we'll understand it, all by and by

San Diego was a hotbed of attractive fellas; surfer types, hipsters, deck hands, hmmm. Unfortunately when Betsy and I went for a stroll which included a stint along the naked beach, the dudes in the buff were not of the attractive variety.
So yeah, California was all around pretty awesome. Betsy and I packed a lot of activity in which included sunburning myself badly the first day laying by the pool of her parent's BEAUTIFUL home, tide pooling where we had hoped to see an abundance of sea life but all we saw were a bunch of sea anenomes. Biking (and surreying) in Coronado, poking fun at the fat seals, kayaking in the ocean in the hopes of seeing some tiger sharks (no dice), but Betsy saw a dolphin and we saw plenty of sea lions. Of course we also spent ample time enjoying live music in the local hipster dives.
Camping in the desert was probably the highlight of the trip, and Betsy did not try to get fresh with me at all. We packed in as much hiking as possible and it felt asstastic. The flowers were a-blooming and the scenery was lovely. Oh man, anyone who knows me knows how much I like old dilapidated buildings and since there was a stint of gold mining in Joshua Tree, there were a couple of REALLY COOL old mills, one of which we got to climb around in though I'm not sure if we were supposed to be climbing over the piece of history like that. There was also a dilapidated ranch house and rusty old cars and grated over mines that I enjoyed quite thoroughly.

At dusk we scoped out Cap Rock, where legend says that Gram Parson's friends attempted to cremate him per his request. We popped the Flying Burrito Brothers into the boombox and spent some time at the site paying tribute as others had before us. Next stop was the Joshua Tree Inn where Gram actually died. We then attempted to find a saloon in the town of Joshua Tree, but just found a poor slicked up rendition of a saloon with obnoxious patrons.
Oh, and the Salton Sea, disgusting. If you read any literature about it claiming it to be a nice resort area, well, if it ever was those days are long past. Brown water, weird sand and fish carcasses abound. Betsy put her feet in the water and they felt weird, which isn't surprising since it is fed by agriculture runoff.

Well, I wish I could have more wittily regaled my tales of San Diego, but I felt under pressure. My sunburn, which still hasn't healed completely was the topic of many conversations, and I like to think that I maintained a certain level of midwestern charm throughout the entire week.