We will miss San Diego!

Of course the #1 thing we will miss about San Diego is all of our dear friends. We sincerely hope to see them again and our door will always be open to them for a visit, no matter where we live. However there are also many many "things" that we will miss. Here they are in no particular order as they come into my head.

1) The Ocean- how many times have we been to La Jolla Shores, PB, Torrey Pines, Del Mar, Mission Bay, Fanuel Park??? Not enough. This past weekend we went twice to La Jolla Shores at sunset and let the boys play in the waves and the sand trying to soak up every last drop of the Pacific before we leave.

2)The Sun- Okay, I know, San Diego does not have exclusive rights to the sun, but we will not have year-round sunshine in France. The sunny weather here allows us to be outside 365 days of the year. Let's just say our double BOB stroller has paid for itself many times over in this past year. On a side note, we look forward to fall and winter seasons, Christmas markets, changing leaves, yummy mushrooms, hot wine....

3) The Zoo- As far as I know, it's the best and prettiest zoo in the world. We have thoroughly enjoyed being members and getting to go on a Sunday afternoon for a leisurely walk to see Clyde the orangutan or the giant pandas or my favorite, the koalas. Besides all of the fabulous animals, the botanicals at the zoo provided us with hours of visual bliss.

4) In N Out- I am speaking for myself here. Denis could most certainly do without any type of fast food for the rest of his life (so could I- maybe;) ) but In N Out symbolizes Southern California for me. You can't get it in France, and not even in Illinois. Way better than McD***** (bad word in our house), I would try to visit before leaving on a trip and we always get it when family visits. Both boys have had In N Out burger and they really like the french fries. As long as I'm talking fast food, I might as well add Wahoo's Fish Tacos to this number. No place like it anywhere.

5) Scripps Research- Denis has had such wonderful opportunities working for Bridget and Clint and for the AMI group. Publictions, conferences, social gatherings, databases. I even got to accompany him to Oahu and to Quebec City for Microscopy and Microanalysis conferences. In short, this job has been awesome. For sure this is the reason we have stuck around San Diego for so long. We can only hope that CERN and Argonne will be as rewarding.