The alarm clock sounds at 6.30. This hotel has breakfast included, but when I go down I see there is only a French omelette, sausages and a kind of potato. I try it a bit and go back to the room to continue with my cookies. I fill the fridge with the ice and at 8.10 we get going.
We decided to drive around thinking that yesterday we did not see anything because it was night, but there is nothing to see! I thought that this town was the same style as Williams, but it is much bigger and with very few references to Route 66, at least that we have seen.
We stopped to refuel, the cheapest of the entire trip. So at 8.50 am we're on our way to Oatman. It has started to rain. What a bad luck we are having with time. We stopped by the road in Cool Springs, a shop and old authentic gas station, attended by a very nice man and that is worth a quick visit.
In it, Universal Soldier by Jean-Claude Van Damme were filmed and served as the basis for Disney's Cars scenes. We arrived at Oatman at 9.40. It is a mining town of 1906. In 1915, so much gold was extracted, that a great avalanche of gold hunters came and the population reached 4,000 inhabitants. To access, we have to cross a mountain road. When we arrive, I am amazed to see how many stores there are. I thought it would be an abandoned town.
We take a turn and finally we see the burritos! Descendants of the miners who inhabited the town at the time of the gold rush, they roam freely. They do not seem very happy. I do not know if it's because it's raining.
We leave the town at 10.15 am, but just before I take a few photos of the typical desert cactus in Mohave. The town has been cool for some pictures, but in my opinion it's not worth the detour on the mountain road just to see Oatman. We head to San Diego, where we will spend the next few nights.
We stopped to refuel on the way to the gas station. We also go to the Walmart for water. We arrived in San Diego at 16.40. Today we have a relaxing afternoon. We see one of the most spectacular sunsets of our lives from the living room of the house, on Sunset Cliffs Boulevard. We went around the Old Town and we really liked it a lot. It is an incredible place, worth visiting, where we feel like in ancient Mexico.
There are restaurants, museums, souvenir shops, hotels. We wanted to relax a little after so many days. The hotel was located in Mission Beach. The area is beautiful. The hotel is on a bay with super calm waters, and a few meters away is the Pacific Ocean. It is a beach resort with everything for a relaxed and a pleasant atmosphere.
We had a garden room, with a view of the pool. The block of rooms that overlooks the beach looks wonderful, leaving the room direct to the sand. The room is comfortable, clean, with a nice balcony. It has gardens with lots of vegetation, a lake, fish, ducks, palm trees, parrots, all this gives a tropical touch to the place.
There is a restaurant, but it looks very busy and a very nice atmosphere, with tables outside surrounded by small fireplaces that give a very warm touch. We dined quietly and go to sleep, as we are exhausted.
Day 2
Although today we do not have to get up early, at 6.30 am we wake up spontaneously. Before breakfast we went for a walk around the neighborhood for 1 hour, to took advantage of the surroundings. We have an American breakfast with scrambled eggs in the hotel room. After filling the stomach, we set out to see a part of San Diego. It's 10:20. We go by car throughout the La Jolla area.
It is a spectacular neighborhood, with some luxury homes. We park for free without problem. It is very nice to take a walk. In the area of La Jolla Shore we can see the legendary Californian beaches, with the watch towers of the Lifeguard, the Pier, many surfers and many gulls. Everything very refined and elegant, and it looks like a movie.
We saw sea lions, walked along the coast and toured its streets, touring the areas of La Jolla Shores, La Jolla Coves. We continue to Torrey Pines Gliderport, a high area from which we can observe La Jolla Shore as well as many people doing paragliding. One of them has a hawk falconry that is dedicated to flying perching and getting up from a stick while the owner is flying in the paraglider.
We did a very quick tour of Balboa Park. It is a huge park with many attractions with zoo, museums, galleries. Due to lack of time and tiredness, we only went around. There is a free tram that connects the main points of the park.
Towards 1:30 we set course back home, although we stopped first at the supermarket to buy some sandwiches. They are delicious, although they are a bit expensive.
In the afternoon we are on our own. We take the car and head to Coronado Island. We arrived around 4:30 pm. San Diego is much bigger than I had imagined and there is a lot of traffic. We loved the little houses, the spectacular sunset, the famous Hotel del Coronado and the Coronado Beach, one of the best beaches in the US.
Once we cross the bridge we turn right to see the famous skyline. We took a walk, took some pictures and we continued towards the Hotel del Coronado which is on the left side of the area. The Hotel del Coronado is beautiful, recognizable and full of history in all its corners. It is from 1888 but it has a good state of conservation.
It is worth going into the reception, full of details, maintaining old features but with a modern touch and fabulous and luxurious lamps in the ceiling. It is one of the largest wooden buildings in California and was the largest resort in the world in the year it opened. Everything is very beautiful and quiet. It is really worth a relaxed visit to the area.
We took the car and headed towards Unconditional Surrender. The sculpture is about 7 m high. It is a must for all tourists and a symbol of the city. It is located at Tuna Harbor Park and right next to the USS MIDWAY aircraft carrier, which is now a museum. Also in this street we took advantage of to buy our fridge magnet since we collected them from every place we visited.
The idea is to go to the Gaslamp Quarter, but on the way we stopped at an supermarket to buy some chicken tenders. There is very beautiful architecture, with Victorian buildings, and the most picturesque thing is that they keep the old gas lamps (hence the name of the place) that illuminated the area in old times.
It was Valentine's Day and there was a lot of movement. Many couples were dining at outdoor tables all decorated romantically. We were surprised to see some carriages with couples in love mode. After having dinner in the car at 9.30 pm we are already at home, and when we arrived we went to the pool and jacuzzi.
