Beachin it…Round Two

Round Two started when a Southwest Airlines jet landed at Lindberg Field around 11:00 am on Sunday. Kyndi announced her arrival with a text, “I just landed”. Claudia and I met her at the predetermined pickup point, the curb outside baggage claim, put her bag in the car and headed off for San Elijo via a quick stop at the closest 7-11 for a large Slurpee.

She was properly greeted by Gizmo and Choka and we all settled back until Alisa, Brooke, Alan and Erron arrived for a West Coast Birthday Party. At Kyndi’s request, the gourmet food for her party was ordered from Filiberto’s. Claudia and I took off with an extra-large, double-huge list of food orders. We probably should have stopped by the nearest brokerage house to buy stock in Filiberto’s before we placed the order.

In short order, we returned with the food and all of us settled into seats, chairs and benches in the rear area of our campsite for the feast. 

After stuffing ourselves well past the safety level of actual stomach capacity, we came inside for dessert. Dessert consisted of two half-gallons of Dryer’s ice cream, one coffee and one mud pie, each with a large spoon stuck vertically in the container. The ice cream was set deftly between chocolate cookies and a homemade Cookies and Cream ice cream cake, a large remnant from my birthday at the end of last month. Stomach capacities were stretched to the max! We all goofed around until bed time where we all hit the sack with a huge “THUMP”.

Tuesday was “Sleep in Late and Go to the Zoo Day”. Gizmo had other ideas about sleeping in late, but we all made it to the zoo in mid-afternoon. We did the bus tour and the Skyfari ride and then settled in to walking. The animals weren't really out during the bus tour, but became more open and vocal as the day moved toward night. The greatest show was at the lion enclosure. The huge male was up on a raised platform, roaring and coughing and really putting on a show. Kyndi brought down the house with a comment of “Sounds like he’s coughing up huge hairball!”

After watching the evening entertainer show, we headed for home.

Wednesday was an early day. We got up at 7:00 and headed for La Jolla for a 9:00 am kayak tour of the sea caves. Kyndi and I got fitted with a helmet and life jacket and headed for the beach launch site. We headed out just after 9:00 and grouped up off Pebbly Beach.

We slowly headed toward the caves, floating over huge schools of anchovies that were being harassed by larger fish, probably barracuda or mackerel, one sea lion and three porpoise. Kyndi and I slid outside of the group a bit and got within about 15 to 20 feet of the feeding porpoise. We floated by the caves and wound up actually going inside one of them. We went through a narrow opening and then into the interior of the cave itself where we found a sea lion sleeping on a ledge about 10 feet above the water. We then came back out and joined the main group. We all then headed back to the launch point and surfed a small wave to the shore. Quite a morning.

The next day was a carne asada dinner at Alisa’s after our morning shift was over. I even went in the pool to cool off. Dinner was super, fresh tortillas, carne asada, guacamole, etc., etc. and etc.

Several months ago, when we first knew Kyndi was coming here, we asked her what she wanted to do when she got here. The first thing that popped out of her mouth was that she wanted to go shooting. Which rifle? My AR, of course! My kind of girl! Hey, she’s from Texas.

Thursday started early. We all got up for a quick breakfast, threw all the gear in the car and headed for the shooting range. We got all set up at the 100-yard range and she proceeded to put some Texas whoop-ass on a rabbit. Nice job Kyndi!

Friday was her last day in God’s country so we took her to VG’s for a donut and an apple fritter. OK, OK, the fritter was for me! After the quick stop at VG’s, we headed for the Encinitas Café for a breakfast of banana-walnut pancakes with an egg and sausage. YUM! It was then time to head for the airport to send Kyndi home. What has she missed most? Marley, her dog. Has she had fun? You betcha! Hey…we did too!

The Summer of ’14 – Phase One

The summer of ’14 started pretty much after we got back from Mule Days, which was a story in itself! On the way home, the “LOW WATER” alarm light came on. We had blown the water pump! After a HUGE hassle with Good Sam about getting us a tow truck, we FINALLY got one and were towed to Temecula Valley RV where we just left it. We didn’t have a tow car with us, having just purchased a 45-50 Mpg Prius V computer-on-wheels (non-towable), so we called Alisa who came up from Lakeside to save us. Since this was the Memorial Day weekend, we had to wait until Tuesday to call them and tell them that the motorhome at their service entrance was ours. We made arrangements to get it fixed and then went on with our lives.

