San Diego, CA - My New (City) Love

In mid-July I was sent to San Diego California by my workplace for a conference on a specific piece of software that we will be implementing soon.  The trip was quick but it didn't take me long to realize one very important thing - I love San Diego.  It is the city of my dreams.

There's little to say about the conference - it was a software conference, after all and not very exciting to anyone except for those who are familiar with the software (I did enjoy it a great deal) - but I fell in love with the weather of San Diego. Every single day it was blue skies, bright sun, wispy clouds, high temperatures in the mid 70s and low temperatures in the low 60s.  No humidity. None.  Nada.

Every spring, and sometimes in the fall, when the Pittsburgh weather is at that most perfect point of warm, humidity free days, I go onto Facebook and ask the world where I can find weather like this year-round.  Many of the responses have focused on San Diego and other southern California cities.

But, having never been there myself, I was skeptical.  How great could it really be there?  The grass is always greener, right?

The answer - it IS that great.  The grass is green.  Really REALLY green.  And thick and lush, and well watered (by sprinklers, of course) and warm and green.

We were on the campus of the University of San Diego, which is located on a little mountain and from one end of campus has a view that overlooks Mission Bay and has a stunning view of the gorgeous sunsets.

Can you tell I fell in love?

Palm trees, blue skies, bright sun, no humidity.  Near the water, near the beach, no humidity.  Cool nights and warm days.  City atmosphere and life, Mexican food everywhere you look.  No humidity.

So DH and I have a new life goal - retire in San Diego.  As we continue to work to pay off our debts - at this point down to just our mortgage - as long as we can continue to live simply (harder said that done as DH loves to look at new houses that are usually way out of our price range) we see a future where we're going to be able to do things like retire in California if that's what we want to do.  Florida is always the go-to destination for east coast retirees, and I will admit that a 2.5 hour flight is way better than the 6 hour one to the west coast.  But once you're there, it's totally worth it.  Compare my list of San Diego qualities above with the this list from our recent trip to Florida - mosquitoes, humidity, alligators, and more humidity. Yeah, SD wins out - big time.

San Diego - I promise you this, some day I will be back.