Monday, February 13, 2017

San Diego, CA - Seals, Selfies and Soledad

Whoo-eee. A day in La Jolla, starting with a breakfast burrito at the Farmer’s Mkt, a walk along the beach, a check onto seals and ending with sunset on Mt Soledad searching for the plaques of my uncles. Sunny, warm and perfect.

At home we had some fruit, thinking we’d find some breakfast treats at the market. We searched the food area but found no bakery goodies. Oh, we’ll. We did find a stall making massive breakfast burritos so, always willing to try something new, we ordered and ate. Here’s the breakfast burrito. Oh, yeah, did I say it was massive. This is only half.
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We wandered the market picking up veggies and fruit and - I found bamboo socks. Oooh, so soft and so environmentally friendly. Besides I’ve been wanting to buy some socks to replace the ones that I’ve been wearing that should have been replaced long ago. 3 for $20 and we had some socks. I got 2 pair and Gary got a pair of hiking socks. But, if it’s La Jolla, it’s the beach. And, we were off.

I’m thinking that these two people are ‘selfies challenged.” We hope that they learn someday how to take selfies.
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Well, this is better but it wins no prize.
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Quite a few years ago, La Jolla built a children’s beach - and sure enough lots of children came to play. Oops, the children were seal children and now the beach is strictly for seals and their pups. It was quite a controversy for quite a while but it seems to have settled down. The neat thing is that they have this cool sea wall circling the sand where the seals give birth. Obviously, since I am taking a picture from this angle, I am also on a circling wall. to the left is a lifeguard station for the beach on the other side and to the right is the opening to the ocean. Great views for everyone who wants to watch and, boy, does everyone crowd around to watch the seals.
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Here are two babies, one bigger and older than the other. That little one looks unusually skinny for a seal.
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We like the trails that they make in the sand with their flippers on either side propelling them forward.
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This seal was on the rocks outside the walls and just enjoying the sun. If only I could sleep like that.
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We walked on through the park next to the beach in La Jolla and I was reminded of Seurat’s Sunday Afternoon. With a few costume and activity changes, our view was very much the same.
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As it headed towards evening, we headed up Soledad Mountain to the huge cross and memorial at the top. I’ve got two uncles with plaques up there. Bob Flynn is my Aunt Marilyn’s first husband who died in ?????. Since my mother stayed in Iowa while her parents and siblings, Chuck and Marilyn moved to California, I met Uncle Bob only once or twice. He was a Commander in the Navy and, when he died, his ashes were scattered in the ocean. Last Christmas my two cousins and Marilyn pooled their money to buy him a plaque up on top of the hill.
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My Uncle Fred is Marilyn’s second husband. Bob and Marilyn and Fred and his wife, Jo, were good friends both through the Navy and the PTA at the school where their kids all attended. When Fred retired he worked at the same bank as Marilyn. Jo died first and then Bob. When Bob died, Fred comforted Marilyn since he knew what she was going through.

In the early 90’s, when Gary and I lived in Minneapolis, Fred and Marilyn took a cruise down the Mississippi River and stopped in St. Paul where Gary and I met them for dinner. After dinner, we went back to their hotel to chat. At one time during the evening, Fred put his hand on her knee and I knew they were more than friends. They married soon after and have been married 17 years.
When we come to San Diego which has been just about every year since we started RV’ing, we always visit with them.

And, here’s Fred’s plaque. Marilyn sure chose well, didn’t she? I always wondered whether she married up or down in rank. But, it really doesn’t matter. Bob was and Fred is a wonderful person and a great husband to Marilyn.
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Of course, we had to watch the sunset over the mountain before we headed home.
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