San Diego: A portion of the San Diego downtown skyline and San Diego Bay is seen from a shoreline walkway at Coronado. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Star of India: The Star of India sailing ship was built in 1863 and is the world’s oldest sailing ship. The ship was launched five days before Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address! The ship made 21 trips around the world with no auxiliary power. It is now a part of the Maritime Museum in San Diego and docked next to the shoreline walkway so that all can see and enjoy the beautiful ship. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
By GARY WARREN
Photographer
Formerly of Los Alamos
After traveling through a cool and very wet Sonoran Desert in Arizona, we finally reached San Diego, Calif. We have traveled around Southern California on several occasions but had not visited San Diego.
This was our third attempt to visit the city. Our first trip toward the coastal city was in August 2023. We traveled as far as St. George, Utah before canceling our reservation and returning home because a rare hurricane was predicted to hit land at San Diego the day we were scheduled to arrive. The hurricane did arrive and caused unusually heavy rain for the area, especially in the summer.
Our second attempt was cancelled in December as we were both ill and could not travel. Our third attempt to see San Diego was a success!
We were starting to wonder if this visit would happen as our trip west was cold and wet. San Diego had experienced more heavy rainfall and flooding just days before our arrival and we experienced that rain while traveling through Arizona. The desert is green this spring.
We attended a RV Rally near San Diego before spending a few days visiting the city. We knew going in that our time in the area was limited so we chose get an overview of the area on this trip. We did see and do a lot in a few days and thoroughly enjoyed the short visit.
We don’t always choose to visit the typical “touristy sites” but on this visit that is what we did since we wanted to get a good overview of the area. We enjoyed a trolley tour, we visited the San Diego Zoo, we enjoyed a lot of “windshield views” of the city in our rental car.
San Diego has many museums and sites as well as the beautiful west coast landscapes to explore and enjoy. We will never have time to visit them all but we will be back to enjoy more of what the city has to offer.
We know that we just “scratched the surface” of what San Diego has to offer but we hope to visit again and begin exploring the area. Perhaps the next visit will happen on our first attempt and we will enjoy more of the weather that San Diego is known for!
Editor’s note: Longtime Los Alamos photographer Gary Warren and his wife Marilyn are traveling around the country, and he shares his photographs, which appear in the “Posts from the Road” series published in the Sunday edition of the Los Alamos Daily Post.
Downtown View from Harbor: The San Diego harbor sits on San Diego Bay and is adjacent to downtown San Diego. A walk along the harbor features many water views and ships and boats of all sizes. There are parks, several restaurants and hotels as well as the San Diego Convention Center located along the water front. Seen in this photo is a view of downtown across the street from the piers and terminals at the harbor. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Trolley: A Trolley tour of San Diego transports riders to several locations in San Diego and Coronado. The 25 mile tour has 11 stops which allows passengers to get on and off of the trolley. The tour is a great introduction to the sites and areas of San Diego to first time visitors who are looking for an overview of the area. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
San Diego Zoo: The San Diego Zoo is world famous and has a large collections of exotic and endangered animals, birds, and reptiles. The zoo is situated in a hilly area of Balboa Park and is also home to thousands of exotic plants within its landscaping. The zoo is located near downtown San Diego and is surrounded by many other museums and attractions in Balboa Park. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Monkey: The San Diego Zoo is home to many Angolan Colobus Monkeys. These unique creatures are found in the coastal forests of Tanzania and Kenya in Africa. This particular monkey was calmly sitting while visitors snapped photos as he posed. Note: The photos at the zoo were taken through netting, fencing, or bars which obstruct the animals and reduce image quality. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Guanaco: Guanacos are the wild relative of the llama and reside in South America. I could not resist photographing this guanaco as he posed in the late afternoon light before laying down for a rest shortly after the photo was taken. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
Koala: A koala is seen in the koala care center at the San Diego Zoo. Walkways around the area are at a level that puts visitors at eye level making them easier to see among the eucalyptus branches which are the main source of food for the furry animals. Photo by Gary Warren/ladailypost.com
