Carlsbad.......

10:05 am - Tuesday - July 16th - Ramona, CA - Already 87° F, 23% humidity (very low!), wind 3 mph out of the northeast......clear, blue, sunny, hot skies with a forecast high today of 95° F.

Monday promised to be one of our hottest days lately in Ramona with a forecast high of 99° F, so why not head somewhere where it's in the 70's?  The forecast for Carlsbad was 72° F with a marine layer most of the day, so that is where we headed about 9:45 am Monday.  

Back in our workaday lives when we still lived in our sticks and bricks we used to ride our bicycles through Carlsbad on our way to San Diego several times a year.  We also used to visit there the day after Thanksgiving with our good cycling friends Ted and Eileen James, and spend a couple of nights at the Best Western right on the ocean.  It is one of our favorite coastal California cities, but it had been almost 9 years since our last time there.  It takes about an hour to drive from Ramona to Carlsbad on SR-78, and we arrived there just before 11 am, quickly found a parking spot just off Grand Ave., and began our walk around town......

.....on our yearly post Thanksgiving forays we loved to walk up and down State Street 'junking'....there were a number of cool antique, and thrift stores there, but as often happens with the passing of time there is only one of those neat stores left....Carlsbad Antiques......

......there are two large buildings with about 500 stalls selling a wide range of 'rusty gold'......

 John Lennon

 A very young Frank Sinatra

  Frank Zappa

 Our favorite Italian Bistro back in the day....means 
'Hot Tomato' in Italian

.....of course, a visit to Carlsbad requires a walk along the beach.......

Note the heavy marine layer.....

.....and some Fish 'N Chips at 'Harbor Fish Cafe' (Yelp gives them 3 stars, and Tripadvisor 4 stars....we would be at 4 stars) one of only a couple of restaurants with a view of the ocean in Carlsbad.  They bottle their own brew, a pilsner, which we ordered and thoroughly enjoyed......

 Love those Fish 'N Chips

....after a leisurely lunch we walked around town to walk off the food we had just eaten.  By the time we arrived back at the car the marine layer was dissipating exaggerating the high humidity, so we decided to head for home.....it was a little after 1:30 pm.  

We made quick stop at COSTCO in San Marcos on the way home to pick up TLE's new reading glasses she had ordered on our last visit about a week ago, and were home by 2:30 pm.  We immediately turned on both A/C's to cool down the coach, and within 20 minutes it was very comfortable.  I spent part of the afternoon watching stage 10 of Le Tour de France, taking at least one nap.  It was a good day, and so nice to be out of the heat if only for a few scant hours.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Other adventures....

Del Mar, CA.....across PCH from Del Mar Racetrack

Like many of you who follow our blog, our identity is not defined soley by our love of RVing. We have other interests that add to our identity. One of our numerous interests is bicycling, and to further that descriptive, multi-day self guided bicycle touring. We have been planning for a number of months to do a two day tour with a college days friend starting at the AMTRAK station near Angel Stadium in Anaheim, CA (yes, near Disneyland, also) and finishing at the AMTRAK station in downtown San Diego.

Terri, our good friend from our college days, was scheduled to arrive at our home in Ontario, CA November 11th, and she did. She lives in Northern Nevada, so it was about a 9 hour drive for her.

Our plan was to drive down to the AMTRAK station located in the parking lot across from Angel Stadium (baseball Angels) in Anaheim. We left home around 8am, and arrived in Anaheim around 8:45am, starting our ride around 9:45am. As always there were a few mechanical issues with the bikes that had to be resolved....one was a flat tire on Elaine's bike....inexplicable since the tires and tubes were brand new....oh well, so much for plans to depart the train station at 9am.

We proceeded over to the Santa Ana River Trail that runs parallel to the Santa Ana River all the way to Newport Beach, CA about 14 miles south. The bike path is completely separate from local roads, and highways. We hit PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) around 11am, and proceeded south through Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar, Laguna Beach, Dana Point, San Clemente, Camp Pendleton (Marine base), and Oceanside to our destination for the evening, Carlsbad, CA. The distance for that first day was 68 miles, and we made it just before sundown at 4:40pm!

