PJ was up early getting the dogs ready for a vet appointment up in Carlsbad. As she was making coffee, the phone rang and it was the vet’s office cancelling because the veterinarian is sick today. We changed course and started the morning with a walk around the campground. Some entrepreneurial little girls were selling some rocks that they had painted in colorful patterns. We purchased the finest of the lot for an exorbitant 25 cents as our contribution to the arts scene in Encinitas.

Some kind of video shoot over at Cardiff Reef

After dining bluffside on a mushroom and cheese scramble that I’d concocted, we decided to walk down the beach to Swamis and see what there is to see. We walked along the sand watching the surfers trying their luck at all of the breaks along the coast. A hawk was circling overhead crying out every so often to let you know who the king of the sky is in these parts.

Swamis had a good sized crowd vying for the long rolling waves that were coming through the point. We climbed the stairs and watched for a while from the vantage point on the cliff. The parking lot was full and as always there was a wide variety of interesting characters loitering around the park.

We continued on to the beautiful meditation gardens over at the Self Realization Fellowship. There were a few other people milling around but things were pretty mellow on this Thursday afternoon. We enjoyed the lush landscape and amazing ocean views then found an out of the way bench and quieted our minds for a few minutes. An oasis of peace among the hustle and activity of the ever growing north county community.

Everything’s Zen

It was close to 2:00 so lunch was on our minds as we walked down the block and crossed the coast highway to order up some organic grinds at the Swamis Cafe. We relaxed on the patio watching traffic roll by and checking out the guys setting up the holiday lights on the SRF temple across the road. The food was excellent. I think we enjoy Swamis Cafe’s cuisine almost as much as the local birds do.

We dropped back down onto the beach and walked off our meals while dolphins entertained us along the way. A bit chilly and gray today so the coats never got a rest. The pups were there waiting for us in the RV with an offering of dog puke that one of them had graciously deposited on our new Christmas door mat just inside the door. I quickly volunteered to take them for a walk so the girls and I wandered around camp while everything magically got cleaned up before we returned.

We hung around inside the rig keeping warm and reading. PJ went to bed early and I sat around the kitchen table downloading pictures and watching bits of a football game on t.v. Wrote up a post while lounging in the warm blankets.