Another Oceanside Day

This is the breath taking view we are able to enjoy from our deck!

While on the deck #3 spied some street dancers and asked if I'd take him to watch. Of course I did. He didn't settle for just watching, not him, he instead became an active participant! He rocked, the dancers gave him a buck for his dancing skills, and people were giving him high fives! It was awesome!

On to Oceanside

So we have left San Diego after having much fun, and made our way to stay at the beach in Oceanside. I love it here too!!! It's like a self contained area. I can park my car and not have to leave for anything that's not in walking distance! The room is amazing! We can see the beach from every room.....

 The master bedroom....

 The living room..... It even had a porch to see the ocean

 The other bedroom....

Even the kitchen looked out at the ocean. I Love it!!

It's so relaxing seeing and hearing the ocean from each room. As soon as we put our stuff somewhat away we went to the ocean, which is just across the street.... So convenient!

 #2 enjoying the water

 1 & 3 ... thanks children for bringing me a sea gift! Eww it was slimy and gross and they left it by my feet!

 1 & 3 just splashing around.

The Pacific is a bit colder than the Gulf of Mexico, and the kids had a hard time getting used to that, but the weather was so beautiful, warm with a breeze.. Amazing!

Leaving San Diego

This morning, after getting ready, I went down again, like each morning, to get coffee from the lobby, but I also gave the guy at the desk my mail to send, and he asked if I worked there. I laughed and replied No .. Why? He responded " You look like you would, your dressed up, you gave me your mail, and you get your coffee each morning in a real mug".  So I walked away smiling, thinking -- I guess if I look like I fit, they might hire me.. maybe staying is possible! I do know a ton about the timeshare and how it works! Hmmmm....

O.K. It's time to checkout. Bye friends, I liked this place. They even open the door for you and close it when you get into your car! I could get used to that! But it's time to go. We planned to explore Coronado Beach today before moving to our next location.

Coronado Beach is stunning. I love driving the long bridge to get over to the island. The island gas prices are not stunning though. They're $4.20 a gallon. Thank goodness I filled up yesterday at only $3.75!! On the beach we kept seeing dogs, thinking that a lot of people have them. Then when we walked back to the car, we saw the "dog beach" sign. Duhh... we went to the wrong section of the beach, but it was all good,! Not many people wanted the kids to come near their pooches-- so I told the kids they were snoots and to remember that for their future behavior. We found a pretty park too, right next to the Navy base, so they got to see tons of soldiers going in and out. After a while it was time to depart... I'm excited! Here we come Oceanside! We are ready for the beach!

 

 Coronado Beach

 Coronado Hotel in the distance

Pretty view on the dog beach

San Diego Day

Today we spent the day at a state park by the water. It was astonishing. There was grass to run and play on, plus numerous playgrounds with big beautiful trees everywhere, sandy beach areas, a walking path that lead to eateries and a pier. We saw filming of some sort going on. Very cool. The weather is delightful.. only about 80 with a breeze. It's truly warm and sunny! I had trouble getting the kids to leave. They finally agreed due to being hungry. I loved this tree, so...

I made the kids hug it and recharge their aura's!

 We set off to find a recommended Italian bistro in Little Italy.

 Which was easy to find, super tasty, except the pizza is completely different than east coast style, it's fat and doughy, but it was very good- and filling. It was easy on my wallet as well, with large servings!

After eating we walked around a little, I was reflecting upon how much I enjoy this city, could I really make the move, and I look up to cross the street and this is the name of the street we were crossing.

 Do I take it as a sign? Not at face value, but a sign from something more....

After our stroll, we were walking back to the car, and saw a barber.. So we got #1's mane buzzed off. The barber was a female, and she was SO rude. A man came in after she started cutting his hair, and she spoke to him in Spanish the whole time, as if we were not there. When she finished his hair she continued her conversation paying us no mind. I handed her $12 bucks and walked out with the kids telling them loudly that they should never behave that way, it's very improper business behavior. Hopefully I gave her enough! His hair does look super nice though. All the crazy color is gone.. I got my good looking kid back! Yay!

While driving back to the room , we passed the harbor, seeing all the big ships. Tons of people ride around those 4 seat bicycles offering rides. We saw a guy dressed like a pirate and #2 tried to get a picture of him so she could show her Uncle, his wedding was a pirate theme. We laughed that he could use his costume for a career change, but the picture didn't come out ot show him. Bummer!

