Nice Weekend

This past weekend the weather warmed up nicely. So we decided to take Friday and ride to the coast.  We found a nice curvy road that took us west from the campground and ended 45 miles away at San Juan Capistrano.

Along the way we were able to look down on the town of Lake Elsinore. Lake Elsinore in the 1960’s use to have the Elsinore Grand Prix. It was an open dirt bike race event that would draw big name riders and even a movie star named Steve McQueen. It was also featured in my all time favorite movie “On Any Sunday”.  I was feeling pretty nostalgic as we road through the town. I could just envision all of the old Husqvarna’s, Penton,s Yamaha’s, Honda’s and Suzuki’s racing through the city streets and out in the desert hills. I have heard that they have started the event back up again. Hmmmmm!

Once we got to the Pacific Coast Highway I was not sure which way to go, north or south! We decided to ride south just a few miles and check out Capistrano Beach and then turn around and head north. We can check out more of the southern end when we are closer to San Diego next week.

The highway was pretty congested with traffic and it was hard to see where the public beaches were. But once we figured out how they put the signs up for them I could find them okay. Spotting the state beaches is no problem, they are everywhere. Since we were not staying at a beach all day I did not want to pay entrance fees just to have a quick look and then ride on. I will have to see if California has a beach pass that would be good for all the state beaches.

The first beach we stopped at was called Alisio Beach, just south of Dana Point. We stopped and strolled the beach for about an hour.

75 degrees and beautiful

The houses on the cliffs were spectacular. Yup, I could live there!

A Pelican and some Gulls sunning themselves

The rocks are covered with shells. I am assuming that they are a type of Mussel. They are secured in the sand and rocks pretty well.

We left Alisio beach and headed north to check out Laguna Beach. We knew we were in Laguna Beach immediately when the traffic came to a standstill. As we went through town I missed the parking area for the beach. It was pretty crowded so I decided just to look at it from the road and we would come back and check it out earlier in the day.

We only went maybe a half mile when I saw a sigh that said “Vista Point” I quickly made a left turn and we went into a small neighborhood that stretched out onto a point. At the end of the point was a little public park called “Crescent Bay”.

What a hidden gem this little park was. It is not very big but it is out on the point where the views were fantastic.

Park entrance

Looking along the North shoreline

Looking out to sea

Looking along the south shoreline

Our view we had while we had our lunch

After we had our lunch we continued north through Newport Beach. The traffic there was really busy. We saw lots of nice boats in the harbor, and I saw my first Ferrari dealership. There were some very nice cars in the window. I do not think I could even afford the air in the tires of those cars.

We ended up riding as far north as Huntington Beach before we turned around and headed back to home. We stopped for dinner at a Texas Roadhouse and enjoyed some BBQ ribs and chicken, then made it home exhausted.

Saturday we hung out at the rig in the morning, then late afternoon we went to a social gathering of Pickleball players. We visited for awhile then we fixed dinner and enjoyed the evening.

Sunday we sat outside under the awning while Max worked on her cross-stitch blanket for the new grandbaby and I watched the Nascar race. The weather was perfect at 80 degrees.  We do not have much on our agenda this week. We are just going to enjoy the pool, hot tubs and play cards and Pickleball when we can. I might even sneek in a nap or two!

Enjoy Your Day!