Today was Max’s Day out at the beach. He’s been a really good little critter and he’s been limited to multiple walks each day, but he needed a place to run. So, we chose Fiesta Island which is in the middle of Mission Bay. Not a place you’d think was devoted to a large dog park. Actually, an enormous dog park. Not a lot of grass but considering that hundreds of dogs visit this place every day, Max didn’t run much because he was focused on smelling each and every spot where a dog peed, crapped, or walked on. Consequently, we moved around very slowly and there was no concern that he would run off.

Then we finally got to the water of the bay. Things changed. He loves the water and was kind of conflicted about whether to run in the water or keep on smelling everything in slow motion.

He made a snap decision and ran into the water and made a couple passes to ensure he was pretty well soaked. Then he got out of the water and ran through the loose sand to ensure he was well covered. Now is when you flash back to the part where he smells all the spots dogs ahead of him touched in some way. That happens on the sand, too. This results in a very smelly dog. Happy dog, yes, but very, very smelly.

In the end, he was well pleased with his day on the island. The ride back to the RV was long because it was late afternoon and not a good time to brave the San Diego freeways so we chose to navigate surface streets all the way. It took 1.5 hours to go 27 miles. But we got to meander through downtown San Diego, National City, Chula Vista, and Imperial Beach. The trip to the beach was all freeway and took about 35 minutes. Going over was tense all the way and the trip back was a joy. We got to see stuff.

Once ‘home’ I got Max outside and tethered to the back of the bus where I left him while I gathered stuff needed to cook dinner. Diane put the salmon filets in the fridge before we left so we were going to George Foreman them but, after all the work I went to get the cooker, she decided the filets weren’t thawed enough so they were relegated to tomorrow for lunch. Instead, I nuked what was left of the chicken & dumplings we had a few days ago, and yesterday. It was the third trip for that feast, and it was good. It made Max happy because he gets to lick the bowls, and he loves chicken.

Then, after dinner, Max needed a walk so that I could give him a shower. He really smells good when we’re done, and he gets really excited when I’m drying him. When I let him out of the bathroom, he runs a race all over the place, going just as fast as he can. It’s really hilarious.

Then I took a proper shower to get Max’s shampoo off of me. I know, I should have just smeared it around a bit and rinsed myself, right? But I’m not that fond of Hartz Mountain dog shampoo. I like my Dove stuff.

It’s after 2200 now so time to get ready for bed. See you tomorrow.

Yes, it’s autumn already. Seems like that just happened 10-12 months ago, right? This one is different. Mostly, it marked our third week tethered to a 50-amp source with a constant view of the bay, and our fourth week on the road. We’re poised on a moment where we will soon be setting a record for being away from home. The current record is 4 weeks when we cruised the Panama Canal a couple years ago. Or was that last year? I forget, but that’s OK.

To celebrate the day we chose to not do anything that required effort. Well, Diane did. My days are structured around how simple I can make them without sweating or running out of breath. So, we watched movies and football games. And ate stuff.

Since we didn’t do anything, I have no pictures to commemorate the day, so here’s a random one of Max enjoying a neck scratch moment.

Happy End of Summer to all of you. Time to get out all your warm clothes and get busy with Autumn.

Max’s eyeball is clearing up nicely, so I don’t think we have to worry about him going blind any time soon. Actually, never thought that would happen but you just never know. Diane was a little concerned last night that he hadn’t eaten his lunch, but I assured her it was OK because while visiting Ray and Tiffany down the way, he ate Poncho’s bowl of rice and chicken. So, he was well fed. He had permission, too.

I’m sitting on our patio, near the water, wondering what’s in store for us today. Diane hasn’t told me what the plans are so I’m just going to wait and see.

We have new neighbors, Carrie and Jeff who live in Escondido and visit here when they can. Jeff was a Seal Team member and is disabled. We talked a little about the goings on we witnessed in the bay since arriving here and he confirmed our beliefs what’s going on with the Teams. At the mention of all the gunfire we hear from the beach he surmised it must be Hell Week. It’s pretty brutal.

When I got back to the RV, we took a trip to National City to the AT&T store to see about getting a hot spot for the rig. Got the information, but not the device, then visited Verizon to check it’s options. Same thing – just got info. Since I can’t seem to make a decision about this, perhaps we don’t really need one of those things.

Then we went to Costco and looked around a bit and left without spending even a penny. First time that’s ever happened. It was amazing. As an alternative, we went to a WalMart Super Store and got some cleaner to make the RV shiny again. Got some food to replace what’s gone missing, too. We also bought an entire dead chopped up chicken that had been baked in an oven thinking it would make a good dinner. That’s didn’t work out because we ate most of it before we got ‘home’. I got crumbs all over the place.

