Tuesday morning got off to a great start when Bob and Sini Schmitt invited us to join them for breakfast in their coach. Sini had just returned from two weeks of travel, while Bob was living the bachelor life. She went to Hawaii for a wedding, then to Seattle to look after some business at their house in Edmonds. Bob cooked up excellent breakfast burritos for us and we got caught up on Sini’s trip.

After breakfast, I started breaking down our outdoor gear. I folded up the chairs, took down the front window covers, and got things organized. Bob lent me his GMC Jimmy to move everything to the trailer while he and Sini drove to LA in a rental car to attend a show. Their goal was to get tickets to The Voice, but to get that, they had to agree to be members of the audience for the filming of an episode of AD. I loaded some of the gear into the Jimmy, then took a break to go to Pacific Beach Recreation Center to play some pickleball. I cut it short and left after a few games to get back to packing up.

Back at the coach, I stowed the tire covers and checked tire pressures. I loaded the Weber Q grill and ladder into Bob’s Jimmy and took everything to the trailer. By the time I had the trailer packed, another hour and half had passed. I still needed to load the scooter and Donna’s bike after she returned from her ride. I had that all done by 5pm.

This worked out perfectly since we planned to head out to our anniversary dinner at Island Prime at 5:45pm. I had time to shower and have a cocktail before our ride picked us up. Donna used one of the free Lyft coupons she had. Lyft is a taxi service that operates much like Uber. Our friend Mona is an Uber and Lyft driver. We planned it so Mona could be our driver. She came to the RV park at 5:45, we jumped in her car and then Donna requested a pick-up. Since Mona was the closest driver, she got the fare.

Island Prime is on the eastern point of Harbor Island, which like most of the “islands” in San Diego, is a peninsula. We made a quick stop for a couple of photo opportunities on the way.

Coronado Bridge from Harbor Island

Do you think this freighter dropped off pineapples?

The Island Prime restaurant features great views of both Coronado Island and the San Diego downtown skyline. We didn’t have a window seat, but our booth was only one table away from the glass. We watched boats sailing by as we had a drink and shared an appetizer.

I know this isn’t a sloop – maybe a ketch?

Ahi stack appetizer

We had the Ahi stack for an appetizer. The stack includes guacamole, sushi grade ahi tuna and creamy crab on top served with taro chips and a pineapple salsa and caviar.

Donna ordered the macadamia crusted sea bass. She hadn’t tried sea bass before and wanted to try something new. It was flaky and cooked perfectly. I had the filet trio – a trio of three, three-ounce medallions of filet mignon with three different toppings – bleu cheese, crab, and wild mushrooms – served over mashed potatoes.

Macadamia sea bass

Filet trio

It was an excellent meal coupled with outstanding service and unbelievable views. I can’t entertain like this every night, but it’s the right thing to do with my wife on our anniversary.

Sunset on my shoulder and a smiling face on my anniversary

We pulled the same gambit to have Mona be our Lyft driver on the way home. While we waited outside, I shot a couple of photos. I think a pair of Maseratis (one a spyder, the other coupe) and a Tesla valet-parked in front speak to the upscale clientele of this restaurant. Not that I’m all that impressed with material possessions. Just saying.

Maserati duo

The ubiquitous SoCal $100k Tesla electric car

Mona gifted us with a bottle of wine when she picked us up. Now, how many of you had your driver gift you with a bottle of wine?

I had hoped to be on the road by 9:30am on Wednesday morning, but we were a bit behind schedule. We plodded along methodically and had everything in order by a little after 10am. Then we needed to drive the coach to the overflow lot and hook up the trailer. We managed to get everything done without any undue stress and hit the road at 10:30am. The 9:30am departure was only a wish, not a drop-everything-and-let’s-get-rolling deal, so all was well.

We rolled easily along I-8 eastbound and made our usual stop at the Buckman Springs rest area. From there we crossed the three 4000+ foot summits and descended to the desert. It was an easy drive. I followed a tractor-trailer rig through the steep, twisty downgrade and held my speed in check with the Jake brake.

Our original plan was to stop for the night near Wellton, Arizona and dry camp. We were there before 3pm so we decided to move on. That’s how it goes sometimes – you make decisions on the fly. Donna was looking at the Escapee’s Day’s End directory on her laptop as we drove. We finally decided to press on to Gila Bend. Once there, we went south on AZ85 and found a legal boondocking spot to spend the night.

It’s quiet and the view is nice, but it’s windy and we’ve stayed indoors. After consulting the map, I think we’ll backtrack 10 miles in the morning back to I-8 and take that to I-10 and try to make it to Deming, New Mexico. We’d like to bank some miles before we take a two-night stop in order to be sure we can make it to Houston by the 14th.