Upon arrival in San Diego, we stayed right on the beach at Silver Strand State Beach. It was an amazing ocean spot, but we discovered that it’s a little too close to the Tijuana River that is often contaminated with sewage. So after we missed the unsafe water sign the first night and dipped out feet in (and then washed them with antibacterial soap), we enjoyed the views, but not the water.
We had a lazy Sunday morning (after the time change) and ate crepes. (Matt’s specialty) Then we flew the kite and walked on the beach. Matt and the kids enjoyed some video game time in the afternoon (with the AC on – it was 84 that day), and I walked around the bay side of the state beach. There were lots of flower and butterflies and beautiful views.
That afternoon we headed over to the Beheler’s house. I worked with Kristin at the Dale House years ago and she and her husband, and two kids live in San Diego now. We hung out, had dinner, and the kids played. It was a lovely evening connecting with old friends (and new friends for the kids)! We forgot to get a group shot picture – in fact the only one is of Claire and their daughter with Reece peeking in the background after dark – which was actually sort of late because the time had just changed.
The next day we went into Matt’s work and met the one of his co-workers and saw the office/shop space. They have an outdoor shower and a fun rooftop hangout space – very CA!
After seeing Matt’s work, we got some lunch at Oscar’s Mexican Seafood and then went over to Balboa Park. We walked through the Spanish Arts Village, saw the huge Moreton Bay fig tree, walked on the towering bridge over the freeway, and saw the old buildings that were built for two world fairs, the Panama-California Exposition of 1915-16, and the California Pacific International Exposition of 1935-36. It’s a beautiful place! (And we only saw a tiny bit of it!)
The next morning we packed up again and headed up to our next campsite at South Carlsbad State Beach. We arrived a little early, so we ended up finding a parking spot along the road at the beach and ate lunch and hung out on the beach for a bit. After checking in and dropping off the camper, we headed back down to San Diego to hang out with Matt’s old bosses (they sold the company recently and retired). We arrived at their house and got a tour of their garden and rain collection/watering system (loved it!). And then Lynn took us skateboarding. Lynn Kramer is a world class slalom skateboarder and a great teacher. She outfitted the kids and I with boards, pads, and helmets (Matt’s ankle was still bothering him so he didn’t skate much), and we headed up to the Sprouts parking lot near them. She set up cones and gave us some pointers. It was great fun!
Then we went into Sprouts (in all our gear) and got food for dinner – very CA! While dinner was being made, Claire and Reece decorated the ocean hallway in their house. I only got pictures of Claire’s jellyfish, but Reece also drew Sponge Bob’s world on an eel! Makes me think we might need a decorating wall in our house…
After a tasty dinner of fish tacos, we played a couple rounds of Rummikub and remembered to get a group shot!
On our way out we borrowed a couple of boogie boards for the next couple days at the beach – which we used the next day! We got school and life stuff done, and Reece and I hung out on the beach. It was a good day. And that evening I got to meet my friend, Jenna, for dinner in Oceanside, which made the day even better. It was so fabulous to reconnect with her after many years. I was grateful for our short time together!
The next day was also spent on the beach doing school and life. Claire joined in on the boogie boarding fun that day. After fun times at the beach, we met up with Lynn again to return the boogie boards and watch her and several other slalom skateboarders practice for an upcoming race. Check out this video from 13 years ago – the course they were practicing on looked a lot like this (except it was on a bike path right outside of Legoland in Carlsbad).
We returned to our campground to watch a final sunset at South Carlsbad State Beach, because the next morning we were moving on.
We slowly got ready and packed up the next morning. We left around checkout time and headed to Ron Casper’s Wilderness Park in San Juan Capistrano. We made a quick pit stop for some food and new Crocs for Reece (we think one of his maybe escaped from the van without us knowing). We dropped off the camper and then headed back down the hill to the beach again.
This time we were meeting our friends, the Culps, at Three Arch Beach in Dana Point. I worked with Maggie at the Dale House years ago, and Maggie and Phil started the John Muir Trail with us – also years ago. They made it about a week into the trip and Maggie’s knees swelled up, so they decided not to finish, but it was a bonding time. They now have 3 girls and live in San Juan Capistrano, and luckily had an extra campsite for the weekend, so we got to camp with them!
After the beach we returned to the campsite, found a toad, and Matt taught all the kids how to use wire strippers and about electricity.
The next day we decided to try to go rock climbing, but unfortunately the place we wanted to go was closed off with threats of fines and jail time if you violated it. We decided to go get frozen yogurt instead!
We returned to camp and played some games and ate pie (it was pi day), before heading out on a short hike in the park. After that we enjoyed taco dinner together and went to the star party the park was hosting.
There were a number of telescopes and people teaching about constellations. Really great.
We unfortunately didn’t get a whole group shot, but I think most people were captured in a photo except for Matt and I. We had such a fun weekend together!
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