San Diego Trip
Sept 19-21, 2009

So, I'd been planning this trip to San Diego for almost two months. It was going to be just perfect...I'd be at Highland's Homecoming Football game (against Tooele) Friday night and fly out Saturday morning. But it didn't work out as perfectly as I had hoped! On Friday night at about 6:45pm (the game was scheduled to begin at 7:00pm) the power went out at the school (as well as several blocks around). This meant that the scoreboard, timers, stadium lights, microphones, etc. all no longer worked! A few minutes later we heard the word that the power would perhaps not come on until 2am. Well, the refs wouldn't start the game because the dark would prevent them from finishing it and the coaches and the players wanted to wait as long as possible for the lights to come back on (before they had to cancel it). Anyway...the lights never came on and about 8pm the refs called the game and it was rescheduled for Saturday at 1:00pm...and my flight left for San Diego at 11:00am. So my problem was that as AD (Athletic Director) I wouldn't be there...but my second problem is that my travelling companion (who would also be missing the game) is the Head Athletic Trainer. So, long story short (too late) we worked things out for people to cover for both of us and we went to San Diego!

The original purpose of the trip was to see one of my old students, Haloti Ngata (of the Baltimore Ravens), play against the San Diego Chargers. But with being a Masters student, AD, teaching AP and reading (for kids that read below a third grade reading level), a new IB (International Baccalaureate) teacher and everything else it was just an awesome chance to get away.

On Saturday Derek and I flew into San Diego and got there about 5pm. Our condo was in Oceanside (about 40 minutes north of San Diego). On the drive up we passed the San Diego Temple. It is stunningly beautiful!! We came around a corner and it just appears from the green hillside.

We got to Oceanside and checked into the condo...unknown to us, it was Harbor Days. The area was crowded but our condo was in the perfect place--just a short walk to the beach. The view was beautiful from our patio. We could both see and hear the ocean--which was incredibly relaxing. Smelling and hearing the ocean, we couldn't resist and immediately changed and headed down to the beach.
We had a great time swimming and body surfing in the waves and spent more than three hours in the ocean. Finally, our fingers were so pruned and we were so exhausted and hungry we headed back to the condo. We had a great dinner that night at a local place called Anita's. Kalani's (Derek's best friend) mom is from Oceanside and she had all the best recommendations for us! Anita's was a cute little house that had been turned into a Mexican restaurant--it was delicious! Relaxing days like this are just amazing!

The next day (Sunday) we slept in a little and then called my friend Sam (who plays football as SDSU) and asked him for his advice about where to park for the game. He suggested that we park in Old Town and ride the train to the stadium. This turned out to be a GREAT idea. As the train pulled into the station, the lot was packed!! Derek and I got the the game a couple hours early so we could look around, eat and soak it all in. We found out seats...8th row on the 50 yard line--WOW!! We loved watching warm ups and the other football games that were being shown on the jumbo-tron. The weather said it was supposed to be 75 degrees..but it definitely was not!! It was soooo hot!!

It was so fun to be at the game! Haloti (#92) had a great game and so did Derek's friend Eric Weddle (#32 for the Chargers). It was the perfect game to be at because it was a real game clear to the end. The game ended with the Ravens beating the Chargers 31-28. The whole experience of being at an NFL game was so fun. There is nothing like a pro game! At the beginning the Air Force flew over in the missing man formation. The stadium was so loud at time we couldn't hear each other (we were right next to each other and yelling)! Every time there was a score by the Chargers a huge group of fireworks went off and the crowd around us was awesome -- both Chargers and Ravens fans. There is a weird sense of camaraderie among fans in the stands!

After the game we headed back to the condo. We were both so sunburned! But we headed to the ocean anyway...we couldn't resist! We ended up staying at the beach until long after dark. We were only less than a mile from Camp Pendleton and they were doing some kind of night exercises. It was very interesting to watch.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and we had to go go home. We woke up and headed to the airport about 8am after one last walk on the beach.

It was a great and very relaxing trip. But, as always, time away is way too short!