From Where I'm Standing: Weekend in San Diego, CA

Back in late winter when Seattle was consistently dark and rainy, Craig and I were California dreamin'. Needing some sunshine to look forward to, we booked a weekend trip to a place with arguably some of the best weather in the country--San Diego!

Who is that fly girl with the cool sunglasses and animal cookies?

Although we only had a few days, it was enough time to get a lot of sun, beaches, and a glimpse of the southern California state of mind. The people watching was priceless. It was not uncommon to see a group of girls dressed to the nines with high heels and expensive clothes only to be followed up by shoeless, shirtless skateboarders. The contrasts were extreme.

Speaking of extreme, the bluff erosion was the worst I've seen. In contrast to many of the common basalt cliffs in the Pacific Northwest, San Diego's bluffs are composed of soft sedimentary rock. The deep scours on the bluff face and along the toe was a strong reminder that these landforms are being attacked from many fronts. Rain, wind, and waves carve away little bits of the cliff every day. The imminent danger posed to the quickly approaching homes, roads, and infrastructure is an obvious and loud reminder of how dynamic this environment truly is.

Getting a first glimpse of the rapidly eroding cliffs.

The sea and me

Wave undercutting

Craig is like a sedimentary rock--he's got a lot of layers. Get it? Get it?!

The lonely boulder

San Diego coastline near Point Loma

While at Point Loma, we unexpectedly walked through the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. With over 100,000 gravesites overlooking the sea, it was a quite a spectacle