Back on the road after a great family visit, we drove down highway 99 through various small towns. In Bakersfield we decided to try and get to San Diego that very day. But the day ran out and it got too dark to continue so at about 9 p.m. we found a hotel in Oceanside. We were about 30 miles short of our goal but didn't want to find our way in San Diego in the dark.
The one thing I noticed was it was not as smoggy as I expected that valley to be especially once we drove over the mountains and into the Los Angeles area. We drove down the 101 from Carlsbad to San Diego. In Carlsbad we stopped at visitor information and found out there was a quilt shop not too far. Sowing Sisters is located on State Street, they gave me a Southern California Shop Hop brochure and we checked out a few antique shops in the area. Then back into the car and we went down to the beach and watched some surfers in wet suits and went for a walk on the seawall.
We drove down the 101 thru Del Mar, Torrey Pines La Jolla and Mission Beach. We picked up some sandwiches at a deli and had lunch in Mission Bay Park. We drove towards Point Loma and then came back up to the I-5 to enter San Diego. We stopped off at Old Town to wander around and tried to find the quilt shop in Belzaar Del Mundo, but when they moved location a few years ago they didn't have space for the quilt shop. I took some photos of some of the great Mexican table displays.
Then off to Little Italy where we stayed on our previous visit. We found a room and walked around Little Italy trying to remember the great restaurant we enjoyed. We found it! It's called Filippe's Pizza Grotto. You enter through a deli and they seat you in the back. At first I thought the restaurant was closed but then remembered how you entered. Mom and I shared a small salad, lasagna and ½ litre of Chianti. We had leftovers the portions were so big. We took two canola home for a snack.
The next morning we decided to go to the San Diego Zoo. It took a bit to figure out how to enter the right drive, but we finally found it. We got the ticket that lets you ride the bus, sky tram and entrance to the zoo. The ticket taker recognized my Canadian Visa and gave us a 25% discount on the tickets-better than the discounted ones! How nice of her.
First we took the bus around and then we went for a walk. I'm glad we came early in the day as it was warming up quickly. I got some great pictures of the flamingos, gorillas, and a panda. They separate the male and female pandas because they are brother and sister and he weighs a lot more than her and could hurt her. They also had a new mom and baby, but we couldn't see them on the monitor at the time we were there.
I found out that the start of El Cajon Boulevard was just around the corner from the zoo, so we drove out to Rosie's Calico Cupboard Quilt Shop.
Oh my goodness, if you've not been to Rosie's you need to see it to believe it. They have over 20,000 bolts of fabric! It is grouped into colours, designers, food, civil war and other categories. It is truly amazing. The staff was very helpful. I got another shop hop sheet from them for their area of California.
They also gave me directions to the Country Loft on Date Street.
A lovely little shop in a house, they had just changed over the theme to Autumn and it looks delightful. They had a new quilt on display for a class called Gobble, Gobble, Gobble by Donna Yackney of Hollyhock House. I must admit that the quilt in person looks a lot better than the photo on the pattern. They were kind enough to sell me a pattern as I was just traveling through.
Back on the road we drove over to Point Loma to check out the view from Sea Cliffs and then drove back along Harbour Boulevard and over the San Coronado Bridge. We parked at the Del Coronado Hotel and walked around the shops.
The next day we drove up to Irvine California to visit my girlfriend Carol and her husband Selim and daughter Sarah. Carol and I used to work together early in our nursing career and Carol moved to the L.A. area in 1980. We've stayed in touch and I used to go and visit quite regularly. We stopped for a few years but got caught up again when Mom and I went down to the Rose Parade two years ago.
Carol took us around the Irvine area and we had a good visit. Selim made us a wonderful BBQ salmon on a cedar plank for dinner. Our visit with them was far too short this time. Longer visit promise for the next time.
The next day we headed over to the 405 and eventually got on the 10 and headed for the Pacific Coast Highway-1. While waiting for traffic to clear we went and checked out Trader Joe's. This is a fun place to shop and they often have some interesting foods to test taste. Unfortunately they are not yet in Canada, I can only hope. I love their triple ginger cookies and mom and I each bought some. They also have some great lemon scented soaps and lotions I like to use. Check them out at
Even though we waited for rush hour to clear we came to a complete stop on the 405! This happened around the airport exit. Fortunately we were in the carpool lane and could travel on awhile longer. At the I-10 exit all lanes were backed up. We took a driving break in Malibu and checked out a local market. We were glad we shopped at Trader Joe's first.
We saw lots of Winnebago style traveling vehicles parked at beaches. A lot of people were either surfing or swimming. We next stopped in Oxnard and found that there was a quilt shop in San Paula called Brownies Basement. It has recently changed hands and if you look you can find some amazing bargains tucked in amongst the bolts of fabric.
We went off to Solvang and walked around the Danish themed town. Then onto Santa Maria where the shop had just closed as we drove up. Oh well, you can't get to every shop along the way.