Joey becomes a Californian!

Now that Joey has finally arrived, it is time to see the west coast sights! I’ve been holding off on doing things for months so he could experience them with me and now that he is here we have a long list of things to do! Unfortunately, I only had 2 weeks to spend with him before leaving for my work trip. But we tried to cram as much in as we could. Here is a snapshot of our fun…

TORREY PINES HIKE

As a ‘Welcome to San Diego’ present, I got Joey a book called ’60 hikes within 60 miles.’ We both love hiking and enjoying outdoor scenery; it seemed like a perfect gift. Last weekend we went on our first hike at Torrey Pines state park. The trail was right on the coast and had amazing views. It was so different from an east coast hike though. All the shrubbery was short and it felt a little like we were lost in Africa…

Here we are about to get on the trail..

What a beautiful view!

Joey pulling out his nice camera to capture the beauty.

The trail led al l the way down to the beach and we were able to walk along the cliffs. Although we read a sign later that it is dangerous to be near the base of the cliffs…oops, we’ll know for next time!

A nice jogger (who was crazy to be running up and down those hills!) stopped to take our picture. I really love it in San Diego and I think Joey does too. All day he just kept saying “I think I’m going to like it out here…” I hope so because it wasn’t easy moving all the way out here!

SAN DIEGO’S ANNUAL COUNTY FAIR

Every year San Diego has a HUGE county fair for a month in the summer. So on Sunday we decided to check it out. We went early in the morning before there were lines but it looked like it gets pretty busy.

We started the day at the Swifty Pig Races. Here you can see little piglets racing around the track to win the prestigious (and delicious) oreo cookie on a silver platter. We were rooting for number 4. Go Britney Spareribs!

Next we saw a pie eating contest. The goal was not to eat the most pie but rather eat the pie the fastest, without using your hands! Here is the 8 year old age group going at it!

I don’t know how but Joey escaped his youth without riding carnival rides. I personally grew up at little fairs at shopping malls, grocery stores, you name it! Me and my mom used to LOVE riding the Himalaya and the Tilt o Whirl. I felt obligated to introduce Joey to this amazing experience. The only problem was there were so many it was impossible to choose which ones to ride!

After a lot of deliberation, we chose this ride. It was kind of like a more modern tilt o whirl. Can’t you just see the excitement on Joey’s face?

It was not quite the same as I remember…Oh man, have rides changed!

Since the first ride shook me up a bit, I wanted to go to an old classic. They actually had a tilt o whirl so I wanted to ride it for old time’s sake. Joey made fun of me because it looked pretty lame compared to the new flashy rides.

Even the Tilt a Whirl was more nauseating than I remember! But Joey wasn’t done, so we had to go back for more tickets!

For ride number 3 Joey wanted to go BIG. He tried to choose this ride below, but as much as I’ve always wanted to rotate like a corkscrew on a windmill, I just couldn’t do it…

Finally we settled on this crazy thing that was like a rotating Looping Star Ship from Six Flags. I was pretty scared, especially considering I was putting my life in the hands of a carnie “engineer” but I couldn’t wimp out twice.

I think he liked it…but I was DONE!

After we were finished with the stomach flopping rides, it was time for my favorite carnival attraction- THE FOOD! I’m a huge fan of corn dogs so that was a natural choice. And look at the sign behind me, it’s even HEALTHY! Made with 100% meat (as opposed to what, I’m not sure…) It was delicious! Don’t judge me though; I didn’t eat it by myself!

Joey chose his fair favorite – funnel cake! And he devoured the entire thing! (ok, I helped a little…:))

To end off the afternoon we rode the ski lift across the fair. We couldn’t believe how huge it was

From the air we saw some other fair food specialties. Fried Klondike bar or donut chicken sandwich anyone? Ok, in all seriousness, that zucchini weenie might be good…

Or maybe you would like to try some deep fried butter or chocolate covered bacon from the Heart Attack Café? At least they are honest about their products! They even have a nurse ready to resuscitate you on the billboard!

So that’s it! A day full of fair fun!

MY BIRTHDAY!

Wednesday was my birthday. I’m a HUGE birthday fan and I usually celebrate it for multiple days during what I like to call my “birthday week.” However, this year I was not able to do that. First of all, I have been working like mad. I have never worked so hard and such long hours in my life. This week was especially busy getting ready for my trip to Europe. Then on top of that, I didn’t feel well and didn’t even have an appetite. (I know what you are thinking – Crystal? No appetite? That’s CRAZY! And it was!)

But I did receive a lot of nice birthday wishes from friends and family (thank you guys!) and my coworker Moon surprised me with a delicious cheesecake and card. See…

Then that night Joey surprised me with the BEST GIFT EVER- a giant pretty balloon and a hilarious card! I can be easy to please sometimes!

Then we went out to a nice dinner at a place right by our apartment called Indigo Grill. It is quickly becoming a favorite destination of mine..

So nothing crazy, but a nice birthday overall!

WINE TASTING IN TEMECULA

This Saturday we spent the afternoon with some new friends up in San Diego’s closest wine country – Temecula. We met two other couples at a nice little winery called Stuart Cellars. We did a little tasting then had a picnic outside with live music and an amazing view. See how happy Joey looks!

The next winery we went to was brand new. It still had its opening balloons out. The wine at this place was amazing (and expensive!) and it had a really nice indoor tasting room and a great outdoor patio.

The last winery we went to was called Leonese. I just couldn’t get over how beautiful the scenery was!

Here are a couple of shots from this winery. (And you can see we really were with people!)

After this picture I had to go home and pack for my 3 week trip. Note to self: packing is NOT fun after a day full of wine tasting…

AND I’M OFF!

So that sums up our 2 weeks of Californian fun. Now I’m somewhere over the Atlantic ocean, 5 hours in on my 10 hour flight to the UK, and I’ve just eaten some pretty disgusting plane food and my back is killing me. But I think it will be fun once I get there. My first stop is Cardiff, Wales which is exciting because I’ve never been to Wales. I won’t be back for 3 weeks though which makes this my longest work trip ever (until August that is when I’ll be going for 5 weeks! Oy!)

So I’ll leave you with one last picture. No explanation here, I’ll let you make up your own story…I’ll just say it’s good advice.