Tuesday, January 31, 2012

On the road to Rubidoux

We woke early to find that the pollution which had been at a low level for nearly a week was back with a vengence.  Since we did not have that far to go today, we didn't want to get an early start, so we took one last long walk around the campgrounds.  Even with our best piddling, however, we were ready to leave by 11:00.  We wasted a little more time but soon were on the road.

In less than 15 minutes, we were on I-805, and from then until we were within a few miles of tonight's campsite, we were on Interstates with heavy traffic.  The most incredible stretch was going past Marine Corps Air Station Miramar on I-15 where there were 8 lanes of northbound traffic!

Our destination was Riverside where Nancy's niece, Janet, and her son are now living.  All I knew about it was that back in the 1930s when the Army built what became March AFB, Riverside was a small, dusty, desert town.  Nowadays, it is on the eastern fringe of the LA megalopolis, and a pretty good size town in its own right.  The climate is still desert, hot in the daytime, cold at night, but the pollution is strictly LA.  While Nancy and I agree that we are not big fans of the desert, we think that the location here, surrounded by hills and mountains, would probably be quite lovely if only the air was as clean as it is in Anchorage.

This morning I had spent some time studying the Google map and I understood that California 60 merged with I-215 as we approached Riverside and that 60 would take us through town to within a short distance of the campground.  What I missed was that in the middle of Riverside, I-215 and California 60 part company.

This interchange just happened to be the scene of a traffic backup that was bumper to bumper, and changing lanes was not an option, but I thought that as long as I followed the signs for I-215, I was golden.  When the highways split, I was confused, then annoyed, then resigned to my fate as the heavy traffic carried me off in the wrong direction.

We got off I-215 at the next exit but only crossed over it and got back on going in the opposite direction.  We never did find 60 again but did find downtown Riverside and a main street that took us to the suburb of Rubidoux and the Rancho Jurupa County Park.

When we arrived at the park, we found out that they honor Passport America but don't sell the memberships, so we had to park the RV, get on the internet, sign up, then get out the printer and print the receipt which we then walked back to the gate and got checked in.

Like Sweetwater Summit, they have a new campground and an old.  The old had full hookups, was on the fishing pond, and was a little cheaper, so we picked it.  Unlike Sweetwater, the old camp area is quite a ways from the entrance while the new one is right inside the gate.


When we took our afternoon walk, this big fella was waiting to greet us.  I've no idea what it is.

Day 136
Bonita, CA to Rubidoux, CA

Daily Mileage:  113.9
Total Mileage:  14,042.8

Monday, January 30, 2012

A fiery finale

We returned the Ford Focus then drove the RV to Costco and filled up with gas in preparation for our departure tomorrow.

It looked like we were in for another hot day, but about 3:00 this afternoon, the clouds started moving in from the Pacific, and by the time we finished our afternoon walk it was almost completely overcast.  The clouds were dark with ragged bottoms but produced no rain.

I looked out after sunset and the sky was amazing.  I ran out with my camera and it had already changed but I took several pictures anyway.























When we took Sadie out to pee this evening, I was surprised to see that the sky was mostly clear again.


Day 135
Bonita, CA


Daily Mileage:  18.5
Total Mileage:  13,928.9

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Return to Coronado

Tomorrow morning we will have to turn in the rental car, and since we had especially enjoyed our visit to Coronado, we decided to return there for our last outing in the car.  We did not get the early start that I had hoped for, but as Nancy had agreed to go across the bridge this time, we still managed to get there by 10:00.


I drove straight to the old ferry dock where we had started our last visit, but only stayed long enough to grab a few shots of the San Diego waterfront before moving on to a large park nearby that was more dog friendly.  We had only been there briefly last time and did not realize just how big it really was.


Imagine my surprise when I looked up and saw this guy again.  It's a good thing that I'm not paranoid.  But maybe I should be.

The metal sculpture is entitled My Bike.
We walked along the bay for quite awhile and would have loved to stay even longer, but the temperature was soaring.  The heat was draining our energy, and I could feel my arms beginning to burn, so we cut the visit short.

We went back to the RV and spent the rest of the day being lazy.

