Cabrillo National Park

January 31, 2013

It was a perfect day for a scooter ride and a picnic. Destination...Cabrillo National Park. It is only a 50 mile loop  "avoiding major highways"  from the KOA. A nice ride down Harbor Drive passing the Navy Base, the airport, yacht clubs, sky scrapers, and parks.

Cabrillo is located at the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego.It commemorates the landing of Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay in September, 1542. This event marked the first time that a European expedition had set foot on what later became the West Coast of the United States.

The park offers a view of San Diego's harbor and skyline.

The Old Point Loma Lighthouse is the highest point in the park and has been a San Diego icon since 1855. It was closed in 1891 and a new one opened at a lower elevation because fog and low clouds often obscured the light.

The statue of Cabrillo looking out over the bay was authorized by Calvin Coolidge for the Portuguese Government in 1939, who then donated it to the United States. The limestone monument is 14 feet tall.

The western side of Point Loma...the Pacific Ocean.

Sunset Cliffs...a popular spot to view the ocean and sunset.

Blue Guitars and Tandy Leather

January 29,2013

This is The Blue Guitar. Chris (from Taylor Guitars ) had suggested this store for a great guitar buying experience. It is located at 5959 Mission Gorge Rd., San Diego. Chris was not wrong!

 

This is DeForest. He is the proprietor of The Blue Guitar. His selection is awesome and he set the stage to make the selection process so easy. Joe had asked about the GS Mini spruce and GS Mini Mahogany...he had both, he tuned both , set them both up on stands and then left for Joe to play and enjoy. We knew before we got there (from the internet) that his price was right so that was not even an issue.

A tough decision...spruce...

We left with the mahogany !

...or mahogany. 

They jammed...

Another stop on Tuesday was at Tandy Leather in La Mesa . One of Joe's hobbies is leather work.

They have a huge selection of tools and gadgets...so many things to look at.



Joe is deciding on leather for belts. They have a great selection and locations all over the U.S. We have also ordered on-line.



Joe made these saddle bags for the Harley last spring. He got the idea when we were in Cody, WY. He had checked the horse saddle bags to see if they would work...too big. So he designed them and cut out a pattern on paper...cut the leather and began stitching. All the stitching is done by hand, usually with 2 needles. The stitching over the seat is really pretty... a basket weave edge treatment that took longer to do than hand cutting and stitching the bags.
 Then he dyed them...he wanted black bags....I sortta liked the natural look.