Coaster and Coronado Island

On Tuesday morning we started out for a really full day. We caught the Coaster in Oceanside, and after a game of cribbage intermixed with a tour of the beach communities between Oceanside and San Diego, we arrived at the Old Town Station.



Of course, we had time on our hands and we bummed around a little, including a visit to the Temecula Olive Oil Company, which I have mentioned in this blog previously.



Of course, there were flowers to photograph. This hibiscus was absolutely gigantic.



We caught the #10 bus from Old Town to India street and visited the Blue Water Fish Company for lunch. I had a calamari taco and some shrimp ceviche.



Bubb had the JUMBO shrimp salad with blue cheese dressing. Of course everything at the Blue Water is fresh and delicious. This is one of the real gems we have learned about on Triple D.



After catching the #10 back to Old Town Station, and watching the freaks while we waited, we caught the Old Town Trolley to Santa Fe station. We purchased tickets for the water taxi to Coronado Island, and then wandered the water front.

We didn't board her (Arrrrrr!), but we saw the Midway floating in the harbor.



Bubby was clearly enjoying the sunshine and the water. It was a glorious day to be out on an adventure.



There was a memorial park immediately adjacent to the Midway, and we wandered it while we waited for our appointed ride on the water taxi. This was a stunning, larger than life-sized, statue that graces that park.



There was a memorial to Bob Hope for his lifelong efforts on behalf of US service men and women. The profile is unmistakeable, don't you think?



We talked our tour guides into a photo under the trees along the wharf. They have really bent over backwards to show us a great time.



We boarded our taxi and sat on the upper deck, in the sunshine, for the 20 minute ride across to Coronado Island. Once we got there, we quickly jumped on a bus and road the 10 or so blocks to the Hotel Del Coronado.

We saw the amazing Crown Ballroom, wandered the grounds, and generally soaked up all that history. This is an amazing old hotel.



This plant was really interesting. The leaves, as you can see, start our green, then turn red, pink, and finally, white.



Here is the main area of the Hotel Del. The grounds and building were beautifully cared for, and of course, there were wall to wall people to enjoy it.



This was labeled a "campfire" plant. It certainly looked like one!



We took a little walk along the shore, and Bubb stopped and rested in just the right spot.



Looking back along the shoreline walk toward the Hotel Del.



We had little bags of trail mix, prepared by Bubby and I using Winco bin contents, and carried them along on our adventure. Here we sit, waiting for the bus back to the water taxi, picking the nuts out of our teeth, 1, 2, 3, and 4! I'll bet we were quite a sight.



We stopped along the water front on our way to the taxi for a few photos. It was such a wonderful day.



One of the amazing things about the day was how smoothly we were able to use the public transportation system. Bubb and I bought a $5.50 senior, round trip, ticket on the Coaster, and with the exception of the water taxi, it was all we needed for all of our travel adventures that day.

We just caught the Coaster as it was pulling out of the station, and were back in O-side a little after 5:00 PM. We did some pool and hot tub time, and then at a lovely salad prepared by Nancy. We even hide time for two games of cribbage, during the last of which, Bubby found out the true meaning of the phrase "skunk hole" (don't ask her about it, she is bitter).

Buboppy

Oceanside 2011

Couldn't pass up the chance to include this photo from Saturday's lunch at our house. Yep, we grew those tomatoes and that cucumber. Open face toasted cheese sandwiches are one of the simple pleasures of summer. We love them with a thick slice of tomato, salt, and pepper.

We were able to get out of town on Sunday at about 3:00 PM. We made a brief stop in St. George to see Auntie Nell (doing much better), drop off some produce, and pick up a cooler. Then it was on to Las Vegas for the evening. I can never wait to get out of that place. Every time I go, I have this creepy feeling that I just don't belong. We waited until 6:00 AM local time (we were awake by 3:30 AM) to push on to California.

We stopped in Victorville for breakfast (our Triple D choice is no longer in business so we "settled"), stopped at WinCo there (had to have a shot at the bins for homemade trail mix) and had a very nice visit with Bill and Verona in their Poway home around Noon.

We arrived here at the WorldMark at about 3:00 local time. Our room wasn't ready, but we hooked up with Ron and Nancy, changed into our suits, and spent an hour or so by the pool and in the hot tub, a pleasant way to wait for our lodgings. Bubby even managed to get a little sun, about which she has been bragging for the past 18 hours.

After we got settled into our room we hustled down to Harbor Fish and Chips for, you guessed it, the best fish talk in San Diego!



On our way, I couldn't help but take a photo, or two, of the local flora. Love being where these tropical plants can grow. Its more fun to be there in January, but I'll take it in August, too.



