Tuesday was a much more typical day for us. The big item was to find a suitable place to house Ramsey while we split to La Jolla on Thursday to spend a long weekend with Donna, Rick, and their respective families---as a belated celebration of my birthday. The first place we went, the Jamul Veterinary Hospital (which has a dog “hotel” on the premises) was quite satisfactory.
We will drop Ramsey off Thursday morning, and pick him up Monday morning. If past is prologue, when we pick him up he will be exhausted from all the excitement of living with other dogs. He usually sleeps for several hours immediately after arriving home.
When we were here a few years ago, we found that one of the permanent residents (Bob Aton) was a dealer in Wilson antennas. That company, based in St. George, Utah, makes a variety of antennas that, among other things, improve the cell phone and wireless internet service in places like Pio Pico that are located in canyons or other places with weak signals. We have a small Wilson antenna we bought here, and were considering upgrading to a larger antenna now that we have a smart phone and a new computer. (The larger antenna is not compatible with a “dumb” phone. We don't know why.) When we arrived on Monday, we located Bob’s motor home (it had a Wilson advertisement on it) and planned to see him on Tuesday. On Tuesday, we could no longer find his rig. It turns out that he died last week, and they took down his Wilson sign Monday night. (His motor home is still here, but without the sign we didn‘t recognize it.) There is a memorial dinner scheduled for July 28, which we plan to attend.
For several years, I have been carrying around a portable satellite dish I bought (for a measly $10.00) from a fellow camper who could not figure out how to use it. (The connecting wires I had to attach to the dish cost five times what I paid for the dish.) I last used it in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 2010, when we were in a heavily treed park that made my rooftop dish useless. When we got the new trailer and some new DirecTV equipment in 2011, I learned that the portable dish was no longer compatible.
Nevertheless, I have continued to carry it around. On Tuesday, I decided it was time to get rid of it. I asked Ken, the ranger at the gate, where the “free table” was. That’s the place people put stuff they no longer use but do not want to throw away; anyone who wants the discarded items take them for free. The ranger told me where the free table was, then informed me (I thought, jokingly) that rangers get first dibs on anything headed for the free table. He asked what I had, and proceeded to relieve me of it without my having to bother dropping it off. Thank you, Ken.
Becky dropped Ramsey off Thursday morning and we headed for San Diego a little after noon. It was less than 40 mile to out first stop---the Costco very near the house we rented for the weekend. We loaded up on the usual essentials: wine, cheese, crackers, and grapes.
We met the owner (Michael Solis) at the house for our orientation at 2:30. The first of the gang (Donna, Meghan, and Emily) arrived about 4:30. Donna and Emily had driven from Park City (spending Wednesday night in Carlsbad) and they had just picked up Meghan at the San Diego airport. (She had flown in from Washington, D.C.)
Rick, Joell, Jake, and Beck arrived at about 5:00 (they had spent the previous week in and around southern California after flying in from Austin) and Donna picked up David at the San Diego airport at 5:30. (He had flown in from Ohio.) Becky cooked salmon for dinner. We had a few adult beverages and a lot of laughs, and all finally crashed at the end of a long day.
Friday was a varied day. A few of us spent some time in the jacuzzi,
some in the pool (after braving the two slides),
some watched a little TV or did crossword puzzles, Donna and Emily went for a two-hour walk, David took a 50-mile bike ride, and a few of us went to the beach for a brief time. At 6:00 we headed for dinner at the Cafe Coyote, an immensely popular Mexican restaurant in the "Old Town" area of San Diego.
My Sea Bass Vera Cruz was not very good, but the rest of the food was delicious, and the Flan was the best I have ever had. After dinner, we walked around the nearby historical park, which was ostensibly where San Diego was born. It was interesting and fun. When we got home, everyone immediately went to bed.
Saturday was our day to go to the San Diego Zoo. It’s world-famous and for a very good reason: It’s fabulous. The 11 of us (including Barbara Coad, who met us at the zoo) toured it for five hours, and were tired. We returned to the house and opened the bottles of pre-mixed Margaritas and started pouring them into the Margarita blender the kids gave us three years ago. Very refreshing!
Becky cajoled me into hopping onto one of the two waterslides the pool had. I am not a big fan of pools or slides, but it was fun---even though I scraped a knee going down the slide. I did it once, and immediately returned to the Margarita blender.
