California, days 3 and 4

On day 3 of our time in California, I was again at my conferance and Rich got to go play. He went sea kayaking with a fellow conferance husband he had met! He bought a disposable, waterproof camera, which we have yet to get developed. I will try to get some pictures on here, once they are developed. After my conferance, we went walking and exploring. We walked back up to Balboa park, the museum complex. While the area is gorgeous, with its old spanish architecture, we were disappointed to find the museums all closed at 430! So we just walked around and took pictures and then walked back towards the downtown area.








This is the view as we crossed the Cabrillo Bridge into Balboa park. We are looking south, into the downtown area. You can just see the traffic starting to pick up for rush hour.



As we were walking back, I was amazed at how low the planes were as they came over the city, getting ready to land.







We ate supper Thursday night at a terrific little seafood place, called the Crab Hut. It serves food Cajun, Louisianna style, so you order your seafood by the pound and in whatever level of spice you can handle, and it is served to you in a plastic bag. There are no utensils, unless asked for, no plates, you eat on the butcher paper covering the table. Very unique and fun! After supper we walked for a bit and the sat and enjoyed a terrific piano bar for the next several hours. I don't know if any of you have ever been in one before, but they are a BLAST! You have two grand pianos facing each other on stage, these two performers come out and just start playing songs off the top of their heads. They not only play, but sing as well, and then they get the audience participating, singing and dancing along. It is a riot and so much fun to sit and enjoy. The two different sets of players this bar had were terrific, they could play a wide range of rock songs as well as some country. I am always amazed at the skills these guys have and that night was no exception. If you ever have the chance to go to a dueling piano bar, I highly recommend it!

On Friday, our last few hours in San Diego, we decided we wanted to tour the USS Midway, the decommissioned aircraft carrier that has been turned into a museum. This thing is HUGE! We spent 2 1/2 hrs touring and didn't even see it all. There were probably 25 different types of planes on board we could also tour and there were volunteers who had served on the Midway, sharing their experiences. I got to hear from a Vietnam pilot, firsthand, what it was like to land on his jet on the Midway. We learned how the planes were landed and what thier life was like onboard. I wish we could've had more time to explore, but we had to head to the airport to start our trip back home.


San Diego is a major Naval Port. Above is the USS Neimitz, an active aircraft carrier. The USS Ronald Regan is home based there, but was out on procedures while we were there. Below is another military ship coming in to port, you can just see the seamen lined up as they enter port.

The view across the harbor. I never realized how hilly southern California is.

The view of the Midway, from the parking lot. This thing is huge!







You can see the large Coronado Bridge in the distance.












Well, those are the highlights of our trip. Thanks for following. I'll try to add pictures of Rich's kayaking adventures once we get them. Other than the airplane time, I wish I was back out in California, I love the ocean!