Cali- North Park

I didn't really have much planned for the Friday of our trip. In the event one of the other days got off track or didn't go as planned, I was going to use Friday as a "make up day". But every other day went perfectly so Friday ended up being completely open. The weather was also looking kind of unpredictable so we weren't really sure what to do. I thought about going to one of the art museums at Balboa Park but wanted to save some money (James' Plant Power addiction is hard to keep up with). So we decided to just go walk around the North Park neighborhood of San Diego. 

I like getting to know different parts of the city and areas tourists possibly don't visit. As the name indicates, North Park is on the north side of Balboa Park. There are a lot of boutiques, restaurants, and other small businesses in this neighborhood. It's also home to a historic theatre and music venue (I would like to go to a show here sometime in the future). It seems to be a hip part of town (although I'm sure we brought the cool factor down). Research tells me it is #13 on Forbes list of "Best Hipster Neighborhoods" (I looked this up just now while writing this post). The fact that Forbes has a list of top hipster neighborhoods is possibly the most anti-hipster thing I have ever heard of. Or maybe the hipsters would embrace the irony of it. 

What I like most about pretty much any neighborhood I've come across in San Diego is the abundance of really cool street art and murals. I love alleys covered in paint and random small pieces of art on sidewalks. So mostly that is what we looked for in North Park and we found plenty of it. We also went in some really cool shops, particularly one called Pigment. If I lived here, I would have no paycheck because I'd spend it all here. It's like the ultimate home decor/stationery/party supply store. I'm pretty sure they may have been the original inspiration for both Pinterest and Instagram because everything there is beautiful and perfect and dripping with succulents. I actually didn't buy anything because there was too much beautiful stuff to choose from. 

It actually rained while we were walking around so we ducked into a great cafe called Sipz which serves vegan Asian inspired cuisine. It was delightful and just what we needed on a rainy California afternoon. We got some amazing Vietnamese coffee and vegan sushi and chilled out for a while before heading out. 

The rest of the day we spent packing up and cleaning the apartment (remember, leave no trace!) and then we walked up the street to another shop I had been wanting to check out, Often Wander at Noon. I don't really buy souvenirs when we travel, at least not the tacky magnet type of souvenir. The past few trips I've bought jewelry because I can wear it every day and remind myself of happy memories (plus, who doesn't like jewelry). But again, trying to reign in the spending, so I bought some cute cactus art prints and a cactus dishtowel. 

In the evening, we walked around the corner to a lovely Indian restaurant called Sundara. It's a little hole in the wall and easy to pass by despite being on a main road in Ocean Beach. A Google search brings up a stunningly bad review of the place, so bad I thought it was a satire on the snobbery of food critics. The chief complaints were bad service, a table set for 4 even though only two guests were seated at it, and using chicken breast in the curry. Well, we received great service throughout our visit from different employees, the table setting was lovely, and I'm vegan so I couldn't care less what kind of chicken they use (although I'd prefer no chicken at all). The waitstaff were very attentive to our dietary needs and food allergies. We ordered samosas, Saag curry (James) and Channa Masala (me) and it was ALL DELICIOUS. We had plenty left over and considered it one of the best meals we had during this trip. It really was the perfect way to wrap up our time in Ocean Beach.

Cali- La Jolla + map museum

After our grand journey to Joshua Tree, we wanted to do something nice and relaxing. So we slept in, then ate at Plant Power (duh), and headed to La Jolla! I think of all the places we've been in the immediate San Diego area, La Jolla is my favorite. Sure it's extremely high dollar and touristy but the beach itself is just amazing. The color of the water is like sea glass, the cliffs are stunning, and of course, I love the seals! This time we were able to see some baby seals because it was "pupping season". They were so cute! They played just like canine puppies. Since the water was so clear, we could see the seal pups swimming around and frolicking. They would let the waves push them onto the beach and then just roll around and play in the surf. For the safety of the animals, parts of beach and seawall were closed, but I have no problem with this because I know people are jerks and stupidity knows no bounds when trying to get that perfect Insta photo. Bring binoculars or a camera with a decent zoom if you want to see them up close! 

