San Diego Trip

Ok we will see how this works. I had my lap top back for a couple of days and had to send it back, guessing I will not get it back until Thanksgiving. (Our choice not to make the trip) and the only thing slower then working on my laptop with dial-up is working with the desktop computer and dial-up! But... if I take it slow and not check-out other sites (like Facebook) while doing this we should be fine. I am trying to upload a picture (not a great picture, but a picture) if it does not work now I will add it later this week.

All that to say, Dennis and I had a great trip to San Diego. It is the first time I have flown since Nicole (now 21) was a baby. Things have changed ~ I think the seats are smaller. :-o All in all it sure beat driving the distance from Oregon to San Diego. It was a first for us to travel totally car-less. While there we depended on walking and shuttles. We walked a lot. Whew! And yes, it felt very good to crawl back into a car in Portland when returning home - then again maybe it was just the fact we came home in a rain storm!

Anyway, while there Dennis did have classes and such to attend. (Since work was paying for his portion of the trip and all!) :p The conference was HUGE, neither of us have ever been to anything like it. We had purchased a pass for me to have full access to the convention, it was fun to be able to attend classes and go in the exhibit hall with him. I can now tell you about the website DiscoverPolicing.com, about the police car of the future and tell you about how San Diego PD has dealt with repeat nuisance houses. (in case you ever need to know!) I saw more 'cop' stuff then one could ever imagine existed - fascinating. We also came home with many freebies (how we fit it in I will never know!) It felt like 'Trick-R-Treating' for adults. (pens, little flashlights, clips, squishy balls... as well as a few baseball hats and some shirts)

Other then convention related things we did spend quite a bit of time with Dennis' Chief and his wife. We enjoyed getting to know them, they are a great couple. We did a lot of walking all over San Diego (or so it felt!) We toured The Midway, a HUGE aircraft carrier and on another day took a ferry over to Coronado Island and walked through the Hotel del Coronado - it was built the turn of the last century and is close the beach - beautiful! While we were there they were starting to build a temporary ice skating rink on the front lawn that would overlook the ocean. How would that be for a way to spend your holidays?! The workers there seemed very proud to tell us what they were doing, they also told us that the hotel always has the best Christmas tree around. So if you are looking for somewhere warm to go for the holidays - I would suggest checking them out! The picture to the left was taken on our ferry ride back to San Diego - we were told it has been in movies, I just do not remember which one(s).

On Monday evening we went to 'Host Chief's Night' (hosted by the Chief of San Diego) It was a huge party held at Petco field. They had live music, food and entertainment everywhere you went. Now the ice cream cones, they were a bit tough to find, (just ask Sue!) Not the kind of 'party' Dennis and I usually go to, but we enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a fun evening. (and we did eventually find our ice cream)

It was hard for the bargain hunter in me and the cheapskate in Dennis to pay the prices we did for food. Near the end of our time there we had finally stopped thinking about what things cost (like $2.50 for a yogurt, $1.10 for a banana, and $2+ for a bottle of water) and just got what we felt we needed. Dennis even went and bought me oatmeal a couple of mornings since it was what I was wanting. I have no clue what he paid for that, but it sure tasted good! (what a guy!)

We left San Diego on Wednesday (11/12) afternoon with the weather being clear and in the mid-70's and flew into Portland that evening into a rain storm. It was fun to visit a sunny place during less then stealer weather for our area, but we know more then ever that this is home.