Yesterday started out with clear, sunny skies. While still relatively cool, temperatures rose to the lower 60s. After I posted to the blog, I went out for a bike ride. I rode the usual loop past Sea World, over the West Mission Bay bridge to Mission Beach. I set a new personal best climbing up the bridge – I maintained 16+mph all the way up. On the way down the other side, I shifted into a big gear and was hitting 26 mph when a big truck/trailer blew by. His draft quickly pulled me along and I was going over 30 mph. From there I rode up the boardwalk to Pacific Beach and followed the Bay Walk back to De Anza Cove.

When I returned, I had work to do. The drawer below our bedroom closet, which I use for t-shirts, was broken again. The rear support for the track on the right side broke. This happened before, a few weeks into our travels. I made a temporary fix at that time. It seemed to be fine, so I didn’t get back to replacing the support. That wasn’t good. This time, when the right support broke, it twisted the left track.

I went to Ace Hardware on Grand Avenue in Pacific Beach. This is a good, old-fashioned hardware store in an old two-story building. I love stores like this. I found a new guide support for a few bucks, but they didn’t have the track in the size I needed.

I removed the left track and straightened it as best as I could. It wasn’t perfect, but I thought it would work. I installed the new support for the right side. This time, I mounted it with three screws instead of two. Hopefully, this will make it a little more solid and prevent it from breaking again. I reassembled everything and the drawer is working fine.

While I was out and about, I stopped at Vons grocery store. We needed bottled water. While I was there, I picked up a 3-liter box of Cabernet Sauvignon for Donna. She likes the Black Box brand. While I was in the wine and liquor aisle, I spotted Makers Mark bourbon on sale for $17.99. This is stupid cheap, so I bought a bottle.

At 4pm, our new friends, Bob and Sini picked us up in their vintage GMC Jimmy. We drove down to a place on Hancock near Washington Street. We went to Fifty Seven Degrees/Brew Project. This is a wine and beer bar that is co-owned by Bob and Sini’s son, Beau. It’s not your usual pub. They offer a huge wine selection and also personal wine storage lockers for customers (thus, the name Fifty Seven Degrees). They also have craft beer on tap from 31 San Diego County breweries. They hold special events with gourmet food. They also cater and host corporate events in their large building. Last night, a couple of private parties were going on.

I started with a sampler flight of IPAs. We watched the sun set over Point Loma. High clouds appeared in the late afternoon and made a spectacular sunset. We sat at the bar and talked while we enjoyed the beer and food. We had pulled pork sliders, chicken sliders, bruschetta  and a cheese plate. The food was outstanding, all of it made fresh in house.

Some of the beers on tap at Fifty Seven Degrees/Brew Project

Bob is a retired fireman from Edmonds, Washington. Like me, he was able to retire at the age of 56. He and Sini are on their second extended road trip. The first time was a couple of years ago. They hit the road for nine months, circumnavigating the country. They put 13,000 miles on their coach on that trip and another 8,000 miles taking side trips on their Harley. They still own their home in Edmonds, but now they’ve leased it out to tenants for 18 months. At the end of the lease, they may return home or they might sell the home to the tenants and stay on the road.

Sini is from Holland. Donna and Sini were engaged in conversation while Bob and I got to know each other. We talked for a few hours. Bob told me tales of travel in Europe, Dubai and South Africa. In all of these places, he was able to find fellow Harley riders and rent or borrow a bike to tour around. Our conversation turned and Bob told me about how he came to San Diego and helped Beau build the Brew Project bar.

Bob, Sini, Donna and our bartender, Sara

Having more than thirty taps at the bar is a real feat. The kegs are in an insulated storage container behind the building. The lines bringing the beer to the bar are long and need to  be kept cold all the way. If the lines weren’t refrigerated, the beer coming from the tap would be room temperature. Beau took us to the source in the container outside. It had about 50 kegs in it and a complicated manifold system that allows the kegs to be completely emptied. Most systems waste the last six or eight glasses of beer. I don’t fully understand this sophisticated system. I took a few pictures. Maybe you can make sense of it.

