Just last week a judge ruled that sunbathing in the nude at San Onofre State Beach in San Diego is still allowed.

Earlier this summer there was a brouhaha because the California Department of Parks and Recreation wanted to ban nude sunbathing, even though beaching it in the buff has been allowed here for decades.

The parks and recreation department said that some sunbathers were being lewd near Trail 6. Sunbathers who just sun themselves and frolic in their birthday suits felt that the ban was uncalled for since most behave themselves.

According to this article at San Diego 6 News, the judge has ruled that the people who will be cited for being without their clothes are only those that someone in the public complains about--otherwise, sans clothes is fine--for now.

Considering that there are many public beaches from which to choose in California, it seems that if people don't want to see people sunbathe in the nude, go somewhere else--or if you do go here, stay away from Trail 6.

Until this morning, it had apparently been some 14 years since the last great white shark attack off the coast of San Diego.

This morning, a 66-year-old swimmer in triathlon training was killed by a shark about 150 yards off Solana Beach, near San Diego, LA Times reports. Other swimmers apparently saw him actually being lifted out of the water and drug under and whey went to his aid and dragged him onto the beach. He was pronounced dead almost immediately.

Shark expert Richard H. Rosentblatt from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that based on descriptions of the attack and the wounds inflicted "this almost certainly was a great white shark." A large one, too. 15-17 feet.

San Diego beaches will probably be not-so-popular for a while.

A friend and I were talking today about what we're up to. She's up to traveling to California during the end of April with her boyfriend to look for a place to live one day. They're starting in San Diego and heading up the coast. They don't know exactly where they want to live so I threw out San Luis Obispo as a possibility. I've never been there, but have heard great things. One of my oldest friends, who does lives there part time, loves the place. He's always saying I should visit.

My friend who is currently seeking out her future asked me if there are nature related activities in the area. "Oh, I'm sure of it," I said, then followed with, "I'll check." Now, I've checked.

San Luis Obispo does indeed have nature type things. It's the beginning of the Big Sur coastline. The Parks and Recreation department looks extensive. Mountains for hiking are close by. Along with nature, there are history and the arts. The Mission San Luis Obispo de Toroso was founded in 1772. Hearst Castle is also near here. This weekend is the Music for Your Eyes Gala and Art Auction. These are just a few of the things to do that I found. I'd say San Luis Obispo is a fine contender for consideration. Definitely a place to visit. Possibly a place to settle in for awhile.

Any more thoughts of good places to live in California? I'll let my friend know.

Tomorrow I'm flying to San Diego on Southwest Airlines and on Sunday I'm going by bus to Mexico to build houses with more teenagers (one of them my daughter) than I've been around in awhile. That's the plan anyway. I'll fill you in on how that goes.

With Southwest Airlines' woes of having to ground planes and cancel flights, I'm wondering about the first leg of this endeavor. Since I'm supposed to be at the airport at 6:30 AM, I'm hoping that there are no snafus. I plan to dress appropriately for my time with Southwest, and I will be very polite so, I don't think I'll have problems there.

Last night my daughter and I headed to the store with our packing list to pick up the items we don't have, or don't know where to find in our house. Questions like, "Do we need a toothbrush holders?" came up. Big trips always seem to need a toothbrush holder. This trip counts as a big trip--an occassion. For smaller trips, I use a plastic sandwich bag since I can't seem to remember in between larger trips where I put things like toothbrush holders.

Passengers on a flight from San Diego to Hawaii were expecting to have a safe flight followed by, hopefully, some relaxing time in Hawaii. Instead, they were exposed to measles.

Measles is a highly contagious disease and is characterized by the famous rash that first develops on the face and head, spreading downward to the torso and arms.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that an 11 month old child from San Diego is under isolation at a military base until the risk of infection subsides, in 3-4 more days.

The origin of the infection believed to be from a visit to a pediatric clinic in La Jolla. San Diego County has reported 5 cases of measles, in 2008.

