San Diego California

Thanks to the gracious reception of relatives, most of my family enjoyed a week of sun and relaxation in San Diego!!!  My college aged daughter stayed in school and prepped for finals :(

On Saturday we boarded a 9:30 pm flight in snowy Minneapolis.  Due to major delays at the rental car counter, we finally landed in bed at 2:00 am (west coast time).  Apparently everyone arrived at Dollar at once and overloaded the staff.  Guess you get what you pay for.  We ended up with a Mercury Marquis land yacht which we traded in the next day for a Dodge Charger.  A V-6 not a V-8 Hemi RT!!!


When I was a teenager my buddy had a '69 Charger with a 383 V-8 and Torqueflight tranny.  It would burn rubber very nicely.  He was ready for another car and offered to sell it me for $200.  I told him I didn't want any Mopar junk.  What an idiot I was!  Today that car is worth about $30,000.  Should have, could have, didn't.  Guess we all have these types of stories.  The trick is to identify what those items are today.  OK, back to San Diego.

We slept in on Sunday morning and after a fantastic brunch we headed to Coronado Island to hang out on the beach and visit the Del Coronado hotel.  The hotel is a must see if you're in the San Diego area. The hotel was build in 1888 and visited by the wealthy of that era.  Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemon, Ronald Reagan, etc. Go on line and checkout the hotel.  The buildings and grounds are wonderful and definitely worth a visit.  During the week I toured the town of Coronado often to admire the beautiful houses, neighborhoods, streets and beaches. 



Del Coronado Hotel



From Coronado, head south along the Silver Strand bordered by the Pacific ocean on the west and San Diego Bay on the East.  Soon you arrive at Imperial Beach in Chula Vista.  I spent  six hours fishing off the Chula Vista pier and had a great time, talked with many people and got a chance to practice some Spanish.  The Imperial Beach pier is the furthest south pier in California USA.  On a clear day you can see Baja California and possibly Ensenada if your eyes are good and the sky is clear.  At night the lights of Tijuana Mexico are visable from the pier.

Imperial Beach Pier 

Fishing on the pier was quite fun.  I was hoping to catch some type of shark - Blue Fin, Nurse, Guitarfish but no such luck.  My newly acquired fishing buddies told me sharks and rays don't arrive in these waters until late spring early summer when the water warms.  Sure would like to come back and tie into a 30 lb ray!!  The pier deck is 20 ft (7 meters) from the ocean so a long handled gaf is needed to land your catch.  A fishing license is not required while pier fishing anywhere in California. At Imperial, the rod and reel setup cost me $10 for the whole day.  A great deal!!!  The setup comes with a fairly decent spinning real and 20 lb test line.  The rental included a goofy looking rig with 10 jigs on it. Totally illegal in Minnesota, but not off the pier in San Diego. 

I caught a pile of smelt and round shiny fish.  Sea perch I believe.  Normally I would have thrown these dinky fish back but I needed them as proof for my family that I was actually fishing and catching fish.

Surfers on Imperial Beach

I really enjoyed the people and the laid back atmosphere of Imperial Beach.  A little run down compared to La Jolla, but cool in its own way.  Has sort of a gulf coast, Caribbean ambiance. I found a great little fishing shop just east of the beach called Cox Bait and Tackle located at 996 Palm Avenue.  The proprietor's name is Mike and he's a wealth of knowledge and willingness to help me out.  He gave me a few copies of Pacific Coast Sportfishing Magazine.  Great place.

Recently I read some reviews about Cox.  People were complaining about the owner showing up whenever he felt like it, rude and not helpful. Exact opposite response from me.  I would definitely go back, but if the other reviews are correct, don't arrive too early.

Cox Bait and Tackle (photo courtesy of Info USA)

All the days are now a blur as I write this blog three months after our trip.  I got the itch on Wednesday to drive east to Joshua Tree National Park.  A few hundred miles give or take. Not a big deal when on vacation.......right?  We loaded the Charger with extra water (we're heading to the desert now) and took highway 8 towards El Centro. Soon we were passing University of San Diego and climbing the mountains on our way to highway 79 and Julian CA located at 5,000 ft.  Highway 79 is a windy road with many switch backs and beautiful scenery.  Cuyamaca Rancho State Park was a bummer as wild fires ravages the area about 5 years ago.  Hopefully in a few more years the place will be nice again.  It is a beautiful setting and a nice introduction to Julian.

5,000 ft elevation south of Julian CA

More about Julian later in this blog.  We quickly toured Julian then headed eastbound down the mountain towards Sonny Bono's Salton Sea a few hours out.  As we worked our way through the windy road we quickly dropped in elevation and soon were east of the mountain range.  The topography changed dramatically from the lush cool mountaintop in Julian to the high desert with a mix of greens and browns to the totally brown and sand filled desert halfway to the Salton Sea.  I stopped the car as everyone else slept.  I took a pee and looked for scorpions and rattlesnakes. Hey us Minnesota guys never get to see dangerous poisonous reptiles and critters.  Back in the car and looking for a place to rent dune buggies.  Too early in the season.  Bummer!  


