Butterflies & Beaches

January 14th & 15th-We left Pismo Beach and headed to Huntington Beach.

We stopped at a MONARCH BUTTERFLY GROVE at the south end of Pismo Beach. This is where the butterflies come for the winter. They usually are sleeping until it warms up to 55-60 degrees. We went first thing in the morning and there were just a few flying around.

Look carefully! The butterflies are sleeping, they look like leaves!

With the mudslide on Highway 101 (which at this point is the same as Highway 1) we had to take a long detour on Highway 166 to Interstate 5. This is mainly farmland. A lot of orange trees (maybe clementines???). There was a haze of smoke left behind from the fires hanging over everything. Pretty gloomy.

We arrived in Huntington Beach and stayed at the Waterfront RV Park right across from the beach and right next door to a power plant 🙂 It was a nice park undergoing renovation. The sites were spread apart much different than the Pismo Beach Resort. It was a great location as well.

We walked along the beach. The water’s edge is quite a ways back from the street and the water was quite cold but we walked in it anyway!!! We walked along the water’s edge for quite sometime.

Love the purple sand dollars!!!

Huntington Beach

After the beach we drove to the shopping area along the beach. This has very fancy shops. I prefer the small town beach shops with tacky souvenirs! But it was fun none the less. Later we went to dinner with our friends at Ruby’s a 50’s diner at the end of the pier and had YUMMY hamburgers.

January 15th we got up early and drove to San Diego. This was not an easy feat. The streets are very crowded with a lot of holiday traffic. I won’t go into the details but dang!
Kind of a frustrating morning.

We stopped at a Walmart and ran in to pick up a few things. This cart is embarrassing but we’re on vacay so we eat what we want, were we want and how we want! Please pay special attention, there is milk AND pears in there!!!!

We made it to San Diego RV Resort. We love this place. Huge parking slips with grass and a small concrete patio. We are surrounded by highways, but we didn’t really notice.

We decided to head north to see the La Jolla Tide Pools. Tide was still fairly low so it was fun to walk around and see little teeny tiny crabs and clusters of tiny shells. The rocks were pretty slippery in spots and flip flops were probably not the best thing to wear.

These are actually very small.

 

Mission Beach was next! A friend recommended we grab a sandwich at Rubicon’s, it took quite some time to even find a parking place. The streets surrounding it were incredibly narrow. We finally found a 30 minute parking spot. We ran to Rubicon’s and picked up sandwiches which were unique and yummy. We were going to eat them on the beach nearby but could not find parking.

This was the first time we had seen a “Gender Neutral” bathroom sign so it had to documented!

 

It took a while to finally find a parking spot near the beach but found a large lot next to Bellmont Amusement Park. This has several rides, games, booths, stores and carni food. Another busy area. At this point the temperature suddenly dropped and we were freezing so we headed to Old Town San Diego.

We decided to visit the Mormon Battalion Visitor’s Center right across the street from the Old Town parking lot. They had a unique presentation which was fun, engaging and informative. I’ve never seen anything like it, you get to “march with the Mormon Battalion.” It’s difficult to explain but well worth our time. At the end they offered a free picture of your group in black and white. They have an area where you can pan for gold. They even have rocking chairs on the front porch for you to enjoy. We climbed the tower and got a wonderful view of the area.

We went into Old Town and did some shopping. It’s almost like being in Mexico. Very fun to walk around. We had another friend recommend we eat at Rockin’ Baja Lobster. It’s Mexi food with mostly seafood options. We had the most delicious shrimp tacos! Tortilla with parmesan cheese crisp, filled with shrimp, avocado, Mexi cheese and an sriratcha aioli. Holy cow!

YUM

Fun Fact: If a friend recommends a restaurant or place to visit follow their lead, we have not been disappointed!

Dave’s Trailer Tip: Don’t tow unneeded weight until you get closer to your destination. Mainly it’s water you’d wait on, it weighs about 8.35 lbs per gallon!