Donna’s left shoulder has been giving her trouble since she took a fall at the ice skating rink in Santa Fe, New Mexico in mid-September. She hadn’t fallen on the ice in years, but some kids on the rink distracted her and she caught an edge and fell. Donna’s sister, Sheila, is a physical therapist. Wednesday morning Donna had an appointment to see her to have her shoulder worked on. Meanwhile, I continued preparation to move from our site for one night.

We were in no hurry – I planned to move only about 20 miles away to the Elks Lodge in Chula Vista. I tried to contact the lodge to confirm site availability, but they didn’t open until 1:30pm. I wasn’t too worried about it – their web site said they had plenty of room and had never turned an RV away. I thought about the lodge in El Cajon, but when I phoned them I was unpleasantly surprised by the rude person on the phone. She told me she couldn’t guarantee space for us and they don’t take reservations – I would have to show up and take my chances there. This is common practice at most Elks Lodges, but they’re usually quite friendly and tell me if they think they can accommodate us.

I parked the Spyder in our trailer which we left in the overflow lot at Mission Bay RV Resort. The drive to Chula Vista was easy and the midday traffic was light. The Elks Lodge is located on a terraced bluff on the south side of Telegraph Canyon Road. They have 27 sites with hook-ups and also provide dry camping. I wanted a dry camping spot – no need to hook up for an overnight stay. The camp host directed me to a level area of the lot and said I would be fine there. We had a nice view of trees and shrubs on the hillside but also had road noise from Telegraph Canyon Road which is a busy thoroughfare.

Door step view at the Chula Vista Elks Lodge

After putting the jacks down and slides out, we walked to a shopping center about half a mile away. We found a Chinese restaurant there and had lunch. The portions were large and we both brought half of our meals home in box containers.

Later we went into the lodge for a cold one. As usual, the lodge bought a second round for us since we were first-time visitors there. Back at the coach, I opened a bottle of beer Donna bought for me. It was an interesting IPA from Modern Times – a local San Diego brewery. The beer was pale and obviously unfiltered. It was tasty but the mouth feel is what set it apart more than anything.

I read the label and saw it was made with Simcoe, Oregon Horizon and Amarillo hops. Oregon Horizon was a new hop to me. But then I saw what made this IPA different. The grain bill was pale malt (barley), white wheat and oats. Wheat and oats in an IPA is different for sure. I like this beer.

Modern Times IPA

Ozark the cat liked the change in surroundings. She spent a lot of time looking out the screen door at whatever was in the shrubbery. She also spends a lot of time in her window mounted shelf-bed.

Ozark in her favorite place

We pulled out of the Elks Lodge around 11:30 am. I made a detour on the way back to Mission Bay to stop at the Chevron station on East Balboa Avenue on the west side of highway 163. They have diesel at a reasonable – for California – price and I know I can get our rig in and out of there. There aren’t many places to get fuel for a big rig in the San Diego area.

It only took 35 gallons to fill the tank, but I knew I would want to boondock on our way to Arizona next month and we would need plenty of fuel for the generator – it won’t deliver fuel from the tank to the generator if we’re below 1/4 tank. It was also a good idea to do this while I didn’t have the trailer behind us.

Back at Mission Bay RV Resort, we were assigned to site 115. This is a much better site than 120 where we spent the last two months. In 120, we had trees that dropped foliage into our site, not to mention the birds that roosted in the trees every night and left their calling cards. The trees also blocked my Dish satellite reception. Site 115 is open with only one small tree.

I reactivated the Dish Network service and have great reception once again. I also replaced the filter elements in our water filtration when I set up. We have a two-canister filtration system. The first canister has a 10″ spun polypropylene sediment filter that filters down to five microns. This removes any sediment like sand or rust particles. The second canister has a fiber block carbon element that removes cysts and chemicals.

The sediment filter lasts about four months of full-time use. You can visually see the filter loading up with sediment. The second filter lasts six to 12 months. It can’t be visually inspected so I replace it after two sediment filter changes or every eight months or so.

We have a third anti-bacterial filter on the water dispenser at our kitchen sink. I need to replace this one as well. It lasts two to three years. It’s a bit of a chore to change, so I haven’t been too anxious to get after it, but it’s on my “to do” list before we leave here.

Spun polypropylene sediment element – old on the left, new on the right

Fiber block carbon elements

Since it was Thursday, I made the usual stop at Dan Diego’s for a cold one with the guys. Mike, the bartender, had special pricing on bottled beer again. This time I tried a Belgian Blonde Ale that was outstanding and priced at $3/bottle. What a bargain!

Maredsous Belgian blonde ale

I watched the Thursday Night Football game back at the coach. Rain moved into the area before the game ended. The rain continued through the night and it’s raining off and on as I type this. The weather guessers say the rain will move out of here this afternoon.