California - 2021

California - 2021

Saturday, May 8^th :

Marilou invited me to her 80^th Birthday party in Los Angeles, so I booked a flight to Ontario (Cal) Airport and she picked me up the night before the party. She had invited only people who have already received the COVID-19 vaccine. This was my first flight since the epidemic hit the USA.

The COVID rules of mask wearing except when taking a bite of food or a sip of your drink were strictly followed on the plane and in the airports. As usual my Southwest flights took me all day to get there from Corpus Christi.

We arrived at her daughter's house early and watched them set up the tables and the catering service. While they were doing that Marilou took me on a short walk through the trees on their property. Then we waited for the guests to arrive. They planned the seating so that the various groups had their separate tables. I got to sit with the M.I.T group. There were also tables for her former students, etc.

Lunch was a variety of Mexican type dishes and a special birthday cake was served later. There were over 60 guests and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

Marilou Rivera - 80^th Birthday Party

Sunday, May 9^th :

Today we met Marilou's Daughter and family at St. Louise de Marillac church. They are still having their services outside even though the state is now allowing indoor services. Apparently they started some repairs to the inside of the church during the time that inside mass was banned and their repairs are not complete so they are continuing with the outside Masses.

It being Mother's day, the grand kids bought some flowers for Marilou. It was also the feast day for their patron saint, St. Louise de Marillac.

After Mass I got a few photos of their outdoors set-up. Outdoor Mass actually works ok in Southern California.

From there we then headed for Carlsbad, but made a short stop back at her apartment for something she forgot. I forgot what she forgot, but my directions started at her apartment so that worked out fine. We then headed off to the Flower Fields in Carlsbad.

St. Louise de Marillac church

Marilou had mentioned when I was planning our trip that she wanted to visit the Flower Fields and May 9th was to be the last day of the event. For social distancing measures you needed to purchase tickets for a specific entry time. I bought 1:30 to 2:00 tickets to allow us time to find the place. We got there a little early, but they let us in ahead of schedule.

Once inside Marilou's primary objective was to obtain a delicious strawberry shortcake sundae she had heard about. That may have been her prime reason for wanting to visit this place. We were directed to where that could be purchased and satisfied her need. It was pretty good. Fresh strawberries are always good.

Then we took the wagon ride around the Flower Fields for an overall view of the site. We then walked around taking a closer view of the flowers. Marilou bought a garlic plant on the way out and asked directions for a place to buy hot dogs. After not coming up with any ideas, Marilou asked about Costco and the agent said it was right across the street. So we started our hot dog routine early this trip.

Leaving there we found our way to the Residence Inn San Diego Carlsbad. It was a short distance away, but their sign wasn't all that visible from the street so we had to turn around a couple of times until we saw it.

The Flower Fields - Carlsbad, CA

Monday, May 10^th :

So the Residence Inn had pick-up breakfast bags in the morning instead of the normal breakfast. So I got two bags and brought them back to the room for our breakfast. After snacking on that, we checked out and headed to Lego Land. We spent the whole day looking at the various projects that were assembled there.

Lego Land

We left there and checked in to the Welk's Resort, got relaxed and tapped into some of the wine we brought along. A Blue Bird and Mallard checked us out. Marilou shared some of the crackers and party treats with them. When I pointed out that the Mallard was the male duck, she told him to bring his wife tomorrow.

Welk's Resort Vistiors

Tuesday, May 11^th :

Planned this as a rest day since we had been doing a lot of walking the last few days. We went to the market to buy some ingredients for Marilou's "porridge" and dinner rolls that she made.

Marilou was impressed that the mallard brought his wife with him this day. She thinks he understood her when she invited his wife. Feeding the birds became a regular habit throughout our stay.

The night provided some other visitors. It wasn't as easy to get their photos.

Welk Resort

Wednesday, May 12^th :

Our primary destination today was a kayak trip: La Jolla Sea Caves Kayak Tour. Purchased tickets ahead of time from "Hike Bike Kayak Adventures". We arrived at the shop a little early and it wasn't open. Checked back a little later and Marilou saw a small note in the window that the Kayak place down the street was handling their excursions, so we checked in there.

Got our gear and headed to the beach for a short lesson in Kayaking and what the trip was going to be like, etc. We were warned that it was probably too windy to enter the caves and the waves were a bit rough near the shores. We were also warned that the bay was a protected area so you weren't allowed to take anything out or leave anything there. That killed Marilou's idea of taking some of the seaweed home to cook.

Our guide stopped us several places en route to the caves to explain the protected nature of the bay, so we couldn't gather seaweed for our dinner. Not sure the photos show it too well, they pointed out the fault line by the two shades of rock on either side. The million dollar mansions on top of the cliff require insurance to recover their debris from the bay when they fall from the cliffs.

