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Ocean Beach

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.

Turning Up the Heat

Organisms, both plant and animal, have the ability to adapt to changes in their environment. Changes such as adaptation to altitude or temperature are well-documented. Many mammals shed fur in warm seasons and grow thicker fur in cold seasons.

Human acclimatization is interesting. Last winter, in Michigan, I would have considered a December day with the temperature approaching 60 degrees a shirtsleeve day. No need for a jacket in that weather! One year later, after spending the last few months in a warm climate, 60 degrees feels cold.

You can tell who’s a local Californian and who’s a tourist at this time of year by how they’re dressed. To the locals, this is winter and they dress the part. We see people wearing winter coats and boots, hats and scarves and know immediately that they’re warm weather people. We see other people wearing shorts when the temperature is in the low 60s and we know immediately that they’re visiting from a colder climate. I’ll let you guess which camp we fall into these days.

The weather here over the past week has been five to ten degrees colder than average. Yesterday the thermometer struggled to reach 60. The overnight lows have dipped into the 40s a few times. We’ve been running a ceramic space heater in the coach. This keeps the overnight temperature in the coach in the low 60s. We sleep comfortably at that temperature under a down comforter. Yesterday, Donna fired up the furnace for a short time to bring the coach temperature up before she showered.

The long range forecast is favorable. We will have daytime highs in the upper 60s and 70s over the next eight days. It will still cool quickly after sundown, but I’m not going to complain. This acclimatization phenomenon would make it difficult for me to spend a day in the north now, unless I could grow a fur coat.

Lying Low

I haven’t posted for a few days. Sitting in the same RV park for three months makes it difficult to come up with new posts sometimes. I had another issue over the weekend that kept me from sitting at my computer.

Friday we had another visit from the UPS driver. Donna asked for Uggs for Christmas. Her feet have been cold. Santa came early as I ordered the Uggs from Zappos and had them shipped overnight. Two other packages were delivered as well. I was surprised to see the creeper and mechanics stool I ordered from Sears. They offered free shipping and the order arrived in one day!

I stacked the boxes from Sears on the scooter and took them to the trailer. It wasn’t piled as high as the last time I did this, but Donna took a picture this time.

Transporting goods on the scooter

Saturday was a rainy, blustery day. We had showers off and on all day. I spent most of the day inside our coach. At one point, after I’d been sitting at my computer for awhile, I stood up and had a back spasm. This resulted in severe pain in my lower back. I could hardly move about. I made myself as comfortable as I could.

Donna cooked spiced pork tenderloin with maple chipotle sauce for dinner. She served it with acorn squash and roasted cauliflower. I was never a big fan of squash or cauliflower, but now I really like both. It must have something to do with the way Donna prepares it.

Spiced pork tenderloin with maple chipotle sauce

After dinner, we watched an old movie that we like – Captain Ron. It’s a comedy starring Kurt Russell and Martin Short.

Since we arrived in San Diego, I’ve had a few people tell me that I look like Walter White, the lead character in the series Breaking Bad. Neither of us had ever seen the program. Donna ordered the first season (2008) from NetFlix. We are hooked and have already ordered more episodes.

Yesterday my back problems continued. I tried to stretch a little and walk it off. It wasn’t any better. I decided to lie low and rest my back. If I laid on my back and bent my knees, I had some relief. I spent the day watching football. Some interesting games yesterday. Detroit played in a snow bowl in Philadelphia! The New York Giants came to San Diego where the skies were clear. San Diego played really well and won 37-14. Seven of nine San Diego possessions resulted in scoring drives.

Today, my back is much better. I might go for a bike ride later. We’re making plans for our exit from San Diego. We’ve booked a week at the Hidden Shores RV Resort. This is a true RV resort with a large clubhouse, restaurant, heated swimming pool and Jacuzzi on site. It’s located near the Imperial Dam on the Arizona side of the Colorado River, just north of Yuma. It was recommended by my old friend, Debbie Taylor-Bednarski. She and her husband, Bruce, have an RV parked there. We’ll arrive on Friday the 27th and stay there until Thursday, January 2nd. Debbie, Bruce and possibly her sister, Kim and her husband Pat, will be there. From there, we are undecided at this point.

