Anya was granted a visa for the first time to visit us in AUG of 2001. On arrival at LA in 2001, the INS had limited her stay to 30 days. Her first visa request in 2002 was denied and we wondered if Anya would ever be able to get here back for a 2nd visit. The Embassy finally approved a visa and we were simply AMAZED...
....that the INS (on her arrival in LA) this time had stamped her passport authorizing a SIX MONTH visit. [See VISA STAMP for details.] Even though it was raining heavily when Anya arrived in San Diego, the weather did not dampen Lena’s happiness with seeing her daughter again!
Steve was also happy to see Anya again, but, he looks a little tired in this photo because of being in the process of recovering from surgery three weeks before. The walk through the airport terminal had just about worn him out! [See STEVE’S SURGERY for details.]
The INS’s stamping Anya’s passport for a 6 month visit convinced us: “YES, THERE REALLY *IS* A SANTA CLAUSE! Anya immediately resigned her Russian Custom’s job so that she could spend 6 months with us improving her English and trying to determine if she would eventually like to immigrate to the US.
When we arrived home from the airport, we discovered that the storm had knocked out the electrical power in our area and (since we have an electric stove) we ended up having to use flashlights to cook our dinner on the propane gas BBQ.
While we may not have originally planned to have a “candlelight dinner,” the absence of electric power for more than 12 hours made this a necessity!
Even though the power was finally restored the afternoon following Anya’s arrival, it was again disrupted several times before being finally fixed. Fortunately, we had picked up a HONEYBAKED HAM before she arrived and it did not require any cooking.
These low-calorie selections from the CHEESECAKE FACTORY required no further preparation. So, the afternoon following her arrival, we gorged ourselves on ham sandwiches and cheesecake—the beginning many such EATING-TO-EXCESS adventures that subsequently followed!
Since Anya would not be bringing many things with her to San Diego, we had her to do much of our Christmas shopping in Moscow for gifts for our friends, relatives, and (of course!) ourselves. Surrounding Steve are some of the goodies we had Anya bring in her suitcases from Moscow.
As “Children of Socialism,” neither Lena nor Anya had ever celebrated Christmas in the Soviet Union (or, for that matter, in Russia following the break-up of the Soviet Union). So, seeing brightly-wrapped “Christmas” gifts for the first time was a unique experience for Anya.
We took Anya to meet some friends from Massachusetts who were renting a place at the Coronado Shores (condo units which are located located along the ocean next to...and overlook...the Del Coronado Hotel). This is a view of the beach area next to the Del Coronado Hotel.
From this little bridge located behind the Del Coronado Hotel can be seen Del Coronado Hotel’s beach area (with the ocean and Point Loma in the background).
We have always liked visiting the Del Coronado Hotel because it is one of the places we had gone to see on our first date (14 NOV 1998). We certainly enjoying sharing the experience with Anya (again) on this visit...even if Steve had to walk around (and stand) like a ruptured duck...

...following his recent back surgery.

[See STEVE’S SURGERY for details.]

This photo of Lena and Anya was taken from near the water’s edge behind the Del Coronado Hotel.
Another photo of Lena and Anya at the rear of the Del Coronado Hotel.
The Coronado Shores condominium units are ‘staggered’ buildings built to the south of the Del Coronado Hotel along the peninsula between the ocean and San Diego’s inland harbor. Some of these buildings have unobstructed ocean views while others have views which are partially obstructed by other condos.
Our Massachusetts friends, Jon & Susan Dunn, had rented a corner condo on the 7th floor of one of the condominium buildings for the Christmas holidays while they visited San Diego. As seen from the balcony of this condo, it does NOT have an unobstructed view of the ocean.
However, this particular 3 bedroom/3 bath 1700 SQ FT unit—with a market value of $2.3 MILLION—has an impressive view in one direction of the Del Coronado Hotel and North Island Naval Air Station (with Point Loma in the distant background)!
This is an interesting shot taken from Jon & Susan’s balcony of a Navy fighter plane going in for a landing at NAS North Island on Coronado. The runway can be seen in the upper right of the photo.
Steve and Jon had served together on the USS Diachenko (LPR-123) in 1968/69 and have remained friends through the years after Jon completed his active duty and went into the Navy Reserves. In this photo, Susan checks out a Matryoshka doll & calendar Anya had given her.
We had an incredible view of the Coronado Bay Bridge and San Diego Harbor (plus anchored yachts in the foreground near the Coronado Yacht Club) from another corner of their patio.
In the very right side in this photo of Anya and San Diego’s harbor, it is almost possible to see the hills of Tiajuna, Mexico!
Needless to say, we very much appreciated the opportunity Jon & Susan provided us to see these very special views from their balcony of Coronado and the surrounding area. Jon told us that the same 3 BD/3 BA 1700 SQ FT condo on the 7th floor of a building with an unobstructed ocean...
...view cost more than $4 MILLION. We did not even want to GUESS the market value of a PENTHOUSE, TOP 15th FLOOR, CORNER unit with an UNOBSTRUCTURED ocean view!
After the sun set, we had a spectacular view of a FULL MOON over the Coronado Bay Bridge from the balcony. Unfortunately, we did not have a tripod to steady the camera, but we were able to capture this somewhat blurred shot with a hand-held time exposure.
That evening we joined Jon & Susan for dinner at PEOHE’S, one of their favorite restaurants on Coronado.
From our window with a spectacular harbor view of San Diego, we could not only watch ships moving in and out of the harbor while we ate, we could also see downtown San Diego at night.
Even though it was cold as hell (by San Diego standards!) when we finished eating, we insisted on getting a photo with Jon outside the restaurant!

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