San Diego Excursion

My grandparents were kind enough to give us a week at their timeshare in San Diego. Sadly, we had work obligations and couldn't stay the whole time, but we had three full days there last week, and it was lovely.

Day 1: La Jolla

We visited the Scripps Aquarium at UC San Diego. It wasn't terribly impressive compared to the Monterey Bay Aquarium or even the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, but we enjoyed our short walkthrough.

Some sea life is more dangerous than others.



Wandering the beach, I spotted this art installation that I got a kick out of:


Alas, the art museum was closed by the time we made it up there.

After a long walk through the town, we stopped for dinner at Prepkitchen and had one of the best meals of our lives. It was amazing. We will definitely go back if we're ever in town again.

Day 2: Balboa Park

After a leisurely morning, we made our way to Balboa Park shortly before lunch. In an incredible stroke of luck on a busy Saturday, we got a great parking spot and had a short walk in to the heart of the park. I knew exactly where our first stop needed to be...


... the model train museum! I had fond memories, and still think model trains are pretty darn awesome. Steve humored me, and patiently listened to me point out all the cool stuff the model train aficionados have built.

We then had a great lunch at The Prado.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering the grounds looking at the architecture and plants.


Day 3: Downtown & Torrey Pines

We drove into the gaslamp district for brunch. The restaurant we picked wasn't that great, but it wasn't horrible. We then wandered around the waterfront and Seaport Village. After a long loop through the town, we got back in the car and drove North to Torrey Pines state park.

The park was packed, so we had to use the beach parking and hike up the hill to get to any trails. It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't been walking all morning. But the hike was worth it. We really enjoyed the Guy Fleming loop trail. The weather was windy and cool, but the scenery very lovely.


Giving in to our craving for more blue cheese stuffed, bacon-wrapped dates, we drove to Del Mar to visit the Prepkitchen's second location. We had a bunch of appetizers (all fabulous) and then took the scenic coastal drive back to the timeshare.


Thanks again to my grandparents for providing the lodging and my parents for watching the bunnies while we took a little break. It was a low-key, relaxing trip.

Got the Life

It has been brought to my attention that I haven't been blogging much lately. Life in Santa Cruz has settled into a lazy summer stride. I go to work for a few hours a few days a week. The rest of the time, left up to my own devices, I putter about.

For example, yesterday went something like this:

10 am: Woke with a start, realizing that I had unintentionally fallen back asleep after Steve left for work. Feeling somewhat ashamed (but very well rested), I made my way downstairs to give hay to the bunnies and top off their water bowls.

10:05 am: Watch X-Files Season 4, Episode 21 while eating mini-wheats out of the box (I can't stand milk on cereal).

10:50 am: Start a load of laundry. Water the backyard grass with the grey water and hang the laundry on drying racks on the back deck. Sit in the sun for as long as my pasty skin will tolerate with a glass of lemonade.

12 pm: Make a roast beef sandwich and watch the noon local newscast.

12:30 pm: Get rabbit Kiwi out of her cage to hang out in the living room with me. Play with her, check my e-mail and the websites I follow, update our household budgeting spreadsheet... and watch more X-Files.

4 pm: Realizing I haven't yet showered, take care of that. Wander the house, putting away things that are out of place and doing some dusting.

5:30 pm: Steve arrives home from work, but leaves again quickly to take care of union business (he's the board treasurer for his work union). I take the opportunity to watch another X-Files episode.

6:15 pm: With his usual perfect timing, Steve arrives home as my show finishes. After a brief discussion, we decide on sushi for dinner and call in for take out.

The rest of the evening is spent watching TV together, chatting about our day, Steve playing some video games while I read articles online, etc.

That's a pretty typical day for me. And I absolutely love it, the peace and aimlessness... but you can see why I don't have much to write about.