My Top 11. #9 and #8

My Top 11.

Characteristics of an Awesome City
(continued)

#9: Hilly Streets

Really, does anything give a city as much character as steep, hilly streets?  I LOVE them.  I love driving up and down them.  I love walking up and down them.  I even love looking at the rows of cars parked on them, all with their tires turned against the curb. 

And hilly streets mean there are mountains nearby, which is an added bonus.

On a scale of 1 to 10 San Diego gets a 10 for all of its fun hilly streets. 

#8: Exciting Day Trips 

The greatest cities are not only wonderful themselves; they also have fun surroundings.  Because sometimes you just want to jump in a car and drive!  Especially if you have a seven-month-old who is overtired and having a hard time napping in his hotel crib and stroller.

Day 2 in San Diego we went for a drive.  It was one of the most beautiful drives we've ever taken.  We were headed for Palm Springs, CA and we had no idea the road there twisted up and over a huge mountain.  It was so beautiful!

We had to pass through Desert Springs to get to Palm Springs.  Desert Springs is where all the rich people in the desert live.  Seriously, we passed a trailer park that was the nicest trailer park we'd ever seen.  I'm pretty sure anyone would be happy to live there.  :)

Palm Springs was a little more run down.  It was pretty to drive through...surrounded by mountains and a giant (and I really mean giant) windmill farm.  But there wasn't much to do there except eat lunch, so we kept driving and explored Joshua Tree National Park.

Joshua by some Joshua Trees. 

According to Wikipedia, "The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert in the mid-19th century. The tree's unique shape reminded them of a Biblical story in which Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky in prayer."

The Joshua Trees were very interesting, but even more fascinating were all the unique rock formations/piles throughout the park.  There were rock climbers everywhere, scaling the tall rocks.  We were happy to admire the rocks from down below.  :)

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, San Diego gets a 10 for Exciting Day Trips!  We enjoyed every minute of our trip to Joshua Tree.  And we could have taken many more excursions.  We'll just have to go back.

Stay tuned tomorrow for #7 and #6!