Mexico Trip (Part 2)

We flew out of Springfield at noon on Thursday, the 4th of June. When we arrived in Phoenix, we were welcomed by an amazing, 85 degree afternoon. Most of my family loves warm weather. After eating, we made the 5 hour drive to San Diego in a rental van. The lights of San Diego and Tijuana were absolutely beautiful. I'd been to San Francisco years earlier, but that didn't prepare me for the beauty of southern California. The mountains weren't only on the eastern side of California like I'd always thought. They spanned all the way to the ocean. There are obviously plains there, though, such as the one on which San Diego is located.

The most memorable experience we had while in San Diego was visiting Cabrillo National Monument. At the monument, we had a nearly 360 view of the Pacific, San Diego, Tijuana, and all the mountains in the background. We spent a good 2 hours there, before heading to the rehearsal dinner for the wedding we were there for. While waiting at the park where the dinner was to be held, we watched a guy with his parachute trying to get off the ground in the middle of the park. The wind was extremely strong that evening, though he never got off the ground for very long. It was at the rehearsal dinner that we realized how cold the evenings on the west coast got. Most of us, including several others from MO, hadn't brought any jackets. So we had to grab a bunch of jackets from my sister's boyfriend's house for everyone. The same jackets my family borrowed stayed with us on our trip to Mexico.

The next day, my little brother and I skipped the wedding to watch the Champion's League final. This is the annual European club final. Our favorite team won, which made skipping the wedding worth it! After the reception, my sisters and I climbed a hilltop nearby while waiting for the rest of our group to get ready for the evening. The hill looked like a challenge from where we started, but it ended up being quite a hike. My sisters were still wearing their dress shoes, but were real troopers.
That evening we went to Coronado island, the same island on which Navy SEALs do a large portion of their training. We visited Hotel del Coronado, a luxury beachfront resort on the island. We then walked about the streets of downtown Coronado before going back to the hotel.

Due to the length of this entry, I've split it into several entries.