Alpine & San Diego, CA (1/12 - 1/15/2018)

Finally made it to California!  Found a campground in a nice little valley in the Cuyamaca Mountains near the charming village of Alpine and signed up for a week.  I didn't know it when I reserved,  but the campground is on the Viejas Indian Reservation, near the fabulous Viejas Casino & Hotel.

Alpine was settled in the 1880s and now has a population of about 15,000.  It sits at an elevation of about 1800 feet, surrounded by 4000 foot mountains.  From Alpine, it's around thirty-five miles on Interstate 8 to reach San Diego.

The Viejas Indians are one of several bands of the Kumeyaay tribe, some of which are located on the Baja Peninsula.  They acquired the funds to build the casino when they were evicted from the site of a planned reservoir.  They got replacement land in the Cleveland National Forest plus a fair amount of money.  The casino, one of the nicest I've seen, has been successful and several expansions have followed.  

My first night here, I drove around the valley to find a good spot for sunset watching.  I took a couple photos, but could see it was going to get much better.  That's when it happened again!  I got run off the "private" road open only to tribal members by a polite, but firm tribal police officer..

 The next morning I took a shot of the valley and one of the mountains.  That evening, I found a new sunset location on an overpass to I-8, not as comfortable but it works.

After watching football playoff games all week-end, I headed to San Diego early Monday morning.  I especially wanted to visit Balboa Park and its famous botanical building.  Having been there in 1979, I knew it would be worthwhile to see it again.  Once there, I found the botanical building closed in honor of MLK day.  That had never occurred to me, since I don't spend a lot of time looking at the calendar.  Funny, all the museums (seventeen of them) and other venues that charge admission were all open for business. So, I spent the morning walking around this beautiful park, and couldn't be too disappointed at being able to enjoy the landscaping and architecture.

In 1835, the city's founders set aside 1400 acres for the park, but 200 acres have been used for freeway that goes through the grounds.  Still, the 1200 acres remaining offer recreation, entertainment and education for its visitors.  There are several gardens, along with the museums, theaters and International Houses.  Much of the building was done for the 1915 Pan-American Exposition.

The building I was unable to enter is thought to be the most photographed spot in San Diego.  It is an open air building with redwood slats covering a steel frame.

The original buildings and many later ones are in Spanish Colonial style. 

Two notable exceptions are the two Cultural Centers, one of which is shown below.

Another exception is the theater modeled after Shakespeare's Globe Theater (think "theater in the round").

A leisurely stroll through several of the gardens wrapped up my visit to Balboa Park.  Given the size of some of the tropical plants, cacti, etc, it's clear to see San Diego has gone a long time without frost or freezing weather.

My afternoon in Old Town and along the rocky shore will have to wait for the next travelogue.