The Return Part 3: Where Memories Live

I was back.  I hadn't been here for 22 years.  A lot has changed and a lot had been forgotten.  My memory was blurry about this place.  My wife was asking me a thousand questions on how to get places and where things were.  I had no idea.  I didn't drive when I lived there and only had limited knowledge of the area.

I was inundated with feelings of nostalgia.  I could vaguely remember places and feelings that those places brought back.  It was good to be back.  It was as if I could see the memories walk past us.  Ghosts.

I could see my stepbrother and I as nine-year-olds riding our bikes down little alleys in Imperial Beach.  I could hear the shouts and laughs as my friends and I ran through a deserted tract of land we called "the swamp".  Memories flooded back to me.  Places where we'd go for Navy family picnics suddenly became familiar again.  It was wonderful to be there again.  It felt strangely like home even though it had been almost 30 years since I called it that.

Tuesday, the first full day in San Diego saw us waiting for my cousins to arrive from San Francisco.  They had texted saying that storms back east had caused the cancellation of their flight and they were working to find another flight.  So to kill time I decided to take the family on a little driving tour of the city.  We drove up I-5 to the Coronado Bridge.  That bridge had always been a subject of interest for me and my friends back in the 80s/90s.  It something that we'd beg our parents to do if we happen to be going to Coronado.  My boys enjoyed it too.  It was interesting for me too as I had never driven over it before.  I had always been a passenger.  It was awfully narrow and the locals just zipped past me.  A little unnerving, but not too bad.

The plan had been to take the Silver Strand back south and then go through Imperial Beach and back to the interstate.  However, as we were heading south, we saw signs for the Silver Strand State Beach.  We hopped off the road and decided to hang out at the beach.  It was rather chilly.  The skies were dark and it was windy. We shuffled up the coast picking up pieces of shells and other bits of former sea life.  The boys loved it. It was the younger one’s first time seeing the Pacific Ocean from this side.

The boys loved collecting shells and being chased by the waves.  They played the age old game of waiting for a wave to break and then running away, trying to beat the water.  A day camp was there surfing.  We wandered up and down for a bit, but kept an eye on the clock.  Finally we decided that we had collected enough shells and that we needed to get on the road to pick up my cousins.  But first, a quick detour.

We continued south on the Silver Strand.  The Strand spat us out in Imperial Beach.  It was instantly familiar and yet alien.  I could see vestiges of what it had been.  There were some buildings that had been repainted.  A Taco Bell was now a normal Mexican restaurant.  Streets were the same, but I was largely lost.  I could remember riding my bike down these roads with my stepbrother.  I could see us peddle our way up and down the thoroughfares.  It was home, but it wasn't.  It was familiar, but wholly different.  We made our way through this land of ghosts and got back on the interstate. Twenty minutes later we were making our way through the San Diego airport's parking lot.

My cousins, Mike and Ben, arrived not too long after we did.  After a brief walk back to the car we were on our way to lunch.

Living in Tennessee it's a bit hard to get quality Japanese food.  And the stuff you get is usually sushi, teriyaki and fried pork cutlet.  Not a whole lot of diversity.  So when my cousins suggested that we go to a Japanese restaurant, we jumped at the chance.  Long had I heard about West Coast Japanese food and how great it was.  I was excited.  For our meal we chose Ichiban (literally number one in English).  They had a wide variety on their menu, but the spicy miso ramen caught my eye.  So that's what I got.  It was pretty good.  Everyone else seemed happy with theirs too.

After lunch, we went to Balboa Park.  I remember going here many times when I was a kid.  I remember it stretching on almost forever.  I remember the gullies and the hills and the Spanish influenced buildings.  I remember the awesome museums (and they are pretty cool and I highly recommend them).  It was a thrill to be back.  Memories flooded into my consciousness.  I knew where certain things were or at least their existence.  The boys enjoyed running around and playing in the playground.  We wandered around for awhile and then went to the Natural History Museum.  I really like this type of museum.  It's interesting to see the rocks and the fossils and other things of our planet.  I never tire of going to them.

It was decided that we'd stop by the hotel to rest and get ready for dinner.  Mike has friends in San Diego and we were going to meet one of them for dinner.  I spent the time updating Instagram and mildly dozing off.  The boys rested and so did the wife.

Dinner was pretty fantastic.  We went to this little restaurant and as it happened, it was the Prime Rib special and I love that stuff.  Good food and conversation was had.  The boys did their usual and barely touched their food, which gets pretty annoying because they claim to be two seconds away from starvation and then suddenly their stuffed after one bite of chicken. 

The next day saw us get a late start.  Breakfast was at a local Denny's and it was pretty good.  Service was outstanding and the food was great.  After stuffing our faces, we began our plan of the day:  The San Diego Zoo.

Again, I remember this place fondly.  I remember spending many days there and always having a good time.  I remember the two headed snake that was fascinating and creepy at the same time.

The Return Part 2: Caution! Dust Storms!

I hadn't really bothered reading the signs at first, but I slowly realized that they were repeated every 5-10 miles or so.  When I finally took the time to read them, I saw that they were instructions on what to do in a dust storm.  We so don't have these in Tennessee.  Culture shock!

It was unnerving to think that there was the possibility of dust storms.  I was worried for my kids.  I did not want to lead them into danger.  We drove on.  El Paso was soon behind us and we entered into New Mexico.  I pointed to the left of our car.  "See those hills and stuff?" I asked my wife.  "That's Mexico!"  She was awestruck.  She'd never seen the border before.  It was pretty neat seeing another country so close, but we pressed on.

