Mass of Humanity

We left Yuma about 9:30 on Friday for our 3 hour drive to Vista, Ca.  I had checked out the route on Google Maps the night before and it showed we would take Hwy 8 most of the way and then turning north on Hwy 15 and then west on 78 into Vista.  I was quite surprised when our Garmin RV GPS had us drive right by Hwy 15 and into San Diego until we got to Hwy 805 and then onto I-5.  Apparently the Garmin uses different criteria for selecting a route than does Google Maps on my iPhone.  I would have preferred Googles route as driving into SD and then taking I-5 basically took us right into the sea of humanity that is costal California.  I-5 was 4-5 lanes of vehicles all going north towards LA at 70 mph plus.  I tried to find the slowest lane with the least chance of me having to do a lane change.  As my top speed is 60mph vehicles were whipping by me on both sides.  After a while I quit checking my mirrors and focused on staying in the middle of my lane.  Lori commented on some of the scenery and I will have to take her word for it.

As I-5 runs less than a mile from the ocean I was expecting lots of ocean views.  We did manage to catch a few glimpses of the water but they were fleeting.  It seems that the coast is so developed all the way from the Mexican border to L.A. and beyond that about all you see is buildings and cars.  A bit disappointing.  I imagine my expectation would have been realistic about 50 years ago but certainly not now.

We arrived about 1:00 and, after my experience backing into our site in Yuma, I was relieved to see our site was a pull thru.  Its a new RV Park with the basic amenities. i.e. full hookups, laundry, common room, pool and hot tub.  In between the sites, instead of planting grass, they have planted Gaillardia.  Very pretty with all the flowers and in a few years when they fill in the empty spaces it will be a mass of flowers with little maintenance.   The space between sites is tight but sufficient for our needs as I expect we won't be here very much.  San Diego has lots to offer in the way of tourist attractions.  Although, as I am doing my research, I am finding that each one comes with a pricey admission fee.

Saturday we got up to rain but by about 1:00 it started to breakup so we headed out to Del Mar Dog Beach which was about a 1/2 hour drive towards San Diego on my favourite road, I-5.   Its a much better drive when your not pulling a 37 ft, 13,000 lb trailer and can keep up to traffic.  As the pictures below will attest you don't see something like this in Manitoba.  Charli really enjoyed the beach.  She was a little timid at first but was soon doing laps around us at top speed, kicking up sand in all directions.  Downside.  Smell of wet dog on the drive home.

8 Beach Volleyball courts, all full with people waiting.  

Dogs running around everywhere.
Having so much fun there was no barking or fighting. 

Subtle colour variation of the rocks.
Not so subtle green moss. 

Beach went on for miles.
About 2 miles of it was off leash Dog beach except for busy season.
June 15 till Labour day weekend dogs have to be on leash.
Bummer for the dogs cause they were all having sooo  much fun. 

Sufers braving the waves and, I imagine, cold water.   

Some pretty sheer cliffs

Some came with caves. 

Some pretty nice shacks up on top of the cliffs.
Imagine they have a great view to wake up to every morning. 

Facial expression when you don't tell the model when you are snapping. 

Worms?  Pasta? Sea Weed?  

Nothing like a stick being thrown into some water to get Charli's motor wound up. 

Bird of Paradise.  Growing everywhere. 

Nice way to spend the afternoon. 

Thats about it for today.  Tomorrow we are heading to the USS Midway Museum.

Till then.