The San Diego Experience: part I

Even though it can be annoying to read three installments of our vacation experience, I didn't want to subject you to viewing 45 pictures in one little post. And thus, I split our trip up for you, my dear readers.

Let me start with this: San Diego is usually quite temperate, with the highs in the mid-70s and lows at 60 for this time of year. It never gets to my ideal point of "sweating as soon as you step out of the door" hot, but none the less, it's supposed to be warm in California, right? This basic assumption is one of the reasons we chose San Diego in the first place.

Well, apparently we brought the crappy weather with us on our trip. San Diego didn't know what hit them, because this was the coolest and cloudiest Memorial Day weekend they endured in years. Each day it never rose past 65 and most days hovered around 60 degrees. Not to mention the clouds, the rain, and the wind. People were seriously wearing ski hats, gloves, scarves, and heavy coats because it was 'freezing' according to the locals. When we informed them that we were haggard northerners from Wisconsin, they looked at us with pity and said, "Oh, well I guess this isn't so bad for you guys then." Actually, no----60 degrees isn't 'cold' by our standards, but it was certainly not expected. A girl can only pack so many fleeces and long sleeved shirts before she goes crazy on a 'warm weather trip.'

So lets begin with the visual evidence, shall we?

WEDNESDAY, MAY 21:

Here is the classic "OMG we are so excited to go on vacation, here we are on the plane" shot:
And then we landed, waited in line for what seemed like hours while Hertz found us a car [where I nearly fainted due to low blood sugar. No seriously, I had to break out the trail mix to fend off a scene involving me and the floor]. Off to the beach we went!
Ah yes, so beautiful. San Diego is hilly and boasts tons of rocky cliffs which bodes well for a tourist with a camera. When we first saw all the winding roads leading up to the top of giant cliffs we thought, "It must really suck to drive your car up there when it's snowing and icing during the winter." And then it hit us: these fools NEVER drive in the snow or ice. Their little hilly roads are easily maneuverable at all times of the year. Bastards!
Sometimes I like to pretend I'm a photographer and pink flowers give me the urge every time. I don't know what type of plant this is, but I'm obsessed. St. Lucia had these too, so it must like warm climates. I want one!

And speaking of yearnings....we found a few 'starter homes' in La Jolla. Can't you just picture us here? We could until we found out that the median price for a home in La Jolla is 1.8 million. GULP. The median, folks. And that is why we'll never leave the midwest.
But we can still visit and snap pictures of our cute selves like nobody's business. The bag I'm holding shows that I loosened my purse strings and went shopping at a store called "Pink Zone". If ever there were a more perfect name....
We were told that sea lions like to lay out on the La Jolla beaches and it didn't take us long to find the little buggers. Rough lives, huh?
Quotes! On a walkway near the beach! I'm in heaven, I tell you!
That night we ventured out to Prospect street in downtown La Jolla and ate sushi. Yummy, yummy sushi. The ice cream fanatic in my husband could not resist the nearby gelataria and I could not resist taking more pictures:
I think this should be my profile pic on Facebook, don't you?

THURSDAY, MAY 22:

The next day we explored further north in a little area called Del Mar.We ate brunch at an adorable little cafe [you realize that a vacation is all about food, right? And we ate well, my friends]. Then we were off to hike the Torrey Pines state park.
Hiking up a mountain next to the ocean doesn't suck. We are total badasses:)
I like this picture because my hair is attacking Nate with spiky daggers. Pay attention to the ocean and not my daggers, people.
Yep, pretty much paradise.
The next picture tells a great story: Torrey Pines also hosts a high-class golf course that is going to host the US Open in few weeks. The course was shut down to prep for the prestigious tournament but my husband would not stop talking about it. "What if Tiger is there right now, practicing for the Open? Or maybe Phil is just hanging out waiting to meet me." You have to let a boy dream, right? When we came around the corner of our hike we saw this site:
It was like a ray of sunshine broke from the clouds to shine down on the golf course. Nate is pointing to the greens while salivating at the mere thought of being so close to greatness. Can you see the neon grass? That is the source of my husband's excitement. I was a nice wife and agreed to visit the pro shop, which was open to the public. Few things in life make Nate as happy as shopping and golf and thus, the pro shop visit was probably his biggest highlight:)

I would like to point out that the skies were quite cloudy on this day. I managed to get a wee bit roasted during our hike but nothing shocking. I should have taken this as an omen for what was to come because who gets burnt in 60 degree weather with overcast skies? Apparently we do. Stay tuned for more San Diego fun:)