San Diego 2.0

If the previously undeleted countdown timer on my phone is any indication, it’s been about three months since we left for San Diego. It feels like a long time ago based on the summer we’ve had (compared to 2020) – also, it feels like this was just a few weeks ago. This vacation is likely one we’ll be talking about for the rest of our lives, but isn’t one that we’ll really want to remember.

If you hadn’t heard, I had a heart attack our second night there. I wrote a lot about it over on my personal blog, so go check it out for details. The tl;dr, if you don’t want to click, is I spent two days in the hospital after getting stents for a minorly blocked artery. Vacation changes when you spend the start of it in the hospital. Suffice to say, the rest of our time in San Diego was really about processing what happened and trying to have as “normal” a vacation as possible.

We stayed in the Mission Beach area, in a house we’ve previously rented right by Mission Bay. We stayed there about two months after Dom turned one and knew it was perfect for a week of not doing a whole lot (especially with COVID precautions). We did manage to visit the zoo a few days after I got out of the hospital, but we most certainly did not walk the entire park. We also managed two boat days with our boat membership at Freedom Boat Club. The weather was a bit chilly in May, if I’m honest. Maybe it had something to do with having a heart attack and being on like five new medications.

Oh and by chance we got to meet up with Miss Sarah, who was Dom’s nanny between Miss Ginny (went with us the first time) and Miss Emilia (went with us this time). In an odd twist of summertime fate, all three nannies have been with us in some fashion at this house. It also has the distinction of being the only place we’ve ever stayed at twice, ever. In many ways, it was good to have something familiar, given what happened while we were there. So, yeah, San Diego.

P.S. – We got to see the Seattle Mariners lose in another city… and I was the second MLB game attendee in the hospital that weekend with a heart attack!

: It didn’t take long to start playing in the sand.

No day was complete without time in the sand.

: Dom’s night vs. Daddy’s night

Family trip to the San Diego Zoo

Packwood, WA

Two months ago, we spent a week of vacation at a house rental in Packwood, WA. If I’m honest, we only chose Packwood because it’s within a three hour drive of home, was in striking distance of snow without danger of roads closing, and we found a house with all our needs at a reasonable price. We’ve camped in the area before; it’s fair to say Packwood is a great basecamp for experiencing all the surrounding natural beauty of Rainier, et al. but there isn’t much to do in the town (of ~300 people)… especially during #lockdown2020.

There wasn’t a whole lot to do besides hang out at home and go on a few short hikes around the neighborhood. We could have gone big if we wanted, but it was pretty wet during that week and there was no real need because our place was nestled between the Cowlitz River and Lake Creek. We did drive up to White Pass to play in the snow one day – Dom lasted about 15 minutes before he was over the cold… and our amateur attempts to keep him properly bundled in it. Other than the snow pics below, everything was taken within walking distance of our rental. I also got a chance to practice my drone photography.

It’s hard for us to have these do-nothing vacations, as we’re very much into boarding planes to explore new cities and countries. We are very much looking forward to returning to that. In the meantime, we’ll continue exploring all the sights our our home state has to offer. At the least, we got to live that quarantine life somewhere else for awhile. A wood burning stove and hot tub when it’s 38° outside isn’t so bad.

Kubota Garden Adventure

With many of our favorite parks and playgrounds closed this year Dom and I searched for new places to explore. In late summer we discovered Kubota Garden in Rainer Beach, and it has quickly become a favorite outside adventure spot. Taking advantage of non-rainy weekdays, we visited twice in October. Most of the time we are able to explore the paths alone. Last week we both took our cameras to capture the early stages of fall colors. Elliott came with us in the hope of seeing the Koi, and the senior groups wandering the paths loved Dom’s interest in photography.