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Short Trip to San Diego

Sunset from La Jolla, CAAt the last minute, I decided to take a trip down to San Diego to visit my sister. Initially, I planned on flying there by myself. I even went so far as to buy a plane ticket. Eventually, though, my cousin and his girlfriend decided to go, so I canceled the plane ticket and booked a room at the Luxor in Las Vegas for the first leg of the drive.

We left Salt Lake City at 7:00 PM on Friday, which is later than we had planned to start the drive to Las Vegas, but not a big deal either. Dan made great time. We arrived at around 11:15 PM Pacific time.

After relaxing in the room for a bit, Dan, Wiebke and I went for a walk down the strip to take in the sites. On the way back, Dan and I played some craps at the Paris Las Vegas. We were both lucky enough to walk away with some winnings.

The drive to San Diego from Las Vegas was long, but interesting. The shift from a desert plateau landscape to a more coastal landscape is abrupt. The weather became absolutely perfect almost as soon as we crossed into San Diego County.

As we approached San Diego, I texted my sister and told her that we wanted to go to the ocean as soon as we arrived, so that's what we did. We arrived at one of the beaches near La Jolla just after sunset. The long journey to California felt complete once we were able to look out over the vast expanse that is the Pacific Ocean.

The next day we checked out Old Town, Petco Park, and the Gaslamp Quarter. For dinner, we met up with another cousin, who was, ironically, also in San Diego for the weekend.

The next day, we met up with my cousin's friend in San Clemente, and then started the long drive back to Salt Lake City. Las Vegas is located perfectly to break up the drive, but on this day we only had time to stop for dinner, and then we had to be on our way.

We didn't see nearly enough of what San Diego has to offer. We didn't have time. And the weather didn't cooperate this time, except on the afternoon of our arrival. I came away intrigued by San Diego (and California, in general), but also slightly underwhelmed and most definitely confused. The geography of the region is probably what confused me the most. There were so many hills and valleys, it was hard to figure out where you were. I do look forward to coming back to visit to see more of what the area has to offer.