The return trip was supposed to be a lot easier than the going out part, because the current would be with us. In my case the left arm of my lead engine on my appeared to fail and it became a bit more difficult to keep a straight course. Overall it was a nice outing and eventually our muscles recovered.

La Jolla Sea Caves Kayak Tour

My plan was to allow Marilou to shop in La Jolla after the trip, but we were pretty wet and sticky. I was cold, so we headed back to Welk's for a change of clothes and to drink some more wine. Our wildlife friends also paid us a visit.

Welk Resorts

Thursday, May 13^th :

One of Marilou's friends had recommended we do the Torrey Pines Reserve Hike, so I planned how to go from Welk's Resort to there. I had done this hike a few years ago when Remy and I spent two weeks in that area of South California. I didn't remember it having so many hills to negotiate. I guess I was younger then.

I remembered the views of the Ocean and the peaks at the Torrey Pines Golf Course. This time a lot of wild flowers were blooming so I took a lot of photos of them to see if we could Identify them later. One of the posters there listed some of the wild flowers and gave a link to a web site for more chances to identify. I attached the link, but it isn't that useful for identifying species of flowers.

Near the end of the hike, we saw some kite flyers going along the coast. The wind currents seemed to keep them on their toes. Our return trip to the car was all downhill so that was a bonus.

Overall a very good hike with nice views! The flowers were a nice bonus from the last time I did this hike and everything was dried out.

Torrey Pines Reserve Hike

On the way home we stopped at Costco near The Flower Fields for our Hot Dog lunch and re-stocked our wine supply.

That evening some of the wildlife returned to our room at Welk's Resort. This time I got a better shot of the skunk.

Welk Resort

Friday, May 14^th :

Marilou needed a day of rest after yesterday's hike so we spent it lounging around the resort. I thought about going in one of the pools, but after remembering how chill I got on the Kayak trip, I changed my mind.

Today we got some expensive Hot Dogs at the 9th hole snack shack. I guess they cost so much more for the poppy seeds on the bun instead of the sesame seeds on Costco's buns.

Welk Resort

Saturday, May 15^th :

Today we did the San Bernardo Mountain Summit trail. Directions weren't that clear by my estimate our exit off I15S was around 5 miles South of Escondido and would be for the Via Rancho Parkway. Turns out it is exit 27 if you are trying to find it. We found it easily and headed to sunset drive, passing up the parking for San Dieguito River Park which was pretty busy for the parking at the trailhead which wasn't full. I noted the name of the river park because in our trips to San Diego area, Marilou was enamored by that name.

The start of the trail was noisy as it follows I15S for a ways, then passes underneath it and back up north a shorter journey. Once it turned west away from the highway it became a little more quiet. A lot of people were using it for biking and walking their dogs etc. but it was still good walking. We saw a lot of wild flowers blooming.

About 1.5 miles in Marilou was feeling some pain from all the walking we have done this week. We stopped at a picnic table for her to rest a bit. I checked phone connectivity and when it worked there, I asked for 15 minutes more up trail and back while she rested. I should have planned for a half hour. Anyway I took 20 minutes. The trail was pretty steep from where I left Marilou. I don't think she could have handled the slope so it was a good plan for her to wait there. I thought I could take 20 minutes going out and still make a half hour, but walking down hill isn't any quicker than walking up hill.

I didn't make the peak, but went through several turns in the trail so I saw a lot of the differing views.

San Bernardo Mountain Summit trail

That evening we went to a restaurant I had researched before the trip: Ciao Ristorante Italiano. It was pretty busy and it looked like they had been doing a lot of Pick Up business during the Epidemic (I think they had a wedding reception in one of the side rooms). I had planned on getting the Risotto Frutta Di Mare and after debating some other seafood options ordered it. It was huge. I ate half the plate and saved the other half for lunch the next day.

Welk Resort

Sunday, May 16^th :

We had a lazy start to our last day of vacation before making our way home. Attended the 9:00 AM Mass at St. Mary's Church in Escondido. Then we headed back to Welk's Resort to complete packing and heading back to LA. I had seen a vineyard next to the resort on our way back from the Restaurant and since we had all day to return, decided to try it out.

Turned out it was more of an Antique Auto Museum The dude wasn't too enthused about doing a tour of the vineyard facilities and they only had red wines for tasting. I'm not that into cars, so I took a picture of a rabbit that was touring the facility and we headed back to eat all our leftovers.

St. Mary's Church - Escondido

Links:

St. Louise de Marillac Church

The Flower Fields, Carlsbad, Californis

Legoland - Carlsbad California

Welk Resort - San Diego

La Jolla Sea Caves Kayak Tour

Torrey Pines

Bernardo Mountain Summit Trail

Ciao Ristorante Italiano

St. Mary's Church - Escondidio

Deer Park Winery and Antique Auto Museum

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