We have had two great days. All along the way, I’ve looked for things to blog about, because I know no one really cares about our window shopping or which rides we went on at Disney.
We got up early on Monday and drove over to Coronado Island to walk around. We strolled through the hotel trying to act like we belonged there. It is so cool along the beach there, because the hotel has a boardwalk (okay, it’s a cement sidewalk, but it’s right along the beach) that meanders along the edge of the hotel and we had fun imagining what the inside of all the condos and cabanas were like. It was a very overcast day, so the ocean didn’t have a lot of color and it was quite cool. In spite of that, there were several groups of people heading down to the waves.
After a Starbucks and pastry, we headed up the coast to San Onofre State Beach to pay a visit to the campground hosts. We arrived at the entrance to the park around lunch time, and an hour and a half later we were at their site. They are 104 sites down the road at 15 MPH! (just kidding … it didn’t take us quite that long!)
We had a great time sharing lunch with Richard and Dianna (thanks so much!) and then took a little(?) hike down what they termed the “easy” trail to the beach. Whew! It was about a 75° angle down the side of the cliff. We made it safely and then walked along the beach checking out the different areas that Richard pointed out.
There were a couple of surfer camps going on and we watched the surfer dudes for a while. It looks like a lot of fun, but also a lot of hard work! We climbed back up the road (which was still steep, but not as difficult) and after saying our goodbyes, we went on up the coast highway to Newport Beach. Richard had given us a suggestion to drive along Highway One instead of keeping on the interstate like our mapquest directions, and it was a delightful drive through the beach cities.
We went out for dinner and headed to bed in preparation for our big day at Disney. Now, two days later we are ready to get on the road back to Mesa, so my recap of yesterday will have to wait until I get home. Arizona, here we come!
We really enjoyed getting to having lunch with you and getting to know Glenda!
(They didn’t drive all the way to the end so didn’t realize there are actually 175 camp sites.)
If they had driven all the way to the end and then went down to the beach they would have gotten a surpise!
So that’s why they don’t write more often–it must be a nude beach that you are referring to. That doesn’t sound like my conservative, straight laced children!
Ken and I stayed at the Hotel Del Coronado for our 10th anniversary. We visited there on our honeymoon, but couldn’t afford anything more than ice cream. It is a beautiful place!
I stayed in one of the bungalows at the Coronado Hotel for a few days once for an Intel convention — I think it was “Excellence in Manufacturing” or something like that. Very nice place to stay, that’s for sure.
Highway 1 is the best way to go up the whole coast, I think, if you’ve got the time. Remember Big Sur? One of the most beautiful highways in the world.
If we had gone down to the beach farther south, we wouldn’t have been surprised, since I had read about it. In fact, we asked Richard to point it out, but dang! we were too far away to see the scenery. 😉
I don’t think Big Sur is very pretty right now unfortunately.
I’ve driven by Hotel Del Coronado many times in all my trips to SD(remember Judi’s father lived there) but never stopped. I think I still like Point Loma better.
The LA Times had an article about the nude beach just last weekend. It basically said the same thing Richard had told us except it didn’t mention the military would be the one that would have to patrol it.
What’s wrong with Big Sur now?
Fires! Big ones. They evacuated the whole town last week.