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San Diego offers a bevy of interesting hikes. With the average home price being around $500,000, they better be interesting!

To unwind, I typically stop on my way home from work to hike from Cardiff to Carlsbad on the beach. For picturesque sunsets and “tasty waves”, the beach between Cardiff to Carlsbad can’t be beat.

Cardiff - Starting

I typically start this hike by parking just south of restaurant row in Cardiff. Restaurant row is located to the north of the lagoon between Cardiff and Solana Beach on Highway 101. Parking is located on the side of the road, which is right up against the beach. Give me convenience or give me death!

As you head north, you first pass Charlie’s and other restaurants. Past the restaurants, you will come to the beginning of the bluffs that will line the beach to the end of the hike. San Elijo campground is on top of the initial bluffs and extends for roughly a mile north. The campground is very popular and the temporary home of locals and tourist. You can tell the difference by contrasting tans with sunburns.

Following San Elijo, you will walk through Sea Cliff County Park with bluffs over 100 feet high. An area known affectionately as “Swami’s” quickly follows this park. The name derives from the fact the area above the bluff is the home to the Self Realization Fellowship Center. This area is know as hot surf spot, but is very crowded. If you are a bit winded, you can stop and watch 50 or so surfers maneuver for waves. Yes, traffic jams aren’t exclusively restricted to California freeways.

North of Swami’s, you will cruise along a long strip of sand hemmed in by 50 to 60 foot bluffs in the town of Encinitas. For those with a wicked sense of humor, there is a relatively popular game called, “Watch the house fall.” Yes, the bluffs are giving away slowly. As they erode, the homes first lose plants, then patios and so on. They say real estate is all about location, location, location, but sometimes a beach front home isn’t all that great.

The Encinitas section of the hike is fairly long. With the high bluffs, you will find sections of the beach that are deserted. Yes, even during summer. The only thing breaking up the solitude is Moonlight Beach, a fairly popular beach with locals. Otherwise, it’s just you, shells and joggers until you arrive at the end of the bluffs and South Carlsbad. Time to turn around and find the car.

The Cardiff to South Carlsbad hike is about 5 miles in each direction. The walk is flat and quick. By the end, you will be relaxed and forget that Bert in accounting is a jerk. Enjoy.

Rick Chapo is with Nomad Journals - Preserve the experience with writing journals for traveling, hiking, rock climbing, fly fishing, bird watching and more. Read more articles and travelogues on NomadJournalTrips.com

Discount car insurance broker

Times past finding a discount insurance broker was important and offered you access to many different outlets for your needs. Today that’s no longer the case as finding a discount insurance broker doesn’t really provide you with any benefits or advantages as it once did.

A simple matter of typing in what you’re looking for into the search box on the internet will give you access to anything you need with numerous options and plenty of details.

At one time companies didn’t have access to the buying public like they enjoy today. So, they used to contract agents and brokers who had been around a long time with a large base of customers. That system was used for years. The public wasn’t necessarily best served that way as only those who did business with that agent or was fortunate to find him were able to take advantage of the best rates.

That’s all changed now as any of us can access all the different companies simply by going shopping on the internet. The best rates of the companies are presented to you and you simply pick the best buy for you. Really extremely simple compared too not many years ago.

Once you selected the company you fill out the application online, make a down payment with your credit card, check or paypal and you’re finished. Pretty niffty I’d say. By the way that’s good for we consumers as it’s made the carriers much more competitive as well. So forget finding a discount car insurance broker because you have one right there in front of you on your keyboard.

More auto insurance info at auto insurance
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The home equity loan has become quite popular in the last five years, and Americans have tapped into the equity of their homes in record numbers. The reasons vary, although home improvement and debt consolidation are the most common reasons for borrowing against a home’s equity.

In the last fifteen years or so, a new twist has arrived in the home equity market — the reverse mortgage. Like a traditional home equity loan or line of credit, a reverse mortgage allows you to borrow against the equity in your home. Unlike those other options, you don’t have to make payments in order to pay it back. The repayment takes place when you die, when you move, or when you sell your home. You must be at least 62 years of age to qualify, but unlike other loans, you do not have to have any appreciable income in order to get a reverse mortgage.

There are a number of advantages of a reverse mortgage over a traditional home equity loan:

Your options of receiving the money from the loan include a monthly payout, although you may also elect to receive a lump sum or a credit line. A monthly payout would effectively provide you with a regular “income” during the remainder of your time in your home.

The loan isn’t due until you move, sell the home, or die. There is no repayment schedule, as with regular installment loans. At the time of your death or when you sell the house, the loan must be repaid with interest.

The amount you have to repay cannot exceed the value of your home. With this feature, you are protected should your home decline in value. The lender cannot force you to pay more than the value of the home.

Due to the age restrictions on reverse mortgages, they are not for everyone. But if you qualify, it could provide an excellent opportunity to have an income during your retirement years.

©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including http://www.End-Your-Debt.com/ and http://www.HomeEquityHelp.net/