The other side of San Diego

So this weekend I went to San Diego. What a beautiful place! We got there Friday night and I asked very nicely if we could drive past the temple since it was dark and I love to see temples at night because they are so brightly lit and I find it to complete the symbolism of the temple as being a representation of light to the world. I was so glad I wasn't driving because I was able to turn around in my seat to see it. From the freeway all of a sudden this enormous, bright white, spired castle appeared and took my breath away. You know how you're supposed to see a bright light when you're dying? It was kind of like that. Then I got to see a different side of San Diego. When I went the first time it was for a conference so we spent most of our time in really nice hotels with their fancy conference rooms. We also went to the beach a couple of times, but it was sort of a fancy trip. This time we stayed at a hostel (which I do not recommend unless you are prepared which I totally wasn't) and it was maybe 4 minutes walking from the beach if you walk slow and look at things. Yes, it was that close to the beach. Places in such a near proximity to the beach tend to attract an interesting crowd. It was about 10 pm and we saw many fascinating specimens of the human race. I was loving it! It was such a change from the hoity-toity teachery people that composed most of my company on my last San Diego trip and I considered myself to be having a grand adventure. I got practically no sleep at the hostel because it is kind of a loud place and the bed was uncomfortable (hostel tip #1: bring your own pillow. And sheets, even though they provide you with some. Just bring your own...) and there were some very interesting people in the hallway having conversations that were hard to ignore. Since I only had to stay there for one night, I chalked it up to my adventure. If I ever have to stay there again...well let's just say there is no "again" for this particular hostel unless I get amnesia and forget that I like to sleep in clean places. Saturday morning we went to the temple, which is probably the place that comes closest to looking like the heaven that I picture in my mind. It was amazing! There's a staircase inside that is so beautiful I couldn't wait to climb it so I could see the rest of the temple. Short story: I loved it! Then we met up with a friend and his family at the beach. They have jetskis so we got to go out in the bay on the jetskis and that was so much fun! Ocean tastes exactly the way I imagined it would, but I was smiling so much that I couldn't help but get water in my mouth. Not appetizing, but still fun. I wasn't brave enough to actually drive a jetski, and I just really enjoyed riding because I could look around and I didn't have to worry about other people. It was better. My other friends fell off of their jetski because one of them turned and looked the wrong direction or something and threw them off balance, but because I am very good at following directions, nothing happened to us on our jetski. The whole weekend we ate at local places, which is so much better than eating at some chain restaurant that you also have at home. That's all. Today I have unfortunately done very little work. But it RAINED! Can you hear me?!? It RAINED! It was amazing and wonderful and I stood outside in the rain. There was thunder and lightning and our street flooded. Our house is fine, but the street was totally flooded--people were wading through the streets and everything. I was loving it. And that has been my Labor Day weekend.