Old Town and the Zoo again

I finally made it back to the San Diego Zoo. I really love that place. Its gorgeous and so open. The animals are quite lucky to have such natural enclosures. I’m always mesmerized by the gorillas and elephants. My attention was taken by the forever pee of a rhino. Seriously, we watched it pee for at least 4 minutes!! I had to take a picture!

Then I visited Old Town, the birthplace of San Diego and good Mexican restaurants! : ) It was like walking around the wild west. The adobe buildings were well kept. I also visited the Whaley House which is stated to be the #1 haunted house in the US. It wasn’t so scary!!! I took a bunch of pics hoping that one may have been ‘altered’ but nope!!! I guess Yankee Jim was taking an ecto-nap. The lady guide stated that a year ago she saw a ghost dog. I guess not all dogs go to heaven.

My friend Jaime and I was also able to get a hike in up to Cowles Mountain! It’s a pretty good hike. The recent rain made parts of the trail a little tricky but all the rocks kept my focus. I was just trying to not twist an ankle. It felt really good! My thighs hated me the next day though.

Rain Rain Rain

Go figure that all my off days are going to be rainy!!! I won’t let that stop me!! I decided that I’d hit the Maritime museum and check out some ships!! I’m not a big boat/ship fan but these vessels were impressive. I thought more about what the sailors experienced being on them! The ferryboat was gorgeous and very classy. The Russian submarine was cool. I thought about the movie U-57 with Matthew McConnahey! He’s such a looker! Oh, yeah, boats! Then there was the Californian and the Pilot. The rain stopped in time for me to see the US Dolphin, a submarine with its small doors and little living quarters. I loved the Surprise. It was used in the filming of ‘Master and Commander’ with Russell Crowe. Pirate times!!! Aaarggh!!! Then I boarded the Star o India! Now that’s a ship. I need to go back to the harbor when it stops raining and get a pic when the sails are up.

Even with the rain I was able to get a quick visit in with Andrea before she heads to Malibu for her next assignment and with Tomas, who put on a very nice hat fashion show with a little dancing! He almost put Jamiroquai to shame, almost!!!

Extension!

I’ve decided that in my new extended contract that I am taking the housing stipend and finding my own place. And I HAVE!!

I found a place in north Pacific Beach which is near La Jolla. I’m so excited to be so close to all the things I love…beach, dancing , and beach. Did I stutter??

It’s a quaint studio apt that is fully furnished! My landlady is sweet. We will share a patio area, but I have my own parking spot and entrance into my place. So nice!!! And I’ve already found a park nearby where you can watch a fantastic sunrise and sunset!!! And my sweet Maria is nearby! I’ve missed her since her contract finished up at Palomar. Now she’ll be so close, we can continue our Margarita Mondays!!

Mini Vacay n Snowboarding...

Yep, I did it!!! I’m so proud of myself. I got back on a board. And I’m rocking it!! Well not really, but to me I am. I only had one big fall and one bruise!!!

Andrea and I took a mini vaca to Palm Springs, Joshua Tree and Big Bear City for some exploring, hiking and boarding!

Palm Springs was a lil city that old Hollywood used to live or have homes at. They even had their own Walk of Fame. We were there on a Monday so not a lot of action. Plus, the homosexual community have moved into Palm Springs so our chances of getting our flirt on was nil. But our chances increased when we found a local bar, The Village Pub, that had live music. We hit it off with the band! The singer/lead guitarist was smitten with me, at least for those few hours. And with me wearing sneakers after our mountain hike that afternoon and jeans, I was impressed I caught anyone’s eye! That boosted my ego! Yeah me!! ;) Andrea and I danced and had ourselves a great time. Many wines and a shot later, we stumbled back to our Best Western and crashed!!!

Joshua Tree National Park was our next destination. So many….you guess….yep…Joshua Trees. They’re particular to that part of the desert. We did a few hikes, climbed a few rocks and had a blast driving around. We then hit the road for Big Bear!!! It’s nuts, we go from 80 degree weather to 50s! We stayed a fellow travel nurse’s place. Andrea had met him when she was in Washington. We hit Bear Mountain and Snow Summit! Andrea is a good boarder and me being a newbie, she was a great partner! She was so patient and supportive. I wasn’t intimidated by her at all so all was good! I’m ready for more!!! A big snow storm is expected next week so maybe in the next few weeks, I can get out again.

Spending time with Andrea

I went on another walk up Mount Soledad with my girl Andrea! It’s so nice to walk and see the night skyline! Andrea and I talked about travel nursing and our experiences, of course a bit about guys, and a lot about our families. When you travel, you are usually alone or maybe with a fellow nurse and your family is back in your home state. It’s nice to share about them with others to help bring them a bit closer. (Even when it’s nice to have them far away!)

I had a great salsa week. Andrea came with me one night and got a lil taste of Latin dancing. She just watched but she said that she admired our energy.

When you live so close to the beach, you can’t help but want to be near it! Andrea and I signed up for a meetup walk on the beach that was to be 4 hours. Well a bit of drama occurred, the leader wasn’t coming with us! She’s had a personal issue and thinking this was a simple walk up the beach she told us a bit about the beaches we were going to be on and sent us on our way. Ok, we didn’t know anything about the tide times or the upper landscape should we need to get off the beach but we thought we’d give it a go. We hadn’t walked 30 min and the tide had come up to the cliffs of this one point. We tried to go around on land but there wasn’t a distinct beach road on this hill so we just called it a day and went back. We were a bit disappointed. I vented about how I don’t think any event should be without a leader regardless of how simple or easy it seems and if one can’t be there then cancel the event. Well, all drama developed from there. The leader of the walk didn’t like my opinions and kicked myself and Andrea off the walking group. Really! That woman needs to handle criticism a bit better and be an adult about it. Oh well. I got over the fact that someone in this work doesn’t think the best of me. I’m such a people pleaser and it was a bit tough!

So the next day I decided to go to a happy place…the San Diego Zoo. I did have to work that night so I couldn’t stay long, but omg it’s amazing there. Hands down the best zoo I’ve been to. It’s like walking through a jungle most of the time. I saw one of the walking groups have a meetup there to power walk! You can seriously get some miles in there! I’m going back as soon as I can!

Welcome to Twenty Ten

Is it me or was December a blur! I feel like we were bum rushed into 2010. So how are you gonna say it? Two thousand ten or Twenty Ten??? Come on! Twenty Ten sounds cooler! How did you enter the new year??? I was in a patients room watching the ball drop, looked out the window to see a flew fireworks go off and then out to the nurses station to grab a cup of apple cider! It was a good one for me. I entered the new year giving and caring for people! That’s awesome!!

I got off work one day and decided that I just wasn’t going to sleep! So I met up with a walking group and hiked in Torrey Pines. Wow! Such spectacular views of the Pacific! I’m so happy to be living someplace that holds such beauty!

I went to see the movie ‘It’s Complicated’ with a meetup group of course!! I LOVED that movie! It’s not a chic movie! If you’re a child of divorce, a divorcee, or know someone who is…so that’s everyone, you’ll love it! I laughed from beginning to end! Meryl Streep is fantastic! She can do any role it seems. Love it!!! Go see it at your theater!!!!