Back in March, an idea came from my Grandma that she wanted to take the family on another vacation this year. As planning began, most of the family were unable to take the time off due to previously planned vacations or were unable to make the dates work. So in the end it ended up being my Grandma, Steve and me. She really wanted to go to San Diego and stay in one of the little towns on the coast. I researched for a good couple of weeks trying to get the best deal for flights and a place to stay since this was all on my Grandma.
So on July 23 we flew out of Salt Lake City and into San Diego and took the 45 minute drive up to Oceanside, California. We rented a condo that was pretty much on the beach. We dropped our stuff off and went on a drive looking for somewhere to eat! We found Rita's Fine Mexican Restaurant which I promptly ordered this Mango Margarita. It was so delicious especially after a long day of flying! After we filled out bellies full, we took to grocery shopping so we would have plenty of snack foods at the condo.
This was the favorite spot of the all the evenings, this is the top floor of the condo we stayed in with it's own balcony. We had views of the pool and of the beach. Steve brought his Jambox with him and our laptop so we had some good music, wine and food to enjoy while watching the sun go down.
On Sunday, I really needed to get my fingernails painted since I found the Del Sol color changing nail color. I asked Steve to help paint my right hand since I really suck at using my left to paint with. This is why I never paint my finger nails...they always look horrible! Of course Steve cringed at the thought having to TRY to paint my nails so I asked my Grandma. I figured she would be pretty good at it since she paints her own but as soon as we started I realized I was wrong! She raised 2 boys not a girl. She didn't quite get all of my nails covered but it was fun while we did it. (I had to redo some of the nails) I painted my toes a brilliant blue color which reminded me of the ocean. I wore that for a few days but I couldn't quite get used to it.
We headed to the beach later that day and got some sun. As usual I wasn't thinking about ALL my skin...I made sure I sprayed sunscreen on my legs since they almost NEVER get sun but didn't spray up top. What a surprise when I got burned on my chest! Someday I will learn that my skin doesn't like the sun!
This is me trying to get a cool shot of the waves coming in and out over my feet! I think I took a million of these shots but finally had to give up.
I made a delicious spaghetti dinner that evening complete with my Grandma getting out the champagne to celebrate being on vacation! It was so yummy and I think I ate so much bread and butter! I now know where I get my bread loving from- Grandma!
On Monday my Grandma made plans to see some old friends of hers for lunch. We gave them directions to the condo and they picked my grandma up. Steve walked her out to the front where she saw them across the street. She waved and proceeded across the street without looking. Thank goodness Steve was there to save her from being hit by a car and a biker! We went to Mission Street and wandered through the stores and had lunch at a Thai place. It was pretty good and it made me crave it later on. We bought 2 boogie boards since we couldn't find any in the condo, despite it saying it had beach equipment.
We headed back to the condo which happened to be perfect timing as we saw my Grandma trying to direct her friends to where she is staying but she had no clue. We made a switch on the passenger and went back to relax on the balcony. My Grandma was raving about the place they went for lunch and wanted to go back there for dinner. We went to Rockin Baja Coastal Cantina which was on the Marina. It was pretty good food and my grandma makes me laugh. She can be so oblivious to everything going on around her but yet so engrossed in what other people are wearing or doing. We wandered through shops at the Marina with Steve catching my grandma before she falls into the displays. Let's just say it was an early night for my Grandma!
We went for an evening stroll along the beach while the sun went down. It was perfect temp and cool breeze.
Sea World day!!! My favorite day of the trip! We took a day to go to Sea World with my Grandma. The first thing we had to do was convince my grandma that she could ride in a wheelchair around the park. There was NO way that she could walk that entire park without her leg hurting. My grandma is in pretty fit condition and can get around just fine on her own but to walk the giant park would have taken us all 7 days of our trip! Once we got the wheelchair, we steered off in one direction. We were able to pet the baby kangaroo that the staff were holding.
We watched the Beluga Whales interact with some lucky guests in the water and with their trainers.
We watched the Pets Rule show...which I think was all 3 of our favorites! Who would have though you could train cats, pigs, an ostrich, a kangaroo and ducks to perform a 20 minute show??? It was quite amazing and I wish my videos would load on here. I think we could have watched it again and again!
The new Turtle Reef exhibit! Lots of turtles to look at. It was quite hard to look at some of these exhibits because people would stand at the glass forever. One exhibit had a moving sidewalk that kept the line going...they should all have those!
We enjoyed the Sea Lion show without getting wet. It was quite funny the jokes and fun stuff they came up with for the audience. My grandma loved it!
At the sea lion house we watched others buy food for them and feed the sea lions. It almost looked like they were waving at you at times! Super cute and noisy!
We only glanced at the dolphins as we were wandering around to the Shamu show. We are glad we headed over when we did because it filled up fast. We missed a dolphin show because we didn't know how fast they fill up.
Loved the Shamu Show! It is quite amazing what these large animals can do!
Kissing whales!
Last show of the day for the Dolphin exhibit which we made it into. It was a great show also and we enjoyed most of the show! They had these divers doing tricks off the high beams that was cool but we really just wanted to watch the dolphins and black pilot whales do the performing.
I ran out of memory on my camera while at Sea World which made me sad. I had to delete videos so I could take more photos. We bought a new memory card the next day and then I never took any more photos after that.
My uncle Meryl and his girlfriend Teresa came in on Wednesday and stayed with us til Saturday when we had to leave. We went to the beach a few times, used our boogie boards, went out to eat for dinner and just relaxed.
It was a great time and I am glad we didn't ditch out!
