Sometimes Early Retirement Feels Like A Never-Ending Honeymoon

 

You know how sometimes everything just goes exactly right? That's how this past week in San Diego went for Mike and I. From the absolutely beautiful view of Mission Bay we enjoyed from our RV site, to the view of the lit-up city skyline we enjoyed in the evenings, each day unfolded better than the one before.

But not without effort. Prior to our recent departure, I spent much time researching what type of off-the-beaten path activities might be available for this, our tenth or so visit to San Diego. We'd already done most of the popular tourist activities like Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, USS Midway and Balboa Park, and this time I wanted to spend as much time on the water as possible. We also committed to being active every morning before starting our day - our day goes 100% better when we do so. 

I found a ton of discounted offerings at Goldstar, Groupon and TravelZoo, and spent a total of $179 buying half price vouchers to go kayaking into the La Jolla Sea Caves, paddleboarding around Mission Bay, plus a harbor cruise around San Diego Bay, and a Coronado restaurant-hop excursion with Bite San Diego.

Our La Jolla Sea Caves kayaking excursion brought a surprise - there were dozens and dozens of pregnant Leopard Shark resting in the bay. Click on the link below to see a short news video filmed about a month before our visit from the perspective of a couple of unaware kayakers. We felt pretty much the same way when we spotted the first shark.

Kayaking with Leopard shark in La Jolla Cove 

Our first ever paddleboarding lesson lasted all of about five minutes, a big clue that it apparently wasn't really that hard. I was able to stand upright on on my very first attempt and Mike got up on his second.

Our voucher was good for a two hour rental. We lasted about an hour and 45 minutes before agreeing we were wiped and ready to go in. We will definitely do it again, however, it really was an absolute blast.

Immediately adjacent to the RV park we discovered miles and miles of biking/running/walking paths going off to both the north and the south around the bay. I ran on them each morning, enjoying views of boaters and jet skiers, while Mike pedaled over to the gym to do his workout. And in the evening Mike and I would pick a random direction and head off on our bikes to go exploring for an hour or so before returning to camp to start dinner.

The harbor cruise was much more interesting than we'd anticipated. We went by dozens of navy ships, aircraft carriers, destroyers and submarines, most of which I'd never seen and hadn't realized "lived" at the harbor. Sobering, humbling and very proud of our men and women in uniform, would pretty much sum up my feelings during the cruise.

One afternoon found us in Seaport Village dancing a Foxtrot in front of a few dozen folk listening to a Frank Sinatra imitator. We felt like Fred and Ginger as we "floated" around the pavilion where Mr. Faux-Sinatra was performing. And a few folk actually applauded, including Mr. Faux-Sinatra, who referred to us over his microphone as the Seaport Village Dancers. What a cheap thrill . . . we loved it! 

Each evening after dinner we spent time in one of the RV park's two hot pools, meeting and getting to know some of our fellow campers. When we'd had enough, we'd return to our trailer and sit outside for a bit looking at the lighted city skyline, and watching planes taking off from the distant San Diego airport, before turning in for the night. 

We discovered that baby powder works very well to combat ants, which were everywhere. Our site backed up to a Mission Bay wildlife preservation area, and the campground was prohibited by the state from doing any pest control spraying within it's vicinity. Baby powder, however, was apparently just fine to use, so we sprinkled it around every part of our trailer that touched the ground and remained ant free inside the trailer. Outside was another story, but we learned to look first, sweep and sit down second.

We spent a total of $779 for our five night/six day trip, including RV park fees, gas costs, excursions and misc. spend, and it was worth every penny. We've already booked a return visit for 2013 - a full week this time. We didn't quite get our fill of San Diego this go round.