Day 134
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Saturday, January 28, 2012

The heat wave rolls on

In the morning we drove to Costco for some food, then to Fresh and Easy for a lot of food, then to PetSmart where we got a PetSmart card and saved a lot on poop bags and dog treats.

In the afternoon, we drove into San Diego and just rode around, mostly in the Historic Gaslight District but also down along the waterfront where the USS Midway is docked.  It was hot and crowded and we didn't try to find a place to park.

My first bunny picture ever.
The egret was unavailable today, so this little fellow showed up to take his place.

Day 133
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Friday, January 27, 2012

The more you know, . . .

We returned to Kohl's armed with a 15% off coupon, but drove a few extra miles to check out the selection at the store in El Cajon.  It was a good choice.  In addition to the pair of jeans I had found the day before in Chula Vista, I also picked up two more pairs of pants and three shirts.  Between the coupon and the sales prices, the total savings came to over 50%; and the god of bargain hunting was appeased.

The same egret as yesterday in just about the same spot.
Day 132
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Is this January or July?

Yesterday, it was in the 80s and despite being cautious, I got a little sunburned.  Today, it hit 83.  After more than a decade in Alaska where 65 degrees is a warm summer day and 75 is a scorcher, this kind of heat makes my wish I was three again and could just strip naked and stand under a lawn sprinkler.

We tried to do our laundry this morning but the first place we went to used a system where you put money on a card then used the card to operate the washers and driers.  If we were regular customers, we would have found this a great idea, but since we will never be back, it present some problems, like not knowing how much we would need to put on the card to do just one load of wash, so we went back to the Laundromat we used last week and did it the old fashion way, by dropping quarters into a slot.

This afternoon we went to Kohl's.  I have a pair of jeans that are really comfortable and I have worn them everyday we have been on the road.  After 14,000 miles, I have literally worn out the seat.  Since they came from Kohl's, we located the nearest one and went in search of a replacement.  I found a reasonable facsimile of my old pair, but could not buy them because they weren't on sale--the 11th Commandment clearly states:  Thou shalt not pay full price for anything at Kohl's, ever!


This egret uses the grassy slopes of the park as its hunting grounds and we see him almost all day, everyday, but today was the first time he had ever been close enough to get a picture.  This was taken on our late afternoon walk with Sadie shortly before sunset.

Coming back from Point Loma yesterday, we stopped at a Fresh and Easy grocery store in Ocean Beach.  We had never seen one before and wanted to check it out.  Their name pretty much sums up what they are.  The store is small by today's standards because most of the packaged items they carry are their own brand and made fresh.  The packages are mostly sized for one or two people, they don't use any preservatives, artificial flavors or artificial colors, and are very reasonably priced.  We bought a number of items.

Tonight we had three of them for dinner.  Their teriyaki chicken was just okay; the mac and cheese was good; but the tiramisu was to die for!

Day 131
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Point Loma


In 1542, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo, a Portuguese sailing for the King of Spain, led the first European expedition to explore the west coast of the United States.  In 1913, Woodrow Wilson set aside a half acre of Fort Rosecrans for a monument to him, but there was no statue provided for it until the Portuguese government gave this one to the United States in 1939.  It overlooks San Diego from an elevation of 380 feet at the southern tip of Point Loma.  In this picture, the closest land in the background is NAS North Island and the City of Coronado.

We started our exploration of Point Loma in Ocean Beach where Interstate-8 ends at a traffic light.  Ocean Beach is bounded on the north by the mouth of the San Diego River.  When Mother Nature designed the river, she made the mouth a large marsh that the Spanish called False Bay.  Shortly after WWII, man cleaned up this messiness by straightening the river and dredging the marsh which is now a big playground called Mission Bay.

The land behind the river's south jetty became a large sandy beach.  In 1972, it became the very first Dog Beach.  We did not know it was there and stumbled upon it quite by chance.  It is a great place for dogs that need lots of space to run and that love the water, but for Sadie, it is a very strange environment; the sand looks like snow but doesn't melt in your mouth and the water tastes bad and lunges at you unexpectedly.  Nancy and I both were concerned about being out too long in the midday sun and so our visit to the beach was brief which seemed to suit Sadie just fine.

