Wow

A fancy place for lunch. This was a "rainy" day. Works for us

A not so fancy place for lunch.....cuddly though

San Diego is rated as one of America’s most livable cities and…… we’re convinced! What a great place! After driving from Yuma through the most inhospitable desert we have seen yet, the lush landscape of San Diego was a remarkable sight. The Imperial Valley that we drove through is almost like the Sahara in places. In fact part of the valley is known as the Imperial Sand Dunes. However, wherever irrigation is present, the Valley morphs into a lush agricultural oasis, providing a major percentage of all US grown fruits and vegetables. If evidence of the importance of available water was ever needed, this place is the empirical proof.

But…….San Diego……livable doesn’t begin to cover it! The city is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, mountains, deserts, beaches, and beautiful, neighboring hillside towns and villages. All within 1 ½ hour’s drive. Year-round temperatures are temperate. One can golf in the morning, sail in the afternoon, head home in the evening and pack for skiing tomorrow. How cool is that? (The skiing isn’t so good in the summer months) We are already beginning to think that we might not be able to pack everything in to the one week we have allowed here. Today, we hit the zoo, had lunch at El Prado (Zagat actually knows about this place!! Likes it too). Our whale watching trip was cancelled due to high off-shore winds (No place is perfect!!) But, we rescheduled that for Friday and booked a sail on “Stars and Stripes”, the America’s Cup challenger, for Saturday (This IS February…right???). Tomorrow we will take in a safari trip at the San Diego Zoo’s satellite Wild Animal Park, a visit to the San Diego Museum of Art for an Annie Leibovitz exhibit and, dinner back at El Prado (we liked it!!) with old high school friends. AND, we haven’t even scratched the surface of our list yet!!! The sunset from “Sunset Cliffs” is even exactly like the Chamber of Commerce advertises! We’ll just have to return!