Once again, we missed low tide so we didn't spend a lot of time on the beach, but that's ok because we actually came back to La Jolla for another reason. While planning this trip, I was looking at a map of La Jolla and noticed a place called "The Map and Atlas Museum of La Jolla". I hadn't noticed it the last time we were here even though it's smack dab in the middle of the La Jolla business district. James and I both enjoy looking at maps immensely, but initially I wanted to come here was because our friend is obsessed with maps and we were going to bring him here as a surprise. Buuut obviously he was out of town so we came by ourselves. 

If you've got an hour (or 3) to spare, definitely go visit the Map Museum! It's free and mind blowing. They do have limited hours but given the free admission, I think that's reasonable. Probably not the best place to bring young children, as the atmosphere is quiet and library like, but great for older, studious kids and adults. The Map Museum has reaaaallly old maps and documents, dating back to the 1400s. Everything is amazingly preserved and the place is just beautiful to look at. I've never seen anything like it before and I've been to a lot of museums. They also have some more recent colorful, artistic maps showing different parts of California and the world. So if you're in San Diego and it's by chance raining, cold, or you just want to do something different, give the Map Museum a visit! Check their website for hours and other details. 

After La Jolla, it was mid-afternoon so James wanted to nap. He did drive 5+ hours the day before, so he deserved it. Around this time, I started to go into my "vacation is winding down depressive state" so I started looking at San Diego houses for sale online and plotting my escape from the Atlanta suburbs. Of course, that made me more depressed so I made James get up and we walked around Ocean Beach again. There is a tide pool area south of the Pier and it was low tide so we sat on the rocks to watch the sun set. It wasn't as magnificent as our first night but it was pretty as the light reflected off the tide pools. 

Cali- Joshua Tree

Here it is- our biggest adventure in California yet. We finally made it to Joshua Tree National Park! I will write a separate post about practical advice and tips for the actual trip, so that way I can focus on all the good stuff right now. 

Since we were only planning to be in Joshua Tree for a day, I spent a lot of time researching and trying to figure out the best way to see the park. After reading a lot of articles and guides online, I found one I felt outline the park in a manageable, efficient way. Overall the Outdoor Blueprint website is just really great and I wish my blog was anywhere close to it!
We based our trip on this itinerary. I've bolded the different stops on the itinerary and I'll describe each section as we experienced it. 

We started our day at the southern entrance to the park and stopped in at the Cottonwood Visitor Center. The ranger said visitors don't typically start here and we really didn't see any people until we got further along in the day, which was nice. We got a map and I was the navigator as James drove to our destinations. Overall, nothing was hard to find and there is plenty of signage throughout the park.

We accidentally skipped Cottonwood Springs, which is located near the visitor center, because I was distracted and excited about being in the park. We hopped right back in the car after talking to the ranger and I forgot to tell James to go to the Springs. 
We drove north on Pinto Basin Road for a while and stopped to take some pictures along the way. We then stopped at the Cholla Cactus Garden and walked around it. It is more like a Cholla forest with how many cactus plants there are. Cholla can get rather large also. There were a few taller than me (the ones I've seen in the past were short things). FYI, there is a first aid kit mounted to the fence at the Cholla garden, so I'm guessing some people have not followed the signs and tried to touch the cacti. 

Shortly after leaving the Cholla, we started to see (what I thought were) really large rock formations so we pulled off at another area and started to climb around and explore them. Little did I know, we were about to see some really big rocks. The scenery starts to change as you drive north into the Mohave desert and it is really noticeable, particularly the actual Joshua Trees start to become prevalent!

We soon came upon the sign for Skull Rock. After seeing Skull Rock, I felt like every rock I looked at had some sort of facial features. Skull Rock is impressive but there were some really cool rock formations in the area behind it, so we spent a while climbing around back there. We saw a rock with a hole in the top of it, which showed blue sky behind it, as well as a sort of slot canyon. It was really fun climbing around on the rocks and I have a ton or respect for serious climbers, although rock climbing intimidates the hell out of me. 

We then walked across the street to the Discovery Trail. It's a kid friendly nature trail that loops around some more rock formations and there are little signs along the way explaining different flora and fauna. This is a really great area to just stop and look around and take in the different scenery on the horizons. We also saw a roadrunner near the Discovery trail. I tried to take a picture of it but it darted away. Meep meep!

