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From the burning desert (ok, it wasn't that hot), to the frozen north (ok, not that cold either), we flew.
Now we enter into the non-stop whirlwind of holiday parties and excitement...
Spent three wonderful nights courtesy of my sister and her husband, who took us to all of the local hiking spots around the area. In spite of their best efforts to wear us out, we survived the ordeal.
The weather was cool and we even got to see snow in the desert. Apparently they have winter down here too - all those tales our friends have told us about the wonderful golfing paradise are complete fabrications.
Yes, that is "Bats in a Bell Tree", one of many eclectic statues that line the bay in San Diego, demonstrating the odd mixture of silly and scary that are San Diego. 
You can be strolling down the docks admiring the cruise ships, tall sailing ships and private yachts, while F14 fighters scream overhead, taking off from the nearby naval base.
Christmas is coming and nowhere do you see this more than here at the marina. An incredible number of boats are decorated with lights - more every day. Pictures just cannot do it justice. Of course this just reinforces the need for us to get moving if we want to make it to Edmonton by Christmas. At the rate we travel it could take a while.
We are pretty laid back right now.
Settled into our temporary home on Shelter island, we spend the days walking, reading, eating and soaking up the sun. As you can see it is pretty exciting here.
We have checked out the local zoo and some museums and spent almost an entire day exploring the USS Midway aircraft carrier berthed by the cruise ships - that was surprisingly interesting.
For the most part, we have been trying to be a little more responsible in our spending habits, finding some cheaper places to eat (like the local bakery we found a 1/2 mile away), and doing most of our sight-seeing on foot, peering over the fences till someone chases us away, etc.
The local marine stores are fascinating for us, from the huge West Marine mega-mart to the smaller cruiser-oriented local chandlers. Everyone is super nice to us even though we haven't bought anything.
We visit the police dock regularly to see what boats are passing through but there is less and less action as most south-bound boats have already left for Mexico and there are very few north-bound vessels at this time of year. We checked on the local marina moorage rates and determined that this would be a very expensive place to stay for any length of time.
Although we really like it here, we have decided to move on next week. We will most likely drive over the mountains (hills?) to Palm Springs, where we are sure my sister and brother-in-law would love to put us up for a couple of months while they teach us how to golf (whatever that is).
It would be hard to find a more perfect climate than San Diego.
Low 20s every day (in the middle of winter), perfect for walking around town. Couple that with cheap off-season rates, incredibly cheap parking anywhere, and lots of things to see, and you have a recipe for happiness.
Now, for us the only thing that could make it better would be to have a lot of boats around. And again this town delivers! Yachts everywhere, sometimes almost crowded in the huge bay. we watched some sort of regatta on Sunday.
To top if off, we found some great accommodations right in the center of the action. We are staying at the Best Western Island Palms Hotel and Marina (http://www.islandpalms.com/), on Shelter island just a short distance from the customs dock. A few boats are still here from Canada which makes us feel a little more at home; although we are not sure why they are not already heading further south. The Baja Ha-ha rally left almost a month ago.
Here is the view from our room. Very nice except for the incredibly rude name on the nearest boat.
There is always a lot going on here, boats sailing around in the bay, the Navy base on Coronado Island a short distance away sending out a constant stream of big ships, helicopters and jet fighters to entertain us, and a few cruise ships and massive cargo ships trying to maneuver through it all.
While we were downtown earlier this week, we happened upon one of the Oracle boats having the main mast unstepped. Now that is a serious spar. You just don't see this type of boat very often back on Nanaimo.
So far, we have spent our time just wandering around taking in the sights. We spent today at Balboa park, visiting the Air and Space Museum. We will no doubt be back to try some of the other museums and possibly the Zoo. Maybe we will bite the bullet and high prices and actually go to Sealand as well - we are, after all, tourists.
The last few days have seen us steadily, if slowly, following the coast south.
We stayed in Cambria overnight so we could spend a half-day exploring Hearst castle; definitely worth a visit.
Onward to Santa Barbara where we finally found our warm weather, low 20s during the day and not much cooler at night. Walked around the marina area as usual, to check out the facilities and access from the Pacific. Noticed a lot of off-shore oil rigs to look out for here.
Interesting observation on the highways. Lots and lots Toyota Prius hybrids in California - probably not too surprisingly. But also, especially in San Fransisco, there are a huge number of Mini Coopers. Very few Smart cars though. And there are still a lot of big SUVs everywhere. Not sure what it all means - just something we noticed.
After a couple of glorious days in San Fran, the clouds are rolling in and the weather is still a little cool. So tomorrow we will continue heading south.
Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, etc. 
Check out our new boat.
We are still in negotiation.
We drove through more of the redwood forest to get to the coast where we actually got to see the ocean. As the day progressed it got to a sultry 13C at the heat of the day.
We visited the Point Arena lighthouse to get an idea of what this coast has to offer for the wayward sailor. Suffice it to say that this is NOT a friendly coast.
We travelled inland today, via the twistiest little one-lane road I have seen in years. It was actually quite fun driving it, especially since we had it completely to ourselves - not one car in either direction for over 30 miles. And Sue seemed more that happy to let me drive the entire way - go figure.
First, we stopped at the petrified forest - a place that for some reason I had always wanted to see since my parents had an old viewmaster with some pictures of it. And we did enjoy it.
Next, we visited the "California" old faithful geyser. We didn't know there even was one so we just had to stop and see it. Not sure it was worth the entry fee but interesting none the less.
In the afternoon, we motored on into San Fransisco where we have decided to spend a few days. It has been many years since either of us has been here and, with the excellent weather we are having right now, it seems like a good idea to do some exploring.
So far we have just walked around the marina area, checking out the mooring possibilities.Day 2
Following the coast highway (101) through the rest of Washington state. Rain off and on.
With great anticipation, we detoured to Long Beach (every state has a place called Long Beach) to see the "World Kite Museum and Hall of Fame".
Picture a rainy off-season resort town. Little is open and the kite museum is long gone. Had a pleasant lunch at a local cafe and motored on into Oregon (with tears of disappointment in our eyes), in search of warmer weather.
In the afternoon, we arrived in Tillamook to tour the cheese factory, before settling in Newport for the night. Our early arrival there allowed us to do a walking tour of the town in search of a cheap place to eat. Not finding any, we had a first-class seafood dinner overlooking the ocean (pitch dark but you could hear the waves if you listened carefully).
Newport is one of the places that a sailing vessel transiting down this coast could conceivably take shelter, so we made a point of checking out the approach through the breakwaters, just in case.
Left Newport in the pouring rain, and it did not let up all day. Through the rain and mist, we caught glimpses of the rugged Oregon coast, small economically disadvantaged (Sue's term) towns, and the old-growth redwood forest.
Interesting Victorian architecture and another possible bad-weather shelter for boats cruising down the west coast.
