San Diego, California

It's been such a beautiful day here in San Diego.  When we left the trailer this morning, we had in mind what we would be doing.  We just didn't know how beautiful the weather would be and how much we would enjoy ourselves.  Mike and I grew up in this area.  Actually, he grew up here.  I didn't move here until I was 12, but then I lived here until we got married and moved to Phoenix (when I was 21).  We both graduated from Vista High School in North San Diego County, and while we weren't high school sweethearts, it was where we met.  So, all of that to say that we know the area pretty well.  Still, we managed to see and do things today that we'd never done before.

We visited two quilt shops--both recommended by readers.  Thank you.  I'll tell you more about those in separate posts.  First, I want to tell you about visiting Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, which is where my mother is interred.  As I said in an earlier post, my mother, Clarice Nelson, passed away in 1997.  I was living at my home in Oregon, but I was able to get to San Diego to visit her in the hospital before she died.  There was a memorial service that I attended, but her ashes weren't interred until nearly two weeks later, and I had gone home and back to work long before that.  In all these years, this was the first time I've had a chance to visit her since her death.  I've only seen it in pictures before today--and those did not reveal any details about the surrounding area.

I'm so glad we spent the time doing this because I can't imagine one's final resting place being any more beautiful than where she is.  Fort Rosecrans is a cemetery for veterans.  She happens to be there because my father was a career Marine and a veteran of WWII and Vietnam.  When his time comes, he will rest beside her, presumably.  Until then, she waits for him. 

I knew only the name of the cemetery, but beyond that, I had no idea how to find her.  There is a computerized grave-finding service that led us directly to her.  I simply typed in her name, and this computer spit out a location and map directing us there.

I know it's a little difficult to see, but her name is printed in the lower left corner, and her location is on the lower right corner:  "Section CBC, Row 3, Site 197."  If you look closely, you can see where the Columbarium CBC is located on the right side middle of the page (the south end).  We drove nearly to the end of the point on Pt. Loma where the cemetery is located, and located her marker with no trouble at all.

I was so happy to be able to leave some flowers for her for the very first time.  Now that I know how to find her and I know what the place looks like, I hope to come back whenever we are in San Diego.

What thrilled me about this place is how stunningly beautiful her surroundings are.  She faces toward the ocean, and her "neighbors' homes" are so quietly dignified in the way military cemeteries always are.  This image was taken standing next to her marker looking away toward the ocean.

And this one is taken standing on the other side of the cemetery looking back at where she is located.

She rests just to the right of the large tree, just outside of its shadow.

If all of this seems a bit maudlin, all I can say is that my family didn't fare well after her death.  Without going into any detail, I'll just say that she was the glue that held us together.  There wasn't much of a foundation left after she was gone.  My brother and I remained close, but he too passed away in 2003.  Only my dad and I remain, and our relationship is strained at best.  I think I've intentionally avoided visiting her before because my sadness about her death and the state of my family has been so great.  Seeing this lovely place and experiencing the peacefulness that she has was extremely reassuring.  I'm so glad to have the picture of this place in my mind.  The fact that it was such a beautiful day along this stretch of the Pacific Coast made it all the more healing. 

My mother was an extraordinary nurturer.  While I don't feel sadness about her loss so much any more, I do still miss her a great deal.  She was a registered nurse, and she spent the final decades of her career taking care of newborn babies in the hospital nursery.  She was a natural at her job.  She was a joyful person, and everyone loved her.  I think you would have liked her and her happy spirit too.  I have always wished I was more like her.

So having done that, we drove to the end of the point to see the Cabrillo National Monument and the Old Pt. Loma Lighthouse.  Again, despite living in this area for so many years, neither of us had ever taken the time to come out and see this wonderful place.

Because of its location on top of a high bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, it was very windy and chilly, even though the temperature was warm and the sun was shining.  Still , we enjoyed our visit there.  We went into the visitor's center where I was able to pick up some postcards and a refrigerator magnet (which I collect).  We had a magnificent view of San Diego Bay.  It's easy to see why this is such an important seaport, and why the Navy and the Coast Guard have a strong presence here.  This image looks across the bay at San Diego.

This one looks back toward the Pacific past the monument to the Spanish explorer Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo. 

The nose of land you see beyond the monument is actually the Baja Peninsula, and one can pick up Mexican cell service when standing out here.  (I should point out that the cemetery is within view of these places, and so you can get an idea of how beautiful it is there.)

We walked up to the lighthouse as well, and I'm going to post some pictures.  I was so taken with the vintage quilts on the beds in the living quarters.  I must apologize for their poor quality, however.  I was shooting through glass and trying my best not to have the glare of the flash obliterate the picture.  You can look at mine, but I strongly suggest you click on the link I've provided above for some better shots.  Here is the lighthouse:

And here are some images of the living quarters. 

Here is the kitchen/dining area.  There was a pantry off the back wall.

I got so excited about the quilts on the beds in the upstairs bedrooms.  This one is a log cabin.

I don't know the patterns for these next two.  Maybe one of you does.  In any case, it was such fun to see them on these beds.  This one and the one above were in a child's room.

This one would have been the master bedroom.

From the viewpoint, you can look down toward the tidepools below and imagine Cabrillo's sailing vessel anchoring off shore and his men rowing their wooden boats toward the beach.  Now, there is a Coast Guard station and lighthouse below.

I think I would have liked being a lighthouse keeper.  The literature talks about how lonely a job it was.  Still, Mike and I enjoy a lot of privacy.  That's why we live in the country when we're back home.  I think this lifestyle would have suited us well.

So that was our day in San Diego.  In my next posts, I'll tell you about the quilt shops I saw today.  It's very late, however, and we're moving on tomorrow, so I think that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

For now, I'll just say that we've decided to drive on to Yuma, Arizona, tomorrow and spend the night there.  Then we'll drive south from Yuma (which is already almost as far south as you can get without crossing the border).  We'd like to see Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which we've never seen, and we'll probably camp in the campground there for at least a couple of nights.  (The Sonora Desert is my favorite!)  We're at the dark of the moon, and we want to set up our telescope and look at the stars.  The sky should be very dark this far from any large cities.  Then, we'll move on to Tucson on our way toward west Texas.  I will, of course, tell you about our travels as we go, so I hope you'll follow along.  Until then, good night.  (And, Mom, please sleep peacefully.)