Day Eight – Oceanside & Camp Pendleton

Standard | Posted on March 10, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Since we went to bed around 8:30pm last night, we thought it would be OK to get up at 6:30am this morning. Actually, my bladder thought that would be a good idea. So I did. Besides, I’d been in bed long enough by then.

Diane got up shortly thereafter and started right out talking to me which is unusual because I’m normally not allowed to converse with her for the first couple of hours in the morning. That’s not entirely true … I’m not allowed to talk to her if she just gets up early to use the bathroom with the intention of returning to bed, no matter what time it is. She says if I do, “her head turns on” and she can’t go back to sleep. So I have to work on zipping it, which is difficult for me to do.

The big event of the day was going to the swap meet at Oceanside. We were originally going to the Spring Valley Swap Meet, but thought we would avoid driving long distance and go to the local one.

For those of you not versed in the construction of California, Oceanside is a Marine town located outside Camp Pendleton. The swap meet we went to is held at an old drive in theater that still has four huge screens standing. It’s obvious they are no longer used, but it’s kinda cool. Diane and I used to take the kids to drive ins when we lived in Long Beach many, many, many years ago. I think Jennie was 9 then. Jeff was 12.
Anyway, turns out that Saturday is a slow day for the swap meet and that Sunday is when things are really happening. Most of what was on sale were tools and clothes, and lots of stuff from China. It was fun to walk around and look at all the stuff and we actually bought a few things. This is Diane’s coop de grace:

This is something we’ll get years of use from, I’m sure. She was delighted, as you can see.

From the swap meet Diane chose the route and we immediately found a “Yard Sale” sight that was just around the corner. We stopped and visited with the guys who seemed to be working the sale and wound up buying a couple of beach chairs for $5. They are classics and will work well with our new umbrella, sitting outside our old Winnebago.

From the yard sale, we went back to the I-5 freeway and headed North for about 30 seconds to the main gate at Camp Pendleton. With our brand new base decal the guard waved us right on through, not even looking at our ID cards. The Navy base will not let us in with looking at IDs. What’s with that? I guess it’s because everyone on Camp Pendleton is armed and dangerous so they are too worried about random scary people.

Our first stop was for gas. On base it’s $4.40 a gallon. Nice. That fill up will last us until Las Vegas. After getting gas, we went to the Commissary to look around and to get some milk and butter … and ice cream … and candy bars. We may have gotten something else, but those were the important items. The Marine commissary is much nice than the Navy’s. Nice big wide aisles, well marked, lots and lots of checkers. And, nice people all over. We enjoyed our little stop there very much.

I was on the base numerous years ago, like in the 60s, when my cousin Brad was stationed there. That’s Gene’s brother. And Kathie’s Uncle. Brad was a Marine Corps Major at the time, and was in charge of base security, as I recall. He gave me a tour of the base and I was amazed at how huge it is and how much open space there was. There’s still lots of open space, but there are many more structures now, and more going up. It’s littered with little strip-like malls with all manner of wares. Nothing like the bases I grew up on during my Navy days. It was pretty incredible. I took this picture as we were driving off the base …

Not a very good picture, but maybe it’ll give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

When leaving the base, the I-5 Freeway is right there in front of you … North to Los Angeles, South to San Diego. We noticed as we drove over the freeway, to head south, that pretty much everyone in California was heading that direction so the freeway was like a colorful glacier … pretty to look at but not fun to be on. So, we struggled through a 1/4 mile of it and bailed off to take the back streets back to the condo. Along the way we passed Tamarack Avenue, for about the eleventieth time, and thought of Nancy again, as we did every time we passed it this trip, so I took a picture to show her just how far her little St. Helens street really goes. Here it is …

When we got back to the condo we ate soup. I’m truly sorry that I didn’t take a picture for you. It was very good. We had cheese & crackers with it. Once that was done we sat down and read our books for hours. Then I took a short nap and Brian called me right after I woke up. Perfect timing. Brian, you may, or may not, recall, is one of my old shipmates. We talked for a couple of hours telling each other sea stories about our respective careers, and remembering the time we spent together aboard DD-808 during our WestPac Cruise in 1965. He remembers a lot more than I do. He must be younger. I didn’t ask. Now I’m going to quit.

Day Seven – Lots of Dead Shrimp !

