Santa Margarita Preserve

I found myself alone with the boys on their first day of summer vacation. I was not willing to spend it sitting around the house (odd since most days I am fine with that). So we went to Santa Margarita Preserve. It is located in De Luz/Fallbrook and this year I expect it is at its peak due to the excess rain we have had. According to some fishermen we ran into, the creek does run all year but my guess is that it is a lot less that we saw today.

Specifically, I do not think the rapids will be quite as rapid come
October, but they were great today.

And when two boys get near dirt and water they must explore. They both were more observant than I was. We did see tadpoles and some miniature frogs as well as ducks and a cool blue bird with some hefty piece of lunch in its beak. Also present but not observed were raccoons, badgers, beavers, mountain lions, and bobcats; which was fine with me.

A teeny tiny frog in the algae.

One of the deeper pools. Being California, there is no swimming allowed. Meps.

I keep a knife in my car just for hikes like this. I would hate to have my neck ripped apart by a mountain lion while I am thinking, gee, I wish I had a knife. The boys took turns carrying it and this is the inevitable result of that.

After that we got some burgers and dessert at Cold Stone. Who knows how to buy their grandchildren's love? Oh yeah!