WIN Thanksgiving 2015

11-25-15

We left Oceanside at 10:00 AM and Arrived at Peg Leg Smith Monument, in Borrego Springs, at 12:00 Noon.

We had a difficult time finding a good parking spot. We are late for the Thanksgiving Outing. Most WINs are here already. There will be more than eighty rigs. I thought because of some WINs traveling the East Coast there would be less people here.

The club has grown in the last two years.

We attended the 4:00 PM Circle Meeting and then went to the Laundromat at the Palm Canyon RV Resort. We had three loads and spent two hours watching laundry turn in circles. I did some computer work.
 

11-26-15.

At the 9:00 AM Hugs and Mugs meeting we got the rundown of the Thanksgiving meal. Members of the group had to heat up turkey meat, mashed potatoes, dressing and gravy.

There were also signup sheets for side dishes and desserts.

Doris prepared a jellow salad with carrots and crushed pineapple. I made a broccoli salad.

At 1:30 PM we started the dinner. The salads and desserts looked delicious.

The servers were generous with the meat.

There were about 80 WINs and about six guests having a good time in the desert.

We had to wait patiently for the food.

It was worth the wait. The turkey meat was moist and tasty. There were many delicious side dishes. Everybody had a good time.

We were lucky with the weather. It was warm when we got up this morning. Then the wind picked up and we were worried that we had to eat inside. But the sun came out while we were eating and the wind died down.

After the meal it got cool again.

11-27-15.

Doris and I were at the trail head for the Palm Canyon Hike at 8:15 AM. It had rained almost all night and there were still black clouds in the sky.

At the beginning of the hike one does not know the beauty which awaits the traveler after one and a halve mile walking.

When we came near the oasis we saw small palm trees.

When we came even closer we saw different vegetation.

This palm tree stump was wedged between the rocks during the 2003 flood. The water took out about 100 palm trees and located them like match sticks all over the canyon.

We are getting near the oasis.

We had our lunch there and stayed for a while under the palms and then headed back. Since we were the first people on the trail we had hoped we would see Big Horn Sheep. We did not, all we saw was droppings of the animals.

Borrego Springs is in the distance. We had a good view since we walked back on the higher trail. We did not get wet, but it rained a little bit.

At 1:30 PM we had leftover turkey and ham with all the trimmings. It was another very good meal.

Later, Doris and I went to the thrift store. I bought a pair of shorts to replace the one I had ruined with bleach.

The sun did not shine much today. Last night we used a lot of electricity and the house batteries were run down. I had to run the generator for two hours today to charge them again.

The batteries do not keep the charge. I have to replace them.

11-28-15.

We hardly could use the water pump. The batteries have only a charge of 9.8 volts. They are too weak to start the generator.

Yesterday I had called Ron Carlson and the three of us were to meet today for breakfast at 9:00 AM in town.  Doris and I decided to leave one day early for home. I wanted to have some of the turkey soup five of the WINs made, but we have a blockage in the down pipe of the toilet and no electricity, it is better we spend tonight in a RV Park.

Tomorrow would also be worse driving through Los Angeles.

I checked the batteries once more, had Dan double check, and then started packing. We met Ron in the parking lot near the restaurant. Ron presented Doris with a scanner for scanning her slides and pictures.

I hope she finds time to do this. I did all of mine a few years ago. It is a lot of work scanning 2,500 slides and many negatives.

We had a wonderful breakfast with good conversation. After breakfast we went up the Montezuma Grade. The motorhome performed well. The new car is a lot heavier and I was worried.

We encountered some heavy traffic near Pasadena, and heavy traffic before going up the Grapevine. It was two miles per hour for 45 minutes.

We went to a RV Park in Bakersfield. The office was closed and the sign said to take site A 20. We did that.

11-29-15.

Since we had hook ups we had no electrical problems. The toilet problem seems to have gone away too. When we get home I have to work on that. I also have to buy four new house batteries. Five years ago I paid $ 156.00 for each battery. I will not get them for that price this time.

We left Bakersfield at 9:15 AM and arrived at the Elks Lodge in Petaluma at 4:45 PM.

The traffic was better than I had anticipated.
 

11-30-15.

When we left Petaluma it started to rain. We had a light rain most of the morning.

