La Jolla (la Hoya)

Wednesday August 25.
Today I went for a short ride north to the touristy beach town of La Jolla. I went because I wanted to go sea kayaking. Signed up with a tour group and was led by two nice young men, one of whom was interested that I was Canadian because he plays lacrosse with Canadians at his college and one of his friends plays for the Rock.

Anyway, getting off the beach was fun because of the waves. On the way to the cliffs we saw a number of four foot lemon sharks beneath our boats (they're harmless, so they tell me) and a couple of sea turtles. When we got to the cliff we saw a pelican rookery and sea lions basking in the sun. A large male sea lion surfaced right beside my kayak, that was exciting. The picture of the rookery actually shows more cormorants than pelicans. It was fun watching the cormorants try to land on these cliffs as they are better swimmers than flyers. Learned something else, their eggs have one side that has a flat spot that, you guessed it, stops the eggs from rolling off the cliffs. I wonder about the chicks? We were supposed to paddle into caves but the swells were too dangerous so we skipped that, but they gave us coupons to explore the caves from land.

After that I rode to the cave entrance and went down. Then I rode up a windy road to the top of a large hill where you get a great view of the area including the city of San Diego and the ocean area I justed paddled on. They also have a large white cross up there as a tribute or memorial to all of the casualties of the wars. All in all a great way to spend a day.

After that I rode inland towards Palm Springs. As soon as you leave the coast the temperature climbs. By the time I got here is was a 108 at seven in the evening. It felt like riding through a sauna. And it's humid! So much for the dry desert. Found a hotel, after turning down two because they didn't have a computer and am staying at a Ramada. Jumped in the pool, but it's hot too! Not refreshing at all. So I went for dinner at the nearest place I could walk to. It was a big beautiful restaurant/bar with a another big room where they were dancing! I had the largest breaded sole fillet I've ever seen, served with a huge yam and a bowl of chopped up fruit. Delicious. Then I spend a couple of hours on the computer updating my blog for all of you. I know, about time!