Yin and Yang Friends

Karen took this amazing photo one morning on the banks of the Guadalupe river. The river was flowing fast. A light fog hung over the water. And the morning sunlight was just beginning to turn everything into gold. Evan was camping and hanging out with some of his oldest friends. None of them go to school with him now, but many of them were at Grace Garden for pre-school. And Ava and Zizi have a special place in Evan's heart.

A few weeks before this, we were in San Diego. Evan found this pair of yin and yang necklaces where the pendants fit into one another. He bought the pair because he thought Ava would like one and it would be so cool for him to wear the other. He was pretty excited. As soon as we got back into town, he headed over to their house to share his gift with Ava.

He returned a bit later, all smiles, but minus his half of the necklace pair. He didn't say anything. The next day Jo asked where his necklace was. And he sheepishly explained that when he went over to give his gift to Ava, he realized that it looked like he was bringing the second necklace for Zizi and he couldn't not give it to her. So he did, as if that's what he had intended all along.

Karen offered to get his necklace back to him, but he didn't want Zizi to feel that it wasn't his gift to her. Jo bought a second pair of yin and yang necklaces for Evan and Vivian, and they wore them for a day or two and we never saw them again.

But we did get a peek into Evan's heart and it's in the right place.

Hanging Out in Leucadia

Jo found a nice short flatish hike in the San Diego area - a 3 mile loop at the Los Peñasquitos Canyon reserve a few miles from Leucadia. When we got there we discovered that it was about 6 miles. By the time we finished it, we had walked closer to 9 miles. Carol and Evan weren't happy. But Vivian was willing to jog along back to the car - with all her cross country training she's in the best shape in the family.

The trail for the most part was pretty and followed a creek up to a water fall. But at times, it was in a dry desert-like canyon which would have been OK, except for the suburban sprawl at the edges. The next day we went to a very nice botanical garden. Evan and Carol made sure that we didn't walk any more than we absolutely had to, and were constantly on the look-out for a conspiracy that would change the trip into another 9 mile hike. There are multiple gardens and several nurseries in the Leucadia area. Looks like if you provide water anything would grow here.

We ate a couple of meals at Le Papagayo - a Mediterranean-Latin fusion place. When you find a place that both Evan and Carol can eat and the rest of us don't mind, it's a winner. Their hot sauce bar looks like this, so I wasn't complaining.

One night the kids and I were inside and Jo and Carol were walking up and down the driveway of the airbnb finishing up Carol's ten thousand steps for the day. Jo screamed from outside for us to come look. And we ran outside and saw a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch. The main booster detached and we could see it's rockets firing intermittently as it returned back to Vandenberg while the second stage shone brightly like a white flashlight in the sky.

Another night, Navaneet joined us for wine and grilling and a fire outside on his way from Baja to San Luis Obispo. Next morning we met from crepes before he took off. Great trip, and we'd do it again next year except that we won't be around if everything goes off according to plan.

Giraffes

Giraffes are under rated. We spent several hours with them at the San Diego Safari Park over Fall break. They are very photogenic. And they practically have to be gymnasts to mate. 

We also spent time with large numbers of rhinos and many completely forgettable species of antelope. The park rangers were initially worried about how much sex they could talk about with Vivian and Evan around, but we told them they and we were quite comfortable with the topic. Because once you start discussing animal behavior and herding and hierarchy, you quick realize that eating and not being eaten and fucking and not being able to are what it's all about. 

I highly recommend a trip to the safari. Jo and I had come here many years ago, before kids. We skipped it the last time we were here because the kids were too little. This time it was just right.

Pacific Beaches

We like beaches. So no surprise that as soon as we landed in San Diego for Fall break, we drove over to La Jolla and dipped our feet in the cool Pacific waters while we waited to check-in to our airbnb in Leucadia. 

Jo didn't pick Leucadia for any specific reason other than it was a bit out of San Diego, the prices were good, and there seem to be a lot of beaches around there. We lucked out. The town is a old surfer hangout turned hipster place full of great beaches and eating joints. And very few people seems to go to the beaches in October, so we'd drive up to the beaches, park for free, and step on to the sand. We spent plenty of time on South Ponto, Beacon, and most of all, Moonlight beach. The kids had a blast. Jo and Carol lay out in the sun. I people watched. We saw some amazing sunsets.