Bike ride in O'side

A ride on the San Luis Rey River Trail and beyond ended up being a good 29 mile ride with a few hills when we turned off the path. The return to the coast has pretty good headwinds. We came upon the finish line later in the day for So California's Ride Across America Bike Ride.

The cycling in Southern California is fabulous and  diverse.  The topography is the most varied of any cycling event around - avocado orchards and orange groves, the ridges and valleys of the Coast Range, the Anza-Borrego Desert – and the weather is beautiful this time of year.

 The 200-mile course is said to be the toughest “double century” in America. The Amgen Tour of California, a ride with pros, was also ridden in San Diego this weekend.



 

 Jacaranda trees are a beautiful mess leaving a sticky substance after the purple leaves fall.

At the halfway point of our ride was Guajome Park with two ponds that attract a wide variety of migratory birds and serve as home to a variety of fish. The 4.5 miles of park trails meander through diverse Southern California habitats such as woodlands, chaparral, wetlands, and mixed grasslands. 

Just 8 miles from the Pacific Ocean and has plenty of walking and biking trails.

 Matilija Poppy

The ocean has a different look on different days. Today was almost Caribbean like.

 

 

 

 

 We don't go to the movies very often. One morning, we woke to much needed rain, "Papa-Earnest Hemmingway" was playing and sounded like a good way to stay dry. With Cuba in the news and  where the movie was filmed, it made it more intriguing.  When we arrived, we were the only people seated until another couple walked in. For some reason, they thought they should sit directly behind us. I guess they felt safer being so close to us.  It was a nice treat when we walked out at noon to the sunshine.

We recently read a book called "The Boy Who Said No,  Escape To Freedom" about a young man in Cuba during the overthrow of Batista that I got on Book Bub for $0.99. It was so interesting and well written that we read the sequel.  

I guess we have Cuba on our minds. 

 

5 ft high tide

Lots of different plants around here as we make our usual morning walk.

 

 

 

When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined making the high tides very high and the low tides are very low. This is known as a spring tides which are especially strong tides (they do not have anything to do with the season Spring). They occur when the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are in a line

This must have been a spring tide with tide as high as 6-7 feet and well over the sea walls. The surfers were out in full force.

The ocean looked like it just got filled.

A good way to carry a surfboard. We have seen bobs set up behind motorcycles for boards.

The tides were so forceful throwing rocks and sand into the streets. This fellow shoveling the sand and rock for the street sweeper reminded me of shoveling our snow in Colorado.



The loader clears the rocks and then sweeps the sand from the streets.

This boy's mom said he loved getting his bike stuck in the sand and peddling to dig a hole. He was giving it some peddle action and proud of the hole he dug.

 The 1986 movie Top Gun house, about the United States Navy's elite fighter weapons school is going to be renovated.



All of the black dots in the ocean are surfers that love these waves. Living across the street from the beach we  see a lot of surfers come and go. There was a couple from Keystone, Colorado that were ready to escape the snow. They were going to Trestle Beach but the beached whale that had died was luring in the sharks.

 Now we have a family from Switzerland next to us. They rented a camper van to spend 40 days in California. They are so excited about the diversity of California from San Francisco to Yosemite. They just say everything is just different everywhere they go. At home, they surf in Italy or south of France.

Encinitas

Hwy 101 is a great place to ride a bike and we found a street fair going on. There are plenty of street fairs around. Carlsbad has the largest in the country twice a year. Oceanside has one downtown every Thursday with music at night.

 

Walking and riding our bikes to get around the area is much more pleasant than driving. We had decided to take a walk and find someplace to have lunch and stopped in a small Peruvian Restaurant to look at the menu. A lady sitting nearby said it was very good and we should stay. We did and were so glad.  Once we sat down, a couple next to us overheard us trying to figure out what to order and recommended what they had. The pork chicharron with sweet potato slices, red onion and cilantro in lime juice on a cibatta and  the lomito, tender beef in soy sauce with sautéed tomato, red onion and red pepper. I guess you can tell we were happy. They visited with us about the area and places we had to try. Looks like there is going to be some good eating going on here.

Now that is a bike lane.

Our version of Colorado Springs Cycling Club's Latte Ride.

Our life has taken so many twists and turns. We have been a bit reflective as we begin to make more changes in our life. Sometimes while at work, I get overwhelmed by how a life can change in an instant. I am so thankful that Mike has been willing and mostly an eager participant in the "wild hairs" that pop into my brain and indulges me.

 

I came home from work a few days ago, Mike looked at me as if had he had a revelation or at least a deep thought. I had been planning to have a part time job over the winter and he said maybe I should just quit doing the nurse job after this contract and just see where the wind blows us. I am good with hoisting the sails. Hoping for gentle winds with happy and teary eyes.

 

 

Old Town San Diego

As Paul Harvey used to say, "Now for the rest of the story."  Actually, just the rest of our day in San Diego.

The sailor and nurse outside the Embarcadero. It was funny to watch a huge group of Japanese tourists shuffling around to get a good picture.

It is normal cruise ship procedure to conduct a full scale lifeboat exercise every month, where they simulate emergency conditions and technical teams practice operational procedures.  When I was placed on a team before my maiden cruise as a nurse, my team was on the side of the ship in which a lifeboat that was launched into Boston Harbor. we went round and round for an hour. While  having a cup of tea here in San Diego, the Holland America ship was doing just that. I am sure glad that job was short lived.

We boarded the train to return to Old Town San Diego.

Union Station, also known as the “Santa Fe Depot,” has served residents and visitors to San Diego for almost 100 years. Located in the heart of downtown near the cruise ship piers and other bayside attractions, the station anchors the larger Santa Fe Place,

By the time we arrived in Old Town, we were getting pretty hungry. We just picked a touristy looking place (The Rocking Baja) and with a self serve chips and salsa bar with different salsas, mango, black bean, pico, etc. Then we shared some pretty good fajitas.

A little entertainment in Old Town.

While waiting for our train, we were entertained by a duo having a video recorded at the stop.

Working in California as a traveling nurse is not a bad thing.  They have strict laws about breaks and many of the hospitals are union. There is always a nurse who is designated to give everyone a break and a lift team to move the patients. This saves on the back of the nurse and makes sure that patients get their much needed turns and care. I am getting better at realizing this may be my last contract as an ICU nurse. Where did the last 40 years go? It seemed just a short time ago that I was the young one.