Very little "road" in the road trip over the past couple of days, but it was fun being a beach bum for a day.

There was no driving on Saturday. I was in Del Mar, and all the basic necessities were within walking distance--sun, surf, and sustenance. Basically, I hung out at the beach for a day. The motel was about as convenient as possible for beach-going, as it was built right at the edge of the sand, so I just alternated between reading a book on a beach blanket and going swimming in the Pacific. It wasn't all play, though--I also took some time to rough out a plan for lodging and stops for the next couple of weeks.

Today I drove down to San Diego and spent the day at Balboa Park. I hit the San Diego Zoo, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Photographic Arts (since I need all the help I can get), and the Botanical Gardens. That only covers a fraction of all of the stuff that's in Balboa Park; it's a really great area with a lot of things to do. I don't think I really did San Diego justice overall, but the parts I did see were fabulous.

Southern Californians do like their outdoor activities...I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway to San Diego from Del Mar, and then back up the PCH/101 to my stopping point for tonight, Dana Point. There were hundreds of people along the way surfing, biking, running, playing volleyball, you name it. Apparently all those "Baywatch" episodes were only exaggerating the cleavage, as otherwise the scene on the beaches was pretty accurate.

Tomorrow I'll be hanging out in Dana Point for the morning, then heading up to Anaheim to visit some friends at Disneyland. I'm thinking that Southern California is probably going to be my most "tourist"-intensive area of the country, as I'm planning on staying a little farther off the beaten path elsewhere. Still, while zoos and theme parks and other attractions that are teeming with tourists aren't usually my thing, they can be fun in small doses. I suspect that I'll have had my quota by the time I leave Los Angeles next week...