RS's travels

Sometimes unexpected, last minute trips turn out to be amazing. My dad, the brillant, talented, smart man that he is, decided to fall off of his road bike a few months ago and fracture his collar bone. He wasn't able to travel on any of the other trips my family has taken over the past few months. His annual meetings that he has to attend to get CME credits were in San Diego this year and the only way that he was permitted to travel to them is if he had someone to carry his bags for him. That someone ended up being me as I am the only one who can work from anywhere (for the most part). I became his Sherpa for the trip to San Diego. This was not a short trip either; a full 9 days of being in southern California! I have only been to San Diego once or twice before and it was a long time ago, yet I knew even then that I loved it there.

The trip began with a driver picking us up at 4am from the house to take us to the airport... it is so nice not driving yourself, wow! With a little seat shuffling at the airport, I got us some seats together in Economy Plus, so we were set for the 6 hour flight to SD.

I should also mention here, that after all the traveling i've been doing, I got home a couple days earlier and immediately relaxed and got sick. I flew with both my ears totally stuffed, a runny nose, and a lovely cough. Can you see the watery eyes?! Oh yes, I wore sunglasses almost the entire flight because the light was too bright for me. Flying when sick is no bueno!

Pops and I arrived on Sunday morning and had a little bit of time to explore the Gas Lamp area together and unpack before his first late afternoon meeting. As soon as he went off for his meeting, I went to sleep to try and fend off my cold!

the TV screen!

We figured out a pretty good routine for the mornings. We worked out together for 30-45 minutes, either in the gym, or outside along the marina, then he would get ready and I'd get coffee, and then I would walk him across the street to his conference, say goodbye, and I would go workout again for an hour or so exploring the harbor, marina and parks along the water. It was a great way for me to get my bearings, get some exercise, and watch the sunrise! It also helped me fall in love with San Diego very quickly!

My morning view every day

My first full day in SD, I went grocery shopping to Ralph's, explored the Gas Lamp area, walked a lot, and met some nice people. I tried to take it a little easy since I was still blowing my nose like there was no tomorrow! Dad and I went to a fantastic seafood restaurant for dinner that evening at a place called the Oceanaire. Highly recommend it!

On Tuesday, I couldn't sit still anymore so I decided to explore Balboa Park. Oh and I should preface this by saying that I knew no one in San Diego, but a few friends gave me advice on what I should see and do while I was there. So I compiled a list and planned out my week with sights around the city! One of my friends emailed some of his friends (who live in SD) to tell them that I was there and reached out to meet up at some point.
The morning started off with something that San Diego is apparently not used to... a rainbow! I saw the rainbow on my run and thought it was nice so I took a quick snapshot of it and figured i'd post it to Instagram later. On my way back to the hotel, a random fellow exerciser asked me if I had seen the rainbow and I said yes... he replied and said he hasn't seen one in years and it was so nice to see! Wow! I don't see rainbows everyday, but I do see my fair share of them. They are pretty every time I see them; It was the start to a great day!

I went to the Natural History Museum, which was very cool and they had a special exhibit on the Mayans. After being in Tulum a few months ago, it was really nice to read and see some of the history. The exhibit was terrific.

a gigantic tree in the park!

After the Natural History Museum, I ventured around Balboa Park, through some of the gardens and found the Spanish Art Corridor which was really fun! Some great local artists and lots of color.

Found some more beautiful gardens and I peaked into the Photography Museum. There was a Minor White exhibit there that looked interesting, but I chose to save a little money and go to the Art Museum instead! One of the photographers who reached out from my friend's contact said that he was nearby and could meet up for coffee.... but that I should make sure I see the Gregory Crewdson exhibit at the Art museum first. Since I was going there already, it was great timing to get that recommendation! That exhibit was terrific and there was a video about how he did one of the shots. I never realized what a production they were. Crazy and awesome. After exploring the entire museum and seeing their music as art, art as music exhibit too, I ventured outside, walked by the Museum of man, which was really neat and then went to meet Justin, the photographer, at Pappelecco (a cute coffee shop) near the park. We had coffee for hours and it started pouring too! (An unusual occurrence!). A great way to spend the afternoon! Thankfully Justin drove me back to the hotel as I had already reached well over 20,000 steps and was a tiny bit tired! The rainbow in the morning was a very foreboding, amazing sign of what was to come with Justin! I took dad out to experience his first ever Pho at a terrific Vietnamese restaurant in the Gas Lamp that evening and he loved it! We ate by candle light which was really fun too as the main part of the restaurant didn't have power, but the kitchen did.

loved this mural on the wall in the restaurant

Wednesday came quickly. Dad and I went for a morning run along the pier and had to get our photo taken under the iconic statue! I even got one of him looking up her dress! ;)

Justin offered to spend the day with me to show me other sites in the city, but he had some meetings to go to for work first and then we were going to meet up, or so I thought... I turned on the news and saw that there was a shooter in some neighborhood in SD but I didn't know where. I figured it would be okay and safe to venture out to explore the USS Midway! The ship was massive and quite cool. The history very neat and it was fun to go into the planes. I got super claustrophobic in the quarters of the boat, which was odd, but it was still fun to see.

they had to do their business somewhere!

