Happy Friday guys! I'm sure you all are looking forward to the weekend! And speaking of days off, whenever I have a long weekend, I like to do spend part of it doing something fun and new. For 4th of July weekend, this was no exception. We had a party at our friends' on the agenda, which I made my very first red, white & blue cake {angel food cake with cream cheese frosting & a fruit flag} + caprese pasta salad for. We also had some house stuff to do (homeowners, do you also feel like the work is never-ending?!), but that was pretty much it... so, we had some time to go on adventure! I decided that a new area hiking spot was to be explored, and the weather was perfect for doing so. A lot of hiking trails in San Diego County are inland, and inland areas can get HOT ... [Read More]
hiking trails
Bernardo Mountain Summit Trail // Escondido, CA
Hi everyone! Hope that you had a fun, rejuvenating weekend. My weekend was pretty low-key, and one of the highlights was hiking a new local trail called Bernardo Mountain with my little family. Located in the town of Escondido within the 55-mile-long San Dieguito River Park along Lake Hodges, Bernardo Mountain is a dog-friendly trail that offers pretty views of San Diego County - and of the many mansions in the area. Bernardo Mountain is an out-and-back hike that's about 7.2 miles roundtrip. It was easy for us to get to the park from North County by driving east on Rt 78, hopping on I-15, and parking at the end of Sunset Drive. The trail starts off as a concrete walkway, where you walk underneath I-15 and find yourself next to Lake Hodges. I imagine that the reservoir ... [Read More]
Hiking Boat Canyon at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park
Happy Friday! Any fun plans for the weekend? Speaking of the weekend, today I want to back it up to last weekend and talk about my latest hiking adventure - which took me up to the Laguna Beach area. With my hubby working for the Marine Corps all weekend and no plans on my agenda, I declared last Saturday a hiking day! I invited my cousin Michelle to meet me for an outdoor workout together. She lives in Long Beach, and I live in Northern San Diego County, so we decided to try to meet up somewhere in between us. The Laguna Coast Wilderness Park seemed like a perfect halfway point, with it being 45-60 minutes from each of us. We decided on hiking a trail called Boat Canyon - which is described as a strenuous workout by local hiking websites. I wanted to get a real workout in, and ... [Read More]
Weekend Escape to Big Bear Lake
"Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny space you occupy in the world." - Gustave Flaubert With my hubby and I both home last weekend with nothing on the agenda, we decided to take a road trip to a place we'd never visited before: Big Bear Lake. Located in the San Bernardino Mountains about 2 1/2 hours away from our house in San Diego's North County, Big Bear Lake is a popular destination known for its winter ski slopes as well as summertime water sports. My hubby had brought up the idea of camping in the area mid-last week. However, all of the campsites at the lakeside campground I wanted to stay at were already reserved. Plus fires aren't currently allowed there because of the extremely dry conditions and high fire danger, and that's kind of my favorite part of camping, ... [Read More]
Lost Horse Mine Hike in Joshua Tree National Park
Hello, hello! How was your weekend? Not surprisingly, my whirlwind weekend in Palm Springs just flew by. Without a doubt, my favorite part of the getaway was seeing Joshua Tree National Park for the first time ever. It was about an hour drive from our hotel in the Palm Springs area, and was well worth the trip. I've heard things about Joshua Tree before - mostly tidbits about people walking aimlessly around the park while on acid trips, and after exploring the park, I can totally see why it gets that reputation. Joshua Tree is a huge park in the middle of the desert, full of its namesake tree and crazy big boulders. People were rock climbing all over the place. I had read that Joshua Tree is one of the most popular rock climbing destinations in the country, and I ... [Read More]
Clevenger Canyon North Hike [Weekend Recap]
Clevenger Canyon North is a trail located in the SoCal countryside in the town of Ramona. I first heard about this hike when checking out a hiking book that covers trails within 60 miles of San Diego. Not surprisingly, I've already done most of the hikes that are moderate to difficult, but I jotted down a few that I hadn't done before, and Clevenger Canyon was one of them. ... [Read More]