Standard | Posted on March 9, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

OK, so I didn’t take a picture of the shrimp I ate, but I did get this one after that when we drove around on the Naval Base …

That’s the USS Peleliu (LHA-5). It was in the same amphibious group as the USS Cleveland and we deployed with her numerous times to the Western Pacific in the 1980s. I believe that she is now the oldest active amphibious ship in service since the USS Cleveland was decommissioned last September. I took pictures of some destroyers, too, but don’t know if you are all cleared to see them.

Now, let’s back up a little … we got up at a reasonable hour this morning and headed back down to San Diego with the intent of getting a smog check so we could get a base sticker for the car. Complicating this was the fact that we had an appointment with Chuck, and his bride Vonnie, at the old Chief’s club at 32nd Street. You may recall that this is where we had prime rib last Wednesday. Today it was dead fish and dead shrimp, and shrimp & chicken pancit. Pancit is noodles. Very good stuff. There was peel and eat shrimp, too. I ate way more than I should have and will probably pay the price when my right big toe breaks out in a terminal case of gout. It won’t really matter since everything from my hip down on the right side hurts. So, a sore big toe is really no big deal. I already limp on that side. I’m not complaining, mind you. I’m just stating facts.

We were able to get the smog check done ($40) but it almost made us late for our rendezvous with Chuck & Vonnie. They had already been through the line and were just sitting down when we sauntered into the joint. We had a great visit and Chuck is going to give us a hand with the September reunion. I’ll have to introduce him to Brian, who also is helping.

After a great visit and lunch, we went to the 32nd Street pass and ID office for our base sticker. I got in line and stood there for about half an hour before someone came out and said their computer system had just crashed and they couldn’t issue decals, just passes. So, I took the pass I already had, went back to the car and “ordered” Diane to take us to the Naval Air Station to see if we could get a decal there. It was a nice ride over the Coronado Bridge, and Diane took the order quite nicely. We quickly got the decal and a nice young lady in uniform, a Seabee from Tennessee, stuck it to our windshield. We won’t need to get another one until 2016.

It turned out that President Carter was at the Hotel Del Coronado today riding a Trikke. Perhaps you saw it on the news. Probably not because it was a local “thing”. I guess he used to live on Coronado a long time ago. That’s just really nice to know, isn’t it?

After we left Coronado we went back to the Naval Base so Diane could shop. No amount of whining and crying on my part would redirect her efforts. So, of course, I went along. The fact that she was driving had nothing to do with the fact that I had to go with her. I could have gotten out any time I wanted to. Really. I could have. She may have even stopped to pick me up and take me to a hospital. Maybe not.

Once done shopping, and confident that the rush hour was at it’s peak, we headed back north to Carlsbad on I-5. Most of the traffic during that time is going South, so it’s really not too bad. We arrived in time for another ho-hum sunset.

Day Six – Carlsbad & Nothing Else

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

No picture for today because we didn’t do much. Just lounged around in our jammies until afternoon. Ate breakfast around 1000 and the maids visited us to clean at that time so we visited with them while we ate. It was a joyous event. I ate four eggs and about nine pieces of bacon and a pound or two of potatoes. It made me extremely full. I wouldn’t have voluntarily eaten that much but Diane’s back in the mode where I have to eat whatever she doesn’t want, even after she’s taken it all by herself. Being an extremely good husband I, of course, do what she tells me even if it means I will probably never, ever, be able to wear my 36″ waist pants again. Ever. So, while we were out we dropped by a local Goodwill and got me another pair of 38″ jeans. Now I won’t have to run around in my underwear any more.

Most of our time outside today was spent along the Carlsbad and Oceanside seaside. While traipsing around one of the yacht basins we stopped at a little coffee shop to pay way to much for some of the worst coffee we’ve probably ever had in our entire lives. In the lingo of the land, it was pretty gnarly. I drank mine out of spite, but Diane couldn’t finish hers. Thankfully, that’s the one thing, today, that she didn’t make me finish. Thank goodness. I’d’ve never made it through two of them.

Tomorrow we’re going back to San Diego for another lunch buffet. Seafood this time, and we’re meeting with another DD-808 shipmate to do it.

Tonight is going to be a challenge because our new next door neighbors are young, very noisy, and spend a lot of time on their balcony, going in and out of a very noisy sliding patio door. If they don’t drop the noise level in the next 20 minutes (2200) I’ll have to take my life in my hands and go bang on their door to ask for a little peace and quiet. Either that, or take my sleepy meds.