Next on the itinerary was a choice of either the Pine City Hike or Ryan Mountain Hike. It was close to noon time by the time we got to this point since we arrived at the park later than I hoped. I was worried about running out of time for the rest of the stops on our list. In retrospect, we probably could have fit another hike in, but I didn't want to be rushed. So we decided to not do either of these hikes and ate lunch instead. We just sat on the tailgate and used the hatch of the SUV for shade, which was quite pleasant. 

After lunch we drove to Barker Dam and the parking lot was almost full, so I'm glad we got a parking space. Despite that, we didn't actually see too many people on the trail. The dam was really interesting and actually had quite a lot of water in it. It was just mucky rain water but the reflection of the rocks in it was perfectly clear. It was very pretty! The trail to and around the dam was very pleasant to walk along. Be sure to follow the arrow signs once you get to the dam and not just walk back to the parking lot. Around the side of the dam, there is a rock formation that has petroglyphs on it. Some of them are red or black, which is not their original state. People have drawn over them, which is vandalism. Regardless, it was neat to see. 

The website I got the itinerary from said the Lost Horse Mine trail was the author's favorite hike, so I figured we really should not miss out on it. One thing to be aware of, the trail head is located on a dirt road. It was the smoothest dirt road I've ever driven on, so it shouldn't be an issue for any type of car. We had a SUV but sedans should be fine as well. 
There is a 4 mile or 6 mile option and we did the 4 mile. We had time to do 6 but James was getting pretty tired (he was one who drove to Joshua Tree after all, so I figured I'd give him a break). The Lost Horse trail isn't the most strenuous trail ever but it does have some inclines and there is absolutely no shade. It is a very pretty trail and the scenery all around is great. Lots of mountain views off in the distance with snow capped peaks. There are not really any large boulders or rock formations in this part of the park; the scenery is completely different but really beautiful. The mine itself is enclosed with a fence, I suspect probably due to vandalism, but the fence is easy to look through and you're able to get relatively close. 
We finished the hike around 3:30 pm and then drove to Keys View, which is conveniently located on the same road as the Lost Horse Mine hike. We had a little time to kill before sunset but I didn't want to get too far away from Keys view in the event parking became an issue as more people came to watch the sun set. So we chilled in the car for a while and James even napped briefly (I think). Keys View is a mountain overlook high above Palm Springs with views of the San Andreas fault, Salton Sea, Mount Gorgonio, and more. It was similar scenery to what we saw at Garnet Peak, but yet, totally different looking. The Salton Sea looks really cool at sunset, as it reflects the light and basically becomes a giant mirror. There is a formal viewing platform at Keys View but many people were sitting on picnic blankets on the side of the cliff. As the sun started to set, the temperature dropped significantly and the wind started gusting like crazy. I really wanted to see a good sunset but the wind was pretty unbearable. I tried to stick it out but I couldn't even hold my camera still due to the wind. I have a feeling the sunset got better after we left (it's always the best about 20 mins after the sun goes below the horizon) but oh well. 

Leaving Keys view we drove toward the Joshua Tree exit and saw 2 coyotes crossing the road. They were smaller than the ones we have in Georgia. We also saw some rock climbers come down after their final evening climb. And then suddenly we were back in civilization. There was cell service, power lines, and street lights. Joshua Tree really felt like another world. We didn't stick around long enough to experience the darkness of the park but I could tell just being in the small towns bordering the park, it gets very very very dark. 

Honestly, I feel like we experienced more in just one day than I had all year up until this point. I need to come to places like this more often. Away from people, away from civilization. I literally felt different while in the park. 

Cali- Cabrillo National Monument

Despite Cabrillo National Monument being just a short drive from Ocean Beach, we didn't come here the last time we were in town. When we first arrived, we were a little caught off guard because it looks like you are driving into a Navy base but the gate is open and a little ways down the road you stop at the pay station for Cabrillo. As of this writing, it cost $15 to enter Cabrillo by car and this gives you a pass you can use again as much as you want during the next 6 days.

We initially parked near the tide pools area, although it was hide tide and we couldn't access the tide pools. Do yourself a favor, go online and look at the tide schedule (just google San Diego area tide schedule) before you go to the beach in the event you want to look at the tide pools. Also check online (either with a weather app or the park website) about any alerts; there was a rough surf advisory almost every day we were there, which means if you are walking on rocks during high tide, you may get splashed!