Normally when I visited Eureka I had sunshine until I came to Myers Flat. Then it changed. The closer I came to Humboldt Bay the darker the sky got.

This time it was in reverse. When we came near Eureka the sun was shining.

When we came to the house and I tried to unhook the car the hood of the car would not open with the remote.

I had an empty car battery. I remember flipping the switch for the two fuses which have to be disconnected. Later I did some experimenting and probably turned the power on again.

On this car the battery discharges when towing.

Doris gave me a jump with her car. I drove my car in the garage and used a battery charger to fill the battery again.

Now I have to look for new batteries for the motorhome, fix the porch light, and buy a new paint roller extension so I can lift the solar panels again.

Some of the roads we were traveling on were so bad that the porch light has to be knocked on for the light to come on. The paint roller extension was hanging on the wall of the outside storage department and could not take the shaking.

The angle plates I had installed to keep the dashboard in place broke. I am surprised the whole motorhome does not fall apart. Both, Interstate 5 and highway 99 had some rough spots.

San Diego Area - November 2015

11-15-15.

We left Glendale at 6:15 AM and had no traffic problems going through Los Angeles.

After setting up the motorhome at the Oceanside Elks we went grocery shopping.

Then I tried to do laundry at the lodge. I carried the laundry in pillow cases and had the bleach and detergent in one of the cases. Normally I use a basket.

When I came to the basement of the lodge there were no washing machines and dryers. They were gone. I carried everything back and put it in the back seat of the car.

Doris wanted to go with me to the Laundromat. I am glad she did. When we loaded the washing machines we noticed discoloration of some of the colored clothing.

The bleach bottle had turned over and leaked. I ruined the shorts I was wearing because the pillow case was wet and had made contact with my shorts. Two of Doris’s pieces of clothing were ruined too.

Now Doris was worried about her one hundred dollar jacket which was laying on the back seat, and the laundry had been located on top of it..

We went to the car and the jacked had two wet spots. We took a water bottle and tried to clean the areas. The water ran just off. The jacket does not absorb water. We put the jacket in a washing machine and ran it without detergent.

It saved the garment.

I was off the hook.

The car seats are made of leather and there was no problem.

11-16-15.

We are in the mountains now, at The Oaks at Sacred Rocks RV Park, near Boulevard.

The Convair Camping Club has their monthly, three day outing here. Since we were in the San Diego area we decided to be together with old friends.

The RV Park has a lot of old live oak trees. They do not shed their leaves and stay green. Doris and I walked to the Labyrinth. While I was checking out the neighborhood Doris walked the Labyrinth.

At 5:00 PM we had Happy Hour at the Clubhouse and at 6:00 PM we had a meatloaf sandwich dinner.

The food was set up on a table and everybody made their own sandwich.

There were four kinds of meatloaf and all were very good. I liked one of the salads very much. One lady made a stuffed turkey for decoration.

Eating is what we do best.

11-17-15.

Today we had our traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

Jon and Jim are getting two BBQ’s ready.

While they were working I walked on the grounds of the RV Park. There are many beautiful large oak trees. Unfortunately some of them are infested with a bug and are dying.

They have a little man made waterfall.

Everybody got a chance to work on the repair of the light switch of Dick's motorhome.

The turkeys looked very good after a while.

After a wonderful dinner Howard and Jim auctioned off items members of the club supplied. For me this is the fun part of the outing. Howard is very funny.

Howard and Jim had a good audience.

Chappy, Dottie and Ken, Chappy’s son, came for the club meeting and the dinner. It is always a pleasure to see them.
 

11-18-15.

This was an easy day. In the morning Darwin had ten flags to retire. It turned out to be a little ceremony. 

 While we were doing this we had a fly-by. Two red tail hawks flew over us.

I participated in the ceremony.

  

Jim and Craig worked on a locomotive. They removed the electricity from the tracks and install batteries with remote controls in the locomotives. Both have in their backyards a train set-up. 

In the afternoon Doris and I walked the Labyrinth. It took us about thirty minutes.

For dinner we had shepherd’s pie, made with leftover turkey. It was another delicious meal.

This was a wonderful outing.

11-19-15.

This was the biggest outing of the Convair Camping Club I attended. We were seventeen rigs.

We said goodbye to our friends and had the propane tank filled up on the way out, at the RV Park.