Had a hot headset to listen and learn everything about the ship!

After I was too hungry and thirsty to stay on the ship, I decided it was time to explore some other places around the harbor... oh it was also really windy that day and the ship was rocking. Some of the crew members said they had never felt the ship move before!! Of course, the one day I choose to go on the ship, it rocks! Too funny. Seaport Village was right near the ship, so I ventured in and explored a few stores and got a smoothie from Ben and Jerry's... a fruit smoothie! It was so hard not to get ice cream, especially since they had Chocolate Therapy on the menu!!

I walked back to the hotel and finally had a little time to relax! Sat by the pool for a while and read. It had been a while since I last relaxed, so it was a needed change. Justin was supposed to be finished with his meetings by the late afternoon so I thought we may go out after that. However, he sent me a text saying that he had been covering the shooter because it was near his neighborhood! Yikes! He got some great shots of everything that happened and the airport even closed for 5 hours during the ordeal! I'm glad I was in my own little bubble on the Midway. So his meeting's got pushed back and we just planned to explore the following day!

Thursday! Justin took me to Little Italy to explore and walk around the cool shops and then we went to Ocean Beach which was beautiful! A really nice day.

Coolest antique/awesomenss store


Ocean Beach Pier

Friday... I wanted to have brunch at the famous hotel on Coronado Island, but they only serve brunch on the weekends and I knew I couldn't get there on the weekend, so I thought it would be fun to go to Coronado at some point anyway and Justin happily kept me company! We took the ferry that was close to the convention center and our hotel, across the waterway to the Island; it took about 15 minutes and was a neat little boat. We thought we were the only passengers on board with one other woman, but when we arrived, lots of people came down from the top of the boat! Neither of us had any idea and it made us laugh.

the famous Hotel del Coronado

It was beautiful on the island! We rented townie bikes and biked across the island to the hotel. Walked around, sat on the beach in Adirondack chairs and watched the beginning of the sun set. We wanted to get back to the other side of the island before complete sunset so we biked back across traffic to the ferry dock where we had yummy beers, some nachos, and tried to stay warm while we waited for the ferry. It was windy and cold on the island! One of the galleries we ventured into was all artwork by Dr. Seuss! So cool!! I was in heaven, but it also may have been the company too :)

our townie bikes

When we got back to SD, we walked around the Gas Lamp for a while and went into a sweet sock store. The only thing they sold were socks!! Of course, I couldn't find any to buy, but I really wanted to! They had hundreds of choices!

Justin had a wedding to go to on Saturday so I had thought I would keep exploring around by myself and see a client, but when he asked me to join him for the drive up to Laguna Beach and hang out by the wedding, I said yes! That area is beautiful and a nice drive along the coast sounded fantastic. We rented a car for the occasion and I got us upgraded to a Dodge Charger. Hilariously, awesome vehicle and fun to drive! I drove up and Justin drove us home at 2 am while i passed out! (good combination!) The wedding was at a beautiful resort overlooking the ocean in Laguna Beach. I won't go into details about the wedding, but it was a fantastic evening and we made it back to SD safely!

Sunday was my last full day in SD and I didn't want to leave! Justin was an amazing tour guide and on our last night, he took me to the sunset cliffs in OB and apparently I got lucky again, because there were clouds in the sky! I felt really lucky for the entire trip.

had to capture Justin shooting!


gorgeous end to the trip!

Can you tell I fell in love with SD?! It was a really wonderful trip and I can't wait for more! Thank you for a really nice time in SD!

After attending Photoplus Expo in NYC, which was a wonderful conference and networking experience, a friend who had never seen most of the north east suggested a road trip! I am always up for a road trip, so was happy to be the tour guide and driver for our adventure. I had to cut our trip a little bit short because another last minute trip appeared on the horizon and I wanted 24 hours at home before that trip. So my original plan was to head up to Rochester, then drive across Vermont and New Hampshire into Maine, but the first part of the trip was cut out because of the time. That trip will happen another day... and don't worry Cal, I will get up to visit you soon!!! We ventured to Maine instead and stayed at my little place up there as a home base and explored the coast line and a few hours inland. We missed the peak fall colors, but as usual Maine didn't disappoint (it is one of my favorite places on earth for a reason). I've learned too that the blueberry bushes peak in color after the regular trees, so we found some amazing reds peaking for the bushes!
We ventured to the top of Camden Hills which overlooks the entire coast line, went to a few of my favorite lighthouses, Marshall Point, Owl's Head, and the Rockland Breakwater. Had some awesome beer at Allagash, and had fires every night! A fun photo trip!
(All photos here are just from my iphone!) The photos from the trip will eventually be on my website when I find some time to go through them! :)