Work has been very busy the last few months. I’ve had some major projects going live, and lots of deadlines and stress. Manina noticed that I needed a break and so she arranged a surprise vacation getaway for just the two of us.
Manina had been in San Diego with Ellie a few months ago and when visiting Coronado Beach thought that it would be a great place for us to spend a few days together.
So, she emailed my boss and arranged some dates. Manina also swore him to secrecy and then booked a hotel for us. She even set aside some secret cash to pay for the whole thing. What a gal!
We hit the road on Wednesday, stopping for the night in St. George. We went to the St. George temple and then stayed with Gary and Kathy (thanks again!).
We drove to the Coronado Marriott on Thursday. Driving was part of the getaway. It was really nice to not have a schedule, not to worry about kids fighting in the back seats, and to have time to chat uninterrupted during the drive. We also listened to several episodes of the fantastic Serial podcast along the way.
Coronado was really nice. We’re simple Alaska folk, so the hotel felt a little too fancy for us—we were a bit out of our element. But, we enjoyed our room had a great view of the bay and the San Diego downtown skyline.
There was also a nice biking/walking path right along the back edge of the hotel, which we used quite a lot. That evening, we walked to dinner. Then in the morning we got up and went for an early-morning run and breakfast stop along the path.
We really liked Coronado and wish we could have stayed there a little longer.
The next few days were spent with our good friends, the Denneys. They recently welcomed their third boy and were still gracious enough to let us hang out with their cute family and show us around their new town. We ate and ate and ate, but had a great time with them and their three boys.
On Sunday, we made the long drive home. It wasn’t quite as nice as the drive there, but we still enjoyed our time on the road. It was a great surprise getaway.
MightyJohnsons 