Today was our last day in California. We had to be out of the house by 11:00am, so we spent most of the morning packing, doing some laundry, trying to clean up a bit and find missing bits of stuff. We packed the cars, we double checked, and though Lyla and Collin both wanted to go for another walk, we had to pass. Too bad for them because they had five plus hours of car ride ahead of them.
As we flew, and as our flight was not until 7:30pm, we had one last day to be in San Diego and play. When reading about beaches, I read that the beach at La Jolla had lots of marine mammals to see as well as tide pools. We all thought it would be great to go to the beach again, not necessarily to swim/boogie board, but to see the animals and poke around looking for sea creatures. Low tide was at 1:30 and we were going to be there then.
There were really cool things about the La Jolla beach, and a disappointing one too. There were lots of seals and sea lions, all lounging around on the beach and rocks, all within close distance so we could get a great view. There were interesting birds, too, pelicans and cormorants, and they all smelled really bad. The sand on the beach was nice, but La Jolla is rocky once you get out in the water, and the sea is rough with rip tides. You can't really be out in the water very far along here, except in a cove where there is a swimming club. We watched swimmers who stayed in the cove and swam almost like they were in an infinity pool with a steady flow of water towards you so you don't cover much distance but still get a good workout.
We were all delighted with how close the seals were. We walked along a path that was well above the level of the water, but there were seals right by us, close enough we could have reached out and touched them. A small group was lazing under a sign that said, "Please don't disturb the marine mammals." It would have taken a lot of effort for them to "climb" up the rocks as high as they did, but there they were, snoozing.
The disappointment came in the tide pools. There was almost nothing to see in any of them. There were lots of very small hermit crabs in shells, and we saw some sea anemones camouflaged in bits of shell and sand. There was also some seaweed. And that's it. No starfish, no larger crabs, no small creatures creeping around. We took our time, but there really wasn't much to see. The lack of marine life, however, did not dampen the children's spirits. They were happy as a clam (none of which we saw) to be at the beach, playing in the water, and they both ended up soaked. They threw rocks, Kent tried to teach them how to skip rocks, and they dug in the sand. The adults sat and watched the water breaking along the shore, and enjoyed the sun. There was no agenda, no place to go, just the ocean, the sun, and us. And other people, but not that many.
The birds stank horribly!
These are the seals that had worked their way up the cliff.
The shadow is the sign that says,
"Please don't disturb the animals."
That's my shadow holding the camera, with the kids and my mom.
See how close we are?
I took this picture because I wanted to show how far up the cliff the seals had gone.
There is a post at the top of the dirt track. That is the sign the seals were napping under.
You can see how far down the beach is.
It's a something!
That is an anemone, covered with shells.
Looking for something--anything--interesting.
Picture of me with the kids.
Blythe not looking in one,
Brandt not looking in the other.
These were all little crabs.
The shells were moving around, but you could hardly see the crabs inside.
They must be having a meeting.
This seal was lounging on the sand right where all the people were.
We could have walked right up to it and touched it.
We didn't, but I was very concerned that it was sick or something.
We had heard at Sea World about their animal rescue work,
and I tried for some time to contact someone.
We finally saw a life guard who assured us the animal was fine.
They are there all the time.
The cormorants
Brandt working on his rock skipping.
Blythe doing Down Dog in the surf.
That's my family way down there.
At the far end of the beach where we were playing is the Children's Pool.
Years ago, this area of the beach was dredged to make a pool.
As the sand slowly filled it up,
the seals claimed it as their own, and now they hang out there.
See?
Seals hanging out.
After spending about four hours at the beach with only a small snack to tide us over, we decided we needed food. There was a gelato shop near where we parked, and although we hadn't had lunch, we opted for dessert first. It was delicious! If I lived anywhere near there, I would take myself there three times a week. Probably good I don't live there. Below is a picture of Brandt's, Blythe's, and my choices. Brandt got mint chocolate chip, Blythe got chocolate chip, and I got prickly pear and blood orange. I don't remember what Kent and Mom got, but we all had a taste of everyone's, and it was all yummy.
Since Mom and I were last in San Diego, more than a decade ago, I have been yearning for really good fish tacos. We ate at a place along the beach while we were last there, and it was so good we went back the following day to have some more. I haven't had a fish taco that compares since, and I've eaten a lot of fish tacos hoping to find one. After finishing our gelato, I looked up good fish tacos and found a little place called Oscar's Mexican Seafood. It wasn't fancy at all, in fact, they only had a short counter inside to eat at, and then stools and a couple of tables outside, but the fish tacos were tasty. I ordered two different kids, both delish, then went back for another. We had been gone for about ten minutes when we returned, and the woman must have thought we were pretty funny because she gave us a cup of fish stew to enjoy while we waited for our tacos, and although I had only ordered one more, she gave us two, one for me and one for Mom. Although they were not quite as wonderful and memorable as the ones we had all those years ago, they were very good. They sated the craving.
Kent and the children ate up the street at a Chinese restaurant.
They had orange chicken and egg rolls.
This is a picture of me trying to get Blythe to eat a bit more,
taken by Brandt who had already finished and was in the car.
We drove to the airport as the sun was setting. There was the most incredibly beautiful sunset, bright and colorful. It was such a lovely send off as we ended our vacation. I had a very funny conversation with Blythe as we were walking into the terminal, pulling our bags behind us. She asked me if I had been able to get her pink kiki and stuffed animals in the suitcases. I had made her carry those in her backpack on the way to California after she insisted on bring both her blue and her pink kikis, as well as several stuffed animals when I had hoped she would be happy with one. "Yes," I replied, "I was able to get everything in the suitcase."
"See," she said to me. "I knew they would all fit. You had a fit about them for no good reason." Thank you for pointing that out, Miss Smarty Pants.
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