Monday was a laid back day. Somehow the morning got away from me. Donna went out for a run around noon. I got out and walked laps around the park to stretch and get some fresh air. I knew I would be spending a lot of time inside the coach this week.

The weather is being affected by the El Nino condition in the Pacific Ocean. I’m sure most of us have already heard references to El Nino. It’s a warming trend of the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific. The warmer waters are found all the way up the coast here in California. This week, the storms associated with El Nino that were anticipated by all of the weather guessers are materializing.

Storm clouds moving in

Out on my walk, I saw the first of the series of storms that will hit us this week rolling in. We had heavy cloud cover all day and a few showers.

On Monday evening, we joined our friends, Hans and Lisa (Metamorphosis Road), for dinner at their coach. We started off with sampler glasses of beer. I opened a Hop Highway IPA from Belching Beaver Brewery. We poured about four or five ounces each. We followed that with another IPA from their refrigerator – the name of that one escapes me. For dinner, Lisa prepared lemon pepper pasta with spicy shrimp. The pasta came from Trader Joe’s and it’s really good. Donna brought roasted cherry tomatoes with fresh herbs for a side dish to go along with LIsa’s garlicky green beans and mushrooms. I neglected to take any photos once again. So you’ll have to trust me that dinner looked as good as it tasted!

After our meal, we shared a Voo Doo American stout from Left Coast Brewing with a dessert of fresh fruit salad with pineapple and blood orange and some chocolate stout cookies Lisa made. We talked and also listened to a documentary on surf guitar. Hans plays guitar in a surf band called The Sand Devils. We came home around 8pm and watched the final episode of Mr. Robot.

The rain started falling in earnest during the night. On Tuesday morning, Donna sat down to write an article for Quill – an online office supply company – and had to meet a deadline. The night before, we made plans to go to the Pacific Beach Recreation Center (PBRC) with Hans and Lisa for pickleball. Donna had to bow out to finish her article. I joined Hans and Lisa at 11:45am and we drove to PBRC in their truck.

There was a break in the rainfall as we drove there.  While we were inside on the pickleball courts, we could hear the rain pouring down and drumming on the roof. I think the weather curtailed a lot of outdoor activities for many people, so they came to PBRC to play. At one point, I counted 16 people on the court and 17 people waiting to play. We worked out a more efficient rotation on the courts and things moved along smoothly. We all had fun playing.

On the way home, we saw palm fronds on Grand Avenue. The storm had torn them away from the palm trees that line the street. Back in the coach, the rain fell heavily at times – some of the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen in San Diego. Donna continued to work all afternoon.

For happy hour, I opened a bottle of Shipwrecked IPA from Mission Brewery – they’re in San Diego by the airport at the foot of Washington Street. This is strong ale at 9.25% ABV but it’s smooth and very well-balanced. It’s one of easiest drinking double IPAs I’ve tried.

Shipwrecked double IPA

There was a short break in the weather right before sunset. On Facebook, I saw several videos of flooding in the area, including videos of dim-witted drivers entering flooded intersections and stalling their cars. Driving a car into water deep enough to reach the engine’s air intake can cause severe damage. The water enters the combustion chamber where air is normally compressed. Water isn’t compressible – something has to give so it usually results in bent connecting rods and an expensive repair bill.

This morning we were awake but still in bed around 6:45am when the coach started rocking. I asked Donna if she felt it. It was an earthquake. Later we found out it was a 4.5 magnitude quake centered in Banning, California – about 100 miles from here. That’s the second earthquake here in the last week or so.

Right now we have mostly cloudy skies with a break in the rainfall. This will change by this afternoon when the next storm rolls in from the Pacific. I have a things-to-do list for indoor projects. I’ll try to knock a couple of items off the list today.