Las Vegas

Posted on April 6, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today’s schedule called for us to leave for Las Vegas at 0900 and we made it right on time, at 1000. Around noonish, we decided it might be a good time to eat something so I asked my iPad to find us an IHOP. She did, and we checked in to a really busy one in Perris, California. We had to wait for about 15-20 minutes, and pretty much every seat was full, all the time, so we were confident the food would be hot, and good. We weren’t disappointed. The silverware they delivered was even still warm from the dishwasher. We were definitely a minority in the facility, but that didn’t matter. Everyone was extremely friendly and made us reaffirm our desire to learn Spanish. Or Mexican. One of those.

After lunch we joined a plethora of vehicles and re-established our position on I-215 North. It was all going well then it all fell apart when I saw a huge bill board advising everyone to re-elect Sheriff Stan Sniff. It made my mind whirl with possibilities of other interesting names in public offices. Unfortunately I can’t remember any of them right now, but you have to admit it’s an interesting name for a sheriff. Kinda makes you wonder what his wife’s name is and what they named their kids. How about Scratch Ann? That’s not nice, I know, but how can your head not go that direction? I’m over it, now, and if I ever meet Mr. Sniff, I’ll apologize. Honest, I will. He won’t know why, but I’ll do it anyway.

In Riverside the temperature soared to 80 degrees, then went up a couple more in San Bernardino. Then we started climbing, gently, to over 4000 feet. The speed limit concerned Diane most of the way because there wasn’t a lot of guidance provided by the highway department. We encountered a number of warnings that the speed limit was dropping to 60, then 55, but getting back up to 70 was kind of left up to the individual drivers. Then, 20 miles down the road there might be a sign approving the speed everyone had been driving all that time. More like 75, even though there was a very large police presence on both sides of the freeway.

About 60 miles from our destination, we encountered the only, got that?, the only rest area open on the trip. There were others, of course, but every one of them was closed. Feeling blessed, we stopped, along with an abnormal number of Oriental folks, all of whom seemed to be smoking, because Diane was getting tired and her bladder was apparently full.

Diane was tired because the cross winds for most of the trip were not subtle, sometimes jerking us quite severely. It was reasonable that I take over driving responsibilities, although I’m not normally assigned that task.

Problems started just as soon as I put the Buick in ‘R’. There were 4-5 Oriental people standing behind the car talking, and taking photos of something. I waited, patiently, revving the engine, even whistling out the window at one point, but they wouldn’t move. Finally, Diane got out and made them aware of my desire to run over them, and they dispersed. Apparently, they were feeding birds.

Finally they moved, and I carefully made my way from the parking spot, and on to the freeway entrance. Diane told me she had been cruising at 74 most of the time, so I should set my sights on that speed. I did, and blended right in quite nicely. Shortly after doing that, we noticed the southbound lanes slowing down and it wasn’t long before all 3 lanes were cruising along at bruising 13 mph. We know it was 13 mph because Diane looked at Waze, who knows all that stuff. This continued for almost 20 miles. It was pretty amazing. We had to have passed thousands and thousands of cars. Let’s see, cars are about 18′ long and in this instance were about 3′ apart, so call it 21′. Now, 5280 divided by 21, times 3 for the lanes, and times 20 for the distance covered is 15085.7142857142858 cars. Considering that some of the vehicles were semi trucks, I figure I can round that up to an even 15,085 vehicles we passed during that time. That’s a lot of vehicles.

Finally, we hit the end and I could let it go. There was a point in time where my Oregon upbringing almost caused me to get off the freeway and get in line on the southbound side. Logic intervened, however, and kept me heading North, to LV. Diane isn’t aware of that brief impulse and I’m pretty sure it would have upset her a great deal had I acted on it.

We arrived at our destination, 121 Karen Avenue, Las Vegas. I got us checked in and everything moved to the room, while Diane parked the Buick. When she got to the rooms, we made supper. She baked both the potatoes we had and I made salad. Additionally, I heated up the one remaining chicken breast and ate it with my salad.