Traveling south from Dog Beach, the ocean front quickly becomes steep cliffs and the whole peninsula becomes a giant rocky spine.  In Ocean Beach, Catalina Boulevard takes you up to the top of the ridge and ends at the edge of town at a gate that is only unlocked from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day.  Beyond this point you are on the Fort Rosecrans Military Reservation and the street becomes Cabrillo Memorial Drive.

A large portion of the Reservation is now taken up by the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery.  Established in 1882 as the post cemetery and designated a national cemetery in 1934, it stretches for a mile on both sides of the road and contains 101, 079 graves.  Beautifully maintained, it slopes away towards the Pacific on one side and San Diego Bay on the other and is an impressive sight.

The tip of Point Loma lies just past the cemetery.  While the Cabrillo National Monument is the main draw, visitors can also tour the nearby Point Loma Lighthouse which was in operation from 1855 until 1891.

Since dogs must be kept in the car at all times, Nancy stayed with Sadie while I got out and took some pictures.  While the view was great, everything was so far away that the haze in the air made most shots look slightly out of focus.

Day 130
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Balboa Park

The courtyard in the House of Hospitality
In 1868, San Diego became the second U.S. city to establish a large public park when it set aside 1,400 acres for community use.  New York had been the first, ten years earlier, when it created Central Park.

Known simply as City Park, the land remained largely undeveloped until 1909 when the president of the Chamber of Commerce came up with the idea of bolstering the city's image by staging an exposition to celebrate the opening of the Panama Canal.  City Park was selected as the site for the expo and was renamed Balboa Park to honor Vasco Nunez de Balboa, the first European to cross the Isthmus of Panama.

The 1915 Panama-California Exposition was a bold move.  San Diego had a population of less than 40,000 and no city that size had ever held a world's fair.  Though Congress had appropriated $5 million to celebrate the canal's opening, the lion's share went to bankroll San Francisco's party, the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.  In spite of this, San Diego managed to raise the additional funds it needed on its own, and the gamble paid off.  The expo was such a big success that it was extended for a second year.

In the midst of the Great Depression, San Diego once again decided to stage an expo, this time to help its struggling economy.  A hit like its predecessor, the 1935 California-Pacific International Exposition was also continued for a second year.

The success of the expos was due in part to the dazzling design of the buildings erected to house them.  Despite the fact that these buildings were never meant to outlast the expos, they were so stunning that, fortunately for us, many people resisted their destruction.  Though many of the structures were beyond saving and had to be demolished, the preservationists did manage to save a few jewels from both the 1915 and the 1935 expositions for us to enjoy today.

This is the area we chose to visit.  In addition to the core of historic buildings, it contains many new additions that have been built in a complimentary style.  There are wide pedestrian walkways lined with numerous fountains and gardens and a wide variety of museums, but for us, the best part was that we could take Sadie everywhere, except in the buildings, as long as she was on a leash.

We wandered the grounds and took pictures until we were dragging and still missed most of it.  If we had wanted to actually visit the museums, we would have needed several weeks.  And this is just a small part of the park which includes, among many other things, the world famous San Diego Zoo.

Here is a small sample of what we did see.

Flower in Zoro Garden

Casa del Prado










Casa del Prado

















The statue of El Cid
Day 129
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Monday, January 23, 2012

Another rainy day


Sunrise
The rain held off just long enough for us to make a run to Costco for gas and groceries and a quick stop at PetSmart for some doggy treats.

Day 128
Bonita, Ca

Daily Mileage:  0

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Coronado


Once upon a time there were two islands; North Coronado Island, which actually was an island, and South Coronado Island, which was not.  In reality, South Coronado Island was just the bulbous tip of a very narrow, seven mile long, sandy peninsula called the Silver Strand.  In 1886, land speculators  bought both of them and decided to build a lavish hotel, a popular strategy of that day for turning a patch barren sand into something special.

When it opened in 1888, the Hotel del Coronado was certainly that.  It was the largest resort hotel in the world and the first to have electric lights.  It was also heated by the world's first oil furnace.

Flat, sandy North Coronado Island was left undeveloped, a place for hotel guests to hunt or ride horses, which was fortunate, as it proved an ideal spot for the first naval aviators who began training there as early as 1911, just eight years after the Wright brothers historic flight.  By 1917, the government had appropriated the land and construction was begun on runways for a naval air station.

