The fog was hanging over the Pacific like a gauzy gray blanket as we drove along California’s Interstate 5 toward Dana Point. Herb and I were headed to Captain Dave’s Dolphin & Whale Watching Safari for an 8 a.m. sailing on the Manute’a, a 50-foot high-speed catamaran sailboat that seeks out sea life about five … Read More
California
California Day Trip: On Swallows, The Surfliner & San Juan Capistrano
That saying about life being as much about the journey as the destination must have been created by a passenger on the Pacific Surfliner. The Southern California Amtrak train travels a route between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, weaving its way along the coastline as it offers miles of stunning panoramic ocean views. At … Read More
Notes from Home: Spinning Videotaped Memories into DVDs
We bought our first video camera in 1989 when our son was born. It was one of those large Sony Camcorders that required a steady hand, and it was magical. From family milestones to treasured vacations, our video camera served us well. We graduated to smaller versions over the years, but all of those cameras … Read More
Baseball Behind-the-Scenes: A Tour of Petco Park
I thought there would be grass. This was baseball, after all, and even though it was February, it never occurred to me that the green fields of San Diego’s Petco Park would be replaced with mounds of…dirt. What I didn’t know was that on the weekend of our tour the park had been transformed into … Read More
The Great Escape Room: San Diego’s House of Hints
“Mrs. Peacock did it in the Conservatory with the Candlestick?” Well, not quite… I first heard of “escape rooms” while doing research on Bilbao, Spain, for an upcoming trip. The premise sounded intriguing: You are locked in a movie set-like room and must solve a mystery using puzzles and clues hidden in the room in … Read More
Meeting My Hero: A “Carpe Diem” Day Trip
This is not a political post. It is a story of carpe diem, of saying “yes” when it would be much easier to say, “next time.” Some background: I’ve always been a big fan of Jimmy Carter. Ever since he campaigned in Des Moines when I was living there, I found him fascinating and inspirational…his … Read More