Favorite Season: FALL!

I would definitely have to say that the thing we miss most about living on the east coast, aside from family and friends, is fall. Even though fall is so very short, there is nothing like seeing the beautiful changing leaves and smelling that crisp autumn air! Oh and then there is the pumpkin flavored everything, which I'm not a huge fan of. Although, the Starbucks pumpkin spiced lattes are pretty tasty. And the apple festivals, pumpkin patches, hay rides, and on and on it goes. Here in San Diego, the southern most point in California, fall doesn't really exist. But, driving just northeast of here about an hour and a half you find the quaint little historic gold mining town of Julian! It's where the gold rush was first born. It's the closest we could get to feeling like fall in SoCal. No beautifully colored leaves, but we were able to go apple and pumpkin picking! Then of course we had to carve our pumpkin. We got pretty creative this year. Take a look!

Empire apples, the best!

Haha! I got Gary to take the guts out of the pumpkin again this year!

Are you ready to see our amazing creation?

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PETEY THE PIRATE!!!! Arggg! 

Then after all of that highly skilled carving, we baked 3 apple pies. Yes WE. Gary is now also a professional apple peeler. 

Now we are so looking forward to Thanksgiving! And decorating for Christmas the day after!

San Francisco Fleet Week

Gary recently had an underway to San Francisco for their fleet week. During this week the public was invited to celebrate the U.S. Navy sailors and officers by taking tours of the ships, having them come to the San Francisco 49ers game, and a lucky few (including Gary) were invited to play a round of golf at the Olympic Club! 

My handsome Naval Officer!

 A view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the ship.

 Alcatraz in the background.

 And a close up of Alcatraz.

 Coit Tower. Later that week he went to the top to see the views.

 A shot of downtown from the ship.

 Candlestick Park!

 The Bay Bridge.

 This is a picture of Lombard Street from Coit Tower.

 Cloudy blue sky seen through the top of Coit Tower. 

Some intense fog as they floated under the Golden Gate Bridge.

 Putting on a little water show for the San Franciscans watching the ships come in.

These next pictures are of the Olympic Club Golf Course. This is where the 2012 U.S. Open was played. This was a once in a lifetime chance that Gary will never forget.

Torrey Pines

Gary has been dying to play at Torrey Pines ever since he found out we were moving to San Diego. For those of you who don't know, Torrey Pines is a world renowned golf course where the PGA tour Farmers Insurance Open is played each year.  Since it is a public course, Gary was able to take a shot at playing it in hopes that the course didn't eat him alive. This course is absolutely breathtaking with its ocean side fairways and unique Torrey Pinetrees scattered along the course. Take a look at Gary's dream come true...

Gary ended up having a good round and enjoyed his time at Torrey Pines. I'm sure he will return before our time is up in San Diego. 

Deep Sea Fishing with Dale

A few weeks ago Gary's big bro, Dale, came to San Diego for a visit. We got to show him around our neck of the woods and then he took us on an adventure we hadn't experienced before... deep sea fishing! Here is a little peek at his visit.

*Brothers*

 Of course there was some relaxing on the beach...

 Fish #1: Sand Sea Bass

 We fished right across from Tijuana.

 These birds are too smart. They were ready to grab my fishy off the line.

 I caught a little guy.

 This is the beginning of Dale kickin' ass and takin' names out there!

This one was slimy and gross. 

 Scorpionfish

 These purple jellies were everywhere. I would not want to fall in the water out there.

 Halibut... not quite big enough to take home.

Dinner time!

Alright, sorry guys but I just can't keep it to myself... Dale and Gary were both sick as dogs for most of the trip! I was the only one who survived the whole 6 hours without yacking. Ok I'm done bragging. But anyways, most of the fish were caught in the San Diego Bay because we decided that the Tijuana waters were just too choppy and it wasn't worth the poor boys being sick all day. It was an experience I'm so glad we got to have though! Thanks Dale!