San Diego update

DAY 8 (cont'd): Our drive to San Diego was smooth with only a short wait at the border, a pleasant border guard, and a scenic drive into SD and to our motel The Vagabond Inn. We spent the rest of the day walking about and enjoying our return to this great city (at least the boating world so evident in the Shelter Island area). We really like San Diego and we particularly enjoy the boating area within which we visit. Downwind Marine and other marine suppliers are great to deal with and very helpful. Some of the folks have actually become friends as we've stayed in touch during our trip down the coast and into the Sea.

DAY 9 and 10 April 19/20, 2012: We spent our time relaxing, tidying our gear and visiting some of our favorite spots. Lunch at the Southwestern Yacht Club was as great as we remembered. There's nothing like sitting out on a beautiful balcony, overlooking the full docks, watching boats sailing into and out of San Diego and watching the ever-present sea fog (oh how we missed the fog :-) hovering at the entrance to Shelter Island. Oh yeah, and enjoying our Crab Louis and Cobb Salads along with glasses of crisp Chardonnay.

We did a little shopping and lots of walking... and, yes, we succumbed to doing some restaurant 'inspections'. Found a great Sushi place that even has a happy hour with $3 Saki... yahoo !! We've been missing sushi.. the Mexicans sort of understand it, but lose the game when they insist on using cream cheese instead of mayo. It was fun to finally have some sushi the way we like it. As well as wandering about and shopping, two out of three of us managed to secure hair cuts. I'm holding out, waiting till I get home.. for a couple of reasons... First because I like my hair cutter at home, and second cuz my dad always gives me grief when I get my hair cut short... ok, and maybe because I don't want to cut off all the blonde before I can show it off. Yep, there's still a little blonde left...at the moment.

DAY 11/12 Saturday/Sunday, April 21/22: Our friends Susan and George arrived on Saturday morning and treated us to a great lunch. We spent the afternoon visiting and catching up and then had a fun dinner at the local seafood restaurant. Today (Sunday) we're off to have lunch at the San Diego Yacht Club and then visit the USS Midway. It's been great to see our friends and we're so happy they were able to come and join us for a couple of days here. We leave Monday morning, early, and will begin our driving trek up through the US to home. We expect it will take us a comfortable 6 days to reach Richmond, BC and look forward to the scenery and places we'll visit along the way.

Will write again when we can.... hope all is well with all of you. Remember that no news is good news... and there may not be that much to report as we travel north.... time will tell... ttfn CJ

PS: I'm just finishing up an article about the process for prepping the boat for leaving on the hard in La Paz. Look for it in an upcoming issue of Currents, the Bluewater Cruising Association monthly publication.