I haven’t posted since Friday. I anticipated this as we had a busy weekend. Mission Bay RV Resort is owned by the city of San Diego and they have strict rules. One of the strictly enforced rules limits RVs to a 30-day maximum stay in the park. After 30 days, you must be out of the park for at least 24 hours before you can return. This means your RV and all belongings must be off the property. For us this meant I would have to pack the trailer and take it with us.

I spent most of Saturday preparing to leave. I organized the trailer and loaded the scooter. I packed some of our stuff in the basement compartments. I lubed the rams on the jacks and one slideout. I hooked up the air compressor and set the tire pressures. By 4pm I had most of my chores done. I asked our neighbor if I could lock our bicycles behind his trailer and retrieve them when we return on Monday. He didn’t have a problem with it. The bicycles are a hassle to load in the trailer. I load them suspended from the ceiling. They’re one of the last things that go in. Leaving them here may have been cheating, but it made loading the trailer much simpler.

At 5:30pm, my friend from our school days, Carole Sue Bringas, picked us up in her car. She took us out to  eat at the Fish Shop on Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach. This is a popular restaurant/bar/fish market. It’s very casual. You order at the counter, take a number and seat yourself. They bring the food to your table. Ordering is a three-step process. You choose your fish (I chose yellowtail), then you choose one of eight seasonings (I chose Fish Shop Seasoning) then you choose your style – taco, salad, sandwich or plate ( I chose the plate which comes with two side dishes). The food was excellent although I have to say that the Fish Shop Seasoning was very spicy. Donna had the Fish Shop Shrimp Special (say that fast three times!). Carole treated us to dinner (thank you, Carole Sue!).

From there we drove downtown to the Hyatt Hotel. We went to the bar at the top of the Hyatt. The view of San Diego Bay from there is spectacular. We had a drink, then moved on. Carole took us to a place on Morena Boulevard called the High Dive. It was a lively cafe/bar that locals from Bay Park frequent. After a drink there, Carole dropped us off at the RV park.

I paid the RV park a late checkout fee of $10. The  usual check out time is noon. For $10 they allow you stay as late as 4pm. The only caveat is this; they record the time you leave and you must be out of the park for a full 24 hours or more before you can check back in.

I wanted the late check out so  I could watch the Chargers play the Jacksonville Jaguars on TV. The game was played in Jacksonville, so  the TV broadcast was at 10am local time and wouldn’t be over until about 1pm. The Chargers played a good game; Phillip Rivers led the team to a 24 – 6 victory. The defense hasn’t given up a touchdown in 11 quarters.

We thought about our options for our 24-hour leave. Some people park in the public parking areas in Mission Bay Park. This isn’t legal as parking is forbidden from 2am to 4am in these lots. Some people get away with it though, because the enforcement is spotty. I didn’t want to risk having a cop knock on the door after 2am. Another option was to move to another RV park in the area. I didn’t want to pay for a site when I would only be there for a day and wouldn’t hook up. There are casinos in San Diego County that allow free overnight RV parking. I thought this made the most sense.

I dumped and rinsed the holding tanks before the game. Once the game ended, Donna and I finished packing, pulled the slideouts in, raised the jacks and rolled up the awning. I disconnected the water and power. I made a few walkarounds, checking the compartment doors and generally looking things over. We haven’t moved in 30 days. I wanted to  be sure we weren’t forgetting anything.

Once I was satisfied, we rolled out to the lot behind the office. While I was hooking up the trailer, Donna checked us out. I was 2pm when we left the park. Our destination was the Sycuan Indian Casino in El Cajon. It’s about 30 miles from De Anza Cove. The drive was smooth and uneventful. As we drove through El Cajon, Donna was reconnoitering gas stations. She found a couple that looked easy enough to enter and exit. We decided to stop at the Shell station on 2nd Street on our way back to Mission Bay RV Resort.

The drive to Sycuan took us through Granite Hills. This is a pretty area with high-end luxury homes. The landscape is rolling hills covered with sagebrush and manzanita. There was a short, steep (10%) descent on Dehesa Road, but it wasn’t a problem although I wondered how we would fare climbing it on our way back.

Once we entered the casino property, we were directed to an empty parking lot called Bradley 2. This lot over looks the casino and the regular car parking lot. We had the whole lot to ourselves and tried to find a fairly level spot. The lot slopes; I had a hard time leveling the coach. Once level, we put the slides out.

Our spot in the Bradley 2 lot

Parking lot view from Bradley 2 lot

We walked from the Bradley 2 lot down the stairs to the casino. I counted the steps, 49 steps from the lot to the casino level. I read complaints about these stairs on a couple of forums when I was researching places for free overnight stays. The stairs are fairly steep, but we didn’t have any problems. We went to a sports bar in the casino and ordered food. I had a couple of beers and watched three NFL games at once on the array of TVs in the bar. I picked a couple of upsets in the football pool for the weekend. My picks were looking good. I had Washington over Chicago, the Jets over the Patriots, Pittsburgh over Baltimore.

Sycuan Casino viewed from the Bradley 2 lot

We walked back up to the RV. I ran the generator and watched the Sunday night game. I picked another upset here; I had the Colts over the Broncos. I picked 12 winners out of 14 games and won the pool!

View down the stairs from Bradley 2 lot

View up the stairs from casino level

Yesterday we walked to the casino for breakfast. The Wachena restaurant in the casino is quite good. After a leisurely breakfast, we made the RV ready for travel. The drive up the steep grade on Dehesa Road wasn’t an issue, we motored right up. We gassed up at  the Shell station Donna spotted on our way in. We were back at De Anza Cove by 12:30pm.

We couldn’t check in until 2pm, so I parked in the public parking lot outside of the RV park. Donna went for a walk while I sat in the grass and read a book under the shade of a tree. At 2:10pm I pulled into the lot behind the RV park office. We checked in for another 30-day stay. I dropped the trailer and we settled in at site 111. I think I like this site better than 148, where we were before. It’s closer to the gate and has different trees that aren’t shedding nearly as many leaves.

Last night I walked over to the Offshore Tavern and Grill to watch the Monday Night Football. This NFL season is getting expensive. Oh well, my football pool winnings are offsetting the beer bill! I walked home around 9pm.

The 30-day/24-hour shuffle is a small price to pay to stay in such an ideal location. I don’t understand the rule though. The other RV parks in the area (Campland and Santa Fe) have 90-day limits. On the other hand, getting the RV on the road for some exercise every 30 days isn’t a bad thing. The 30-mile drive is enough to get everything up to operating temperature and allow the fluids to boil off any condensation. The emollients in the rubber of the tires are redistributed as you roll down the road. Sitting stationary for long periods of time is hard on vehicles.

This life of retirement is busy! I’m really enjoying it though. I don’t understand when people say retirement is boring. Donna says she can see how much more relaxed I am. I have no plan for today, other than a long bike ride at some point. Life is good!