Today I Told Everyone to Take a Hike

There are only two days I can depend on my family doing as I ask: my birthday and Mother's Day. It isn't May, so....

I told my husband and daughter Alex we were going for a Sunday morning hike. And I even went easy on them and scrapped the strenuous Mount Woodson climb I'd planned for the very easy San Elijo Lagoon trails between Solana Beach and Encinitis.



The trailhead's a little hard to find if you aren't familiar with the area. Take the Lomas Santa Fe exit off the 5 freeway and head east (inland) to Highland Drive. Turn left, go to the end and take another left onto El Camino Real. The entrance, shrouded in trees, is on the left about a half mile up and just before the curve onto La Orilla.



Runners outnumbered walkers/hikers 4:1 out there, and I could understand why. It's relatively flat, mostly single track sand trails that run through a wide variety of vegetation throughout the ecological preserve. The exception was the very narrow and rocky path underneath the freeway overpass that required some sure footing. But it lead to a clearing and more trails through the wetlands, ending at Rios Ave. My only regret was not having The College Kid with us.



I took a lot of pictures, something I enjoy doing more than the others in my party. But, I heard minimal complaints today. I'm re-acquainting myself with our manual Minolta 35mm camera that takes great shots, provided you know what you're doing. (And when you don't, there's photo editing in Picasa!)



The trek took us about an hour and ended closer to home with a brunch that left no room to even consider dinner. I did, however, make the Domestic Goddess's red velvet cake topped with berries for tonight as we watch the Academy Awards. I picked all longshots in the Unpublished Opinion contest, but if my day ends as well as it began, I'm golden.