Cooler Coastal Hikes

The weather here has been very hot.  That continues to make our 52 hike challenge even more challenging.  Luckily, we live within about an hour drive from San Diego and that has helped us keep up.  We did our city hike in San Diego a few weeks ago.  We've hiked the past couple of weeks at Torrey Pines (also in San Diego County).  It's been warm and humid down there but so much nicer than the record temps of over 100 at home.  And, the views...WOW!  Gorgeous!

Click photo to see it larger....they're so much more fun to see that way.  You can even click through them from there to see them all larger.

The red ice plant on some of the hills is surprising sight.

I took my daughter there the first time and we hiked over six miles.  There are so many more trails there than I realized.  That's cool!

Hubby went with me the second time.  We hiked some of the same trails I hiked the first time but the tide was low this time and we were able to hike down to the famous flat rock in the water.

The beach next to that big flat rock is covered with interesting rocks.  This one looks like an ear...

It always amazes me at how dry and desert like the landscape is right next to the ocean.  It seems like all the humidity and moist ocean breezes would make it more lush and green.  There are even cactus!  But, there are lots of pretty flowers.  Here's an interesting one with beautiful color...

I love the color of these and they're so cute!

Teenie, tiny, wild snapdragons...

There are LOTS of yellow flowers...

And, white ones...

Heart shaped cactus and a cactus bloom!

What a beautiful day!

 Hubby and I had a wonderful day together!  We started the morning off with cappuccinos at our favorite coffee roaster in Encinitas, Ironsmith.  Delicious!  They are the best!  They're SO skilled at what they do and have the most delicious cappuccinos!  Then, our hike and walk along the beach.  We finished with lunch at a yummy Mexican restaurant.

Our daughter hiked one of the Southern California Peaks that day....16 miles in one day....up to a 10,649 feet!  Wow!

We've kept up pretty well with our challenge and have officially reached half way.  However, we are now one week behind because of another week of record high temps that even had the beaches sizzling.  It's supposed to cool down slightly this week.  We'll see what we can figure out to get caught up.

City Hike - San Diego

Our 52 hike challenge is tough to keep up with lately because of the extreme heat wave going on right now.  So, my daughter and I decided to bend the rules a little this week and hike in the city...a cool city...San Diego!

I love San Diego and I'm always so excited to go there.  It's only about an hour south of where we live.  There are so many things to see and do in the city and the surrounding areas.  It wasn't difficult filling our day!  And, the temps were much better!  It was about 105f at home but 69-75f throughout the day in San Diego.

We started with cappuccinos at Lofty Coffee in Little Italy.  Yum!  Afterward, we walked around a bit.  We found an awesome art supply store named, "Blick".  They had so much cool stuff!  I bought a couple of Tombow brush pens to play around with.  My daughter bought a really cool map/poster of California to frame.

Next, we headed over to Old Town San Diego for lunch.  We tried a new-to-us restaurant, Miguel's.  It was delicious and the service was very good.  After lunch, we walked around Old Town.  I've been there many times but I always seem to see things I things I've never noticed before.  It's a fun place to visit.

Heritage Park is nearby and we made sure to walk around the beautiful old Victorian homes.  I think this one is my favorite...

We did a little shopping after that and then we went to find the famous Spruce Street suspension bridge.  It's a walk bridge in a residential area that spans a deep ravine.  It was a little nerve racking to walk across because of the movement.  I didn't think it would bug me but it did...a little.  It was cool to see though.  It's amazing they'd go to this much work and expense to make a way to walk to the neighborhood across the ravine!

In a neighborhood on one side of the bridge, there was a tiny library.  So cool! 

One of the things we'd planned to do was to go to an African drumming class at World Beat in Balboa Park.  Unfortunately, it was cancelled.  But, that was ok because it just gave us more time to walk around Balboa Park.  Even though the museums were all closed, there was a lot going on.  There were concerts ending, being set up, a big one about to start, and various musicians performing throughout the park.  And, the weather was absolutely perfect!  It was a perfect evening!

