Mile 4448: Temecula, CA
Wine tastings in Temecula were pretty good--definitely worth doing if you are in the area. But the tastings alone are not the kind of thing you go way out of your way for like you would Sonoma, for example. The real reason we hit Temecula was the hot air balloon we saw on the brochure in the California Welcome Center a while back. We both saw that and were like "Whoa! Have you ever done that?". Neither of us had, so we said what the hell, let's go to Temecula.
Because of the shifting winds later in the day, Temecula balloon rides start REALLY early. We got up at 5AM to leave the hotel by 5:25. In my half awake state, I dropped my coffee on the way to the car. Ugh.
The whole ballooning process was pretty cool. The 'pilot' drove us around and tested the wind in a couple locations before deciding on a launch site. We thought this was annoying originally ("let's just take off, already"), but ended up being somewhat amazing as we landed basically right next to our cars--and hot air balloons have no way of steering.
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| Firin' it up |
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| Pre-takeoff photo op |
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| The launch pad just after takeoff |
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| Temecula Sunrise |
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| Temecula valley |
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| Self Portrait #17 |
The tricky part was landing. Our pilot expertly started from the right spot to get us to the right spot on the ground. Only problem was the balloon came down a bit faster than he had hoped...
The "tchhhhhh tchhhhh tchhhh" sound in the video is the pilot, somewhat frantically, sending flames up into the balloon to increase our altitude. Fortunately, we made it to the ground safely and without destroying any grape vines.
Temecula Fun Facts:
1) The balloon was 2600ft above sea level, but only 1200ft above the ground, since the Temecula Valley is at an elevation of roughly 1400ft.
2) The air temperature at 2600ft was ~90 deg F, while the air temperature on the ground was ~62 deg. Hot air blows in from the desert and settles above the valley.
3) While the temperature when we left Temecula was 94 degrees, when we arrived in Carlsbad, only 30 minutes away on the coast, the temperature was only 74 degrees.
Mile 4484: Carlsbad, CA
Carlsbad is awesome... except for one thing:
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| Coastal view at Carlsbad |
However,
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| No surfing? |
Kate's very favorite thing in the world is watching surfers surf. We were loving Carlsbad and hoping to spy on some surfers before lunch, but the man got in the way. Oh, well. Off to lunch.
Lunch was almost an adventure.
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| Calzone from Paradise Pizza was rockin. |
It was clear that something was going on at Paradise Pizza. Turns out a company was having a food challenge/company bonding event. Two dudes were going to take on the "Ghost Pepper Pizza Challenge", a la Man vs. Food. It looked like it was going to be fun to watch, but the cooks were also surfers, and 15 minutes after we finished the ghost pepper pizzas were still not in the oven. So we headed down the coast and after a quick stop to watch some surfers, we hit Ballast Point Brewery.
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| Industrial park setting was not that inviting... |
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| But the beer flight was lovely (especially for $5) |
If you get a chance to try Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, do so. From there, we headed down the 101 for the last time to Pacific Beach.
We traveled well over 1000 miles on the Pacific Coast-- the 101 in Oregon and very Northern California, HWY 1 down the vast majority of Cali except right around San Francisco and LA. Now we made our last stop in San Diego, or really Pacific Beach.
Mile 4515: Pacific Beach
We checked into our hotel:
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| View from our room |
Then hit the beach. Not as clean as Hermosa Beach, but still nice. As the sun was setting, we took a walk on a nearby pier.
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| Surfers at sunset |
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| San Diego sunset |
Then dinner. Mexican food may be the only thing San Diego does better than sunsets...
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| La Perla is a hole in the wall, but |
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| carne asada nachos and |
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| the echilada plate were awesome. |
Tomorrow: Leaving California
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