Day Five – 32nd Street Naval Base San Diego

Standard | Posted on March 7, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

This is me and Brian. He and I were shipmates on the USS Dennis J. Buckley (DD-808) in 1965. This ship was in the first squadron that was deployed to the Western Pacific specifically for the Viet Nam War. It was the first US ship to conduct NFGS (naval gun fire support) missions during this War. Our first NGFS mission required us to sail up the Saigon River, something we could only o at high tide. This means once in, we had to stay there until the next high tide. The entire time we were in this situation, the gunners shot their 5″ 38 caliber guns at targets provided by an army spotter plane. The Veterans Administration cannot confirm that we ever sailed up the river, making us part of the “Brown Water Navy”, and subject to Agent Orange exposure, because they report they cannot locate the deck logs for that ship during that time. Kinda odd, huh? This is significant because it means they will not allow any claims for agent orange exposure for anyone in that crew for the entire time we were there.

Okay … enough sad sacking.

Diane and I spent a wonderful day with Brian. We ate lunch at the old Naval Base CPO Club. The CPO stands for Chief Petty Officer, which Brian and both were. Now the CPO Club is a catering facility, but is open for a buffet lunch every week day. All you can eat for $11.95 a person. Sure beats the casinos. Today we had prime rib and it was really good. That’s what they have every Wednesday. We’re going back for Friday’s crab & shrimp buffet and I’ll take pictures.

The old Club is an elaborate venue which will serve us well for DD-808’s reunion this coming September. That’s one of the reasons Diane and are in the area, to set up lodging and food for the masses we expect to attend that gala affair. Now all we have to do is figure out a tour for them. I suggested to Diane that we should buy all these old guys trolly passes, get them on the train, and see how many of them can get back to the reunion. She said I probably wouldn’t make it back, and she wouldn’t go with me if I was leading. Now do you wonder why I have absolutely no confidence in my abilities to do pretty much anything? No respect at all … well earned, I might add,.

We stayed on the base, fiddling around in the exchange (that’s a big store) until we were sure everyone else in San Diego was on the freeway. We timed it just right and managed to make the 35 mile, 45 minute trip see like 35 mile, 55 minute trip. And Diane refused to use the car pool lane, staying in the 3rd fastest out there. That amazed me. She usually goes about a zillion miles an hour, or as close to it as she can. She’ll deny that, of course, and I don’t blame her. I would too.

We made it “home” without mishap and immediately put on our jammies, turned on all the TVs, and had a snack. I ate dead shrimp and Diane ate dead chicken pieces. Then we had Haagen Das ice cream bars (little ones), now we’re going to have apple fritter things from Costco. Then I’m going to take a bath. Diane said I smell funny. Plus, she thinks it will help my right leg which I think is atrophying … it’s getting harder to use it all the time. And it hurts. I know. I’m whining again, aren’t I?

I didn’t mention that we got home just in time for sunset. It was pretty ho hum, don’t you think?

Winter in Carlsbad

Standard | Posted on March 6, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

I just finished about three hours of typing today’s entry when, ZAP!, it all just disappeared. It was a really good one, too. But, I’m not going to try to redo it because I’m a little bummed.

It included everything that happened today, in vivid detail, and I was trying to end it with a photo of dinner when things went bad.

In a nutshell, today was cold compared to yesterday. Hence the title. Had to wear a jacket all day and it was overcast. I think I mentioned that the local weathermen decided there was a one-day cold front in the area, but the rest of our stay will be nice and sunny.

We went to San Diego which is a 35 mile, 45 minute trip.

I got a new military ID card and a base pass for the car. While I was doing that Diane got the oil changed in the car, gassed it up, did some shopping and returned to park in the furthest space away from where I was. It was planned, I’m sure.

We returned to the condo and cooked dinner and just rested. I rested so much I fell asleep.

Now it’s time for bed. We hope for sun tomorrow.

Day Three – Carlsbad, CA

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Day Three
March 5, 2012
Our brief stay in Fresno ended at 0915 this morning. It was then we raced to our vehicle and headed on down the freeway. I won the race so got to drive first. I drove for almost 3 hours. During that time I only scared Diane twice, and she only got mad at me once. That’s a modern day record for three hours.

