Experienced full-timers told us we would continue to downsize our belongings once we were on the road. They were right.

It seemed like we only packed what was essential, but over time, we found that there are things we don’t use. Mostly it’s clothing. Donna did a good job, but I packed more clothes in our motorhome than I need.

This week, I donated a large bag of clothes and the area rug we had in the front room to Goodwill. There are a few more items that will be sold or donated before we leave San Diego.

Yesterday, I rode a different route on my bicycle. I followed Pacific Beach Drive to the beach. Then I followed the bike route north to La Jolla Cove. When I was growing up here in San Diego, I would go to the cove frequently. It was fun exploring the tide pools in the rocks there. We would find sea anemones and starfish along with small crabs and other aquatic life.

We would swim around the cave in the area we called “the clam.” Back then, seals were occasional visitors. We would see them swimming offshore. I don’t remember seeing them on the beach or rocks very often.

Today, that’s changed. Over the last 10 years or so, the seal behavior in the cove is different. On the south side of the cove, there’s a small, sandy beach protected by a sea wall. This used to be popular spot for swimming and sun bathing. Today, this beach is overrun with seals.

La Jolla Cove sea wall

Seals have taken over this beach

The rocks on the north end, where I used to explore the tide pools are now full of seals, cormorants and pelicans. I don’t know what caused this. I didn’t see anyone exploring tide pools. The seals have taken over.

Seals, cormorants and pelicans on the rocks

Seals on the rocks above the tide pools

The ride up to La Jolla Cove and back was about 23 miles. After I returned, I discovered a small leak in our sewer hose connection. I needed to address this right away. I resealed the fitting. Today I’ll need to buy some silicone grease for the o-rings to ensure water tight fittings.

People have told me I’ll get bored with retirement, I don’t think so. There’s always something to  do on the RV.

I ran a few more errands before returning the car to my daughter, Shauna. Today, Donna and I will take a bicycle ride together. Later, while she continues to work on her book, I’ll take the scooter to Home Depot. I need to find silicone grease and I want to make a new Watts water pressure regulator. The one I bought started leaking. Instead of buying another one made for RVs, I’ll build one with parts made for household duty. I think it will be more durable.

View of the beach at La Jolla Shores from La Jolla Cove

Yesterday was a new experience. Well,maybe I should say it was a new, old experience. What I’m referring to  is this: we have a car! My daughter, Shauna, left her car with us for a couple of days.

Her car is a clean diesel 2013 Volkswagen Jetta TDI. It’s an amazing car. The diesel engine is quiet, very powerful and gets more than 40mpg. In the old days, you could tell if a car was diesel-powered by the noise and the sooty deposits on the rear. Today, technology has made the exhaust emissions of diesel car engines so clean, you don’t even see deposits in the tailpipe!

We took advantage of the car by driving to Mission Valley. We shopped at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Donna wanted to buy a new set of sheets and a small rug to fit at the top of our entry stairs.

From there I took Donna to T’s Hair Salon in a neighborhood known as Normal Heights. T’s is on Adams Road near 33rd Street. The proprietor is Tonia Gutierrez Hill. We went to school together at Clairemont High School, here in San Diego.

While Donna was getting her hair done, I ran a couple of errands. One of my tasks was recycling bottles and cans. In California, plastic, glass and aluminum beverage containers are taxed. The tax is called California Redemption Value (CRV). For example, when you buy a six pack of beer, five cents per bottle (or can) is added to price. The extra 30 cents is shown on your receipt as CRV.

This looks like refundable deposit to me. I tried to return my bottles and cans to the store and claim my deposit. It doesn’t work that way! As I stated, CRV is really a tax. In fact, it’s double taxation because you also pay sales tax on the CRV amount!

There are recycling centers that will take your bottles and cans. I searched online and found seven recycling centers in San Diego. This doesn’t seem too convenient. After all San Diego is the eighth largest city in the USA. One of the recycling centers is in Clairemont, not too far from our location.

I took our bottles and cans to the center. I separated the plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans and put them into separate bins. The attendant weighed each bin and wrote the weights on a slip of paper. I took the paper to a counter where the cashier paid me $4.93 for the cans and bottles.

This is a weird scheme in my opinion. The state double taxes the sale, disguising it as a deposit. An independent business buys the bottles and cans, paying market scrap value. I don’t like it, but if I want to buy bottled water or beer in California, I’m stuck with it.

I drove back to Normal Heights to pick Donna up. It was 1pm and we were hungry. We walked from the hair salon to a Mexican restaurant on the corner of 32nd Street and Adams called El Zarape. The food was excellent.

We stopped again in Mission Valley to complete our shopping there. Donna bought a few things for the kitchen.

This morning, Donna drove to her exercise class in the Jetta. I’ll go for a bicycle ride later this morning and handle a few more errands this afternoon. Then I’ll return Shauna’s car.