Friday, January 6th - Oceanside, CA

This morning we headed over the mountains to Oceanside, CA, so that we could dip our toes in the Pacific. On the way over we took the route in blue. On the way back we took the blue then gray route that says 2 hrs 9 min (what a laugh, more on that later).

Our trip started off with somewhat of a glitch. The westbound Interstate ramp was closed so we had to go east to the next exit and basically make a U-turn to go west. One of the first things we noticed was that the trash along the Interstate is terrible. It looks like it never gets cleaned up.

Leaving the Cathedral City area. Note the lack of vegetation on the mountains in the distance.

Next week we may get to see some snow first hand. We plan on riding the Palm Springs Tram. The Valley Station, where it starts is at elevation 2,600', the Mountain Station, at the top, is at elevation 8,500'. The temperature drops by as much as 40 degrees during the ride up. There are a bunch of windmills on the right of the photo below. Not one of them was generating electricity. Later we saw a lot more of them and almost all to the 2nd bunch had blades that were rotating.

About 30 miles into our drive and things started getting green.

And greener.

We wondered if this pilot of the jet leaving this contrail forgot something at the airport.

We passed through Hemet, CA on the way and saw hundreds, if not a thousand, cows at a huge dairy farm.

We made it to the Pacific. Waves were impressive. Off in the distance, on the left, is the fishing pier. There were a lot of surfers out on the other side of the pier.

Getting our toes, and pants wet.

The kids in the photo below were in some pretty deep water when the wave crashed over them. About the time I took this picture a lady (their Mom?) angrily waved them back onto the beach.

Rental(?) units along the beach.

Walking out  on the fishing pier, its 1,942' long.

And must be pretty stout.

Later we drove down to the harbor and had lunch. Both my fish and Kathy's fish taco were good, and reasonably priced.

We came across a coffee shop on our way back to the car and stopped to have a cup while we enjoyed the view.

After coffee we headed for home. We made a wrong turn and ended up at the main gate of the Camp Pendleton Marine Base. Kathy explained to the young marine at the gate that we made a wrong turn. He asked for her drivers license, kept it and instructed us to drive through the gate, make a U-turn, all within 150' of the gate. On the way back out through the gate he returned her drivers license. He was polite.

The trip back was scenic, and chaotic. I was using my phone and Google maps for directions. Google maps totally screwed up as we went through Temecula. The first thing it did was direct us down a city street that ended in a cul-de-sac. It showed a non-existent street leaving the cul-de-sac. A half mile later it directed us to turn down Bike Path. We ended up driving through a huge shopping center parking lot before we found our way back to the highway.

It was a little surprising to see pine trees on our way back. Some of them were quite large.

Below is a blow up of an interesting stretch of road. Note the road at the top right.

I took a bunch of photos of the great scenery on the way back but the camera in my phone just isn't good enough to convey the beauty. Below is a photo of the section of road noted above. I hope you can make out some of the levels of road far down the mountain from our location. In many places you can look down over the edge of the road, see the road far below and wonder how am I possibly going to go down that far, that fast.

After supper we both went over and enjoyed one of the heated pools. Kathy often goes and sits in the hot tub. I'm not a hot tub person. The heater was not on for the hot tub so she relaxed in the pool. This was only the 2nd time I've been in one of the heated pools here. Both are heated to above body temperature. It is a little brisk getting out when there is a slight breeze and the temperature is in the high 50's.

It was a great day!

God is good. I pray that He blesses you and yours.