There is a nice trail along the cliffs and rocks that is about a mile total, so we started out walking along here. We saw some really cool rock and cliff formations. The thing about the San Diego coastline is, every section of beach is different. The rocks and cliffs at Cabrillo are different than La Jolla, which are different than the Sunset Cliffs, and so on and so on. And of course, everything looks different as the tide changes!

After walking along the trail, we drove up to the visitor's center and parked there. Outside of the visitor's center, we saw great views of the bay, Coronado, downtown San Diego, and even Mexico, although it was a little hazy the morning we were there. There is also a trail near the visitor's center called the Bayside trail (which goes along the bay naturally) but we didn't walk this one. It looked really pretty though! After walking through the visitor's center and looking at the exhibits there, we briefly looked at the actual Cabrillo Monument and then headed to the Old Point Loma lighthouse. 

I have a thing for lighthouses. I just love them! When I was a kid, I thought it would be cool to be either a lighthouse keeper or a fire tower watcher (weird, I know). This lighthouse is seriously one I could live in. It's very small but seriously has the perfect amount of space for me, James and the dogs. It has a an adorable little spiral staircase leading upstairs to the tower, which is actually not accessible to the public but you can look into it. The rooms of the lighthouse are also secured behind glass, but they are furnished and decorated with period pieces and overall it just looks like a place I could live. I loved the simplicity and stature of this lighthouse! Throughout the grounds near the lighthouse, there are also displays about military history and relics of WW2, which James found interesting. Although I am not so much into military history, the San Diego area is obviously a must visit area for those who are. 

After walking around Cabrillo, we went to the grocery store and did some other mundane things. We needed to get snacks and non-perishable food to take on our trip to Joshua Tree (I didn't feel like bringing a cooler and ice so we stuck with sandwiches and "hiker food"). In the evening, we walked to a restaurant down the street called Hugo's Cocina. We noticed the night before it had a line out the door, so we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Fortunately, they have a great variety of vegan options so we made a good choice! It's family style Mexican restaurant with your typical assortment of tacos, enchiladas, and combo options. I ordered a vegan quesadilla. It was HUGE so I had plenty leftover, which I ate the next morning for breakfast. 

It was an early night because we had to get a good night's rest before our big adventure in Joshua Tree!

Cali- Garnet Peak and Julian

Since the weather was much cooler than our previous visit, I wanted to really get out and hike on this trip. Ultimately, we spent probably 80% of our trip outside and I am completely fine with that! Other than trying to figure out what to wear (it's 60 degrees out- is that shorts weather or pants weather? Answer- shorts if in the sun, pants if in the shade, boots and down jacket if you are a California resident), I loved being outside the whole week. The weather looked like it would be nicest early in the week, so I planned the bulk of our "must do" outdoor activities for Sun- Weds. 

The weather on Monday morning was cool, crisp, and really clear so it was the perfect day to head to the mountains just east of San Diego. I had it in my head to hike some small section of the Pacific Crest Trail, just to say that I had set foot on it, and found a easy sounding (hey, we were on vacation after all) hike to Garnet Peak. I have to say, I think the effort vs. payoff ratio of this hike is best of any hike I've ever taken (in other words, it's not hard and the view was stunning). First of all, it's a very easy, barely an hour drive from San Diego. You hop on I-8, go east, exit onto Sunrise Highway, drive through some very scenic mountain curves, and you're there. No back roads, no 4-wheel drive needed, no worries about GPS going out of service because it's so simple to get there. 

Then there's the hike itself. We started at the Penny Pines trail head, which is about 5 miles round trip, but there are other shorter and longer options nearby. Easiest 5 miles I have ever hiked. About 3/4 of the hike is flat-ish but shows amazing scenery of nearby mountains and valleys. The last section is uphill but short as you climb the summit of Garnet Peak. I will say, I was a little scared on the summit because it's very rocky and I am clumsy. After being so used to big, flat, "balds" of the Georgia mountains, a narrow, rocky mountain top is intimidating. The view was amazing though and so worth it! From the summit, you can see the Anza-Borrego desert, the Salton Sea, and snow capped peaks off in the distance. Quite the variety of geographic features!