After eating, I went back to the Buick to get some things we missed on the first effort, and I stopped by the concierge to order up tickets for The Jersey Boys at the Paris. It’s the first show Diane thought she would like to see, so I got them. It is, incidentally, our anniversary trip.

Now I won’t have to buy a card.

Here in Vegas, by the way, it’s a stunning 57 degrees. Tomorrow it’s supposed to be 70.

Go UCONN, Women and Men.

The Last Sunset

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Just a quickie to share our last sunset in Oceanside. We extracted ourselves from the Final Four game (me) and our iPad (Diane) and trotted outside to watch the sun go down. It was about 60 degrees which isn’t really cold, but it really is a bit chilly, so I put on a long-sleeved shirt. I think Diane was wearing ear muffs but couldn’t tell because she had the hood up on her coat.

There are more people here now because, as Diane discovered, this week is Spring Break in California. Still, we noticed that although there are more people, it’s pretty calm. Lots of little kids playing in the sand. Just people having fun. It was a very nice sunset.

See …

The Beach, Rocks, Dead Chicken, and Seeds

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

This morning I woke up with a terrible back ache. Normally, it wouldn’t concern me, but this is the third morning in a row. Now I’m thinking it’s terminal. We have, however, been walking more than normal, so it may be as simple as that. Or, it could be that we’re sleeping in a queen bed that’s about the size of a double and we’re just not used to that. Maybe my back hurts because of the small bed makes me fearful of touching Diane at some point in the night so my body is just seizing up in self-defense. The latter is more probably so maybe it’s not terminal after all. It’s just fear expressing itself in new ways.

After all the knots worked themselves out, we took another nice long, slow walk down the beach picking up agates. That’s not a new activity for us because we pick up rocks everywhere we go. They aren’t, however, always agates.

Following are photos taken to document the day. The first one is a “selfie”, something we’ve done a few times. Diane found a nice flat boulder to sit on, so I joined her and captured the moment.

This is looking north up the beach from whence we came. Those of you in Oregon will notice a distinct difference between this beach and those at home. It gets better on the north side of the pier, but there are plenty of what I’d call river rock all over the beach. It’s not a place that’s very friendly to bare feet. It’s because of that, and other various reasons, that I wear my sneakers every time we leave the room.

On the way back down the sidewalk part of The Strand, we discovered many of these balancing acts. Some of them defy gravity and all are fun to view. Pretty tricky stuff.

This one is a photo of the park next to our current residence. It’s the building farthest to the left in the photo above the lady in the hat … on, snap! That’s Diane!
This is north of the pier. Lots of scrawny palm trees with little tops. That’s my lovely bride looking at the guy walking up the beach.

Here’s the beach end of the pier complex. The top part ends at South Pacific Street. The other side is headquarters for the Life Guards.

See … told ya.

After resting from the walk, we took a trip to Camp Pendleton for gas and chicken. Gas for the Buick, and chicken for our afternoon meal. On the way back, Diane mentioned our nutritious breakfast of toast and oatmeal, commenting that it doesn’t seem to stick with her like it used to. I suggested that, perhaps, the oatmeal might be from China because that’s what Chinese food does to pretty much everyone.

We got gas, and chicken, then did a pass through the MCX (Marine Corps Exchange), looking for things we didn’t need. I got a new shirt and a nice little pin for my Lions vest. Then it was back to the room so Diane could cook the chicken. She had stir fry on her mind.

While she cooked, I sat like a lump on the sofa waiting for her to beckon me for assistance, but she never did. I only offered once, knowing that inserting myself into her routine, unwanted, is not healthy. So, I just stayed in lump mode. When she was done, this is what my share of her efforts looked like. It was very tasty. I think I gained 8 pounds before quitting.

