San Diego

Back in March, Mr. Bluth received notice at work that they were sending him to a conference. A conference in San Diego, California! With only three weeks notice, we did not hesitate purchasing a ticket for me and before we knew it we were flying to what I call paradise.

The flight to San Diego was long and, unfortunately, Mr. Bluth and I both had middle seats across the aisle from each other, but somehow we managed to keep Adaline on our laps. All thanks to the two passengers that had aisle seats who would help pass Adaline over so we could trade off entertaining her. I didn't mind the hassle because we were going to San Diego! Walking off the airplane felt like Christmas morning and a flood of memories came back to me even just by being in the airport. We took an Uber to our luxurious hotel (thanks to Mr. Bluth's work we had a suite!) and headed first thing to eat a California Burrito. Mr. Bluth had never partaken of this type of burrito and he was rather impressed and even more impressed with how I just inhaled mine. It is not every day that I get to eat a burrito the size of a newborn baby that is filled with carne asada, guacamole, and french fries! To walk off all that food, we walked around downtown and over to Seaport Village. That evening we went to a dear friend's house and had more carne asada, arroz, and tortillas. I could hardly eat because I was so happy just being with this friend and her family. My last appointment on the mission was with this family and I ended my mission on such a good note. They are truly some of San Diego's finest residents.

The next day was Sunday and we got up and got out the door to catch the trolley to take us down to the border. I never used the trolley system on my mission and I have to thank living in Chicago for giving me such confidence to go to any city and figure out their public transportation. The trolley system was great and we got dropped off right next to the border crossing and followed everyone up. I am pretty pleased that the first time Adaline got to use her new passport was to see her father's mission. I think Mr. Bluth and I were just gleaming with delight. It was so funny that as soon as we crossed over, Mr. Bluth immediately got into his comfort zone, just like how I was feeling in San Diego. He got us a cab and we set off to visit the new temple. It was incredible to see how vastly different San Diego and Tijuana are, even just a couple of miles apart. I also found Tijuana to be beautiful, but just way more populated. We arrived to the temple grounds only to find that they were closed, but thanks to the nice security guy at the temple gate he was able to get permission to let us in to walk around for a bit. The Tijuana and San Diego temples are the two most beautiful in the world. Yes, we are slightly biased.

After enjoying the beautiful temple grounds (and enjoying the agua in the fountains) we set off to a church building close to the temple. Mr. Bluth served in this area so the drive was special as he pointed things out to us and the church building brought back a lot of memories to him too. Unfortunately, we arrived right after sacrament meeting and the next ward was not starting for a few hours. Church in Tijuana is very different than church in Utah. A system of set times for church to start does not exist and the whole "find a church" feature on Mormon.org proved to be incorrect with all the start times that were listed. So we set off to another ward building only to arrive to listen to the final sacrament talk, but Mr. Bluth recognized a few members so he was able to reconnect for a few minutes with them after the meeting. This church building was located close to El Centro so, after passing an apartment building where he had lived for a time, we went on a route that he took many times as a missionary and ended up down in a lively and fun section of town.

This may have been the most incredible moment of the entire trip for Mr. Bluth. It was in this section of town that he finally got to eat some street tacos. Mr. Bluth was in his element ordering tacos de birria, a vapor, and de cabeza. I like to think that he was grateful that he married me because I had no problem eating them off the street with him. He may have even been more proud when I wanted horchata and churros to finish the meal. I have heard many stories about Tijuana so to see Mr. Bluth walking and navigating this city made my heart beat a few beats faster. While most people never want to step foot in Tijuana, I would gladly return one day. Sadly, our time was coming to end to explore TJ so we walked to the border crossing and said adios to the beautiful country of Mexico.

Sunday evening turned out to be a very special evening for me as we met up with Noel who is someone that has been constant in my life since I first met him. He fits the Ensign stories that you read about how a dramatic change takes over someone when they are baptized. He is someone that will still call and text me and is always eager to tell me about his new calling in church. He is faithful, diligent, and truly hopes for a brighter future through the power of Christ. He now takes care of his niece so we met at a great park downtown where the girls could run around. Much fun was had.

The next day Mr. Bluth's conference started so Adaline and I played in the morning and we met up with Mr. Bluth after her nap at Las Cuatro Milpas, which just happens to be my favorite place for Mexican food north of the border. This place is incredible and always has a line clear out the door no matter what time of day you go. I can't describe the richness of the food too much because it makes me so home sick for San Diego. And to top everything off we then headed to Old Town to visit my old home for 18 months and to see the Mormon Battalion Historic Site! Too many emotions to describe how I felt walking into the Battalion, but I will say it was great to finally have Mr. Bluth go on the tour so that he could finally get a visual of all the stories I have told him. Time passed too quickly and I was not able to show Mr. Bluth everything I wanted in Old Town, but I think he got a great first introduction.

Our last full day in San Diego was spent taking a ferry ride to Coronado Island where we played at the beach. It was pretty magical to watch Adaline experience the ocean for the first time and I LOVE being her mother. I thought it would be fun to take her to the beach, but it was way more than just fun. She was so unsure of it, but loved it and was so intrigued by everything.

We ate at some other delicious restaurants and Mr. Bluth was able to go to the US Midway one evening for cocktail event as part of the conference so overall we were able to see a lot of the iconic sites of San Diego. I just can't wait to go back and show Mr. Bluth and Adaline more of the hidden gems and true beauty of San Diego.