We went down to San Diego for the weekend. The primary purpose was to see Keb’mo with Taj Mahal. They were planning at Humphreys by the bay which authors a package deal of Front road tickets with a crappy room at the hotel and a crappy dinner. However, the seats were great and the show was exceptional. We like Keb’mo, but this was a little bit more of Delta blues and Taj Mahal is a legend so the show was better than studio album. And of course they include some Keb’mo classics like she just wants to dance.
By coincidence, the show was Friday night and the annual dog surfing contest in Del Mar was Sunday morning so we stayed over an extra day. The last time we were in the area we gave up on Newtopia cider and discovered Bivouac. The tasting room was very nice and we discovered some new cider and brought home a growler and a four pack.
As long as we were down there, we had to go to Jojo’s creamery, which may be our favorite ice cream place in the world right now. Jeni’s is a close second, but uses a few additives.
Cayenne seal salt caramel, mounds, and honey lavender are all great.
The dog surfing was fine, but most of our favorites from when we lived in Del Mar have retired from the sport and the new dogs don’t seem the same.
When we were staying in Delmar a few years backwe put our names and a small deposit on the waiting list on a retirement community in Carlsbad. It really is kind of nice, the best we’ve seen with maintenance, policies and location, but it’s far from our grandson and we are not close to ready. There’s been a bit of beach, erosion, but we were there a few days after an offshore hurricane with lots of waves.
We returned to Costa Rica to get better views of several birds. Although we had seen an Agami Heron before, it was only a juvenile and was not nearly as colorful as an adult. Our previous sighting of a King Vulture had been little more than a white dot high in the sky.
We planned this trip to coincide with the Agami Heron's nesting season. We were taken into a rookery where more than 700 birds were nesting. We also visited a location where King Vultures roost close to the ground and are fed pig heads, allowing us exceptional views of these impressive birds.
Agami HeronAgami Heron returning with nesting materialKing VultureKing VultureKing Vulture
Of course, there were other birds there. The Rufous-winged Tanager was a surprise for us because we had never heard of it, and a surprise for our guide because the species is uncommon. We watched it for about ten minutes before it finally came out onto a clear branch.
Rufous-winged Tanager
We also spotted quite a few hummingbirds, with the tiny Snowcap being a particular treat.
Snowcap
Then it was off to Guatemala, our first time there. We especially wanted to see the Pink-headed Warbler.
Chris and Mike at the “Warbler Cottage”Pink-headed Warbler
Unfortunately, we spotted it only high in the trees and in terrible light, so we did not really get to appreciate the bird or take a good photograph. Perhaps we will have to return and try again.
Then we were off to Lake Atitlán. We did not have any particular birds in mind; we simply wanted to sample some of Guatemala's birdlife.
We also learned a little about Guatemala while talking with our guide. One amusing tangent was that the McDonald's Happy Meal originated in Guatemala. The first McDonald's franchise there created a children's meal that included a toy, like those found in a piñata, along with a small hamburger, fries, and a drink. McDonald's initially tried to prevent the franchise from creating a new menu item, but later adopted the idea after seeing how popular it was.
Lake Atitlán
We had lunch at a restaurant with a beautiful garden and did some birding there. We found this hummingbird, which Chris especially liked.
Sparkling-tailed Hummingbird
We then birded in the foothills of the volcano and encountered a Blue-throated Motmot, one of the few motmots without racket-shaped tips on its tail.
Blue-throated Motmot
The next day, we went to the other side of the volcano to look for more birds, as well as some deer.
White-tailed DeerSpot-breasted Oriole
Guatemala was a little more frustrating than Costa Rica because many of the birds remained high in the trees or hidden in dense foliage.
New Haven is know for its pizza. Pepe’s is the original but Sally’s is close. Unfortunately, the children now run Pepe’s and have expanded too fast. The pizza was just okay.
At the same time, California abandoned stupid Thai chicken pizza and is making some high quality Italian pizza.
Cayenne seal salt caramel, mounds, and honey lavender are all great.
The dog surfing was fine, but most of our favorites from when we lived in Del Mar have retired from the sport and the new dogs don’t seem the same.
When we were staying in Delmar a few years backwe put our names and a small deposit on the waiting list on a retirement community in Carlsbad. It really is kind of nice, the best we’ve seen with maintenance, policies and location, but it’s far from our grandson and we are not close to ready. There’s been a bit of beach, erosion, but we were there a few days after an offshore hurricane with lots of waves.