Here is Nancy tucking into her fish taco. They were absolutely as delicious as we remembered. Of course she and Ron have already been over for a dose, because they have been here for a week already. Lucky!



Here is what $10.75 buys you, two of these monsters and a big serving of cole slaw. The tortillas are corn, and homemade. We shared this plate and ate it down with embarrassing speed.



Following our dinner, we walked around the marina, looking at boats, and stopping for a photo here and there. This is how one knows they have arrived.



Although the light was not particularly good, I took this photo of a smallish sailing vessel tied to the dock. There were a ton of boats tied up to the various slips in the harbor. Hard to convey the amount of money floating there in the harbor.



Another pretty I spotted along the way. They do liven up our posting, don't you think? I may be sorry I didn't bring my "big" camera with me.



We walked around to a lovely condo project that faced the channel and watched rowing teams practicing in the harbor. Bubby got to sit in some oversized rocking chairs that were available for guests of that condo complex.



We came upon a few shore birds, including this brown pelican, who was not the least bit camera shy. That white coating on the rocks is an indication of the amount of time that shore birds spend in this particular location.



Bubby pointing to the not-so-mysterious white coating at another location.



One final pose. We passed the entrance to the hotel-converted-to-condos and I made the ladies stop for a photo on the lovely winding, oak, staircase. What a lovely ending to a great day.

We are headed to Coronado and the Blue Water Fish Market today. Going to take public transportation, including a water taxi over to Coronado. Stay tuned for more fun.

Buboppy

Need to catch up

Last weekend, we had a visit from Sarah and family. They were in St. George so that Aaron could attend the reunion of his radiology graduating class. Their family stayed with Grandma Marsha, so Bubb and went to the condo to hang out. We had a great time in St. George, and were able to do a lot of really fun things.



Bubb and I were on our own for dinner on Friday night, so we went to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in St. George (Ah'sya). I realize that the photo is out of focus, but it was the best I could do. This is one of their vermicelli bowls (grilled pork and egg rolls), and it was fantastic. If you haven't tried this place, you need to. It's our first experience with this cuisine, but it is terrific.



On Saturday morning, Bubb, Babs, Bean, and I made the 6:00 AM session at the Temple. When we got out, we gathered up all the kids and went to Golden Corral for their breakfast buffet. It was really a fun outing, and all of the Grands had their fill of whatever they were interested in. Love the custom made omelets. Bubb and I shared a spinach, bacon, onion, and green chili number what was liberally laced with mozarella cheese. Chee was having a hey day! This was probably thirds on the chocolate strawberries for her.

It was great to have the visit, and Dan and Rosalyn joined us when they could so it was super fun for everyone.

Buboppy

Alliance Signing

As I have already mentioned, we got to be in Bryce for about 24 hours the end of last week. We hiked with the former President of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, and he disputed my geological explanation for the formation of the Grand Canyon (through a translator). We have photos, and I'll post a few, but the bottom line is that he is a friend of the Leavitts, and they were touring he, and his family, around the west.



Here is a self portrait (taken on my phone) of Bubby and I on the Rim. We had some time to kill before the signing event, and we prowled the rim pretty good.



One of the great stories of the morning is told by this photo. There were three flag staffs in evidence at the signing site. One for Old Glory, one for the NPS flag, and one for the SUU flag. When the flag arrived, Brian Cottam who was heading the effort up, had no means of attaching it to the flag pole. Bubby announced that she had pink yarn, and she quickly crocheted a chain to attach the flag, top and bottom. Don't you think it looks great?



We saw lots of folks that we know at the signing, since it was a pretty big deal. We got to hang with BCNHA folks, SUU folks, and NPS staff. The newest member of SUU's Board of Trustees is Sherrie Hansen, spouse of my old fishing buddy, Scott "The King" Hansen. We had lunch with the Hansens, and then got the chance to take a spin in this historic bus. This bus, and its stable mates, used to drive park visitors from the rail head in Cedar City, to tour Zion and Bryce. It was a treat to go for the ride. Thanks to Scott for the photo.

We had to get home on Friday night for wedding receptions. We attended Tenielle Snow's reception, and drove down to St. George for Jamie Hignite's reception. We even got to visit with Brandon for a couple of minutes. We spent the night on Friday, at the condo, and were up in time for the 6:00 AM session at the Temple. We did the Golden Corral for breakfast (love their eggs to order), and while we were finishing up, we got a call from Dan and Roasalyn that they were at the Hurricane exit, headed our way. What a pleasant surprise.

