San Diego

2/17/2008 - 2/23/2008

South To The Sun
"A Winter Break trip to San Diego"

2/17/2008
Fly South
For years we've talked about going to San Diego with the kids. We finally cashed a bunch of miles I've had forever and picked up 5 tickets. The kids are off for mid-winter break from school and with a Monday holiday I only had to use 4 days vacation for the weeks trip. Using flyer miles means we didn't get our pick of the prime flights, but flying down on Sunday evening and back on the following Saturday afternoon has worked out well.

Dawn returned from the traumatic experience of leaving the dogs with Dennis around 4:15pm. After a quick dinner we left the house for the airport just after 5. On pulling into the lot we were informed that all the Masterpark lot's were full, so much for that coupon. We found space at Doug Fox and after brief wait for a shuttle we were on our way. Having printed out our Alaska Air boarding passes before hand at home, we were able to go directly to the TSA security checkpoint.

Overall the security experience was positive. Dawn had stashed multiple clear baggies full of liquids in our bags and Mike failed to find the one in his backpack which had to be searched. Sam, looking suspicious no doubt because of the hair, had his backpack scanned for explosives. Once we were all re-assembled we headed to gate D9 for the flight.

Boarding went well and unlike Dawn's expectations we had no problems stowing our roll-a-boards in the overhead. Dawn, Nick and I had seat 19A, 19B, 19C while Sam and Nick were behind us in 20A and 20B. Making the 2 hour and 35 minute flight with older children was very pleasant.

Once on the ground in San Diego we found our way out of the airport, across the sky bridge to the rental car island. I managed to flag down the Dollar rent a car van just as it was about to leave. We had to wait a bit at the rental counter as things were moving slow at 11pm and the Australian backpack boys in front of us seemed to be having issues.

Our check in went smooth and soon we were in our white 2008 Chrysler Town and Country van on our way to the condo. After a few around the block circles we found the rental office and retrieved our paperwork and key from the lock box. We have unit 712, a corner unit 2 bedroom condo at 'Capri by the Sea'. This is a large tower unit right on the boardwalk at Pacific Beach. Our assigned parking spot in the garage is #1 which is a narrow hole all by itself at the end of the lower level. It's a tight squeeze and everyone has to get out before I park.

A quick elevator ride up found us in our unit. 'Capri by the Sea' is a older building but our unit has nice decor and features. A large living and dining room with a 52" flat panel HD TV is a nice feature. The entire beach end is wall to wall floor to ceiling glass with a spectacular view of the Pacific ocean. The master bedroom likewise has a all glass end with a great view. It is large and spacious with a King size bed, sofa, desk, and it's own bathroom. The second bedroom has a queen bed and two more twin beds, just perfect for the boys. They have their own bathroom as well. The kitchen is fully equipped although it's cabinets and decor is not quite up to the style of the rest of the condo.

As it was after midnight by the time we settled in we all headed to bed.

2/18/2008
Getting Our Bearings
We slept late until 10:30 recovering from the previous days travel. The view is fantastic and this being a holiday the surfers are out in mass riding the waves and just hanging out on their boards outside the break.

Close to noon everyone was finally ready to leave for some food. We first stopped by the rental office to pickup our second set of keys and our free Go San Diego cards then headed off for the I-Hop we recalled seeing last night. We made left onto Garnett instead of Grand avenue and found ourselves touring a great district of small shops that may need a later visit. Anyone need a Tattoo?

Breakfast was filling with many piles of pancakes, eggs and bacon. We then drove south a ways on Mission Blvd and ended up at a park on Mission bay. We had looked at a condo along this very beach but were glad we decided to go with the pacific side rather than the bay side.

It's a partly cloudy day with sun breaks here and there. The boy's wanted to play on the beach so we dropped them back at the condo then headed to the store. We parked in the Ralphs underground garage and then walked up Mission Blvd a ways to a shoe store to get some better shoes for our days of walking ahead. Then Dawn and I filled a cart to the brim with food for the week at Ralphs.

Thankfully there was a cart at the elevator in the garage and we managed to get all the bags up to the condo in one trip. After unloading we went down to the beach to join the boys. Mike was digging a hole into the bank and was up to his waist in the hole when we arrived. He's a total sand mess. Nick was into leaping off the bank and landing into the soft sand. Sam was well, Sam, a typical 16 year old tied to his phone texting his friends.

We went back up to the condo around 5pm. Mike was so dirty that we stopped at the wash down station and hosed him down with a cold hard spray. Back inside he and Nick needed showers to get clean. Dawn took a nap while we all watched a Myth Busters marathon on TV.

Dinner was Fried Pork Chops, Rice, Salad, and rolls followed by Ice Cream Bars for desert. The rest of the evening was mostly watching TV and we all turned in around 10pm.

Next Day