Red Tide in Oceanside

If you walk by the ocean lately you can't help but notice how brown the water is.  April is known for its red tides, when there are algae blooms of dinoflagellates in the water.  This produces red water during the day, and blue water at night.  Dinoflagellates phosphoresce when they get jostled up in the waves.  

I decided to take a quick drive down to the ocean tonight, park, walk to the water, and be back within 15 minutes.  But my plans were thwarted.  

Traffic!

Honestly, I couldn't believe it.  Before I turned onto Surfrider I thought maybe everyone was stopped for a passing train.  (This is where your mind goes when you live next to train tracks.)

But nope!  People were looking for parking!  

I should have walked.  Oh well.  You live and you learn, and you wait in traffic to see microscopic organisms.

I was there and I still cannot believe it.

Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the door and see all the people.

I was able to keep my distance, although it did remind me that others definitely are not.  

If I were going to redo it, I would have gone to South Oceanside because it is so much darker on the beach and I think there would be less people.  But when I left I really thought this was going to be a quick process.  

BEAUTIFUL...is the word I missed on my 5th grade spelling bee test... :/

It really is incredible though. 

I am always happy to see extraordinary natural events.  

I look forward to sharing it next time with A1 and Eric!

Artist Alley in Oceanside

As you walk around Oceanside, like we do so often, you can't help but notice the murals that are all over the city.  What I didn't know (until today) is that Oceanside is one of fourteen cities in CA that are recognized by the CA Arts Council as a Cultural District. The designation highlights, "thriving cultural diversity and unique artistic identities".  

Cheers to us, Oceanside!

If you walk along Artist Alley, which runs parallel to Coast Highway and starts across from the public library, there are numerous interesting murals to enjoy.

A1 and her popemobile, she has really taken to being in a bubble.  The views are great and people (and their germs) are at a distance.  The pope is no dummy.

I honestly don't think I have ever noticed this mural before but it has been on Wisconsin, next to the tracks, for three years!  There are so many murals, I guess you just stop noticing them. 

Ballerinas dancing with sharks?  

If I were to rate the fourteen Cultural Districts I would have to give Oceanside first place.

Birds on the San Luis Rey

In order to beat the heat and the people, we were on the San Luis Rey trail before 7:00am.  

I so love riding along the river.  Birds are super active so early.

Most of the birds are NOT in cages.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife along with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are surveying the least Bell's vireo and the southwestern willow flycatcher.  

The little note at the bottom about them checking the traps every day is true.  Eric has seen them out on several occasions.  

The whole San Luis Rey river is a protected habitat.

Someone should probably tell the homeless that are always camped out in the bushes.  I mean, it is a great place to be a hobo, but it isn't the best for the environment.  

My favorite part is going under the bridges.

Neerrroooommmm.

In order to support our local restaurants we went to Petite Madeline Bakery after our 9 mile ride.  They just received their government money and were able to open back up this weekend.

Looks clean to me!

You don't walk in but order at a window outside.

Wait for it...

The All Day Buns are divine.

Bikes and buns... what a great day!

Oceanside Marine Layer

You know there isn’t much going on in your city when all you hear people talking about is the marine layer.  

A marine layer is an air mass created over an ocean where the air at ground temperature is cooler than the above air.  It is neat, but not at all uncommon.  

I guess people are just tired of talking about the Coronavirus.  

Change is good.

 

Popemobile at the Oceanside Harbor

The harbor was calling our name today so we loaded up the popemobile and head out.

We left fairly early to avoid having to walk around too many people.  

We have always enjoyed Sunday mornings at the harbor.

“If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.” 

The harbor is still open, on both the beach side and Harbor Drive, as long as you don't need to rest along the way.

We walked to the Fishing Pier, which is closed, and watched the seal lions do their angry sea lion thing.  There is never a dull moment.

M Dock has a very nice collection of painted rocks.

Popemobile on the San Luis Rey Trail

Today we rode for 9 miles round trip on the San Luis Rey Trail.  The whole trail is 21 miles round trip, which Eric has done twice this week, but we just did a portion of it today.

This is one of my favorite parts of the trail, which is just a mile from our house, where it goes under the 5 freeway, and next to a now decommissioned off-ramp,  which is sometimes used for commercials and photoshoots.  

Seriously, this is how desperate I am for wildlife.  

I stopped riding my bike to take a picture of a snail.  

The popemobile is what we call A1's new bike trailer, since she is in a bubble.

The trail follows the San Luis Rey River so, besides snails, we saw lots of birds and flowers along the way.  Thank God not EVERYTHING is closed.  I need the outdoors to function.