Oceanside and Jojoba Hills - March 2018

March 12, 2018.

I left Yuma at 6:30 AM and arrived in Oceanside at 11:45 AM.

After setting up the motorhome I went to Lens 4 Less and ordered a pair of bifocal glasses and a pair of prescription sun glasses. I hope they will be done by Friday.

Then I went to Frazier Farms and did some grocery shopping. I bought sunflower seeds and other items from the bins. I needed them to make muesli for breakfast.

I tried to visit the Bowers but they were not at home.

The Elks Lodge charges now $ 28.00 per day. Every site has now a sewer connection, besides electricity and water. The WIFI works pretty good too. 

March 13, 2018.

I drove down to Mira Mesa and had lunch, at Mimi’s restaurant, with Doreen. Unfortunately, she does not remember a lot of things and it is difficult to have a good conversation.

My next stop was in my old neighborhood. I visited Dixie our neighbor. Her daughter Janet, who lives near Phoenix, was visiting her and we had a very good conversation about the past and what is going on in the neighborhood.
I was lucky, I always had good neighbors.

On the way back to the motorhome I checked out another Family Dollar store for bathroom towels.

In the afternoon I visited friends at Camino Hills in Carlsbad.
 

March 14, 2018.

Today I went to a luncheon at the Black Angus restaurant. The Convair Travelers, one of my camping clubs, had their monthly outings there. 
It is always interesting and fun to see how people change over the years.

I had the baby back ribs. They were very good.

On the way home I went back to Camino Hills. People I wanted to see were not home. I stopped at the house Doreen and I lived for a while. The new owners were working in the drive way, painting parts for a new fence.

March 15, 2018.

This morning I went to Camping World and Fry’s Electronics. At both places I did not get what I was looking for.

On the way home, I stopped at Costco and bought a large pizza to take home. I usually eat two slices at the store. Since it was almost 11:00 AM I did not eat any pizza and went instead to the Senior Center and looked at their menu. They served corned beef, cabbage and potatoes. I signed in and ate lunch there.

Besides the regular dessert they served also cake for Saint Patrick’s Day, and had entertainment.

I put some of the pizza in the refrigerator and some in the freezer.

At 2:00 PM I went to Tip Top Delicatessen and bought my favorite bread. The freezer is filled up again.

In the last few days the weather has been wet and cool in the morning. It rained during the night.

In the afternoon it is really pleasant.

Late afternoon I walked to the Oceanside Pier.

On the way I stopped at the Thursday Farmers Market.

On one street were a lot of food vendors.

I always enjoy walking past the Oceanside library. The fountain and the water basins are so beautiful.

March 16, 2018.

Today, Dotty, Chappy and I went to Denny’s and had lunch. Chappy is now 85 years old and he is slowing down. Dotty and his son help him a lot.

On the way home I stopped at the eye glass store and picked up my new eye glasses and prescription sun glasses. The prescription has not changed much. The letters on the newspaper look the same.

At 3:00PM I took off for the Oceanside harbor. It took one hour walking briskly.

Oceanside has improved the last few years. Some streets have new apartment and condo buildings.

 

March 17, 2018.

In the morning I had breakfast with Jim Mousel at Rudford’s restaurant in North Park.

He retired this week and I hope he enjoys it as much as I do.

On the way home I visited Ozzy. I worked with him at Convair. He is now in his nineties.

I also stopped at the flower fields. They are almost in full bloom.

I felt like having a red cabbage, mashed potatoes, and bratwurst dinner. I went to Tip Top Delicatessen and bought some real German bratwurst. After shredding the red cabbage, an onion and an apple I had to wait two hours for the cabbage to be cooked, it was worth all the work.
 

March 18, 2018.

I did a load of laundry this morning.

Then I went back to Camino Hills in Carlsbad and visited Gabi, a German friend.  She bought a house in Camino Hills to be near her boyfriend.

Back at the motorhome I emptied the holding tanks and got ready for the move tomorrow.

Late afternoon I walked over to El Super, the Mexican grocery store and bought two bags of groceries and of course some items from the bakery section.
 

March 19, 2018.

I left Oceanside at 10:00 AM and arrived at the Jojoba Hills – Escapee RV Resort at 11:00 AM.

After setting up the motorhome, and eating lunch, I drove to Borrego Springs and visited Ron, a friend from my Convair days.

I also stopped at Peg Leg Smith’s Monument and checked who was camping there. Jim’s motorhome was there but he was gone.

I met one lady who recognized me. She used to be a WIN.

On a farm stand I bought a big bag of oranges.

On the way home I stopped in Warner Springs and visited Arlette and Gunter, friends who used to live in San Diego. This was a good day.