Price Club

Every town has colorful stories to tell. San Diego has more than it’s share. It was a great place to grow up in the 60s and 70s.

When my family moved to San Diego in 1969, I remember shopping at a large department store called Fedmart. Fedmart was a membership discount store. Members were government employees that paid two dollars annually for a family membership.

If I remember correctly, at that time there was a Fedmart store on Balboa Avenue east of Genessee. There was another store off Rosecrans Street. The founder of this membership operation was a local San Diego attorney and businessman, Sol Price. He started the business in the 1950s and grew it to a $350 million, 40-store business 21 years later.

In 1975, German retailer Hugo Mann, bought two-thirds of the company. Less than a year later, they fired Sol Price. I have vague recollections of this happening. I remember the news (or maybe it was a newspaper) stating that Sol Price had a new plan and would bring Fedmart to its knees. He was 60 years old and starting over.

His plan wasn’t really all that different from the Fedmart business model. He bought a large warehouse in a low-rent location. He stocked it with thousands of items, not the tens of thousands found in large department stores. It was the original big box store. He negotiated quantity discounts from wholesalers on the items he stocked. He didn’t advertise and he kept his expenses low.

His new operation was a membership discount store. Members paid a small annual fee to join and benefited from Price’s ability to buy in bulk at low cost. The new store was called Price Club. The first store to open was at 4605 Morena Boulevard, only a couple of miles away from my home. It was converted from a corrugated steel manufacturing plant once owned by Howard Hughes.

This concept worked and Price Club grew quickly. Sol Price paid his employees well and demanded excellent service from them. The stores were always crowded, but the lines at checkout moved quickly. Within seven years, Fedmart was out of business.

By 1992, Price Club had 94 locations and revenue over $6.5 billion.

Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club said, “I guess I’ve stolen – I actually prefer the word ‘borrowed’ – as many ideas from Sol Price as from anybody else in the business.”

In 1993 Price Club, merged with rival Costco. For a short time, it was known as PriceCostco, and then, in 1997, it became Costco Wholesale Corporation. The store is still there on Morena Boulevard, near Jutland Drive. Now it’s known as Costco Warehouse #401.

Sol Price died December 14, 2009 in his La Jolla home. He was 93 years old and a well-regarded philanthropist.

Today, I think I’ll go to Costco #401 and replenish our coffee supply with a couple of boxes of K-cups for our Keurig brewing system.

Tool Time

The past week here at Mission Bay RV Resort was interesting. Last week, the park began to fill up. By Thanksgiving Day, the park was nearly full. There were more RVs and kids in the park than we’ve seen since we first arrived here September 20th.

I had no idea so many people would spend Thanksgiving with their families in an RV park. On one side of our site, a family of four moved in with a travel trailer. The two kids were elementary school age. They bicycled every day together around the area. They smoked a turkey over charcoal in a Weber grill on Thanksgiving Day.

On the other side of our site was another trailer. It was occupied by an older couple with their dogs. They erected a wire enclosure around their site so they could let the dogs out without worry of them running off. The park was mostly occupied by families and it seems like they all brought dogs. The mornings were noisier than usual.

Last Saturday, people began packing up and pulling out. By Sunday evening, the park was nearly empty. We have four open sites on either side of our coach now. The sites behind us and directly in front of us are empty. There are more people leaving the park than arriving. Those who arrive seem to be using the park as a stopping point in their travels and only stay one night.

We’re beginning to plan our exit. Nothing is cast in stone, but we may move out of here on the 21st and stay somewhere else in the area until the 26th. Then we’ll head east and spend some time on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.

Yesterday I cut the drawer liners for my tool box to size and installed them. Once that task was completed, I started organizing my tools. I took a few pictures showing my handy work from the day before.

The wheel chock for the scooter front wheel

Tie down fixture for the scooter

Toolbox and tie downs

Plastic chair sliders screwed to the floor to hold the tool box in place

Drawer lined and tools in place

I have about 10% of the tools that I had prior to the theft. I have the basics covered. If I need special tools down the road, I’ll buy them as needed. My insurance claim is settled. The insurance reimbursed approximately 64% of the dollar value of our loss.