During World War II, North Island was the principle support base for all operations in the Pacific.  In 1945, the base was expanded by filling in the shallow bay called the Spanish Bight which had separated North Island from the city of Coronado.  Today, about two thirds of the consolidated landmass is occupied by the Naval Air Station.  That the rest is taken up by one of the most affluent communities in the country strikes me as exceedingly odd.

For a town sharing space with such a large and active military facility, Coronado is a surprisingly tranquil place that wears its wealth without a lot of pretensions.  Maybe being here on a Sunday had something to do with this impression, but we found the atmosphere much more laid-back than La Jolla.  Nancy has decided that this is her second favorite place on this trip; Monterey still remains first.

We started our visit with a stop at a small park on the waterfront where the ferry to San Diego used to dock before it was replaced in 1969 by the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.  The land had been sold to developers but was saved for public use through the efforts of three local citizens.  A smaller ferry still operates nearby, but I think it is primarily used by tourists.  There are also a collection of shops and restaurants and a small beach, plus a front row seat to downtown San Diego across the bay


We explored the rest of town by car, then bought some lunch and took it to the beach to eat.  We parked just down the street from the Hotel del Coronado.   Even after all these years, it is still the star of the show here.  After finishing our lunch, we leashed up Sadie, and went to take a closer look.

Before we were through, we had walked all the way around it.  It is so picturesque, so iconic, that I thought that getting good pictures would be easy, but I was wrong.  There are few clear lines of sight and it is almost too big to photograph.

The shot at the beginning of this post was one that I wrote off at first because the light was all wrong, so I just used it to experiment with, and I'm glad I did.  Here is one that came out better with only minor tweaking.


Day 127
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Goin' nowhere

It rained all morning.  While we were stuck inside, I took this picture through the window of the RV.  I was surprised when he stayed put long enough for me to get out my camera.


It finally let up in the early afternoon, but by then we didn't feel much like driving anywhere, and made do with a long walk around the park with Sadie.

While we were out, we discovered that there is a Burrowing Owl living in an old ground squirrel burrow not far from our RV.  We spooked it as we walked by and a nice lady out birding told us what it was.  I didn't even know there was such a thing.

Day 126
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Friday, January 20, 2012

Oh my, I do so love a bargain

Our sole outing for today was to Old Navy in National City where Nancy found a great pair of pants on clearance for $5.47.  They go very nicely with her pirate boots.  I told her she was stylin'.

Day 124
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Thursday, January 19, 2012

La Jolla

The locals are fond of saying that the name is an English corruption of La Joya which means The Jewel in Spanish, but it is just as likely to be a Spanish corruption of the native name for the place which meant land of holes, possibly a reference to the sea caves found along the coast here.

The area has been part of San Diego since California became a state in 1850 but wasn't surveyed and subdivided until the 1880s.  It didn't get it's first stop sign until 1944, and up to the 1960s was noted for its isolation and exclusivity.

Though no longer isolated, it is still an expensive place to live.  Coldwell Banker's annual survey for 2008 and 2009 said La Jolla had the most expensive home prices in the nation.   One of John and Cindy McCain's many homes is here.  Mitt Romney owns a $12 million vacation home here, as well.

La Jolla is also home to The Salk Institute, the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, and the University of California, San Diego campus.  It's not your average seaside resort community.

Despite this, the beach for several miles is open to the public and with just a few exception is bordered by public parks.  Out of it all, our favorite spot was La Jolla Cove at the southern end of La Jolla Bay, which, by no coincidence, is also a favorite hang out for dozens of sea lions and hundreds of sea birds.

Though I took lots of pictures, both here and elsewhere along the shore, my favorites all seem to involve birds.  Here are a few.





Day 124
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Wash day

We showered, we bathed Sadie, we washed clothes.

My photo of the day.
Day 123
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

A shopping we will go

Our new ride
The clouds have moved on and once more we have a nice sunny day.  The air temperature, however, has stayed cool and the breeze has a bite.

We took the car out twice for a little shopping.  On the first trip we drove to Bonita for groceries at Von's, one of the many regional chains now owned by Safeway.  Though bright and clean, it is an older store from a simpler time and lacks the floor space to stock the full range of products found in stores built more recently, so we did not find everything we were after.

