Trip to Del Mar, California

Let's first get caught up since we arrived here in Picacho, Arizona this past October.  We have been having fun with being with the 3 grand girls, have watched some of Emi's soccer games, accompanied Zoe to see "So You Think You Can Dance" 2013 tour performance in Phoenix, zipped Lia around to her girlfriends, and gotten caught up on Jill and Erez's lives.  I even managed to fly home to Cleveland for a visit and took in a quilt retreat with my friend Brenda.  Thanksgiving came and went and I cannot believe it's the first week of December.  Wow! We have settled in to the routine winter life here but have no complaints of the weather - days typically about 50 - 60 degrees and nights about 40. And lots of sunshine. Been witnessing some spectacular sunsets over Picacho Peak.  And have had more rain than typical.  But then, the rest of the country is having a really lousy winter with terrible snow storms.  This is better by far.

Del Mar 17th Street Lifeguard Station

Hotel on left - lifeguard station to right

The sunsets!

We decided to take a quick trip to California a couple of days ago, to Del Mar, which is located just north of San Diego.  The drive took us 6 hours traveling on Interstate 8 west to a quaint hotel, Del Mar on the Beach Inn, located right on the Pacific Ocean and has a Lifeguard station situated right next door.  We were able to get one of the two front rooms with a big window that faces the ocean. We had been there 9 years ago and thought why not visit again?  The hotel we stayed at was the location many years ago for the movie "Where The Boys Are".  Some surprises we had since being here - the lifeguard station back then was a small little shack and last year they built this wonderful state-of-the-art place where the lifeguards can use spotting scopes to keep an eye out.  Their trucks, ATVs, dinghy, and surfboards line the beach in front of them, ready for a quick rescue if need.  We could hear them  broadcast out to the surfers/boogy boarders that they were going home for the night and that they should get out of the water - which some continued until it was pretty dark. The restaurants we visited back then were still there but we chose not to spend the money, instead we got some pizza one night and did a sandwich run another night, and stayed in our room with the panoramic window looking out over the ocean and watched the spectacular sunsets.  Stayed warm and snug but had a fabulous view.

Sunset - tide out 

Coastal Train heading to LA

Surfers - Radical!!

High School girls' PE class

Beautiful white beach

What fun we had watching and feeling.  The beautiful sunsets, the brown pelicans flying right at the water's edge of waves breaking, little shore birds skirting the receding water, seeing fishing boats and sail boats out on the ocean, tides coming in and out, us people watching as they sauntered or jogged by with their dogs clipping along, surfers trying to catch that perfect wave, the brightness of the sand and having to wear sunglasses even at sunset, hearing the roar of the waves breaking during the night, seeing a pod of what we thought were sharks which turned out to be dolphins swimming by, hearing the Coastal Train quietly glide by right at the water's edge, seeing Maserati's, Jags, BMW's, Porsche's, any and all kinds of expensive cars zipping in and out around town - just a fun, restful, sensory couple of days.

We got a kick out of Friday's entertainment - the local high school's physical education class with about 30 teenage girls came rushing into the waves with their boogy boards and hearing them shriek with the coldness of the water.  What fun!  And how could they do that?  The air temperature was about 50 and the water was 54.  Brrrrr.  Everyone had on a wet suit and they were in the water for over an hour.  And then a little girl, about 6, came to the water's edge with her Dad, and she playfully rode the waves as well. No hesitation with entering the water and staying in.  She did not last the hour and we saw her run to her Dad where her encased her in a huge beach towel and the only thing you saw were her feet sticking out.  I guess when you grow up in California, you become a surfer dude or dudette very young in life.  Totally, radical, awesome trip.