San Diego, La Jolla, Coronado & The Padres!

Today, Gavin and I left San Diego. We picked up our rental car from Alamo and headed north to Los Angeles. We'll be in the LA area for about a week, when we pick up Gavin's car from the Port of Long Beach and drive up to San Francisco.

I really enjoyed my first trip to San Diego. The weather was great and for a city it's size (about 1 million), it had a great small town feel and each neighborhood had a diferent character.

George, our gracious host, took us to see a few of the different parts of the city on the weekend. We visited La Jolla, University Heights, Coronado Island, The Gaslamp and caught a Padre's Game at Petco Park.

San Diego was a great place to kick off our travels and I have to admit that I was sad to leave such a great city.


At the waterfront.

Since we didn't have a car everyday, we explored San Diego by using it's mass transit (how un-Southern California, I know!)


Gavin in front of the USS Midway.


Old Town, the birthplace of California.


Yummmm... beer!


Sporting my short haircut in Hillcrest.


Pelicans in La Jolla.


Gavin tried to figure out how steps could be "Out of Order".


Harbor Seals and California Sealions in La Jolla.


George and me at Petco Park.


39,000 fans watched the Padres beat the Cubbies.


Gavin enjoying Cracker Jack at his first Major League Baseball Game.


The drive out to Coronado Island was beautiful.


San Diego's skyline.


Gav and George in front of the Hotel Del Coronado (Where "Some Like It Hot" was filmed.)

Where the Wild Things Live

I've oftened wondered if all the hype over the San Diego Zoo that I've heard over the years was actually real or not. Yesterday, Gavin and I decided to check it out and boy, were we in for a treat. We spent 5 hours at the zoo and could have easily have spent more. We packed our lunch (because that's what budget travelers do), laced up our sensible shoes and went to check out America's premier zooligical park!


Gav at the entrance of the zoo.


A rather large boa (not the feather type).


Keau and the albino python. (I kept on imagining myself in a rock video with this huge snake draped over my shoulders.)


Gav and an African Elephant.


San Diego Zoo's Native Hawaiian Plant Exhibit.


Gavin wore his favorite panda shirt in honor of the Zoo's most popular resident!

San Diego, Indio & Coachella

With the packing, traveling and other things, I've been too busy to blog. Today, I'm going to bring you up to date with what's been happening in my life.


The Last Hurrah in Honolulu. Such good friends are hard to come by!


We made a quick stop on Maui and had lunch with Gavin's adoptive parents, the Gross'! We enjoyed our picnic lunch on the beach near the airport. What a way to spend the last meal in Hawaii!


Here's a picture of our Aloha Boeing 737-700 that took us from Kahului Maui to San Diego. (Notice the blended winglets at the end of the wingtip.)

Unfortunately our flight out of OGG was delayed an hour (maybe we should have flown America's #1 On-Time Airline instead of Aloha?) and by time we got our bags, it was past midnight and the Dollar Rental Desk had closed for the night. We carted our stuff over to Hertz (since they were the only ones open) and they wanted to charge us close to three times what Dollar quoted us. Forget that! We took a cab to George's house and picked up the car the next morning since we were headed out to Indio for the Coachella Valley Art and Music Festival.


Windfarms on the way from San Diego to Indio.


George, Hector and myself in the parking area for the Coachella Valley Festival.


Ice Cold Beer & Water. A must have in the desert!


Art?


James Blunt.


Paul Oakenfold.


The highlight of the festival was the five-act number that Madonna put on. She kept the crowd waiting for about 25 minutes and the crowd got pretty restless and actually booed her a few times (hey, you would too if you stood out in the hot desert sun all day long and then some bitch keeps you waiting). All was forgotten when she came out and rocked to some of her new material and then picked up an electric guitar and did "Ray of Light." Fabulous. Love Madge!


Travelodge Palm Springs.


We had the brunch buffet at the Agua Caliente Casino, located just outside of Palm Springs. Gav won $5 bucks on the slot machine!


Ever since I was a kid, I've wanted to see this giant fiberglass T-Rex located in the Southern California Desert that was featured in a few great movies.


Gav and I at Hector's Mom's house in the Temecula Hills.