Our plan of having the boys eat and then sleep on the way to our next stop, Deming, New Mexico did not come to fruition.  No, they remained awake the entire way.  Every time a rest area came up, they had to stop.  It made for a slightly longer trip, but we made it to a hotel (this time a Hampton Inn, our favorite while traveling) well before dark.  I made a quick supply and gas run to Walmart and then headed to our room for some food.  We brought with us, in addition to all the snacks and lunch foods, a healthy supply of camp food.  We figured it would save money, which it did.  I had lasagna.  It was surprisingly good.  After our bags of dinner, we swam a little and then tucked the boys into bed.  Mama and I weren't too far behind them.

Sunday, day 4 of our adventure.  We packed the car and ate the always awesome Hampton Inn breakfast buffet.  Instead of continuing west, we took a detour to the southeast to a state park called Rock Hound State Park.  One of the unique things about this place is that they encourage visitors to collect things.  The only thing is is that you have to go off the train a ways to find the good stuff.  We found a couple shiny rocks, but nothing too notable.  We wandered up a path a bit and enjoyed the lizards and cacti.  I was hoping to see a snake so I could get a picture, but that didn't happen.  After about an hour or so of roaming around and an awkward conversation with what seemed to be an arguing couple, we headed back to Deming and the interstate.

The next leg was slightly more grueling that the previous ones had been.  We were deep in the desert.  The threat of dust storms keeping me in reality as I drove us towards Tuscon.  My mind kept going back to what if one hit.  I guess we'd just pull over and wait it out.  Or at least that's what the signs made it sound like we were supposed to do.

Tuscon crept ever closer.  The boys either watched videos on their blessed DVD players or played with the few toys that they had brought or read.  My wife and I bantered about trivial things like what we'd do once in San Diego and stuff like that.  I think the conversation of "what would you do if we won the lottery?" came up a couple times.  I wanted to go to Saguaro National Park, but for some reason I hesitated.  I think I was tired and wanted to make it to our next hotel.  We passed the exit for Saguaro National Park East.  No worries I thought, we'll just go to the western one.  Well, that turned out to be for naught as it would take us at least half an hour off the interstate to get to the park.  I decided that we needed to just get to our next spot.  We couldn't risk being too far from San Diego on our last night before our hotel reservation started.  So on we pushed.

The evening was spent with camp food and TV but this time I felt weird.  I think the excess of salt was messing with me.  I didn't finish my meal.  The boys delighted in about 30 minutes of swimming and then it was bed for all of us so we'd be ready to make our final push toward our destination.

Upon waking up, we went about our routine for the trip: get dressed, eat breakfast, pack the car, have the kids empty their tanks, get in the car, head out.  I made a quick trip to Walmart to get new sunglasses as my "nice, expensive" ones broke in my pocket (I still have no idea how they broke, they just did).

The desert was beginning to get old.  Just shades of browns, blacks and other earthy tones.  I was also anxious as I did not want to miss check in at our hotel.  Shortly before lunchtime we arrived in Yuma.  Yuma was an old west town and a place I had been once before way back in 1997.  One of its main draws was the old territorial prison.  Again, I had been there once before and thought it was cool so I thought the boys would like it.  They were slightly too young, but they enjoyed it anyways.  In the last decade or so I've become fascinated with the old west so being able to once again see this place and actually appreciate it was welcomed.  It's a cool museum and has exhibits outside where they have recordings of "inmates".  Pretty cool and a little creepy.  If you're roadtripping through the Southwest, I recommend it.  It's a pleasant little spot and has lots of cool history and old west things.  Go here to check it out.

We ate lunch in the parking lot and continued on.  I forgot how beautiful the eastern edge of Southern California was.  The boulder encrusted mountains were breathtaking and amazing.  It was like driving through another world.  It had been some time since I had last driven through mountains so I was taking my time and letting all the maniacs fly by me.  The oldest boy began complaining about his ears so we taught him the old trick of pinching your nose and blowing.  As we climbed higher and higher I kept my eyes peeled for something I ran across on Google Maps, a tower.  I was beginning to think that we had passed it, but nope, I caught sight of it up on a ridge.  Signs soon pointed the way and within 5 minutes we were climbing out of the car.

The Desert Tower is a bit campy and a lot interesting.  I can't remember how much we paid, but there is a small charge to go up.  It's worth the expense.  The views are gorgeous and it provides a nice reprieve from the road.  The boys loved it so much that they didn't want to go back down.  Finally we did and took the chance to explore the caves (just passages between giant boulders).  I hiked around a bit alone because there was a beehive nearby and the boys don't like bees (bad experience).

The Desert Tower now behind us we headed further and further west, the miles on the signs getting smaller and smaller.  Finally the GPS chirped with instructions to get to our hotel.  It led us through interstates and highways and around curves and loops.  I had a bit of trouble following it.  I was not very familiar with the area since I had left it nearly 28 years ago.

We pulled into the Best Western Marina Gateway.  We had made it.  After five days of driving we had made it.  We spent the evening resting.  We found a little park nearby for the boys and had dinner at the next door restaurant.  I was amazed at how chilly it was there.  Though I had not called that place home for nearly 30 years, something felt familiar and right about it.

We all pooped out early.  Not a problem as we wanted to be rested for exploring.