Sunset at Mission Bay Park (San Diego, CA), 2/13/2016

Next to the Mission Bay RV Park (where we were staying) is the beautiful Mission Bay Park. It is a 4,600-acre city park (half land and half water) with 27 miles of shoreline. Annual attendance at the park is approximately 15M where visitors enjoy bike and walk paths, boat docks and launching facilities, playgrounds, basketball courts, and more. 

Dogs are permitted before 9 am and after 4 pm during the winter months, so we spent many evenings on the path along the shore with our doggy, Sadie. 

On this day we had heard motorcycles all day long at the park. When we went for our walk, we saw that the Royal Aces Motorcycle Club was holding their annual picnic here. There were police in various locations in the area, and here is a shot of members of the club in front of the San Diego Police who were monitoring their party!

Here are some pics of the sunset over the water. 

I loved the pink hues in the sky and on the water after the sun went down. Just beautiful.

For additional information about the park, check out this website: www.sandiego.gov.

Sunset at De Anza Cove (San Diego, CA), 2/08/2016

The light at sunset cast beautiful orange hues on De Anza Cove at Mission Bay. 

These Marbled Godwits were so fun to watch as they searched for food in the sand with their long beaks. They winter here along the coast in large numbers. 

The backdrop of the palm trees that line the coastline here made for lovely views of the sunset. 

Gorgeous!

San Diego Natural History Museum, 2/11/2016

The San Diego Society of Natural History was established in 1875. Exhibits were first publicly displayed in 1912. The museum was located in three buildings in Balboa Park until the current building was dedicated in 1933. 

These two exhibits in the lobby provided a time-lapse view of global warming and second of tectonic plate movement from Pangea to current geography.  

The Museum's collection is dedicated to the natural history of Southern California and the Baja Peninsula. We began our visit with the Fossil Mysteries exhibit, there are skeletal models of numerous extinct species including the mastodon and giant sloth shown below. 

These large dinosaur models showed the appearance of the animal on one side and skeletal fossils on the other. This one is an Albertosaurus, a smaller cousin to the T-Rex.

Ammonites are extinct ocean predators (related to the octopus) that thrived for 300 million years!

This large piece of jade began as ocean crust basalt. The chemistry of the basalt was transformed by heat and pressure from tectonic plate movement into the jade seen here. 

The Coast to Cactus in Southern California exhibit, showcases the diverse wildlife and plant life in this part of the country. 

We enjoyed the displays about the trees and how they support the wildlife of the region. Woodpeckers use tree trunks (called granaries) to store acorns year round. As shown, a single tree can have thousands of holes. 

Other displays show the mammals in the region (flying squirrel) and marine life (gray whale skeleton). 

Proceeding to the next floor, the Skull Exhibit featuring 200 of the museum's collection are displayed around the perimeter of the lobby. 

Perhaps it is our strange fascination with the macabre that made this so exhibit so interesting. Here are some of them. It was surprisingly simple to identify the animal by the skull. 

Water: A California Story is an exhibit that covers many aspects of the impact of water to the region including displays about the ocean, source of municipal water, and wildlife reliance on it.

The collection is dedicated to the natural history of Southern California and the Baja Peninsula. This is such a well-curated museum. There are many interactive exhibits at this museum and a wealth of information presented in an innovative and interesting fashion. Loved it. Activities for children can be found throughout. 

Admission is $19/adults; $17/seniors. We had picked up a Macy's Musuem Month pass that provided 1/2 price admission to this museum (and many others) in February. For additional information about the museum, see www.sd.hm.org

Black's Beach (La Jolla, CA), 2/10/2016

Black's Beach is the largest nude beach in the US. It is part of the Torrey Pine State Beach in a secluded section along the Pacific Coast beneath 300' bluffs. The clothing-optional part of the beach begins about 100 yards south of the trail leading to the Torrey Pines Gliderport and continues north for about 1.1 miles. 

Free parking can be found around the Gliderport although the lots are usually packed. We finally found a spot on the north side of the Gliderport and walked south to locate the trail down to the beach.  

This is a steep, rugged trail down the 300' cliffs that is maintained by the local nudists in the area. There are signs posted by the city of San Diego warning that the cliffs are unstable. Nonetheless, we made our way down to the beach far below.

We found a nice spot about 100 yards north of the trail where we settled in for some sun and fun. The beach here is just gorgeous. Visitors are warned, however, not to sit too close to the cliffs as there have been some serious incidents of cliff cave ins.

Wanting to go in the water (as it was a hot, sunny day), the Pacific is so darn cold that I only went in up to my knees! We saw some folks take the plunge and there were others walking along the beach or sunbathing (mostly males, though). Here's a photo of our shadows!

The Gliderport was not too busy on the weekday that we visited the area, but we did see one while on the beach.

Be sure to bring water to help you climb back up the steep path! We had a picnic lunch on the beach so were well prepared.

For information about the location, etc., of the beach see www.lajollabythesea.com. 

There are also two websites, both members of The Naturist Society, that provide additional information about the clothing-optional aspect of Black's Beach: www.blacksbeach.org and friendsoblacksbeach.com.