Richard's Travels: San Diego Area

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.