It’s already time to turn another page on the calendar. Goodbye, September. Hello, October. We’ve been in San Diego for a week and it went by fast. We had some things to take care of – Donna and I both had dental appointments on Wednesday, We got an hour and a half of pickleball in on Thursday at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center. I had to leave by 11:30am because I had scheduled an appointment to have an estimate for new slide toppers at noon.

Last year I wanted to replace the slide topper on one of our bedroom slides. It was showing wear and tear and I had made a repair to a small hole in it. I had a quote from Shade Pro while we were here, but I didn’t realize how reasonable their price was. The slide topper is a fabric covering on a roller that attaches to the outside of the coach and extends over the slide-out when it is put out. It keeps debris and rain water from collecting on the top of the room slide. I didn’t have the topper replaced last year.

When we were in Mesa, Arizona, I had two guys give me quotes on the replacement. That’s when I realized I  should have had done it here in San Diego. One of the guys in Mesa couldn’t get the proper fabric for it. The other guy said he would have to order the fabric from Dometic and it would be over $400 for parts plus another $200 or so in labor. Shade Pro has a shop here in San Diego – Spring Valley actually – where they custom-make the fabric for toppers and awnings. They offer both high-quality acrylic material in a variety of colors or lower cost vinyl toppers. They quoted $189 for materials for high-quality acrylic fabric matching the color of our current toppers.

When Rich from Shade Pro came out on Thursday, I told him I wanted a quote to replace all three slide toppers. The living room slide is 16-feet long and that topper was more expensive. The price quoted was $189 for materials for each bedroom slide and $239 for the living room slide. Installation for all three was $240. Total price for all three – $857 plus tax. Way better than spending about $600 for one! I told Rich I wanted to go for it. He asked, “Will you be here tomorrow?” I said yes and he said he could be back between 11am and 1pm to do the work. I was surprised they would have the toppers made up that fast. He said he would call the order in and the shop would have the fabric ready to go by the morning.

Over the summer, we encountered numerous thunderstorms including high winds at times. A tear started in the bedroom slide topper and somewhere in Colorado it shredded. The other two toppers were beginning to rip at the seam where they join the metal casing on the coach.

Torn bedroom slide topper – looks like a bird added insult to injury

Donna had a lunch appointment in Old Town on Friday and I stayed home for the installation of the toppers. Rich showed up a little past noon and went to work. The large living room slide was stubborn and he spent about an hour removing the old fabric and installing the new one. The smaller bedroom slides were easier and he spent about 20 minutes on each one.

New Shade Pro slide topper

I’m really happy with the results and would recommend Shade Pro if you’re in southern California. They have added service in Yuma, Tucson and Phoenix too, although it may take a day or two to get the fabric there.

My high school buddy Gary Stemple invited us to go for a boat ride on Saturday. He picked us up here at De Anza Cove around 2:30pm. He had a center console type fishing boat about 22 feet long from Freedom Boat Club. We cruised to the south side of the Hilton Hotel where an event was being held. It was the 9th annual dragon boat races at Tecolote Shores Park.

Dragon boat enthusiasts at Tecolote Shores

Dragon boats are canoe shaped vessels with dragon heads on the bow. They seat eight to a dozen or more paddlers, a tillerman and a coxswain that usually beats a drum for cadence. They were racing four boats at a time in various categories – women’s teams, men’s teams and mixed. It’s a real workout as they paddle furiously – especially with the windy conditions Saturday afternoon.

Dragon boats on the bay

We cruised over to the Freedom Boat Club at Dana Landing. They were hosting a party with food and drink on the grass. It was a fun afternoon. It made me think of something I read somewhere – The ocean is my potion, I’m getting my vitamin sea. We’re happy to be back in San Diego.

Sea Lion near Dana Landing

Donna’s sister Sheila picked her up Sunday morning. They took the Sea Eagle kayak to Shelter Island and paddled on San Diego Bay. When they returned in the afternoon, Donna put the Sea Eagle back in the trailer and retrieved our Weber Q grill. They hauled the grill to our site in Sheila’s SUV. That’s one hassle about Mission Bay RV Resort – we have to leave our trailer in the lot outside of the RV park and shuttle gear back and forth.

Donna roasted a turkey breast from Sprouts on the grill along with shishito peppers and delicata squash. The delicata squash has a thin skin that can be eaten – you don’t have to scoop the meat out of the skin.

Grilled turkey breast, shishito peppers and delicata squash

The weather has been a little unusual. The daily highs have been in the low to mid 70s and it only cools to the mid 60s at night. The humidity level is higher than usual – around 70%. I think this is an effect of Hurricane Rosa to the south. High surf is expected over the next couple of days. Yesterday the temperature hit 80 degrees and we should see upper 80s today with an overnight low of 70 degrees. We might need air conditioners today!