"Summer Adventures"

Elijah had a requirement to go find at least one geocache before he goes to Boy Scout camp next week because he signed up to do the geocaching merit badge at camp. So we got a geocaching app. And today Elijah invited his friend from next door and we all headed off to do some searching. We found 2 of the 3 caches that we looked for today. And the boys liked these cool rock stacks that we found near the trail. 

I came up with a new idea to plan "Adventures" this summer -- I found several ideas and I had the boys help research different destinations. To qualify as one of our Adventures, it had to be a place we haven't gone to before, mostly outdoor locations, something that looks cool and possibly a little challenging, and mostly places without an admission fee. 

We just finalized our schedule for the summer, and we've got several fun new places on our list to visit, including a hike to a little swimming hole surrounded by big rocks in Black Canyon near Ramona, doing a little exploring in Balboa Park followed by a picnic dinner while we watch a free Organ/Marine Band concert at the outdoor organ pavilion, exploring Sunset Cliffs beach for little caves at low tide, going to the museum inside the Presidio (never been inside before, but Nana got family passes to that museum) and then finding some Mexican food in Old Town, doing a really fun hike through a very thin canyon on San Diego's "Ho Chi Minh Trail" and then finding a local beach to play at {will probably need to drive to a different nearby beach, since Black's Beach is the closest one to that trail and it's a nude beach}, checking out the San Diego History Museum & the Model Railroad Museum at Balboa Park for the first time, going to find the "hidden sea cave" at Point Loma that is only accessible at low tide, hiking some of the scenic trails at Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve  and then hiking down to the beach to play, and checking out the rivers and small waterfalls in Mission Trails Regional Park. 

We also came up with a whole list of other really cool looking hiking destinations, but lots of them are way out in the desert and it just wouldn't be smart for me to drag all the boys out into the middle of the desert for long hikes in the middle of the summer. So we'll have to plan to do some of these in the Winter & Spring: Ladder Canyon Hike at Painted Canyon Road, Goat Canyon Trestle, Cedar Creek Falls, Anza Borrego Wind Caves, Anza Borrego Palm Canyon Oasis, Agua Caliente Hot Springs, Algodones Sand Dunes, & Bouldering in Joshua Tree National Park. And, of course, one of our favorites: The Mud Caves in Anza Borrego desert.