Our 2007 trip to Southern California:

Sunday January 21, 2007 -
On the road again! Yep, I'm quoting Willie Nelson of all people. Oh, well, what the hay, we are on vacation! We actually got an early start. Half a bagel, a couple cups of coffee and we're movin! Out of the house about 7AM. It's a l-o-n-g trip down I-5, lots of brown land and pretty boring of a drive but you can zip right along. And of course, we brought some great music so that makes the drive a lot better. Petra, Prince, and me...

We stopped for lunch in Burbank. We found a small 'mall mexican' place but the good news is that you can substitute marinated tofu for meat in pretty much anything. It was called Sharkey's and it was pretty good. Then, after a little while looking for the freeway onramp, we were back on the 5 and headed south. We got to the resort only a few minutes after Larry and Robin did, what nice timing! So we unpacked and hung out and talked a bit then headed into Carlsbad to grab some dinner. We ended up at Las Olas mexican. It was good but they mixed up the order a bit and the service was not the best. Then back to the resort to plan out the next few days.

Monday January 22, 2007 -
The first order of business was to attend a brief presentation about the activities at the resort and nearby. They provided a free breakfast so it seemed like a good idea. Then, freshly fueled, we headed out on our quest for Petra's roots. No, she's not dying her hair! No, no, her heritage. She was born in El Centro and adopted there but her family moved away with her when she was only five months old. She has one picture of the old house from 1960 and we all wanted to go check out what the house looked like, the hospital where she was born, and, who knows, maybe some authentic mexican food! El Centro is pretty close to the Mexico border. It was not exactly a pretty drive through the semi-desert but during parts of it there were all these rock mountains that looked like thousands of rocks piled on one another. Kind of interesting.

It was about a two hour drive but seemed like it went faster than that. Anyway, then we got to El Centro and quickly found the El Centro Chamber of Commerce building where we stopped to get a map and some directions. We found the house and there were a bunch of maintenance people working around the fire hydrant in front of it. One of the people out there turned out to be the current owner of the house. None of them spoke much english but they all thought the picture of the house from 1960 was pretty cool. Turns out the house is actually for sale too! It's pretty run down and seemed overpriced but it was great to visit the house and even better for her.

And of course we did find some fairly authentic mexican food for lunch at La Fonda. The were nice to us and the food was good too! Next we went to the hospital that Petra had been born at. They now have an 'old part' and a 'new part'. One of the workers there walked us through it and showed us the Womens Center where Petra would have been born. That was exciting for her, to see the place after all these years. A lot of people take their roots for granted, but adopted people like Petra don't have as many roots so they become more important. It was really nice of them to walk us through the hospital and show us where things were.

Before the return trip, we drove up to the border and then along side it for a bit, then headed back to the resort. We stopped nearby in Carlsbad at Ralph's supermarket and picked up a few necessities. Then back to the resort where we prepared a delicious pasta dinner. The day ended with a DVD, Snakes On A Plane (of all things). It was a really cheesy b-movie, one of those that is so bad it's funny, at least in parts. I was entertained but I know it was pretty lame overall.

Tuesday January 23, 2007 -
One of the nice things about staying in a resort like this is that you have a full kitchen. We took advantage of that and had breakfast there in our room before heading out for the day's adventures. Then, fueled and ready, we embarked on another new journey. South, on the 5. It is about a half-hour drive or so into San Diego and today we went there, first to Balboa Park. This park is huge, with museums and all sorts of other attractions. We used the free parking and the free tram to move around the park, stopping at the Spanish Village. It's a collection of 35-40 different small places, each of which have artists showing and making their wares. The glass studio that Petra wanted to visit was closed but we'll come back later in the week. There was plenty else to see there with all sorts of artists doing glass, enamels, paintings, wood work, and a lot more.

From there, we caught the 'Old Town Trolley', which takes you all around to various tourist stops. You can get on and off whenever you want and it runs fairly often. Of course, they have the humorous narration so you can learn about the town as you travel. After passing on a few stops, we got off in the Gaslamp district and had some lunch at a brewpub there called Rock Bottom. We all had the Bourbonzola burger (veggie style). Messy and delicious. Mmmmmmm. We walked a bit then caught the trolley over to Coronado Island. There's a famous and old hotel there that we took a walk through and also a really nice beach that we walked along. We walked around a little bit of the town too, just to get a feel for it. There were no must-sees on the island but it was still worth checking out. Then we hopped back on the trolley back to Balboa Park. And onto the tram back to our car. As we were nearing our stop the driver played a song and asked a trivia question about it. The answer was "Bon Jovi" and the only one on the tram who knew it was Petra. Yay, way to go PB!!

