California N to South at Easter live,one thread,with pictures. SFO,LA and San Diego

[summersun]

great day x

[dismamx2]

Great report, fantastic trip. Keep enjoying

[smithlane]

Sounds like you've had a wonderful holiday so far

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 12. Harbourside, bay cruises , USS Midway and the Topgun bar. 'Sitting on the dock of the bay'... 😅

Another beautiful blue sky day and we were parked up right next to USS Midway at 0930. $10 for 12 hours, right where you want to be on the dockside wharf. Great value and easy to find.

We were allowed one x boat tour on any one day with Hornblower cruises on our Gosandiego5 (right next to the Midway) we duly took the 0945, one hour going north. The large, stable boat went towards the bay entrance and turned to port (note the nautical phrase), next to the submarine base (3 in dock), before returning down the side of North Island NAS. 250 aircraft are based there and we must have seen well in excess of 100 on the pan. The commentary was excellent.

A Los Angeles class Nuclear Attack Submarine (on the off chance that any DIBBER would be remotely interested)

As we docked, I commented to one of the crew that I would have to return tomorrow in order to go on the South trip. She replied 'it's no problem, just stay on board'.. (which was exactly what I had intended her to say) and so we did. The South trip went under the Coronado bridge and the skipper gave a superb run down of the US Navy ships in port, their function and histories. The ship turned and returned to the dockside. This had been an absolutely brilliant 2 hours (and I think that the talk included a bit of non military stuff also, about the bridge, airport, buildings, wildlife and stuff, but I will have to ask my wife).

A Bridge spanning a 1.8 mile gap. Curved to 80 degrees in order to make it 2.2 miles long in order to thus get Federal funding. (It seems that its not only us that have strange rules).

Mandie enjoying the cruise.

USS Midway was in superb condition and had a comprehensive set of US Navy aircraft on board, in generally excellent state of repair. There is a very good trail through the ship with an included audio guide.
Two not to be missed highlights on the flight deck are a lecture on landing on a carrier and a further one on catapult take offs. Both were given by former USN Pilots and whilst they sound technical, they were in layman terms and with accompanying video support, next to an aircraft simulating a landing (A4) and an aircraft prepared for catapult launch (A6). Both informative and entertaining.

An E2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.

That was it! Time to move on and eat. There was only one place appropriate and that was the Kansas City BBQ, A couple of blocks away and next to Seaport Village. For the uninitiated, this is the bar in Top Gun where Goose played 'Great balls of Fire' on the piano and his 'chick', Meg Ryan said 'Hey Goose you big stud, Take me to bed or lose me forever'... not the sort of place where you would expect to meet Meg at all. It looked run down and shabby. The food was surprisingly, very good and excellent value. It is a mock sleazy bar, although very child friendly and packed with memorabilia. Again, not to be missed.

Mandie pretending that she is Meg Ryan.

I was sorely tempted to bash out my rendition of ‘Great balls of fire’, but as I have never played the piano before, I resisted.

A great day.. and then wine o'clock at Mission Beach!

[summersun]

day sounds great, bar sounds amazing (luv top gun)

[Disney Wishing]

Really enjoying this live report. Great sounding few days in San Diego. It's such a great city.

[Mortimer Mouse]

Great report so far and very handy for those planning trips there soon. The traffic in LA sounds awful.

[Aims]

Cornishfrogboy, I just spotted this trip report and I have spent the morning catching up. Your trip has sounded fabulous, so far! I'm enjoying that you are doing this report "live". So glad you are having a great time in San Diego! What an awesome thing that the Hornblower cruise staff person let you stay on to do the other half of the tour, free of charge. But, most of my fellow San Diegans tend to be very friendly overall, so not a big surprise they did that for you.

[cornishfrogboy]

Day 13 Ponyland horse riding on the Mexican border (almost).. AKA 'Mandies day'... 'Echo beach'.. (as we were the only one on it).😘

The wife, (Mandie) has always been wonderfully tolerant as I have visited Vigna da Valle (Italy), Airspace Washington, Airspace Dulles, Pensacola, Eglin AFB, Kermit Weekes in Polk City,Castle AFB, Midway, Hendon, Duxford, Cosford and many, many others.. today was payback!

Ponyland is South of San Diego and just 1/2 a mile north of the Mexican border, behind Border Field State Park. They have app 20 Horses, so there is one to fit most weights and abilities, Western saddle as opposed to the British way, I am reliably told. A very friendly and professional set up. Whilst the wife and her guide rode their horses a mile or more onto the Beach, my 2 sons and I drove down to the border entrance, then walked the 3/4 mile to that same beach.

An Osprey... Because I have never seen one in the wild before.

We found ourselves on a beautiful, unspoilt place with the Mexican border fence running down to the sea and into it. On the other side was 'the bull ring' (a stadium) and Tijuana. We were able to approach to within around 20 yards of the fence whilst under the watchful eyes of a patrol car on the sand cliff above us. Fascinating to look through and see the Mexican beach goers on the other side! We then walked the beach in the other direction as far as the Tijuana River towards San Diego.

An international border.. A fence, as opposed to a wall.

Whilst walking, my wife honoured us with an 'imperial wave' as she went past. The beach is a real bird hotspot (feathered).We saw Terns, Snowy Plovers, Snipes, Pelicans .. and an Osprey.. as well as two dead seals and a dead dolphin.(I did say it was unspoilt!)
We watched as Mandie took her horse into the surf, which was very much the highlight of her 3 hour ride.

2 Horses, a guide and a wife.

1 Horse and one contented wife.

1 Horse.

Horse riding done, it was on to the very large, even by Orlando standards, Premium Outlet Mall on the Mexican border at termination of the I5. We weren't in the mood and bought very little.

Home to Mission Beach in the late afternoon and a clean up, before the nearby Olive Garden restaurant in the evening... identical to any Florida one.

We leave San Diego tomorrow and the City has been an absolutely fascinating, beautiful, clean paradise. We have loved it!

[summersun]

a amazing day, cant believe your trip is going so fast!