And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Last week I walked over 20 miles and this week I am on track to have walked even more. We will know at the end of today. So far, I have walked 4 days and 18.842 miles. I would love to walk at least 8 today. We shall see as it is very hot in these parts.
I walk many miles around my town. We have so many great walking trails and the city really has put a ton of time into creating and maintaining them. In fact, I just noticed the other day brand new signs at all the trail heads. These signs include a map, trail mileage, elevation, GPS coordinates, trail connections, and so much more.
new signs
I am a huge fan of my town. I just love it. Small town feel, best climate, national forest nearby, and beach 2 miles away.
The girls and I walked to the mission with Lori and Kayli. We wanted to see and hear the Battle of the Mariachis. I took Julia a couple of years ago and it was fun. This time I was surprised to see how crowded it was. The mission was packed! Finding seats was difficult so we walked around a bit and we were lucky enough to watch the grand finale which was Julia's favorite part since, "all the bands were on stage together."
Julia, Lori, and I attended the musical Into the Woods at San Juan Hills High School this past weekend. The play is an original Broadway production directed by James Lapine and the music and lyrics are by Stephen Sondheim and it is great. I have been waiting to attend the spring musical at the school since last spring when we saw Beauty and the Beast. The talent of the kids is immense and it was an enjoyable experience once again. The theater is state of the art and the money is worth spending for a great night of entertainment and to support the school and the arts program.
Julia's kindergarten friend, Isabella, has a sister in the production so Isabella was in attendance. They exchanged "hellos" before the opening act and Julia could not wait until intermission to visit with her friend. In fact, Julia whispered to me, "I can't wait until the interview so I can see Isabella." So cute.
James watched Kayli and Serena for us so we could attend. Those little ones played the game and gave James a good ride for his money. Thanks James!
Welcome to my world BlogTrotters. What is a BlogTrotter? Click on this button and you learn all about it. I am sharing my post with them today.
If you are anything like me then you like learning about the world around you. Reading, researching, and planning where I want to go next, to me, is almost as good as actually going there and when I first came across BlogTrotting I thought, "What a great idea!"
Well, now it is my turn. All aboard! Next stop, San Juan Capistrano, CA
I am an Orange County native having spent most of my childhood in the neighboring beach town San Clemente. My husband and I settled in San Juan Capistrano (SJC) about 11 years ago and we love it.
Our town has roughly 35,000 people. Orange County has a little over 3 million. SJC has a unique and old history that includes Native American Indians, Spanish, Rancheros, European settlers, outlaws, and pirates. Yes, you heard me right, pirates. They raided the mission after landing their ship in Dana Point.
If you visit San Juan Capistrano you should visit our Historic Downtown, which includes the Los Rios Historic District which is the oldest neighborhood in California. It is a combination of quaint restaurants in old houses, some of them adobe dating back to the 1700's and residential houses. The Los Rios District has a small, but really nice, petting zoo, park, nursery, Tea House, and several great cafes. Dividing Los Rios with the rest of downtown is the old train depot, which also houses several restaurants, and was built in 1894. Buildings made of wood, adobe, and old brick give San Juan Capistrano an old Spanish-Western feel.
The downtown district is small and easy to walk around. In fact, get on the Pacific Surfliner train and head on down for the day. Have lunch!
Other highlights include a year round farmers market, a community theatre with a yearly old-west style melodrama, many patio cafes and the town highlight... Mission San Juan Capistrano the "Jewel of the Missions". The mission was founded by Padre Junipero Serra on November 1, 1776 and is seventh in the chain of 21 missions across the state. Multiple events take place at the mission yearly, including, but not limited to:
Battle of the Mariachis Bands
Music under the stars
Christmas at the Mission
Return of the Swallows to San Juan Capistrano (this is a two-month event and our biggest of the year.) There is also a famous song about this yearly event.
Unique tidbits:
The El Adobe Restaurant is comprised of two separate adobes, the Yorba adobes from the early 1800's. The stagecoach used to stop in between the two adobes, which is now the lobby of the restaurant. One adobe was used as a residence and the other as an early courthouse and jail or juzgado. Here is the "neat" part. The old jail cell is still underneath the restaurant. It now serves as the wine cellar, but it still has the original jail cell door and the walls. Next time you eat there ask the waiter or waitress to take you down there. The kids will get a kick out of it!
Michael Graves designed our library and architecture buffs come from all over to visit it. It is nice! (Pictures at the link below)
San Juan Capistrano historical society gives a spooky tour, at night on Los Rios, near Halloween. Many ghosts story and creepy tales of the area are told.
San Juan is considered the Equestrian Capital of the West Coast. There are many stables and equestrian estates in town and all the trails are open to horses. It is not uncommon to see horses downtown or anywhere for that manner. The Olympic trials for Dressage were held in SJC in 2008.
San Juan Capistrano residents voted, in the 1970s, to keep much of our space "open". Much of this open space has been turned into a trail system that is now extensive. The trails are open to hikers, bikers, and horses.
Click here to read some of my other posts that are tagged in SJC.
What? You need more information? Well there is a ton of it out there. Visit these links and have fun:
The past week or so has been busy. Sickness had a hold of the kiddos this past week, but it looks as if it is done for now. My time has been filled with that plus school and work. I was lucky enough to get away for an hour yesterday morning for a walk in our local hills with a good friend. Here are some lovely pictures from my outing. Spring is almost here.
My sis Kristi and I went on a two hour hike this afternoon on and through the San Juan Hills. What a great trail system with beautiful views. Too bad it was a bit overcast towards the ocean and my pictures did not turn out so wonderful.
Just one the many trails we hiked.
We started on this one.
A few cactus flowers below. They are a pretty pink and yellow.
Can you spot Mission San Juan Capistrano is the picture below?
The hills were killer and I am sure I will be sore tomorrow.
This was on the backside looking east towards the National Forest.
We do. Actually, we have had vultures for some time. Our house is surrounded by eucalyptus trees which smell great and look good, but seriously are the messiest trees around. That's another story for another time.
All year, except for several months in the spring, those vultures come home to our trees. Many vultures come home every night, right about sunset, to nest. I have never seen a nest so I guess they just sit there. They fly away every morning to eat out in the Cleveland National Forest which is down the road from our house. They are big birds with a wingspan of about 5-6 feet, however, my pictures do not do justice to their size.
all those black blobs in the trees below are birds. There is at least a hundred in our trees every night.
