San Diego

Last December I purchased a get-away trip for Gil and I to celebrate his graduation in May.  There were different destination options across the country and in Mexico.  I was ready to sit on a beach in Mexico and Gil go his passport renewed.  He graduated and I asked where and when.  He was busy with work, then helping family, then he got his new job and had no time off.  The trip was about to expire and I wanted to use it.  One of the destinations was San Diego, driving distance from Phoenix, so I booked for me and Wesley.

The Wee Lad is a good little traveler.  He sleeps, we sing songs, he looks at the trains and the rocks, and we stop somewhere for a picnic lunch.  Our hotel was in downtown San Diego.

Thursday morning we were up bright and early and headed to Cabrillo National Monument.  The weather was perfect.   

We enjoyed views of the Pacific and and looking across San Diego Bay to downtown and the rest of the city.

We explored the old lighthouse.

We went down to the beach and had lunch.  A little after lunch was low tide and we were able to explore the tide pools and find some cool creatures.

An urchin!  Talking to one of the volunteers, apparently these are pretty rare to find.  It was a brilliant purple, the photo doesn't do it justice.  A really, really cool find.

We found quite a few anemones too, including this lovely white one.  We also saw a ton of crabs.

The beautiful southern CA coast.

We then drove up the coast to the San Diego Temple.  Such a beautiful temple.  

While we drove north the clouds rolled in, the wind picked up, and the temperature dropped.  We were planning on going to a beach in La Jolla for some quality sand digging time for Wesley but it was not pleasant beach weather anymore, even with a jacket.

Friday morning we went to the San Diego Children's Discovery Museum.  It was a first time to a children's museum for Wesley and he loved it!  I loved it!  I nudged a bit to get him started but otherwise, I let him decided where he wanted to play and how long he wanted to play there.  It was wonderful to watch him play and explore and experiment and pretend.

Cooking dinner.

For the most part, he was pretty good about keeping his mask on too.  We were there two and a half hours and he wore it without complaint just about the whole time.  

The museum closed at noon, we had a picnic lunch and headed home.  It was a wonderful quick trip.  Next time, we hope Gil can join us.