Wednesday, January
15th 2014
Easy going morning. We had our coffee and leisurely left
the motel. There was some traffic but it was not horrible. Warm,
sunny, and blue sky. We went south and cross the bridge to Coronado
Island. It is nice and tall bridge and it is visible from quite a
distance. A day before I was telling J. about “removable highway
divider” - innovative technology when the divider can be moved by
up to two lanes by special vehicle. It is apparently relatively easy
and cheap way to manage rush hour traffic – the divider is moved
between morning and evening rush traffic. Funny thing, as we were
crossing the bridge to Coronado we saw this sideways driving truck
moving the divider. Really nice (= wealthy) neighborhoods. We drove
to a small park that had a great view of downtown San Diego. Green
grass. Big bay. Blooming roses. Incredible view of the city. It was
like a small paradise. Sit, soak, and relax for a few moments. It was
almost perfect. A bit of driving around but there were no unique or
interesting shops so we ended up parking by the beach. Walked along,
saw a guy building sandcastle (with bride and groom standing in front
of it). Hotel del Coronado, impressive structure by the beach.
Historic landmark. Their parking lot was charging 56 dollars for a
day of parking (37 for guests). After this pleasant experience we
drove south on Coronado “sand beach” - relatively narrow strip of
land. There were some beaches and a lot of military establishments.
We even saw three guys in uniforms riding bikes with helmets – it
looked really funny. Otherwise kind of: not much. Imperial Beach:
walk, pier, nice and peaceful. Through the town to interstate 5 and
head north.
Twenty five mile or so. Nothing special, I guess. As we
were exiting we saw pretty nice building – Mormon church. Birch
Aquarium at Scripps. It was not very big but it was pretty nice and
interesting. Sea horses. Bunch of strange and/or colorful fish.
Sharks. Some climate change exhibits – I think it was missing some
big dark banner saying “we may be doomed”. Some “toys”
showing alternative sources of energy. Amazing view – Pacific
ocean. It was actually really nice visit. More less down the road was
area called La Jolla. Beach community, upscale shops, bad parking,
and construction. At one point (close to giving up beach parking) we
got lucky and found parking spot. Walked along the beach. People.
Retirement community. Sea lions colony – there was a small walkway
to view them. Happy and lazy animals. Sunny and breezy. Busy. After a
longer while we walked back through the main street. Not very
interesting. Mr. Soledad – mountain or big hill (I guess it depends
…) in the area of La Jolla. Drive up, park, and wander around.
There is big cross as a part of veteran's memorial. The mountain has
some really impressive views of the area (pretty much 360 degrees).
It was cooler and breezy there. Enjoyable though. As it was rush hour
we avoided freeway (it was still pretty heavy traffic) and headed to
the motel on side roads. Unfortunately close to our destination there
was some serious accident, the road was closed and we were diverted
onto the freeway anyway. Back in the motel. J. got a phone call and
the hospital in Anchorage, Alaska made her a formal offer for a
travel position starting March 21st. WE ARE DRIVING TO
ALASKA IN MARCH. And there is no travel agency. It is between the
hospital and J. It is a great news. It will also be interesting to
drive there with winter still ruling great white north, but we will
see. To celebrate a bit, we walked to downtown and had Mexican dinner
and J. had two margaritas. Great day.
