Monday 2 January 1984 – San
Diego
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| Morning has broken |
I was awake
at about 06.00 this morning but Matt and Rab slept on a bit longer, waking at
about 06.30. As soon as I had given them their coffee I went off for a jog
along the footpath. The sun was just coming up over the hotel and the bay was
beautiful. Lots of birds and a few fishermen. I saw the plaque marking the spot
where the Spaniards had camped in 1760 (or whenever it was) and also a beach
bum who obviously didn’t know (or care?) about tides. He had pitched his camp
just below the high water mark. He was still sound asleep but his gear was very
wet.
Our first
move once we got going was to get hold of a car, which we did at the airport.
Avis seemed to be the best buy after we had made all our enquiries so now we
drive a black Dodge Aries. $139 a week with unlimited mileage. We intend
driving up to San Francisco.
I was a bit worried about driving as it was over a year since I had last driven
in the US
but it wasn’t too bad at all, despite the fact that my navigators were not too
hot.
The first
stop was to get some food as it was about 09.30 and we hadn’t eaten. We stopped
at a roadside place advertising breakfasts but it wasn’t quite what we thought
it would be – offering beef sandwiches (cold beef on a soft roll) or savoury
croissants. We settled for the beef rolls and Rab and Matt had a warm cinnamon
roll and a fruit pie respectively. I had my first taste of Dr Peppers – and
very nice it was being almond flavoured. At $10 I guess it was not too bad, but
we did wish for a Lum’s.
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| Matt and Rab with seal |
Next stop
was Sea World which we found without too much difficulty. We loved it there and
Rab swears it is much better than the one in Florida. I am not so sure, but it certainly
is a marvellous place. We saw three most enjoyable shows – the killer whales,
seals and otters and the dolphins. How they train these animals I just don’t
know but they put on a wonderful show. There were also some most interesting
exhibits including one on penguins which I found fascinating as were the white
whales and the sea otters.
The latter
was the last exhibit we saw before leaving at about 15.00. when we got to their
tank, they were all lying in the water on their backs looking, as Matt said,
rather like a bunch of drowned cats. One started grooming himself then dived
down to the bottom of the tanks to get himself something to eat. Lying back in
the water after he surfaced he ate his meal off his chest. Gradually the rest
came to life and got their own food – all except one who just lay there and
watched everyone else eating.
From Sea
World we headed towards the Old
Town via a very
complicated route from which we kept going astray. We finally landed up there
at a very fancy shopping centre but many of the shops were closed as today is a
public holiday. Still we enjoyed ourselves wandering around and bought more
T-shirts and caps/hats. We really have to stop buying soon – our luggage wont
take much more!
The plan was
to eat at a seafood place nearby but it was not open and as we had eaten
nothing but a churro and a double sundae (that had to be seen to be believed!)
since breakfast we were a bit peckish. On the advice of one of the storeowners
we decided to go to a restaurant at the end of this island. Driving back was a
bit of a strain since it was dark and the only way we could get the inside
light of the car to work was by opening the door. This made the limited
navigation aids even more difficult to use.
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| Matt outside our room |
We finally
made it to the restaurant but found it was a bit pricey so, in desperation, we
settled for El Berto again and once more had a most enjoyable meal. And so to bed,
having watched the last ten minutes of the Orange Bowl Final.
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