Motel 6 San Diego El Cajon

Mel's Birthday! Thank you to everyone for your lovely cards and gifts. An early start for the birthday girl, awake at 6am! After card opening and breakfast, a quick internet search and a few phone calls to find another motel as this one didn't have availability after tonight. Back into the car with the 90 kgs of luggage and off to search for curtain fabric. Still overcast and rather grey outside, even a little bit of drizzle. What's going on? It never rains on Mel's birthday. Except for the f...

Today got off to an excellent start, except for the weather - still grey! First stop was the 7/11 convenience store near to the motel for breakfast tea and coffee. The assistant was your stereotypical big, jolly African-American "momma". The welcome she gave us, plus the fact we didn't feel the need for a translator was very refreshing. Full of caffeine and positive vibes we got back on the hunt for curtain fabric and another trip down to National City to the fabric warehouse we were at on Tu...

The car went back today, so another early start to get our last few errands done. The weather today was the worst yet. On the way to San Diego Airport where the car needed to be dropped off, we called into IKEA, much to Mel's delight. It's the best value location we've found yet (and we've been round a few!). Basically if it's £2.99 in the UK, or €2.99 in Murcia, it's only $2.99 here, that's just £1.55!! Anyway, price comparisons aside, it was raining when we came out, big rain! And it w...

At last! We awoke to sunshine. After breakfast we set off to walk up to Chris's unit to check on the bus. Only two and a half miles, but as we all know, Americans don't walk anywhere. So we were met with some surprise from Chris and his sister Elizabeth. Elizabeth said that people on foot are considered to have either broken down and are walking to get help, or are loons. We think in their opinion we fit into the latter category! Our secondary mission for the day was to find a real food super...

Today it's Bank Holiday Monday in the UK and Memorial Day here in the US, the equivalent of the UK's Remembrance Day, so it's a national holiday over here. Not that you would really notice. All of the restaurants and the large stores are open. However, the favourite American passtime on Memorial Day is a "cook-out" - a barbecue to you and I! We've walked miles again today. Purchased a few more bits of camping equipment and a tool box to add to the collection of strange things in our motel roo...

Not a very exciting day today. Spent the morning arranging Vehicle Insurance and the afternoon doing laundry. The whole concept of insurance over here is completely different to the UK. In the UK the emphasis is on protecting your vehicle and recovering your costs. Here it's all about having enough liability protection for when the other motorist/homeowner/victim sues you! Having discovered this we now understand a contradiction that we've witnessed over the last few days on foot. Despite the...

Received a call first thing to say the bus wouldn't be ready until tomorrow! The fridge isn't working and the engine needs a smog check! Disappointed but not completely surprised.

However, the sun was out, the sky was blue and there were no clouds to be seen, so we decided to take the tram into San Diego for a spot of sightseeing.

For $5 each, you can purchase a Regional Daypass which allows unlimited travel on the trams (Trolley) and most of the buses. Bargain!

We too...