Oct. 29th: Back home in Cardiff By the Sea (Encinitas) California

 

Swami's Beach

Quite a contrast going from Vermont to Swami's beach in California! Both are great and have a lot to offer. I went for a walk at Swami's shortly after the oil spill off of Laguna Beach, which is where Craig, Karen and I did several hikes.

It was a beautiful afternoon but the tide was a little high so I couldn't get too far. It was fun seeing the birds.

Tar ball resulting from oil spill

I was watching for tar balls because there was a sign asking everyone to report any that were spotted. Turned out there were plenty! They reminded me of the sci-fi movie, "The Blob". Some were quite small but others were about 8 inches in diameter.

Tar Ball

I thought I was being very careful where I stepped, but when I started up the stairs I saw some tar on my shoe. I looked at the bottom and saw a mess! I tried to clean it off with soap when I got back to my place. I had nothing that worked. I finally went to an auto parts store and bought some degreaser. It still took a lot to clean my shoes up. Well at least I cleaned one tar ball up!

The next time I went to the beach there was a crew walking the beach picking up the tar balls. As sad as the situation was, it was good to see people cleaning it up.

Rahn's new dining room light.

I drove up to the Rahn's home to help with a project, and of course just to visit. They were installing a new dining room light and said they could use some help. Projects are always fun. Turned out the project was pretty easy and they took me to their yacht club for a swordfish dinner afterward. Great deal!

Pelican at Oceanside Pier

On the way home I decided to stop at the Oceanside Pier. It's a very nice pier that extends very far out into the ocean. The birds have become quite accustomed to people. Fishermen need to protect their bait or the pelicans, the snowy egrets, seagulls, and/or the smaller birds will snag a free lunch.

Snowy Egret at Oceanside Pier

I seldom see anyone catching a large fish but nevertheless there are always people just enjoying the pier while they fish.

Airbnb Julian, CA

The next thing on my agenda was a trip to Julian, CA with the Rahns. When we couldn't go to Canada, we decided we should do some other trips. We had all been to Julian, CA previously, but it was several years ago. Julian is known for great mountain hiking, beautiful scenery, a quaint small tourist town, and apple pies. I found an Airbnb for us to stay in. It was in an interesting off the beaten path neighborhood just a few minutes from town.

Game room

We had the entire house to ourselves. It was quite comfortable and sort of rustic. The pellet stove was interesting. It's a buck stove that burns pellets. The pellets drop in as needed, not sure how it knows, but the stove was a nice touch. We were in the mountains so it was pretty cool at night.We didn't need the snow shoes.

We couldn't check in until 3:00 PM so we planned our arrival for 1:00 PM and a late lunch at the Julian Cafe and Bakery. It was a Tuesday so we were surprised how many people were in town. We had to wait about 30 minutes for a table but we weren't in a hurry so that was okay. 

Craig's apple stuffed
burger at the Julian Cafe

Craig ordered an apple stuffed burger with carmelized onions. Of course they'd have an apple stuffed burger in Julian, home of the world's best apple pie. It was huge. It was quite the burger! He said it was delicious. He did eat the whole thing. In case you are wondering, that IS Craig's happy smile. Karen and I have been working on him to show his true nature in pictures with a wonderful smile. It's a work in progress! Of course we left with a boysenberry, apple crumb top pie.

The kitchen in our Airbnb was well equipped, which I knew, so I brought swordfish to cook on the grill. In addition, I found a new product at the grocery store. Frozen, microwave, Asian Innovasion BBQ pork fried rice. The rice was so good I included a picture on the blog. We highly recommend it. It was easy and great.

The Rahns provided snacks, manhattans and wine to round out a very tasty and enjoyable evening. And of course, Craig bought ice cream to go with the pie!

The next morning Craig and I were ready for hiking and Karen for shopping. Once again Craig did all the research to find a great hike. I love having these detail persons to hike with. Craig, like my brother-in-law Scott do the best job ever!

We entered the Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve and headed toward the Five Oaks Trail.

The entrance had some interesting Native American wood carvings.

The informational plaques are always interesting and give some info about the area.

As we began the hike, we could see the summit well off in the distance. The weather was cool and comfortable. The path was very well maintained which made for easy hiking.

Live Oak Tree

There are magnificent Live Oak trees along the path. The name comes from the fact that they never lose all their leaves. They are huge trees with very long strong branches. The Live Oak branches were prized by ship builders for their strength and curvature. I should have had Craig standing by the trunk of the tree for perspective.

As we climbed through many switchbacks we had wonderful views across the mountains and valleys.

I was intrigued by the Manzanita trees. They have a very red bark that looks more like skin than bark.

The view from the summit extended all the way to the ocean.

Karen and I decided we needed to check out the shops in town. One store in particular was amazing. They had more rustic items than imaginable. It was a huge fun place. There was a work room off to one side where they made everything from wood tables to iron horseshoes, bells, door knockers, etc.

There were many fun posters for sale. Here are a few I liked in particular!

Turkeys owning the road!

On my way back to our place I came around a curve and saw several turkeys in the road. They did not seem anxious to move! Actually I was glad because I got some good pictures. I didn't realize they were so colorful.

 I didn't realize they were so colorful.

Karen decided we should take a ride around the area. It was a nice ride and we ran across some beautiful trees in someone's yard. I doubt they are native but they sure were pretty!

The ride was a great way to end our trip. We ordered take out pizza for supper which was excellent. We had ordered pies to take home with us that we could pick up at 11:00 AM. They were still warm when we picked them up and my car smeeled wonderful all the way home.