I didn’t post to the blog yesterday. It wasn’t a matter of laziness. Well, maybe that was a factor. It was mostly because Tuesday was nearly a carbon copy of Monday. I bicycled to Mission Beach in the morning. After I returned, I showered and rode the scooter to La Jolla Shores in the afternoon while Donna worked on her book.

While I was at La Jolla Shores, I walked on the sand to Scripps Pier. Architecture students from UCSD were making geometric shapes in the sand. It was a class assignment! I wish I’d taken pictures of some of the interesting shapes.

On the south end of the beach, I saw something I’ve never seen at La Jolla Shores. A seal was on the beach taking a nap! I’ve seen seals at La Jolla Cove; they’re a common sight there. But this was the first time I’ve seen one on the beach at the shores.

Afternoon snooze on the beach

Yesterday we changed up our routine. Donna started  an 8-week exercise class (boot camp) in Point Loma. We scootered over to Liberty Station, where the class was held in a park. I dropped her off at 8:45am. Then I rode to the Embarcadero.

The Star of India is an iconic sight there. She is the world’s oldest active sailing ship. She was built in the Isle of Man in 1863. She sailed from Great Britain to India and New Zealand early on. Later, she was re-purposed as a salmon hauler from Alaska to California. Nowadays she is a maritime museum.

Star of India Maritime Museum

The Star of India was here when I grew up in San Diego. I found additional historic ships docked alongside. One was a Soviet submarine. It’s B39, a Foxtrot class, diesel-electric submarine. It was part of the Soviet fleet from 1967 to 1994. It passed through various owners before it became part of the San Diego Maritime Museum in 2005.

C. W. Lawrence and Soviet submarine

On the dock next to the submarine is the cutter C. W. Lawrence. This tall ship is actually a replica built in 1984.

Giant sculpture at Navy Pier

From there I continued south to Navy Pier. There’s a small park there commemorating naval battles during World War II. The aircraft carrier USS Midway is docked there. Built in 1945, she was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned. She served in the Vietnam War and also in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She was decommissioned in 1992 and now serves as a naval museum.

I tried to capture the enormous scale of this vessel. She was the first ship built that was too big to transit the Panama Canal.

USS Midway stern

USS Midway midship

USS Midway bow

After I picked Donna up from her exercise class, I went for a bicycle ride. The wind was challenging on the way west. I knew it would be welcome on the return trip. I rode out to the Ocean Beach Pier.

View of Ocean Beach from the end of the pier

Surf’s up!

From there I rode to Mission Beach and followed the path around Mission Bay back home. It was a 20-mile loop. Today I’ll take a day off of the bike. The weather is much cooler today, but the forecast calls for rising temperatures over the next several days.