We drove around some neighborhoods in the area to get a feel and see what was around. San Diego is really a spread-out city. But we knew what the destination would be. We parked across the street from the India Princess, where were going to have dinner. But first, we walked a piece of the neighborhood and looked in a few stores. Then back to the India Princess for dinner. They have an all-you-can-eat all-vegetarian buffet. Oh, yeah, that's what I'M talking about! But watch out for that onion chutney, it will make you feel like you are kissing the sun! Ouch!! Then we drove back to the condo and relaxed for a while. The ladies did a bit of wine tasting and Larry and I had a little quality time with the Captain.

Wednesday January 24, 2007 -
The Captain had declared that it would NOT be an early morning. But Larry and Robin had a 9:00 AM presentation to attend at the resort. In return, they got some gift certificates for food so it was worth it. Petra wanted to swim a bit so we hung out at the pool, for a little while. Then she did some rollerblading while I walked/jogged with her. Gotta get a LITTLE exercise at least to work off some of that good food we've been eating. Meanwhile, Larry and Robin took a bike ride around Carlsbad. On the way back to the room, Petra and I played a game of ping pong and then headed back to meet up with our friends. Next thing on the agenda was a visit to the nearby Museum Of Making Music. This was a great place, with exhibits of various musical instruments through the last century or so, including an exhibit of harp guitars along with lots of samples of music through the years to listen to and many, many historical and recent instruments on display. At the end is a room filled with all kinds of instruments that you can sit down and play, such as a full drum set, guitars, an air synth, electronic drum pads, a synthesizer, and more. Petra played an acrylic see-through piano. Very cool place and way cheap considering the coolness factor. Check out their web site!

Our pals were nice enough to share those food gift certificates with us at the nearby Karl Straus brewery, where we had dinner. We didn't do this, but the place actually has large to-go "jugs" of it's beers. then you can bring the jug back and get cheaper refills. Yow!! But we just headed back to the room and kicked back for while, then called it a day. A good day.

Thursday January 25, 2007 -
Early to rise. The bus leaves at 7:30. It's the day of the Mexico bus trip and somehow the four of us made it to the hotel lobby by 7:15. Yes, in the morning! Ha! Petra and I had never been to Mexico so it was time to rectify that situation. The bus went south, as you might have guessed, through San Diego and then on to the border. We crossed it and the bus went through a little bit of Tijuana on our way to Ensenada. We didn't stop, but what we saw of Tijuana looked very poor and run-down. Lots of litter and trash too. But according to the tour guide, there are good parts and bad parts. Also, according to the tour guide, in Mexico they don't put their toilet paper into the toilet. They put it in a small basket near the toilet. Yes, I mean used. I didn't like that custom too much and Petra didn't either. Anyway, we continued down the Baja peninsula coast road. Very nice scenery. We stopped in the town of Rosarito and had a brunch buffet at a place called Ortega's there. The first table had ants but the second table was fine. We had mexican food (duh) and they had a number of vegetarian items. We always like hearing that 'all you can eat' mantra. Then back on the bus to Ensenada. And, by the way, there will be many more pictures of this trip on the web site. But you know how slow I am at that ;-)

We only had about five hours in Ensenada and we wanted to see what we could. The guide had mentioned a lot of possible attractions to see but we also wanted to catch some of the local feel if that is possible in a tourist area. There was a cruise ship the size of Rhode Island in the harbor so the locals were ready for tourists. And we were ready too. We wandered, we sightsaw (?), and we shopped down a street with lots of vendors, some more agressive than others. Crafts, jewelry, trinkets, stained glass, blankets, and more. Of course, there may have been a purchase or two. We stopped in at Hussong's, which the guide said was where the Margarita had been invented! Well, heck, we love history so we went to check that out. We each had one and to blend in we dumped some peanut shells on the floor. Great margaritas. Small but serious margaritas. Robin paid a guy a couple bucks for a song and he was very good on guitar, nice voice too. Then on down the street to the Tortilla factory. It was small and old and the large back part had people making tortillas. There was a long line of people waiting to buy and everyone in the line looked like a local, so we figured the tortillas must be good. We bought a pack for $1.50 that included probably 30 or more corn tortillas. A good deal and fresh.

