Showing posts with label Torrey Pines. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Torrey Pines. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Field Trips - San Diego Tour Guide Weekend

We had a super-busy weekend, showing old friends (not literally old - well, ®ob is over 40 though...) around the San Diego area. We had previously visited the three places we took them to on Saturday and Sunday - Maritime Museum, Cabrillo National Monument tidepools and lighthouse and hiking at Torrey Pines State Park. Since I've already written about most of these, and also because my normal clunky copy isn't spilling out of me, this will be even more of a pictorial than the normal post.

Maritime Museum of San Diego:
Ferry Berkely and submarine Dolphin
one of many very cool miniature models, this of the USS Oregon (1893)

Meals on Wheels:
We took another tour of San Diego Bay on the harbor pilot boat (1914), the additonal $3 fee is so very worth it for the ≈45 minute tour of the bay.
From the Pilot, we viewed the USS Nimitz (CVN-68), USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), along with the Ronald Reagan (CVN-76 - not pictured):
All three supercarriers are stationed at NAS North Island.

A few sea lions napping on a navigation buoy:
The Stars & Stripes (ex-America's Cup contender) coming back into port
And the museum's own Star of India, which we'd briefly explore later in the day:

ahoy from the Pilot

Back on shore I discovered a very cool small sailboat that I never knew existed:
A 1930s-era Mini Star. I've always loved the clean, classic lines of a Star-class sailboat. This 100 year-old class has been raced in the Olympics since the 1930s. The mini star sitting on the dock is about 2/3 the size (16' vs 22.5') and was a popular boat for junior sailing programs in the 1930s-60s. This particular boat, Rascal, is the last surviving Starlet.

Lots of photos of cool gauges, Cyrillic typography and the like were snapped aboard the Soviet B-30 sub.
And, very quickly, through the Star of India:
Off to Point Loma and the Cabrillo National Monument.
push harder, Celeste!
grandmas will NOT approve of this pic


historic Point Loma lighthouse (1855)

When we were done exploring on Saturday, a quick trip to Wahoo's was made in order to fill up on some great burritos.
Sunday was overcast with a stiff breeze out of the south. But no matter, the trails and vistas at Torrey Pines State Park are beautiful any time. Plus, after a day in the sun, the clouds were good for our fair-skinned friends.
Celeste took many photos of one of her Webkinzzz:
She's doing a great job with photography and understands that sometimes you just have to get dirty in order to get the shot. And dirty she certainly gets:
We're so fortunate to have a girl that enjoys exploring nature.
®ob and Peg left Monday morning, impressed with what the area had to offer and promising to return soon. They're headed north up Hwy 1 along the coast to SF and then the redwoods. I hope ®ob's new 16GB memory card will hold the thousands of pix he's going to take...

Monday, June 15, 2009

Torrey Pines Beach Day

Some friends from Monona (who now live in Texas) were in town for an extended weekend. Allie's was happy to have her friend Rebecca her just as Celeste was thrilled to have her friend Anna.

I started out my Saturday with a group ride out at Daley Ranch in Escondido. There's a crew of 5 guys who ride just about every Saturday - exclusively on 29ers, most of which are single speeds. Had a great ride and met some new friends.

After lunch we packed up Klaus and drove down to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve. Allie and Rebecca did some hiking while I hung out with the girls down on the beach.

Another kid on the beach found a long strand of giant kelp. He kept a 30-40' whip-like strand and gave Celeste and Anna a gas bladder and a leaf.

A giant kelp gas bladder. Naturally filled with air (CO2?) to help keep the kelp upright.

Mermaid or kelp-girl?

mmm... beach sushi
Fun in the waves...
What the heck, more kelp. This time normal-size.