Read your policy carefully and pay attention to the definitions. In our case, replacement cost didn’t mean what it costs to buy a new trailer. It’s a hypothetical replacement cost. What the adjuster did was call a few trailer dealers and describe our trailer. Then he asked them how much they would sell it for. Of course, the trailer dealers say they would have to sell it for less than the new trailers they sell. They establish a hypothetical price and that’s the replacement value. It doesn’t matter that the hypothetical trailer doesn’t exist. They pay that amount, even though I couldn’t find a six- month old trailer in excellent condition for that price if I tried. I’m just glad the insurance hassle is over. It was a real learning experience.

I heard a few rain drops overnight. This morning is partly cloudy and cool. I don’t expect the temperature to be much over 60 today. Low pressure to the northeast of us has the jet stream dipping down to southern California, bringing cool air from Alaska. This is likely to continue through the weekend before we warm up again next week.

Today I’ll run a few errands. Donna has a lunch meeting with her sister, Sheila, to discuss a brochure for her business. I plan to set up my amp and practice guitar this afternoon. Donna likes that idea because she’s planning to do some hoopdancing.

Family and Friends

Being able to spend time with family and friends over the holidays is such a treat. One of the great benefits of a nomadic way of life is the ability to live where we want, when we want.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving at Donna’s sister, Sheila’s house. The plan was for me to take my daughter, Shauna’s car up to Sun City to pick up my step-dad, Ken. Plans always have a way of changing. Ken called me first thing Thursday morning and told me he picked up some kind of bug and was sick. He didn’t want to come to a house full of people and possibly infect others. He assured us that he would be fine.

When I told Shauna she didn’t need to drop her car off, she told me she realized her roommate, Brittany didn’t have family in the area and had nowhere to go. I told her to bring Brittany along. We would go to Sheila’s around 1pm. Shauna and Brittany are attending law school at Cal Western. They have finals coming up, so they used the extra time Thursday morning to study.

Two beautiful law students, Brittany on the left, Shauna on the right

We arrived at Sheila’s house a little after 1pm. Donna’s other sister, Linda and her husband Tom where there. They flew in from Vermont the night before. Tom and I watched football while the girls sat outside. Sheila’s son, Connor provided entertainment for the girls. He’s nine years old and into James Bond. He was dressed for the part.

Connor practicing archery in his California James Bond outfit (check the footwear)

We snacked, talked and watched the game. The smoked trout pate Donna made was outstanding. Sheila’s friend, Dr. Jeff Sandler joined us. Dinner was planned for some time after 4pm. Again, plans have a way of changing. The turkey wasn’t cooperating – it took much longer than anticipated to cook.

Later, Sheila’s friend Ann joined us. She brought the potatoes. We had two tables set up to seat 10 people. Dinner was served around 7:30pm. We took turns stating what we are thankful for and enjoyed the meal. As usual, we all stuffed ourselves.

Shauna, Brittany and Donna at the front table

Connor, Donna, Sheila and Jeff

Yesterday, as predicted, we had a change in the weather. I knew it was coming by the ache in my right shoulder. I had surgery for a fractured glenoid and torn labrum in my right shoulder years ago after an accident. The orthopedic surgeon told me I would be a weather man – an ache in my shoulder means a front is approaching. The day was overcast and dreary with occasional showers. It didn’t rain hard though. The thermometer was stuck at 64 degrees.

Linda and Tom

Donna rented a car from Enterprise for the weekend. She took me to the Embarcadero where I met Tom, Linda and Connor at the Midway Museum. I wrote about the Midway before. It’s a a navy aircraft carrier built in 1945. It was used in Vietnam. Pilots from the Midway shot down the first Russian MIG fighter plane there in 1965. They also shot down the last MIG of that conflict in 1973. It was operational through 1992 and served in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm. In 1992, it was decommissioned in San Diego.

Today, it serves as a naval museum. The carrier is 1,001 feet long and 258 feet wide. It carried a crew of 4,500 sailors. We spent three hours walking through the hangar deck and down through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th decks which are referred to as a city at sea. The logistics of caring for 4,500 people working at sea are staggering. I gained respect for the work the sailors perform.

