San Diego Trip 2005

We left Waco on March 25, 2005, at about noon. We had about 22 hours of driving ahead of us. Maiko took his truck and I took mine. Amy and Isabelle were with Maiko. In January we bought two portable DVD player and Maiko was carrying one. The other one was in our truck. They make excellent babysitters for any trip. Isabelle slept and watched movies. Elfida and mom were with me. We took turns driving and only stopped to gas up and eat. We made excellent time, even had a chance to stop in Arizona and get a couple of hours of sleep. Arriving in San Diego at about 04:00 PM we avoided the rush hour traffic and found our hotel with no problems. A friend had loaned us two two-way radios that proved to be invaluable for staying in touch with each other while in traffic.

San Diego had very cool nights. Once we checked into the hotel we showered and then headed out to find something to eat. After eating at a Sizzler's we went to the sea shore. Oh, was it cool! When we got out to take this picture, mom decided to stay warm in the truck. This scouting trip allowed us to pick what areas we wanted to visit during the day. We had expected to pay $3.00 or more for a gallon of gas but the most we paid was $2.68.

After driving all over the downtown area looking for a place to eat breakfast, we settled for the IHOP. Not a good choice. The service was terrible and the food expensive. The manager was giving the waitresses a hard time and they in turn were taking it out on the customers. After eating we spent another 1/2 hours looking for a place to park at "Old San Diego Town". The place is great. We were there for about 5 hours and still didn't get to see all of it. We got souvenirs for some very low prices. all the flowers were blooming. I got lots of great pictures.

Oh, yes there were flowers everywhere, all colors, all sizes and all shapes. Some of the plants and flowers I recongized as the kind that grow only in flower pots in Texas. Here they were 3-6 feet tall with huge flower!

Elfida and Amy found some Marine souvenirs and San Diego postcards. There were many shops selling all kinds of things.

We decided that if we wanted to make it to the sea shore before the closed up we had to leave "Old Town San Diego" so we took the Blue Line. We got help from one of the security guards at the station. He explained how to buy the tickets and how to read the rail map. When we got on the train, the passenger in front of me looked like the transients that hang out by the interstate in Waco. He was starring at me so I made eye contact with him and greeted him. While we were talking and trying to figure out which stop would be ours, he asked me where we were going and then explained were we were to get off. You can see how long the shadow were by the time we got to the sea shore.

The picture was taken on the "Rose". The same boat where "Master and Commander" was filmed. Originally based in Providence, Rhode Island, The HMS Surprise was actually the HMS Rose, a reproduction tall ship built in 1970 at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia by Smith and Rhuland Ltd.

The Star of India is the oldest working ship of its kind. It was built in 1863. It sails at least once a year. It is an old iron bottom ship.

Elfida, Mom and Amy resting on the deck of the Star of India.

The whole family setting on the back end of the HMS Rose. It was starting to get cold again. The sun was reflecting silver off the water. It was time to head back to Old Town San Diego and eat some dinner. We were tired, hungry and thirsty.

We got back on the Blue Line. We were pros on how to read the rail maps now.

We ate at a Mexican restaurant in Old Town San Diego. The food was real good or we were really hungry. Dinner took about two hours. Most of the time was spent eating slowly and recuperating from all the walking we had done. Elfida had a giant Margarita. We each drank about a gallon of tea. That night we went to bed early because we were going to get to see Carlos the next morning. The Marine Recruit Depot would open at 07:30 hrs. and we were going to be the first there.