Crystal Cove

Monday morning came bright and early.  We packed up our tent and loaded everything up into our trailer.  There was a much calmer feel to the day.  We had a little bit of extra time before we needed to be on the road so we wandered over to a butterfly garden that was near by (but it was too early in the year for butterflies) and then down to Dana Point Harbor to check out that tall ship up close.

A whale skull that was on the way into the butterfly garden

Ty and Jona by a very large Palm tree.

Standing in front of a tall ship.
I don't know if this was the one we saw sailing the night
before or not. 

They were giving school kids tours on these tall ships.  There were
people dressed up in period costumes and playing different parts.
I wish we could have joined in on one of the tours. They looked
pretty interesting.

After a quick look around we got back on the road heading down to Leo Carillo Beach.  Along the way I saw a sign for a Crystal Cove beach and we decided to make a stop there to see what we could see.  Jona was pretty agitated about that at first because he wanted to get to where we were going but after spending some time on the beach checking out cool tide pools he was okay with the unscheduled stop.

The kids made it down to the beach before we did.
It was a beautiful area.

Heading to check out the tidal pools

Walking along the beach

Tidal pools among the rocks.

A wave came in and caught Jona and Kenna by surprise.
I love the look on Jona's face.

Sea creatures in the pools

The only kind of lobster tail we can afford.
One that is left on the beach.

Daddy daughter chat.

The family at the beach.

As we were getting ready to leave the beach this guy shows up
wearing a cape and carrying a recorder.  I love it when stuff like
that happens.  I only wish we could have stayed around to see
what awesomeness was to come.

I think we spent a good two hours at Crystal Cove exploring and wandering the beach.  We piled back in the Durango and headed to our original destination, Leo Carillo.  W had decided to take the 1 all the way up the coast.  Well the 1 isn't all it's cracked up to be...more on that tomorrow.