Beach Bums

Monday, March 23
This was our most relaxing day on vacation. And quite possibly one of the best! :-) I suppose that's debatable, depending on which family member you would ask.

We checked out of the Doubletree hotel and headed down the highway. A few miles and we were in Carlsbad. Known for it's outlet shopping, tulip and strawberry fields. Now here's a shocker for you. I wasn't the one who wanted to shop the outlets. It was my sweet hubby. So I agreed. (seriously!) We spent a bit of time at the outlets. I wandered around, not in the mood to look or try anything on. Keith found a Sketchers store and a great pair of shoes. They had a deal on, buy one pair and get the second 1/2 off. So I browsed, found a cute little pair of maryjane style sketchers and we were good to go.

We wanted to visit the tulip fields, but everything was all gated and roped off. You had to drive to a specific area and pay $10 a person to hop on a tractor-wagon ride to see the tulips. No thanks. Instead, we stopped at a little roadside strawberry stand and bought some in-season freshly picked strawberries. They were soooooooooooooooo good! We devoured them on the beach. Beach + Strawberries. Can you think of a better combination? Neither can I.

Which brings us to the next thing we did. San Clemente beach. We spent a good part of the afternoon there. It wasn't busy and but there was lots to see and do. Max soon discovered that geckos were scooting around rock walls. He spent most of his time chasing them around, determined to catch one. Good luck buddy! The Amtrak train roared past us occasionally which was pretty cool. The US Border Patrol recruits came running past us. They stopped nearby and we watched them do push ups and jumping jacks, etc. WOW. Talk about being fit! Max worked on his jumping jacks too while they were doing them. Finally we explored huge sand cliff/caves that were totally awesome. So yes, it was a great way to spend the afternoon.

Late afternoon we arrived at the Candy Cane Inn. A favourite little place of ours located next door to Disneyland. We checked in and then the real fun began... :-)