We survived the night at the Yucca Motel although we later found that we had left a pillow behind.  Hopefully we’ll get it back somewhere down the road.  The drive from Gila Bend, Arizona to San Diego, California was really easy with some amazing moonscape scenery.  There was desert,

sand dunes,

and mountains of rocks.

We got to the Gilson house in the early afternoon and spent a pleasant afternoon catching up with Doris.  Later on, her son Matthew and his wife Jenna brought their 2 month old son, Caleb, over for us to watch while they went out to dinner for Jenna’s birthday.  He was a real cutie pie and when he was happy he was a charmer.

Doris made us a ‘San Diegan’ dinner of fish tacos, beans, guacamole and chips.  It was really yummy and made us feel like we were at the beach once again.

This morning we woke up to sunny skies and an early trip to Pacific Beach for breakfast at Konos.  We were able to sit on a deck overlooking the beach and enjoy the morning.  Jenna, Matthew, Caleb and Amy were able to join us and it was a good time for all.

After breakfast, Mike, Doris, Bill and I continued on with a day of fun in the sun in San Diego.  First, we went for a walk on the pier at Pacific Beach.

We then got in the car and went around Mission Bay looking at the various marinas and beaches in the area.  We stopped at a waterfront park and played a round of bocce ball.  It was the boys against the girls and the boys won this first round.

Next was a trip to Point Loma Nazarene University, the school that both Matthew and Peter attended.  We had a look around the campus and wondered how anyone ever got their school work done. The next stop was a scenic overlook at the Rosecrans National Cemetery towards North Island Naval Air Station and downtown San Diego.

We then made a pit stop at a cafe, Con Pane, where we  had some really good bread with dips for a snack along with coffee and iced tea for refreshment.

Next we went into downtown San Diego for a quick look around and another round of bocce ball in the park behind the convention center.  The boys won once again.

There were a bunch of really big yachts moored up right next to us.

Coronado Island was our next stop and we went to the Hotel Del Coronado.

We checked out the hotel lobby and shops and then went down the beach to dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean.  It was pretty cold but refreshing.

Balboa Park was our next destination and before stopping for another round of bocce ball, Mike showed us around the different areas of the park including a number of museums and an organ pavillion .  The boys won the bocce ball for the third time.  Doris and I are going to have to get serious for our next competition.

The next stop was dinner and Bill chose Little Italy as the place to go.

We decided on a long-time San Diego restaurant called Filippis.  We couldn’t find any on-street parking so we finally gave in to the valet parking and after a short wait, we were seated and had really good Italian dinner.

We got home around 9pm and I really needed to do some laundry and work on this post so that’s what I’m doing.  Tomorrow we’re going to work on being tourists for yet another day.  I love San Diego!