Seattle to San Diego was North to South and Winter to Summer. Landing first at Los Angeles airport I had a disconcerting moment when the sat-nav I had been loaned needed some coaxing to realise it was no longer in Seattle. That would have turned a two-hour drive into a 19-hour drive. But eventually the TomTom did its thing, and now I had wheels. Drive on the right, right turn on red, unless prohibited. Drive on the right...
For someone who doesn't do all that many church services, it was kind of funny to find myself at two in one day - Westgate Seattle in the morning and Victory Outreach San Diego in the evening. In San Diego, it was great to re-connect with my old roomy Anthony from LBC days and his family, including their latest gorgeous new arrival. We literally only had one evening to connect, and Anth took me downtown for a late night coffee and gave me an overview of the city. It's the second biggest city in California, and also the oldest. Yet San Diego feels very open, very pleasant, with touches of artsy creativity, and completely lacks any sense of hustle and bustle. I didn't make it to the 'Old Town' part of the city, but did cross the water by ferry to the more exclusive Coronado. The return leg of the ride featured a quite spectacular city skyline once the sun had set. With a balmy climate and a deep, natural harbour, you see huge cruise ships docked in San Diego, alongside some mighty military vessels.
This slightly crazy journey up the west coast is taking me through five cities in eight days. I'm only expecting to get a taste of each place I visit and to meet friends old and new. Someone once commented that I like to do several things at once, and it's true. Being boy-racer-minded does help when you want to get around and do lots in a very short space of time.
Being a matter of minutes from the Mexican border, I couldn't resist the opportunity to glimpse beyond the fence. Parking at San Ysidro and strolling nonchalantly past the slightly scary US cops - they have a kind of 'cold' authority - together with a one-way stream of Mexico-bound pedestrians, I got to the clicking metal security gate, the point-of-no-return, and suddenly wondered whether the men in blue would let me come back. Thankfully not a word spoken and I avoided deportation on this occasion.