Continue to Sonny's "lake" at 226 feet below sea level.  Finally we arrived at highway 86 and headed north to Mecca California.  As we drove north the San Jacinto mountains were on the left with a snow capped off in the far north.  Mecca appears to be mostly Hispanic as it is close to the Mexican boarder.  We drove around Mecca and marveled at how this arid place was full of orange groves, lemon groves and vineyards! Wow, Mecca is like a little Bakersfield.  Amazing what can be grown with a little irrigation.  Actually in this location a lot of irrigation.  Water is diverted from the Colorado river along concrete irrigation channels for many many miles.  If California was its own country, it would be the third largest food producing country in the world.  Amazing.  Check out the old movie called China Town with Jack Nicholson, John Huston and Faye Dunaway.  Excellant movie about water rights in CA.



Lemons in the desert



After topping off the gas tank, we headed north than east on Highway 10 through Indio and finally to the southern entrance of Joshua Tree National Park.  This place is phenomenal in the spring with the temperature around 70 F (21 C) and spring in the air.  The southern entrance of the park leads you through the Colorado desert plateau whereas the northern section is the Mohave desert plateau (I believe the Mohave is considered high desert).





Southern Entrance to Joshua Tree National Park

The main road winds through the park with many parking areas at interesting sites.  Strange cactus types, weird rock formations and well laid out hiking trails.  Signs with detailed descriptions and photos provide information for the curious traveler.  

 



Plenty of good signage

As we drove north through the park we noticed the change in ecosystem thoughout the park.  Cholla cactus disappeared and were replaced with other types of Cacti.  The vista changed too and allowed for long distance viewing of the park.  We then stumbled across these odd ball shaped rocks.  These things were huge and round and smooth.  Like rocks you might find along the ocean made smooth by the grinding and polishing action of the waves and sand.

Wierd Rocks

We only had about 4 hours to view the park - clearly not enough time to see much.  I recommend an overnight visit in March. There are plenty of places to camp and the weather is pleasant. Bring warm clothes and blankets at night as the temperature drops in a hurry.  Soon we entered the Mohave desert portion of the park where the Joshua trees stand.  The older of the Joshua trees had an outer covering almost like bark on a Red Pine. Cool trees.

Fat farmer next to a Joshua Tree

As we neared the northern exit of the park, we took a detour and went to a high point to view San Jacinto peak miles across a valley. It was well worth the detour!!!  The view was incrediable as you look across the valley and see snow crowned peak in the background. With the wind howling and threaten to blow us off our vantage point we decided to get back into the car and drive through the town of Joshua Tree.  I think they must have filmed much of the Flintstones cartoon series in Joshua Tree.  Mr. Slate still pushing Fred to increase production in the quarry.

Flintstone's house?

After Joshua Tree faded in the rear view mirror we took highway 62 down to highway 10 westbound to Beaumont and highway 60 to Riverside and highway 215 south to Escondito and eventually Chula Vista. I love taking road trips but my wife and daughter were thoroughly boarded after the first few hundred miles.  They were sleeping when we blew through Escondito as I hummed the Eric Clapton song "Road to Escondito"  :)  Highway 215 is a great ride on a wide highway with a good view.  The Charger cruised along at 75 mph (120 km/hr).

Thursday's adventure

I was on my own so I decided to return to Imperial Beach for a while then find the pier in San Diego.   I bought a book online called "California Pier Fishing". Not a catchy title but tells you what you need to know. The book is full of details on most of the piers along the Calfornia coast. Imperial Beach pier was constructed in 1963 and has survived the pounding surf and strong winds.  The rip tides really pull on the pier as I could feel it sway a little as I fished. 



Imperial Beach Pier



There wasn't enough time or money to go to Catalina Island, but hopefully in the future I can go there and deep sea fish for tuna!!! Tuna fishing is also supposed to be good off the Mexican coast near Ensenada. 

Thursday night my brother in law and my youngest went out for Filipino food. We enjoyed a good meal and the sound of Tagalog in the background.  My BIL is a great guy from Manila. 

Friday. Our last full day

Romel, Kayla and I took off for a day off adventure as the sisters stayed at home and talked. We drove back to Julian in the moutains and enjoyed a piece of their famous apple pie.  Good stuff!!!  I impressed a French tourist with my merci beaucoup. Always fun to spread good will.  We checked on real estate in Julian and were surprised at the high prices. After walking through the typical tourist traps we took off towards Escondido.  Escondido is west of Julian and the view of green grass was opposite the desert landscape of the eastern side of the "Julian" mountains. 

We bought fresh avocado for a startup avocado company owned by two brothers.  Avocados were on the small side but they made wonderful guacamole!  From Escondito we drove to Oceanside and enjoyed a long walk on the pier. This pier and surrounding area is newer and has more traffic that Imperial Beach. Each beach has its own flavor. I enjoyed both.

Oceanview Pier

Time was running out so we drove to La Jolla and enjoyed a walk along the beach.  La Jolla was nice too.  Can't really have a bad beach in southern CA.  As darkness began to fall, we drove south to San Diego as I promised Kayla dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. The meal was dissappointing - we should have eaten at a local mom and pop restuarant instead. 

Saturday morning we visited a Filipino grocery store. It reminded me of a grocery store in Manilla with a bit of extra sanitation imposed by the US Government. 

Fresh Fish!