As we have traveled the country, it has been fun to see how the selection of products in grocery stores varies from place to place.  Usually, the differences don't come as a big surprise, like the wide variety of hispanic food available in El Paso, but occasionally something really stands out as odd.  This morning at Von's it was Piccadilly brand Bangers.  Is there a colony of British expats here that I'm unaware of?

Our second trip took us to Chula Vista.  For you long time Dancing with the Stars fans who may have forgotten, Chula Vista is the hometown of Mario Lopez.  It is a good size town, 50 square miles and a quarter of a million residents, and so far we have explore just a small section on the northern edge, but if what we saw today is any indication, the folks here are doing okay.

We were looking for a Barnes & Noble so that I could get a decent street map for the greater San Diego area.  The closest one was in the Otay Ranch Town Center, a large mall that is laid out like a small, somewhat upscale, village.  It was so charming that it made me want to get out and stroll around, even though all I really wanted was a map.  It was so charming that I hope they do well, even though I feel that much of what they sell is expensive stuff of little value.

We finished our outing with a stop at a ginormous Walmart.  At different times, both Nancy and I have manage to step on the plastic sewer hose which has seriously compromised its structural integrity.  Not wanting to wait for it to spring a leak in mid-dump, I went in search of a replacement.  Not only did Walmart have an exact replacement, they had a new improved crush resistant model, as well.  Though I often think that the world was a better place before there were Walmarts, at moments like this I do have my doubts.  

Day 122
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Monday, January 16, 2012

Rainy days and Mondays

The rain, though never very heavy, continued intermittently all morning and the clouds hung around all day.  Shortly before noon, we picked up the rental, a Ford Focus, brought it back to the campground, ate a little lunch, then all took a nap.

Day 121
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  12.8
Total Mileage:  13,910.4

Sunday, January 15, 2012

A day of rest

Although the upper campground had plenty of room to spare yesterday, the lower campground was full of Cub Scouts.  This morning as we waited to talk to the park ranger about extending our stay, they went by us en masse on their morning walk and Nancy counted exactly 100, split about evenly between kids and adults.  Last night they gathered for a powwow in the little amphitheater right across the street from us, and though they obviously were having a very good time, they were very well behaved.  By noon today, they had all gone home, along with about half the people in the upper campground, so the peace and privacy has increased even more.

We have extended our stay through January 30 and made arrangements to rent a car from Avis for two weeks, starting tomorrow.

For our walk today, we took a trail along the slope below the campground and discovered that it is home to a large number of rabbits and ground squirrels.  Sadie, of course, was delighted.


It threatened to rain all day and finally, about bedtime, it did.

Day 120
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Sweetwater Summit Campground

The campground sits on the south side of a 413 foot hill eight miles north of the Mexican border.  The Pacific Ocean lies eight and a half miles to the southwest.  Until very recently, there were only 60 RV pads.  Eleven of those have small corrals as the park has 16 miles of trails and is a popular spot to ride horses.


Last year 90 additional pads were constructed.  The old campground is at an elevation of 270 to 280 feet.  The new pads are uphill from there and range in elevation from 285 to 315 feet.  Our site sits at about 295 feet.  (All elevations curtesy of Google Earth.)

While the old campground has a number of mature trees, the landscaping in our section has only been in the ground a few months at most, and consequently there is absolutely no shade.  If it was July instead of January, that could be a major concern, but at this time of the year, it just means there's nothing to block the view.

Also on the plus side, the new section is far from full.  I doubt that there are more than a couple of dozen RVs here at the moment even though it is the weekend, and the people in the reservations office have been very good about giving everyone lots of space.  We're at the end of a row and the next RV is four pads away.

After taking all of this into consideration, we have decided to stay awhile and rent a car. Tomorrow we'll have to sit down and work out the details.

