Outings From Oceanside

Our first outing outside of Oceanside was south to Torrey Pines State Park. We did some hiking, but I had gastroenteritis two days before and still didn't feel very strong. The Torrey pine trees grow here and on a channel island further north, but no place else in the world. 

We went on a short trail with a view of the Razor's Edge. Off of that nature trail was a hike of 180 plus stone steps. After a steep descent of a dozen steps, I said there was no way I would be able to climb back up if we went the whole way so we turned around. A lady with walking poles starting on that trail said she thought the hike to Razor's Edge was easier. Well, it didn't have the steps but it was still a climb.

From the Razor's Edge were several trails far out to look over the Pacific Ocean including one to go down steps to the beach below. I wimped out. It was cloudy most of the time so not good view of the ocean and any migrating whales anyway.

We went to a café in La Jolla for lunch. We sat inside next to the glass window wall rather than outside on the deck. We could see Scripps pier and several surfers.

Next stop was La Jolla Cove. As soon as my husband exited the car, he said "It stinks here." Ah, yes, sea lions and seals below the cliff.

The sun came out and we sat for awhile on one of the park benches. I couldn't believe all of the people walking around on a weekday.

Our last stop was the Birch Aquarium (run by Scripps Institute). I was glad we got 50% off of the $16 adult entrance fee. The aquarium was geared mostly for children.

Another day, we rode the Coaster train to Old Town San Diego, the historical area from the mid-1800s? when Mexican and gringo settlers lived there. My stomach had recovered well and I was ready for Mexican food. The Fiesta de Rey plaza with a very nice restaurant and shops was a short walk from the train terminal.

Some of the historic buildings had been made into shops, but a few were educational such as a museum of wagon and stage travel with artifacts and a black smith shop.

On Saturday the 22nd we drove to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. We ascended from 2643 feet to 8516 feet in 10 minutes. Our Indiana coats came in handy at the top. There were a few patches of snow, but more on Mount San Jacinto. This is the gateway to 50 miles of hiking trails. They were remodeling the restaurant and museum so we didn't stay long. The tram car rotates as it ascends and descends. I was standing on the outside perimeter so I could take photos but every time we passed over a tower the car would swing a bit and I was always having to change the position of my hand holding the railing as the railing went sliding by me. On the way down, I stood near the center which was more stable.

Since the aerial station restaurant was shut, we headed for Palm Springs Air Museum to eat lunch and look at the planes.
There had been a special celebration and dinner the night before, and some of the activities carried over to Saturday with a few planes flying.

I thought we might drive over to the glitzy part of Palm Springs like Rodeo Drive, but it started raining. As it turned out, it took us 3 rather than 2 hours to get "home", as near Oceanside a tour bus flipped off of Interstate 15 killing 3 people and injuring 18 as we saw on the news that evening. The freeway was reduced to one lane for quite awhile.

We drove to my sister's house in Whittier the 23rd. She hosted us for lunch and invited two of my cousins. My poor husband was getting weary of driving so Monday was laundry day and lounging around the pool.

 I had been watching the weather reports for Borrego Springs as I wanted to visit the desert in hope of seeing wildflowers. Wednesday was a relatively mild day for Anza-Borrego state park. The unfortunate part of driving from the coast to the desert is that you have to climb and cross over the mountains that block the rain that make the desert what it is. We drove mostly on Highway 78 reaching the town of Julian (population 1500) at 5000 feet in the Laguna Mountains. We had lots of twists and curves. We stopped at a bakery for a cinnamon roll and a break from driving. We were buffeted by a Santa Ana wind blowing from the desert westward except at the higher altitude of Julian it was cold not a hot wind. The descent to the desert also was full of twisty curves.

We drove to a slot canyon which we thought we might hike, but the parking lot was a long way from the descent point. When we saw people down below we realized it would take hours to get down there and back up. We were carrying bottles of water, but it was almost noon.

We had lunch in Borrego Springs. The lady at one of the shops said that the cacti were starting to bloom in Yaqui Pass. We also asked for another way to get back to Oceanside without going through Julian. We started down Yaqui Pass but at a pull-off I could see that we would be descending, descending, descending and the sensible way to go home would have required us to return to Julian rather than drive up the pass again to Borrego Springs. I agreed with my husband to turn around back to Borrego Springs. We drove another very curvy mountain road which thankfully was shorter than the Julian one and eventually took us across the San Felipe Hills to Oceanside. We saw parts of California I never saw in all of my years growing up there.

The bright blue in the distance is Salton Sea. The town is Borrego Springs.

I did see a few blooms as we drove across the Laguna Mountains.

When we rode the Coaster to Old Town we saw on the seats a flyer saying in celebration of 25 years of operation, all rides would be free on the 27th. We rode to the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego and walked about 3 blocks to the embarcadero (harbor area) where we took a narrated excursion on a boat. Mostly saw naval ships in dry dock. I learned that in order to get federal funding for the bridge to Coronado Island, the city purposely curved the bridge so it would meet the two-mile minimum required for funding.

 We had toured the USS Midway museum ship in past years.

 The convention center.

 Hospital ship Mercy.

 Ships being worked on. A few were nuclear-powered; one was aluminum rather than steel to avoid torpedos finding it.

Seaport Village, a tourist attraction, which we were told is going to be torn down within two years.

At the end of the cruise, we walked past the Midway to a seafood restaurant, The Fish Market. I had skewered swordfish (with peppers, pineapple, a special sauce) and my husband had a calamari steak which didn't look anything like I expected. It was all good. Our waiter accommodated our train schedule nicely, too.
As we walked back to the train depot, next to the restaurant was a tribute to Bob Hope.

We saw California in its diversity and escaped a big snow storm in Winona Lake while we were gone.