While eating we turned on the NCAA Final Four to watch UCONN Huskies and Florida Gators go to war. For most of the 1st half Florida pretty much stifled UCONN and the score was 16-4 at one point. Then UCONN staged a magnificent comeback to lead 23-20 at halftime. Now, with about 5.5 minutes to go, UCONN is up by 10 and seems to be cruising. But, there’s lots of time remaining and anything can happen. Florida is, after all, the favorite as 1st seed while lowly UCONN is the 7th seed underdog. I would have cheered for UCONN regardless of their seeding, but since they are the underdog it’s especially gratifying that they are doing well.

Now, I just have to ask … what the heck is it with “seeds” with regard to playoff rankings? I took that question to Bing and got a pretty good answer. It appears to have been started in the 1800’s with tennis tournaments where top rated players were scattered, seeded if you will, throughout the contestants to ensure they didn’t meet each other early in the competition. The terminology carried over to single elimination tournament play for the same reason and that’s why you see #1 playing #8 in the brackets.

If none of that makes sense to anyone, I’m sorry, but I don’t care. It’s the best I’ve got.

Go UCONN! They are playing for the NCAA Championship!

Fun In The Sun & Popcorn

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today was another relaxing one. We got up at our new normal time, 0730-ish, then fiddled around, drinking coffee and reading, until 1000-ish. At that time we decided it was time to eat so I got busy cooking. With permission, I decided it was time for eggs, bacon, fried potatoes and toast. As luck would have it, Diane baked two potatoes yesterday but we only ate one of them so we had one I could hack to pieces and fry them.

Before dismantling the potato, I got the bacon going so I’d have some grease in which to fry the potato. Diane may have preferred that I fry them in butter, or Crisco, but I didn’t want to. I was in charge. I did, however, fry the eggs in butter. That’s Diane’s choice. I, personally, prefer anything that needs to be fried to be fried in bacon grease. I even fry up sausage patties in bacon grease.

Breakfast was awesome, then Diane bundled up for our trip to Del Mar and the car show. Me? I wore shorts and a t-shirt. Admittedly, it was a brave thing to do because the breeze coming through the windows was a bit on the chilly side.

Having previously agreed that we would take a train to Solano Beach, then walk to the Del Mar Fairgrounds, we meticulously checked, and rechecked the schedule to ensure we knew what we were doing. You see, there are about four trains that ply the rails between LA and San Diego with many commuter stops along the way. Interestingly, though they whiz by within a few blocks of our temporary residence, they are not a distraction.

Armed with all this information, we set out for the Oceanside Transit Center, a fairly large complex from which we could exit the area on any of the trains, or busses. Once we arrived, we joined some other neophyte train riders to catch the 1228 train to Solano Beach. An attractive young transit policewoman loudly informed everyone that the next train for our chosen stop wasn’t until 1432, a three-hour wait. I had a brief education by the young lady who pointed out the error in my thinking process that led us to believe we had actually figured out how to read the complicated schedule.

At this point, Diane and I looked at each other, for the first time in days, and voiced our concern about having to wait for three hours for the planned trip to the custom car show. Then we started talking, another rare event, and learned that we were both victims of the dreaded GOTM syndrome. That’s the one where one of us agrees to do something they think the other one really wants to do, like in the story about The Gift Of The Magi. Remember that one? Well, turns out we both thought going to the custom car show because we thought the other person really wanted to attend the show. After talking about this for a while we came to the conclusion that neither of us really wanted to spend time indoors, walking around for hours looking at custom cars. We’ve seen lots of custom cars in the past so we determined that our time would be better spent walking around Oceanside’s back streets to see what we could see, so that’s what we did. We wandered, all the way north, almost to the far end of The Strand.

Then we had to walk all the way back. It was really a nice walk, however, and neither of us was hurting worse than normal at the finish line. Still, we found it necessary to rest for the remainder of the afternoon which turned chillier making our choice to stay inside a good one.

