Kyra finished her summer job as a nanny, and had a couple weeks until starting a new job as a teacher’s aide, so she decided to hop on a plane and come down for a visit. We warned her that August isn’t exactly the best time to be in Imperial Valley, but the timing worked for her (and us) so we spent a few days together.
Since San Diego is about thirty degrees cooler than El Centro, we all agreed that was the place to be. We booked a hotel room for a couple nights, and enjoyed three days in the amazing weather in the city. We started at Balboa Park, which is always fun.
Kyra found a sign that she said described her well.
Since she’d been up at 3am to catch her flight, and Pepper and I had been up at 5am for seminary, we were a little tired. The car was a real party wagon as we drove around…
A friend had recommended a homemade candy shop in the area, so we stopped in and spent an exhorbitant amount of money on a bunch of chocolates. They were very good.
About half a day was spent touring the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier built at the end of World War II.
It’s amazing, and we could’ve easily spent a few more hours exploring the ship. But the beach was calling.
It was a glorious beach day: sunny and warm (but not too hot). The beach wasn’t too crowded– I figure much of the summer rush is over– and we enjoyed some relaxing time with sand and surf.
We went to Hodad’s downtown, which is good but doesn’t have quite the feel of the original restaurant. The burgers were still awesome, and the shakes can’t be beat.
Since there’s only one size, technically I can say i ordered a small.
Another day we wandered around Seaport Village, which is a cool little area with a lot of shops and street vendors.
We hit some more parks, just to revel in the beautiful weather. Days like this make it obvious why people choose to live here.
We also enjoyed a hibachi lunch at Benihana…
… and a fabulous steak dinner at Outback. (Steak not shown below)
Our three days in San Diego passed quickly, and it was time to head back to the valley. There, Kyra and I made snickerdoodles for the first time (thanks for the recipe, Mom!).
Of course we had to go to the dunes, which are always great. It always means getting up before sunrise, but it’s worth it.
With our snowboards in tow, we surfed a bunch of the dunes and hiked around for a couple of hours.
Since we didn’t want to do much outside, we spent a few days indoors enjoying time together. It was good to play a couple of card and board games again– it’s been a while. We talked and laughed. She helped us work on seminary lessons. The hours flew past, as they always seem to do, and then it was time to head back to the airport. On the way we stopped at a little sushi place that was fully automated. It had a little conveyor belt where the sushi dishes rolled past the table, so you could grab what you want.
There was even a little robot that scooted around the restaurant delivering drinks.
It felt a little strange to have a sort of mini-vacation for a few days. We’ve been so focused on missionary work for the last three months that it seemed like we were slacking in our duties. Yet at the same time, it was really good to get a brief respite. And especially good to do it with our favorite daughter.