Dana Point Warf, Dana Point, CA

We ate lunch in Dana Point at Proud Mary's located in the Dana Point Warf area where we joined some friends who have cycled with us in the past, Ted and Eileen.

Ted and Eileen (below) to my "right", Terri to my "left"

In front of Beach Terrace Inn, Carlsbad, CA

View from our balcony....

We had a nice evening in Carlsbad, CA staying overnight at the Best Western Beach Terrace Inn, and dinning out at a local Italian Eatery (Fresco's) located on Carlsbad Village Drive just below Carlsbad Road.

We departed the next morning around 8am heading south on PCH to our final destination for the day, San Diego....40 miles away. The day was spectacular.....sunny, cool, and no clouds. We passed through Leucadia, Del Mar, Solana Beach, La Jolla, and finally arrived at the downtown San Diego AMTRAK station around 2pm. Before arriving at the station we stopped at an In-N-Out burger place in Northern San Diego for lunch! Our return ride would be on the Surfrider and it was scheduled for departure at 3pm. We chose the Surfrider as they have bicycle racks on each car that can handle up to 3 bikes....exactly the number we had! Their cars look a lot like the Metrolink commuter trains. There was a delay of about 45 minutes as the train arrived late from Los Angeles. We arrived just after sundown in Anaheim.

In line at the San Diego AMTRAK station

Our 3 bikes at San Diego AMTRAK station

I did not see that coming.....

 5:53 am - Wednesday - July 15th - LPG&RVR - 54° F, humidity 36%, cloud cover 24%, wind 10 mph out of the south.....partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 90° F.  On this date in 2019 TLE and I were in Carlsbad, CA....

.....we were working at Ramona Oaks RV Resort that summer, and took a day trip to Carlsbad...one of our favorite Coastal California towns.

I initially staged 10 golf carts to begin Tuesday....4 Club Car electrics and 6 EZ-GO's....why only 4 of the 5 Club Car Electrics?  Well, #5 would not move.  It would try to move, but then stop....HMMM?  After staging the 10 carts I opened up the seat of the Club Car electric to see if anything obvious was wrong.  I had just topped off the distilled water in its six 6 volt batteries the day prior, and it had been charging all night, so it should move.  The tops of the 6 batteries were quite dirty, so I decided to clean all the terminals with a solution of water and baking soda.  In doing so I discovered a connector on one of the wires connecting two of the batteries looking a little sketchy, and when I attempted to wiggle it to see if is was solid, it broke off in my hand.  Okay, that must be the problem, right.....

.....I then removed all of the defective connector from the wire.  I then retrieved a new copper connector from the 'Caddy Shack', trimmed back the end of the wire, then crimped on the new connector....

....once it was reinstalled I attempted to move the cart, and it moved!  I love it when the problem is so obvious, and can be fixed quickly.

Around 10:45 am I hopped on the 2 bag Husqvarna and headed out to mow around those tee boxes for which I am responsible, returning back to the Clubhouse around 11:50 am to put away the Husqvarna, and give TLE her lunch break.  I rented one cart to a couple for 18 holes, and answered a few phone calls while watching the semi final FIFA World Cup match between France and Spain.  France was the heavy favorite to win and advance to the final on Sunday, but that is why they play the games.  Spain dominated the game defensively, while scoring 2 goals to win 2-0 in regulation....I did not see that coming.

After lunch many of the 15 carts we rented began to return, and then I heard thunder in the distance, and then a few minutes later it began to rain quite hard....

.....the torrential rain hitting the metal roof of the cart shack was deafening.  Another thing I did not see happening Tuesday.  The rain stopped in time for me to wash all 14 carts, dry them, and put them away before 3:30 pm.

Thanks for stopping by!

No limitations.....

6:53 am - Tuesday - July 23rd - Ramona, CA - 70° F, 73% humidity, wind - CALM.....cloudy with intermittent rain this morning with a forecast high of 95° F.

When we got in the VW Monday morning I noticed the odometer had just passed 160,000 miles when we drove down to Carlsbad last week.  We bought it 5 years ago with just over 124,000 miles.....she's running better than ever!