We headed toward Juarez Street and somehow had stumbled into a less savory part of town. All locals and then there was us. It looked a bit rougher and one of us actually got whistled at. We still aren't sure which one! Then down Juarez, more shops and businesses to look at. Eventually we circled back to the area near where we had been dropped off. We had dinner at Casamar Restaurant (would you believe, Mexican food?) and it was pretty good. More Margaritas. Hey, you gotta follow the local customs, right? And was the bus driver drinking a large Margarita? Best not to dwell on that. Anyway, we made a last stop to pick up some very inexpensive Mexican blankets and then headed back to the bus. And then the bus headed back to the resort, a long drive through Mexico and SoCal. On the drive back, the scenery was less impressive since it was dark and so they showed the movie The Mask Of Zorro for our entertainment. At the border we had to wait for what seemed like nearly an hour to get up to the customs station. Then we got off and walked through with no problems at all. And after a while we were back at 'home'. We needed some supplies so we headed to Ralph's. When we got back we had our supplies. And some cranberry juice that had not even been in our cart. Where did that come from? Was it National Free Cranberry Juice Week? We still aren't sure. But we all had a good time today in Mexico!

Friday January 26, 2007 -
Did I mention how nice the resort is? And all the bird of paradise plants around it? But enough of that. Today we headed back once again into San Diego. We went to Balboa Park first, to finish what we had started the other day. And no, it's not named after Rocky Balboa! So we finished looking around the artist areas of the Spanish Village, then visited the World Beat Center, then walked through the Botanical Building. Then feeling a little peckish, the four of us headed out to find a place where we had heard they had some really killer vegetarian burritos, and lots of different options. We knew it was on E Street so we found E Street on the map and headed there. Well, the E Street we found was in Chula Vista, unfortunately, and the E Street we had wanted was a few miles from where we had been at Balboa Park. Ooops! Anyway, a bit later we finally found Pokez and the food was indeed really good. Lots of meatless choices and cheap to boot. I had a veggie chorizo and bean burrito that was huge and delicous. We need a place like that in Sacramento!

We drove around a bit to see some of the town and ended up at Lestat's Coffee. Named (I assume) after the vampire in Anne Rice's novels, it had a vaguely goth theme and was an interesting place. We hung out there for a while and then, freshly caffeined, we took a walk around the area. Not much to see, though we did spot the restaurant that we had planned for the next night. We skipped past that and wandered a bit. Then we drove over to the Gaslamp district, where we had heard they had a good nighttime scene. Sure enough, restaurants, bars, and people everywhere. We grabbed a table outside on the street, under a heater and cozy, and had a couple drinks while we did some people-watching and chips-and-salsa eating. The streets were hoppin'. After a while we headed back to the resort.

Saturday January 27, 2007 -
This is the last full day of the trip. Sigh. It's always w-a-y too short. But on with the day. Our destination was San Diego once again. First stop, Old Town, where we had read they were having a street faire with crafts, booths, and what not. You can never have too much what not. After a while of looking around there, we went into a place called The Living Room and had a small pizza to tide us over. Our waiter was pretty spacey (Whoa, dude!) and the service was slow but the food was good. Then we drove over to the Ocean Beach area where Larry had spent some time when he was younger. We walked up and down a street with a lot of antique shops, and a record store, along with all sorts of other shops, bars, cafes, etc. Day turned into evening and we took off back to the Normal Heights area to an unusual restaurant called Jyoti-Bihanga. It's an all-vegetarian place run by followers of Sri Chinmoy. They say he's the pathway to God but you should hear about his weight lifting! Anyway, the place was very busy and we could order anything on the menu, which is pretty rare for four vegetarians. The food was good although my Thai Stir-Fry could have used more peanut sauce and need more kick to it too. It was an experience, though. The wait staff wore religious garments (saris?) and seemed distracted (blissed-out?) but nice. A really big picture of Sri Chinmoy was on the wall and the place had a round ceiling that lent a mystical and religious feel to it, though the customers seemed fairly normal and were talking and eating and enjoying. Then back to Carlsbad and a brief stop at a record store there, Spin Records. Good store, lots of cool stuff packed into a small area. We picked up a few 12-inch singles by Prince, Tori Amos, and Shiny Toy Guns. And that was the day. Gotta get up and out by 10:00 in the morning so we called it a day (which it was).

Sunday January 28, 2007 -
OK, back on the road once again. On our way home, going home. We managed to get out by check-out time, 10:00 AM. We stopped briefly for gas and then oh-so-quickly at Spin Records to pick up the two Tom Waits bootleg DVDs that I had passed up the night before. Nice will power, Steve! And onward to Sacramento.