Ocean Beach ~ December 28, 2006

After the parade, we went to the beach. We were planning to visit Point Loma, but we got all the way there and it was $4.00 to get in and we didn’t have any cash and they didn’t take credit cards. We could have given them a check but we didn’t have our check book. I was disappointed of course but maybe it was just as well because I could see that it looked crowded anyway. Hmm, must be a lot of people from the parade decided to go there afterwards. On the way to and from the Point Loma entrance, you drive right through a national memorial cemetery. Both sides of the road along this narrow peninsula are lined with row after row of thousands of white headstones that stand out from the green grass and the blue ocean background. Its appearance was quite different from the nondescript bronze markers that blend into the desert ground at the National Memorial Cemetery in Arizona.

We headed over to Ocean Beach after stopping for a while at the Sunset Cliffs. Ocean Beach was a really nice town. It looks just the way a California town should be. It must be like what San Diego used to be like before it got so big. Ocean Beach is located south of Mission Bay and Mission Beach, just west of downtown on the Pacific Ocean at the western terminus of Interstate 8. So if you were to head west on I-8 all the way to the coast, that’s where you would end up. Newport Avenue is the main street that goes through town and ends up at the beach. The Ocean Beach Pier, built in 1966, is the longest pier on the West Coast. It was closed when we got there, though, probably due to the high waves. It seems like they experience heavy surf quite often at that spot. Ocean Beach also has strong rip currents, so perhaps it’s not the best place for swimming. There is a Dog Beach at the north end of Ocean Beach.

Websites

http://www.sandiego.gov/lifeguards/beaches/ob.shtml
http://oceanbeachsandiego.com

To view a movie of the big waves on 12/28/06, click on the following:

Storm-roiled ocean brings moderately heavy surf (RealPlayer) or:

http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/multimedia/archives/cat_news.html

Humphrey's Peak Hike ~ July 29, 2006

My husband likes to hike Humphrey’s Peak at least once a year, either with our boys or with a couple of friends. I’ve never attempted it myself. Here is what Rich had to say about this trek:

"The sky was overcast all day. It was windy and cold above the timber line. The clouds kept being blown down on the ridge, sometimes limiting visibility to 100 feet or so. I made it to the top, but the hike taxed my strength far beyond what I thought possible. Also it threatened rain all day but it waited until we got back down to the car, then it broke with fury. Praise God, who made all things, and cares for us in ways both great and small."

Take a virtual tour! Each of the following photos will open in a new window. Be sure to watch the cool video that Rich took near the top!

Hart's Prairie
The Goal
Wet Leaf Litter
Butterfly on Daisy
Alpine Forest
Humphrey's Peak in Cloud
The Last Tree
Where's the Peak
The Other Side
Alpine Tundra
The Peak
Local Resident
View From the Top
Hart's Prairie Return
Movie taken at 12,000 ft. - Turn on the sound!
*Large File will need ~20 minute download time for dial-up.