Greetings from San Diego! It was a long journey yesterday, but I am safe and sound at Old Mission San Luis Rey with Edgardo Jara, ofm.

The view was breathtaking…

My trip started at 7:30am yesterday with a drive to the train station, a quick ride to the satellite area, a shuttle to the airport. I was quickly a few miles in the air, and I stayed there for almost six hours! While a bit uncomfortable, the view was absolutely breathtaking. Out my window I saw great plains, snowy mountains, and endless desert. (Seriously though. ENDLESS. It was then, as it took two hours of flying to get past it all, that I realized it was going to take a long time to drive it next week.) It is an incredible country that I can’t wait to explore!

Two Franciscan friars in real life!

Once we landed, I had one priority: food. Having eaten at 6:30am EST, and with only a bag of crackers and peanuts on the plane, by 1:00 PT I was a bit famished. Edgardo picked me up and we headed to Balboa Park, a nice outdoor area of San Diego with walking trails, museums, art galleries, entertainment, and restaurants. (The meal was a bit pedestrian so no use sharing it here, but get ready for some food pictures on this trip! I know we’re definitely getting some BBQ in Texas and Jambalaya in New Orleans!)

The University of San Diego is a remnant of a long forgotten “mission” world.

By then, I was much less irritable, and it was time to do some exploring. Unlike DC where most of the museums are free, San Diego felt a need to charge $18 to see everything… so we didn’t. But no matter, we were in San Diego: the city itself is a spectacle. Walking around without a plan or a care for a few hours was wonderful. We saw Balboa Park and University of San Diego (both of which were having graduations), and just enjoyed the beautiful weather.

From there, it was off to dinner with a few of Edgardo’s friends. Again, I don’t have any pictures to share, but man… it was delicious. A going away present to Edgardo, his two friends served us a feast, including the best fish tacos I’ve ever had. After dinner, we took a much needed walk around the city, which ended up turning into more food: dessert! (Seeing a theme with my travel posts?

Anyway, by this time it was about 9:00 pm, which doesn’t sound late, but I had technically been up since 3:00am PT, and I was dead tired. With a 45 minute drive back to Old Mission San Luis Rey ahead of us, we called it a night on our first day.

We found Junipero Serra, soon to be Saint!

Unfortunately, even though my body was incredibly tired from the day’s happenings (a bit much for an introvert to be around people non-stop for about 15 hours nonstop), it wasn’t fooled by the clock this morning. At 2:11am, I woke up, ready to go this morning, after only three hours of sleep. Woo hoo! Luckily I was able to get back to sleep for a few hours, but it’s going to make for a long day today!

As far as the trip goes, we’re not planning on leaving San Diego until Tuesday, so we’re here until then. That doesn’t mean the posts will halt till then. Today, I’m going to get a tour of the Old Mission San Luis Rey from Lalo and probably go on a hike, tomorrow we’re planning on celebrating my birthday with a trip to Los Angeles, and Monday, well, who knows what we’ll do, but I’m sure it will be interesting. Check back with us each day and be sure to comment or post questions for us to answer on video.

Which brings me to this final gem: my first video. It’s incredibly amateur and a bit shaky at times, but we all have to start somewhere, right? I hope you enjoy the new medium, and feel free to offer as much advice/critique as you want! I’m learning as I go along and could use all the help I can get! Until tomorrow, you stay classy San Diego!

(If you’re reading this post from your email, be sure to click here to see the video. Apparently it doesn’t show up in emails.)