Yesterday, the climate here couldn’t be finer. We had clear, blue skies all day with temperatures in the 70s. The gusty winds in the forecast never materialized here in De Anza Cove. Hard to believe it’s November – not only because of the weather, but how the time has flown by. 2013 is already coming to a close.

Donna took advantage of the beautiful weather by taking a bike ride around the bay. While she was doing that, I talked to Terri Lund at MyDakotaAddress.com. She told me what’s required to register our new trailer in South Dakota.

I drove out to Lakeside to finalize the deal on the trailer. On the way there, I stopped at the Penske Auto Collision Center in Kearny Mesa. My old friend, Bill Bandy, works there. I haven’t seen Bill in 27 years. He gave me a tour of the facility and we chatted for awhile. He’s looking forward to retirement, but has a few more years to go. I’ve heard this from so many people. I’m thankful to be blessed with an early retirement and pension.

At TrailersPlus, I finalized the deal. They weren’t able to deliver the trailer right away as planned due to being shorthanded. Terri Lund told me I need to send her the original Manufacturers Statement of Origin (MSO) and a bill of sale showing that I paid sales tax. If I didn’t pay sales tax, South Dakota would apply a 3% tax. Unfortunately, I have to pay over 8% in tax here in California. The paperwork is always a hassle. The salesman told me I needed the California application for registration and another form called Statement of Facts. The California application for registration will provide a temporary registration even though I’m not applying for registration in California.

I’ll send all of the paperwork to Terri and she will handle the registration in Madison, South Dakota and send me the registration and license plate. This is a convenient service. The registration fee in South Dakota for the trailer is $37.87. Not too bad.

After I returned, Donna took the car and did some shopping. Shauna returned from Washington, DC Tuesday night, but she told us we could keep her car for another day. We will get together with her tonight.

While Donna was out, I set up my amp stand and broke out my Gibson ES339. I haven’t been practicing guitar – it’s been a few weeks since I played. It was obvious at first. I was really rusty.  I need to work guitar time into my daily activities.

I took a break and chatted with our neighbor, Bud, for a few minutes. Bud lives about 30 miles away from here in Escondido. His motorhome is in the site next to ours. He’s staying here for a month. Yesterday he towed his boat down to the park. He invited Donna and me to join him and Mona for a cruise around the bay later this afternoon. We’ll have dinner aboard the boat and find a nice place to watch the sunset.

Last night, Donna prepared baked shrimp with feta over orzo. We’ve had this dish before, but not since going full-time. It took her longer to prepare than she liked, so she’s going to cook it a little differently next time. All I know is it was good!

Today is another beautiful day. The temperature is supposed to be warmer than yesterday – 80 degrees – and the skies are blue.