Later, I made some popcorn, for myself because Diane doesn’t eat it, and it brought up the merits of making good choices about which bowls to use. You see, one previous day I selected a bowl from the counter, dried it out, dumped my popcorn in it and plopped myself on the sofa. Diane said, “did you wash the bowl?” I replied, it was wet so I just dried it out. “You know, don’t you,” she asked, “that I soaked my feet in that bowl?” In no way intimidated, I responded, “yes, but you did it twice an I rinsed it between soaks.” She pointed out, “but, Jerrie! I cleaned the polish off my toes with acetone in that bowl!” Sniffing the bowl, I didn’t detect a hint of acetone, so figured all was good.

Although I didn’t look Directly at Diane, I know for a fact that she stared at me with furrowed brow for longer than normal, then went back to what she was doing.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to be OK, but one never knows, does one?

Now we’re just in a wait and see mode to discover if I come down with some sort of exotic athlete’s foot kind of thing in the back of my throat. On the off-chance I do, I’m reading about foot fungus medicine on-line to see if it’s a bad thing to ingest. Looks good, so far

DAV Thrift Store & Del Mar Hot Rod Show

Posted on April 3, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today, in the extremely bright sunshine, we walked to the DAV Thrift Store that resides on the Pacific Coast Highway, somewhere in Oceanside. I don’t know specifically ‘where’ in Oceanside, just that it’s south of us.

We embarked on this journey after breakfast so we were nourished, unlikely to faint away from the physical aspect of the endeavor. Had I known, at the time, that the one-way distance to our destination was 1.7 miles away, I may have given it a second thought.

To those of you who walk on a regular basis, that’s no big deal, right? Well, to me, a person who ‘talks’ about walking more than ‘doing’ it, 1.7 miles is a pretty good hike. Making it even worse, there was the trip home making it a whopping 3.4 miles! That’s a long ways. I know that one of the Nancy’s I know walks that far between snacks, and probably thinks I’m overreacting to the distance. Now I’ll admit that I wasn’t aware of the distance involved at the onset of this trek. Diane kept that a secret until we made it back to our abode.

Making it even more profound, was that I added at least another mile to that by leaving Diane to browse while I backtracked to an O’Reilly automotive store we passed on the way. I did that because I needed some R-134 refrigerant for the Buick. The A/C quit working right about the time we hit warmer weather on our way. This happened the last time we took a trip south, when the Buick was still under warranty, and nothing was found to be wrong. They just recharged the system and it worked fine. Until now. Now, considering that we don’t use the A/C during the winter, maybe it failed right away and we just didn’t know it.

So, thinking I knew the solution to the current problem, I went to O’Reilly’s to get the recharge kit. It cost over $53 which includes a $10 core charge for the can. After getting it, I walked back to the DVA place and entered the store just as Diane was checking out. She stuffed everything in the handle bag she thoughtfully brought to make it easier for me to carry. She just knew I would because I’m that kind of guy. I carry stuff for her. Open doors, too.

Then we started the journey back to the condo. About half way Diane’s knee started acting up so I had to carry her. It was necessary to stop frequently so she could rest because holding the bag made her arm tired. And, though the front of me is soft a cushy, my back is still bony and uncomfortable for her to ride on. She’s never been one to take piggy back ride so I’ve never really felt a need to concentrate on developing a fat back. After today, I find it necessary to rethink that.

Once back in our room, Diane started working on lunch. I was allowed to help by making the salad. I regret not taking a photo, but eating it was more importing than documenting it at the time. She broiled an enormous steak, cooked some asparagus, and baked a couple of potatoes. It was totally awesome! I, of course, was forced to eat everything that Diane couldn’t consume. That’s a large factor in my development of a cushy front side. I’ve had to do that our entire married life. I’ve been very well fed because I had to do that for the kids, too.

Now it’s late, the laundry is done, folded and put away, and we’re just sitting around eating candy and drinking wine

Life is pretty good.

