Spring Break Happenings

Thought I'd get to this sooner during this week "off", but it's been a busy week!

Duane and I spent Monday "touring" the cities...it was CRAP! We went to the Copper Dome for breakfast...they're closed on Monday.

We then went to Como Conservatory to get some "green" and see the sites, but the sloth was NOT on exhibit in the "Rainforest Room", part of the fern room was being jack hammered as part of a path "reconstruction", and the sunken garden (where we WILL have a commitment ceremony one day!) was CLOSED...the spring flower show doesn't open until this weekend.

After an unsuccessful visit there, we spent an hour trying to find the antique stores on Sibley in St. Paul ("Missouri Mouse", and a couple of other places). FINALLY found them, and they were all closed on Monday as well.

Luckily the day wasn't a COMPLETE loss, as we had lunch at Cecil's in Highland Park (try the spicy ruben...AWESOME!)!

This was all a CLEAR indication that we were supposed to GET OUT OF TOWN! So...we did. I was supposed to go to school Tuesday afternoon to catch up on some stuff with Kate, and write the exhibition unit with the 6th grade team, but instead caught a plane, and flew to San Diego for a few days.

It was AWESOME! We got there around noon, and, after an AWFUL line at the rental car place, headed to our hotel. We were too early to check in, so went to find a place to eat (Carl's Jr....of course...GOTTA have a Santa Fe chicken sandwich when there's a Carl's Jr. around!), and then headed to the beach for a walk in the surf. There's NOTHING like leaving four inches of heavy snow and slush and flying to a warm beach...ROCK ON!

We checked in at the hotel after that, then headed over to Coronado Island to look around the Hotel Del Coronado (see photo above), and do a little shopping. Dinner at Miguel's Cucina (of course again!). They have THE MOST AMAZING sangria there...if you ever go...HAVE one (or two or nine...!).

Wednesday, we toured the S.S. Midway at the San Diego harbor. What a cool museum/ship! We took the audio tour, and I couldn't help but be amazed that 4,500 guys could STAND to be in that big ship at one time, and not go CRAZY. I would NOT have survived being down in those cramped passageways, and REALLY cramped sleeping areas with NO windows and very little room to move around (although it would have been with a bunch of navy guys, so maybe it wouldn't have been so bad!)! I'd have had to have spent ALL of my time on the flight deck, or the other open areas, though, closer to the outside of the ship...oy!

Very cool tour, and DEFINITELY worth a look. We even ran into someone from my school while heading up to the flight deck. Kris K, one of our 5th grade teachers, was there with her family for spring break, and just happened to be touring the boat the same day. I'd forgotten that she was out there, and here she was, coming down the steps towards us! Her classroom is 20 feet outside my library, and here we were, in the HUGE city of San Diego, on the same boat, at the same time...small world!

After the Midway, we went to Balboa Park, and looked around the museums and the botanical building. It was SO nice to see green plants and flowers and stuff! Of the 235 photos we shot in San Diego, I think about 90% of them were of flowers and green things!

We had to check flights, and there was no internet access at the hotel, so after Balboa Park, we headed to an internet cafe near the beach to see how the flights for the next day looked. Since we were SO close to the beach, we walked along the shore again for a bit. Sunset on a beach in California is a truly WONDERFUL thing! GORGEOUS!

It was an AWESOME trip, except for the whole "getting home" thing. We got to the airport for the 12:00 flight, and couldn't get on...too many "real" passengers, and some rollovers from a previous flight. We then got rolled over to the 2:35 flight, and there was only one "standby" seat available. Duane put me on the plane (since my car was at the Park and Ride in Eagan, and I don't have credit cards, so wouldn't have been able to get a hotel room), and I headed back to the cities, while he stayed behind.

Since that was the last flight of the day, he was going to "wait it out at the airport", but, luckily, realized that it would be a 14 hour wait, so got a hotel room. It was an odd feeling to "leave him behind"...we've never had to do that in NINE years of standby travel.

I got home to gray, cold, dreary Minnesota, thinking HE might have gotten the better end of the deal, still being "stuck" in sunny, southern California! A couple hours after I got back, the snow started, and kept falling until we had about 8 inches in Eagan...sigh. LUCKILY, Duane was able to get out on the 6:00 a.m. flight the next morning (he had to get up at 4:00!). We weren't sure the weather was going to cooperate.

He flew on to Minot from there, and I spent most of yesterday in the car with my sister and her family, driving to Iowa for Easter weekend. We antiqued our way down interstate 35, and now here I sit, still in my pajamas, updating this blog. Not much else to do here, but at least the sun is shining!

Hope YOUR Easter weekend is going well, and that you are having a FABULOUS Saturday. I'm NOT stoked about going back to work on Monday, but, at least I had a chance to get out of town for a few days. How long till summer break??!!