Dad's Home Town!!

San Diego Here We Come

So this past week, Me (Heather), Richard, Mom, and Dad all jumped in to Moms new car and headed to California!! Dad has been pestering us all summer about his need to feel the ocean breeze, to place his abnormally big feet into the mushy and grainy sand that lay beside the freezing cold and salty water. He has consonantly talked about his desire to hop on board a deep sea fisherman's boat and stick his Alaskan pole into to the waters of California. He has somehow talked Richard into enjoying something this crazy... We all packed light, got some snacks, videos, (obviously a book) and drove to California!

The First Day...
We planned on leaving on Sunday morning but... daddy decided to change plans!! We left Saturday night and drove to a crazy place in Nevada that was down right dangerous!! We went to bed at the hotel and woke up bright and early and arrived in San Diego later that afternoon.

The Second Day...
(By the way.. dad is making me post it like this.. Not my fault!)
So we woke up, got in the car and Drove... Now dad had a great idea, or so he thought... it was to teach me how to drive on the highway... now can i just say that i am okay with driving.. under 45 miles an hour... anything faster and I start hyperventilating.. anyway long story short, I drove for ten min before Mom finally asked dad if I could pull over. I am perfectly fine with not being able to drive on the highway! So after all the driving, we finally ended up in Sand Diego around 4:00!! We went to the hotel and then off to the beach, it was very pretty but I'm afraid it was freezing cold! Dad and Rich were brave and went in to the water for about 30 minutes before they no longer felt their legs.

We enjoyed the smell of ocean and of course sand. Lots of sand.... I hate sand. Richie and Daddy played in the water.

Hey Richie see those fishing boat? That is where we are going tomorrow. In actuality we went off the cost of Mexico instead of La Jolla .


The water was cold and it took a little while for them to get into the water. Richie tenses his body and prepares for the cold as Dad watches him. As for me only my feet touched the great Pacific.

Daddy does a back stroke through the wave.

Awe....... jez lauwese that is cold

Conquering the little waves was quite the accomplishment for these two Richards.


On the look for sand crabs.... oh my!

Later that night we went fishing along Mission Bay Jetty. We were using anchovies and casting just beyond the seaweed. We had lots of bites and had fish on but dragging them through the kelp proved to much for the two macho anglers. I basically read my book while they tried to bring the fish in through a bunch seaweed. Needless to say, the kelp won, but they had fun trying to catch them.

Day Three started early....

We had to be at the boat dock by 6:00 am. and we were not sure how long it would take to get there, so we headed out really early. We were there about 40 minutes early! We went on a half day fishing trip into Mexican waters. We caught all the sand bass allowed, and had a nice long boat ride in the open ocean.


Richie and Dad plan how they are going to stake clam on the back of the boat. This can be prime area because of the amount of chum (fish) that is tossed over the back of the boat. The chum is gross but attracts the fish. They are preparing to give each other knuckle as they proclaim
"the back of the boat is ours".

The captain helped me bring in some fish. This was one of the babies I caught. I did hook into some big bottom dwellers but daddy did not take pictures of those.

Mommy enjoying the calm seas. She caught some big fish. You can see the Coronado Islands in the background.

Seagulls were always flying around the boat just waiting for us to turn our heads so they can steal live bait. If you listened carefully you could here them say.... mine... mine mine... mine....mine... mine mine... mine.......mine... mine

I am freezing in San Diego.... in July, go figure.

Even big birds like this pelican wanted a handout.

Daddy and Richie dump the fish to get a count.

We could only keep 20 of the fish. The deck hands fillet the fish for us. We brought back four big bags of fish and stuck them in the cooler.

Here is one of our largest fish.

When we got done fishing, exhaustion set in so we headed back to the hotel and rested til dinner. Mommy and daddy wanted to take us to Old Town, so that's where we ate dinner. Really cool stores and good food too!


Yummy to my tummy

Two worn out old people.... fishing took every bit of energy they had.

We went shopping for Jimmy's birthday in the little shops near the restaurant. We got him some hot sauce.

Day Four....

Richie has never been to Sea World, so we decided to spend the day there. Don't I look excited next to the pretend walrus. We had a really good time, it wasn't hot or crowded. We took lots of pictures but these are some of our favorites.

We went to the new dolphin and pilot whale show. I talked with the dolphins and they said they enjoy living at Sea World. If they did not like it here I would have busted them out.

Mr. Pilot whale showing off his tail.

I love seals. They were all fairly active except for this one taking a little snooze.


Daddy spent a lot of time with the beluga whales. If you have seen the movie the Incredible Mr. Limpet.....well this is the same fascination daddy has with these white whales.


They do not have very big eyes. This picture is with its eye open.

Smile. . . . these whales always had a smile on their face.


Hey wait for me guys.....

I am teaching Richie about these sharks.
Big fish... daddy wanted to fillet the big guy for food storage. Look at the kids face in the reflection.
Daddy took a no look picture trying to surprise us and get a funky picture. To bad we caught we him in the act. We were watching the the seal and otter show. Mom and I really liked this show. It was very funny.


Daddy likes taking pictures of things sleeping. I think its because he is getting old and likes to sleep.

Any time daddy can get a good shot of an insect he is there taking his time trying to get "the shot". We just leave him behind and he catches up to us later.

Richie and daddy play with the sting rays. I would not touch them because that would mean I have to put my hand in the water.... not going to happen.

Ok there is a task for you to accomplish..... can you see Mommy or me (Heather) in this photo. If you look carefully you can see one of us on our way to the Ship Wreck Cafe.

Give it another try.... Can you see me.

We had a great time in San Diego and hope to visit next year.

4th of July

The kids invited Lynne and I on a 4th of July hike (Timp Trail). I thought it would be a great last chance workout before my weighin. We started in the morning and hiked for about 4 hours. The hike is essentially up or down hill depending on your location. Great leg workout.

It is a very long hike to the top of Mount Timpanogos and Lynne and I only made it a 3rd of the way. Jimmy, Rachel and Amy went much farther up the mountain.

It has been many years since I hiked this trial so we decided to check out a conveniently posted map. We quickly realize we did have adequate time to reach the top of the mountain. I do want to hike this again when I am in better shape.

The three speedsters left Lynne and I in the dust. Up, Up and away. As they vanished into the trees we decided to take our time enjoying the beautiful trees, animals and scenery. This was a great idea as I could not walk very long without stopping.

Soon we spotted a red checkered beetle. These Clerid beetles love to eat flower pollen and were found primarily on this flower. I usually do not see many red Clerids most often they are yellow and black.

I think larvae are very interesting. This is a tiger moth larvae or possibly a tent caterpillar. I am leaning towards the tiger moth larvae.

A little farther up the trail and we reached the first and largest water fall along the trial. Lots of water was rushing over the falls and Lynne crawled up on a rock for a look.

Lynne wanted me to get wet but this is far as I went. The mist was refreshing.

About 30 minutes from the fall we saw this magnificent shot of water falls, snow, plants and rock.

Lycaenidae is a family of small sometimes beautiful iridescent butterflies. This is a common species found in this area.

This interesting flower was found about half way up the mountain. This is the first time I recall seeing this drooping beauty.

The drooping beauty develops into this wild and crazy seed head.

The young whipper snappers hiked far high enough to reach the snowline.

Jimmy and Rachel stopped for a little rest and some liquid refreshment.

These two have been playing with each other ever since they were knee high to a grasshopper. It was good to see them get together this summer before Amy joined the Navy. She is currently in boot camp. Good luck Amy!

We all made it back down safe, tired and thirsty. We headed home for a little rest before we going to the Stadium of Fire that night.