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