San Diego September 2020

Last month we went to San Diego with my mama for a girls weekend.  Normally, every October we go to Southern California  for my annual henna conference and turn it into a girls' weekend.  My mom watches the girls while I am in all my classes, then in the evenings we can go to dinner or the beach.  This year, because of covid the entire event was cancelled.  So we opted for San Diego instead.  My mom loves Mission Bay because it's calm water for the kiddos, we ride bikes and walk around.  The beach side is fun for sunset but, otherwise, I honestly find it too crowded.  We stayed at the Catamaran which was convenient for parking and location wise.  We walked mostly for the daily snacks and activities. We had a great time at the Hotel Del Coronado for a minute, we went there for sunset after I picked up my mom from the airport - she met us there. And we got ice cream from Moo Time ice cream shop, and thai food for dinner.  And we drove to downtown San Diego for a whale watching tour (no whales but we did see dolphins!) and got my favorite blue majik drink from a local juice shop; Choice Juicery.  The smoke wasn't too bad, but we definiately got some amazing sunsets from it the last day.  While I can't imagine the suffering of the wildlife and forests affected by the fires, I will say the red burning a bright red was an intriguing visual experience, which can hardly be captured on film (last image).  I think we did alright with the modifications of society this season and found a way to make our traditions survive the chaos.

//viewz

The kids had so much fun with the property, they told me numerous times that it felt like Kauai with all the lush tropical plants and koi ponds.  So if you're on a road trip budget instead of Pacific Island budget may I suggest the Catamaran?

Taco shop + Flower Crowns.

F A V O R I T E .

Walk to Bird Rock for coffee and bagels.

Hotel Del Coronado from the beach.

Sunset.

Whale watching tour minus the whales sub dolphins. 

     

Day 4 & 5 NorCal to Oregon

All spring I'd been waiting for this moment.  The ocean.  We were in Carlsbad area when covid was announced over spring break.  We headed home knowing that the country was ripe for over reacting. I knew that I was going to need the ocean again soon, but we drove back home to the desert and waited 3 long months before I could put the sand under my feet and feel the waves wash away my rage.  After camping in the redwoods and recharging with water I was fulfilled and restored.  We ate snacks and played on the beach (I'm working on my west coast guide for my patreon so if you're curious where this beach is exactly you'll need to become a member there, starting at $1 a month) after our beach time we headed to our camp site in Oregon.  While I'm not sharing any details here on the blog, I will say even if you knew where it was I wouldn't recommend it,  we drove for an hour through farms to get to our site, which happened to be packed.  I hate camping like that back to back with neighbors, but for the waterfalls we wanted to see this was the closest spot.  When I travel with my kids I want sites that are easy to find and guaranteed, no driving around aimlessly.  And I will say this spot gave us that.  A designated campsite, bathrooms and a kitchen table - so I can't really complain, but I also can't suggest it in good conscious.  The waterfalls though, that was worth it.  We went there because a friend suggested it and it was a super simple hike with kids, we walked down to enjoy our food on the shore, we snuck past the caution signs and wooden fences, we took the risk and it was worth it.  

beach selfie.

snack attack.

the head lamps might have been overkill but we were all well illuminated. 

mermaid spoon! so pretty I almost didn't want to cook with it. 

Emily making cold brew for the morning. 

full tent.  don't mind the angry eyes V. was just hungry. 

flowers blooming on the trees - not sure what kind of tree it was, but I guess I should google now. 

reaching for those branches. 

Oregon breakfast.  Homemade sourdough topped with egg cheese and tomatoes. 

foxglove flowers adorning the trails - beautiful but toxic.

don't know what these are, but I think they're silver bells, can anyone confirm?

the waterfall!  There's actually like 10 on the hike and trail area but this was the main easy one. 

Have you been to Oregon? What is your favorite place?  It's slowly growing on me more and more, and I'm always looking for more places to explore.