We finished up our tour on the flight deck. We dodged a shower or two and walked the length of the deck. They had various airplanes from different eras on display. I had to take a picture of an A4 Skyhawk. I worked on an A4 squadron in the Marines in 1975.

A4 Skyhawk

Flight deck

The island on the deck

The area called the island on the flight deck houses the bridge, ready room, captain and admirals quarters.

From the flight deck, I saw an active aircraft carrier across San Diego Bay at the North Island Navy base. It was the Nimitz class nuclear powered CVN 76, Ronald Reagan.

Aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan

Three hours of walking up and down steps and ladders was enough for us, although we only saw about half of the museum. As large as the Midway was, it was dwarfed by a cruise ship docked at the pier to the north. This cruise ship was called Golden Princess.

Cruise ship Golden Princess

Late last night, Donna’s brother, Mark and his wife, Miriam, flew into San Diego. They are returning to Philadelphia from a vacation in Hawaii and will spend a few days here. Today, we’ll all get together on Coronado Island for lunch. Tomorrow, Mark, Tom and I will go to the San Diego Chargers versus Cincinnati Bengals game.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all of you a happy Thanksgiving! Donna and I have so much to be thankful for. We appreciate our good health, family and friends. Our lifestyle on the road has allowed us to visit our families and make new friends along the way.

The weather continues to be fantastic here. The days are clear and warm to about 70 degrees in the afternoon. After sunset, it quickly cools to the lower 60s. Mornings are high 50s and lower 60s. It’s 61 degrees as I type at 9am.

Tuesday I rode the scooter up to University Town Center. This is a large shopping mall east of La Jolla near UC San Diego. I went to Sears and looked at tool sets and tool boxes. After I returned home, I went online to Sears.com and ordered some tools and a tool chest. This way I don’t have to find a way to haul the heavy tools – they ship for free via UPS right to our site.

I took the scenic route home, along the coast. I stopped in Pacific Beach at the farmer’s market on Bayard Street. Every Tuesday, they close Bayard between Garnet and Grand Avenue and set up the market on the street. They had lots of fresh produce and locally made jams, jellies, salsas and other sauces. There was also fresh seafood.

Pacific Beach farmer’s market

I sent a text to Donna asking if I should buy anything. She didn’t get my message – she was working at her laptop outside while her phone was on the table inside. So I looked, but didn’t buy anything. It was a good thing – our refrigerator is full.

Yesterday we were up early…well, early for me. Donna set her alarm for 7am. We needed to be out at 8:10am to scooter over to Shelter Island. We joined Emily and Mark Fagan at their sailboat, Groovy, at the Kona Kai marina. They were moving their boat to a marina at Harbor Island where their yacht broker is located. They have their Hunter 44 sailboat up for sale. We came along to enjoy the ride and lend a helping hand. The slip at the Harbor Island marina was narrow. Mark and I manned opposite sides of the boat and kept the hull from hitting the pier. Actually, Emily didn’t need much help as she expertly reversed the 44-foot sailboat into place.

We enjoyed a nice ride across San Diego Bay. Along the way we saw an amazing sight. Two women in a Zodiac boat were training a dolphin in the open water. We think this was a US Navy Marine Mammal exercise. The dolphin would dive, then leap into the air. After repeating this performance a couple of times, it swam next to the Zodiac. The women would stroke and pet the dolphin and give it a fish treat. Then the performance would start over again. Google “US Navy Marine Mammal” for more information.

I managed to catch the dolphin in mid-air with my phone camera

We had a great time enjoying the boat ride and visiting with Emily and Mark. We plan to have them for dinner one night before they leave and look forward to meeting up again down the road after they return to the full-time RV lifestyle. They have a blog with excellent photography and well written posts at roadslesstraveled.us. They’ve spent the last three and a half years cruising the coast of Mexico in Groovy.

As we cruised along Shelter Island, Emily pointed out boats moored near the shore. People live aboard these boats. Living aboard a boat full-time is a challenging feat.

Boats moored along Shelter Island

Emily secures Groovy in the boat slip

Donna poses next to Groovy

After we returned, I rode the scooter to Trader Joe’s for some last-minute items Donna needed to prepare appetizers for our Thanksgiving meal. She’s making roasted garlic white bean dip and smoked trout pate. We’ll take them to her sister, Sheila’s house where we’ll celebrate Thanksgiving today.

