I am so grateful that Jessie and I were able to escape the winter and head off to one of my new favorite places - the warm, sunny San Diego. This has become my new playground. So much to do, so little time and perfect weather.
Minnesotans were so desperate to get out of town. The evening of our flight we sat at the airport knowing there was an impending snow storm the next day. I watched the airlines try to bribe people off the overbooked flight. "We are offering $400 vouchers for anyone who is willing to take a flight tomorrow." EVERYONE was shook their heads and nothing was going to stop them from getting on that plane....that day!
I just turned 30 and Jessie is 32 and we stayed two nights at the LEGO hotel. It was AWESOME. Unfortunately we had not seen the Lego movie yet but apparently there's a great song in there called "everything is awesome" and truly everything was awesome at this hotel. There was even a surprise in the elevator - MUSIC and a disco ball. 
There's a lesson here - take time to be a kid. When I was checking in the woman said "and how many kids do you have with you?" I said "none" with a smile. She assured me that happens a lot.
After containing our excitement for the LEGO hotel we ventured to La Jolla for some seal watching. It was incredible because you could walk right up to the seals and sea lions. One sea lion even invited me to do yoga with him. And check out the seal doing a photo bomb in the left picture. Lesson here - lay out (with sunscreen) and be lazy.
Did I mention the food? OMG. I had wanted to go to Hash House a Go Go in Vegas when we were there before. But we made it to the San Diego location. I have never, ever seen food like this before. Be prepared, here comes the food porn. Jessie has a TOWER of bacon waffles with fried chicken. Drool. Note my underhand grip on the cast iron skillet - that probably weighed 5 lbs. Hash, eggs, biscuit...need I go on?
Lesson here - even if you have been abstaining from gluten, flour, yeast, etc there is a time for eating the most amazing homemade biscuit you have ever seen.
It wouldn't be a vacation for us if there wasn't an athletic event as the focus and reason to travel. We were signed up for the inaugural "Avocado Run" but it was rescheduled and we quickly found the Women's San Diego Half Marathon. It was beyond beautiful, perfect weather, and a great race.
Lesson here - fitness, health, and athletic endeavors are all amazing "reasons" to travel.
A highlight of the trip was all the beaches. We probably went to four beaches and one was a naked beach. It is so comical. However, the best person on the naked beach was this guy. Look close at the picture - he's stacking rocks. Who knows why....but he's happy.
But the sunsets are magical. We sure aren't seeing any of these in Minnesota in February.
Lesson here - go somewhere and be naked. And....stop and watch the sunset no matter where you are.Besides the beach, there was a professional indoor soccer game, a tour at Petco park, lots of food, shopping, and good weather.
But there are two lessons that really stuck with me from the trip to San Diego. "Life is short, EAT Cookies" There is nothing else to say about this one...except...do it!
But the most interesting lesson came in the form of a street sign. Everywhere we went, we made a u-turn. And not an illegal u-turn, but a recommended u-turn with the appropriate signage. And on the event that we actually turned down a one way and had cars headed straight towards us, being so good at making u-turns was helpful.
When something in life isn't right, make a u-turn! Don't like the direction your health or fitness is headed? U-turn. Want to make a change in careers? U-turn. The possibilities are endless but if you feel stuck in life, remember you can ALWAYS make a u-turn (even if it's illegal) :-)
Have an amazing week, enjoy the warmer temps and maybe drink a green beer for St. Pat's.