Tomorrow the plan is to seek out the Del Mar Fairgrounds to wander amongst a reported 2500 custom vehicles built before 1972. I guess it’s a big deal so we’re going to find out. We actually got a little sample of what will be there during out walk from downtown. Just as we neared our destination, we heard the unmistakable rumbling of some modified engines and turned to see a line of about 30 customs coming up the street. We watched, they all waved at us, and we waved back. They drove past our facility, took a left at the stop sign, then turned left on “S The Strand”. Apparently this is a fun thing to do and we got to see them twice because there are no buildings next to our condo complex, allowing us to watch us them cruise down The Strand. Very colorful and pleasing.

Now I must rest. I’ve got a nearly 5 mile walk to get over. Next time I’ll ask how far it is before agreeing to go.

I’ll leave you with photos of this cafe we found today. It’s named after our daughter, Jennie.

This was painted on the side of the building. It faces a paved, vacant lot right on the Pacific Coast Highway, that had a price tag of $499,999.00. That’s vacant, as in without a building on it, as if it’s bargain.

Sempre Fi my Brothers & Sisters

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today we took a trip to Camp Pendleton to forage for food as we were apparently running low.

I accompanied Diane into the commissary, and followed her around for a while until she suggested that I go get a haircut. Boy did I trick her because I got every single one of them cut, not just one.

That’s a Marine haircut that I got in a Marine barber shop for $8 in 8 minutes. Maybe less. Although I retired from the Navy, and I’ve always heard about the rivalry between the two services, I’ve always considered them to be my brothers and sisters. They are all warriors and I totally respect their dedication and integrity. So, I got a haircut to honor them, and the sweater I’m wearing in the photo above has a Marine emblem on the back.

When I was done I drove carefully back to the commissary and stopped by the spot closest to the exit door and waited for that person to appear and move their car. All the people lined up behind me got a little testy, but I didn’t mind. I just put my blinker on and waited. It didn’t take more than 30 minutes or so.

Inside, it didn’t take me long to find Diane because she wore her new hat … the one she bought at Hearst Castle. I have a photo of her wearing it, somewhere, but can’t find it right now so I’ll just share this one of my right foot that I took on our way “home” from Mission Viejo …

I think it’s a very dramatic shot of an undramatic foot wearing a festive sneaker, and little fake socks. Notice how the shadow eliminates the need for anyone to be struck with awe by the skinny stick-like leg. I think I’m going to blow this one up, have it framed and give it to Diane for our anniversary. She bought the sneaker for me for this trip. She said I can have the other one when we get home. Can’t wait for that! Neither can Diane because my left sock gets really dirty and people stare at me in public.

They did that before I started wearing just one shoe, though, so that’s really not reason enough to yearn for my left shoe.

After returning from our shopping spree I made a couple of trips from the car with the food that will last us for a few days. Hopefully.

It was chilly, too chilly to sit on the beach, so Diane put on her sweat suit and sat on the deck, facing the setting sun, reading her book. Me? I stayed in the safety of our room and tried to take a nap, but Diane had the living room window wide open and I was cold. I suppose I could have put some long pants and a long-sleeved shirt on, but they were in the other room. I didn’t want to make any sudden moves that might distract Diane so I just toughed it out on the couch. I did, however, sneak into the bathroom and got my towel so I could cover up my little legs. There was a breeze blowing across my exposed elbow so I installed one of the couch pillows on top of my elbow and it helped a little. I actually nodded off for a short time. About 8 minutes, like I did at the barbershop.

After Diane finished her book she came back inside and started waiting on me, something I thought was overdue. That’s an out-and-out lie, of course. She waits on me all the time. She promised to do that the day we got married … you know …. “… love, honor, obey, and wait on …” and she hasn’t disappointed me. Fortunately, we wrote our own vows and that part wasn’t in mine. Well, it was, but I forgot to say it during the ceremony. She didn’t. Therefore, she’s really kind of obligated to cater to my every whim, even the whims I don’t remember having. I’m sure she’ll deny this, but that’s OK as long as she keeps waiting on me.

Now, having said all that, I’m going to start looking for resources on the internet so I can learn how to take care of myself. I’m sure that’s in my future, like, as early as tomorrow. Perhaps even a little later this evening unless go to bed before she reads this.

