Earth, a 10,000 mile round trip from the Arctic to the warmer waters of Mexico for the winter, to mate or give birth before heading back up North again.  Well I hope the coastline wasn’t swarming with whales yesterday, because none swam past today! We got our hopes up a couple of times, thinking we saw a plume of spray from a whale’s blowhole…. Only to see that it as spray caused by a low flying helicopter!  We spent over an hour at the monument, enjoying the views.

On both sides of the road to Loma point there is an enormous military cemetery for service men and women who served recently as well as during the World Wars.  Quite a sight.

Every single white speck on the left and right side of the road is a gravestone

We drove around the harbour’s edge getting lovely views of the city:

I had mistakenly let Simon spot the huge shape of the USS Midway carrier moored in the bay and we made a bee-line there in the hope that he may get a couple of hours to wander the decks.  I had offered to let him go solo and in turn I could wander into the City for some non-military sightseeing!  But the old problem of parking returned - $20 for a couple of hours was too expensive and really there weren’t enough hours left in the day to do the visit justice so sadly for Simon the USS Midway fell by the wayside.

Onwards to Coronado island and far better luck as far as accessibility goes!  We landed the two nearest parking meter spots to the Hotel Del Coronado….. for 75 cents in total! We strolled through the main lobby (right) around the over-priced shops and out to the beach.  

View of Hotel De Coronado from the beach

This hotel is famous for being hailed as an architectural masterpiece when it opened in 1888 as the largest resort hotel in the world, attracting wealthy clientele for months at a time and hosting famous names such as Charlie Chaplin, Kevin Costner and Madonna as well as numerous Presidents!  It remains the second largest wooden structure in the whole of the United States and was designated a National Historical Landmark in 1977 (a good year). On such a lovely sunny day it would have been amiss not to partake in a couple of iced drinks on the veranda:

We needed to head out of San Diego to make some ground towards Joshua Tree Park for tomorrow and to find somewhere cheap/free to stay, so we hit the road before sundown.  Back along Interstate 8 which wasn’t as scary as yesterday thankfully, before turning into the wilderness.  In the dark the windy highway with rocks and trees on either side got a little tricky so we didn’t drive as far as we’d hoped, settling for a dry camping spot next to Lake Cuyamaca.  I think there’s a view out there, but I guess we’ll have to wait until daylight to appreciate it! With no one else in sight, we needn’t worry about noise from the generator as we made a hasty dinner and put the heating on for a bit before turning in for the night.

Monday 27th February – Into California

A grey start as predicted just got worse through the day. 

Before leaving Arizona, we topped up on propane and unleaded petrol having seen how pricey California was going to be for the next couple of weeks.  It was raining consistently as we crossed the border into our 32^nd State and gained an extra hour in our day as we returned to Pacific time: 

Mexico is somewhere over there.... is this the base of Mr Trump's wall?!

We were travelling parallel to the Mexican border for several miles today and went through a checkpoint, but we were just waved through without even having to say who we were or where we were headed.

The drive today was along interstate 8 so again, not much to report there… Until I took over the driving and had a very scary 90 minutes driving in torrential rain with gusting winds trying to dislodge us from the tarmac.  I needed a workout, so maybe it was helpful to be clinging onto the steering wheel for dear life!

At lunch we rang ahead to book into San Diego RV resort and when we were told that, even with our PA discount, it would be $41 per night we just booked the one night!  We thought we’d wait and see what the weather was doing on our arrival.  There was no sign of the downpour abating so I suggested that I could use the evening to catch up on laundry before Becky joins us on Friday.  She is on a 2 week holiday – there is no way we want to be wasting any time when she is here with mundane things like washing!

Our site was backing onto a river.  As the rain continued to pour down through the evening the level kept rising and the water was really rushing past in torrents.  The sand bags at the doorway of the laundry failed quite early on as well so I was tip-toeing between washers and dryers as the water pooled on the concrete floor.  Just running back and forth to the laundry nearby I got drenched and annoyed.  There were flood warnings for the whole San Diego area.  I thought California was meant to be hot and sunny?!

Our back garden for the night...

On a positive, this afternoon gave me time to look at booking some things for Becky’s arrival.  We had picked up a flyer for whale-watching near LA that promised a price of $14 instead of $36 per person.  I tried booking for us online but the discount code didn’t work.  I guessed the deal was off but thought I’d ring the company to see what they could do for us.  The extremely helpful lady at the other end of the phone didn’t hesitate to fulfil the booking at the $14 price, so when we pick Becky up on Friday we can break the news that we are going Whale watching that afternoon at 330pm!  I can’t wait, she’ll be so pleased.

So, as long as we’re not swept away overnight, we are promised a brighter day and we are in a good position to see as much of San Diego as you can in one day before heading out of the City to try and find somewhere cheaper to stay on the way towards Joshua Tree National Park for Wednesday.

Sunday 26th February – Simon’s Birthday

A lie-in was called for followed by bacon and egg sandwiches and coffee for the birthday boy.  We then spoke to his family and friends over the internet.  I had purchased a small Birthday cake and candles so that Simon’s parents could sing happy birthday with me.  Birthdays are all about embarrassing the lucky person, aren’t they?!

By the time we’d spoken to everyone it was afternoon.  We headed out into the sunshine to explore the resort and partake in some golfing.  We’d have to wait to rent some clubs so we went to the bar to cash in our free drinks vouchers and found the large outdoor version of Shuffleboard that we’d enjoyed so much in Florabama (below).  

We were lucky... every day they are NOT shuffling....

The Birthday Boy with his badge and beer!

Again, we needed some schooling from some other residents who pointed us in the right direction but then we started our own game of 1 vs 1.  Obviously, as it was Simon’s Birthday it was only fair to let him win.  To be fair to him, Si had worn the ‘Birthday Boy’ badge I had given him in his card, so he was a good sport in that respect.  The shuffleboard tied us over nicely until it was time to enjoy 9 holes of golf.  We are terrible at golf.  Luckily it wasn’t too busy on the course, so the fact that Simon lost two golf balls in water features and I kept hitting mine onto the wrong hole wasn’t an issue!  It took us an hour and a half to do 9 holes, but we enjoyed ourselves (oh, and Simon won this game as well).

Apologies to anyone who actually knows how to play golf!

We ended the evening with a steak (for Simon) and fish (for me) dinner in the resort restaurant, along with a carafe of red wine.  We asked, but there weren’t any events tonight in the resort.  In fact the bar shut at 8pm, so we returned to the RV thoroughly stuffed and a little tipsy from our exploits.  I was happy that, despite my uncertainty a few days ago, Simon had enjoyed his Birthday and I’d managed to find us a nice resort to relax in for a couple of days.