an escape

I have only a limited number of weekends left in San Diego, but today I could not figure out what I wanted to do. I did go to my Saturday morning yoga class, which was refreshing. After I finished with that though, I just could not bring myself to face the hordes of tourists throughout San Diego. So instead, I decided to take a field trip outside of San Diego to explore a little. I went up to north county on Old Highway 101, which runs alongside the Pacific, and did some beach-hopping along the way.

I started at the top at Swami's, about 20 miles north of San Diego. It's apparently one of the best surfing spots around in the winter, although there were lots of people surfing there today.

This is empty compared to the beaches I frequent.

There is a 90-foot cliff that you have to walk down to get to the beach, and after my running the last two days, and my yoga this morning, I had planned an easy rest of the day until I had to walk back up all these stairs!

At the top of the cliff, there is a wonderful 'meditation garden', part of the Self-Realization Fellowship & Retreat Hermitage. It was made by a man named Paramahansa Yogananda in 1936 simply as a serene place that anyone can enjoy, and it certainly was. I could have stayed there all day.

There are benches all over, some more secluded, and others out in the open with amazing views.

the largest Koi I have ever seen

After this, I made my way back down the coast and saw several other beaches: Sea Cliff, Cardiff-by-the-Sea,  and Solana Beach, where they were getting ready for a triathlon tomorrow.

Finally, I stopped at UCSD (University of California- San Diego) because I had heard about their amazing campus. It is definitely beautiful.

The library comes out of nowhere.

They also have eucalyptus groves all over, with trails.