We really enjoy being in the nature especially at the beach and hiking is something we like as well. The Torrey Pines State Park combines both and we truely love it. Last week we hiked there twice and want to share our experience with you today!

Torrey Pines offers amazing views of the ocean while you hike at the beautiful coastline and you meet great people as well. Yesterday we met such a lovely lady who told us that she is participating in an adult painting course and she was painting a wonderful picture of the coast. She also gave us a great secret tip of another beautiful thing to do in San Diego! So be ready for my next post 🙂

Parking at Torrey Pines

We parked at the free parking direct at the beach and walked all the way up. It is really nice to walk in the sand along the beach for a little bit before starting the hike. It is so fun for us to watch the surfers catchings waves, the kids going buggyboarding and others just relaxing at the beach.

But if you don’t want to walk so much, you can drive up and start from there! Unfortunately I don’t know if they charge for parking there, but I do think so!

Torrey Pines Hike – Beauty of Nature

There are several trails and we enjoyed all of them. But my favorite trail was the beach trail which offers an incredible view of the blue ocean, the sandy trails and the green landscape. I wish I could bring all of you here to see it with your own eyes!

The hike is not very hard, especially if you would drive all the way up to the parking spots. We really love it and went there twice last week!

Have you been to Torrey Pines? Did you like the hike as much as we did? What was your favorite hike in the world? Let us know in the comments below!

We send you love and sun from San Diego ❤

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So we drove along the Pacific Coast and stopped at about 11pm close to the pier in Huntington Beach. We parked the Van and went to sleep.

Huntington Beach

Our first night in the Van was good, but I had to pee so bad  After waking up, we took our bikes to ride to the pier and along the beach. It is so perfect to wake up at such a beautiful place on earth. The fresh air feels so good.

we love to ride our bikes to the beach

It is very beautiful in Huntington Beach, a really nice town to spend a little time, play volleyball or go surfing. We enjoyed one hour walking at the pier and watched the surfers in the ocean.

Huntington Beach, California

Orange County

Jeremy’s uncle lives in Orange Country, so we thought it would be nice to meet him. We stopped for a few minutes at the Fashion Island. I love the malls in the USA and the perfect weather in California.

Fashion Island, Orange County

Jeremy’s uncle recommended us the Shake Shack at the beach and it was time for my first American burger with some traditional french fries! It was so delicious and the ocean view was incredible! 

burger time at the Shake Shack in Dana Point

We had a great day with his uncle and made an italian dinner at his house. After sleeping one night in Dana Point, we made our way down to San Clemente, which was only a 20 minute drive.

San Clemente

Wow, San Clemente is one of my favorite cities in California so far. You should definitely go there when you are on the West Coast! We arrived there and I fell in love with this place!

We had to get the van checked so we brought it to PepBoys. We were thinking what we could do in the next hour till the van was ready. Jeremy loves his Rainbow Sandals and their factory is in San Clemente, so we took our bikes and drove there and I got myself a nice pink pair too.

Rainbow Factory in San Clemente

Hanging out in San Clemente

Waking up with the sound of the ocean, having a little breakfast picnic at the beach is just amazing. We are having a lot of fun, chilling at the beach and watching the surfers.

Relaxing at San Clemente Beach

This photo of the incredible sunset was taken on our first evening in San Clemente. We love this place soooo much 🙂

San Diego

After a few nice days in San Clemente, our next destination was San Diego. Jeremy lived there for a couple of years so he knew pretty much everything cool to do. We drove by his old work and spent an hour at Solana Beach. We had a delicious California Burrito and enjoyed it with a perfect view.

We played a little basketball and that was for sure the basketball court with the best view I have ever seen! Jeremy is such a good player, an older man with his little grand daughter was so impressed because he made so many shots.

Basketball at Solana Beach

In the afternoon we drove to Pacific Beach and relaxed a couple of hours on the sand.

beach time at Pacific Beach

Jeremy wanted to show me Coronado Island so we spent the afternoon there and saw a beautiful sunset.

sand castle at the beach, Coronado Island

We spent 3 days in San Diego and rode biked along beach. One night we even went to a San Diego Padres Baseball Game.

great day at PB

Living in a Van is not always easy but it is a great experience and there is no better place to have a nice lunch than at the beach!

Lunch at Mission Bay

I knew Baseball only from the tv and I did not think I that I would like it. The San Diego Padres Game was my first Baseball Game and it was really fun! We saw 3 homeruns and even the game took longer than 4 hours but it was not boring at all. We were happy that the Padres won.

After 8 beautiful days of enjoying the good life on the West Coast, we finally went back to Jeremy’s dad’s house to repair his surfboard. I think I might want to learn how to surf on this trip too.

stay tuned 🙂

The post California Coast Road Trip appeared first on Open Mind Travelers.

Heart Rock Falls – Crestline California

Southern California is a great place to be if you are someone who enjoys the outdoors. You don’t have to look far to find beautiful landscapes and clear skies. However, living in such a beautiful place of the world you are likely to run into some pretty heavy traffic on some of the more popular hiking trails. Which is why I have the perfect hiking trail for you this Valentine’s Day weekend. 

Heart Rock Falls, also known as Seeley Creek Falls, is one of Southern California’s best-kept secrets. Heart Rock Falls got its name because at the end of the trail is a 20 foot waterfall that is next to a large rock that is hollowed out in the shape of a heart.

The hike itself is only about a half mile long and the trail is mostly flat. I recommend this hike for everyone, any age and any level of fitness.

The past few years Southern California has experienced major drought which affect the flow of the streams and the waterfall. However recently the San Bernardino Mountains have gotten quite a lot of rain, which has helped bring this area back to life.

On my hike I had the privilege of meeting Marisa. Marisa works for the San Bernardino County Forestry and her job is to make sure that our parks and trails are protected and maintained. Marisa is passionate about her job, which has inspired her to lead a local hiking group in the area called Hiking With Friends. Hiking With Friends is a growing community group with over 3,800 members who meet regularly to explore hiking trails all over Southern California. Hiking With Friends is leading an event at Heart Rock Falls this Sunday February 14^th and she was preparing the site for the Valentine’s Day Weekend. Unfortunately, over the yeas Heat Rock Falls was vandalized with graffiti but thanks to Marisa Heart Rock Falls has been restored to its natural look and ready for the weekend.

I’m so happy I got to visit Heart Rock Falls and I look forward to coming back soon.

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