Belmont Park, Mission Beach, San Diego. The roller coaster "the Giant Dip" was built in 1925. We could hear the screams from the riders in the condo we rented last year (being torn down this year)

Red Sail Restaurant. Shelter Island, San Diego. We took full advantage of the absolutely beautiful morning and had breakfast outside. Peg needed to soak up all the sun she could before heading home to DC's 4-7 inches of snow.

Shelter Island. Blowing bubbles. Memorial.

Shelter Island pier, San Diego. These are not ornaments on the roof of the pier--they flew away later. You can also see them in the next picture, behind Peg.

Shelter Island, San Diego. The sun came out for the last morning of Peg's visit. We took full advantage before she headed home for the DC snow.

View from the Presidio, San Diego, CA--the site of the original fort establishing San Diego. The view up Mission Valley shows the result of San Diego's record rainfall. That's a baseball diamond in the foreground. Or it was.

Visitor Center, Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Hey! Is that Mickey Mouse?

Visitor Center, Anza Borrego Desert State Park. It rained and rained Monday morning. We opted for two talks at the visitor center--one on Ravens and one on the desert railway--the Corrizo Gorge railroad that runs through the desert.

Anza Borrego State Park. The wildflower pics that follow were taken on Sunday. That evening it began to rain. And rain. And rain. Monday, everything was pretty much saturated. But after the rain...

Anza Borrego State Park. Pictures do not give the sense of wonderment one feels when there. Butterflies, birds, rabbits (other tourists).

Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We were literally wading through wildflowers. Incredible.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park. Haven't identified this one yet.

Anza Borrego State Park. Sunflower with desert verbena in the background.

Anza Borrego State Desert Park. The rangers told us, that because of the rain, this was going to be the best year in a decade for flowers. We believed him.

Anza Borrego Desert State Park. We tried to escape the rain by visiting the desert. It didn't work, but we had one dry afternoon to get some photos.

Fred and I crashed a local Ferrari Owners Club party celebrating Enzo Ferrari's birthday. Enzo was there, as you can see.

Tijuana Estuary National Wildlife Refuge. We visited on a weekday, when the helicopters are training from the base next door. They fly overhead frequently. The wildflowers and the birding were still great and we had a beautiful sunny day for a change.

USS Midway flight deck. Shot looking out the deck, past the control tower.

USS Midway Flight Deck. The fixture pointing to the left is the "doughnut" which shows the landing planes whether they are too high, too low or just right. Peg and Fred are standing near the tail of the closest helicopter.

USS Midway Hanger Deck.

The USS Midway opened this year as a floating museum. Fred, Peg and I went down in the rain to take the tour.

Kansas City Barbeque. This was the site of the "sleazy bar scene" in the movie Top Gun. We always visit. The barbeque wasn't so good this time. Too bad.

Spreckels Organ Pavillion, Balboa Park, San Diego. One of our favorite things to do is attend the weekly, rain or shine, outdoor organ concerts at Balboa Park. They have been going on for 90 years, since 1915. The umbrella is to block the sun, not the rain for a change.

Hotel del Coronado. Fred is seated against the wall at the end of the left bank of patio umbrellas. You might be able to see his red Ferrari hat.

Hotel Del Coronado. Always fun to walk around, do a little shopping and have a drink or bite to eat.

The famous red San Diego Trolley System. We took this from Old Town to downtown on this rainy day.

Santa Fe Railroad Station Womens Waiting Room. This now hosts various services.

Santa Fe Station Waiting Room. Judging by historical pics inside the station, it hasn't changed very much over the years.

Mosaic, Santa Fe Railroad Station. Downtown San Diego. The interior of the station is just beautiful!

This was a sidewalk fountain near the old Santa Fe station. The fountains "sprouted" at different times with different heights. This could be quite a surprise as one walks across!

On our search for the trolley car inside the building, we found this worker breaking down a wall. Later we discovered that this was the future exit for the street car.

See the earlier post about this streetcar. Here it is inside the building, waiting to be removed.

Our downtown trip was partly to see this streetcar which had been inside a restaurant as a dining booth for 30 years. It was being removed to go to a streetcar museum. This worker was breaking the wall down (with no safety glasses, I might add.)

We went downtown on one of the many damp days we've had here this year. This is outside Horton Plaza, the big downtown shopping mall.

This church is on the edge of Old Town San Diego and across the street from one of our favorite breakfast places.

This pic is taken from in front of our condo. Can't believe how close to shore this whale was!

Because of all the rain, the flowers this year in San Diego are spectacular.

Typical San Diego sunset.

I'm starting this blog in the middle of our trip, after the cross country tour of hospitals and doctor's offices ended. Here we are finally enjoying the sun in La Jolla.