I know, I could edit all that out, but I don’t do that. Once it’s visible on my computer, it’s a done deal and I have to live with that. Like saying something really dumb in public … you just can’t take that stuff back, ya know?

I need another glass of water, and I’m going to go get it myself. For practice.

Then I’m going to quit.

Somewhere in Mission Viejo

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

This morning arrived early, as did yesterday, around 0730. Even though we were up early, it took us until 0900, or so, before either of us were ready for some serious breakfast. For that, Diane fired up the micro and made us some very nutritious oatmeal. Adding a bunch of brown sugar made it almost perfect, but it took two pieces of white bread toast to put it over the top.

After such a wonderful breakfast, we had to rest, so didn’t get moving until eleventy-thirty, or so. It was then that made our move to swap pajamas for outside clothing, and the point in time where I made my first underwear change of this trip, something that Diane found terribly disgusting. It was a test, you see, to find out if she really knew I’ve been wearing the same underwear since last Thursday.

That’s a lie, of course. I changed my underwear yesterday. Really. I’m sure you don’t care, and some may recite one of the acronyms I hear the most … TMI … you know, Too Much Information. I do tend to share a lot of inappropriate information, but it is what it is.

If I have already offended any of you, I’m sorry, and this is the point in time where I refer you back to my Home page that has my disclaimer. I don’t remember what it says, but I’m pretty sure it covers this kind of stuff.

After applying the appropriate layers of clothing … multiples for Diane, shorts & T-shirt for me … I called our Mission Viejo friends, Mike & Kathie, to warn them we were headed their way. I talked with Mike yesterday and received permission to make today’s call, so it was all good. I was informed that nothing had changed and we were still welcome to visit so we made haste to head north before the offer was rescinded.

As soon as we pulled out of the parking garage Diane ordered me to find the nearest car wash, so I did. We went there and got the Buick cleaned up nicely. The car wash people vacuumed it, washed it, hand dried it, and did the windows inside and out for just $10.99. Watching the young man hand dry the vehicle, and clean the windows, made it clear a tip was in order. He did an awesome job and Diane was super pleased that she didn’t have to drive a dirty vehicle all the way to Mission Viejo.

WAZE informed us that the trip was about 40 miles and would take 45 minutes which would put us at our destination right at 1245. If Diane had driven a bit faster we could have arrived at 1234, which would have been really cool. I love arriving places at a time when the numbers are in sequence. It’s special. The only other time during the day that can happen is 2345. I’m just guessing, but I think that’s true.

I-5 consumed almost all of our time to our destination, with just a few miles on the end to the right of the freeway. The latter part of the trip was very pleasant through some very beautiful neighborhoods so it wasn’t a surprise when WAZE directed us to “take a left” into a gated community.

After stopping at the gate Diane identified us, stating who we were going to visit. At that point, the guard pulled his BB gun and ordered us out of the car. Another guard appeared, seemingly, from nowhere and frisked us, twice, then alerted the guard with the harmless gun that it was OK, we were clean. I’m assuming, of course, that this kind of communication transpired … all we were able to see was the small nod from the guard covering us, then he lowered his weapon and told us we could re-enter our vehicle. Then he went into the guard shack and returned a moment later with a pass and allowed us to proceed.

Our destination was about a block away, as the crow flies, but it involved two rights and three lefts to get there. After the last right, we spied Kathie standing in the street waving, waiting for us. We were concerned about parking because there wasn’t a vehicle in sight, anywhere, but Kathie directed us into their driveway, an obvious effort to lure us into a situation where the HOA could confiscate our car and leave us afoot in Southern California. However, Kathie was very convincing in her assurance that all was well and that we were safe.

It was good to see Kathie & Mike again. It’s been a while. The last time we saw them was when they lived in Oregon City. They moved here after Mike retired.

