Day 19, Sunday, October 6th, 2002
Again, a beautiful day. Followed HW1 along the coast,
through Oxnard (shopping capital), the 22 miles of beaches in Malibu, Santa
Monica (past the pier), Manhattan and Redondo Beaches, the oil derricks and
refineries of Long Beach, as well as the dozens of loaded transport ships
stuck out at sea due to the dock workers strike. We passed Huntington
Beach (very nice), Newport Beach (even nicer), finally reaching San Clemente
after about 4.5 hrs driving. Thank goodness we left Ventura fairly early.
We did stop at a Jack in the Box in Torrance, (just before the turn
east towards Long Beach).....very poor, very latino.
We stopped for the night at San Clemente State Park, a very nice state park, with excellent facilities. Very easy access to the beach, down steep paths, through interesting cuts in the earth revealing millions of years of sediment layers. The Amtrak line runs adjacent to the bluffs, at the back of the beach. Had a glorious sunset. Watched "Sixth Sense" with M&D after dinner. Quite good, the second time around for me.
Unfortunately no dogs are allowed off leash, on trail or on the beach. However, the park was big enough for Mikey to get a decent walk. Everything here is bone dry. Everything. Even the succulents are dried up. The dust swirls everywhere. Many of the trees are Eucalyptus, and they are suffering. Heard a rumor that southern California was in a 2 year long drought. I can believe it. Per the weathermen, the Santa Anna (?sp) winds are due to begin blowing, or at least were expected by the start of this week, whatever that means. I guess some things you learn about by experience.
One thing I've learned about California dog owners. A large number are very lazy. In spite of dog poop bag dispensers nailed to posts conveniently placed around the RV park, there is poop everywhere. I personally wouldn't allow dogs on the beaches either, if this experience is representative of the general havoc that would occur with more relaxed dog laws.
Plan for tomorrow is to have an easy drive into San Diego. All of it will be on I5, as both Highway 1 and 101 have run out.
We stopped for the night at San Clemente State Park, a very nice state park, with excellent facilities. Very easy access to the beach, down steep paths, through interesting cuts in the earth revealing millions of years of sediment layers. The Amtrak line runs adjacent to the bluffs, at the back of the beach. Had a glorious sunset. Watched "Sixth Sense" with M&D after dinner. Quite good, the second time around for me.
Unfortunately no dogs are allowed off leash, on trail or on the beach. However, the park was big enough for Mikey to get a decent walk. Everything here is bone dry. Everything. Even the succulents are dried up. The dust swirls everywhere. Many of the trees are Eucalyptus, and they are suffering. Heard a rumor that southern California was in a 2 year long drought. I can believe it. Per the weathermen, the Santa Anna (?sp) winds are due to begin blowing, or at least were expected by the start of this week, whatever that means. I guess some things you learn about by experience.
One thing I've learned about California dog owners. A large number are very lazy. In spite of dog poop bag dispensers nailed to posts conveniently placed around the RV park, there is poop everywhere. I personally wouldn't allow dogs on the beaches either, if this experience is representative of the general havoc that would occur with more relaxed dog laws.
Plan for tomorrow is to have an easy drive into San Diego. All of it will be on I5, as both Highway 1 and 101 have run out.
Malibu, CA |
San Clemente, CA |
Sunset, San Clemente, CA |
Sunset, San Clemente, CA |
Sunset, San Clemente, CA |
Sunset, San Clemente, CA |