Ben & Robin's Wedding ...

...was yesterday afternoon on the Pacific shore at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla; it was a beautiful wedding.

San Diego Zoo

We spent most of yesterday wandering around the San Diego Zoo. It's a beautiful, overwhelming place. We could have spent another day there. Here are a few of my favorite images.

(this one is for you, Aurora)

Last night we had dinner at a restaurant recommended by Robin. Their menu stated that they "strive to support sustainable seafood, local farmers, independent local business, as well as the use of green products wherever possible." We had a wonderful meal; I had butterfish, which I had never heard of. It really is sweet and buttery. CL had a local sea bass.

Waterskiing

Ben took us all to the part of Mission Bay where he and Robin waterski. I rode in the boat for a couple runs and got some pictures of Ben and Anne.

They quit when it got too dark to ski, and I shot this on the way back.

USS Midway

We visited the USS Midway Museum this morning. No overall pictures of the ship (too big), but here are a few shots.

An interior corridor.

CL and me on the flight deck.

The view from the bridge.

San Diego 1

Our first day in San Diego was mostly wasted by a visit to MINI of San Diego. I dropped by because Mr. Toad was due for an oil change. The service advisor spotted a nail in one of the run flats, and they were all close to worn out, so I spent half the day and half the vacation budget getting new tires and alignment.

A highly modified MINI spotted in the service intake area.

Finally we went on a quick tour of Point Loma and the Cabrillo Monument.

We also drove around Mission Bay.

And these are from the pool area of the apartment we're all staying at; the water is Mission Bay.

We're in San Diego

On Tuesday we drove from Temucula to San Diego via Laguna Beach. That allowed us to drive on the Ortega Highway, a very fun steep and twisty mountain crossing. We stopped on the way up, just slightly above the clouds ...

and were doing great until we hit a half-hour delay for highway construction.

In Laguna Beach, a coastal town with a beautiful beach and
houses perched on the sides of the hills
we met T (Tom) and his wife Devon for lunch. This was another wonderful meal of the kind that has made this trip so much fun.

Then in San Diego we had dinner with Bill and Peggy, Carl and Barbara, and Al and Molly, all here for the wedding.

Then, later, everyone from the East plus Ben, Robin, and her parents gathered together in Al & Molly's apartment.

Dinner

We're in Temecula, CA. We decided not to do any wine tastings this afternoon, but we did have dinner at the restaurant at Thornton Winery.

CL had Salmon en croute with mushrooms and arugula, mashed potatoes, and a beurre blanc sauce with tarragon.
I had the Spicy Sausage and Shrimp Linguini.
Both were excellent.

Catching up/Pictures from CL's Camera

Last night, in Mesa, AZ, we had dinner with an old Navy buddy, John, and his wife, Marcia. I hadn't seen him since 1969, and we had a great time swapping sea stories.

This afternoon I downloaded two days worth of CL's pictures. Included were our crossing from New Mexico into Arizona on US Route 70 (we avoided Interstates in the interest of hopefully finding better scenery), one you can provide your own caption to, our entry into California from Arizona on I10 (just getting here was the priority today), and, finally, just a few of maybe thousands of windmills off I10 in the Morongo Valley.

New Mexico - Arizona Desert

Leaving Alamogordo, we drove through the White Sands Missile Range and the NASA White Sands testing facility. I stopped to get a picture of the hills/mesas/mountains/whatever along the road and couldn't because of all the power lines, but I did get this.

This seems to be what happens to fire engines that are left out in the sun too long. This was in Duncan, AZ. (Another one for you, Greg)

Look at this rock face, shot with the wide angle lens, then look at the next shot (telephoto of same rocks) for the climbers.