Bad coffee at Hampton Inn & Suites continued to be the norm so we started a search for Starbucks a little north of Bakersfield. We didn’t find one until we reached Lebec. That’s where Highway 99 and I-5 become one. There was a McDonalds located conveniently next to the Starbucks so we decided to eat a meal to get us through Los Angeles. This meal reminded us why we typically do not eat at McDonalds because the quality of their food, compared with pretty much any other fast food joint, sucks. Bad as it was, we deemed ourselves fortunate to have discovered sustenance, though we didn’t really need it. As we were finishing, the place filled up with customers, then a bus load of girls in really short shorts stopped and they all came in adding to the growing noise level. As a result, Diane made me ditch the last three french fries and the last two bites of my terrible 1/4 Pounder so we could leave. I didn’t deem the loss to be a big sacrifice. Once in the car, she made me throw away my drink cup as there wouldn’t be room for both it and my Starbucks drink. Meekly I complied, though I had a large number of sips remaining.

After we obtained our marriage-saving caffeinated beverages, Diane assumed the drivers position and we leaped into the southbound traffic toward Los angeles. Diane suggested that we should have filled the tank, but I reminded her that we made a decision that we weren’t going to spend any less on gas than we have to. It’s bound to be much more expensive on the other side of the Grape Vine.

Speaking of the Grape Vine … there was still a trace of snow up there and the temperature was 72. Admittedly, the snow was a few hundred feet higher than we were, so it was surely colder where it was.

By 1230 the caffeine kicked in for Diane and she was a very pleasant person to be near the rest of the day. It helped that she knew she wasn’t going to have to drive but a couple of hours because of the sacrifice I made with the donation of my three hours behind the wheel, dodging trucks.

We arrived at our destination at 1500, pretty much on the dot. For you non military folks, that’s 3pm. We needed food and, as luck would have it, there’s a COSTCO about a mile away. So, that was our first visit after getting our “stuff” to the condo.

We are on the top floor and this is the sight that greeted us upon our return from shopping. Not lot to say after this …

Day Two – Fresno

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

04 March, 2012

Day Two.
The weather is brutal and I don’t know if we can take it much longer. The sun is beating down relentlessly causing blindness at times, making us fear for our lives as we dodge the continuous stream of trucks. The blindness was on Diane’s side of the vehicle because she forgot to bring her sunglasses. They were left in the PT because that’s the last vehicle she drove when the sun was shining at home. Now we’ll have to visit COSTCO to get another pair because we know they have the kind that fit her glasses perfectly. I don’t need sun glasses because when the sun shines in my eyes I just squint real hard.

I drove the first 2 hours and got us almost to Shasta Lake before our urinary tracts began to influence our decisions. That was partly caused by the need to stop in Weed. We hit a “Black Butte Coffee” drive through and got our favorite beverages. Very tasty.
The rest area we stopped at was a new on on our list. We were sure we’d stopped at every rest area on I-5, both directions, over the years we’ve been driving this highway, but never the south bound unit at Shasta Lake. We’ve seen some significant improvements at all the others we’ve visited in the past. I’ve often thought that we should write a guide book with details about all the rest stops on the highways we’ve driven. For the ones we haven’t been to, I could just make stuff up and get pictures off the internet to substantiate my false claims.

I’ve discovered that my hip doesn’t hurt nearly as bad when I don’t wear pants in the car. That’s a guess, of course, because Diane makes me wear pants in the car whether I want to or not. What I did was undo my belt. That relieved the pain so much that I can only assume taking my pants off would only be better. I was thinking that I may never know, but the temperature is 66, at 11:30 am, so I might just yank on a pair of shorts for the ride tomorrow. Actually, I’ll yank on the only pair of shorts I have. Maybe I’ll wear my swimming suit, then I can eliminate underwear, too. Diane refused to take a picture so I could show everyone how comfortable I am so you’ll just have to let your minds wander around a little. Maybe we’ll run into each other in there.

At 1:30 pm the speedometer was fixing to rotate to 50700 miles and decided to each a mini lunch to commemorate this historic milestone. That meant we were 600 miles from home and only about 10 miles from Sacramento. I’d call Sacramento Kathie but it’s Sunday and she’s probably home now. But, we’ll have and holler when we drive through town, just the same.

Lunch consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. We had the bread but the peanut butter and jelly were snitched from our last motel by Diane. I was afraid they were going to call the police, but she smooth-talked them out of it claiming she has a rare disease that makes it imperative that she has fresh peanut butter handy at all times. In a pinch she can spread it on the back of her hands, like lotion, and the important nutrients will soak into her skin. What she didn’t tell them is that later in the day she lets me like it off. There’s more to that, but it’s not what you think. Perhaps I’ll forget I’m not supposed to tell you and reveal that secret.

