California Here I Come...

Wednesday morning we flew out of Savannah to Atlanta and then to San Diego. Great flight getting us in a half hour early. Watched two movies, Lady Bird and I Tonya. Marty and Allan picked us up and drove us to their home in Scripps Ranch. This is an area of San Diego with beautiful homes, landscapes and canyons. We have not been here since 2006 when we had arrived in our RV. A long time between visits.After eating dinner at home we reminisced and sat up late talking. We have been friends since the early 1970’s.

Thursday we woke up to a cool, sunny day. Marty and I drove to Scripps Lake with a five mile paved road around it for walking, biking and lots of dogs getting exercise. It is a natural area lined with abundant foliage, trees, shrubs, palms and cacti.

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

Western Kingbird?

We saw and heard many birds. Great views of homes on the hillsides and the lake below.

 We walked three miles and then headed to Starbucks for Chai Latte Teas. Sitting outside we talked some more and enjoyed the refreshing, no humidity, weather.

Back at home, the boys are up and it is time for lunch.

After we eat, rest, nap and get ready to go to dinner and the theatre. It is a nice drive to LaJolla which is east of Scripps Ranch and still part of the city of San Diego. We parked near the ocean and walked along the beach seeing seals, sea lions and lots of squirrels.

At the children's beach there are seals and sea lions lying on the sand and swimming. More of them are in the ocean along with a few surfers and kayakers. Pelicans and cormorants are on the rocks and in the water. It is very sunny which makes it hard to take pictures with an iPhone.

Time to eat and we drive up to the main business street and park. George's is a favorite place for our friends and we have been there twice before. We are seated up on the roof overlooking the Pacific. The tables are small and partly in the sun. Food is amazing which makes up for everything else. Jeff and I shared a Caesar salad and then both had the best salmon! It was grilled with a pesto aioli combination on top. Came with creamy risotto and fava beans which I really enjoyed. The beans make me think of Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins.

Now it is time to go to the theatre on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. We park and walk to the three theatre complex. We all were sitting in the lobby until we realized we were at the wrong place and hurried over to the correct theatre. The show, Squirrels, is new and this is preview week for the premiere. The set is stark and resembles a futuristic tree made of pipes.

The actors are amazing and not only deliver their lines well, but actually move and act like squirrels. All the props are oversized so they are in relation to the human size and real acorns would be to a squirrel. Costumes were so creative with big squirrel tails, bottoms and feet. The tops for each character defined their status. So clever!

We all loved the show and found it to be so timely and political. I likened it to reading Animal House where it could be a story about a farm, or digging deeper, a satire about politics. This is the same and so well done. The entire audience laughed and applauded wildly at the conclusion.

Back home and to bed after a busy day.