Oceanside, California

3-28-13
I have been in Oceanside now a whole week. The first thing I did after arrival; I tore out the carpet in the living room area of the motorhome. It went in the big dumpster of the Elks Lodge.
Then I removed the chair and some parts of the couch. I had to remove the bolts which held the couch in place. The parts of the couch went on the bed and the chair was in the isle. There was not much room to move around. I installed laminate plank flooring. It is a floating floor. The laminate is about 3/16 of an inch thicker than the linoleum in the kitchen area.
Working around the base of the chair and cutting holes without a hole saw was no fun. I did it and it looks good.
When I was finished I had sore knees and my back hurt.



I bought two throw rugs, one for the kitchen and one in front of the couch. They can be washed in the washing machine when they get dirty.



I am still moving stuff out of Doreen’s garage. I am almost done. I will stay at the Elks three more weeks. Yesterday I took the motorhome for a smog test. I was at the test station at 6:30 AM to make sure I had enough room. Most of those places are built for cars.

4-4-13
I had a bad week. Last Thursday I started coughing. Friday I was weak and stayed in bed. Saturday I went out and got some cough syrup. I had to cancel my getting together for breakfast with Jim Mousel.
Yesterday I felt better and went with John Hartsell to Santee for the Convair Tooling Luncheon. Only a very small group was there.



This evening I went to the Encinitas Elks Lodge. Friends of mine have their dinner there on Thursday. The new cook is very popular and a large crowd had to be fed. I had not been to the lodge for a few years and it was nice to see old friends again.



4-7-13
At noon I went to the Oceanside Pier. The marine layer had not burned off yet and it was kind of foggy. People were catching a lot of fish.





4-8-13
This morning I went to the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum. I had been to the museum before, when it was at another location. The museum has a display of examples of the work of the world’s best craftsmen in miniature. There are working steam and Sterline engines.



Very popular are the Corsair and P-51 Mustang fighter airplanes.





Almost a hundred small aircraft engines are on display.





Sports cars and railroad cars are there too.



Norma Jeane Dougherty worked at the McCulloch Radioplane Company as an assembler. The military made a training film at the plant. Norma Jeane was picked for the film.
Later she appeared as Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood movies.



This Bridgeport milling machine is about two feet high and it works. Every time I see I get goose bumps. I spent many hours on a full size Bridgeport when I was a Tool and Die Maker.



There are also scaled down pistols and a Gatlin Gun.




This model of the Napoleonic carriage was built during a contest by the Fisher Body Craftsman’s Guild.




The Do Nothing Machine does nothing. It has about a hundred gears and levers. The machine has also a square gear and a egg shaped gear and they move too.



4-10-13
Yesterday I had the car in the body shop. The trim near the top of the car had to be repainted. While they had the car I also let them change the engine oil.
Today I went to the Carlsbad flower fields. They had a lot of visitors. Some of them rode around in wagons pulled by tractors.





4-11-13
For many years I wanted to visit the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens in Encinitas. Today I did it.




The vegetation and walkways are beautiful.






The Golden Lotus Temple was built on a bluff on the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately gradual erosion of the shoreline caused the foundation of the temple to slip and the structure is gone. There is only a plaque telling the story.



One has a terrific view of the ocean from the garden.



Expensive homes are next to the property.



Big fish are in the pond.



The gardens are next to The Self-realization Fellowship retreat and Hermitage. The Center was founded in 1937 by Paramahansa Yogananda, and Indian teacher of ancient science of meditation.




While I was on the sidewalk next to the center a dog on a surfboard came by. He was so fast that I had not much time to take a good picture. When the board stopped the dog turned around and came back a short distance. Then he was waiting for his master.




On the way home I stopped at the Encinitas Boat Houses. They are built like boats.



4-14-13
Friday I had a pleasant day. Well, the first part was only O.K.
I went to the dentist for teeth cleaning. From there I went to San Diego where I met Jim Mousel for lunch. I always have a good time with him.
After that I visited Dottie, at her home, in Lakeside. She is recuperating from a heart valve operation. She looks very good and feels good too. Chappy came too.
Yesterday I helped with the breakfast at Camino Hills. We fed about sixty people.
Today I went to Balboa Park. There was no blue sky and after walking around a bit I visited the Air and Space Museum.







Outside the museum is the Sea Dart, one of Convair’s products. It was a sea launched fighter plane. Three were built. After one exploded while landing in San Diego Bay, the program was stopped.



There is also a Lockheed SR-71.



Airplanes fly very low over the museum while approaching Lindbergh Airport.



Inside a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis greets visitors. The original was built by Ryan Air in San Diego.



Reuben H. Fleet, the founder of Consolidated Aircraft, which became Convair, was an important figure in San Diego.




Another Convair product was the Atlas Missile. During the Cold War it was used for National Defense, and later for space exploration.




The museum has a mock-up of the Horton 229 V3 Flying Wing. It was designed and built at the end of the war in Germany.It looks like the US Stealth Bomber.



4-17-13
I am getting ready to leave Oceanside. Yesterday I checked the tires of the motorhome and car and inflated them to the proper pressure.
Today I borrowed a ladder from the camp host and installed the trucker antenna to the TV antenna. Then I drilled a hole in the side of the motorhome and brought the antenna cable to the Cell Phone Booster.
When I am camping in the boon docks I should get a better signal now.
In Quartzsite I had the canvass material for the awning replaced. To protect the exposed material I painted it with aluminum paint. Since I painted it while it was rolled up I did not get a straight line.
Now I opened the awning two feet, put a string across the width, and painted it again.
I also went today to “El Super” the Mexican store in the neighborhood and bought groceries. I filled up the refrigerator and freezer. Washington navel oranges were 99 cents for nine pounds, Fuji apples were 45 cents a pound. Today they sold medium sized eggs for 88 cents for a dozen. This of course was a Wednesday Special.
Red leaf lettuce was 79 cents a large head.
I will miss this store, especially the baked goods.