San Diego: Gardens and Land

A highlight of our trip to San Diego was Balboa Park. The gardens were beautiful! We didn't end up going to the zoo but we hear it's terrific.

Colin is standing in front of the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. It is home to one of the world's largest outdoor pipe organs. Free concerts are held throughout the summer.

Though a bit touristy, we made a point to visit Old Town, the birthplace of California. It is the site of the first Spanish settlement on the U.S. West Coast. Today it is a state park featuring original buildings, museums, shops, and restaurants.

Colin asked if we could take the wagon back to downtown. We ended up taking the trolley, but the wagon would have been a fun ride!

San Diego: Ships and Beaches

Colin joined B and I on a trip to the west coast! Our first stop was in San Diego. We visited the USS Midway. A nice veteran taught Colin about flight instruments.

We spent a few hours walking all over the ship, including the flight deck.

The next morning, Colin and I went to the famous Hotel Del Coronado on Coronado Island.

The weather was perfection so we walked along the boardwalk and on Orange Avenue, Coronado's main drag.

We took the ferry back to San Diego. Colin thought the skyline was quite nice!

Back from La La Land

New Colin had a monsteriffic vacation in the sunny state of California! He really enjoyed spending our last day in LA at Manhattan Beach!

More photos to come...stay tuned!

To the Hills

We saw a whole lot over the next few days. Above tiny San Simeon, we visited the Hearst Castle.

Mini Q wanted to dive into the Neptune Pool! The Italian (indoor) Pool was quite nice too.

In Solvang, a.k.a. the Danish capital of the United States, we pigged out on pastries. The Olsen family founded the town way back in the day.

It's as if Mini Q was in Denmark! Lol.

One afternoon, we visited the Gainey Vineyard. Our tour guide was hilarious. I had a great time learning about wine making, trying different wines, and walking around the property.

Santa Barbara was uber chill. Didn't see a whole lot, but I'm happy we stopped by.

I was told prior to my trip that the people at Venice Beach are interesting to say the least. I think they were sleeping in the morning we went!

Parking on Rodeo Drive was remarkably easy to find, and cheap, especially on a Friday afternoon. The shopping though - not so much...

After driving through the Hills, we visited the touristy places in Hollywood, including the Mann Chinese Theatre.

On our last full day in LA, we had lupper (a lunch/dinner hybrid if you will) in Santa Monica. The beach, Palisades Park, and the Third Street Promenade were quite lovely.

And that's it! Seven days of pure Californian bliss!

On the Road

After San Fran, we made a quick pit stop in Berkeley and stayed overnight in Palo Alto. We drove to Half Moon Bay the next morning. We were hoping to see some surfers out and about, but it was a wee bit chilly. Mini Q really enjoyed the fresh air.

We stopped in Santa Cruz for lunch. It was kinda eerie how quiet it was by the amusement park. The Mins and I had the whole beach to ourselves!

We visited the aquarium in Monterey. Mini Q liked watching the sea otters.

On day four of our California cruise, we did the 17-Mile Drive through Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach. There were heaps of pelicans and sea lions lazing on the rock in the distance. We made several stops along the route, including one at the Lone Cypress.

In Carmel-by-the-Sea, we indugled in a "Dirty Harry" burger for lunch at Clint Eastwood's resto - Hog's Breath Inn.

Ya don't see beaches like this in Toronto!

The Mins in front of the gates to the historic Mission San Carlos.

We spent the afternoon driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in the Big Sur. This was by far my favourite part of the trip! The views were unreal, and kept on getting better and better when we drove south. This photo was taken at Pfeiffer Beach.

It was here I started to wonder, what ever happened to Michelle Pfeiffer?!? Dangerous Minds was a great movie. If you have any insight, please do let me know.

The City by the Bay

People told me San Francisco is great, and boy, were they ever right. On the way to my aunt's boutique, the Mins and I walked up Lombard Street. This stretch of the street is famous for being quite steep and crooked. There are eight sharp hairpin turns in total.

The tall column in the background is Coit Tower.

It was really nice to see my Aunt Mary. She took me out for lunch at Delarosa, and toured me around the city. My aunt insisted that we check out the Palace of Fine Arts. After a quick afternoon stroll, we drove to Golden Gate Park.

The de Young Museum looked pretty cool from the outside. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm in San Fran.

Also cool looking was the California Academy of Sciences, which has an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a 4-storey rainforest, all under one roof.

We went to Alcatraz early the next day.

I'm really glad we visited the Rock. The audio tour was really interesting, and the island had great views of the city.

The Mins escaping Alcatraz!!! Tee hee hee.

The clouds look ominous, but the weather was nice that morning.

No visit to San Fran is complete without a ride on the cable car!

Nor a photo opp with the Golden Gate Bridge!