Agnus successfully tiptoed us through Sacramento from I-5 to Highway 99 at 2:10pm. At that time, Diane said she could only drive another 62 miles on the remaining gas, but Agnus reported that we still have 155 miles to go to Fresno. It’s very possible that we’ll be stranded on the Highway for hours waiting for AAA to show up with some gas to get us to the next gas station. We’ll no doubt burn to a crisp because the temperature is 77 degrees. We feared we were doomed! Then, right out of the blue, a gas station showed up. It was at COSTCO!! How lucky was that? We spent $77.95 for 19.017 gallons of gas. That’s $4.099 a gallon. We also bought Diane a new pair of clip on sun glasses. Now she’s happy and not quit so cranky and a lot less likely to be blinded by the intense sun.

We made it to our hotel in Fresno around 5:25 pm. We would have been there sooner, perhaps by 5:15, had Diane listened to Agnus, but nooooo, she listened to me. You’ think she would learn, wouldn’t you?

After we checked in we drove across the street to Chili’s and had a very filling dinner served by a so-so waiter named Matt. Then it was back to our room and sleep.

See you tomorrow.

California Bound …

Standard | Posted on March 3, 2012 by Jerrie Cate

Well, here we go again.

We finally achieved escape velocity to leave our orbit around St. Helens and are now on our way to Medford, Oregon. The plan was to leave home at noon and we made it out that door around 1:45, right on time. In case you don’t have a map handy, Medford is pretty close to California’s northern border with the much prettier state of Oregon. It normally takes five hours to get there, but it took Diane 5 hours and 3 minutes. She lost the three minutes when she stopped for gas at the Seven Feathers Casino. That’s about 50-80 miles short of our destination, but it was a good choice

Diane’s real proud of me, she said so, because I didn’t rush her this morning, or get upset because it was taking so long to get gone. I admit, it was a severe struggle, but I did it. First time in 40 some years. I regret it’s taken me so long to have achieved such a calm point in my life. Sure makes things easier when Diane isn’t mad at me at the beginning of a long trip.

Another exciting thing, besides Diane not being mad at me, is that she only packed one (1, uno, ichi) suitcase. That meant less trips to the car for loading, and less trips at each stop to unload. That can only mean that packing extra suitcases all these years is directly related to her being mad at me for encouraging her to move along a little faster. I will never encourage her to do that again. Besides the benefit of hauling around less luggage, it’s a lot less stressful.

In preparation for this trip Diane made me vacuum her car yesterday. So, I got two Avon boxes and totally emptied it. One box was for all the “stuff” in bins and on the floor. I filled it. The other box was for the glove box. It was only half full. Diane’s job was to decide what went back in the car. She did a good job and I told her so. It’s not often that I get to assign her tasks.

It was sunny and clear most of the way. Got up to 62 degrees for a long time. An absolutely beautiful Oregon day.

We got into our room by 7 pm. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn’t do evening food on weekends so we had to fend for ourselves with apples and cheese.

Diane has to get a good nights sleep tonight because she has 400 miles to drive tomorrow. That will be Fresno. She has to drive all the way because I pulled a leg muscle with all that sitting today. Actually, that’s a lie. My hip and leg hurt a lot most of the time but I don’t know why because my doctor hasn’t told me. Diane said I have to make an appointment so she can do that. That’s probably not a bad idea. For now, I’ll be taking lots of ibuprofen. Lots of it.

I gotta tell you about last night … as soon as I remember what happened … oh ya, it’s about the dogs. I always take them out before we go to bed with the hope none of them will find it necessary to get creative with their need for facilities. I may have mentioned that we’ve seen coyotes in the field, but they’ve always been on the other side of the fence. Last night there was one in our side yard no doubt looking for an Ozzie snack. He was apparently hanging out by the grapes. The big dogs didn’t see it at first, and neither did I. When they did, however, both the big dogs just launched after it without making a sound. Very eerie. The coyote ran by within 30 feet of me, but doubt he saw me because our two big dogs were hot on his tail. I figured they wouldn’t be back for hours, but they returned within 10 minutes. That really surprised me. Hopefully it surprised the coyote enough that it will tell its friends that they shouldn’t mess with the big dogs at our house.

We have a cat, now, too. It lives outside in a kennel I put out for her because it was cold. She would really like to move inside, but Ziva would as soon eat her as not. They’ve visited a number of times and Ziva really wants to play, but the cat isn’t familiar with how that works so slaps and hisses at her. Makes close encounters pretty exciting.

Now I’m going to watch the rest of the Blazer game.