We went back to Temecula RV on the 11^th, paid them the $800 and change we owed them and headed for the storage yard. We got as far as almost to Miramar Road and the motorhome engine started “bucking” and decided to lose power and quit. I deftly threw on the four-way emergency flashers and coasted to a stop in the area between the freeway and the Carrol Canyon Road offramp.

After another EXTRA-LARGE, DOUBLE-HUGE fight with Good Sam about tow trucks that took somewhere around six hours of sitting on the freeway, Claudia got REALLY pissed and TOLD a Good Sam supervisor that we were through with them playing around. She told them to call the CHP and have them dispatch a big rig (tow truck) and that THEY, Good Sam, would be paying for it. They did…and we soon had help. We were then towed to San Diego Freightliner for what we thought were plugged fuel filters. We got home at 1:30 in the morning! I had a fishing job at 5:00 am, so it was a VERY short night for me.

Freightliner called me on Saturday and confirmed the diagnosis as plugged fuel filters. We made arrangements to pick it up on Monday. That bill was (only) $300 and change! We made it to the storage yard in Santee without  further incident.

We then headed for our monthly RV club campout on Friday and came home on Sunday for a MAJOR cleaning and rearranging of equipment. We got “Godzilla” all cleaned and straightened up and ready for our next project, a three-month “job” as Camp Hosts at San Elijo State Beach. This will be our third stint as Camp Hosts there. I moved “Godzilla” down to an administrative (free) site for a few days until our regular Camp Host site opened up. We probably got the worst site in the campground! We had to sit right at the cliff edge and watch the waves and surfers and girls in bikinis and porpoise and ocean all day long! It was tough!

Claudia left me on Thursday to head for Vancouver, BC with Erron to go on an Alaskan cruise with Jacque, Jeff and Kyndi. I had to stay home to take care of the animals and work! She will return on the Fourth of July.

I moved the rig over to our permanent site on Saturday and got it pretty much set up for the duration. I then went back to the condo and got a pickup truck load of additional “stuff” we needed, like my rifle, shotgun, ammunition, camouflage clothing, predator calling equipment, hunting boots, radio-controlled helicopter, boogie boards and fins…the stuff I really need for the summer. Most of this got put in the now-empty bays of the motorhome. I am now ready for summer to begin…I think! 

Front yard

Back yard

The Fourth of July is here! Much to my happiness, almost all of the campers have been in the park for the past week. There have been very few check-ins. I only had three yesterday. Everyone has been asking about a parade today. Normally(?), the rangers set it up, but today the Camp Hosts did it. We got all set up at the store and started the trek around the campground promptly at 10:00. We had kids on bikes, kids on skateboards, kids walking, kids being carried, kids wondering what the heck was going on, and dogs all decorated up in their finest holiday creations. Dan and Shari, our Camp Host partners, led the parade and Gizmo and I brought up the rear. We probably had around 75 “entries” and a few “support entries”. It was fun. I had my camera, but never could get a picture. Sorry! The rest of the time before my shift starts will be taken up with cleaning the motorhome, changing the sheets on the bed and getting rid of any evidence of mischief. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to replace the two half-gallons of ice cream I ate. Actually, each carton was slightly depleted before Claudia left, but it’s all gone now! I will have to take the heat on this one. Everything else has been covered up…I think!

Pismo Beach & Mule Days - May, 2014

Claudia and I picked up the motorhome from the paint shop on Tuesday, May 13^th. The front and rear cap paint jobs had been destroyed by sun, wind, rain, sleet, hail, 10 years and 90,000 miles of driving, so we had them repainted. They also touched up a few other “whoopses” and one “awshit”, where a pipe got too close to one of the bay doors and gave it a little “kiss”. Anyway, it came out beautiful!

We spent the rest of Tuesday packing our stuff for the trip. We were headed for Pismo Beach on Thursday for a weekend outing with our RV group, the Sun Diego Allegro’s. Things around the home front were a little “iffy” because of nine fires burning around the county. The closest one was very near Carlsbad. We got ashed on, but friends of ours had to evacuate and came to our house to “stage and evaluate”.