Since we were there so early we only saw a handful of other hikers and had plenty of peace and quiet to ourselves. The hike took us about 2 hours total and that was with a lot of stopping to take pictures along the way. We finished earlier than we anticipated, so we decided to drive about 20 minutes north into Julian. I had heard of "Julian Pies" and we figured there was no harm in seeing what it was all about. 

I suppose Julian is like the Ellijay of southern California. They've got mountains and apples and mining and a historic town strip. Julian also seems to have a lot of town pride as everything is called "Julian This" or "Julian That". We went in a few general store type places and yes, found a bakery that sells vegan apple pies. James wanted to go big or go home, so we bought a whole apple pie and then spent the rest of the week trying to eat it. But that's ok because we earned our right to eat whole pies with the amount of hiking/walking we did. 

In the evening, we met our other SD friend for dinner and went to an amazing vegan restaurant/bar called Kindred, which is located in the South Park neighborhood. Not sure who put this place together, but it's an awesome blend of cats, heavy metal, seriously upscale decor, crafty cocktails, and aforementioned vegan cuisine. Truly intriguing. I ordered a BBQ jackfruit sandwich which was leaps and bounds better than the BBQ jackfruit I make at home and I tried Kombucha for the first time. The food prices were very affordable ($10 sandwich w/chips) but the vibe so trendy, this would make a great first date kind of place. 

Only in California can you go from down home apple pie to upscale vegan cuisine in under an hour!

Cali- Ocean Beach and Balboa Park

This time around we decided to fly directly to San Diego so we could jump right in and not waste time driving all over southern California (although we did plenty of that later in the week). Yes, the plane tickets were more expensive but the benefit of the San Diego airport actually being right in San Diego (seriously, like 15 mins from where we stayed) finally won me over. 

After a good nights rest, we woke up bright and early on Sunday morning and spent some time getting re-acquainted with Ocean Beach. We are SO SO SO lucky to have a friend who lives just a few blocks from the beach and since he was out of town for work, we had his whole apartment to ourselves. Of course, we were sad we didn't get to see him but adventures called him away. 

We walked up to the Ocean Beach Pier (which is frighteningly long, by the way) and watched the surfers for a while and then walked up and down the streets of OB daydreaming about living in one of the many adorable (aka million dollar) bungalows we saw. We like to spend time wherever we are acting like we live in the neighborhood. We enjoy seeing people in their daily routines, walking dogs, washing cars, whatever else people do on Sunday mornings. 

Eventually we found our way to James' absolute favorite place in California, Plant Power, which is also conveniently just a half a mile walk from the apartment. After he re-established himself as their number one customer by purchasing at least 3 breakfast items, we walked back to the apartment and rested for a bit before heading to Balboa Park. 

I wanted to go to Balboa Park specifically to attend the organ concert, which is held every Sunday at 2 pm. We weren't sure how popular the concerts are or how difficult it would be to find parking, so we got there an hour early. We had no problem finding a parking spot right near the organ pavilion, so we went to the Japanese Friendship Garden and walked around before the concert. The garden was really peaceful and beautiful, so I am happy we had extra time to do this. 

Now onto the organ concert- it was amazing and it was FREE so if you are in San Diego on a Sunday, I highly recommend you go to it. The organist was young and very engaging; he explained the history of the music he played and about the mechanics of the organ. James thought it would be boring but he actually ended up having a great time. So Sunday, 2 pm, Balboa Park, go there!

After the concert, we walked around some of the other areas of the park we hadn't seen before, namely the Spanish arts village and the carousel. James actually wanted to ride the carousel but we both noticed it seems to spin very fast and we both got dizzy looking at it. Yep, we are wimps. It is really cool though and the artwork on it is interesting to look at. 

After walking around for a while, I realized it was getting close to sunset and I really wanted to be at the beach for that. So we booked it to the Sunset Cliffs area but couldn't find parking actually in the park. So we parked on the street nearby and walked to the cliffs. Just like the last time we were in California, the sunset on the first night of our trip was amazing (the sun had already set when we arrived the night before)! Everyone else thought so as well, because there was totally a traffic jam getting back into Ocean Beach. It took us well over an hour to get from Sunset Cliffs to Plant Power (2.5 miles). Yes, we ate at Plant Power twice in one day and yes, we did this several other days of this trip as well. Seriously, James is their number one customer. 

