San Diego

 Michael had a work conference in San Diego in October and I got to tag along.  The first day was really the only day he got to go sight seeing since he was on conferences the other days, so we went to tour the U.S.S. Midway which was unbelievable!  Such a huge ship and with everything inside you can imagine from dentistry services to post office to dining halls.  I thought a lot about my dad who loves airplanes and would have appreciated this specific attraction even more than me.  That night we took a ferry to Coronado island and rode a tandem bike to Coronado beach which was a DREAM!  The next day I did the same thing just by myself.  They had ferrys that took you to Coronado Island like every hour.  When I got there I got a sandwich and some blackberries from the grocery story and then rented a bike and rode over to the beach and at my little picnic.  It was bliss.  I rode my bike as far as the sidewalk took me and on the way back saw an impressive sandcastle that said the date (Oct 17) which is my dad's bday so I asked to have my picture taken by it, and then I found out that on the other side it said the date AND happy birthday, and so of course I had my picture taken on that side to send to my dad.  After that I walked around the island a little bit and then took the ferry back to the pier and Michael and I met Jack Carpenter (fellow PA who was also there for the conference) for dinner

 The second day I slept in and debated just staying in my hotel room all day since I was unsure about getting around the city by myself.  Michael had downloaded an app on my phone called lyft which is a transportation service cheaper than a taxi.  I decided I shouldn't waste the day away and the opportunity I had to explore so I got up, grabbed breakfast at a bakery across from the hotel and scheduled my lyft to pick me up in front of the hotel and take me to Balboa Park, which is like a cultural center with beautiful art museums and historic buildings.  There was some amazing art work, also made me think of my dad who would have loved it.  I am such a small town girl I know, but the lyft totally knocked my socks off.  After I was done exploring Balboa Park and riding my bike around (really trying to not get lost), I sat down at a table by the bike rental and scheduled my next lyft to pick me up and take me to la jolla beach.  The picture of the car and a profile picof the driver popped up on my phone so I knew who/what to look for and About 5 minutes later he showed up and took me to the beach.  AMAZING!!!!!  Ha ha.  La jolla beach was beautiful.  Lots of snorkelers there and stinky seals.  There was a cool cave I'd wanted to go through but I figured Michael and I could go through it together that evening so I skipped out and walked over to the part of the beach where you could actually sit on the sand.  I forgot my swimsuit at the hotel so I spent way too much money on a la jolla tank top and hurley shorts that I'll never wear again and sat on the beach.  I love the beach.  I know the people who live there probably get used to it but every time I went it practically took my breath away and I could have looked out into the ocean all day. Eventually I got kind of lonely and walked back to shops, sat down on a bench and scheduled my next lyft to take me back to the hotel.  Again, AMAZING!  That night, Michael and I walked around downtown and picked an Italian restaurant (they have restaurant hosts standing out in front of each restaurant trying to persuade pedestrians to come to theirs).  After a delicious dinner we went to Ghiradelli for a yummy hot fudge Sundae and called it a night.