San Clemente 2010

Since we didn't get to go to San Clemente last year, we were really looking forward to going this last August, especially since Ailsa would be with us. We had taken a day or two at the end of our River vacation last year to visit with Wade and Kimberly in Orange County and we spent about 2 hours at San Clemente during that time. And then when Lenore and I were in Orange in January for Meredith's wedding we stopped by for less than an hour. These short stints may have only made us want our normal vacation even more.

Sometimes in Southern California it occurs that the weather in June is not that great for the beach. Sean told us that January was hotter this year than June was. And “June Gloom” this year carried all the way through July as well. We were lucky that the weather was probably about as good as ever during our two weeks this year. The big difference was that the water temperature was quite a bit lower than normal. All during our stay I don't think it got above 63-65. It can often be in the low 70's. However, I have to say the last couple of days when I went in the water. it was very refreshing.

My cycling didn't do that well last year, partly due to some health issues. I've done quite a bit better this year. I've tried a couple of times to accomplish a ride that will make it into my top 10 speed list. I have failed on about 4 tries. I have made a couple of 45 mile rides in the high 20.0's for speed. Which I feel pretty good about, considering how difficult it was for me to do the 60 mile 20MPH ride I did in 2006.

On our way to San Clemente we stopped in Saint George on Friday night to rest with my parents. On that same day, I think, I got the idea of getting up early Saturday morning and trying once again for a ride higher than 21.32 MPH on the River trail. I had trouble getting to sleep that night and probably only got about 3 hours sleep. Anyway, I had a good ride. But, missed the mark by .5 MPH. Despite all this, I really didn't have much trouble staying awake for the remaining 6+ hour drive to the beach. I say plus because it should have only been about 6 hours. We ran into traffic on the 5 and it was very frustrating.

The first couple of days in the apartment were VERY cramped with the number of people. It ended up that most everyone came at the beginning instead of the second week this year. We managed.

I think we only got in two maybe three different days of surfing. Between this and that, it didn't seem to easily fit in with our wants and schedule. Anyway, I did have fun at it. But, just barely. Sean has a foam board from Costco that he let us use that really was fairly nice. Good for people to learn on. There were shark sightings in the San Onofre area and several stingray stings in the T-street and Pier areas. So, some of the children were tentative about going in the water.

I had both my bike and the tandem there and managed to get in 7 rides in the first 8 days until I messed up my back carrying stuff and big surfboards around and on the beach.

One evening during the first week we saw a recumbent bicycle contraption parked across the street. He was pulling a trailer and had something like a bowery frame above the bike with lights on it. At first glance Lenore thought it was a UFO. The next day on our tandem bike ride with Ameer (must have been Friday, 13 August) We ran into this guy as we were returning, at the place where the trail meets the freeway (right here). He was stopped and looked like he needed help. He was asking about the trail. He had an accent that sounded German to me. So I offered to try to speak German. He said he was French and had come down from Canada. I asked if he spoke Quebecquois. He didn't seem to like that suggestion. So, I gave up and let him try to speak English. He gave me his card. Turns out he was from France, thus the repulsion at the Quebecqouis. He was in the middle of a trip from Canada to South America. His website is here. We exchanged some pleasantries and admired his bike and went on our way.

After the back incident I was laid up for about 2 days and was lucky to get back down to the beach and in the water. I didn't do any bodysurfing. It felt like my back might not like it.

We left Friday evening about 8:30pm to drive to Saint George, partly because of Ailsa's Homecoming on the Sunday after we returned. We felt it would be best to be able to spiff up the yard and make some other preparations. That worked out well. It took a lot of stress off. But, we ran into very frustrating traffic into Las Vegas at 2 in the morning. Between that and the pain meds and muscle relaxants, I was quite the zombie driver for the last hour into Saint George.