I took a Los Angeles/Tijuana road trip 3 years ago. Though I did stop in San Diego and Orange County, I didn't do justice to either of them and sought to change that. I hastily signed up for the America's Finest City 5K after a week of decent training but injured my hamstring pretty badly just 1 week out. Racing was out of the question, and I feared that I may not even be able to enjoy the ocean, but the trip was still a go.
8/14-
3 AM wake up call. I wanted an early flight but not quite this early, but it worked out fine. After an easy connection in Dallas, I arrived in Santa Ana just after noon. It was the closest airport to most of my destinations and probably a smart call to avoid LAX if possible. From the airport, it was only about 20-30 minutes to Huntington Beach (Surf City USA). I did take it a little easy out there, but the sore hamstring was of no concern, and I stayed in the water until about 5 PM. It was a rare overcast day with temps in the low 70s. The water temperature here normally tops out around 72 but this summer has been cooler than average, so it was around 70. After the initial shock, I found it comfortably cool out there and still enjoyable even with the overcast skies. After I got out, I overheard a guy mention Alabama and the Gulf so I struck up a conversation. Lo and behold, he used to live there. His name was Javier and I enjoyed meeting him and his girlfriend Sofia. No pics because I didn't have my phone on me. This would be the first of five beaches that I would sample on this trip. My hotel was about 2.5 miles up the road so I grabbed a pizza for dinner and just relaxed for the night.
8/15- 30 minute drive on PCH down to Laguna Beach. Every beach has a different vibe but despite a bit of seaweed in several spots, this was my favorite. Clear water was an aqua tint and strong surf. I went down a couple times and got consistently good rides to the shore. There's also beautiful cliff side scenery. My only gripe was that parking is difficult to find in the afternoon and prices are outrageous. I cut my session a little short for this reason. Today, we got some afternoon sun but it clouded up before sunset. However, it was crystal clear just a few miles inland at my hotel. Strange.
8/16- About a 90 minute drive south mostly on the freeway to Ocean Beach just outside of San Diego. Waves were not quite as strong here but they broke further out, which enabled longer rides. Free parking as well. From there, I went to a burger joint just about a mile up the road where I ended up eating with a random woman named Tina.
After lunch, it was a scenic ride to the marina with views of the San Diego skyline to the race expo. After much back and forth deliberation, I decided it would be okay to participate in the 5K as a walker. I checked into my hotel then found the starting line for tomorrow's race.
Next was a walking tour of downtown San Diego on Market Street through the Gaslamp quarter to Kansas City Barbeque (Top Gun bar). In a mild disappointment, nobody commented on my resemblance to Val Kilmer. I took an alternate route back through Little Italy and chatted a bit with several people at a sports bar on the way back. I find it easy to talk with locals here. Perhaps Southerners mix well with laid back California culture.
8/17- Race morning. A road race from the very back of the pack was a new experience for me. Even when I was fast, I always had SERIOUS issues with people who make fun of slower runners. Anyone who makes an earnest effort and gets out there deserves our respect. Some people just wanted to take in the experience and didn't seem to put much effort into it but there were others who were honestly giving it their best. My brisk walk was almost as fast as their run but I still applaud them.
I walked about 80 percent of the course but did incorporate some very slow and easy jogging at regular intervals. I could still feel the pain in my hamstring but don't think I made it any worse. I knew better than to push it. Of course, it was a personal worst by more than a mile but I didn't care. The only goal was to finish without aggravating the injury. According to the results, I wasn't even close to being the last finisher. I placed 45th out of 55 in my age group and did something positive that I have never done before. I negative split a 5K for the first time with the back half being about a minute faster than the first half. Can't say that I enjoyed this experience but it wasn't as depressing as I expected.
My only irritation came afterwards when I was denied entry to the beer garden without an ID even though my bib listed my age. Maybe I still appear under 40 but certainly not under 30. Ridiculous. In the end, it probably worked out for the best. By leaving early, I had an easier time finding parking at La Jolla Shores, which was a mess in the afternoon.
La Jolla Shores has a darker green tint and gentler waves but crystal clear water that was so clear that you could see to the bottom. Yes, such American beaches do exist outside of Florida. I left just after noon and drove about 20 minutes to Torrey Pines for lunch and a short hike.
From Torrey Pines, it was only about 20-30 minutes to Oceanside via the Freeway. Oceanside is a beautiful area with tall palm trees lining the streets. I had another good surf session. Oceanside has clear water too but it's a more aqua tint like Laguna. Less seaweed but no cliffs.
8/18- Had time for another dip in Oceanside before check out. I got to see it in all its glory with crystal clear skies today. After lunch at In & Out Burgers, I had a little bit of dead time because it was only 1 hour to Anaheim and the game didn't start until 6:30.
I decided to take a short detour through Compton, the birthplace of gangsta rap. Certainly a rough area but it's not nearly as dangerous as it was in the early 90s. I've seen worse neighborhoods but I knew better than to get out of my car or venture outside of the main roads. At any rate, I arrived safely in Anaheim around 3 and just chilled at a very nice pool at my hotel.
Angel Stadium is my 22nd ballpark and ranks in the middle of the pack. It's got some nice mountain views but you can tell that it's an old facility. The game was nothing special as the Angels lost 4-1. At least I can say that I saw Future HOFer Mike Trout live. I believe that makes 8 losses in row for the home team. Yes, I've seen some bad teams but I should get lucky once.
8/19- Got to sleep in a bit with the flight out being at 12:30. I had to contend with a bit of Freeway traffic but had more than enough time. There was a short delay on my first flight but fortunately I had a 2 hour layover scheduled so it didn't affect my connection. I still got home at a half decent hour.
Excellent trip overall.
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