Cloudless sunset over Mission Bay last night

On the Border

Yesterday we had a few more rain showers in the morning. Donna drove to her exercise class in Shauna’s car. When Donna returned, I drove to the salvage yard (Copart) in Otay Mesa. Copart is located on Airway Road, about half a mile from the Mexican border.

In the Copart office, I presented my driver’s license and trailer registration. I told them my insurance adjuster told me to inspect the trailer, document damage and retrieve any contents that may be in the trailer. They looked up my information, then issued me an orange safety vest and told me to wait for an escort.

About 10 minutes later, a woman walked me out of the office into the yard. It was a large facility with hundreds of motorcycles and cars – mostly wrecks that had been declared total losses. A few of the vehicles impounded were recovered thefts, like my trailer. Insurance companies contract with Copart to store and eventually dispose of the vehicles. Many of the totaled cars and motorcycles go to Mexico.

While I was there, I saw a few people come to retrieve personal belongings from vehicles. They didn’t allow the people to walk through the storage yard to the car. What they did was interesting. The person wanting something from their totaled car would wait outside behind the office. A huge forklift would go to the vehicle, pick it up and drop it behind the office. Once the items were taken from the car, the forklift would take the vehicle back to the yard. They didn’t do this with me – I was escorted through the yard to my trailer.

As we walked through the large yard, I saw a commercial jet landing to the south. I asked the girl if that was the Tijuana Airport. She said it was. On the mesa south of the airport, I could see the Tijuana neighborhoods, Insurgentes and Lomas Taurinas. The Tijuana-Tecate Highway runs along the Mexican side of the border beside the airport. It’s a different world just half a mile from where I was standing.

We found my trailer. I started with a walkaround inspection. I found several signs of abuse. Both tires had sidewall scrapes indicating that they had rubbed against curbs. The jack near the coupler was bent from scraping the pavement. The bottom of the right rear corner of the trailer had also scraped against the pavement. My guess is the thieves hooked up the trailer and made a hasty exit. In their haste, they didn’t raise the jack all the way. They probably went through a dip or down a driveway too fast and scraped both the jack and the rear of the trailer. I took photos of the damage.

I unlocked the side door and entered the trailer. When the trailer was parked, I didn’t have everything in it tied down. I was using the trailer as a garage. As I accessed tools and whatnot, I wasn’t worried about securing the load. Before we hit the road, I would organize and tie down or strap everything. When the thieves pulled out with the trailer, loose items inside bashed around. There was damage to the interior walls. A few items were left behind by the thieves, but nothing of great value – a few books and papers, rags, a couple of tie down straps. The best thing left behind was the wheel chock for the scooter.

The people at Copart told me I couldn’t take the wheel chock because it was bolted to the floor. I argued that it wasn’t part of the trailer, it was an accessory that I added. We went back to the office and they called the insurance adjuster. She told them I could take the wheel chock since I hadn’t claimed it as contents and it didn’t come with the trailer.

Removing the wheel chock was a real chore. I didn’t have the proper tools (I’m missing my tool cabinet already). I made do with a screwdriver and pliers. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to remove it.

I took photos of all of the damage. I will e-mail them to the insurance adjuster, then we’ll discuss next steps.

After I returned, Donna took the car to go shopping at Trader Joe’s and Buffalo Exchange, a consignment shop that she wrote about in her book, How to De-clutter and Make Money Now, but had never visited in person. I showered and got ready for the evening’s festivities. I had reserved a table for 10 people at the Offshore Tavern and Grill. Jim Birditt was in town and hadn’t seen many of our old friends for years. We got together and had drinks, appetizers and lots of laughs. Gary Stemple, his sister Holly Strand, Mark and Judy Fredin, Carole Bringas and of course, Donna and I showed up. It was great fun. We missed a couple of people who we hoped to see there, but were unable to attend. Donna was our designated driver.

Donna, Mark Fredin, Gary Stemple, Jim Birditt, Holly, Judy Fredin at Offshore Tavern and Grill

Carole, Donna, Mark, Gary, Jim, Holly and Judy at Offshore Tavern and Grill

Mark, me, Gary and Jim

Carole, me and Jim

Today the weather looks better – partly cloudy and the temperature should reach the mid to upper 60s. I’ll return Shauna’s car. Other than that, I have nothing planned.

