San Diego

We had the opportunity to visit San Diego at the beginning of October while I attended a conference for work and Michael tagged along for vacation. During my downtime from the conference, we packed in a lot of local attractions. Here are the highlights of our trip.

Day 1: Get Settled
We didn't have a rental car for this trip, so we relied on public transportation. For the most part, this was fine, but we were exposed to a lot of homeless people. It was sad and disturbing to see people digging through trash cans, sleeping on the street, and hobbling around with tattered clothing. Being exposed to this reminded us constantly to be thankful for the simple things we have in life. We are so very blessed, just to have a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in.

After we checked into our hotel, we walked to a nearby grocery store and bought massive amounts of food for our breakfasts and lunches for the week. We stayed at a Residence Inn (my favorite chain) because they have a full kitchen in every room: refrigerator, stove, microwave, sink, and dishwasher. It was nice to be able to prepare our own food for breakfast and lunch and know exactly what we were eating.

It was amusing walking back from the store with Michael's backpack stuffed full of food and we each carried several bags of groceries. Chalk that one up for yet another Yager Adventure. We seem to have those more and more often...

Day 2: La Jolla Cove
On our first morning, we woke up early and took a ~1 hour bus ride to La Jolla Cove. We got there in the early morning hours and saw the beautiful cliffs and ocean waves in golden sunlight. Gorgeous!!

We took some goofy pictures on the beach until the tide started to come in. We walked around the boardwalk and watched the dozens of seals lounging on the cliff faces. They kind of stunk, but they made funny chattering noises and hobbled around on the cliffs. We also enjoyed walking around the nearby park and watching some (crazy) people body surf in the gigantic waves (and not being from California, I'm sure these waves were normal sized, but to me they were huge).

Day 3: Zoo & Botanical Building
On Day 3, we went to the San Diego Zoo in the morning. I'm on the fence about zoos. They kind of depress me because the animals look bored out of their minds, but I also think they can be helpful at preserving endangered animals and provide better care for them than in the wild. But I still enjoy going to zoos on occasion, and what better zoo to visit than the world-famous San Diego Zoo?

As you can see in the slideshow of pictures, the apes were very amusing. They sat with their butts up against the glass as if to say they are much to good for you...move along now! My favorite exhibit was the elephants. They had one elephant in a large kennel and were cleaning his feet. He was so smart that they could tap his leg and he knew to lift it, wait until the zoologist placed a shallow pan underneath, and then lower his foot into the pan. They fed him vegetables to keep him occupied, which was really cute to watch him eat.

That afternoon we went to the Botanical Building at Balboa Park. On the walk there, we passed the largest tree we've ever seen. They even had it fenced off I think to protect it. Crazy big! The Botanical Building was beautiful as the sunlight shone through the windows and they had a variety of plants and flowers. The pond outside was also very picturesque.

Day 4: Balboa Park
The next day we had plans to visit Cabrillo National Monument, but they were closed because of the government shutdown. So instead we went back to Balboa Park and walked around. The first place we went was the Rose Garden. It was so beautiful to see roses of almost any color imaginable. There was also a gigantic cactus plant nearby. Even though we did not go inside, Balboa Park houses numerous museums and exhibits.

Day 5: Midway Museum
Our last day in San Diego was spent visiting the USS Midway Museum. It was an old aircraft carrier used from the end of WWII to 1992. They then converted it into a museum where they allow you to walk through most of the ship. This was our favorite attraction to see. It was amazing to see all of the sections of the ship.

I found it most interesting to see how the living quarters changed as you moved up in rank. The lowest-ranked officers were squeezed into bunk beds like sardines (three bunk beds in a 6 or 7 foot height of space) with only a draw and locker to store their personal belongings. The living quarters got a bit more spacious if you were an officer. Moving up in rank, you eventually had your own room with a small sink and mirror, but would share a shower and toilet in the hallway. Even higher ranked officers had their own private bathroom and bedroom. The Admiral's quarters had a king-size bed, night stands, closet cabinets, private bathroom, and a living room with couches and tables.

On the deck of the ship they house many retired planes and helicopters, some of which they allow people to sit and walk inside.

We also enjoyed eating dinner each night at the plant-based, gluten-free restaurant called Casa de Luz. We've eaten at the Austin location before, but much preferred the San Diego location. The atmosphere at the San Diego location was much more modern, youthful, and less "harnessing your chi" type vibe. The food was different each night, and we enjoyed sharing dessert together as well.

We had a great time visiting California, but were very glad to get back home to Texas and to our five furry kids...who expressed their irritation over the next few days at how we abandoned them.