Monday morning at 10:30 am I had my two month followup cardiology appointment at Arch Health Medical with Dr. Mulvihill.  We were on our way down the hill to Poway by 9:30 am arriving at Arch Health by 10:10 am.  So far we have never waited past the appointment time at Arch Health and Monday was no exception.  We were called into the inner sanctum at 10:25 am, and were seeing Dr. Mulvihill within 10 minutes.  My LDL was down 70 points to 138 (that's perfectly normal), but my HDL was down to 37 from 74 (that's too low).  It was decided I should cut my lipitor dosage in half from 80 mg to 40 mg per day.  Everything else was in the normal range.  That combined with my weight loss made my doctor very happy.  I have been released to regular activity with no limitations.

We were out the door of Arch Health by 11 am and on our way over to COSTCO to do a little shopping, then a stop at Autozone to pick up a few automotive type things before meeting up with a friend from my childhood....David Rothwell.  I haven't seen him in 40 years, but we have been friends on Facebook for a number of years.  He and his wife Christina live in Escondido so he reached out inviting us to lunch at a local, funky micro brewery called 'Plan 9 Alehouse'.....

.....Yelp gives them 4 stars on 565 reviews, and we would be right there.  They serve their own draft brews, and those of other local micro breweries.  David had given us a choice between Plan 9 Alehouse, and Stone Brewing Company, but after he described Plan 9 as 'funky' we really had no choice, right?

.....they have a large garage door they roll up on hot days, and Monday was quite warm, so we sat out near the opening just inside the door where we got a nice breeze......

...we arrived at Plan 9 about 30 minutes early so we ordered a couple of brews.....'Turd Ferguson' for me (a hoppy brown ale produced by Plan 9), and an Imperial Stout for TLE (produced by Stone Brewing Company), plus some sweet potato fries with this amazing mustard dipping sauce with horseradish.......amazing!

For lunch TLE and I ordered the 'The Cow Goes Bleuoo' (bacon bleu cheese burger) to share, and it was equally amazing.........

......David and Christina arrived about 1:35 pm, and from then until after 4:30 pm we talked non-stop.  It was as if not one day of the 40 years had transpired.  I neglected to take an 'usie' so I stole this picture of them from David's Facebook page.   All that being said I do not really remember eating the burger after the first bite, as we were so engrossed on our conversation.  It was just one of those magical afternoons where the time melted away, and the conversation flowed from one topic to another.....

..... we learned that Christina is an accomplished home brewer of beer.   By 4:30 pm it was getting quite warm outside on the street, but we still remained quite comfortable just inside the door.  Nevertheless, it was time for us to head home, and bid adieu to David and Christina.  Thank you so much you two for a wonderful afternoon, the memory of which will endure for a long time!

We arrived home to heavy cloud cover, high humidity and very sultry, hot conditions.  Within minutes we had our groceries inside, and both A/C's running to cool down the interior.  Within 10 minutes it was quite comfortable, so I turned off the front A/C and let the rear A/C do the work the rest of the evening.  It did not begin to cool until after 8 pm, but we were finally able to turn off the A/C and let the cool air of the evening flow through our open windows.

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel.

You just knew.....

 5:42 am - Tuesday - July 15th - LPG&RVR - 61° F, humidity 33%, wind 1 mph out of the south......clear, blue skies today with a forecast high of 94° F.  On this date in 2019 TLE and I were in Carlsbad, CA having lunch.....

They had their own beer!

.....at the Harbor Fish Cafe, right on the beach.

You just knew one of those days would be coming, right?  You're wondering, "what is he right about?", right?  Well, let me tell you.  We had reservations for 5 golf carts Monday, so I staged our 5 Club Car Electrics to begin the day fully expecting we would rent more, but I was wrong.  We actually only rented four.  In hindsight it was good we had a slow day because we had our first, and hopefully only, 100° F day of the summer.  I'm pretty sure the forecast high of 100° F was a major deterrent to would be golfers.....

......the only things I really had to do Monday were stage golf carts, clear the driving range, and then wash/stow those golf carts, so it was a good day to knock off work early.  I began clearing the driving range around 9 am, finishing around 10:10 am.  In all I garnered four 5 gallon buckets of balls; more than I expected.

