San Diego for Dave's BD

We drove over to San Diego for a few days the week of Dave's birthday. We left on Wednesday night, August 19 and then came back on Saturday, August 22. Dave worked on Wednesday (and we both did a virtual AZ ethics CPE) so we didn't get on the road until about 5pm. We stopped in Yuma at In-N-Out for dinner and rolled into San Diego about 11pm.

Thursday morning we ate at a restaurant a couple of blocks from our called Cafe 21. It was ok - probably would not go back but our breakfast was pretty.

On Thursday afternoon I gave Dave a sailing lesson for his birthday. So we were out on a sailboat for 3 hours. We both enjoyed sailing and Dave wants to get his license so he can sail more often (I'm all for that!).

Captain Dave

This was John, our captain for the afternoon

We had a late lunch after sailing at Mitch's Seafood - a suggestion by captain John. This was our view from the patio of the restaurant.

We then stopped at Coronado Island and walked around for a while. I took a picture with my car - this was its first time back to California after I bought it over there in 2012. It was nice to drive with the top down.

Friday morning we had breakfast at Parakeet Cafe in La Jolla - this place was excellent (I thought so, Dave didn't give it a high vote) and I would definitely eat here again.

We walked around La Jolla Cove...

...and then went to Better Buzz for coffee/matcha. I wish this coffee shop was in Arizona.

Lunch Friday was at one of our favorite places, Puesto.

Then it was back to Coronado Island to hang out on the beach for a while and then late afternoon we went back to the hotel to relax (I took a nap) for a couple of hours before dinner. We stayed at the Kimpton and this was the view from our room. This Kimpton is the least favorite Kimpton we have stayed at, however, I don't know if we can give it a fair vote because there were no amenities due to COVID.

On Friday night I had reservations at Sea180 at Imperial Beach. It had a nice patio on the beach, but we were not at all impressed by the food. We decided we have found really good places in Phoenix/Scottsdale and now we are spoiled.

Saturday morning we slept in a little, grabbed breakfast and then made the drive back across the desert to the blazing heat.

La Jolla Rough Water Swim

I went to San Diego the weekend of September 5-7 because Scott and I had signed up to do the La Jolla Rough Water Swim. We left for San Diego On Friday morning. The package at the hotel was a "No Gas Getaway" so the hotel car picked us up from the airport.

This was the view from my hotel room.

After checking into the hotel, we walked around La Jolla to find somewhere for lunch and then we headed to the beach.

Scott and Julie

Julie and I

In La Jolla Cove

After the beach we walked back to the hotel. Scott and Julie took a nap and I layed out by the pool for a while. That night we went to dinner at Sante (an Italian restaurant recommended by one of the partners at work). They had spelt noodles so I liked it :)

On our way back from dinner, we walked by this yogurt place called Apple Green. It looked just like a Pinkberry but not as good :(

On Saturday morning we went and checked in for the race. After you checked in, they put a colored wristband on your wrist with your event as well as your "wave" for Sunday. It was fun walking around La Jolla after that and seeing everyone who was swimming. We then headed ot the beach - Scott and I did a practice swim (along with hundreds of other people who were also swimming on Sunday).

We probably swam about 900 yards on Saturday

After we swam, we stayed at La Jolla Cove for a while and then went to Shell Beach. Julie was burned by the end of the day.

Our hotel - The Grande Colonial

Sunday morning was RACE time! I swam at 11am and Scott swam at noon. We arrived at the Cove about an hour early so we could get a good spot for Julie as well as get our numbers written on us. They put our numbers on our arm, back and leg.

I was in the first wave, which consisted of 19-39 year olds. We all stood on the beach and then they shot a gun and that is when everyone ran to the water and started swimming. The race course was a one-mile triangle - you swam out 800 yards, made a left turn and swam 460 yards and made another left turn and swam the final 500 yards to the shore. I thought the first 400 yards was the hardest part of the entire race - it was very difficult to swim with a big group of people and I was just trying not to get kicked in the face. After the first left turn, you were swimming into the current and by the final turn you knew you were on the home stretch. My final time was 26:52, which placed me 85th overall (out of 370) and 17th in my age group (out of 43). We had a blast and are planning to do it again next year!

Waiting to start

This was difficult swimming all together like this

Finished - now the pressure is on Scott

Scott (blue cap) running to the finish line

We both made it - with our medals

Everyone who finished got a Survivor medal

Who's in for next year???