I brought “Godzilla” to the house early Thursday for final packing, mostly refrigerated food. We got out of Dodge about 10:30 and headed north. Amazingly, the freeways were fairly clear. The only slowdown area was from LAX to a few miles north of the 405 on Highway 1. We got to the Oceano Elk’s Lodge about 5:00 and settled in for the night.

We got up leisurely…as “leisurely” as Gizmo would let us. He wanted his morning walk! We dawdled around until a little after noon when we packed up and made the 1.2-mile trip to the Pismo Sands RV Park where the club was set up. We slimed right in and were set up within 15 minutes. Home is where you park it! The first night consisted of Happy Hour, martini tasting and an extra-large, double-huge pot of DELICIOUS clam chowder and hors du oeuvres.  Now, Claudia and I were on the Atkins Diet so we had to watch what we ate. We did.  We watched the food go from the table to our plates and into our mouths. We slept well that night!

The next day…Saturday…was the business meeting and fun. My “fun” was to repair the bathroom fan that had decided to quit working and repair a hinge on one of the bay doors. I then took a shower and got ready for the evening’s festivities. Tonight was a Seafood Boil. I volunteered to cook and broke out the “blaster” and large cooking pot. The Wagonmaster, Celine, filled the pot with lemons, lemon juice, water and several spices. When it started to boil, we added a bunch of red potatoes. 

Ten minutes later we added ears of corn. A few minutes later, a bunch of large Pismo clams got pitched in. Next was a bunch of shrimp and some scallops. Lastly, mussels!  The meal was complete. 

We made four pots for the dinner. It was absolutely delicious…at least three thumbs up. That meal made my Top 10 list twice!

Sunday was a “get up slowly” day because we were going to break up the drive to Bishop into two days. No need to hurry. We had breakfast, helped break down the party room and packed up. We left around 10ish. We made one fuel stop and one “Gizmo stop” and got near Ridgecrest, our intended stopover destination about three-ish. As we remembered, Ridgecrest was the pits, a great vast area of nothing at all interesting. We decided to press on. I wasn’t tired and Bishop was only a little south of three hours away. After a quick stop in Lone Pine for fresh groceries, we pulled into the Bishop Fairgrounds just after 6:00 pm. We were greeted and directed to our site in the “B” lot where we had power and water for the duration.

We got the rig set up and settled in. Our plan is to stay until the 24^th or 26^th. After we got set up, we walked Giz over to meet a cute little kid goat that was bleating “I’m lonely!” 

Giz didn’t know what to make of the critter and just stood there shaking. He was more interested in some mules that came by. We then had an Atkins-approved quiche for dinner and settled in for the night. Life is good!

Monday was a "Lets ride our bikes around Bishop" day. We hit some stores and bought a few items. The weather was nice and warm and very comfortable. It was a very enjoyable laid-back afternoon and evening.

Tuesday, ah yes, Tuesday...what a difference a day makes! A picture is worth a thousand words!

OK, OK...so I lied! Two pictures...so I'm "wordy"! Anyway, I started out in shorts and a tee shirt. As an afterthought, I threw on a jacket. Good call! We hit the bleachers and watched several groups of mules and riders riding around the main arena in Eastern garb, jumping, cantering, trotting and walking at command. Some of the spectators really got excited at what was going on and were clapping and cheering. We were still trying to figure it out. We headed for the motorhome about 11:00, just as the lightning and thunder started up a bit west of us.

After romping the dog, we headed for the main arena again. The afternoon's festivities involved chariots and wagons in various competitions. The cutest rigs were the "mini's", those mules under 14 hands tall. They all did a show, where they walked and trotted around while the judges looked at whatever judges look at.

Then they got into the competition phases...timed obstacle and agility courses.

It was cold and blustery with off and on rain, more "on" than "off". We were seated in the covered bleachers so all was well...except for the COLD wind.

After the festivities were over, we headed back to the rig after inviting some RV club friends, Pat and Joy Solleder, over for a cocktail and planning session. The rest of the evening was TV and relaxing.

We had a bit more off and on rain over the night, but Wednesday was warmer, still overcast, but not threatening...at the moment. Activity was abuzz throughout the campground. Gizmo and Choka were in awe.