After dinner, we were feeling kind of tired due to the time zone difference, so we took it easy and went to bed pretty early. Plus we're old and boring- reference earlier activities of watching surfers at 7 am and getting dizzy looking at a carousel...

California Wrap Up

Well, it's been a decent 2+ months since our trip to California and I still haven't finished writing about it. Maybe I'm a procrastinator or maybe I just really have spent the last two months reflecting and trying to figure out what to say. Maybe I subconsciously didn't want to write because I wanted to pretend the trip never ended. 

As for what we did at the end of our trip, we went to the wedding we initially traveled to CA for and went to the beach and we went to a house party and tried to re-live college days. That was about it. Nothing earth shattering. The wedding was lovely and we saw some friends we hadn't seen in a very long time. The beach was lovely too. We had great weather the last few days we were there. Perfect low humidity, sunny San Diego weather. 

But really, the last few days of the trip just felt like normal life (I mean, normal life if we didn't have jobs hahaha). We started to be able to drive/walk from place to place without relying so much on Google Maps. We finally adjusted to the time zone difference. James finally got over his initial culture shock and admitted he really likes San Diego. Dare I say, we felt...at home...

The last time I felt this way after a trip was when I traveled to Athens, GA in 2007 for a long weekend with my ex-boyfriend who had friends at UGA. I decided right then and there, with almost no thought process whatsoever that I would go to UGA for grad school. I immediately loved Athens and felt at home more than I did in my actual hometown. So I'm not saying we're going to drop everything and move to California but I will say my snap decision to up and move to Athens did turn out to be a good thing. Maybe I should trust my instincts more than my logical, cold, little brain. 

The good news is, we're definitely in the midst of planning another trip to California. It will be after the winter holidays when everyone is in the doldrums of January in Georgia. Stay tuned...

California Trip- Balboa Park

So finally on the third day of our trip, the sun decided to come out. It was a stunningly beautiful day so we decided to walk around Balboa Park. We got a pretty early start so there were not too many people around. We parked in the 6th Street and Upas Street parking lot and had no trouble finding parking. We pretty much just followed the trails and visited many of the various garden areas. My favorite part by far was the rose garden. I have never seen so many varieties of roses in my life. I also enjoyed the botanical building. The desert garden was a little lackluster. I would have much rather just visited the desert (but not a good idea in August!).

It was my goal to not pay for very many attractions but we did end up visiting the Museum of Man. It was OK; probably a good choice for people with kids because it's not very extensive and you can move through the exhibits fairly quickly. Overall I am more of an art museum person and I wish we had done that instead. We also opted to not pay the extra admission fee to visit the Japanese garden, although it looked very pretty. We barely scratched the surface and definitely could have spent another day there. I've never been anywhere like Balboa Park before. 

After walking around for 5+ hours, we were feeling rather peckish so we went further into downtown San Diego and ate at an epic Mexican restaurant called Pokez. The vegan options were endless and the prices were amazing, not to mention the vibe which definitely had a artistic flair. I got an indescribably large taco salad (seriously, I don't know how they made the taco shell bowl it was in) that I had a hard time finishing. 

In the evening, we met up with our (formerly) Arizona friend Chris who ended up moving to San Diego after we already planned to be visit. That's serendipity! We went to a bar in Ocean Beach, the name of which I did not catch, and just sat and talked for hours. It was a very peaceful, beautiful evening- exactly what I imagined a Friday night in California would be like. 

California Trip- La Jolla

Our second day in California, I was stunned to walk outside and see it had rained the night before and it was so foggy it looked like we were in the Pacific Northwest. Despite the gloomy weather, we decided to go to La Jolla Cove and look for the famous seals and sea lions. This was, all in all, not the worst decision because there were fewer people there due to the weather. We saw about a dozen sea mammals and quite a few other sea creatures in the tide pools. La Jolla is very beautiful and no wonder it tops a lot of "must see" lists for San Diego. We walked around for a few hours and then left to get lunch.

