I currently live in El Centro California and am about two hour from San Diego. I escape the heat during summer in San Diego. The weather there can get warm but nothing like the excessive heat we see in El Centro. It is so cool to go from desert to beach in a couple hours. 
There are casinos along the way so we get side tracked some times. I enjoy the San Diego area but don’t like the traffic. Looks like I am not the only one to discover this get away. Dana Sibilsky is a fan of San Diego and goes there whenever possible.