Tuesday April 3rd, 2018
We headed out early to not quite beat the traffic. Lake Alamo State Park is really pretty remote so we made a supply stop, then picked up Lucky and headed back to Arizona. Crappie and Bass are  JP’s target zone. It looks like the weather should be good. The only drawback is that there is little cell service and no wifi so I will be writing the blog posts in notes on my phone, then emailing them to myself and copying them into the blog- eventually. That means a whole lot of catching up and posting when I get to a wifi spot again. I’ll be on it!

Monday April 2nd, 2018
It was a workday for Ben so Amanda, JP and I spent the day running around shopping. We were on it! We crossed everything off our shopping list and still had time for a short rest before Ben got home. Then off to C&O Trattoria to celebrate my BD (I celebrate my BD as a month long event)! It’s an Italian Restaurant with great food, always packed, under the sky (nope no roof) and magic garlic knots. All you need to do is make eye contact with the server and your knot basket is full again. If you know me – you know how this thrills me! Amanda calls it mom being “bread drunk” and that nails it!

It was a short but sweet trip and I was already planning our next family get together when I hit the hay tonight.

Sunday April 1st, 2018
Amanda made us a huge Easter breakfast at Ben’s this morning. She had an afternoon class so we hung out with Ben for the day. JP and Ben took a drive across town to get the deal of the day – the exercise bike Ben had been eyeing for awhile. Brand new, but put together wrong so he got it for a song! The guys took it apart, made some corrections and viola!
The kids made a hand off and we had dinner with Amanda at Marie Calendars before we settled in for the night.

Saturday March 31st, 2018
I stayed over at Amanda’s in Pasadena. It was time to add more decor to her new apartment so we were on a quest. We brunched at BJ’s then loaded up and headed home with nightstands, lamps and a plethora of earrings that weren’t on her shopping list. The guys came over later and got everything situated for her and she was a happy gal! Next up was dinner and a movie. We ate at The Counter, a custom burger place. It always feels like vacation here because the weather is warm and you can eat out on the patios. Then off to see Justin Bateman and Rachel McAdams in Game On at the show. It wasn’t 4 stars but we laughed – that makes it a winner in my book!

Friday March 30th, 2018
We left Harry and Suzanne and flowed with the traffic to Ben’s in LA. We had just enough time to rest while we waited for Amanda to make the drive over from Pasadena. Once we were a party of four, we went to one of my favs – The Versailles, for dinner.  It’s a Cuban placefried plantains, rice, beans, garlic chicken and for me a mojito. A perfect first night together.

Thursday March 29th, 2018
It was opening day for the San Diego Padres so we stopped by the field and got lucky enough to be there for the National Anthem with the five F18s flying in formation over the stadium and the red flares and all! We stayed long enough to watch Trevor Hoffman throw the first pitch to his brother. Everyone was hyped and happy -Play Ball!

We left after that and headed for our primary destination – Tijuana. We cut through the Hard Rock Hotel where we saw some great photos, I found a restaurant with a name I loved and we marveled at all the bikes everywhere you can rent via your phone app to ride around town on!

Our next stop was Tijuana. Harry and JP got haircuts (well that’s another story) and we walked through the shops. Oddly we had lunch at a Ramen place. The food was good but it seemed peculiar?

Harry took us to the Caliente Casino. They guys had beers while I had a blast! The machines weren’t in English or US dollars. You can pay US $ for a card that holds the amount you paid for it and you scan your card at machine. Apparently I won $8.00! Though while I was playing – nope! not a clue what I was doing or what I had won. 

Before we left Harry took us to Caesar’s for a Caesar Salad (made at your table), burrito and of course, a margarita for me. It’s a really nice restaurant and rumored to be where the original Caesar Salad was created. It was a great day and always better when you are with someone who is familiar with Mexico like Harry.

Wednesday March 28th, 2018
Suzanne took the day off to play with us today so after breakfast we headed back to Balboa Park. We went to the Cannibals Myth and Reality Exhibit at the Museum Of man. Odd and interesting topic to be sure.

The Museum buildings are really ornate and impressive.

Next we went on  the California Tower Tour. It had lots of spiral steps and a view at the top that went on forever. Its been a reconstruction effort since it’s been closed for 80 years! If you make a $5,000 donation to the Tower your name goes on a lighted plate in a step of the tower walk. There is one step that looks like this:The photo isn’t very good but we were on stairs in a group and the lighting was bad. The message above the donors names is in another another language – guess what language? ELVIN! Yes! The language of Lord of the Rings! The guys that made that donation – brilliant! The stairs weren’t as scary as I thought they would be and he view from the top of the California Tower was totally worth it!

We went to the indoor gardens at Balboa too. Balboa Park was actually created from San Diego’s Worlds Fair in 1915. It’s pretty amazing. Google it – you’ll be impressed! The plant life was beautiful and the orchids – oh my!

We worked up an appetite that could only be satisfied by Phil’s BBQ. The line to get in went around the building! OMG! Yeah, we split the half rack of beef ribs dinner and left with the scent of BBQ trailing behind us. We headed to the pier and the Point Loma Public Market.

It had food booths, and yes, there is always room on a full BBQ stomach for a macaroon cookie extraordinaire! So sad really – so many kinds of upscale food and no way to eat another bite!

By dusk we’d had a full day but who doesn’t have it in ‘em for a quick trip to Barona Casino in Lakeside. Amazing new machines! No wins but tons of fun packed into just an hour. We couldn’t have packed more fun into one day if we tried!

Tuesday March 27th, 2018
Harry took us all kinds of places! Today we went to Imperial Beach
and had fish & chips on the wharf.  I thought it was pretty cool. I loved the shark mural and the clever surfboard benches. 

Next stop was Balboa Park which is immense! We visited the Automotive Museum and then the Air Space Museum. It was a little crowded but lots to see. We started with the Automotive Museum. 

Next stop was the Air Space Museum.

JP and I went in the combat simulator. He was the pilot and I was the gunner. You don’t really have enough time to acclimate, and we were spinning and upside down a lot. I was laughing so hard that I was a huge failure at shooting enemy planes. The picture looks like I have a chicken on my head but we are actually upside down and my hair was celebrating a new found freedom!

We stopped into a cool food building that was all about Kambuchi (a beverage I’m not familiar with).

Next up: We went to see Pacific Rim
in 3D. Harry and I liked it OK but not even the 3D made JP give it a nod.
Suzanne met us at the TJ Oyster House. It’s a casual place but had amazing tacos!

Side Note:  On our way home in the afternoon traffic we saw this Hispanic fella up on the overpass and he was nicely costumed and dancing! Not like “It feels great to be off my meds” kind of dancing either! He truly looked like he was enjoying himself! It turns out this is just what he does – he wants to make the commuters happy when they see him dancing. 

Monday March 26th, 2018
We left Lucky behind in the storage area at our KOA and headed south for family time. It was a perfect day for the drive from Palm Springs to San Diego. Luckily Siri didn’t pull any of her usual tricks and we made it to Harry and Suzanne’s (Jerry’s brother and lovely wife) place by dinner time!