We did a little shopping and then hooked up with them at the carousel at the St. George Splash Park.



Ev was excited to ride the purple horsey. It took me a couple of tries, but I got the shot.



This one isn't quite as good, but you can see Drewfy sitting next to Bubby and enjoying the ride.



Of course, there was lunch talk. The kids were talking Red Robin, and of course I don't go there. So Bubb and I said, "You guys just go to lunch." "We'll catch up with you later." Andrew quickly suggested Jimmy John's instead, because he knew that was a more acceptable place. He just wanted to have some quality Bubby time, and, as you can see, he was able to get it. They shared her root beer. Too much fun.

Buboppy

Yellowstone

I have had these photos selected for posting for months. I will have forgotten some of the details, but here are the photos anyway.

We went to Yellowstone the week of June 13th. We had a lovely drive north, stopping to visit with Sarah and the kids for a birthday bash in their back yard. The best part of that occasion was watching Miss Katie eat BBQed pork chops. They are clearly a favorite.

We had breakfast in Pocatello on our way to West Yellowstone. It was a real diner, and the food tasted great to us. Wen entered through the west park entrance, and the first attraction we came to was Old Faithful. What a mob scene! I thought, if the park is this crowded I don't think I am going to enjoy our visit much. Fortunately, we left a lot of people and congestion behind when we left Geyser Basin.

Our destination was just outside the east park entrance at the Crossed Sabres Ranch. We were meeting Johanna and Larry there for a few days of fun before they drove on to Boise to pick up some library holdings from Larry's former professor.

As we drove around Yellowstone lake, there was lots of ice in the shallows, because winter had just left the park.



We noticed that in the mornings, the ice in the shallows was connected indicating some nighttime freezing!



We had to drive over Sylvan Pass on our way to the ranch. As you can see there was quite a bit of snow in the high elevations, in fact, while we were there an avalanche blocked the road back into the park for a couple of hours one day!



We met up with the Davis and had a wonderful time together. Lots of hand and foot and quality time just hanging out. We love these people.



We drove back into the park one day, because it was Bubby's first trip and we all agreed that she need to see the Mammoth area and the north entrance. We drove by beautiful Tower Falls and stopped for a photo opp.



Johanna had orthoscopic surgery on her knee a couple of months ago, which meant she was moving a little slow. Larry is probably looking at total knee replacement before too long, so in general, we are all getting a a little older.



We had a great time on the boardwalks at Mammoth. We even had a lovely lunch in the dining room. We drove out of the park to Libby, MT where I visited the Dan Bailey Fly Shop in historic Libby. What a treat for me. I haven't been there in a couple of decades, and it was their catalogs from which I learned to tie flies. I used to look at the beautiful pictures of the all the latest flies and try to duplicate them.



On another day, we drove east to Cody, WY where we visited the fantastic Buffalo Bill Cody Historic Center and Sierra Trading Post (there is an actual outlet store there). We even played hand and foot in the park and got this lovely lilac photo.



On our last morning together we did a little photo shoot at the Ranch. Larry and Johanna, as it turned out, were not going on to Boise. The library transaction fell through. They were headed home, and just came to Yellowstone to be with us. We were honored to know they came that far just to hang out.



When we drove home, we went out the south entrance to the park. We were able to see all of the park entrances except the northeast, Lamar Valley, entrance. Bubby got to see some great country in our short trip. Yes and we saw bears, elk, deer, antelope, moose, and bison. What we didn't get to see, and Bubby really wanted to, was a beaver!



We drove through Jackson Hole and the Tetons on our way south. It was along drive that day, but we were well into vacation mode by this point, so we just enjoyed the ride.



Once we got home, we started our BBQ experiments. This was the first batch of ribs I tried. That tasted good, but were pretty fatty. We are making some progress, but there is a long way to go. Great to be home. We have had a great summer.

Buboppy

Laurie will have to explain!

We were in Bryce for the annual geology festival and the signing of the Alliance for Education on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. We were in the Lodge parking lot and ran into these people who are Cedar City folk, engaged in a family reunion and hiking in the park for the day.

Laurie will have to explain the pairing, since both of these people claim to be friends of hers and Booty's. By the way, they both expressed best wishes for the Dallas Eves Family.

Noises Off

We went to see the USF production of "Noises Off" last night withe the BCNHA group. The play is full of sexual innuendo, but it was laugh-out-loud funny to watch. Check it out before the season ends.

The BV crowd wanted to have Applebee's for dinner. No real surprise, when I go over there, I want to go to the local's places. When they come over here, they want to sample what they see of TV.

Buboppy