A Bunny Club; a trip home; Lucky Lindy; a skate; twenty quarters

Reveille came this morning at 0430 (yes, that’s Navy talk for 4:30 AM)... The puppies knew something was going on as soon as they saw Suzanne packing; they always know...  Suzanne was carrying Gretchen out for their morning walk, and I had Rudy, when our little girl saw three cottontails in the grass near our coach. She tried to launch herself at them, but Suzanne had a good grip on her harness; good thing, or Gretchen would have disappeared into the woods and brush along the nearby creek bed chasing those little furry critters.  

The reason for our early rising was to drive Suzanne to Lindbergh Field, San Diego’s airport - SAN, for a trip home to be with her mom, Ruth, for six days. Ruth is having a medical procedure done on Monday; we would appreciate your thoughts and prayers for Ruth's quick recovery.

The airfield has that name because The Spirit of St. Louis was built and tested here in San Diego at Ryan Aviation, and Charles Lindbergh agreed to the city’s naming its airport for him after he made the first solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1928. The aircraft is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.

SAN was the first airport in the world to be certified for all aircraft types, including seaplanes. It is also the nesting home for California Least Terns, an endangered species. The birds apparently like the sand and gravel surface near the southwest end of the runway for nesting because the fences keep out beachgoers, dogs and coyotes, and the aircraft traffic keeps away predatory hawks. Approximately 135 nests were there when last counted.

On the way back to the campground, we stopped at Harbor Island, right near the airport, for a long

w-a-l-k. No rabbits, but lots of yucky bait and fish smells. Rudy got into something, because he had a bit of an upset stomach (read p-u-k-e-d) just before getting back into the car (saving the upholstery, danke Gott!). As you can see, the sidewalk along the Bay is pretty empty. The only other people out at that ungodly hour were a couple jogging and five fishermen. The laughing gulls hadn’t gotten going yet and the clouds from the coooler water offshore hadn't burned off to give the city that beautiful blue sky it's famous for.

We did watch one fisherman pull in a medium-sized skate (a type of ray), good eating but not a very sporty fish. They are beautiful to watch while swimming, but they are also bottom feeders... that has SUCH a nasty connotation, doesn't it? Who knows what they're eating down there?

Rudy and Gretchen had gotten their exercise, but I needed a training run in preparation for a 4th of July race I hope to run. Driving to Patrick Henry High School nearby, I found a beautiful stadium and a real quarter mile track for my run. The track was almost deserted, but there were about 25 young kids (in their 20s) getting ready for a soccer match.






Over my five miles (20 laps), I got inspiration from The Band Perry, and finished with Berlin's "You Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun (apologies to Tom Cruise for yesterday's post)... quite appropriate, I thought. I was pleasantly tired, but pumped up for my race on Wednesday... also very hungry for breakfast... and it's only 10:00 AM.