Gaslamp Quarter & San Diego Zoo

Hanging out in the Gaslamp Quarter, a mecca of shops, bars and restaurants. 

We drove to the Gaslamp Quarter, one of the historic parts of San Diego, where we window-shopped and explored local restaurants and a favorite chain. Being deprived of a Pinkberry in San Francisco (except for one at the fabulous Virgin America terminal at the airport), I'm always excited to enjoy a cup of my favorite frozen yogurt. It's the little things. 

Because Gaslamp is so close to Petco Park, we had no trouble finding a surplus of sports bars so that Spencer could watch his beloved San Francisco Giants in the playoffs. To the chagrin of Padres fans, we cheered the Giants on through the excruciatingly painful NLDS versus the Reds, the I'm-going-to-have-a-heart-attack NLCS versus the Cardinals, and finally, the smooth run to the championship versus the Tigers. WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!

Photo courtesy of SFGate.com

Of course, what's a visit to San Diego without a trip to its world famous zoo?

Quick! Get Gizmo out of daylight!

Why so serious?

Getting that bamboo fix. 

Ready for a tiger snooze?

Tijuana, Baja, Mexico

Since we were just a hop, skip and a jump across the border to Mexico, Spencer and I decided to venture into Tijuana. Although, we had both been to Mexico, we had never been to the California border city. So we drove to the border crossing, parked our truck and walked across. Pretty simple. 

Once we arrived in Tijuana, we were lucky to find an English speaking taxi driver, especially considering our Spanish consists of hello, goodbye, and asking where to find the cuarto de baño.

Spencer and I were hungry for lunch and a friend recommended looking at Anthony Bourdain's guide to Baja on No Reservations. We found a restaurant in Tijuana's business district called Mision 19 that had rave reviews, so we told the cab driver to drop us there. 

We arrived at a modern LED office building that looked like it belonged in the Bay Area. Definitely not the Tijuana we expected. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the restaurant didn't open until 1 p.m. and we had about 45 minutes to kill. After getting successfully kicked off the rooftop garden (no visitors allowed), it was time to eat. 

Only one person in the restaurant spoke English better than our mangled Spanglish, but luckily Rachel managed "Yo soy vegetariana" to order a vegetarian dish. They served us complimentary mini burgers, which were darling, much cuter than normal barbaric burgers. Other than the language barrier, the rest of meal was fantastic -- absolutely not what we expected at all, but fantastic nonetheless. 

After lunch, we visited the Centro Cultural Tijuana, a museum showcasing international exhibitions, which was crowded because of a conference. So we jumped in a taxi to check out Avenida Revolución, the infamous epicenter for tourists looking to dance, drink and have a good time. We had been warned that the area was relatively depressed since the U.S. discouraged tourists from visiting Tijuana due to increased drug-related violence.

Definitely rough around the edges, we did find a quiet cantina, where we quenched our thirst with a couple cervezas. Although, we didn't have enough time to make it to the beach towns down the coast, we would love to go back to Baja for another sampling. 

Coronado, CA

Starting just outside San Francisco in Petaluma, Ca., we made a quick stop in Temecula, to see Spencer's cousin get married. Then we continued our journey to SoCal and landed in San Diego. With near-perfect autumn weather and the beach a few blocks away from our RV park, it's a wonder that we even left. We were close to Coronado, a well-groomed resort town about 5 miles from downtown, where everyone possesses a beach cruiser, a pair of Toms and a laid-back approach to life.

Observe the Florida native, outfitted in a sweater for the sub-75 degree weather. 

The Hotel del Coronado takes up some prime beach real estate.

Spencer and I took full advantage of the sunshine and biked "The Strand," a 10-mile isthmus connecting Imperial Beach to Coronado. We rewarded ourselves with a few frothy and delicious Orange Ave Wits from the Coronado Brewing Company. 

  

Everyday feels like an air and sea show here, with military planes flying overhead. 

One of Spencer's favorite parts of docking our RV near Coronado was the never-ending parade of military and commercial planes that would pass over us. The buzz grows on you the way taxi horns and ambulance sirens do in a city or crickets chirping do in the countryside. 

Greetings!

For those strangers we have yet to befriend, Spencer and Rachel are living and traveling around the country in a fifth wheel toy hauler. Before deciding to pack up all of our material things (well, purging most of it and keeping what would fit), we lived and worked in San Francisco. 

We've been dating for about two years, and we met on Craigslist (NOT the Casual Encounters section -- although whatever floats your boat). Rachel moved into Spencer's beautiful officer's mansion in the Presidio through a random roommate ad. Once thing led to another, and we've been inseparable ever since. 

Since we aren't trust fund babies or investors of the Post-it, Spencer and Rachel are working on the road. As long as we have Internet, we can manage Spencer's mortgage investment company anytime, anywhere. Before working with Spencer, Rachel worked as a news reporter in San Francisco. So this little blog is a way to keep her passion for writing alive. 

Some of Spencer's favorite things are chowing down on authentic burritos, snowboarding on fresh pow, riding his Yahama WR250R, and catching up on episodes of Homeland. When Rachel isn't whipping up delicious meals in our kitchen, she's usually reading, trying not to fall on her butt snowboarding, sending postcards to family and friends, and searching for the perfect cupcake. 

If we forgot anything, just ask: 
Rachel@WhereintheWorldRV.com 
Spencer@WhereintheWorldRV.com