We tried a couple of sushi restaurants for dinner, but no one could take us because there were so many of us . So we gave up and ate at home---at the market on the way there, each person chose his own entree---mine was steak. Delicious.
Sunday morning, Rick and his crowd had to leave early to catch a plane back to Austin, so the remaining seven of us (again including Barbara) met for breakfast at The Cottage, a delightful, and very popular, restaurant in La Jolla. I had a delicious bowl of oatmeal.
We all then said our goodbyes and we headed back to Pio Pico, 39 miles away. We unloaded the truck, put everything back where it belonged, and hit the sack for a necessary nap. It had been a great three days.
Monday morning we were able to sleep in a little since Ramsey was not there to awaken us at the usual time---before 6:00AM. We leisurely headed for the dog hotel to pick him up. As hoped, he was glad to see us. They are doing some electrical upgrading here at the RV park, and we expected to have no power for a while, perhaps even when we returned with Ramsey. But we lucked out---so far---and we have been able to run the A/C to stay comfortable. (It’s going to be about 90 today.) After the weekend, we will welcome the opportunity to just relax for a while. It’s so exhausting having fun with the family.
Tuesday was a slow day. Becky went on a long walk with Ramsey up in the hills behind the RV park. As usual when they do that, the Border Patrol showed up to inquire whether Becky had seen anybody or anything unusual.
She had not. But Ramsey had seen a coyote that he thought was a friendly dog. Becky did not let them play together.
Wednesday was another slow day. Again, Becky took Ramsey for a long walk up in the hills, this time on non-Border Patrol property---above the other side of the RV park. 
She had not. But Ramsey had seen a coyote that he thought was a friendly dog. Becky did not let them play together.
The big event on Thursday was going to the Oakzanita Springs Thousand Trails Preserve. It’s only 39 miles from Pio Pico, up at 4,000 feet, and we’ve never been there before. We went to check it out for a possible future stay. That’s not going to happen. It’s very old, quite remote, with very narrow sites (all back-ins), very hilly, not many sites with sewer connections, and not pretty at all. It appeared that most of the campers were fairly permanent (never an attractive feature). We completed the trip by returning through El Cajon, where we stopped at U.S. Bank to pick up some currency for the several countries on our cruise next month. When we got back, we had lunch at the café on the RV park premises.
We’ve been threatening to try the café for some time. I had Fish & Chips and Becky had a BLT. They were very good and the portions were so big we had half for lunch and half for dinner. We must go back soon.
Friday, we took it a little easy (except for another of Becky’s two-hour walks with Ramsey up in the hills), with just a quick trip to nearby Chula Vista for some groceries and to pick up Stoker, a Redbox loser with Nicole Kidman. I didn’t even bother to watch it. Becky did, and regretted it.
We first went to the wrong Vons to pick up the DVD, and then our GPS took us to only a mile away from the correct Vons. Frustrating. We also tracked down Tom Chance, the guy on our RV park who is liquidating the inventory of Wilson antennas that belonged to the now-deceased Bob Aton, and we bought a new, much larger antenna for our cell phones.
We first went to the wrong Vons to pick up the DVD, and then our GPS took us to only a mile away from the correct Vons. Frustrating. We also tracked down Tom Chance, the guy on our RV park who is liquidating the inventory of Wilson antennas that belonged to the now-deceased Bob Aton, and we bought a new, much larger antenna for our cell phones.
Saturday, we dropped Ramsey off at his hotel in Jamul then headed for the Best Western Hotel in Escondido, where we checked into our room.
We had planned to meet Honoria Vivell and Richard Petrie there for a jaunt to Temecula for some wine tasting and dinner. They arrived on time and we piled into Honoria’s car for the leg to Temecula. We met up with Kathy Sage and Peter Shapiro at the Keyways Vineyard & Winery about 2:30 and settled in for some nice wine.
(We had last seen Kathy and Peter in Casa Grande a couple of months ago.) We then moved to the Leoness Cellars. The weather had been overcast all day, but suddenly the sky turned dark gray. While relaxing in the very nice patio there, and sipping some more wine, it started to sprinkle a little---just enough to be felt, but not enough to make us want to move. It was welcome relief from the heat of the past several weeks.
