Happy New Year to you all! We hope you had a Merry Christmas and a joyous holiday season.
Last we left you, we had wrapped up our stay in Anaheim. Fresh off all things Disney, we drove south and setup camp for an extended stay on San Diego Bay at the Chula Vista RV Resort. Sandwiched between San Diego, a few miles to the north, and Tijuana, a few miles to the south, we would be far from a Christmas in Dixie. We settled in for the holiday season with designs on slowing down, resting, and enjoying San Diego at a leisurely pace.
We battled a few minor illnesses while we decorated the motorhome and shopped for Christmas. A six-foot tree between the driver and passenger seats…check. Ornaments hand-crafted…check. Stockings hung from the overhead cabinet knobs…check. Antibiotics ingested…check. Lights strung around the slideouts…check. Gingerbread houses constructed and placed on the front dash…check. Marty Moose lights up…check. Presents under the tree…check. M did a terrific job making our home a cozy place to celebrate Christmas. In addition to hand-made ornaments, we decorated our tree with ornaments M purchased at each of our major stops on this trip. Reliving those memories as we decorated happily infused our Christmas traditions with our recent adventures.
We missed being around friends and family for the holidays. But partaking in local festivities eased our pain. You won’t find anything like the San Diego Bay Parade of Lights back home.
And while Christmas in San Diego is nothing like a winter wonderland traditionally depicted, those in SoCal do not shy away from decorating. “Christmas Circle,” a collection of over 50 homes in Chula Vista decorated to the max, brightened our holiday spirit.
A jaunt to the Hotel Del Coronado offered a fun take on a beachside Christmas.
And a vivid illustration that some holiday events, even well advertised ones, can disappoint.
Don’t ask!
Fortunately, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” did not disappoint, though it did prompt several lightsaber battles on the home front.
Santa managed to find us in our little home on wheels. What he did NOT find were the chocolate chip cookies we left for him on the dining table. How do we know? Well, Santa usually does not eat ALL the cookies and on Christmas morning we arose to find an empty plate with nary a crumb in sight. It did not take long to locate the convulsive culprit.
Hint: She’s the one on the left looking rather sullen.
We enjoyed biking along the bay and numerous post-Christmas drone flights while eagerly anticipating the arrival of Nana and Papa.
Nana and Papa flew in on Dec. 30 and will be with us until mid-January. We celebrated their arrival with dinner at Miguel’s in Coronado.
We saved several attractions so that we could do them with Nana and Papa. SeaWorld will long be remembered for the cold, early morning, drenchings suffered at the hands of a killer whale. This is what it looks like a millisecond before you, and your expensive camera, suffer from H20 overload.
But at least the orcas were there and did not skip town on us like the pods that departed the Strait of Juan de Fuca just before our whale-watching trip.
The sea lions, dolphins, and polar bears also put on quite a show.
Inspired by what lies beneath, the boys set off on a half-day fishing expedition the next day while the girls enjoyed Coronado. The girls returned with tales of fabulous gelato and the boys returned with 4 Sea Perch, 3 Sculpin, 2 Calico Bass, and memories of numerous other catches that were out of season or just missed the cut for keepers.
No visit to San Diego is complete without a trip to the world-famous San Diego Zoo. Simply put, the zoo is spectacular. Lush grounds house animals from all over the world. New and interesting animals always seemed to appear around every corner. The animals appear happy and, at least on this day, were remarkably active. Among our favorites…
The Apes and baby Denny
The Tigers
The Pandas
The Koalas
The Elephants
The Giraffes
The Kangaroos
The Humans
With El Niño rains nipping at our heels, we left our San Diego Sanctuary and headed for the Anza-Borrego Desert. Tune in next time to see if we witness a year’s worth of rain in the desert or remain high and dry…
Please bring that koala bear home to Marietta….so cute!
I sure did love my stuffed animal growing up! I’ve heard they can be vicious though. So, it’s probably best that I didn’t sneak one home for you! And, I’m not sure Max would approve! – M
Your adventures are amazing! So impressed!!
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year! San Diego zoo is amazing and huge! Michael must love the drone – I want one too!
Happy new year to you all!! Looks like you had a fun filled holiday!!