Stay Classy, San Diego

Everything was sunny as we pulled into San Diego. We pulled up to Silver Strand Beach State Park (we had just left Dockweiler so things were looking up!) and were all set to go, then we found out they LOCK the gates at 8pm. No cars in or our. Uh... no late dinners, no evening time with family in San Diego. See Ya!

We ended up near Pacific Beach at Campland on the Bay, a very cute park. Happy and tired, we blew everyone off that first night - needing a quiet rest after driving from LA.

Soon, though, morning would come and we'd be on our way to the National Aerospace Museum to see Grandad Pepper. As a Docent there, he toured us around, sharing stories about this "Bird" and that, one "Flyboy" or another, this "mission", or that "encounter." It was the first time I've ever been at a museum and really learned something about the people. Usually, museums are all about the stuff, and as a visitor, you miss all the stories. For me, it was the difference between being bored and completely engaged.

Grandma met us there at the end of our tour (Grandad only went 1/2 hour over our intended tour time) where they treated us to an impeccable lunch at Prado. We spent most of the rest of the afternoon with them trying to find someone who could help with the truck - being San Diegoans, they had some connections. Along the way, we found out that the Pepper name is literally written in stone around the city. I also got to meet Dave Pepper, who looks just like Jim! Crazy.

Later that evening Lindsay and I drove to Jeff & Bridie's for dinner (we were late, there was traffic, but we had borrowed Grandad's Mercedes, so that was cool). We only got a minute or two with the amazingly cute little Jack. But Meg was raring to go, and performed the most fantastic SuperStar dance you can imagine, shared little secrets and reading time with Lindsay, and still had energy enough to educate Buffy and me on the fine art of coloring. She's so adorable.

We wrapped up the evening with just a little adult time and said our goodbyes, but not before we seduced Jeff and Bridie into joining us for Mexican the following evening. Everyone we talked to in San Diego said that Old Town doesn't have the charm it used to, but we still enjoyed walking and shopping. The main square, admittedly, was desolate.

Jeff and Bridie caught up with us midway through our first ginormous margarita, ordered up one of their own, and we proceeded into a lively, entertaining, incredibly filling adults only meal. It was great to have time without the kids, and San Diego's mexican food is killer.

One note: We managed to take ZERO photos in San Diego for some reason, so those are from Jeff.