Near Mt. Laguna, the mountains seem endless…
We had fallen into bed at 2 am in Oceanside, CA, after 26.5 continuous hours of escapades.
A few hours later we were venturing deep into the mountains of Laguna.
For breakfast. (Vacation is no time to sleep!) zzzzzz
Nestled among the tall pine trees, the Pine House invited us in.
Calie introduced us to one of her favorite places, and people.
Nica had taken her under her wing, and Calie had eaten many a meal here while stationed in San Diego.
If you haven’t read the first day of this continuing adventure, click here.
The one, the only, Pine House. It serves great food, too!
Mother-daughter pic 🙂
The pines
A unique, but homey, place
Nice memory
Calie had missed this place
After meeting Nica and staff and filling up on deliciousness, our destination was to explore downtown San Diego.
Arrived. Parked. Started walking.
It was Sunday afternoon; there were lots of other walkers discovering the sights with us.
Rick and Calie leading the way as I snapped memories
San Diego’s buildings are pristine
Excitement fills the air on Harbor Drive!
Look closely. Even the streetlights have character!
The formation of a massive sand carving
We didn’t get any further than the Embarcadero on Harbor Drive.
A thorough exploration of this area would have taken at least 2 days!
This is where we saw the eerie sailing ships the night before! 😮
(Origin of embarcadero; Spanish from embarcar to embark from Old Spanish, from Medieval Latin imbarcāre)
If you’ve been here, you know this place looks and feels beautiful.
So many new experiences. 🙂
Since I’d never been to California or the Pacific Ocean, all the sights were exhilarating!
Sailboats careening in the fresh blue sea.
The stalwart USS Midway standing guard.
Untold treasures soon to be discovered.
What a fun, refreshing scene
The famous Midway aircraft carrier
Our first view of the spellbinding Star of India
When we first spotted the magnificent ship floating close enough to touch, it caused a stir of suspense and romance.
Just to be near was intoxicating!
BUT when we found out it was a part of a Maritime Museum and we could go on board, there were two of me because I was beside myself with excitement and anticipation!
(If you click on Maritime Museum above, you will come to a page with a list of the ships on the right side.
Click on a ship’s name for its history!)
Cap’n Pam
Ahoy, me maties! haha
⇒The Star of India⇐
The elegant interior
Cap’n Calie Sparrow at the helm
No room to toss and turn here!
I love how the sun sparkles on the water
Such luxury
Nice decking
Heads up. They’re always around!
All hands on deck!
Did you read the last sentence? No way! I don’t like to cook for 2!
The galley
The hull fascinated me for some reason
All levels of the ship proved interesting
The Star of India in all her splendor
Now on to some of the museum’s other occupants…
Reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean!
The massive size makes it kind of eerie!
This long-floating sub looks creepy 😯
No creepiness here, just a lot of fun!
Currently, these are the intriguing ships of the Maritime Museum…
…and when they arrived
Big fun on the deck of the HMS Surprise
Wow!! 😮
This B-39 sub, built in 1974, is among the largest ever crafted.
I couldn’t imagine being underwater
for months in such tiny quarters!
😡
I’d hate to be the top guy!
Huh?!
Cool view
We were crunched for time to get to Pendleton for Calie’s check-in. So we had to speed through the ships. Dang! 🙁
We said goodbye to the excellent Maritime Museum and, once again, raced up I-5! Literally, because no one pays attention to the speed limit. ❗ ❗
Met with the HITT crew about the competition which would start the next morning and made our way to the harbor in Oceanside.
At this point, Calie’s friend, Kayla, joined us for the rest of the week, and we had a fun dinner!
Me and a very tropical Bougainvillea tree on Pendelton
Camp Pendleton is a visually-appealing base with delightful palm trees
We ate in a little pub at this harbor
Making fun of Dad!
We all got settled in our hotels for the night; our lodge had ocean views. 😉
Our courtyard at Pacific Views Lodge
Sunset meets ocean (far right side of picture)
Our 2nd day in California has come to an end. This one didn’t last 26.5 hours, but it was fun.
The next day opens with fierce competition as Calie defends her title as female HITT champ and, as always, there will be more awesome photos.
I hope you’ll come back.
Let me leave you with a couple more images to enjoy!
We started the day out right…in the mountains! 🙂
Kinda ghostly at night
Especially in black and white! 😯
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Blessings, blooms, and, this time, boats!
Pam 🙂
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Author: Pam
Glad you’re here!
Great fun and a great taste of California, Pam!
Thanks for the compliment. It’s so fun reliving our trips and “bringing” others along!