Finally, all my training is over! I’ve been so anxious all week to head to La Jolla Cove, which is home to a bunch of lovable harbor seals. I tried to narrow the pictures down, but it’s so hard to choose favorites because they all have so much character and such adorable little faces! It really is an incredible sight to see these playful critters in their natural environment.

One thing that disappointed me was that I didn’t see all of the beach squirrels that were there last time (like this little guy below). I love squirrels and squealed with delight when I saw that they were living in the rocks of La Jolla Cove. There were quite a few of them before and they would eat out of your hand (not that I broke the law and fed them, lol). They were fat and friendly, but now I only found this one. The look on his face is priceless. I wonder what he was thinking…

This may be my favorite from all the shots I took of the seals just because of the softness from the golden rays of the setting sun, the vibrant colors from rocks, and the look of content on the seal’s face. He hasn’t a care in the world!

Don’t you just want to cuddle with this guy?

Uh, excuse you?!?! Who do you think you’re sticking your tongue at??? Hmmmm???

These two lazy seals remind me of our cats, Soc and Stewie. They think they own the place (and they would be right)!

This one loves the camera!

After observing the seals for a while, I decided to walk around La Jolla and do some window shopping (I told Matt there were some 12 carat diamond earrings that I really liked… hahaha). I bought a few shirts and then decided to grab dinner at a cute little Thai place. I have to say, food on the west coast ROCKS!!!!

There is nothing like a west coast sunset! I missed out on sunset photos when I got into town on Sunday, so I made sure to stick around to catch it today since I will be busy tomorrow night. Unfortunately, I have gone all week clicking picture after picture without charging my battery, so my camera was not wanting to cooperate. But I did manage to get a few shots in before it died completely.

So part three of my U.S. tour takes me to San Diego, which of course in German means “a whales vagina.” Sorry, Matt said I’m obligated to use Anchor Man jokes while I’m out here.

I had a great time in San Bernardino visiting one of our customer account teams. They were a great bunch of people, and their stores are very nice. I got to visit 3 different retailers in the area and see how different things are out here. MUCH nicer than anything we have in Jacksonville, unless you go to a Native Sun or Fresh Market. Even Publix doesn’t come close to these stores.

On my way to San Diego, I stopped in Murrieta (just 11 miles from Temecula) and picked up some real estate guides. No, we aren’t moving just yet, but Matt and I are entertaining the idea of living here some day. Murrieta would be about the mid-way point between where both of us would probably work, assuming we both stayed with our current employers (which would certainly be preferred). Murrieta is a nice area and I stumbled upon a fabulous sushi place called Woomi Sushi. Honestly, I’ve been heartbroken since Botan closed down, but this place is BETTER than Botan!!! There are two things that made me a Botan addict: cuccumber salad and garlic salmon. Woomi had the same cuccumber salad but with shrimp (yummy). They didn’t have garlic salmon on the menu, but I ordered red snapper sushi and noticed a light sauce on it. When I tasted it, I perked up… it was my long lost love, garlic sauce! I asked if that’s what it was and the sushi chef confirmed it. Ah!!!! Garlic sauce! It’s the greatest thing to happen to sushi! Anyway, the sushi place alone is enough to make me want to live there, but being minutes away from Temecula is convincing, too. Of course, we could just live in Temecula and be minutes from Woomi. Either way, it can’t be wrong!

Here are some pics of dinner (yes, I took photos of it just so I can share it with you):

Cuccumber and Shrimp Salad

Red Snapper Sushi (left) and Salmon Sashimi (right)

Talk about some huge pieces of fish!!!

After being reunited with my beloved garlic sauce, I had to get a second order of Red Snapper. This time, he added a special little piece of salmon for me!

I was literally dancing in my chair as I ate the sushi. Oh, I guess I should add that I also had sushi for lunch! I went out with some people from the office and had sushi. They were happy that I was an “adventurous eater.” I guess they don’t have many people in the office who like sushi. Unfortunately, I think it’s the same way in my office. I can only think of 3 of us who eat it. I could eat it every day!

After my stop in Murrieta, I continued on to San Diego. I arrived at my hotel somewhere around 8:30pm. There are a million hotels right here. After all, it’s on Hotel Circle. I’m just down the street from Old Town, which is great. I need to stop by there before I leave. Maybe I can grab breakfast down there on Friday.

So I head to my hotel room and open the door and almost flip out. This place is like a timeshare. It’s huge! Much more room than I need. My last hotel was really cozy, so hopefully this will be as well. Class starts at 8am, so I am going to head to bed soon. The great thing about coming out to the west coast for work is that I get up really early because I haven’t adjusted to the time difference, so I’m not running late every morning. I wish I could get up at 6am with no problem back home! I’m looking forward to my class. Coming out here has definitely increased my enthusiasm (and knowledge) of what my company does. I’m hoping to be able to visit another account later this month if I head to Seattle with Matt. We’ll see. I think it really helps to see how different teams approach the work that we do, including their processes and efficiencies.

Here are a few pics from my hotel room at the Residence Inn San Diego – Mission Valley:

This is where I’m headed right now!

So states a humble wooden sign in the historic Galleano family winery in Mira Loma, CA in the Cucamonga Valley. I would have to agree, and after tasting a few wines at Galleano, I realized that not living near vineyards and wineries is like living on the side of the mountain that doesn’t get any sunshine. I tried several wines at Galleano, mostly medium-bodied Zins, and purchased a bottle of their Dos Rancheros to bring home. I didn’t dislike any of the wines I tasted, but this happened to be my favorite. Their wines were very moderately priced. My bottle was just under $20, but their house zinfandel was also nice and cost just under $7. The staff was friendly and engaging and the owner, Don Galleano, even came in to recommend some wines to try. The cool thing was he didn’t announce who he was, though I had been on the website and had a hunch who he was. Later when I was talking to Manny (the guy pouring for me) he mentioned that the older gentlemen who had been in there was, in fact, the owner. I told him that I knew. I think the winery’s history is very interesting and I’m very happy that it has survived the commercial growth that surrounds it. I know I am relatively new to wine tasting, but I have to say these were the best zinfandels I have ever tasted. I can’t wait to get it home for Matt to try because I’m sure he will love it also. I would have to say that Galleano is my favorite SoCal winery to date. Maybe that is due in part to the Galleano family immigrating from the northern Italian alps region like my family did. I definitely want to bring Matt back up here to visit it himself. While Temecula is a beautiful area and it’s great to be able to hop to several different vineyards and wineries, I really enjoyed visiting one that has such a rich history and a family tradition of making excellent wines.