Well we have certainly gotten off to a slow start on this trip! And that’s just fine by me. One of my goals for this adventure is to slow down and take my time and enjoy the present without worrying about what the future holds – whether that’s two days into the future or two years into the future. And so after a couple of days in Big Sur, we headed south to San Diego, where some of our favorite friends live. We dropped the camper in front of their home in Cardiff, headed for a late night dinner at Pizza Port in Solana Beach, and the next day we were off to Florida for a few days. Our nephew was being baptized, and conveniently we are temporarily retired and so we have all the time in the world to head back to the East Coast for such a momentous life event as a baptism! Ryan and I have always said that no matter where in the world we live, we will make it a point to not miss the important family events, and that includes the time that we are on this road trip.
Ah, sunny Florida
And so we flew into Miami, drove north to Stuart and were able to spend a couple of lovely days catching up with family and friends in Ryan’s hometown, with Luke’s baptism and a beautiful brunch on Sunday. We then drove across the state to the St. Petersburg/Punta Gorda area for a few days of fun with my family. We haven’t seen our niece and nephew for some time, so it was great to spend some quality pool time with them, soaking up the sun and soaking in all the family love for a bit before we headed back to the west coast.
Pool time with my niece!
Punta Gorda sunset
Once back in San Diego, we lounged at our friends Nicole & Jon’s lovely home in Cardiff for a few days. Like I said, we are easing into this trip quite nicely! I went for an amazingly peaceful 2 hour walk along the beach in Cardiff one morning and we had lunch at a delicious restaurant – PrepKitchen in Del Mar, which was very tasty and I’d highly recommend! We reveled in conversation with friends that we haven’t seen for far too long, enjoyed lots of late nights of wine and beer, and had some lovely dog days at the beach.
Bailey at the dog beach!
The Nut loves the beach
Friday was beautiful weather and so we headed up to Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve for a leisurely hike on the bluffs amongst the Torrey Pines, down to the ocean to collect some shells and relish the cold sea water on our toes.
Torrey Pines State Nature Reserve
Seashell hunting
Friday night we headed across the border to Tijuana, because when you are that close to Tijuana, why not stroll across the border for some tasty tacos?! We headed to one of Nicole’s favorite taco joints – Taqueria el Franc – and scarfed down the most delicious asade and adobada tacos. There were lots of options – cabeza, lengua, tripe … no thanks! Beware of the splash zone if you sit at the bar at Taqueria el Franc – Jon got a little splish splash of meat cooking oil, but maintains that it was well worth it for those tasty tacos!
After tacos, we strolled a few blocks to the main street in Tijuana, Avenida Revolución, and headed to a mezcal bar Nicole had heard about – Mezcalera. The waitress clearly saw us for the sucker gringos that we are and suggested that along with our mescal and beers, we try the chapulines. Never the type to back away from any suggestion from a local, the guys said – SURE! Why not? What are those? She mumbled something unintelligible and returned with a few shots of mezcal, four beers, and a little bowl of bugs. Yep, chapulines are grasshoppers – a delicacy in certain parts of Mexico when fried crispy and cooked with garlic and topped with lime and hot sauce. And of course Ryan cannot back down from a challenge, nor can he even stand his FOMO, so once Jon popped one of those tasty little morsels in his mouth Ryan had to do it also. Not his favorite snack in the world, but he can say he did it and move on. I refrained from chomping on the bugs and instead stuck with my Bohemia beer, which was quite tasty. No mezcal for me – my tequila days are behind me (thank goodness)!
Chapulines!
Ryan’s first and last chapulín
Saturday morning, we packed up the camper, grabbed some groceries and drove out to Dos Picos County Park, which is about 45 minutes outside of San Diego, and was our chosen campsite for the night. And we were officially back on the road again!
BY Jackie
LOCATION San Diego, California
