Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring California, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

La Jolla Cove: Hammocking, Sea Lions, and a Tunnel

After our swimming in the ocean and exploring the boardwalk, we still had one last mission for the day: find a hammock spot. Ben had been wanting to hammock for awhile now. The last few campgrounds did not have areas close by to hammock at, and what says relaxation more than a hammock near the beach? I found a few hammock location recommendation online: Mission Beach-we had already been there and the park itself seemed crowded, Sunset Cliffs-gorgeous but we didn’t see any trees that would work, Torrey Pines Reserve-looked neat, but would probably be better if we spent more than just hammock time there.

We finally arrived at La Jolla Cove. This was a little further north than the Children’s Pool. We lucked out and found a parking spot nearby. I’ve got to say parking in San Diego is not meant for trucks. We saw several sea lions sun bathing on the rocks as we pulled in, as well as several groups of kayakers in the water.

Ben went to scope out the trees for hammock hanging, while we hunted down the bathrooms. The center there was under construction, so they had a line of port-a-lets near the street. Once Ben was in his hammock, the boys and I walked around and explored. We saw several spots where the sea lions were resting and sleeping in sleep piles. We even got to see a few baby seals! (People still amaze me, and not in a good way. There were people going right up to the babies. There were signs at the various beaches we’ve been to saying if you scare the mothers they may abandon their pups.) We heard a few of the sea lions vocalizing to each other in the water. (VIDEO: Sea Lions)

I went into the tunnel; neither one of the boys wanted to take their gym shoes off and come in with me! There were a couple of small fish among the rocks. It was pretty neat!

We headed back to the tree area. The boys grabbed their books and climbed up in a tree to read. I was one happy momma.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring California, School, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Children’s Pool

One of the iconic pictures of San Diego that I see a lot is of Children’s Pool, near La Jolla. I love seeing animals and really wanted to see this beach as seals and sea lions are frequently seen here.

Although the wall was originally built to keep the beach calm for children to swim in, seals and sea lions have started congregating there too. People are still swimming there, although we did not after reading some warnings about water quality (due to the seals). (Link to sandeigo.com for more beach info.) Parking was tight and in high demand when you got closer to the beach. We lucked out and found a spot pretty close.

The water looked clear when we were there. We could see several birds and seals on the beach and surrounding rocky areas. We walked out on the retaining wall to get some better views. The wall itself is neat to stand on and look around at the different views of the beach and the ocean. You can feel the rough surface of it where the ocean has worn it down. The wall gives you several good viewing points of the rocks where the seals were laying. Nick stood at the end and ended up getting wet from an incoming wave. (Video: Walking Children’s Pool Wall)

The seals were laying in the sun taking a nap, occasionally rolling over or adjusting position. I was surprised by the variety of patterns of their skin, I guess I had always just thought they were a solid color from pictures I had seen. They were fun to watch, although they didn’t move much while we were there.

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