Their house is magnificent, in all aspects, which didn’t surprise either of us. Mike & Kathie live in model homes no matter where they go. In this community there is no need to own a lawn mower, nor do they need to worry about ever painting their house. It’s covered. Pretty amazing.

We weren’t surprised that they had lunch waiting for us because we used to take turns having lunches at each other’s homes when all of us lived-in Oregon. Plus, that’s just the way they are. They feed people. We had planned to treat for lunch, but their idea was better because it gave us an opportunity to catch up on events in our lives. It took a while.

After that, we took a tour of the area, checking out the two recreation areas, the social centers, the gardens, and the botanical garden. The community has 1900 homes behind the gates so it surprised us that we encountered very little traffic. Just an occasional old person walking one or two small dogs. I, personally, was perplexed by one encounter where I attempted to make friends with a frisky little guy, and he barked at me. The lady holding his leash said she wasn’t surprised because the dog had already been told to beware of me. I was amazed. Not only could this strange lady not know who I was, neither could the dog. He was a scruffy little guy, so I just turned my attention on the other three curly white dogs. They were very friendly with me so apparently didn’t get the memo.

Then we went back to Mike & Kathie’s home where we looked at photos and had ice-cream. We visited more until the light began to fade a bit, then made our farewells so we could return to Oceanside before dark. Diane doesn’t like to drive in the dark, and she won’t let me. I only get to drive in really scary situations like ice and snow, not sunshine. This parting wasn’t sad like the last one because we know we’ll meet again. Who knows? We may take them up on their offer to spend a couple of days, and never leave.

We really enjoyed our day with them. One of the best, ever.

Back in Oceanside, we stopped at a Circle K to get a loaf of bread but the lady clerk said we’d be better off going back up the street to the Red & White market where there was a larger variety of choices. We did, and I got the bread. Then we went back to our condo.

Diane was going to have a couple of pieces of toast, and I was going to have a PB&J. Unfortunately, Diane overcooked her toast so I had a toasted PB&J, which is OK. I like those. She made another pair of toast, a little lighter shade.

That’s the day … Thank You Mike & Kathie …

Winnebagos, Pickups, and DVRs

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

OK … so here we are in Oceanside, California. The sun is shining and we’re overpowered by the desire to jump in our pickup, hook up our trailer, and head for the beach. Any beach. The problem is, however, that we do not have a pickup or a trailer. And, we’re already at the beach.

So, we’ve decided to check out the local dealers in the area and see what kind of deals we can make for the truck and trailer we want. They’ve already been picked out, of course. Like weeks ago. At that time we decided we were going to use common sense for those purchases instead of doing the impulse buys we’ve done our whole lives.

Then, we thought, “why change now?” So, we’re just going out there and get a 2014 1/2 Chevy Silverado High Country and a Winnebago One 26RK trailer. Then, when we get home, we’re going to sell the house, give everything away, and take off. To somewhere. Like the Zumwalts did. It’s like a dream come true.

Just as I finished that I saw a commercial for Cox Television advertising their new DVR that can record six … SIX … shows at one time! Totally awesome! Seeing that made me change our minds about the trailer and truck … for now … and go home to campaign Comcast to get one of those for us. If they can, all plans are off for getting the trailer today. Unless they can make it mobile, of course.

Oh yeah, “Happy April Fools Day” !!

Oceanside, CA

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today was very quiet and peaceful.

Although we both felt as though we slept in, we were up before 0800. We were moving, too.

After a leisurely breakfast of nourishing Cheerios, coffee, and pills, we put on our outside clothes and took a walk down the boardwalk, and to the end of the Oceanside Pier. Along the way we stopped to watch the surfers running down both sides of the pier. The waves were quite magnificent due to the coming storm, so we witnessed a lot of amazing wipeouts.

After the walk, we got our beach chairs and took them to the beach, about 30 feet away, and sat there until Diane got cold enough to see the need to retreat indoors. I was sitting there in my little shorts, and short-sleeved shirt and she was wearing long pants and a sweatshirt. I admit, I was a little chilly, too, but no way was I going to cry Uncle first. She doesn’t know that, so don’t tell.

