Passover 2005 Trip Report

BM Torrey (360+ feet)

My parents visited San Diego for Passover 2005, staying in Del Mar at the Hilton on Villa de la Valle. We had a wonderful time together, especially on any of several drives to various places in San Diego both before the first night and during days three to six when the rules of Passover admit of motorized travel.

My favorite experience was visiting the Bazaar del Mundo in Old Town. We enjoyed lunch at Casa de Pico with both a lime (for myself) and strawberry margarita (dad). We shared all meals, including guacamole enchiladas; huevos rancheros; and cinnamon fried ice cream for dessert.

Mom enjoyed shopping, and bought for me a jar of habanero pepper jelly that I have yet to enjoy!!

We ended up returning to Bazaar del Mundo twice so mom could purchase unique Latin American clothing, and, for myself, a small, handmade pillow woven by Zapotec natives from southern Mexico. I like pillows - they are soft, squeezable, and never complain.

I drove mom and dad around to a few housing developments but none were sufficiently alluring to be of real interest for a future purchase.

One one trip we drove to the Torrey Pines State Reserve just a few miles from my home and along the coastline. We enjoyed a short hike - and I trivially climbed a hill on the south side of the road with grand views to the north and northeast of Carmel Valley where I live. The hill is shown on the USGS chart as supporting a tiny 360+ foot contour, and has BM Torrey atop.

I took photographs on some of these outings. Mom claims that these short drives were the best part of their Passover experience - the food and general atmosphere in the hotel being wanting.

Addendum

I reascended BM Torrey on April 3, 2006 with Jan Bielawski, a friend and former worker at Biosym / Molecular Simulations / Accelrys. We started from the beachfront parking lot alongside North Torrey Pines Road; and walked the Park approach road, trending southeast, with expanding views to the northwest, north, and northeast.

It started to drizzle lightly but our spirits were undampened. At an all too brief respite from employment, I trust that Jan will see me again in the near future. As we both enjoy Kahlua and Ben & Jerry's ice cream, the preferred activity for next time is obvious.