Sweetwater Reservoir is on the left, the campground is on the right. 
The old section of the campgrounds is hidden in the trees. 
The northern fringe of Chula Vista spills over the ridge in the background.
Bonita Golf Club
Beyond the reservoir to the north is La Presa.
The 2564' summit of San Miguel Mountain four miles to the east.
Day 119
Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  0

Friday, January 13, 2012

What a difference a little sun can make

Yesterday was overcast and chilly but this morning it was gorgeous with blue sky and lots of sun.  Since the other county park is not far away and we can't check in there until 2:00, we killed some time by taking an extra long walk.  There were two small lakes in the park and we walked all the way around one of them.  It was so nice we were sorry that we had to move on, but about 11:00, we finally did.



The 40 miles or so into San Diego seemed to take a long time although the traffic on I-5 wasn't particularly bad.  We pulled off at Mission Bay, but there wasn't much to see where we stopped, and dogs weren't allow during most of the daylight hours, so we didn't stay long.  Almost as soon as we got back on the Interstate, we spotted downtown San Diego.  In marked contrast to LA two days ago, these tall buildings seemed to shine in the relatively clean air and were quite an impressive sight.

Tonight we are staying at the Sweetwater Summit Regional Park which sits on a hill overlooking the Sweetwater Reservoir in the town of Bonita.  It is directly beneath the flight path for San Diego International Airport which is about ten miles away as the crow, or the 757, flies.  It is a relief to know that modern commercial jet engines are remarkably quiet.

The town of La Presa across the reservoir from us.

Sunset over the Pacific.
Day 118
Oceanside, CA to Bonita, CA

Daily Mileage:  62.1
Total Mileage:  13,897.6

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Road weary

According to the man in the 5th wheel next to us, there was much excitement here about 11:00 last night--police with flash lights, even a helicopter hovering nearby--but Nancy and I slept through it all.

This morning, our first order of business was to see if we could extend our stay here at Guajome Regional Park.  We could, but only for one more night and to do that we would have to move to a different spot, so we decided to try for Sweetwater Summit, another county park much closer to downtown San Diego.  It took several attempts but we finally managed to get reservations there for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.  Though we may stay in the San Diego area for much longer than that, we still haven't decided for sure.

After putzing around for awhile we drove to the Camping World in San Marcos, about 12 miles away, to look for levelers.  We bought a set of bright orange plastic wedges that look like oversized door stops and a compact bubble level to go with them.  We also bought light bulbs and a drawer latch, so before we left the parking lot, I got to play handyman.  Both changing the bulb in the outside light by the door and replacing the latch took a lot of time and effort because of my limited supply of tools, but eventually I prevailed and my self worth got a nice bump.

Before leaving, we also checked out a new 19 foot Roadtrek RV parked nearby.  Small RVs like this have been catching our eye a lot recently, but after getting a closeup look at one, I don't think Nancy and I would find it big enough to suit us, even if we were dogless.

We then drove to Vista, which is wedged in between San Marcos and Oceanside, for some groceries from Costco.  We were going to gas up the RV as well but we still have half a tank and decided to put it off to another day.  All we really wanted to do by then was to get back to the park as we were still stressed from yesterday's trip across LA, and though brief, today's outing was enough to leave us feeling drained.

No idea what this is.  Guess I need a bird book.

Guajome Regional Park
Day 117
Oceanside, CA

Daily Mileage:  27.8
Total Mileage:  13,835.5

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Running the gauntlet

Half an hour on the Ventura Freeway brought us to the San Fernando Valley, once famous for its malls and the irritating language of its female mall rats.  Over the next three hours, by way of the Ventura, Hollywood, Santa Ana, and finally San Diego Freeways, we traversed the smog shrouded megalopolis of Los Angeles from Calabasas to San Clemente, a distance of nearly 100 miles.

I now understand why rich people are so fond of chauffeurs and helicopters.

I still don't understand why anyone, rich or poor, is fond of LA.

Beyond San Clemente, civilization ends and Camp Pendleton begins.  The first town past Marine Land is Oceanside.  We have come to rest here because it is at the northern edge of the San Diego megalopolis, and one megalopolis a day is my limit.

Southern California could use a little rain.

Day 116
Oxnard, CA to Oceanside, CA


Daily Mileage:  153.8
Total Mileage:  13,807.7

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Geography in the real world

Maps are wonderful things, treasure troves of information, and for most of my life, my window on the world.  Although in recent years, 24/7 cable news networks and things like Google Earth have provided exciting new glimpses of the planet, most of what I know about it, I learned from maps; and the one thing above all else that I have discovered on this trip is that when it comes to geography, I don't know squat.