A rain storm is approaching this area. It should get here on Thursday, the day I had planned to leave. I might have to stay longer.
 

March 20, 2018.

In the morning I walked around the resort.

People were playing tennis near the club house.

Then I drove to the library in Temecula to do my E mail. There is WIFI in the resort but one has to pay and set up an account. It does not work for me since I plan on staying only three days.

From the library I went to Temecula Old Town.

They have a very nice City Hall.

On the way home I stopped at Ricardo Breceda’s work shop. He is the artist who designed and build all the metal statues neat Borrego Springs.

When I came back to the motorhome I had lunch and went swimming.

Then I visited Margarite, a German lady. She is a former WIN, but at 93 is now living in Jojoba Hills.
 

March 21, 2018.

In the morning I did some more walking in Jojoba Hills. The hills are steep in some places and it gives me a good workout.

At noon I went to Rhonda and Frank in Murrieta.

They fed me a good lunch. It is always nice to see old friends.

While I was at their house I got a call from Bill Heincy. He read my blog and he lives not very far from Jojoba Hills. We agreed to meet at 6:30 PM at the Paradise Café.
Bill has a beard now and looks completely different than in our working days.

When I got back to the motorhome I drove to the Clubhouse where they had an ice cream social. I could not resist that and had some chocolate chip-mint ice cream.

My next step was to do one load of laundry. The machines charge only one dollar.

At 6:30 PM Bill and I had dinner and talked a lot about RVing and Convair and Boeing.

This day could not have been any better. Now I have to wait how bad the rain storm is going to be. I still do not know whether I am going to leave tomorrow.
 

March 22, 2018.

I decided to stay another day until the weather is getting better north of here.

On my morning walk I had an umbrella with me. The sky was dark in the west and it was coming slowly towards Jojoba Hills.

At the resort are several beautiful ponds.

At 10:00 AM it started to rain. I drove to the library in Temecula. It is one of the largest and most beautiful I have seen on my travels. It is a pleasure to sit there and work on the computer and read the newspapers and magazines.

In the afternoon I went to the clubhouse for a while and watched the news on television.

I also did a couple of small jobs in the motorhome.

It rained off and on all day.
 

March 23, 2018.

I left Jojoba Hills at 8:00 AM. The sky still looked like it would rain again, but there was a lighter sky in the west.

I-15 going north was no problem. I took I-10 west to highway 57 north to I-210 and then to I-5 north to Highway 99 north.

I stopped in Bakersfield for a short while and visited Nelda.

I was too late for lunch and too early for dinner. She was in the dining room just finishing her lunch.

I arrived at the Moose Lodge in Fresno at 4:00 PM. After doing my computer work in the lodge I stayed for Taco Night. Two very good tacos cost $ 4.00.

Not traveling yesterday was smart. Here in Fresno they had heavy rain and hail.
 

March 24, 2018.

When I left Fresno, at 6:45 AM, the weather was fine.

I stopped at Love’s in Ripon to get gasoline for the motorhome. Today I drove a different route to get to highway 101.

I left highway 99 and headed west on 4 for a short distance to I-5. On I-5 I headed north to highway 12 west. Highway 12 is part of I-80 south. There I made a mistake and did not follow the GPS correctly. I turned off on I-680, a mile too soon. On I-680 I had to drive to the next turnoff and head back to I-80.

Highway 12 took me almost to Petaluma. The last few miles I had to take highway 121.

Next time I will stay on highway 12 all the way to Santa Rosa.

There are only a few rest areas on highway 101. I had to stop in Gloverdale. I thought I could park on the street for a few minutes. There was no room and I drove into a small shopping mall. I found a place to park.

Since there was a McDonald I figured I could do my computer work there. I bought a quarter pounder and went on the Internet. Then I went to an auto parts store and bought a small battery for the tire tracker. The monitor was blinking. The battery on the right back tire probe on the car was dead.

I also went to the Discount Grocery Store to spend some time. At my next stop there is not much to do.

I arrived at the casino near Ukiah at about 3:45 PM. I filled up the gasoline tank on the motorhome and had some propane added to the tank on the motorhome and the auxiliary tank filled up. Propane and gasoline are more expensive in Eureka.

After setting up the motorhome I went to the casino security department and registered.

When I came back to the motorhome it started to rain. I am glad I did not spend any more time in Gloverdale.

The rain stopped in an hour and I went for a walk. The mountains near by have snow on top.

When I was done with my walk it started to rain again

Last time I was here I noticed the garbage in the little village next to the casino. It did not get any better.

They are building a new casino next to the old one.

The old casino was full of people using the machines.

March 25, 2018.

I arrived in Eureka at 10:30 AM. I encountered some fog and light rain while driving. Now I have to go through a basket full of mail. Most of it is junk.