Awesome Beach Vacation!

In July, my family went on our first vacation! We went to San Diego, California! So, on top of being a vacation, it was a beach vacation. It was amazing! I had never seen the ocean, although technically I had, when I was a baby. But it felt like the first time seeing it. It was so cool to hear the waves, see them, see the expanse of the ocean, feel the sand in between your toes, smell and taste the salt. It’s so relaxing.

We traveled for two days, driving, from the northwest of the country through Idaho, Utah, part of Arizona, Nevada and through southern California to San Diego. I have to admit that though it was a very, very long car drive, it was fun because there were so many new things to see. Idaho and Utah were pretty similar to landscapes here at home, but as soon as we reached southern Utah, we hit the red hills and palm trees and cactus. That was super cool! There were both right outside our hotel that night. The next day we drove through Arizona and Nevada. The desert is so hot, it was 106 degrees. It literally felt like a furnace. Even into California, it was still desert: sand, cactus and scraggly bushes everywhere. The occasional gas station looked very barren. On the way back it was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen. Only because it was so new did it seem nice on the way forth.

The wonderful part is that our vacation home was a little outside San Diego and it was beautiful! Just gorgeous, and the surrounding landscape was lush and hilly. There were palm trees, and other plants I didn’t know. And, there were hummingbirds! I love hummingbirds, but don’t see them often. I saw them everyday by the vacation home!

Getting to see a big city, especially a nice one, like San Diego, was very cool. I loved driving through downtown,  the tall buildings surrounded by palm trees, the ocean right near by, and seagulls everywhere. San Diego has a pretty small town feel. What was most interesting to me though, was that there were so many little towns between our vacation home, about 45 minutes outside San Diego, and the actual city. There was Escondido, La Jolla, Torey Pines. All really nice, all different, all beautiful. They all had their own beaches.

It was so fun to see another part of the country, something so totally different than where I live. The whole culture and lifestyle changes because you’re near the ocean. Super duper cool! We would park near Pacific Beach and walk a few blocks to the pier, and then walk down the beach to find a nice area to set down the towels and umbrella. It was so peaceful, despite the amount of people, and the fact that you’re in a big city. Sometimes I would feel like just lying on the beach and hearing the waves crash (and tan, of course!). Mostly, though, I wanted to swim. It was really fun, although swallowing the salt water is not quite so enjoyable! 😉 It was also really fun to look for shells, of which I brought some home, and see tiny baby crabs scurrying under the sand before the next wave came.

One thing that was crazy though, were the highways. 8 lanes, and so busy! They were good drivers though, there in California. Everybody drove well, compared to many other places. It’s tricky navigating the highways when you have to figure out where to get off and stuff. Way to many exits every 1/4 of a mile!

Other than the beach we also went to Seaport Village, drove through Old Town, saw part of Balboa Park, and best of all, we went to Sea World! That was a blast. It was for my little brother’s birthday, and it was great. We went on the roller coaster, some other rides, saw the shows, (dolphins were my favorite!), and a bunch of animals. It was really, really fun!

So, yeah, it was a great vacation! But, when we got back home it was awesome too. You appreciate where you live so much more after you see other parts of the country. I love our little town, that I don’t find quite so ugly anymore. I appreciate the mountains and rivers, and the big blue sky so much more! 🙂 Love Montana!

Here are some pictures from the vacation! Unfortunately, it was pretty overcast for most of the week, so the pictures aren’t that sunny….who cares, though? It was beautiful anyway!

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Here are the pics from SeaWorld. I didn’t take so many pictures of the dolphins because my camera ran out of battery. 😦

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23 thoughts on “Awesome Beach Vacation!

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