We were meeting up with my daughter Jamie, her husband Andy and their children, Graham and Alex in San Diego.

Day 1: George and I arrived at the San Diego KOA in Chula Vista, California around 1:45 PM on January 25th. Beautiful sunny weather with a gorgeous campground. Which included a heated pool, jumping pillows, Surf Shack Shootout game, bikes and carriages to rent, rock climbing wall and a new Sandcastle Cafe. Jamie and family arrived around 2:30 PM to spend the night, they had flown in to San Diego from Madison, WI. We decided to check out the KOA and one of the first things we discovered was the wreckage of a motor home owned by a Canadian man. It was completely demolished by a huge tree. A small tornado had torn through the campground and uprooted several trees. The owner was out at a casino when the tree fell on his home so no one was hurt. Graham, Alex and I went to the pool to swim and enjoy the hot tub. Wow, it was January 25th and the kids came from freezing rain and snow to this, our first winter as snow birds!

Day 2: The birthday girls. We decided to celebrate Alex and Jamie’s birthdays because we wouldn’t be with them in February on their actual b-day dates.  Big day and so much fun. We like to ride on mass transit so we took the trolley downtown and then got on a bus to the San Diego Zoo. We bought the $52.00 tickets at the zoo which was the least expensive, by the way. But it was worth it, we watched the hippos wake up from their nap in the water. There was a zoo volunteer who was standing next to us, she told us that the two hippos, female and male, were mates.  The female woke up first and swam right in front of us and relieved herself of a very big log, lots of laughs.  The zoo volunteer told us the tiny fish in the water eat the waste material. Otis was the male but he wasn’t quite as charming as the female. Panda bears were actively eating the bamboo. The zoo keeper said the mother Panda bears kick their cubs out at a certain point and then do not allow them back into their den ever again.

Balboa Park was close by, so we walked over and enjoyed outdoor performers and the kids got to blow large bubbles. It looked like nothing I have ever seen!

Finally ended up at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor, not like the one I remember as a kid in Sioux City, Iowa. Andy rated it a two and I agreed with him.

Day 3: The kids went to Santa Monica Pier to ride the rides but mainly for the kids to play Pokemon on the pier. They were successful with their game.

Day4: Andy and Jamie went up the coast to the Farmer’s Insurance Open at the Torrey Pines Golf Course.  They got to watch a couple of Andy’s favorite players and also see the great Tiger Woods. We met them later at Solano beach. Just magnificent and the waves were really crashing, playing havoc with the surfers. Lots of stairs to get down to the beach but worth it.

Day 5: We made our way to Coronado Island and it was just the most perfect day. People playing volleyball, making sand castles, sunbathing and running in the waves. Alex and Graham took advantage of their time on the beach and throughly enjoyed it. Oh, did I mention collecting shells too. Hotel Del Coronado was right there too. Just this never ending building after building, with suites on the beach costing  $1000.00 a night and at their outdoor bar Andy bought Jamie a margarita for a charge of $18.00, yikes!

Day 6: Last day, we headed to Old Town San Diego for lunch at a Mexican restaurant that had the best chicken tortilla soup. Old Town is very quaint place, I really liked it except that we had to say goodbye to the kids as they were flying out. All you grandparents know, it is hard to watch them walk away. But a great time was had by all and this was January 30th, 2017. Thanks kids!