Thanksgiving at the Del

 We decided to spend Thanksgiving at Hotel Del Coronado near San Diego.

It is close-ish, nice weather, and something we could agree on.

Sunset from our deck,  My absolute favorite colors  combination is blue and orange

When we left Dax, had a bad cold, but Trey was actually starting to feel pretty good.  The headaches are improving so that was a win.  While we were there Derek started to feel sick.  Trey felt well enough to participate in all the activities and life was reasonably good for Trey.

We had a great time.  The Hotel Del is beautiful, the last time we were there was for Curtis' 40th Birthday, so it has been 10 years.  We stayed in the brand new part "The Shore House" it was all decorated for Christmas.  I usually don't get excited about Christmas decorations but they were pretty spectacular at Hotel Del.

Before we went to Thanksgiving dinner, we did the "Pepsi Challenge"

Recently we watched the show on Netflix "Pepsi, where's my Plane"  They showed a few people doing a side-by-side taste test.  I thought it would be fun to do with the family.

We are a Coke Family, Curtis came from a Coke family.

As I get older, so are my taste buds, I really couldn't taste much of a difference.  I'm not going to admit which one everyone chose, because we are a Coke family, no matter what.

Once when I was about 12 when the "Cola Wars" were a big deal.  I was at the county fair and Pepsi was there doing the "Pepsi Challenge".  I happen to walk by and I saw a person taking the challenge and then Pepsi revealed which soda was which.  Then I wanted to take the challenge.  I honestly thought side-by-side Pepsi tasted better, but I wasn't going to let Pepsi know, since I already knew which soda was Coke.  I cheated and I picked Coke.  This time I couldn't taste a difference.  

Thanksgiving at Hotel Del was amazing.  The food was excellent and they had a wide variety.  They had the traditional Thanksgiving with yurkey and all the trimmings, then they also had a seafood buffet. The seafood display was amazing.  

Ice Sculptures for the Seafood Buffet

They did a large variety of desserts, but they were all small tart/bite size so you didn't feel bad about taking 5.  The actual pumpkin pie was full-size

While we were there Curtis and I both ran into people we knew.  This is Curtis' Real Estate friend, Tom, from Auburn.  Then I ran into Eric Giaque a guy I have known since Kindergarten or 1st grade.

The "Sand Castle Man" was doing his thing on Coronado Beach.   Every time we walked by he changed it up a bit.  Trey wasn't with us on this adventure.

Inside the igloo.  You can see the space heater next to Curtis

Friday night we spent a few hours in an igloo.  They have these "Igloos" that have a space heater inside, then on the outside, they have a small firepit where you can roast marshmallows and hotdogs.  This was a fun night.

Our other fun adventure was Ax throwing.  Unfortunately, Derek was sick by now and he didn't join us.

Battle Ax DAX

Tomahawk Trey. He got pretty good throwing the Tomahawk

Dax got a little wild with the Battle Ax.  Somehow it ended up way high and he broke the handle.

Ax throwing was really fun.  Curtis did pretty well starting out, he actually has some athletic ability.  For Dax, Trey, and I it was rough at first, but we got much better with practice.

A funny little story as we were leaving San Diego.  We needed to buy gas, but we didn't want to get a full tank while we were in California, we saw in some places it was almost $6.00/gallon.  We wanted to buy just enough to get us to Arizona then we would fill up there.

Derek also needed some tissues, so we thought we would just look for a gas station, fill up, get tissues and head on our way.  As we were driving around I saw the gas station where gas was only $4.40 a gallon.  That was a great price, so we pulled in.  Curtis started filling up and I went to find some tissues.  

The Gas station with excellent prices

I could not believe my eyes.  The tissues were only $1.25/box.  What?? I'm at a gas station in California and these things are cheaper than the grocery store at home.  I thought they would be about $5.00/per box.  So I bought two.

I get up to the cashier and he asks for my ID.  I said why do you need ID if I'm just buying kleenex?  He points to a sign that says you must show your military ID.  I saw the signs but I didn't think much of it because a lot of places give discounts to active military.  I showed him my ID and the guy seems annoyed.  Then it suddenly dawned on me that I was at a Military only gas station.  OOPS!!  The guy let me pass since I was only buying two boxes of tissues.  I apologized and said sorry I'm not from here.  He could tell since he saw my ID.  He said "Don't do it again"

Then we get to AZ and we need to fill up more.  It was then I realized we should have bought a full tank at the Navy Exchange.  Gas was more in AZ than what we paid in California.  Haha that was funny.

$4.99/ Gallon in Dateland

Then at the Dateland Travel Center, we had ice cream and a milkshake, and, Dax bought Trey the knife he wanted on the way over.  They wouldn't sell it to us because Trey was under 18.  The cashier didn't care that I was over 18 she knew that it was for a minor so she wouldn't sell it.  Funny how they sell knives to minors like crazy at Scout Camp.