The manifold system routing beer to the taps

Kegs from local breweries in the refrigerated, insulated storage container

This afternoon, I’ll take Donna to her sister, Sheila’s house. Donna will stay there overnight to watch her nephew, Connor, while Sheila is away. I’ll come back home and watch the Chargers play the Broncos on TV.

Tomorrow I have to be up early for an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. I’m having problems with my right hand. It’s a condition called trigger finger. When I close my right hand, the ring finger locks in a bent position. I have to pull it, then it pops and straightens with some pain. I’m hoping a corticosteroid injection will relieve it. I had this happen before on the middle finger of my left hand. Injections didn’t help at that time and surgery was required.

I might not post tomorrow, depending on how things go at the doctor’s office.

Ocean Beach (OB) is a San Diego community on the coast, about seven miles northwest of downtown. The community occupies approximately one square mile north of Point Loma. It’s bordered on the north by the San Diego River estuary, separating it from Mission Beach. The Pacific Ocean borders the west. Interstate 8 starts (or ends) near the coast at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard in Ocean Beach and runs to Casa Grande, Arizona where it joins Interstate 10.

The history of OB goes back to the 1880s. Plans for development were made, but they stalled due to the difficult travel from downtown San Diego. When the Point Loma Railroad was built in 1909, development of OB became viable. By 1910, there were about 100 houses there.

In 1966, OB hosted the World Surfing Championship. It’s still a favorite beach for surfers. Also in 1966, the Ocean Beach Municipal Pier was built. It’s the longest concrete pier on the west coast at 1,971 feet. The pier is open to the public 24 hours a day. There’s a bait shop and restaurant on the pier. We like the restaurant. It’s a fun place to eat with a great view. I posted photos I took from the pier here.

By the early 70s, when I first started going to OB, it was known as a hippie counter-culture hangout. The main drag was Newport Avenue which was home to many small businesses and restaurants. One of the shops there was called The Black. It was one of the first “head shops.” The Strand Theater was located there. In the late 70s, the Strand had midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Fridays and Saturdays. To this day, the community supports local small business and opposes chain stores and restaurants.

OB still hangs on to its counter-culture reputation. There are a number of festivals held there, including a jazz festival at the foot of Newport Avenue in September and a kite festival in March. On Wednesday afternoons, two blocks of Newport Avenue are closed to traffic for a farmer’s market. The north end of the OB waterfront is known as Dog Beach. It is open 24 hours a day for dogs free of leashes.

On Mondays, I scooter Donna to her piano lessons in Ocean Beach. After I drop her off, I walk along Newport Avenue and check out the shops. Last Monday, I bought a book for two dollars at a shop that sells used books, CDs, DVDs and clothing. I also stopped at Chase Bank to make a deposit.

The bank was busy and I had to wait in line for a teller. The customers in the bank were quite diverse – from the young hippie looking girl with ripped jeans at the front of the line to the businessman in a suit to the older man directly in front of me.

The guy in front of me had that hippie burn-out look. This may not be a fair characterization, but he reminded me of Tommy Chong as Leo in That 70s Show. When his turn came at the teller, he was standing about three feet in front of me. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help overhearing him.

He asked the teller to give him his account balances. She printed a ticket for him. He looked at it and said, “This only shows one account.” She told him that  she wrote the other balance at the bottom. He looked at the ticket and said, “What is this? It says one-one-nine, is that a dollar nineteen?’ She told him it was one hundred nineteen. Then he asked, “What is this six oh four in front of it?” She told him it was 604 thousand. He said, “Oh…so the balance is $604,119 then.”  She said, “Yes.” He said, “Okay…good…thank you.”

It was the most improbable exchange. First of all, the guy didn’t look like he had any money. Then, he seemed completely unaware of how much money he had in the bank. He shifted from a dollar nineteen to $604,119 without any reaction. He turned and walked out of the bank.

It proves the adage “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Judging someone by their appearance can be very misleading.

Later this afternoon, we’ll be going to the San Diego Brew Project at Mission Brewery with our neighbors, Bob and Sini. They’re from Edmonds, Washington and are full-time RVers. Their son, Beau, is co-owner of the Brew Project which is a pub with over 30 local brews on tap. The Mission Brewery building overlooks the airport and San Diego Bay. We plan to be there in time to view the sunset, sample a couple of beers and have dinner.