Anyway, so we went to California! We left early Saturday morning to meet my daddio and step-momma who were flying in from San Antonio. We flew in from Dallas, because duh Temple has no major airport, and Dallas is just a little farther than Austin and waaaaay cheaper to fly out of. But let me tell you, I love the Austin airport. I do not love the Dallas airport. Even if it's called cheaper and called "Love Field". Once upon a time when we lived up there for undergrad I adored that little airport, but you guys, it's not little any more! It looks completely different and it's a mess. Security was too much of a lengthy party for my taste and getting our luggage when we came back took for-ev-errrr. Also, just any airport after the Austin airport seems lame. It's just the best and there's no changing my mind.
Back to the trip! Parentals were met up with and off we went! We flew in to San Diego, but we were staying in a little beach town about half an hour northward called Solana Beach. The coast of Southern California is just an endless string of beach towns. It's amazing. My step-grandma lives in Cali and had a week of a timeshare that she graciously offered to us Brooks/Hogans to use. It was so so so great. When we first got there it was a little warm, and my dad asked, "Where's the AC?" And my step-gma said, "Outside." And he was like, whaaat? But really, no AC. You just open them windows! I panicked at first (I am a fullblooded Texan and lover of AC), but it was okay! Especially because the day after we got there a big ol' cool front/storm system blew in. So the nights were filled with cool sea air and I was a happy camper. Plus my allergies all but disappeared, it was a miracle.
Lets talk for a minute about the beaches in SoCal, because they are something else. Endless for one thing, but also the water is crystal clear (where we were anyway), stupid-pretty cliffs everywhere, and the waves are just a whole different breed from what we get in Texas. The beaches are real scenic to say the least.
Those stairs. PHEW, they were killer. We stayed just a short walk from the beach, but part of the walk was those crazy stairs! Heck of a workout.
Clearly, the day we got there the weather was great. Sunny and warm and perfect for the beach. But that night, in blew the rain! And the cool weather! We woke up and it was like a whole different season. I wasn't mad though, I adore cool weather (helloooo it's October!) and Cali needs that rain so bad! And we still did everything we wanted to. Just, soggier.
The next day, in the intermittent rain, we explored beach towns! We drove up the 101 and stopped and checked out beaches every now and then. I think this first town is Carlsbad. It was cute!
My dad and his infamous move of sneaking up behind you and grabbing your leg. Bad news is Brendon started picking it up too.
I think maybe this is Oceanside? We accidentally parked right next to the Top Gun house:
It's definitely seen better days and there are some truly terrible murals on the side of it.
By the end of all our exploring, we were pretty dang soggy. But the good news is that even if it rained, it never lasted long. The sun would make an appearance every now and then.
On our way back we stopped at a little food and wine festival in Del Mar, which was just next to Solana Beach. All these towns just run together. Del Mar is real fancy though. The tickets to said festival were pretty outrageous, so we just walked around and checked everything out, sans tasting. And then we headed back to the condo? hotel? timeshare? and chilled for a bit/dried off before we tackled... MORE BEACH!
But that's it for today. I'm breaking it all up into not so logical parts, so your eyes don't explode from beach overload. :)
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