Visitors from the North

In the few years we've heading south for the winters, this is the first time we've had visitors come to spend some time with us. Shortly after arriving in Hemet, our son Brad and our lovely daughter-in-law Karen flew into San Diego for a visit. 

They booked a hotel in the middle of downtown San Diego, kinda behind those towers, and even booked us a room for a couple of days. The waterfront was within walking distance so we walked there for the day. Karen, being the consummate planner had our days jam packed with adventure. Here we're taking the ferry over to Coronado Island to see the world famous Coronado Hotel.

Its right on the beach. Notice how I cleverly incorporated a fantastic sand castle into the photo of the Coronado Hotel. This where the rich and famous used to come (and still do) when in the area. 

After all that walking, we deserved a break and took one on the patio of the hotel. 

By the time we left Coronado Island it was dark, so we took the city bus back to our hotel which my feet were thankful for!

The next day after the included breakfast on the rooftop of our hotel, we repaired to the local bus stop for our next adventure, so ably planned by Karen. 

The San Diego Zoo is world famous and one of our must sees on this years trip. Having Brad and Karen to enjoy it with made the day special. A tour of the Zoo on a double decker bus seemed the logical way to orient ourselves in this multi-faceted maze. 

After the tour bus, it just seemed logical to take the tram to the farthest reaches of the zoo and work our way back. If you've been following our adventures thus far, you surely know Grammie is not too comfortable with heights. To see her getting into a tram willingly and with a smile shows how far she'll go to show no fear in front of the kids. 

The view from the tram was spectacular and Grammie was still smiling when we got off. She still amazes me. 

This life size polar bear exhibit shows why they are the most dangerous predator in the world. Even the little one in front doesn't look like something you'd want to tease. Especially the way he's looking at us.

3 birds, each more dangerous than the last. We had a great time at the Zoo and I'm going to cover it in more depth in another blog entry. After all, this entry is about our visitors, not a bunch of dusty animals.

A great day at the Zoo, a fun supper out and a good nights sleep. Now its time to leave San Diego and take the kids to spend a few days with us and Harvey in Hemet. Goodbye fancy hotels, welcome to our world. We decided to drive up the coast and see some ocean before heading inland to Hemet. Coffee was hot and the water was cold so on average they were comfortable.

After spending some time relaxing from all our walking around San Diego, we decided to see some country. Behind us is Hemet, nestled in the tranquil Coachella valley. The road we're on is the winding slow access to Palm Springs from Hemet.  

Our destination, Joshua Tree National Forest has many and varied flora and fauna to view. This Cholla cactus field appeared suddenly and was huge in scope. These look soft and cuddly but are also called Jumping cactus because they seem to be able to attach themselves with no warning. 

Brad took some closeups. I don't know how they turned out, but he did have a few spines on his shirt. I guess Cholla don't appreciate having their pictures taken. 

Some of the Joshua trees were huge and Brad went out to get a picture of the biggest we'd seen. We told him about the snakes, scorpions and gila monsters after he returned safely.

Besides touring the country side, we spent some time in the RV Resort where Brad and Karen took daily walks and brought back huge quantities of Corona beer. On the day before they left, the kids walked to all the nearby fast food Mexican restaurants and bought something at each. The four of us ate a dozen different items for under $20.00 and the variety was amazing. What a great idea. One last night on a totally comfortable air mattress and home they flew. What a fun visit and a great chance to get to know our new daughter-in-law better. We've sometimes puzzled over Brads choices in life (as I'm sure most parents do), but not this time, Karens a lovely girl, well grounded and with a great spirit. Now, if anyone else wants to come visit, the air mattress has a pump so its no hardship.