Same Casino, Different Day

I haven’t posted for a few days due to travel. We had to leave the park on Wednesday as we hit the 30-day limit. I wrote about the 30-day regulation here. I usually get a lot of the preparation for travel done the day before we leave, but it was a little different this time.

On Tuesday, Donna and I rode the scooter to the Brigantine restaurant on Shelter Island Drive. We joined Emily and Mark Fagan for lunch there. It was Taco Tuesday, so naturally we all ordered tacos for lunch. We lingered at our table for an hour and a half, enjoying the company and conversation. Maybe I should say conversations – the last half hour was two distinct conversations. Mark and I talking about guitars and RVs while Donna and Emily we talking about the writing world and working on the road.

When you drive onto Shelter Island, you enter a world of exclusivity. There are the yacht clubs and marinas with high-dollar boats. Expensive cars are found in the parking lots there. The Brigantine at lunch time is no exception. I took a couple of quick snapshots of a Ferrari F355 and a V10 powered Audi R8.

Ferrari F355

Audi R8

When we returned to our home, it was filled with aroma of Carribean Chicken Curry cooking in the crockpot. Donna prepared it in the morning and it cooked all day. We moved our bicycles into the trailer and I prepared few things for travel.

Carribean Chicken Curry

Donna had her exercise class Wednesday morning, so I couldn’t stow the scooter until she returned. Since she would be away for a couple of hours, I used that time to pack things away. I moved our chairs and a few other outdoor items to the trailer. I stowed the Weber barbeque grill and stand. I waited until Donna returned and showered, then I dumped and flushed the tanks and put the hoses away. We needed to check out by noon and just made it.

We decided to return to Sycuan Casino near El Cajon. Last time, it was so easy. We rolled in and a security guard took our information and directed us to a large, empty parking lot. We ate dinner and breakfast there last time and thought the restaurant was good. Free parking, security and good food – how could we go wrong?

This time the experience was a little different. We parked in the same upper lot which was empty once again. But this time I was told to take my driver’s license and registration to the security office. They wanted to confirm who owns the RV – it seems they’ve had a few stolen vehicles end up in their lot.

At the security office, we were issued a parking pass to display in our windshield. We were also told that the expectation was for us to be “actively gaming” in the casino, not just using the place as an RV park. Fair enough. We aren’t interested in the gambling, but we spent money in the casino restaurants.

Our restaurant experience wasn’t the same as last time either. I ordered kung pao chicken while Donna ordered a beef and bean burrito, which was one of the specials of the day. When my food arrived, I took a couple of bites, then told Donna it wasn’t like any kung pao I’d had before. There weren’t any peanuts or dried chilis and the sauce was wrong. When the waiter came by, I asked him if this was kung pao. First he said yes, then upon closer inspection said, “Hmm…what did they do in the kitchen?” He took my plate and returned a few minutes later with a plate of kung pao chicken.

The meal was mediocre at best. An hour later, I wasn’t feeling too well and my stomach was rumbling all afternoon. We had a late dinner, as I felt bloated and didn’t have much appetite until about 8pm. Donna whipped up a pantry plate. Pantry plates are meals she prepares with whatever we have on hand and doesn’t get too fancy. In this case, we had Trader Joe’s mini chicken tacos from the freezer with mashed avocado and salsa on a bed of greens.

Mini chicken tacos

It rained overnight. In the morning, we decided to give the casino restaurant another shot for breakfast. Donna ordered the same as she did last time – an egg white omelet with portobello and spinach and I had a machaca plate. Once again, it was mediocre food, but there was lots of it! I think when we reach the end of this 30-day stint, we’ll find someplace else to do our 24-hour shuffle.

After breakfast at Sycuan Casino, we had to dodge a few rain showers before we walked back to the coach. We hit a few raindrops on the way to Mission Bay. We checked in to Mission Bay RV Resort yesterday at noon. We were given site 88.

I hooked up the water, power and sewer. Then I retrieved the scooter from the trailer. Walking to the trailer, I got soaked from a sudden downpour. We had raindrops off and on all afternoon and overnight.

