Lunch with Clay and Denise at Oceanside Pier

Our friends, Clay and Denise from Chicago came to visit San Diego.   We had lunch with them at the Oceanside Pier.  Our kids were able to come because they were off school for spring break.  It was good to see them.

Valley Center, CA

We visited Valley Center which is right next to Escondido.  We stopped at Bates Nut Farm which is a 100 acre farm that sells nuts and candy.  They also have a lot of different animals on the grounds that you can feed.  After, Bates Nut Farm we drove past Lake Wohlford and the Valley View Casino, which is run by a local Indian tribe.

Lake Hodges and Queen Califa's Park, Escondido, CA

We did a little exploring in Escondido, which is about 20 minutes from us.  We went to Lake Hodges which is a large fishing lake with bike trails.  The kids rode their bikes. Chano even rode the bikes with the girls. 

 Then we went to Queen Califa's Park which is part of a big park called Kit Carson Park.  I had seen it in a magazine and it looked pretty neat.  The park was designed by international artist Niki de Saint Phalle and it depicts the myths and history of California.  A mosaic wall encircles nine enormous, sparkling sculptures, including Califa, a mythical Amazonian queen sitting on a majestic eagle throne.  Around Califa stand totems representing the region's Meso-Amerian and Native American traditions.

Buena Vista Adobe, Vista, CA

I was a chaperone for Molly and Marina's 4th grade class.  We visited the Buena Vista Abobe which is a 163 year old adobe from the land grant ranchos (ranches) of California.  The Mexican government when California was under Mexican rule encouraged the settlement of large land grants and they were called ranchos.  The adobe style house was made with clay bricks and opened up into a courtyard.  Usually, the adobes started out as a one room house and as the rancho prospered additions were made to the adobe.  The kids got to make candles.  Years ago, candles were made with tallow or animal fat.  The kids also got to brand a piece of leather, to show them how an animal would have been branded back then.  The brand was the letter D for the family that owned the rancho, which was the Dunn family.  They got to make necklaces with from their branding and pounding of another piece of leather with a hammer.  I took some videos of their activites. 

Bike riding on Coronado Island and Imperial Beach

On St. Patrick's Day, we took our bikes and went to Coronado Island.  To get to Coronado island, you cross the Coronado bridge from San Diego.  The views from the bridge are beautiful.

 

 

  There is a bike path that runs along the bay from Coronado Island to Imperial Beach.  The scenery is very beautiful and part of the path runs along a bird santuary.  You can see the videos below of the kids bike riding.  We went to Imperial beach and walked on the beach and saw the pier in Imperial beach.  This lady by the beach had her dog dressed up in a crazy way for St. Patrick's Day.