Gaylord Pacific

Finally the Gaylord Pacific had a public opening on Friday May 16 … and of course we had to check it out!. We loaded our bikes up and headed to Pepper Park on the National City side of the Sweet Water River. Last tine we were here Phase 1 of the Pepper Park improvements had just begun. Now they are in full demolition mode.

Pepper Park

I do not see anything on their web site that would require that massive concrete pump. Perhaps an adjacent project?

It's a short bike ride to Sweetwater Park in Chula Vista, which opened a couple weeks ago, but this is our first visit.

On the park map the bike path is the black line on the right, and we're riding down the map.

Gunpowder Point and the Wildlife Refuge are to the left.

Some cute signs to protect the new landscaping. Much nicer that the KEEP OUT signs seen in our park areas.

Sweetwater has a fairly decent sized parking lot. A reasonable place to park for a stroll to the Gaylord.

It's just a guess but I say it's about a ¼ mile stroll through the park to catch the bike path at the southern end. Past a few picnic ramadas.

A fun swing set where the play mat is in the colors of the beach

A massive sand box

For sand castle building and climbing

And than KaBoom it's right there!, just off the bike path

A crosswalk leads to the Gaylord property

We worked our way up to the lobby, yup it's on the 2^nd level! But we enjoyed the walk past some of the water features

Wave pool

Lap pool

and into the lobby

The palm trees are legit, the different textures in the marble somehow really work well together. The big screen TV was looping a relaxing water video,

More mis-matched marble flooring outside the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) Cafe and Gift Shop.

Need a new T-shirt?

Grab-and-Go selections within the PCH

Pretty reasonable prices on their panini sandwiches

The PCH also includes Oregon and Washington … but no huckleberries here!!!

This picture is of yet another floor covering, A rug from the beach dunes, to the dry sand, the tide washed sand, a red tide?, shallow to deeper water. Amazing to see, but had to get a worthy picture .

There's currently 11 dining areas open with another to open soon. This is Growlers, a sports bar.

Too many TVs! But if it's on TV it'll be on a TV here. Ohio State Softball was on! (I didn't tell Fran ;))

Look at all those brews on tap!

But we relaxed with a glass of wine

My red wine was presented in a white wine glass, but the wine in front of me is my new favorite regardless of the presentation. $11 each, not bad.

And with this view from our table …

The lawn is so perfect we thought is was artificial. Nope! How do they control their gophers??? The cars in the foreground are on the property, but the cars and the shade just beyond are in Bayside Park. It's really a very short walk.

The lighting must be really eye catching after dark  ... in the lobby

The structure on the left is a waterfall … in the lobby!

Recessed seating for a private time … in the lobby

A view from the other side. The palm tress are so cool to see … in the lobby

There are 4 acres of water features in the park.  I've already mentioned a few but there's more!, that includes:

A fun speed slide

A high twisty slide

A Jacuzzi

There's also a Lazy River ride, but no pictures …

The use of the water features for non-guests requires a $12.50 day use pass Google search 'Gaylord Pacific day pass' and select Beach Time Reservation. They do not make it easy!

But this very well could become our new lunch stop on when we ride in South Bay.  It would be time for a break and a shot after lunch ride to Pepper Park.

And back on the home front The Gopher Wars continue!

Gas bombs disappears too fast, this one was back on this side of the grass the day after I set it off on the other side of the grass.

Solar noise makers work iffy when there's sunshine

No pictures of my Dry Ice bombs since I had to work fast with heavy gloves. The idea is as Carbon Dioxide is released, which is heavier than air, it will settle in the lowest point in the tunnel. That may have been my most successful. The gopher should scamper from the cold and just fall asleep.

I'm still looking for ideas!

March Wrap-up

Not much to blog as we wrap-up March.  We did go to our dentist in Tijuana.  The border crossing was interesting as it took a half an our too enters Mexico, a new record for us!  And no wait at all to return, rather then the couple hours it normally takes.

We suspect there must have been a lot of folks returning home to Mexico, rather than getting wrapped up in deportation, and just us going north.

The massive Chula Vista Convention Center is easily visible from the I-5 freeway.  That gave us a destination for a bike ride, a couple days later.

We unloaded our bikes at Pepper Park, which is currently undergoing renovations.

The link to the renovation project is HERE .

With a Splash Pad!, the kids will have fun on a warm summer day.

The Chula Vista bike path crosses the Sweetwater River from Pepper Park.  The river separates Chula Vista from National City.

Chula Vista is developing its own park on Gunpowder Point, Sweetwater Park. 

Spanning 21 acres it will be much larger than Pepper Park, it may become our new starting point for our bike rides.

There will be a lot of fun play equipment.

The Gaylord Pacific is the first Gaylord on the west coast, and it's huge!  This will be the home for the Chula Vista Convention Center.

We stopped for a picnic at the Chula Vista Bayfront Park.

It too will be receiving some renovations, with the Gaylord just a short walk away.

"Better Than You Imagined Possible"

A few days ago we rode the bikes to Ocean Beach, I wanted to compare the progress on the OB Pier to that of the undertakings in South Bay.

It may be the city is waiting for nature to take the old pier down, as nothing has been done.  South Bay will certainly be completed first.

We had lunch at Hodads, before returning home.

For a change we shared onions rings that I ordered with my mini-cheese burger.

Yes that is the mini-burger

I typically order a mini-burger with either fries or onion rings and Fran orders just a burger, as there is more than enough to share.

My younger brother flies into Tijuana this evening.  We’ll pick him and Juanita up at the Cross Border Express (CBX).