To California With Cindy!

I just got back from a week in Encinitas, California with Cindy!

As much as I love my regular life, it's fun to get away sometimes, and that was especially true after being mostly at home for a year and a half!

I had fun packing . . . 

This is my normal wardrobe palette: black & white with blue, pink, and mustard accents.

I did a lot of things before I left to make sure Greg would have as easy of a time as possible, to have food for the trip, to take care of work things for the time I was gone, and to have a tidy home when I got home!

I made TONS of food.  I have a very particular diet (meant to reverse some chronic illnesses - and it's working!) and I don't like to eat out too much because it's challenging and often makes me feel not that great.  I froze a bunch of meals and put them in the cooler, a cooler bag, and this cat litter bucket with ice in it!

On Tuesday morning, I headed to Cindy's house to pick her up!

I did not forget the boogie board.  

Cindy brought a boogie board, too, but she didn't use it as much as I did because it's one of my absolute favorite things in the world to do.

We saw a coyote cross the road.  Can you see her?

We drove past the space alien restaurant and motel.

And we stopped for lunch near this strangely-shaped mountain.

We had brought some food with us.

I had chickpea salad (like tuna salad but with chickpeas) on crackers with pineapple and chocolate chip cookies for dessert!

Back in the car!

Someone took a little nap while I was driving.  

There is an area right over the border into California that has lots of huge windmills.  They are pretty and interesting!

We kept driving and driving until we arrived!  It's about a 6 hour journey (not including bathroom and fuel breaks).  I was happy to see that the OCEAN was right at the end of our street!

That's Moonlight Beach.

And we stayed at Moonlight Beach Motel.

Clarabelle (my Nissan Kicks) was happy to be in the cool air and happy for a nice rest.

We could see the ocean from our balcony (in fact, I could see it from my BED!)

Soon after arriving, we decided to have some dinner and then head to the beach.

We went to my favorite vegan fast food place, Plant Power Fast Food! 

They have beautiful flowers and plants everywhere.  This particular location (in Encinitas) used to be a gas station, but it's been revamped into a gorgeous flowery paradise.

Lilacs!

We ordered from the automated machines.

California still requires masks in public (though not outside unless the business requires it, which Plant Power did in their ordering areas).  

We were HAPPY and HUNGRY.

I accidentally ordered an iconic burger (rather than my usual classic burger), and it had carmelized onions and plant-basee cheese on it, meaning that it was extra super messy.  I was all covered in deliciousness.

Thank you, Plant Power!

When we got back to the motel, we changed and got right down to the beach!

On the way, there was an extensive succulent garden planted by a homeowner who wants people to enjoy wandering through it.

Cindy carried my boogie board for me:

We have these in our yard!

This guy planted a little nest full of succulents in a tree!

There was also a wall of interestingly-textured vines.

And then the beach and the OCEAN!

My first wave riding of the trip!

Cindy's feet:

Some cairns:

My ocean get-up includes:

back-up glasses or sunglasses (a former prescription just in case they get swept out to sea)

long-sleeved rash guard

boy shorts

wet suit

hat if it's daytime

+ HAPPINESS and a BIG SMILE

The air temperature while we were there was only in the 60s (except for one day when it hit 72), so the wet suit was a great help!  Most days the water was warmer than the air, but it was still chilly.

It was getting dark by the time we decided we were ready to leave.

Then we went back to the room to relax, watch some Netflix, and eventually SLEEP to the sound of ocean waves.

More California beauty coming tomorrow!

Until then, enjoy these waves . . . 

Waterfall Hike With Cindy

Cindy and I went for a lovely hike!  It will probably be our very last Arizona hike because she is moving to Wyoming very soon.  Thank goodness for technology so we can stay in close contact, but it will still be different and lonely.  

Here's the required gas station photo!

She and I have hiked together A LOT over the past 20 years of our friendship, and I'm glad we got the time to enjoy some more Arizona beauty.

We took a vegan picnic!

It was warm (mid 80s, I think), but not hot, so sitting in the shade was delightful.  There was a slight puff of breeze every once in a while, and we could smell the river and the pine trees (juniper pine? piñon/pinyon pine?)  The desert truly has some delightful scents!

I ate a stuffed pepper over rice with a maple lemon tahini dressing (this is one of my very favorite meals!), baked seasoned potato wedges with ketchup, and rice crackers with cashew cheeze).  I also had some dark chocolate chunks for desert.

The river is right there!

Not too hot.

Our plans to hike here had been postponed already once because rain was in the forecast and it's NOT SAFE to hike here if there's any chance of rain at all.  It doesn't rain there that often, but when it does, the water bunches up in the canyons and rushes down at great speed.  Almost all the members of a large family were killed here a few years back, so there are a lot of posted signs about being cautious.

At this time of year there were flowers I haven't seen here before.  It's fun to watch things changes through different seasons.  The low desert (Sonora) has very subtle changes from season to season, so it takes a careful eye to see them.  In the high desert where this hike was (near Payson, Arizona), there are four actual seasons (though they're all pretty mild), so it's easier to see the changes.

I think this is a desert mountain laurel.

No info on the info board!

Here's how our path starts:

Cute little lizard!  He sat still so I could take a picture.

Then the canyon narrows and our path gets steeper.

Up we go!!!

Pretty apricot mallow:

The terrain is quite rocky.

Desert marigold:

Once we rock-hopped across the river, it was smooth, easy going. 
We played a bit in the water.

(Looking at these photos makes me want to go right back there again!)

A cairn means "you're going the right way".

There's the big waterfall!

This log has been there for a long time.

We sat on that log with our feet in the COLD water and watched the tiny fish swim underneath us and the cottonwood puffs float on the surface.

There's a big pool at the base of the waterfall.
I waded over to that circle of rocks and sat in the shallow water for a bit.

We were HAPPY.

Parry's penstemon:

Blackfoot daisy:

Eventually we needed to turn around and come home.

We crossed the river again . . . 

That's where we crossed.  It's not very deep right now,
and in fact one of the waterfalls was completely dry.

I enjoyed the interesting patterns on the water.
There were leaves and cottonwood puffs floating by, making interesting shadows.

We saw the wheel the hike is named after:

What a WONDERFUL precious day with my WONDERFUL precious friend!