Camping At The Hilton!

We packed up the coach, put it in storage, and headed up I8 W. We'll go through three mountain passes today taking us up to about 4000 feet. These aren't the high jagged peaks but are more rounded. Some look more like large hills. The highway twists and climbs as we pass through Devils Canyon. There are loose piles of boulders every where. There are juniper trees growing out of the crevases between the rocks. The landscape is amazing as larger rocks sit on top of smaller ones in many precarious positions. They truly demonstrate natures balancing act. As we come down out of the mountains we wind our way in and out of valleys with big ranches sprinkled all over the lush green hills.

We arrive at the Hilton Bayfront right on the San Diego Bay. This is the newest Hilton in San Diego. It's very nice and we are on the 21st floor with a view of the Bay and Gas Lamp Area. Once settle we got our boarding pass for the Old Town Trolley and headed out. We walked the block to the Gas Lamp District and grabbed lunch at a little outdoor place called the Toscana Cafe. We highly recommend it. We have a 3 day plan and we hope to see as much as we can.

After lunch we hopped on the trolley and rode the whole route (about 2 hours) to get our bearings. The trolley winds it's way over the magnificent Coronado Bridge and through the town of Coronado which is across the bay. The landmark Hotel Del Coronado is located here. The last stop was in the Old Town section. This area has lots of spanish and mexican markets and restaurants. The Guadalajara restaurant was recommended for its 30 ounce Margarita! We had to try it out. Then we walked (or stumbled...) through Old Town. We found a little patio and sat and watched people for a while. The last trolley left at 4PM and it's well after that so we took the local train back to the hotel.

It was a great day and we really like this city. It's beautiful and the weather and temperature is perfect. San Diego is very easy to get around between the Trolley, Double Decker Buses, and local trains. Most places you hear about never meet the expectations, so far San Diego has more than met ours.