California time

Posted: November 4, 2007 | Author: | Filed under: Autumn, health, NaBloPoMo, travel, Walking, weather | 4 Comments

It was nice “falling back” and gaining that extra hour this morning. Both M and I needed some extra sleep after yesterday. We both slept well. The sound of the ocean waves is, to me, one of the most soothing sounds in the world. It was nice to fall asleep to that sound, and just as nice to wake up to it.

I keep forgetting that folks back home are three hours ahead of us here in California. I checked my email this morning, before going out for a walk. I have Gmail which shows you when your contacts are online. I was surprised to see a friend from Philly online so early on a Sunday morning. It took me a few minutes to realize it wasn’t as early in the morning there as it was here.

It’s been foggy this morning. I went out for a walk on the boardwalk (which isn’t a boardwalk in the true sense as it’s a concrete walk and bike way, not made of wood). I walked up to Pacific Beach, walked out on Crystal Pier (I’d love to stay there some day, but the prices are steep!), and watched a surfing competition for a little while before heading back to the condo where I stretched and relaxed with 20 minutes of yoga.

After I finish my glass of Tropical iced tea, I’m going to go sit on the beach for a while. I’ll take a book, but I suspect I’ll do more wave watching than reading.

Greetings from Mission Beach

Posted: November 4, 2007 | Author: | Filed under: beer, food, NaBloPoMo, travel, Walking | 4 Comments

This may well be my best week of NaBloPoMo.

I’m sitting on the rooftop deck of the condo we’re renting for the week, staring out at the ocean, listening to the waves as they roll in.

M and I have just come home from dinner at the Liars’ Club where I had a fantastic pork stew (with three different chilies, tomatillos, carrots, potatoes, and the slow roasted pork) and M had a wonderfully spicy jambalaya. We sampled a few beers along the way (the Liars’ Club has an amazing beer selection). They not only have a great beer and food selection, but their jukebox is an amazing mix of music.  M and I discovered the Liars’ Club the last time we visited San Diego, and were happy to find them still here and still as good as we remember.  Never mind the look of the place.  That’s part of the charm, as far as I’m concerned.

We walked back to the condo on the Oceanfront Walk, getting a few peeks into oceanfront living and decor in Mission Beach. Most of the houses and condos on the walk level have large windows and people don’t bother to pull the drapes (with that great view of the Pacific, who would??).

It was a long day getting here. Our flights with Frontier Airlines were on time (actually early in both cases) and fairly smooth. I’m not a big fan of flying so I’m thankful that we arrived here without any dramatic or traumatic tales to tell.

We were both pretty much exhausted by the time we arrived at the condo, having picked up our rental car, taken care of the grocery shopping, and then spent a little time walking around killing time while waiting for our check-in time (3:00pm). We’ve had more than the usual three meals today because of the time change. We fall back tonight, adding another hour to the time we gained by coming west.

We napped, we took a long walk on the beach, we sat and watched the surfers for a while. Then we came back to the condo and sat on the rooftop deck to watch the sunset. It wasn’t much of a sunset. Fog rolled in off the ocean and all was pretty much gray and cloudy. Even so, it was a beautiful sight, watching sunbeams shoot through the clouds.

Photo displays will have to wait until we go home. I didn’t bring the cable with me. I prefer to leave it at home. Less to worry about losing that way.

I am thoroughly exhausted and trying to stay up a while longer in hopes of adjusting to the time change.  I don’t think I’ll last much longer (it’s not even 8:30pm yet!).

I have a feeling I’ll sleep well tonight.