I have constantly been surprised by what I've seen, and one of the biggest surprises has been the mountains.  There are more of the them, and in more places, than I ever imagined.  I first noticed this crossing Texas, a place I had always thought to be as flat as Kansas but which seldom is, at least along I-10, and I doubt that I have been out of sight of some mountain or other ever since.

Our journey today started with a short drive to Salinas where we filled up with gas.  We then headed south through the Salinas Valley on four-lane Highway 101.  For the first hour or so, the road was mostly flat, smooth and straight with almost no traffic--the perfect way to ease back into driving the RV.  As the road followed the Salinas River upstream, the valley gradually narrowed and the highway began to climb, first through hills, then full fledged mountains that, once again caught me by surprise.  We finally reached the coast near Pismo Beach, but that lovely, expensive looking town had hardly faded in our rearview mirror when we turned inland for another 30 or 40 mile passage through the Santa Ynez Mountains.  Near the end, the highway squeezes through a canyon that is barely more than a large crack in the mountains and that would have looked right at home in the Canadian Rockies.

From Gaviota, where we returned to the coast once more, to Oxnard, where we have found shelter for the night, 101 is confined to a narrow strip of land between the mountains and the sea that in places leaves room for little else.

The path we have followed today is called the Camino Real.  It is the trail that linked the string of missions built by Spanish friars in the 1700s.  With the exception of the Salinas Valley, which modern irrigation has turned into fabulous farmland, this is still harsh, dry, rugged country with little to recommend it to sensible men.  No wonder the first white men to set up shop here were priests.

My photo of the day:  Self Portrait
Day 115
Monterey, CA to Oxnard, CA

Daily Mileage:  288.5
Total Mileage:  13,660.6

Monday, January 9, 2012

Maybe we should just buy one

Before we returned the Fiat, we managed to get in one more last trip to the beach.  The tide was in and as high as we've seen it.  The waves weren't putting on much of a show, but I took some pictures anyway.



Whale watching is on my list of things to do if I ever get back here.
We turned in the car just before noon.  I miss it already!

Day 114
Monterey, CA

Daily Mileage:  8.7
Total Mileage:  13,372.1

Sunday, January 8, 2012

One hot January day

Ever since Nancy found out that the American Tin Cannery Outlet Center was pet friendly, she has wanted to pay them a visit.  Our tentative plan was for her to do that while I was checking out the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium, but I never got around to seeing the Aquarium, and now our time here is nearly at an end.  Since today is the last full day we will have the Fiat, we decided that the outlet stores would be at the top of our list of things to do and that all three of us would go.

We have driven by the building almost every day we've been here, and the high pedestrian traffic in the area around it led me to believe that it was as busy inside, but that is not the case.  At least half the spaces were vacant.  The even bigger surprise for me, though, was Candy World.  Can you imagine, an outlet store for candy!




We then went to a used book store so that Nancy could replenish her stock of reading material.  Sadie and I stayed in the car and I took pictures out the window of the buildings across the street.


By this time, it was already past noon and we were hungry, so I suggested a pizzeria in Seaside that had caught my eye several times lately.  If you have ever lived in southern California, you have probably heard of them, but for me, it was a delightful discovery.  The place is called Me-n-Ed's.  They've been in business since 1958 and have restaurants in 32 cities, with 15 locations in Fresno alone.

While we sat in the car waiting for our pizza to bake, we heard drumming.  I went to explore and found a drumming circle in one of the vacant spaces in the strip mall.  They had the double doors propped open and when I looked in, the sound waves felt like someone was drumming on my chest.  My curiosity satisfied, I beat a hasty retreat.  As I got back in the car, the drumming stopped, so I proudly announced to Nancy that I had just told them to knock it off.

We took our Tuscan Harvest pizza back to the RV and finished off all but two slices for lunch.  Bet you can guess what we had for dinner.

We then went to the beach.  We had no choice.  Really.  It was almost 70 degrees and sunny and we probably won't get to go again before we leave.  I'm sure you understand.

Day 113
Monterey, CA

Daily Mileage:  0