After we got home Diane found out that college football was on TV and decided to go visit her new favorite Goodwill store while I watched some of the games. The one that interested me most was the Oregon State vs. Perdue game, but it didn’t start until 1730. So, after watching a couple of other games it was just about time for the Oregon game and that’s when Diane returned. I must have napped a little because it didn’t seem like she was gone very long.

Oregon won.

Didn’t take any photos today so no new pics to share. But here’s an old one of Max with bed hair.

See you next Autumn.

I have in on good authority that seven swing states are likely going to be the deciding factor for who wins the presidential race this year. So, if you don’t live in one of those states, there’s no need for you to vote. We’ll kick back and let them duke it out for all those electoral votes.

Having ‘said’ that, I must admit that “swing states” puzzled me for a long time and, perhaps, they still do. I initially thought they were key states strategically located throughout the USA where quality school playground equipment is manufactured. If you check the link, you’ll see there is a bunch of ‘stuff’ available, most of which is very futuristic for this old guy. I grew up in an era where all we had was swings, slides, monkey bars, teeter-totters, and merry-go-rounds all of which limited the distance the daredevils had to fall to connect with the ground in astounding ways.

Turns out Swing States is about politics. Who knew that so few states could potentially decide who gets to be president next year. That would take a lot of pressure off folks like me, who reside on the left coast, who find out who the winners are before having a chance to even go vote. Seems to make voting irrelevant when you don’t live in one of those states, doesn’t it?

Even with all that background noise going on, I’m going to vote anyway. Just seems like the right thing to do. I might even help pick the winner.

See you at the polls.

This morning, Max and I got up and took a walk at 0715. Yesterday the helicopters, SH-60 Sea Hawks, were zooming all over the place making all kinds of noise. Mostly they were in transit to or from the Imperial Beach Outlying Landing Field which has been dubbed the Helicopter Capital of the World. For some reason, all of the SH-60’s that fly to and fro use the RV park as a guide to get them from one place to the other. They fly directly over us and they make a lot of noise. This isn’t a complaint, just a statement of fact. I call all the aircraft noise, and the sound of automatic weapon fire from the beach as the sound of freedom. What’s good about the noise is that they go quiet at 2200. They obviously know the rules of the park where noisy stuff is prohibited from 2200-0600 daily.

Yesterday there was one SH-60 hovering about 50-100 feet above the water directly across from us and it remained stationary as if there was a search for something.

You can see the prop wash below. Once in a while it would descend to about 10 feet off the water and hang there for a long time 15-20 minutes sometimes. Very risky because I’m pretty sure those things don’t float. Normally they would hover as you see in the photo for about 30-45 minutes at a time then break off make a wide circle to the left and come back to the same spot and do it again. There has been some debate about whether or not it’s the same CH-60 returning, or if they take turns doing this. It’s evidently some sort of training evolution but so far no one has offered an explanation about what. Since it’s all over water we chose to believe it’s associated with Seal Training.

Just before it got too dark to see what was going on, Diane watched as a swimmer was pulled into the chopper then flew away. Soon it returned, or was replaced, with another that dropped 3 swimmers into the bay. She never saw them retrieved before everybody went silent at 2200 so we can only assume that they had to make their way home on their own. We’ll never know.

This morning as I sat out with Max, scanning my surroundings, I heard the chatter of an automatic weapon. Looking around to find the source I spied a small boat, Seal’s no doubt, going left to right on the Naval Base side. The chatter wasn’t loud, but it was obvious to me it was originating from the boat. It was going very fast and was making fast 360 turns in the vicinity where the Helos were hovering yesterday. I have no idea if the events are related but could be. At this point it’s just, you know, interesting.

Later today Diane wants to visit the NAS North Island Commissary and get ‘some things for dinner.’ This is stuff I’ll have to cook so it’s OK if I tag along. Can’t take Max with us so I need to take him on a long walk.

See you later.

Visiting the commissary was like going back in time for us. It’s where we used to shop exclusively for food at many places we lived. The one at North Island is very close to the piers where the aircraft carriers tie up. At this time, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), and the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) are the only carriers in the area. Lots and lots of uniforms everywhere. Just like old times. The Nimitz is special for us because our grandson, Cedric, spent 5 years on it.

Before shopping, we visited the food court by the NEX where Diane had a Subway sandwich and I got Panda Express. Then, we got what we needed, and a lot more, and headed back to rescue Max from his boredom. I don’t really think he sleeps the entire time we leave him alone and he only gets bored when we’re with him and don’t throw things for him.

