As I left the Mission Bay RV Resort Wednesday morning, I had to stop the Spyder and snap a picture of De Anza Cove. The bay water was so calm, it looked like glass and reflected images of a few clouds in the sky, palm trees and the houses terraced in Bay Park.

De Anza Cove

There was a boat anchored in the cove – a cabin cruiser I hadn’t seen before. They found very smooth water to spend the night in. But I imagine the noise from I-5 couldn’t have been pleasant.

I played pickleball at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center. Ocean Beach is a unique community – it was a hippie hangout in the ’60s and ’70s and that influence is still obvious. It’s also a popular place for surfing. When I left the rec center, I took a ride along the waterfront. I saw a cool old VW bus that someone had cut a section out of, shortening the wheelbase.

Sectioned VW bus

On Tuesday, our friends John and Sharon Hinton checked into the park (On The Road of Retirement). We got together Wednesday evening for happy hour. They brought homemade garlic pesto pizza. Donna cooked salmon with ginger and scallion topping and made guacamole with pomegranate seeds, a twist she picked up from The Barrio Queen restaurant in Gilbert, Arizona. John and Sharon are beer lovers. We shared a blood red orange IPA from Latitude 33 Brewing. It was tasty, as was the food.

Happy hour became dinner

We were so absorbed in conversation, I never thought to have them pose for a photo.

A couple of hours passed quickly. When I came inside, I turned on game 7 of the Major League Baseball World Series. The Cubs were up 5-1. I thought it was game over. But over the next few innings, we had some twists. First the Indians stormed back to tie the game at 6-6 in the eighth inning. Then there was a rain delay. The Cubs won in overtime in the 10th inning.

Thursday was another beautiful day in San Diego. My first priority was a run to Costco. I picked up coffee K-cups for the Keurig, a case of bottled water and pork tenderloins. I arrived at Costco at 10:05am – they open at 10am. This is the way to do Costco. The parking lot was only half full and I didn’t have to fight crowds in the store.

After I dropped the stuff off back at the coach I headed out for more pickleball. Later, I spoke to my daughter, Alana, about picking me up at SeaTac airport tomorrow in Seattle – I wrote about the reason for this trip in my previous post. I also spoke to Sini. She’s already packing her things in her coach.We plan to get together Saturday evening and hit the road Sunday morning for our trip back down to San Diego.

By the time we get here, Sini will be a seasoned big rig driver. I have a plan in mind for her to get up to speed driving her motorhome – we’ll see if she likes my plan.

Donna made coconut curry chicken in the slow cooker for dinner last night. She served it over jasmine brown rice with chopped cilantro. I thought it was great but Donna wants to double the amount of curry powder and add some turmeric next time she makes it.

Coconut curry chicken

I paired it with an IPA from Left Coast Brewing in San Clemente called Trestles. Trestles is a reference to a popular series of surfing spots near San Onofre Beach in north San Diego county.

Trestles IPA

Today is another sunny, beautiful day here. The high is expected to be in the mid-70s. Seattle’s forecast is wet with the high temperature in the upper 50s for the weekend. I’ll pack my things today and leave for the airport around 6:30am tomorrow. I don’t know if I’ll be able to post over the next several days while we’re on the road.