I needed to go to the Offshore Tavern and Grill to make sure we were set to have a gathering of about a dozen people Friday evening. I set up a reunion for my friend, Jim Birditt, with a lot of our old pals. I was preparing to ride the scooter over there and hoping I wouldn’t get rained on when Jim called me. He wanted to stop by and go out for a beer. Perfect! He picked me up in his dad’s truck and we went to Offshore. We’re all set to have our meetup there.

Last night Donna made tilapia with cilantro-walnut pesto for dinner. It was outstanding. We prefer to grill dinner, but with the rain she cooked it on the stove.

Tilapia with cilantro-walnut pesto

This morning we have more rain. I borrowed my daughter’s car for the day. I need to drive down to Otay Mesa, about an hour from here, to inspect the recovered trailer. The insurance company admitted that their inspector didn’t know anything about trailers and didn’t have a clue of what to look for, except for obvious sheet metal damage.

Insurance Claim Issues

The stolen trailer insurance saga continues. When I was surprised by a phone call from a San Diego Police officer on Saturday, November 8th informing me that my trailer was found, I wondered what would happen.

I’d purchased a new trailer the week before. Why did I shop for a new trailer one week after the theft? Well, I had a couple of reasons to do this. My main motivation was to be sure I had a way to transport our scooter and bicycles. We can only stay here in Mission Bay RV Resort for 30 days at a time, then we have to leave for at least 24 hours. I had three weeks to find, purchase and prepare a new trailer before we had to leave.

The other reason was availability. If I didn’t find the trailer I wanted, it would take a few weeks to order and receive one from the factory. I also didn’t believe the stolen trailer would ever be recovered – I thought it was probably in Mexico. The officer who took the theft report thought that was likely. So when I found a trailer that I liked, I purchased it. Otherwise, it might or might not be be available a week or two later.

The police towed my stolen trailer to an impound yard in Kearny Mesa, about 8 miles from here. When I spoke with the insurance adjuster, she told me not to do anything as she would deal with the impound yard. It turns out that she had the trailer moved to another salvage yard called Copart in Otay Mesa. This is about an hour away from here, ironically near the Mexican border.

Yesterday she phoned and told me the trailer had been inspected and she just received the inspection report. She said the report described the condition of the trailer as excellent. I asked for more details, such as whether any contents were in the trailer. She said she didn’t think the inspector entered the trailer.

Really? The inspector writes a report claiming excellent condition but he didn’t look inside? What is the condition of the interior walls? Was the wheel chock I bolted to the floor for the scooter still there or was it ripped from the floor? What about the coupler where they cut off the lock, was there any damage there? How about the jack, was it scraped through a dip or over a curb? I doubt if the thieves drove away gently with the trailer.

She told me the report she received only had pictures of the outside walls and rear ramp. She would get more information and get back to me today. Here’s the problem. If Progressive says the trailer is in excellent shape, they will tell me to come and get my trailer. No damage, no claim. Having two trailers is a problem I didn’t anticipate. I’ll let you know what happens from here.

I went for a bike ride yesterday. I decided to do something different. I rode across Clairemont Drive from Mission Bay and got on Morena Boulevard. I rode north past Costco and turned up the hill at Jutland Drive. What was I thinking? This hill is very steep, much steeper than I wanted to climb. Half way up I caved in. I had to stop and catch my breath while my heart rate dropped to a more reasonable level. After a few minutes, I resumed the climb and made it. I won’t be riding up that road again.

I cruised through the old neighborhood. I made a stop at Cadman Park. The trees are bigger and there’s a new ball field, otherwise it was still familiar. I rode down the hill through Bay Ho back to Morena Boulevard where I enjoyed a tailwind back to Mission Bay.

Today, Donna and I are going to the Brigantine restaurant in Point Loma to have lunch with Emily and Mark Fagan. It’s Taco Tuesday there.

Flying The Koop

…from real estate to wheel estate and back again

Category Archives: Uncategorized

Ocean Beach

Turning Up the Heat

Lying Low

Price Club

Tool Time

Family and Friends

Happy Thanksgiving

On the Border

Same Casino, Different Day

Insurance Claim Issues

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