San Diego and So Cal

So first I will post a pic if San Diego once I'm organised. I am writing this on Iphone so pics not yet available. So Mondsay was all about the journey to California. A very early start saw Annika drive me down to Ft Lauderdale airport. The morning after a storm and weather was crap. Eventually got on the plane, after 1 hour delay we took off. I enjoy flying and I never panic but that was the worst take off I've experienced and I was a bit flustered and deep breaths were needed. I thought the bloke next to me was going to projectile. Thank god he didn't. After a less than eventful rest of the flight eventually landed in LA. Got the bus to train station and boarded the Pacific surfliner down to San Diego. After a great journey down the coast through all the towns and watching ppl wait for waves pulled into San Diego and headed to the hostel on foot and luckily found it quite easily. I got myself settled in and after a while I managed to drag myself out and walk down the road the hostel was on and take a few picsbefore heading back and going to bed. So the usual first day was travelling and settling in.

The first day I walked back down the street which is in the Gaslamp District and had a quick look around there, taking in all the usual souvenir shops and other places before reaching the bay and walking towards Seaport Village. This is a great little area full of craft and speciality shops. There was even a Scandinavian style shop called The Little Viking. U s Scandinavians get everywhere. After resisting temptation to buy everything, I jumped aboard one of those amphibious boat/bus things and did The Seal Tour which started with a drive along the bay before spalshing into San Diego Bay itself. Saw some really interesting things along the way, 3 US Navy ships which were in Dock, a Nuclear Sub being tugged back into harbour, a Grey Whale migrating through which was very lucky as they have normally finished their migration by now plus the whole purpose of the tour which was to see a lot of Seals and there were a lot but it was awesome. The next day I was meeting up with my friend Crystal but before that it was off to The USS Middway an ex naval carrier now a permanent floating museum in San Diego. It was a bohemoth of a ship and it took ages to get round it. One of the highlights was meeting 2 surviving World War 2 veterans onboard who were the ripe old age of 88 and were doing speciality talks on board the ship even though she wan't commisioned until after WW2 but it was still interesting. Other great parts of the ship was the anchor bay and the size of the chains were massive, always the engine room and the actual flight deck where there was loads of different fighter planes from the US Navy. After 4 hours walking round a boat, I gave up and went back to meet up with my friend. Seeing Crystal was awesome, we had a big catch up, walked around Gaslamp and the shopping mall before going out for something to eat, we arranged to meet up on Friday when Crystal would pick me up and takeme to her and Juans house. Thursday I took another tour with Old Town Trolleys and went over the bridge to the town of Coronado which is not part of San Diego but is also famous. It mainly houses all service personel and their families but it also has it's own spectacular beach and hotels. One hotel was made famous as it was where Some Like it Hot was filmed. I had a quick peek inside, a lovely walk on Coronado Beach and a look around the shops before climbing backon the trolley and heading back through Balboa Park and passing Old Town. Got back to the Hostel where I chilled and watched a movie.

Friday was my last day in San Diego, so after doing the usual stuff of checking out and leaving my luggage behind, I took the Tram up to Old Town which was mainly San Diego at one point and is being restored and turned into a little attraction. There were lots of little arty shops ranging fromMexican crafts although one shop cheated and had stuff from Guatemala which I could spot from a mile off. There was also a Stage and Blacksmith museum, Native Craft stands, old fashioned clothing and accesories store which was fascinating with actual vintage hats and lots of old fashioned sweet shops yum!! Headed back and Crystal picked me up and drove me up to her place in Lake Elsinore. Friday night myself, Crystal and Juan went out for something to eat and drink where I had a lovely Mango margherita. The next day was even better when Crystal and I went to Temecula for a couple of vineyard visits. Needless to say I had a lot of fun, tasting wine, taking in the views and messing around. Two vineyards in total and tasted a lot of nice wine which was not a burden at all. It was a spectacular day and the whole area was breathtaking. Juan and Crystal drove me up to LA and the hotel where I was staying and going to start my trip. I said goodbye to Crystal and Juan, I had a fab time you two thank you so much. Settled into the hotel, met the 1st of my travelling companions and got ready for the next adventure