Yes, I'd Like To Order Another Week, Please.

Oh how I wish us Americans could revamp our vacation time system. Every international traveler we met on our trip was on "holiday" (and you must say this with a British accent) for like five weeks! I am never ready for our vacation to end. Seven days just doesn't satisfy! Okay, okay, it isn't really fair for me to be complaining at all because I just had a wonderful time and we are blessed to get to go. And I also shouldn't complain because The Prairie Daddy decided today that we'll stay in Denver at my mom's for 2 extra days! We were supposed to leave tomorrow morning and just have spent one full day in Denver but now we're staying until Saturday! Yea!

We had a great trip. We had fun in the LA area and enjoyed touring the Queen Mary, having a seafood lunch over the water in Long Beach, eating at the famous and first Italian restaurant in Hollywood, Micheli's, and driving through Beverly Hills.

After the LA area we drove to my grandma's house. We spent some time with her and her daughter. This was bittersweet because my grandma has Alzheimer's. I took The Prairie Kid out to see her 3 years ago and she is much different. She didn't know who I was really. We had a nice time but it was hard to say goodbye.

From there we drove through the wine country of Temecula. We stopped at the first winery in the area and took a tour. And then we were off to San Diego.

So, I fell in love in San Diego. Well, I fell in love with San Diego. I haven't been there since I was a little girl so I didn't remember it. I love this city! It was convenient, friendly, and beautiful. It was full of history, military, museums, and several aspects of coastal life. I loved laying in our hotel bed and watching the commercial airliners fly into the airport near by. I loved the activity of boats, planes, and helicopters throughout the day. I loved the military presence, watching missile carriers cruise through the harbor,fighter jets take off from the naval base,sail boats sail by, eating seafood off the water, touring many vessels in the harbor, perusing the shops in Old Town, walking around Cabrillo lighthouse and watching the waves roll in at Point Loma.And everything was within 10-20 minutes drive from our downtown hotel. Wow.

The Prairie Kid was great for my mom, WAY better than he is for us! I am so glad that they can have these times together and her willingness to stick to how we do things makes it so easy for me to leave town and not worry. What a blessing!

The good thing is now I can start dreaming up ideas for next year's vacation!