For lunch we upped our vegan game and went to a restaurant in Little Italy called Cafe Gratitude. James really embraced the California lifestyle by ordering a watermelon infused water that cost $9.50. This is a man who typically will not even drink free water, let alone pay for it. Joking aside, it really was a fantastic restaurant. I ordered a Mexican style bowl and James got a raw "lasagna" made with squash ribbon noodles. Both our dishes were great and kept us full for the rest of the day, which ended up making the meal economical. We walked around Little Italy for a bit and then napped before walking down to the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. 

This is no ordinary pier. It has adorable little vacation cottages on it. I was a little weirded out by the fact you can drive onto the pier to access the cottages (if you're staying there). I couldn't help but wonder how the pier holds up with all the cottages, vehicles, and rough surf over the years. But it's been there for nearly 100 years, so I guess none of this is an issue. 

We didn't get a stunning sunset but still enjoyed the view from the legendary Pacific Beach Shore Club. Seriously the people watching is second to none at the beach and the Shore Club has a big upstairs area overlooking the beach. Unfortunately we did witness a fight and probably a drug deal (unrelated to each other) but overall I felt really safe walking around Pacific Beach. We wended our way through these charming alleys to get back to the rental and saw the cutest houses and yards. If only I was a millionaire...

California Trip- Ocean Beach Dog Park

So as described in my previous post, much of day one was spent traveling (getting to the Atlanta airport is no walk in the park either). We arrived to our Air BnB in Pacific Beach around 5 pm and James was literally about to eat his hand. Hunger combined with no air conditioning is a bad mix for a man (strangely, though, he claims "hangry" is not a legit feeling). So I pulled up the handy list of vegan/vegetarian options I found online and found the closest one, which was a "fast food" place in nearby Ocean Beach called Plant Power. Well, nearby in rush hour meant another 25 minute drive BUT it was so worth it. By the end of our trip, James became a walking billboard for Plant Power and spent enough money to probably keep the place in business through the end of the year. 

After eating $50 worth of probably not the healthiest vegan food ever, we felt the need to get some exercise, so the next logical stop was the Ocean Beach dog park. Because it's not at all creepy to go to a dog beach without your own dogs and fawn over other peoples' dogs. We walked around the dog beach and were quickly refreshed by all the pups and people enjoying the evening. I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever and we caught the most stunning sunset. Even locals said it was unusually beautiful. The pictures really didn't adequately capture it. 

After the beach, we went to Trader Joe's to get coffee and essentials for the morning and quickly learned another lesson- you have to pay for grocery bags in California. I don't have a problem with this; just wasn't expecting it. James declined to pay .25 cents for a bag so we ended up carrying all our stuff out and have it roll around the back of the car. We are such noobs. 

The theme for 2017 is "West is Best"

Literally the day we arrived home from our trip to AZ earlier this year, we had a wedding invitation in the mail for an August wedding in San Diego (thank god, our friends live in desirable places). So, I immediately started planning for that trip. It gave me something to look forward to in dreary late winter Georgia. It also motivated me to exercise since being out of shape on a beach is not something I want photos of. I ended up losing 30 lbs, whoop whoop. 

Ultimately, we didn't do many of the things I would want to do during a trip to Southern California, but that is fine because we'll definitely go back. Since I over planned our trip to AZ, I figured I'd just take things as they came in San Diego and not schedule everything down to the minute. California truly is like another country and I figured our first trip should just be to feel things out. That being said, we learned some valuable lessons which I will share here:

1. It is not 72 and sunny year round in San Diego. In August it can be 85 and cloudy. Related lesson- air conditioning is apparently less common than I ever would have thought. 

2. The cheaper airfares to Los Angeles Intl (LAX) are very quickly diminished by the drive between LA and San Diego. I must have had temporary insanity when I booked our tickets and thought this would be a good idea (seriously though, I could not make the math work. It was cheaper to fly to LA and rent a car for an entire week than to fly to San Diego).

3. Air BnB is not always what it's cracked up to be. Again, you get what you pay for. In this case, a very tiny un-air conditioned studio with paper thin walls just a short walk from the beach. But when you are a numbers person like me, the price and location couldn't be beat.

Once we recovered from our drive (escape) out of LA, adjusted to life with no AC, and met up with our friends, all was well. This was the sunset on our first night:

 More to come soon!