It's an Adventure, Not a Calamity

We woke up to rain, just as our weather app said we would.  The weather app said that the rain would stop at 10 a.m. and it would get windy.  Gayle, who lives in windy Kansas, conjectured that wind in San Diego might be a bit anemic compared to what she experiences on a regular basis.  Our plan was to meet our cousin, Aleta, for lunch at an outdoor restaurant at Liberty Station.  We left the house at 10 a.m. and headed for Point Loma in anticipation of a grand view back onto the city of San Diego as a prelude to lunch.  

The rain did not stop at 10 a.m. as predicted but we soldiered on.  We pulled off at the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  The cemetery is on both sides of the road and there are  thousands of tombstones. On one side of the road the tombstones look out onto the San Diego Harbor and the other side there is a view of the Pacific Ocean.  The view down to San Diego is usually amazing but today it was cloud covered.  I took photos anyway.  

Then we headed for Cabrillo National Monument at the very tip of Point Loma.  By then the wind and rain had whipped up to the point we didn't even want to get out of the car.  So we drove down to Sunset Cliffs.  There yellow caution tape fluttered in the wind all along the road and large portions of the cliffs were cordoned off. 

I watched as my 70 year old sister crawled over the guard rail for the perfect photo.

I braved the wind and rain for a cloudy, wet, indistinct photo of Ocean Beach pier from Sunset Cliffs.

By then we were wet and cold and tired of having to wash our glasses every time we got out of the car.  We headed to Liberty Station to meet Aleta.  We each headed for the bathroom before we sat down.  When we were seated at the table I lend over and asked Gayle if she took any photos in her bathroom.  She giggled and sent me this photo.

I sent her my two favorite photos from the five that graced the bathroom I used.

By then Aleta arrived and we had the most delightful lunch on an outdoor protected patio.  Gayle and I have 41 first cousins.  Aleta grew up in San Diego.  Our families have more shared experiences.  She lost both of her parents after the pandemic began.  She is currently cleaning our her parents' home and brought us a bag of photos, birth announcements, our father's 8th grade math book, etc.  We gratefully accepted the gift. 

When we came out of the restaurant we saw that the clouds had broken over Point Loma and the sun was shining.  We headed back to Point Loma in hopes of the stunning view we did not get earlier. On the way there we saw several trees that had fallen due to the strong wind. One was blocking our lane.  We got back out at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. 

This time the wind almost knocked me over.  When I got back to the car Gayle said, "I guess San Diego does get wind."  We headed down to the tide pools at Cabrillo National Monument. We knew it would be low tide.  When we had gone halfway down the trail, Gayle stumbled on a rock and went down.  She got up and let me take her photo.  She is a trooper!  

I felt so bad that Gayle fell.  She said, "It was just an adventure, not a calamity."  With Gayle sporting a sliced finger and a bruised hip we voted to go find something less dramatic to do with the rest of the day.  We went to Balboa Park to explore the art studios.  

We eventually let the howling wind encourage us to go back to our AirBnB.  We recouped, talked to family and washed Gayle's muddy clothes.  We had reservations at a highly recommended sushi place called Azuki Sushi Lounge.  Gayle doesn't like meat that looks like meat but she decided to push herself by eating sashimi.  We got the o toro sashimi.  She liked it enough that she ate the last piece of the five pieces we got.  It was pricey meal....and it was delicious.

Tomorrow we are hoping for sunshine and calm skies.