Tonight he got a surprise shower to erase the swamp smell he got from one of his romps in the bay. Last time, he just got wet then played in the loose hi-tide sand. Along with the smell, we think he picked up a dose of conjunctivitis.

Now we need to find a vet.

Diane did Laundry today. Three loads at the park laundry facilities and a couple loads at the on-board washer/dryer. This means I have to take another shower.

All we did today was just hang around the ‘house’, walk Max every once in a while, and eat. Life is simple.

I took some photos, too, and as I was fiddling with the laptop, all my recent photos magically appeared so I can now add them for you to see. All you need to do is go back to the old entries, starting with First Day and see if it makes sense.

Here are some I took today on Max’s last walk.

That title sounds menacing, but it really wasn’t. Mainly it was annoying and some of it was all because the GPS was leading us in circles. It’s a long story and I’m hesitant to get into it, but what the hey, I’ve got nothing but time. You have permission to stop reading this any time you wish. Just don’t tell me.

First, the morning was overcast when I got up and it made me wonder if there was going to be rain in the forecast. Since I don’t check the news when I get up, or listen to the radio, I didn’t have a clue about what the weather would be. Also, I didn’t really give a rip because weather isn’t one of my concerns while we’re parked here in our current paradise. Nope, it might be cloudy, but it’s neither too hot nor too cold. Just perfect.

By easily ignoring the morning weather we had one less problem to worry about. Not that there was anything else to worry about but, you know, you just never know what might happen. That meant we could go out today and do something different instead of just hang out in the RV. We’ve been here a week and it’s about time we got out and looked around a little. Right? Yes, we needed to look around the town in which we lived for a number of years in the 80’s.

We had 2 objectives when we left: 1) Get gas in the car. It’s been running on empty for a few days now and we don’t want to get stuck halfway across the San Diego Coronado Bay Bridge although it might have been pretty exciting: 2) We decided to have lunch at the Shake Shack. We ate at one of those in the Portland area with Maryssa, Matt, their baby Tommy, Bob, Steffani, Jennifer, Daniel, Cedric, Lydia, Jeran, Jasper, and Siah. Say that six time real fast. The food at that facility was very good so we thought we’d try it again. Diane found one in Old Town so that’s where we went first.

We found the Shake Shack easily because the GPS hadn’t decided to test us yet. Again, the food was very good. The only negative was the price – two simple cheeseburgers, one order of fries, one root beer and one chocolate shake for $35 and change. That seemed a little excessive but, heck, we’re on vacation so it’s Ok to splurge once in a while. I offered Max a french fry, but he refused. I’m pretty sure he was hoping for a hunk of hamburger instead.

When we were done eating, I programed by phone to take us to a local Chevron so we could top off the tank. This is where the GPS went crazy on us. It took us around in circles to the point where Diane was getting really upset until I realized that the station it was trying to get us to was on the MCRD base, but the GPS didn’t know where the main gate was. What fun. It was then that I reprogrammed it to take us to the closest Chevron it could find, and it took us there without error.

The station was pretty crowded when we arrived, but we managed to get near an unused hose. I started the process then was accosted by a young black man who had wandered across the street and stood about 10 feet from my back, as I worked, yelling obscenities about the “racist b**ch who owns the station.” He also proclaimed, over and over, that he was a “n*gg**. Since he was behind me, I ignored him as best I could and continued filling the tank. I could have terminated the process and just walked away, but I stuck it out until the hose clicked off at 14+ gallons and about $75. All that gas and a show, too.

When I put the hose up, I had to turn around to get into the car, so eye contact was unavoidable. It was brief and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it seemed to have been enough for this young man to terminate his tirade and walk away. I actually felt as though I dodged a bullet.

Back in the car Diane had already programed the GPS for the trip home and that’s where we went. It was determined, unanimously, that old town San Diego was far too peopley for us and nothing like we remembered from all those years ago.

Before entering the park, we stopped at the dog park situated just outside the gate. A young couple had two labradoodles, one black, one white. We waited until they left because we didn’t want repeat of the dog fight at the previous dog park. I explained our reason for waiting which was a good opener to conversation. We didn’t get names, but she is an emergency room nurse, and they own a townhome in Tucson, AZ which they offered to sell us. That was thoughtful, but since we didn’t get names, or numbers, it’s not likely to happen. Still, it was an interesting offer. Nice kids.

When Max had sniffed every corner, and blade of grass, we went back to the RV. Diane sat outside and read while I watched the last few minutes of the Chiefs and Bengals football game. It was an exciting game. Kansas won.

Now it’s late and time for me to brush my teeth and go to bed.