91 Km and over 1,000meters in climbing later, we finally reached our final destination for our Spring break tour of Southeastern Korean, Ilsan Beach. Getting there was a little tough, but fun and rewarding. We started the fourth day by calling an audible and changing our final destination from Busan to Ilsan Beach. Reasons we chose Ulsan: 1) it had a beach, 2)it was a closer drive, 3) it was more remote/less traveled than Busan, 4)random intriguing park photos of rock cliffs, that we found on Trip Advisor, 5) not an overwhelming amount of things to do, so good for a 1 day visit (we will save Busan for when we have more time).
We drove a little outside Daegu city to the East where Tim hopped on his bike while the kids and I followed close behind, playing the broomwagon! The roads were sparse but what cars we saw had no recognition of speed limits and whizzed around each bend. So for safety I trekked along behind Tim, up and down each mountain varying between 5km/hour and 60km/hour (depending on if we were going up or down!) . Then at the straight aways I took the lead helping Tim to pick up his pace and get a little drafting practice in.
It was fun, I must say, to participate in such a unique way. The kids and I blared the music, rolled down the windows and cheered Tim on, on every climb. For the downhills we could all but keep up with him.
Oh, not to mention the views!
One of the best parts of the day was our lunch stop. We found a small area to stop about ½ way up one of the mountains that had a picnic table and convenience store. Across the street and down a few steps was a small creek. The boys and I had a blast splashing and skipping rocks while Tim prepare lunch. After our typical Korean park meal, we were off again following Tim up, up, and up!
About 35km out from Ilsan beach, the road met up with an actual bike path, so we split ways. The boys and I arrived at the beach only 30 minutes before Tim, and we got a few minutes of sand time before finding a motel and dinner!
I know it sounds like just a day in the car, but for me it was being able to keep Tim safe on the road; not to mention being able to cheer him on and encourage him through those tough climbs, helping him to have a moment of recovery on the straight-a-ways, and then be able to celebrate all together when it was all done! Now for a day of relaxation and family fun before heading back to Seoul to prepare for reality (aka work/school).
If you are just now joining in “hi and welcome”! To read about how all this started check out Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3, of our Spring break vacation.