Our annual 2.5 month stay in San Diego is well under way and full of visits with family and old friends and various chores and purchases we have put off till now. We're also meeting up with many folks we've met on the road in the past three plus years as they too pass through San Diego...this really is an ideal place to spend a portion of the winter, the climate simply does not get any better than San Diego's.
As much as I enjoy blogging about our travels to share with friends and family and to create a history for us to look back on over the years, while in our former home town I also really enjoy stepping back a bit and not thinking about everything we do as blog fodder. So this post is mostly photos of various things that made me happy over the past couple of weeks, heavily influenced by the fact we are staying at Santee Lakes Recreation Preserve where there are lots of birds!
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| A skate gliding over sea grass at San Dieguito Lagoon. |
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| Osprey at Santee Lakes. |
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| Martin showing us his pretzel making skills. |
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| Best buds with the most delicious pretzels ever! |
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| White pelicans at Santee Lakes. |
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Hans carved the turkey at Thanksgiving at his brothers house...
while Bentley waited for any tidbits to fall his way! |
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A cold, rainy day spent in the kitchen makes me very happy!
Turkey broth made from the turkey carcass plus beer cheddar biscuits...yum! |
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| The Coronado Bridge as seen from Embarcadero Park in black and white |
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| Stately Great Blue Heron at Santee Lakes. |
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| Snowy Egret at Santee Lakes. |
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| A military vessel model club gathering at Santee Lakes. |
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| The turtles at Santee Lakes are extremely skittish, it's really hard to sneak up on them and actually snap a photo! |
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| This rattler was still squirming while trapped under the hawks foot. |
We've had several meet ups with RVing friends, including dinner at yummy Domo Sushi in Santee with Dan and Lise whom we've seen at Santee Lakes every year. We also had a fun evening, with live music, at the delicious
BNS Brewing in Santee with Janet and Tom who we met in Red Lodge, MT this past summer and it turns out they camp host at Santee Lakes every year. Alas, photography was not on my mind.
Last night though, Hans remembered to snap a photo of the delicious meal we had with
Mike and Donna at their site at Mission Bay RV Resort. Having very briefly met these two before, it was fun to really get to know them over dinner. We'll overlap with them at Mission Bay in January for a few days, another opportunity perhaps for pickleball, beer and good food and company!
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| Mike, Donna and Lisa, |
That looks perfect. I've never heard of Santee lakes. I must look that up.
ReplyDeletelooks like plenty of fun to me... we are hiding our in Florida this winter but I surely look forward to spending next winter back in SD...
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures, Lisa. We met you at Santee Lakes, a beautiful park. And this year we'll be at Mission Bay. Can't wait. Love the area.
ReplyDeleteSo, we are both home for the holidays… mountains and snow here. Enjoy your beach and ocean, and warmth :).
ReplyDeleteBox Canyon Mark
Awesome...hope to see you both soon!
ReplyDeleteYes! Let us know when you arrive and we'll set up a date.
DeleteLooks like so much fun! I agree that San Diego is a lovely place to spend the winter -- as we discovered last year, albeit unintentionally. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's a great idea to step back when you are "home" for a few months. And I really like your idea of simply posting some pictures of things that made you happy. Next time I'm "home" I'm going to do the same. LOVE those pretzels and any hawk that traps a rattler.
ReplyDeleteNice wildlife photos! Enjoy a relaxing holiday season with your friends and family. I look forward to reading more of your travels in 2016.
ReplyDeleteVery cool photos, Lisa! I've never heard of a skate before, but I am guessing it is a member of the stingray group!? Super photo! How neat is that to catch that snake under the hawk's foot! Please don't show those pretzels again!! I LOVE soft pretzels and these look amazing. Maybe Martin would make a batch and you could freeze them and bring them to me at Lazydays!? I am very serious! Tell Martin I'll pay for the ingredients and labor:) Enjoy your time home and have fun with family and friends:)
ReplyDeleteThose pretzels are the real deal...awesome pretzel perfection! Unfortunately they do not keep well, but I don't know if he's tried freezing them, I'll ask him.
DeleteThanks!! That would be awesome if they froze well. There is nothing like a Philadelphia soft pretzel. so when we go anywhere where they sell them, I buy a large supply and freeze them. They do freeze perfectly.
DeleteWhat fun! Fantastic shot of the Snowy Egret.
ReplyDeleteYou had me at homemade pretzels! Great shots of fun times and beautiful birds. Amazing shot of the hawk and rattler. I'm surprised the snakes are still out this late in the season - bet that one wished he hadn't been! Always fun to meet up with folks. We're spending a couple weeks in AZ doing just that. Enjoy SD :-)
ReplyDeleteOMG those Pretzels are huge! And I bet those were tasty.
ReplyDeleteSteve was amazed that you were able to capture that Hawk with its prey.