Escondido/San Diego - The final leg

The little blue Prius was delighted when the couple returned from Loreto.  It shook off the LAX dust as it cruised down I405 toward Escondido.  Escondido is just over 30 miles north and a little east of San Diego.  The couple had a 1 bedroom villa at the Welk resort.  You can see from the kitchen photo that the villa was spacious and lovely. 

Being so close to San Diego the couple asked the Prius to take them in to see the city.  The Prius cooled her tires in the free Old Town parking lot as the couple toured the city on the tourist trolly.  There were great views of the San Diego skyline and harbor from Coronado Island.

 


A tour of the USS Midway was the highlight of the day.  The aircraft carrier was huge.  It was good that they had signs to guide the couple around or surely they would have never come back. The couple was impressed with the number of former enlisted men serving as docents on the Midway. 





The couple was fortunate to be there when the working aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Regan was coming into the harbor.  Tugs guided it around the corner and into its berth.  You can't see it, but the sailors were lining the deck as the ship came into port.
 



A visit to San Diego is not complete without a visit to the Zoo and Safari Park.  The gorilla seemed to understand the tourists.  The gorilla looked very well fed (like many of the tourists).

The couple was entertained at the opening night of "Chicago", the musical at the Welk theatre.  It was very well done.

Temecula offered wonderful local produce, flowers and crafts at the Saturday Farmer's Market. 









The couple capped off their day in Temecula by visiting the Wilson Creek winery.  In addition to great wine, it was a great place to sit and watch people.  All good things must come to an end.  Tomorrow the little blue Prius will head back to Anacortes with the couple.

Time Flies

The first week literally flew by.  The couple is hoping time slows during the second week.  With the blue water being so alluring and islands everywhere, it seemed appropriate to take a catamaran tour out to see the islands close up.  The tour left out of Puerto Escondito with Captain Ward and his trusty dog Bridgett at the helm.  

The catamaran cruised along Isla Dazante and peeked into Honeymoon cove

Wild Loreto provided plenty of drinks and snacks during the tour.  The couple had a great time.

The catamaran took the couple to see the osprey nest on top of the pinnacle rock.  One chick bravely stuck his head up to see who was going by.








After a day on the water that bed looked pretty inviting.  The maid was always leaving different towel art for the couple's entertainment.

After a day on the water, the couple decided another hike was in order.  This time they headed inland to the "grass lands".  They saw signs of horses that inhabited the area and the couple did scare up a jack rabbit.










Enough of hiking on land.  The water is where the action is.  The paddle boards give access to the bay at a nice leisurely pace.

Loreto here we come

Once upon a time, there was a little blue Prius that loved to take its owners out for adventures.  On Saturday, March 2, 2013 the Prius packed it's owners and their suitcases in and headed to LA where it planned to put the couple on a plane to Loreto.  For those not familar with the geography of the Baja penninsula, Loreto is on the eastern side above La Paz.







  









Along the way the Prius decided to take the couple down route 101 so they could marvel at the giant redwood trees.








 





 Not wanting to tire the driver, the Prius stopped in Cresent City, CA and then again in Santa Cruz to give the couple a nights rest.  This was good as it left them happy and refreshed when they arrived at their cousins in Woodland Hills, CA.  Their cousins took them out to a nice dinner at Roy's.  It was great fun!  

The Prius then took the couple to a Marriot Courtyard where it agreed to wait while they flew to Loreto.

 Alaska air whisked the couple down to Loreto where they stayed at Villa del Palmar about 45 minutes south of the town.  They loved the view from their balcony looking out over the pools to the Sea of Cortez.  The resort is nestled between the mountains and the sea.  It has lovely grounds and pools and hiking trails into the surrounding hills.




The couple enjoyed hiking up into the hills and looking back at the resort.  It looked so small from far away.  

The resort had nice pools and an aqua aerobics class.  There was a gym next to the spa.  There were kayaks and paddle boards which could be used in the bay.  Their room had a kitchen and was almost just like home with the exception that there was daily maid service.

 

What more could the couple want?  Maybe just to see the surrounding area.  Wild Loreto offered several tours.  The couple decided to take the tour to Mission San Javier.  The Jesuits branched out of Loreto and built the mission church of San Javier between 1744-1758.  The site is on oasis where the Jesuits taught the natives agriculture and built irrigation aqueducts.

       
The Jesuits introduced olive trees to the area along with other crops and livestock.  The town of San Javier today is a small village that continues to farm the fertile land.  The couple saw onions growing in a field surrounded by olive trees. 







 They even had their photos taken by a really old olive tree.


 

The resort hiking trails led up and along the shore and offered great views of the islands and bays.  If you look hard, you will see a group of kayakers paddling out of the cove.

Maybe the couple will come back some day and do a kayaking tour.