Travelers on the plane, as well as those at the gate, are at risk for contracting measles if not properly immunized. The MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine is commonly given to children over the age of 12 months. The 11 month old child was not able to receive the vaccine.

Any person who is believed to have been in contact with measles should visit their doctor.

There's The New York Times list of 53 places to go in 2008 (see post), the 40 travel tips and suggestions from London's Times (see post )and now Concierge.com has an IT List of 10 more suggestions, all with sound reasoning behind each one.

The way a destination ends up on this list is that it's had enough people show up to increase the odds that it has some sense of what travelers like, therefore it can deliver a vacation to write home about--or it's a place people have gone to for years, but has something new to offer. In the case of this list, it's luxury.

When I looked over the Concierge list, it occurred to me that there are places I'd like to go on a vacation if I had A LOT of money. Any place could be spiffy.

I already mentioned Detroit as being number 40 on the list of the New York Times places to go in 2008. Sad to say, I have only been to the airport in Detroit. After posting about this city, I agree that the capital of the automobile and Motown is indeed a place to see this year.

Places to go lists such as the New York Times version can either make a person feel as depressed as hell that one can't possibly see all of the places mentioned in one year, or fairly smug that one seen as much as one has. As for me, I'm happy I've been to some places, but still tipping towards the so many places, so little time and not enough money to even make a dent reality check.

1. I've been to Oslo, although I was young, broke and can't remember much about it except for this Canadian guy I met who I was enamored by to the point that meeting him was far more important than any glacier I may have seen. I still have the sweater I bought.

I've also been to San Francisco, New York, Prague, London, San Diego, Tuscany, Vietnam, London and Munich--all on the list at various points. That's it. I have so much more to see this year and the two places on my itinerary so far, Mexico and Williamsburg, Virginia aren't even mentioned.

If you've got a trip planned to Southern California this weekend, it might be a good idea to reschedule. Besides the current poor air quality and the fact that you might need to outrun a wildfire, many attractions and amusement parks have shut down until the smoke clears.

SeaWorld, Legoland, and the San Diego Wild Animal Park are all closed (although the San Diego Zoo remains open). Broadway San Diego and the Old Globe Theatre have both canceled shows. Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, which is closed on weekdays anyway this time of year, is "monitoring the situation" and as of now plans to open its gates on Friday.

The list of state parks that are closed is too long to repeat here: check the California State Parks website or read the L.A. Times article.

US Air is also waiving some fees for anyone traveling to or from SoCal who will have to change their flights due to the fires.

Rats! Be still my heart. I just heard that Skybus is canceling its Columbus to Bellingham flights starting in the spring.

I wrote that line last Thursday after I heard it on one of my local news stations, but I couldn't get a confirmation if this was indeed fact. Skybus wasn't talking on their website and whatever I did find, was a vague might. Today, it's official. My husband even called me downstairs with the news. "No more flights to Bellingham," he said, pointing to the headlines on the front page of the paper. I, of course, went into my, "Oh, I knew that," mode.

It's hard to read this list of reasons to love San Diego from Budget Travel without picturing Ron Burgundy pointing at you and saying, "Stay classy San Diego". Or maybe that's just me. It's not that I'm NOT a big fan of California's southern most city. I actually lived there and taught windsurfing a loooong time ago on Mission bay. But taking a look at this list, I realized how much the city has changed since all those moons ago. A few of the classic SD stand-bys are there. Places like the world-class Zoo and Torrey Pines. But there are some lesser-known spots listed like dog beach and the 18,000-square-foot Newport Avenue Antique Center, the latter of which has little appeal to me, but is, I'm sure, a great inspiration to swap meet-o-philes everywhere. Laid-back, but still urban, San Diego makes for a great long weekend if you're in California and is, of course, just a hop skip and an enchilada away from Mexico. The list here provides a solid start if you're heading there looking to explore the city.