I moved sprinklers around the 'Night Office', and around 11:20 am I offered to give TLE her lunch break as there was nothing more for me to do.  After giving TLE her lunch break I headed home to take a nap, and watch some of Stage 10 of Le Tour before returning to the Clubhouse around 2 pm to wash the four, now returned, Club Car electrics, and that was my day.  I was home by 3 pm, took a shower, watched the rest of Stage 10, then returned at 5 pm to give TLE a lift home.  In all I worked just 6 hours Monday, and just an hour of it in the heat of the day.

We got a little rain for about 10 minutes in the early evening, and just before I went to bed we got a nice sunset which I memorialized....

.....one day left now in our four day work cycle, then four days off work with temps in the low 90's.   We'll be watching 'The Open' Thursday through Saturday before returning to work on Sunday, and beginning Sunday we have 5 consecutive days of temps in the 80's.....how great is that?

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Phase 2.....

8:07 am - Sunday - August 23rd - Coupeville, WA - 49° F, 90% humidity, wind - CALM......partly cloudy today with a forecast high of 65° F.....if you live where it it near, or over 100° F daily, and you know us you will know why we are where we are at.  I love NOT hearing the sound of air conditioning.  I would rather run an electric heater for an hour in the morning, than run A/C at all.

On this day in 2011 we were in Dallas, TX at a college reunion......↴

Saturday it was time to begin Phase 2 of my project.....pressure wash the fireplace deck in preparation for a new application of stain later next week.  It's been about 5 years since this deck, and the deck at the front of the house have had stain applied, and they are in need.  Bob bought this professional grade pressure washer years ago, and I always enjoy getting to use it when we visit.....kind of weird, huh?  It has a very large water tank, as well as a separate tank to heat the water up to 250° F while pumping the heated water at close to 150 psi.....not much can withstand that heat and pressure combination.  I'm pressure washing the two decks before I do the driveway pavement to give the decks time to dry properly before we re-stain them.  In all I worked about 2.5 hours on the fireplace deck, and will get to the front deck on Sunday, or Monday........

 The professional grade Hydro Tek Pressure Washer

.....while pressure washing requires a little less exertion on my part, it still takes energy, and I have been experiencing an increase in my energy levels, and endurance since I began working almost a week ago.  

After finishing my work on the fireplace deck I retired to the Newell for the balance of the day watching most of round three of the Northern Trust Golf Tournament, and enjoying the beautiful view out our front window.  It was too chilly to sit out side for long, which is nice, since that means no A/C is running, right? The temps for the next two weeks will be mostly in the mid 60's, but mostly sunny so hopefully we can spend more time on the 'Lido Deck'.

For our dinner fare I grilled two filet mignons (purchased at Fred Meyers in Couer d'Alene) on the Sea-B-Que, while TLE fired up the Cowboy Disc Wok to sautee some onions, potatoes, and mushrooms as a side for the steaks, which paired nicely with a tomato and avocado salad she had made earlier in the evening.  Utilizing TLE's food thermometer I was able to get the filets to a perfect medium rare once again.

Around 7:15 pm we took a long walk out to the mouth of Harrington Lagoon catching it at another very high tide......

 2 mile walk after dinner...water still rushing into Harrington Lagoon

 Mt. Baker

 Harrington Lagoon at high tide with Mt. Baker in the deep background

.....we got back from our 2 mile walk just in time for TLE to photograph this beautiful sunset.....

TLE got outside in time to catch the sunset

.....being able to spend a couple of weeks on this property overlooking the ocean with our good friends Bob and Karen has really been the 'cherry on top of the sundae' for TLE and I.  After 3.5 months of nomadic wanderings we have at last returned to TLE's favorite place, which is anywhere near the ocean (she grew up in Miami, FL).  The last time we were at the ocean was July 15th when we drove down the hill from Ramona to spend the day in Carlsbad, CA.

On a side note the counter on our blog which counts page views surpassed 1.5 million since I began blogging some 11 years ago......

.....a big thank you to all of our faithful readers for this amazing milestone for us!

Thanks for stopping by!

When you shop Amazon, please use our link (below) to access their website.......we will appreciate every purchase you make using our Amazon Affiliate link, and  remember, using our link will not add one penny to your purchase, plus we will receive a small commission which over the course of a year adds up to enough to by a tank of diesel for which we thank you very much!