For all the “Mike’s” out there … we found your bench …

Our “home” …

All of the inside boards of the pier railing, both sides, have names on them, like this …

That’s a lot of names.

Back in the condo, Diane pulled one of the arm chairs into the patch of sun, got her book going, then fell asleep. I wound up taking a nap on the couch. For supper Diane had a tuna melt, and some soup. I ate the rest of the soup. Real exciting stuff, huh?

Port Hueneme to Oceanside

Posted on March 30, 2014 by Jerrie Cate

Today’s another banner day for me with regard to blog entries … this is #580 and I still haven’t run out of words. Go figure ..

The day started with a mostly calm journey down Highway 101, and ended the same on I-5 at the southern extreme of our intended journey. The middle, through the heart of Los Angeles was just as we remembered … about 20-85 minutes of dodging daring drivers driving very expensive cars. We noted that about 1 in 10 of the cars passing us were new. The obvious explanation is that they each had recently wrecked the last one they had and were out breaking in the new one.

Initially, as we neared Los Angeles, the amount of north-bound traffic seemed pretty normal for seven lanes of new cars. The number quickly increased making it quite evident they were all rushing to escape the city before the next earthquake hits.

Then, about the middle of the LA proper, the southbound lanes become the escape route and the real excitement begins.

The frenzy continues, and builds, as more and more new vehicles join the quest to seek safety, from severe seismic sensations, to the south. During the fray, most of the vehicles ricochet off one exit or another until only a few of us remain. We continue southward, to solace, in Oceanside … the number one liberty town for pretty much the entire Marine Corps. We don’t mind, however, because we’re well protected from invasion of any sort.

We arrived at our destination at 1430, or so, meaning we made the trip in 3.5 hours with only one stop. That was for donuts because Diane was hungry. I mean, really hungry.

So, before leaving the Port Hueneme area, we stopped at a small donut shop in Oxnard that I spied. They had awesome looking donuts, but they also had apple fritters which I happen to know Diane loves. They also had some good-looking cinnamon rolls. So, I bought one each, and away we went.

These pastries were not minor pieces. They were huge, so we had to wear our car bibs to keep from making pastry stains on our clothing. We washed them down with the semi-good coffee I purchased at the exchange before leaving the Navy base. This minor form of sustenance sustained us all the way to our destination which means we didn’t have to stop.

Once off the freeway, we made our way to 121 S. Pacific Ave in Oceanside. It’s an ocean front resort, right on the water, almost. Actually, separating the resort from the water is a very narrow road, a boardwalk, made out of cement, a fence and a wide area of sand. But, it’s still Oceanside, right?

Still, it’s nice. We got a parking place, opened all the doors, and loaded everything that fell on the ground onto a cart and took it to our room.

I’ll go back down tomorrow and get the rest of it. Shouldn’t take more than two trips.

We have a corner unit on the north end of the third floor of the Easternmost building of this two building complex. We have a really nice deck that has a terrific view of the wall of the Westernmost building, and it looks down on a very large patio area that forms the roof of the parking area between the two buildings. However, in our little corner, we have two windows that provide a pretty nice view of pretty much everything that’s going on.

Before …

… and at sunset
After the trip we simply enjoyed just sitting around doing nothing. Actually, we like sitting around doing nothing pretty much anywhere we go. That will change tomorrow. Diane already has a Costco trip planned, and I’m pretty sure she’s scoped out locations for all the thrift stores in the area. If not yet, I know she will. Diane was enjoying sitting around doing nothing that she recruited me to make dinner, which I did. We had tuna salad sandwiches. They were really good.

Tomorrow, we will try to connect with our friends, the other California Mike and Kathie, who are only about 40 miles away. After driving over 1000 miles, 40 miles is nothing, really. Besides, Diane will be driving.

Now I’ll share a couple of photos from Hearst Castle, then quit …