A Day of Adventuring

We found ourselves with a rare free day and decided to make it a day date of adventuring.

We went to Kit Carson Park in Escondido to see what Queen Califia's Magical Circle was all about. Turns out that part of the park was closed that day, so we could only peer in through the fence.

We walked on trails all around the rest of the park.

Next we went to the Alta Vista Botanical Gardens located close to our mission office in Vista.

I was curious as to what the horse sculpture was made out of as it was so rough and patchy.

As we got closer, we saw some cotton on the ground...

Upon closer inspection, we could see the horse was made of cotton balls. I had to send a photo of this to Sarah. She has some weird thing about cotton.

I just googled this strange syndrome and found there is a name for it: sidonglobophobia.

Anything cotton makes her cringe. I'm sure she is feeling very uncomfortable just looking at this cottony horse tail.

So, to clear her mind and make her feel better, here are some pretty flowers.

There were sculptures all throughout the botanical gardens.

There was a kid-friendly part of the gardens. I hope all the children who pass by there notice the butterfly bench.

Glen tried his balancing skills.

We peeked through a fence and saw the Moonlight Amphitheater.

I enjoyed that place, but Glen didn't think it was worth the money we paid to get in.

Then we were off to our third adventure of the day. This one is in Encinitas near the ocean.

We always see this Self-realization Fellowship Center and have wondered about it.

Well we learned the white structure with the gold domes is just a facade. There is dirt and a place for parking vehicles in the area just beyond the walls.

Further up the hill and closer to the ocean are the Tranquility Gardens located on the cliffs overlooking Swami's Beach.

The Golden Lotus Temple was built on the cliffs, and over time the erosion of the shoreline caused the temple to have to be relocated.

We walked around the area a bit by Swami's Beach and we got a closer inspection of the leaning totem poles.

The Cardiff Kook statue is right in that same area. It's always entertaining to drive by and see how he has been dressed up as it changes all the time.

We finished our day by having dinner at California Pizza Kitchen enjoying our salads before the pizzas came.

What a much-needed, fun, diversion day we had where we got plenty of exercise mixed in with the beautiful nature, scenery and artistry we were able to enjoy.