Swaying Palms and Five Time Zones

     It's been a week since we've returned from Maui.  We flew first to San Diego,  visited with M & D's kids and grands.  Had four great meals -- one at Tender Green's where Brad, their son, is chef.  One where he cooked for us, one at an Italian restaurant, and fish tacos at our favorite South Beach Saloon in Ocean Beach.

     We stayed  for two nights and left with M & D on Tuesday.  We flew on Alaska Airlines for the first time and I was totally impressed.  Imagine having leg and arm room IN COACH!  

     I had never been to been to Hawaii before and really did not know what to expect.  Certainly not this welcoming committee...

And I'd heard it was beautiful, but this view from the top of Haleakala is breath-taking...

  We arrived home into 27° weather and I've spent the past week attempting to acclimate to Eastern Time.  Wouldn't it just be a lot easier if the world were in just two time zones?  

It Got Better...

The first stop on the cruise was San Diego.  Yes, that was where we registered.  Yes, that is where our travel buddies and best friends live.  We, knowing the area pretty well and having access to the car we left in the parking lot, set off for a day on our own.  

David disembarked first and went to pick up the car.  He drove to the cruise terminal, picked us up and we headed straight to The South Beach Saloon (first building on the right) in Ocean Beach for the best fish tacos in the country!!!  Yes, we've done this before...:)

We watched the surfers for a while and then ate lunch.

Ocean Beach is always entertaining.  Home of Hodad's and funny signs.

And then headed to Balboa Park to see the rose garden (Kathy's idea of heaven) (and I'm glad we did because there was nary a rose in bloom at Butchart Gardens in Victoria) and the cacti garden.

This rose was as big as my head and extremely fragrant!

We walked those fish tacos off, returned the car to Marge and Dave's garage and called a cab to take us back to the ship. 

Next stop:  Los Angeles.