Saturday Afternoon Antics in Honolulu

It's been a busy few days since our return home from Sydney this past Tuesday. The house is a mess, I had about 3 million emails at work that I needed to catch up on, and both Gav and I have been battling the post-holiday blues.

Luckily for us, Patty and James flew in from Sydney (on their way home to Chicago), so we could have one last hurrah together!


James and Gavin at Leonards. (Gavin's butt is made out of malasadas!)


Keau, Patty and Gav at the "Blowhole".


Valley of the Temples, Kahalu'u


Come on baby, ring that bell!


Gavin, that pineapple isn't ready to be picked yet!


After we dropped the boys off at the airport, Gav and I went for a beer in Chinatown. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon in Honolulu and we were in search of the perfect spot.


We made our way to 39 Hotel and we were the only ones there (it was 5:30pm). It was wonderful! $3 beers and an outside patio was just what we were looking for. I suggest you check out 39 Hotel's "Lucky Hour(s)" Tu-Sat 4p-8p.


Patio antics.


At $3 a beer, it's hard to have just one ... or five!


There's nothing like yummy (and cheap!) Chinese food after a few beers. I love Mei Sum!


Drunk Gavin @ home. 9pm Sat night.

Friends

I enjoy meeting people and I really value a good friend. Over the years, I have been incredibly blessed to have wonderful people fill my life.

I also love technology. It has allowed me to meet people in other places and maintain a friendship with them. What did we do before email or mobile phones? Did we actually write letters, put a stamp on it and wait a week or so for it to get to its destination? (Have you ever tried mailing a letter from Honolulu to Manchester, England?)

This blog post is dedicated to those friends of mine who live in other cities or countries around the world. Friends who enrich my life and who I care a lot about, but don't get to see them on a regular basis. Friends who I know will be awake when I come home drunk in the middle of the night or those buddies of mine who celebrate holidays the day before I do, due to the international date line.

I love my friends and I love technology.

'nuff said

Sydney Mardi Gras. Part III

I can't lie. I am smack-dab in the middle of a post-holiday hangover. Gav and I had the time of our lives in Australia and now that we're back home, we're wishing that we were back in Sydney! (Don't get me wrong, Hawaii is not a bad place to be, but while we were in Sydney we didn't have to work, we ate like kings, and partied like rock stars!)

We say farewell to Sydney with a few pictures from our last few days in this wonderful city!


This is a picture of our hotel room at the Medusa upon check in. We stayed at this fabulous boutique hotel in Darlinghurst last year and had an amazing time. I recommend it for anyone who visits Sydney. The staff is outstanding!


Keau, Jason (London) and Ash (Sydney) posing in one of the bars on Oxford Street.


Gav, Keau, Alixx (Seattle) and Rich (NYC) on the powerboat in Sydney Harbour.


Gav and Ash's car (with Ash's leg). Taken right before the Mardi Gras Parade.


The 2006 Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade.


Our view from Jason's 3rd floor balcony overlooking the parade route. It was the best view money couldn't buy!


I guess Dyke's on Bikes are universal around the world for leading the parades, huh?


The Marching Boys.


Let's just say that since it was as evening parade, it was quite difficult to get quality crowd shots.


I'm just glad that I didn't have to clean this mess.


Gav, Keau, Ash, Jason, Rich & Alixx. Taken right before the Mardi Gras Party.


Unfortunately, they didn't allow any cameras into the Mardi Gras Party, but let me tell you that it was crazy! I can't begin to describe the feeling of dancing with 20,000 other people to some of the music and laser light shows around. This pic was taken at about 7am. I think we look rather good for being so wasted! :)


Gavin and I at "The Gap" near Watson's Bay.


Gavin under the Sydney Harbour Bridge.


Mark and Gav.


The Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, had "Kylie - An Exhibit" on display. It was nothing short of amazing. If you are a Kylie fan, I recommend seeing this exhibit. It showcases actual costumes that she wore in various videos, movies and concerts, as well as photos from different eras throughout her career. I was in heaven.


Gav and I went for a walk around Sydney on our last day. I finally got my picture taken in front of the opera house.