It’s her birthday so I took her to the Chart House in Dana Point. We arrived early and decided to walk the nature trails nearby. The native habitat and the panoramic views put us in a good mood. The architecture of the building is unique and we enjoyed exploring the restaurant before and after dinner. A great place to celebrate!
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#birthday2026 #happybirthday2026 #danapoint #charthouse #charthouserestaurant #herbirthday #thankfullness #mondayfun #photodiary #myphotodiary #photoopps #retiredlife #nicemonday #happytobehere #naturetrails #naturewalking #panoramicviews
We went to the beautiful Understory Bar in Del Mar for “date night”. The bar is surrounded by seven restaurants that you can order from while in the bar. There are all kinds of cozy nooks for couples or groups. It was very romantic but the food service was slow. Not a problem if you’re canoodling with your partner. 😎
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#understory #understorybar #skydeck #skydeckdelmar #romanticbar #romanticplace #romanticplaces #datenightideas #coolbar #beautifulbar #upscalebar #romanticdate #socallife #socallifestyle #retiredlife #photoopp #photodiary #myphotodiary #canoodling
Somewhere East of Temecula is a place where dinosaurs, rhinos, elephants, snakes, cavemen, aliens, giant bugs and several monsters roam the land together, and you can walk among them! I’m referring to Ricardo Breceda’s Art Gallery on Highway 79, where the ten-year old boy in every man will be entertained for an hour at least. 🦖🦕🦏🐘🐍🦆👽🛸
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#highway79 #ricardobreceda #artgallery #outdoorartgallery #metalsculpture #metalsculptures #temeculavalley #daytripper #daytrippin #somethingtodo #coolplace #coolplaces #dinosauradventure #photodiary #photoopp #photoopportunity
The best thing about Xmas season is when friends and family come to visit. 😎
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#xmas2025 #christmas2025 #holidays2025 #holidayseason2025 #delmarbeach #meditationgarden #encinitasmeditationgardens #friendsandfamily #photoop #myphotodiary
We arrived at the Nautical Beachfront Resort at Lake Havasu around 3 pm yesterday. Our room had a lake view and we watched two seaplanes land on the water and taxi up to the beach… what a life! We went for a swim in the pool and had dinner at the Turtle Grille before retiring. Today we had a wonderful brunch at the Makai Cafe, right in front of the famous London Bridge. We drove around the island and saw hundreds of mobile homes and RVs parked along the shore. Then it was time for the 5 hour drive home. Parker Dam was on our route and was mildly interesting, but only because I’m a retired engineer. Jojo liked it because we got a few more nice photos there.😎
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#roadtrip2025 #lakehavasu #lakehavasucity #thenautical #thenauticalbeachfrontresort #londonbridge #londonbridgelakehavasu #fundayfriday #funplaces #fundestinations #parkerdam #photoopp #photoopportunity #photodiary #myphotodiary #turtlegrille
Uptown Sedona is where the tourists go to eat and shop. There’s an abundance of good restaurants, art installations and new age type stores. We enjoyed browsing the shops before having dinner at La Vecina, which has great Mexican food. Alas, we had to leave Sedona the next morning. We drove North through the beautiful Oak Creek Canyon. Jojo loved the Fall colors of the trees. We made a pit stop in the town of Seligman, which is on the historic Route 66 and features the Road Kill Cafe. To Jojo’s great delight, I had to do time in the local jail before continuing on to Lake Havasu City (last slide).
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#uptownsedona #leavingsedona #goodbyesedona #oakcreek #oakcreekcanyon #fallcolors #seligman #roadkillcafe #scenicdrive #historicroute66 #roadtrip2025 #scenicplaces #fundaythursday #photoopportunity #photoopp #photodiary #myphotodiary #seligmanarizona
We drove to Boynton Canyon today and then hiked up the trail to the Boynton Canyon Vortex. The views were amazing but the sun and 4,600 foot elevation reminded us of our true age! After recovering a bit, we drove to the Slide Rock State Park. The river there looked very inviting but the water was too cold to swim. At least this area was cooler than Boynton Canyon. We finished the day by having dinner in Uptown Sedona, a haven for shoppers and tourists. I will post those photos tomorrow.