I love Balboa Park so much!  It's a gorgeous and magical place!  Here's sample of the amazing architecture...

We sat down and listened to this concert for a while.  It was 50's 60's and 70's music.  This is the organ pavilion.  They regularly have pipe organ concerts here.

I took a stroll around the fountain before we headed to the car to go home.

I have no idea how many miles we walked on our city hike but my step counter said we did over 21,000 steps that day!   And, we had a wonderful time!  We're actually thinking of doing another city hike but this time we'll head to downtown Los Angeles.  Stay tuned!

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Very Special Visit and a Day by the Sea

Last month, My daughter was in Southern California for a college event.  She had one day free and we were thrilled to spend it with her.  We picked her up and headed to San Diego.  It was a gorgeous day!  It was sunny, the temps were in the 70's, and we were all together.  Perfect!

We had a delicious lunch and went to Seaport Village to walk around the shops and along the water.  This is a view looking back toward downtown San Diego and the Gaslamp Quarter...

This restaurant looks so rustic and cute sitting out over the water.

This Seagull looked so peaceful and happy paddling around the marina.  The water was so clear that we could see his feet moving.

We sat by the water and watched the boats go by.  We even saw a seal or sea lion (I'm not sure which because he was far away) playing in the water. 

There are a lot of interesting boats to see down there.  There are military ships, small sailboats, tour boats, kayaks, and much more.  A couple of years ago, we saw a fancy boat/yacht that was so big it even had a helicopter on the top deck!

We later drove north to Encinitas for a walk along the beach.  It was wonderful...the parking lot had plenty of spaces and the beaches were wide open.  In fact, there were times that it seemed we were the only ones there.

Gorgeous!

There's always so much to see with the gorgeous scenery and the surprises along the sand.  This plant that washed ashore is pretty with it's delicate leaves and pretty pink color. 

 We had to be careful where we walked because there were thousands of tiny, blue, jelly fish that had washed ashore.  Some were about the size of a dime.  The larger ones were a couple of inches wide.

These jellyfish have a little sail on the top to propel them across the water.  I just looked them up and it turns out that's their only means of locomotion.  Because of that, they're subject to mass beach stranding.  We've seen them in years past where there were so many of them that the beach looked like it was covered in paper trash.  Their technical name is "Vellella".  If you look closely, the inside, center part has rings (click on the photo to see it larger).  So interesting.  The blue color is pretty too.

Sadly, there are lots of dead bees along the beach.  We've been seeing more and more of them over the years.  I'm not sure if it has to do with whatever is causing so many of them to die or if it's just a natural occurrence.  Either way, I watch where I step so I won't be stung!

We saw quite a few ladybugs that day.  Here's my daughter with one on her hand.

Looks like he posed for a photo!  

This outing was perfect for trying out my new camera.  I'm amazed how I was able to get a photo close up of a seagull flying high above me.  I'm anxious to see what else my big, zoom lens can do!

After our walk on the beach, we headed a little further north for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Las Olas.  And, then, another walk along the beach in Carlsbad to see the sunset.

I spotted a tree on our walk to the beach that had fuzzy, yellow, blossoms.  Aren't they cute?! 

These surfers were pretty far down the beach and I was surprised how well my camera lens did.  I'd like to go back down there with a tripod on a good surf day and see if I can get some good pictures of surfers riding the waves.

I always love seeing sandpipers.  They're so cute!

What a wonderful day we had together!  It couldn't have been more perfect!

Daddy and daughter!

We watched until the sun slipped away. 

We dropped her off that night with lots of hugs, a little sadness to say goodbye, and anticipation of seeing her again very soon.  It's been tough with her living in another state but we cherish every moment we have together even more than we did before.

The Letter R and a Rendezvous of Riders

This week, the Alphabet Photo Challenge letter is "R".

