Leaving the Pacific Ocean

After five days and nights in the busy city of San Diego, our time there has come to a close. We were glad we took the advice of a fellow RVer, who recommended we stay at Mission Bay Resort. It's right on the bay, and within a thirty minute drive of most of the things we wanted to see. But its full price rates are $70 per night--WAY over anything we have ever paid before. However, they accept the half-price Passport America rate for four nights during the week. So we had to get out of there before they charged us the weekend rate. They have a strict policy that they will charge another night's rent if RVers aren't out of their spaces by noon. So we moved the motor home to the public parking lot, so we could enjoy just a little more of the area before we left.

We drove the car to Mission Beach, where there are great bike trails running parallel to the ocean.

As we pedaled further north, the crowds got heavier and the traffic on the path got thicker. Bike riding suddenly turned into a game of dodging pedestrians and other bicycles.

It was a beautiful day to be at the beach. The walkway was more crowded than the sand.

We rode about five miles to the end of the bike path, and Mark sat for a while watching the surfers. It's hard to tell in the picture below, but there are 35 little black specks in the water. That would be the 35 surfers in wet suits vying for the perfect wave. The waves weren't cooperating very well this morning. We watched as nine surfers tried for the same wave, and it looked like there was some bumper surfing going on.

The bike trail took us along Mission Beach towards Pacific Beach, on a narrow piece of land filled with vacation rental homes and restaurants. By biking across one of the tiny alleys between the houses, we could cross over from the ocean side to the bay side of this narrow stretch of land. Even in the alleys, there are bright flowers spilling over the edges of planters. These bright purple blooms were almost fluorescent this morning.

On the ride back to the car, we had the calm water of the bay to our left. The single sun-bather on the bay beach didn't have to compete for a space on the sand, and this is definitely a calmer vibe.

There aren't surfers and waves like on the ocean side, but we also didn't have to dodge people on the walk-way. It was a much faster and more restful ride back to the car.

If we were staying longer, we would definitely spend more times on our bikes in this area. There are lots of bike trails in some beautiful places around Mission Bay. We would also take the time to kayak around Mission Bay now that we have found our new Sea Eagle to be salt water sea-worthy. But for today we needed to get on the road before the Friday afternoon rush hour started in earnest. Mark masterfully got us through the heaviest traffic. We found that even when driving through this more rural section of interstate, we still needed the ten highway lanes to make room for all the traffic.

We are excited to see thick fields of wild flowers along the interstate. The record-breaking rains are helping the hillsides to explode in color.

Before we got off the interstate, we got to experience a taste of Friday rush-hour traffic. The last five miles on this road were a little slow.

We were glad to head east, towards our next destination. A fellow RVer had mentioned that the town of Hemet, California, was a cheaper alternative for snowbirds trying to flee the cold weather. So we are enjoying three half-price days at Golden Village Palms Resort to rest and relax after our busy five days in the city of San Diego. We think that the three pools and six hot tubs might help us relax here nicely! This is an active resort for persons 55 or better, and they have an impressive list of activities at the fancy rec hall. There was sand volleyball, pickle ball, water aerobics, golf, water volleyball, indoor shuffleboard, horse shoes, zumba gold, basic training fitness, line dance . . . It looked like a fun place to spend the winter.

We took this picture from the roof of our motor home. It's fun to see snow-covered mountains from our home in the desert.

So we have left the Pacific Ocean (for now), heading back into the desert and the foothills of the mountain. We love this life-style that allows us to experience so many parts of this great country!