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#sedona2025 #sedonaarizona #boyntoncanyon #boyntoncanyontrail #boyntoncanyonvortex #hikinginthesun #redrock #redrockcanyon #redrockcanyons #scenicviews #scenicvistas #sliderockstatepark #fundaywednesday #scenicplaces #scenicdrive #scenichikes #amazingviews #photodiary #myphotodiary
On the way to Sedona we drove along the scenic Red Rock Loop Road. The views were beautiful but this was just a preview of what Sedona offers. Our next stop was the famous Chapel of the Holy Cross, where we took many selfies in front of panoramic views. The Sedona airport, which was built on top of a flat butte, offers views from a different perspective. We had a late lunch at the Creekside American Bistro and the food was very good. We needed a break so we checked into our room at the Hilton Vacation Club, where there was a hot tub waiting for us! Our final activity of the day was to have dessert at The Hudson restaurant, which was excellent.
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#sedonaarizona #redrockloop #redrocklooproad #redrockstatepark #roadtrip2025 #funtuesday #fundaytuesday #beautifulplacestovisit #photoopp #myphotodiary #photoopportunity #chapeloftheholycross #panoramicviews
The old mining town of Jerome is built on the side of a mountain with sweeping views of the Verde Valley below. Jerome is a mixture of abandoned buildings and thriving businesses for tourists. They say ghosts still haunt the 100 year old buildings, but they didn’t bother us today. After a late lunch at Jerome’s Haunted Hamburger, we drove to the Verde River Nature Park to see the river. We finished the day with dinner at the popular Bocce restaurant in Cottonwood. We’re staying at the Iron Horse Inn, which is a very quaint hotel on Cottonwood’s touristy Main Street. It was a really nice day.
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#jerome #ghosttown #ghosttowns #cottonwood #verderiver #verdevalley #fundaymonday #roadtrip2025 #photoopp #photodiary #myphotodiary #arizonaroadtrip #funplaces #fundestinations #touristtown #ironhorseinn
Our road trip took us to the Desert Tower and Caves in Jacumba. Totally worth it! Such a unique place out in the middle of nowhere. Lots of opportunities for fun photos. After 3 more hours of driving, we arrived at the Old Town area in Scottsdale. We had dinner at the popular Bourbon & Bones steakhouse. The whole Old Town area is upscale and very cute, but it’s nothing we can’t find in SoCal. Our road trip continues tomorrow.
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#jacumba #jacumbatower #jacumbacaves #deserttower #roadtrip2025 #uniqueplaces #uniquedestination #fundaysunday #goodtrip #funplace #funplaces #photoopp #photoopps #myphotodiary #funtrip
Happy Halloween from us to you. My mom says that young kids don’t know what to think about her cow *udders* lol. Our friends came for a two-day visit and fell in love with North County. But it’s hard to get them to move here. 🤷🏻♂️ We enjoyed a leisurely lunch at the Amalfi Marina Bar - one of our favorite places in San Marcos.
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#halloween2025 #cowcostume #carlsbad #lakesanmarcos #oceanside #lakesidebar #friendlyvisit #fundayfriday #relaxingday #halloweencostumes #photoopp #photoopportunity #myphotodiary
Day-11: We finally saw a BEAR up close! And a moose, a muskox, reindeer and elk. They’re all at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which was part of our tour to the Turnagain Arm area of Alaska. The group stopped to hike some trails through a forest, which led to a clearing with a beautiful view of the inlet. Further on, there was a neat photo-op with a tiny iceberg. Our tour ended at the Alyeska ski resort, where we rode the tram to the top of the mountain. There were majestic views of cloud-covered mountains and the green valley below. Alaska is truly an amazing place. We ate lunch at the Alyeska resort and then took another hike. On photos 19 and 20, I surprised a bear and tried to fight it off, but I lost. That’s basically the end of our trip and my Alaska posts. We flew back to San Diego the next day.
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#alaska2025 #alaskatrip #alaskabound #alaskaadventure #turnagainarm #alyeska #alyeskaresort #wildlifeconservation #wildlifeconservationcenter #brownbears #blackbears #muskox #moose #reindeer #reindeers #wonderfultrip #vacation2025 #wonderfulmemories #landtour #greattrip #funadventure #funtrip #majesticviews #naturephotos #dayhike #travel2025