"R" is for a Rendezvous of bike Riders at the annual Tour de Fat in San Diego.

Tour de Fat is an annual summer event with about a dozen stops across the U.S.

The money raised at the events is used to improve bike access in each of the cities.

They've raised millions of dollars for this cause.

It is sponsored by one of our favorite breweries, New Belgium.

They're based in Fort Collins, Colorado.  We toured the brewery a few years ago.

Their philosophy of brewing and life is awesome...earth friendly and fun.

And, their beer is pretty darn good too!

Last Saturday was their annual stop in San Diego.

We've heard about it for years and finally went.  And, boy...are we glad we did!

Talk about a great day, filled with tons of fun and thousands of happy people!

The day started with parade/bike ride about three and a half miles long.

Many of the participants dressed up in costumes.

These were two of our favorites...Steam Punk...

There were a few go-go girls...

 Some were just funky and fun...

How about a furry bike and some German (?) costumes?...

A skeleton made with PVC pipe...pretty clever...

I thought she was dressed cute and I loved the yarn fringe on her handlebars...

 A few doggies came to enjoy the fun...

This one was dressed up and trotted along in the parade...

Of course, there were a lot of great bikes...

A LOT!  This is just the main area where people parked their bikes.

There were hundreds of them throughout the park too.

There were lots of crazy bikes to try out.

We saw these before the parade but forgot to go back and give them a whirl.

It looks like this one goes in circles...

How about a John Deere, tractor bike?...

A car tire bike...

A little Penny Farthing made with modern bike parts...

Hey!...I think I could actually ride this unicycle!

Wheels made out of shoes.  Hmmm?

Another bike that spins around...

This was funny...it's a bike made with a wheel chair.

The one wheel is offset so it goes up and down as it goes round and round.

It was hilarious to watch and many people fell over trying it.

Here's hubby giving it a whirl...

 I think this was the tallest bike at the event...

And, yes...he could ride it.  Very well, too!

There were lots of fun things to do besides biking.

Check out this giant kaleidoscope...

 The end is made with bike wheels and parts.

A giant Connect Four...

We weren't sure what this was but what a funny sight...

It was a box filled with little hand-crank music box things.

They all made a different sound or tune.

Slinky!

 Giant Jenga...

More bike parts made into something fun...

This one has pedals to crank with your hands...

The top turns with a bunch of tubes that whistle and whine in the wind...

 This was made with some bike parts and it turned in the breeze...

This giant picture frame was a lot of fun for photos...

For more photo fun, there were a bunch of fun signs propped up next to one

of the tour trucks.  Visitors enjoyed posing and being silly for pictures...

This little Vaudeville tent was popular.

There was a long line for it the entire time.

We didn't feel like waiting in the hot sun to see it.

Maybe next time.

There was a big stage with concerts, comedy and other fun stuff.

Someone even traded their car in for a bike, promising to ride instead of drive for a year.

They do that at each stop of the tour.

Another stage had some fun, old fashioned entertainment.

They were funny and amazing!   He even juggled a running chainsaw, 

an egg and a bowling ball...all at the same time!

There were some food trucks.  More would have been better.

Of course, there was beer!

I like the sign where they sold tokens for beer...

We brought a blanket and found a nice shady spot to enjoy our beer,

lots of people watching and, yes, some crochet time.

They even had a cool way to get people to throw away their trash and recycling...

It worked!  There were several of these and people actually

stacked their cups and placed them in the "Compost Offices".  :-)

We posed our cruiser bikes next to one of the tour trucks.

The trucks are so colorful!

Yup!  We likes bikes!  They gave these out when we registered.

I hope you enjoyed the Ride!

We sure enjoyed our day!  We're definitely planning to go again.

Next time...costumes!  :-D

We Rode, Relaxed and Relished the Rendezvous!

UPDATE:  Just found out that there were over 6,000 people there last Saturday
and they raised over $40,000 for San Diego bike advocacy, outreach and education.