 Here's pictures of our room. I love this hotel. They only have studios, but we didn't spend much time in our room. The staff is the friendliest we have ever encountered in all our Wyndham travels.

After relaxing a little bit, we made up more homeless bags and went and distributed them. I'm overwhelmed at how many there are here. I feel as if I need to come back and get more involved in helping them. The kids feel the same!

Flagstaff, AZ

We have arrived at our next location... Flagstaff, Arizona. It's beautiful! To welcome us, the skies parted and gave us a brief rain shower that ended with a spectacular rainbow. It seemed the end was right over our timeshare!! 

 This was some stuff we passed driving. The scenery is just so different than what we see at home.

 This was a storm we saw. It was neat, we could see it in the distance. It didn't hit us until the end of our day's drive-- thank goodness - and it wasn't that bad either.

 While driving we passed the petrified forest. I wished I would have planned that into our travel time, but it was almost closed at the hour we cruised by... bummer.

 When we arrived I was shocked at how spacious the unit was! Pleasant surprise. We had a 2 bedroom lock off which is two 1 bedrooms adjoined. So I propped the door in between open , and told the kids the TV was not to be turned on, past the door opening.. meaning my side.. and turned the radio on!!It worked, they only watched that stupid box on their side!!

 How cool is it that the bathtub has it's own room. It was more like a mini pool. That' where the kids swam for the few days here due to the on and off rain the whole time.

 This was their side

 #1 was very hungry and opted for a large bowl of pasta for dinner!

The whole time we were here we just hung out. We found the post office and traveled on historic Route 66 for a bit. We drove around to sight see since it was raining. The kids were a little worn out from traveling and packing in two museums and 4 hours driving in one day, so I let them relax. It is summer.... I keep trying to convince myself that down time can be good... but there is soooooo much to see , and so little time!

Albuquerque, NM

On our way to our next destination , we decided to stay overnight in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I normally use Hotwire to book every hotel we stay in on the road, that's not our Wyndham Timeshare, but the prices we found were kind of high, so I splurged and called the Embassy Suites. They had room -- and gave us an awesome one too, that was huge, because we're rewards members with them. We made it just in time for Happy Hour! We actually drove 11 hours today -- almost all of what we needed. And we used our AAA discount to save !!!

 At happy hour the hotel had a clown that did face painting, balloon animals, and she had crafts for the kids to do. It was fantastic! I was tired from driving all day, and then to have them entertained while I was able to relax was out of this world. There was a bunch of kids they played with , so I was able to chat with other parents and just hang out. It was super nice.

 Look at our view

Everyone went to bed early so we could wake and get an early start. 

We planned some museums to visit before leaving town to continue our voyage.

One  museum down , one to go... Next up - the New Mexico Museum of Natural Science and History.

With only Trader Joe's left to hit before we're outta here... It's almost time to hit the road!

Day out in San Antonio

We went and walked around the market here, spending the day in between the warming sunshine and the little stores. I love the Mexican influence and decor here. We have no problem finding anything with skulls on it!

 

#1 is all smiles because I waited with him while he got a hat painted. 

After browsing the shops we took them to another Man vs. Food location for dinner.. Lulu's 

Their special is the huge plate size chicken fried chicken dinner and it's only like 8 bucks! The kids thought just the sheer size of it was amazing, but delicious too,, so it was finally a win- win for a meal! They were so full , they didn't have room for the 3 pound cinnamon roll. Too Bad!

We went back to the room to digest and they tried on their market purchase.

Then they thought they should wrestle too, so we had to go out again to entertain them. We walked around the town, the hotel is only 2 blocks from the Alamo.

Then we thought we'd give #2 an early birthday gift and surprise her with a carriage ride. We kept seeing them from our hotel window and she was mesmerized with each one that passed, so...

We got her one! #1 stayed back at the room because he has a bum toe, so it hurts him to walk. It was neat, he told us some history of the buildings we passed by. Then we walked a little more and peeked in at the touristy place we didn't want to pay to get in to.

Then we had to go back to the room, we have an early day tomorrow, Husband flies out at the crack of dawn, so we need to be packed and loaded to go. We have 15 hours to drive to our next location.