Wednesday, January 06, 2016

Nixon, Happy Hours and Sunsets

I associate San Clemente with Richard Nixon.  I remember news reports talking about his Western White House.  I haven't found his home here but I have found a beautiful beach town.  We are in a hotel with an ocean view - of course across a major street and over some trees - but an ocean view nonetheless.

We originally came here to stay in a timeshare that we traded for but when we arrived it just wasn't acceptable.  The bleach odour in the room irritated my eyes and the place was just a tad too rustic.  So we moved over to our old standby a local Hilton.  We are in the Hampton House which is a nice little, clean hotel,  The staff here is great and the laundry has helped a lot!

Yesterday we walked the San Clemente Trail and enjoyed beautiful views of the ocean, surfers riding the waves and incredible houses/apartment buildings hugging the sides of the hills lining the shore. See this blog for a great description of the Trail  http://californiathroughmylens.com/san-clemente-beach-trail.

Yesterday was clear and warm so we were able to easily walk without too much worry about the weather.  As we looked up at the houses and the other buildings we talked about how these are the houses that are affected by mudslides when it rains.

And then of course it rained today.  Hard and for most of the day.  My cel phones constantly buzzed flash flood warnings.  On a personal note this is exactly the kind of day that I find most uncomfortable - windy, chilly, damp, rainy - every bone ached and I wanted to get back either to the desert or as a last resort the dry cold of Saskatchewan.

Both last night and tonight we found the happy hour at Fisherman's Wharf Bar and Restaurant.  This restaurant is located right beside the pier and has an unobstructed view of the ocean and at the Happy Hour an unobstructed view of the beautiful sunset.  And the sunset was glorious on both days - the sunny day and the rainy day.  Check these out.