San Diego!

I have this really cool friend, her name is Ayrel (a.k.a. Earl).  She and I have been friends since we moved into Carvel Acres, back in 1990.  Yes, that is a long time.  Needless to say, so many of my memories include Ayrel.  From the time we got our bikes stole at Circle K, to stake dances, girls camp, going to early morning seminary together, going on group dates together, long distance phone calls from Holland... Awww, this girl is great.  Currently, she is getting her doctorate in Audiology in Cleveland (go girl!).   She had a conference in San Diego, and invited me to meet her there. Boy am I glad I did.  We had a blast.  I am not sure what it is, but when you are with a childhood friend, there is an unwritten law that you get to act once again, like a child.  We took full advantage of that, and laughed a lot.

Yes, that was the very first thing we did, we jumped our giant bed to celebrate our reunion.

DAY ONE: 

We spent the first day being giddy, that we were in such a beautiful city together! We got some lunch, walked along the harbor and strolled through Seaport Village. We also found a delicious gourmet cupcake shop. With no hesitation, we entered. We ended the night relaxing in the hot tub. 

DAY TWO:

Ayrel spent most of this day fulfilling her conference duties...so I went exploring on my own.  I made my way over to the Horton Plaza, and did some window shopping.  What a neat mall. I then walked the entire harbor, from the Convention Center to the Airport.  It was such a beautiful day.  I visited the war memorial, and admired the huge cruise ships getting ready to set sail.  In the evening I was able to meet up with an old roommate from Rexburg, Sandy. She was kind enough to take me out to a neat restaurant, the Yard House, in the famous Gaslamp District.  After dinner, Ayrel and I met up for a very...cool concert.  Cheap Tricks.  I wasn't too familiar with any of their songs, but I enjoyed watching all the middle aged men singing their hearts out, and having a life long dream fulfilled.  I also enjoyed being chased by a creepy butterfly on stilts, and taking a bike taxi home. 

San Diego 

Sandy and I. 

Jammin' out at Cheap Tricks. 

The creepy slitled woman and I.

DAY THREE:

We rented bikes and rode up to Balboa Park. Gorgeous.  The park is full of flower gardens, ponds, art work, and museums.  We cruised around and took in all the beauty.  

the bikes were great. 

    We rode down the harbor as well... we had to stop for some 'action shots'

After 'freshening up' we went back down to the harbor to board the USS MIDWAY for a BEACH BOYS concert.  They have gracefully aged, but still can sing all those classics!  I throughly enjoyed singing along to all those great songs. 

What a trip... thank you Ayrel, for inviting me to tag along.  More great memories to add to my "Ayrel file." :)