Temecula, CA (USA)

Woke at 0645 again. While waiting for the other guys in the lobby of the Navy Lodge this morning, I was amazed by the scale of renovations - it will something when it is finished! Drove over to hangar with Todd and Rob and quickly got started on the next phase of the "inspection" with Alan and Allen [0800]. Spent a few hours on the mishap drill... Worked through lunch and managed to wrap up the Ground Safety section. Also finished the Safety Survey (my fourth one as representative for the NSC...). After all write-ups were done, I debriefed Tim (that went well, actually). Later met up with Todd (1400) and we agreed that we should do some exploring (after all, he's never been anywhere nearby...). I had called my cousin, John, earlier in the month and found out he was out of town - too bad. Still, I wanted to take Todd up to Temecula, so we hurried back to our rooms to change so we could beat the Friday traffic! We made it across the Coronado Bridge around 1430 - there was very little traffic, so I took a chance and used I-5 south to get to I-15. It worked out OK and we made it through Valley and past Miramar without any trouble. The more I Altima, the more I like it! It has good fuel economy and great pickup. We started to see HOV and Express Lane signs (new since I lived here in 1995...). It was actually difficult to tell whether they were free or cost money (even for a carpool), but I took a gamble and used them anyway. I was thinking: "there are two of us - but how do they know who is a carpool and who needs a sticker?" (guess we'll find out later...). The traffic wasn't actually too bad until we made it to the edge of Temecula (right where we were going to exit anyway). Drove down Rancho California to Wilson Creek Winery. I've been visiting that place off and on for more than 10 years and have brought lots of new "converts" (AKA wine club members). I bought a case of assorted wines for Nicky. The weather was much improved - warm and sunny. Todd was eating up the ambiance and wine tasting experience and we didn't leave until they closed (1700). As we headed back towards I-15, we stopped for dinner at Aztec Tacos (a first for me). It turned out they make the same good tacos I've had at a stand - tiny tortillas with great meat. I never guessed that traffic would be an issue, but when we tried to get back on interstate we saw HUGE traffic jam. Since we would have been stuck anyway, we decided to take a scenic tour through the mountains west of Temecula, hoping to find a way across to I-5. In the process, we discovered the De Luz community (Murrieta Road). It was all very scenic: awesome views of rivers, trees, mountains and ranchos (most for sale) but we weren't able to get across the ridge (Camp Pendleton fences blocked the way) - after almost two hours, we ended up in Fallbrook and eventually found I-15 again (sans traffic, fortunately). We made good time back to San Diego (still confused by HOV lanes & pricing) and then drove into the city on CA-163. I took Todd over to Balboa Park - he liked that. We drove through and found out the place was packed with a graduation party. Still, we enjoyed the pleasant weather (much better than the last few days...). I did have a little trouble (with the one-way streets) getting back to I-5, but eventually made it back to Coronado. We did a little souvenir shopping and filled up the gas tank (2040). Got back to the room (2200) and spent the rest of the night packing for tomorrow's departure.