Del Mar

I wasn't expecting much. In fact, I was sure that when we made it down to the end of the road there would be someone patrolling the beach who would immediately turn us back. When we saw the border patrol, we almost turned around before we even got there.
 
Indeed these were hysterical times, appearing as something from a science-fiction movie. Cops and coastal patrol did all they could to keep people off the beaches and boardwalks. But their efforts proved futile, akin to playing whack-a-mole with a stubborn people, anxious to get a breath of fresh air and hear the rolling motion of the waves.
 

And as for us, we weren't sure where we were going. We spontaneously parked the car on Camino del Mar, found a side-road and marched west. We didn't know what we'd find.
 
When we arrived at the end of the side-road, the scene wasn't exactly as I had expected. Instead of a beach on the other side of the dead-end, there were railroad tracks. And as for the border patrol agent, he was talking and laughing with two guys and sitting on a guard rail. When the agent left for a moment to answer a call I approached the two men and asked, “Does he care that we're here?”
 
“No, not at all. He's here watching for a boat that's supposed to be smuggling narcotics. He doesn't care what you do.”
 

That was all we needed to hear. We already saw one man on the other side of the tracks, so we decided to slip over the railing and do it ourselves. When we did, we couldn't believe our eyes.
 

We realized that we now stood on a high bluff top overlooking the ocean. Far below us sat miles of empty beach with what seemed like tiny ripples rolling in. I didn't dare get too close to the edge for fear that it would give way and sluff us to the bottom.
 
Near us another hill climbed to a higher point on the bluff. We walked to the top and found an even grander view. The crest of this hill stretched a couple hundred yards in the form of a narrow strip, with train tracks below us on one side and steep cliffs on the other. A dirt trail meandered along the middle of the narrow strip and hundreds of yellow and purple flowers grew on all sides!
 

We walked very slowly along the trail, stopping frequently to take pictures. With every step there was a photo opportunity that couldn't be passed. Sometimes I would steady my right foot and lean toward the edge of the cliff to snap a dramatic landscape photo, but the thought of falling off scared me to death and I would quickly retract.
 
Jenelle and I agreed that this was one of the greatest discoveries of our trip. It was perhaps one of the most picturesque places I had ever seen—and it was just a strip of dirt on the other side of the railroad tracks. And we almost didn't go there!
 

We returned the way we came and found ourselves once again on Camino del Mar. We came across a dessert shop where we created our own cup of frozen yogurt, complete with chocolate and blueberry sprinkles. We found a couple chairs on the sidewalk and sat down. We savored every bite of our treat while letting the afternoon sun soak into our skin. ♠