After a very slow get-up, we headed over to the main arena to watch the hunters and jumpers. Now we're getting into the more exciting events. We got there too late to see the hunters hunt, but did see the jumpers jump and the chariot races.

After the hunters hunted and jumpers jumped, we took a lunch break and headed for some of the vendor booths/tents. There was some cool neat stuff! Lots of saddles (of course) and riding paraphernalia. There was also a bunch of cooking and camping gear, like Dutch ovens, Dutch oven accessories, smokers, camp stoves, cowboy art, etc. They are going to do a Dutch oven cooking demonstration tomorrow. The noon demonstration will be a cobbler with cherry pie filling and a crust made of chocolate cake mix and a coke. The afternoon demo will be Dutch oven chicken with a camp biscuit crust. THAT I will NOT miss!

After lunch, we headed back to the arena to watch the pairs Gambler's Choice obstacle course and the calf roping event. We got hit with another thundershower to make things interesting. I was happy we bought seats in the covered bleachers!

We are now back at the rig and they had a power problem. The electricians think it is a rig further down the line from us, but I do have a burned 30 amp. adapter which I will replace tomorrow or the next day or the next or when I get around to it.

Well...I didn't get the plug...yet. Oh well! I couldn't. It's been raining and we don't have a car. Anyway, not much was happening this morning so we stayed in the rig until about 11:00 and then went out to see what was going on. Not much, but the afternoon was much better. They had timed cones and a new event, Master Teamster Challenge, both multiples (4 mules) and pairs. The work wagons would take off, go by two cones where the distance of the wheel to the cone was measured. The closer the better without hitting is. Then the rigs went through three cones in a serpentine motion

 and pulled alongside a flatbed truck with a barrel on the bed.

They had to pick up the barrel, secure it and then drive through a narrow curving path.

 They then pulled up to the truck again, but had to back the wagon against the truck bed and offload the barrel.

 They finally had to go through a pair of cones only inches wider than the wagons.

Next was Keyhole Driving where the mules and chariot-style rigs raced toward a narrow entrance of cones that then open up to a round circle. The object was go into the cones, turn around and race back to the finish line. It was pretty fun to watch.

 THEN, the mini's came out. These little varmints can RUN! They were a hoot to watch. The crowd was on their feet, yelling and cheering.

 After the Keyhole event, we watched more calf roping...until a thunderstorm chased us back to the rig early.

 We missed the team roping, but had a great dinner. We are now getting ready for the big concert tonight.

The concert was absolutely great. We have no idea how we lucked out on the tickets. When we called for tickets, the show was sold out, so we went on a waiting list. I got a call on Tuesday that two tickets had become available, so we grabbed them. They were in the fifth row, dead center of the stage! We couldn't have gotten better tickets!

The lead performer was Baxter Black, a cowboy poet.  A retired veterinarian, he had us all in stitches.

The second act was Dave Stamey, a cowboy singer - songwriter. That man could play a guitar big time! What a show! Two standing ovations!

Today is Friday. More importantly, it is "Pump the Holding Tanks" day! Forty bucks, but a VERY necessary expense. This isn't Quartzsite where you run the gray water down a gopher hole! We fooled around for a while, watched the farm implements competition and then went to the local casino. Actually, Claudia went and I dutifully tagged along. After losing a predetermined amount of money, we headed for the restaurant, and for the not-too-exorbitant sum of $9.95 each (no tax), we had the toughest prime rib we've ever eaten. However, the baked potato with sour cream and chives was good (how can you screw up a baked potato?) as were the sautéed vegetables. We then returned to the fairgrounds and took our chairs up to the main drag for tomorrow's parade. The first evening performance is tonight and Claudia and I and our friends are going to watch it. There are several fun events mixed in with some serious ones.

Saturday...our final day...maybe...who knows? We headed for the parade route along 395 and got our chairs all set up under a nice shade tree. We people-watched for a half hour or so and then the parade started. What can I say about a parade? It was an hour and a half long. Lots of great things to see.

That's about it from Bishop's Mule Days. We will be headed over to the main arena soon to view some of the last events and then getting ready to leave tomorrow. It has been a fun and very interesting trip.