Hwy 101

Jan 19

We are now in San Clemente at the state park right on the ocean. Had a nice walk on the beach after we cleaned the carpet because a beer spilled on it during our winding mountainous ride yesterday.

Ended up just north of San Diego in what turned out to be the worst site ever. Across the street from a commuter rail and highways – on the ocean but – It was smoggy, foggy and I was sick with a bug – slept all day and Barry read every word of the NY Times.

Things are looking up today. We traveled on Highway 101 for awhile north – passed the Self Realization Fellowship but I couldn’t get Barry to stop. That reminded me of my college sociology classes. I was really into it more like self actualization.

Rt. 101 has lots of restaurants, café, full bars, surfers, trinket shops along with commuter rail nearby. As we drove along we found a better park in Carlsbad – Will have lots of advise for our friends traveling this way. passed through Encinitas, on to Ocean side – This town is next to Pendleton Base – many welcoming marines signs around. We stopped at the farmers market – lots of great looking veggies and all the trinkets too.

Oceanside is a mix of Spanish, modern and Victoria – all the towns blend in together. Right in the middle of town is a huge power plant right on the ocean. Try to get that permitted these days.

Camp Pendleton is huge – covers many acres on both sides of Hwy 5 - I noticed some tanks moving around in a distant field. Passed a sign in a more remote section of fields and green hills “Camp Pendleton - Preserving Our Precious Resources: Cynic that I am.

On to a coastal nuclear power plant and then to San Clemente. CA shows how the budget crises effects everything they do. $60 a night with hook ups at the state park here - $35 with no –hook ups. .

The banks on the way down to the beach show considerable erosion – I think this area got hard hit with the rains a couple weeks ago.