When we arrived in Oceanside the temperature was 80 degrees F. Today we had summer weather.
 

11-20-15.

We drove over to Coronado Island today.

Our first stop was the Hotel Del Coronado.

We went to the beach where an artist built an Eiffel Tower with sand.

The hotel has two swimming pools and lovely surroundings.

We had lunch there. Doris enjoyed her martini. I enjoyed my water.

In the lower section are fancy stores and on the wall in the hall way hang beautiful pictures of the hotel.

From the hotel we drove to Ferry Landing. Across the bay is the skyline of San Diego.

The ferry is on the way to Broadway pier.

Doris patronized some of the stores and we had ice cream.

For our return drive to Oceanside we drove along the Silver Strand to Imperial Beach and from there took Interstate 5 North.

We had dinner at the Elks Lodge and danced after dinner. It was a wonderful day.

Before we went to bed a friend of Doris called and announced the death of a person the two worked with. This became emotional.

11-21-15.

We toured the aircraft carrier Midway today.

At the hangar deck is a lot of action. Besides airplanes there are displays and docents explaining different facets of the carrier.

This dive bomber had a bracket which made it possible to clear the propeller when the bomb was released during the vertical dive.

The facilities on board were different for officers and enlisted men.

The bunks for the enlisted men were rather simple and sometimes three bunks high.

Officer's bunk.

In the ship’s operation room everything, from steam, electricity and fresh air, was controlled.

There were several mess halls on board. 3,500 sailors and marines had to be fed.

This is the room of a high ranking officer.

The two chaplains had a nice room too.

The chapel was plain but beautiful with the stained glass.

The officer’s dining room had table cloth and real china and silverware.

There was another kitchen.

The machine shop was equipped to handle repairs.

On the flight deck were different airplanes and helicopters.

The Coronado Bridge is visible from the flight deck.

So is the statue of the sailor kissing the nurse.

When we came down from the Midway we took a little walk in the park next to the carrier.

Besides the sailor kissing the nurse there is a salute to Bob Hope. While enjoying the statues there is also sound from Hope’s shows visiting the troops.

On the way home we stopped at Tip Top German restaurant for dinner. Both of us had Jaeger Schnitzel, which was very good.
 

11-22-15.

The summer weather continues. We drove to San Juan Capistrano to tour the mission. The mission was established in 1776 and six years later an earthquake shook the area and left the building in ruins. Olives were an important part of the diet of the Spanish and oil was produced with grinding stones.

The soldier’s rooms were very basic, there was no luxury.

The gardens of the mission are very beautiful, even in the winter.

What is now Orange County was the home of the Acjachemen.

In the gardens are all kind of desert plants like this large cactus.

The church has many beautiful paintings on the walls.

The bells are rung on March 19^th when the swallows return from Argentina.

The two bells are located in front of the ruin.

Junipero Serra became a Saint this year.

It is a pleasure to walk the grounds of the mission.

11-23-15.

This was a work day. Doris had her hair done while I did some shopping at Camping World and other stores.

I also visited friends in Camino Hills.

11-24-15.

The San Diego Zoo is one of the best known. We spent all day there today.

The Reptile House was very interesting. This creature appears to have two heads. It is to fool attackers.

Snakes come in all colors.

Turtles live a long time. This one is over a hundred years old.

The flamingos are a colorful bunch.

This albino primate was posing for us.

This Hippo had a companion.

I wonder what this gorilla was thinking about the people watching him.

The red panda was relaxed. A couple of days ago one of the red pandas in the Eureka Zoo made the national news by escaping from his enclosure and the zoo. They found him on the highway.

I did not get a good picture of the two pandas.

The mountain lion was yawning and held his paw in front of his mouth. Obviously he is a well trained animal.

We took the Skyfari gondolas to get from one side of the zoo to the other.

We had a good view of the action below us and the skyline of Balboa Park. Dark clouds were over the California Tower.

We also went over the Tree Top restaurant where we had eaten the lunch we brought from home.

This Tapir looks like he has a blanket over his body.

The Koalas are so sweet. They sleep most of the day and night because the Eucalyptus leaves they eat act like a drug. They are high all the time.

This was our last day in the San Diego area. I did not see everybody I wanted to see. I will try harder next time.