During my digital sabbatical, we also decided a vacation was in order. Our California kids could not come home last Christmas, so my birthday seemed like a good time to see them. Of course, we can’t visit one of our favorite states without seeing the ocean and some of the sites, so we spent two weeks between San Diego and Los Angeles. San Diego is an interesting city. Our hotel was downtown in the same building as the San Diego Symphony. The lobby was on the 12th floor and the one-way ramp took some tight, windy turns – worse than some of the mountains I’ve been through! But the hotel was nice, the breakfasts yummy, and San Diego is a great place to be when it is 10 degrees and freezing back home.
Lest this post become too long, I won’t list every detail of our trip. But I hope you enjoy some of the pictures we took along the way. And though I was on vacation, that did not stop me from pondering the next story of Deborah and Jael. I even did a little brainstorming with my family, but the story is a long way from being plotted or sufficiently researched.
Besides the ocean in L.A. (where it was warmer than San Diego), I think the San Diego Zoo was one of my favorite tourist stops. From the camel with the frothing mouth to the lion who sounded like he was coughing up a hairball, (if you have cats, you understand), to the male polar bear who couldn’t coax the female into the water to play, it was a fun place to see God’s creatures up close and personal. Koala bears really are as cute as can be, and flamingos are LOUD! Panthers have HUGE paws, and to see most everything took miles of walking and two cafe mocha lattes to keep me going.
We returned to mountains of snow (still!), freezing temperatures, a wild week, and I am still way behind on work. Tiger has forgiven us for leaving him, and has settled back into chewing my fingers as I type and generally enjoying our affection.
While I truly do miss the view from the hotel in Marina Del Ray where breakfast could be eaten outside, and I could walk around in sandals instead of boots, it is nice to be home. Be is ever so humble (or cold) there is no place like home.
