AAS, I envy you!

[z28luvr01]

You get to live where I spent my summer vacation. San Diego absolutely rocks! The weather was perfect the whole time, and the scenery is just....wow. I'll post some pics as soon as I can get them out of my camera.

[AAS]

Wow... this has to be the first (and probably ever) thread ever dedicated to me! Well, I guess it's dedicated to San Diego, but my name is in the title. :D Yes, San Diego does have great weather almost all the time, and there is a lot to look at whether it's cars, mansions, scenery, women... Glad you got to spend your summer here, unfortunately I was sent to Los Alamos, New Mexico. When were you here?

[AAS]

z28... don't know about everyone else, but I'de love to see your pics of SD. I might live here, but I'm sure you saw more of the sights than I have. Hope you post them soon...

[z28luvr01]

Whoa, I forgot about this thread. I have them at home, I can put some up tonight. I have I think 400-something pictures from my digital camera plus another 24 from a waterproof disposable. I was there from 8/25-8/29, and it honestly was very hard to leave. If I could find a decent paying job out there......

[AAS]

cool... I can't wait to see them. I was still in Los Alamos while you were in SD.

[z28luvr01]

Well, I had a post with almost all the pics I wanted in it, then I hit back on my browser and lost everything. So here are the "best of the best", so to speak.

A shot of the edge of the harbor:


The whale who needs no introduction:


an African penguin:


a polar bear:


A shot from Cabrillo National Monument, overlooking the National Cemetary, the harbor, and the rest of San Diego.

[z28luvr01]

From the San Diego Auto Museum, here you go 68:


No caption required:


The Tucker Torpedo, #19:


This one's for you, Fly...an old skool Pontiac:


The monument atop Mount Soledad, in La Jolla. I started a bike trip on this mountain and rode (mostly downhill, back to the hike/bike/kayak shop on Avenida de la Playa.


The view from Mt. Soledad. In the winter, when the air is cleaner, you can see all the way from Mexico to LA.


An unobstructed view of the sunset. I pulled off the road in Carlsbad to take this one:


A shot of the Sheraton right across from the airport, taken just before I went in to check my luggage and get harrassed by TSA.

[z28luvr01]

The San Diego - Coronado Bridge. A somewhat funny story goes along with it. The original design of this bridge was a straight line connecting San Diego and Coronado, stretching 1.8mi. Now, any bridge over 2mi is funded by the federal gov't, so they redid the bridge with a huge curve in it, and it's now 2.1 miles long. It's free to cross it, of course, thanks to Uncle Sam:



A couple of Navy ships in the harbor. There's a huge navy presence in Sn Diego: the sub base, a Navy SEALS training facility, research and development labs.




The San Diego Aerospace Museum




and last but not least, the design inspiration for the Nissan Xterra (stay tuned to C&G for my review of the 2005 Xterra):


This city is absolutely gorgeous. I wish I could have stayed longer, or better yet, found a job and a house and left NY for good. I'll be back again....when I left SD, the plane took off at 9:30PM, flew over the Pacifc for a bit, then turned around to give me a specatcular glimpse of the city at night.

[AAS]

z28: Awesome pics! I've been to the zoo, and obviously seen the bridge. But, it looks like you did a bunch more then I ever have, like the automotive museum, Mt. Soledad, the memorial, kayaking and probably a bunch more. Did you get to see Petco Park and the Gaslamp district? How about the naval museum or whatever they have on the huge carrier stationed in the bay?

[z28luvr01]

I saw Petco Park from the harbor cruise that I went on, but I didn't get to go in it at all. My next time back, I'll probably take in a Padres game and spend more time in the city itself, since it lights up so nicely at night. I had heard about the gaslamp district from someone in the airport on the way to my flight home, so that's another thing to do. On the cruise we went right past the carrier. They had the "hangar" open where the helipcopters are stored. Didn't get around to the navy museum though. If you ever have a couple of hundred lying around, you can take a biplane ride out of Palomar Airport in Carlsbad and, if you're by yourself, the pilot will let you fly the plane for a bit. They have a whole bunch of flights varying in duration and flight path. I was going to do that on my last day there, but they were booked for the day. I think the website is www.barnstorming.com.

[AAS]

cool, It sounds like you already have enough to do for a second trip to SD. Flying a plane would be cool... but would I trust myself... :lol:

[Guest Josh]

Those pictures are awesome Z. One thing that I don't like is when I go on vacation (To Padre Island, Corpus Christi, etc) I seemingly never take pictures. I will change that on my next spur of the moment that's for damn sure. Those pics are awesome Z!