From Leoness, the six of us headed for the Thornton Winery for dinner.
We had planned to meet Honoria Vivell and Richard Petrie there for a jaunt to Temecula for some wine tasting and dinner. They arrived on time and we piled into Honoria’s car for the leg to Temecula. We met up with Kathy Sage and Peter Shapiro at the Keyways Vineyard & Winery about 2:30 and settled in for some nice wine.
(We had last seen Kathy and Peter in Casa Grande a couple of months ago.) We then moved to the Leoness Cellars. The weather had been overcast all day, but suddenly the sky turned dark gray. While relaxing in the very nice patio there, and sipping some more wine, it started to sprinkle a little---just enough to be felt, but not enough to make us want to move. It was welcome relief from the heat of the past several weeks.
From Leoness, the six of us headed for the Thornton Winery for dinner.
Thornton is a beautiful location with a very well-regarded restaurant. We all ordered our favorite items from their interesting menu. According to our server, Kyle, the menu was completely new that day. Whether it was the new menu or something else, everyone but me was unhappy with his meal. My Cioppino was delicious. It didn’t help, I suppose, that it took a very long time for us to get our food. Kyle volunteered that one of our dinners had fallen on the floor and everything had to be made again so the meals would all be ready at the same time.
We wrapped it up and headed back to Escondido, arriving just after 8:00. A long but very nice day had come to an end. We were asleep by the time our heads hit the pillows.
We wrapped it up and headed back to Escondido, arriving just after 8:00. A long but very nice day had come to an end. We were asleep by the time our heads hit the pillows.
Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (waffles) then returned the Redbox movie Becky had rented on Friday, and immediately headed for San Diego. We had 1:00 PM reservations to have lunch at the La Villa restaurant in Little Italy with Roberta Ruddy and her husband, Stephen Walde. We went early to see if we could spend some time at the USS Midway Museum. It is supposed to be the most-visited attraction in San Diego, and our visit there did not disprove that. The place was mobbed. It was also quite worth the trip.
We had only 1½ hours available so we asked for help on what to see. We were fascinated with the ship. It was commissioned in 1945 and actually played a major role as late as 1991 as the flagship for air operations in Desert Storm. It was decommissioned in 1992. It’s absolutely gigantic, but all the interior spaces are tiny---except where the admiral and captain hang out. Ignoring the fact that the spaces were for an Admiral and a Captain, it was explained that when the ship is in port, there needs to be room to entertain local dignitaries. At one point we rode in an elevator with an older gentleman had a slightly rumpled “USS Midway” cap on. It turned out he had served on the ship in 1947 and 1948. He was a neat old guy.
On the bar in the restaurant, I noticed a stack of copper mugs. I recognized them as having been popular in the '50s for holding a drink called a "Moscow Mule," a summer drink my parents liked for a while. The bartender said the drink was having a renaissance. I ordered one. It was delicious. 
We had only 1½ hours available so we asked for help on what to see. We were fascinated with the ship. It was commissioned in 1945 and actually played a major role as late as 1991 as the flagship for air operations in Desert Storm. It was decommissioned in 1992. It’s absolutely gigantic, but all the interior spaces are tiny---except where the admiral and captain hang out. Ignoring the fact that the spaces were for an Admiral and a Captain, it was explained that when the ship is in port, there needs to be room to entertain local dignitaries. At one point we rode in an elevator with an older gentleman had a slightly rumpled “USS Midway” cap on. It turned out he had served on the ship in 1947 and 1948. He was a neat old guy.
We met Roberta and Stephen on time, and had a very nice lunch. The odd thing was that we were the only patrons in the restaurant.
Normally, Sunday is a very busy day in Little Italy generally (and in La Villa, specifically) but either the overcast weather or the existence of Comic-Con in San Diego made the crowds very light in the whole Little Italy area. After lunch, we took a walk through the area, and ended up at a new hotel (the Porto Vista) with a drop dead view of the San Diego waterfront in the bar (The Glass Door) on the top floor.
The four of us had an adult beverage (I had another Moscow Mule; not as good as the first one---too much "bitters") and watched the world go by for a while. Delightful. Thus ended our exciting weekend, and we headed into the new week.
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