Category Archives: Uncategorized

Rude Walkers

Yesterday was Thursday, but it felt like Friday to me. I think it was due to all of the activity here at Mission Bay RV Resort. Rigs were pulling in and setting up all afternoon – we usually see this on Fridays, especially if it’s a holiday weekend.

Later, as I took a walk, I remembered why there was so much activity. This weekend is the Susan G. Komen three-day walk to raise money for breast cancer. At this time last year, the RV park filled up with participants and supporters. The parking lot at Crown Point Shores is closed to the public this weekend. Large tents were erected there. Participants, family and friends are allowed to camp there for the weekend.

A motorhome pulled into the site behind us in the afternoon. They had a Susan G. Komen banner in the windshield. I should have remembered them from last year – more on that later.

Our new neighbors - that's our rig on the left

Our new neighbors – that’s our rig on the left

Donna’s sister, Linda, flew home to Vermont for Thanksgiving. Donna drove her to the airport. We’ll have her car until she returns on the 29th.

Later, I drove over to Dan Diego’s to turn in my football picks for the week and collect a free drink. This week’s winner was the bartender at Dan Diego’s. I’m really having a hard time picking winners this season. It’s been crazy. Teams that look invincible one week are beat by teams that seem inferior the next week.

Part of my problem may be that I’m a fan. Specifically, I’m a San Diego Chargers fan. I try to be logical and use my head, not my heart when I fill out the football pool. Deep down, I have scenarios that I would like to see play out that work in favor of the Chargers. This can lead to negative cheering – what I mean is, if I’m watching a divisional rival’s game, I’m hoping they lose. I’ve gotten better at leaving the negativity out of it and just enjoying good games, but when you’re a fan, you want things to go a certain way.

Every week I study the injury reports, I look at the Las Vegas odds, then I use my gut feelings and make my picks. Last Thursday, when I turned in my football sheet, I saw Courtney – the bartender at Dan Diego’s – fill out her sheet. It took her a few minutes. She asked a couple of questions about some of the teams – what’s their record, what did they do last week, etc. She doesn’t follow the NFL too closely. She won the pool.

Courtney behind the bar at Dan Diego's

Courtney behind the bar at Dan Diego’s

I came home to watch the Thursday Night Football game on the NFL network. The Oakland Raiders were hosting the Kansas City Chiefs. As a Charger fan, I’m a Raider hater. It’s a bitter rivalry between the Chargers and Raiders that dates back to 1960. But since the Raiders were playing against the Chiefs, I had to root for the Raiders. The Chiefs were tied for first in the division with the Broncos – San Diego is one game behind. The Raiders pulled off an improbable win last night after losing 16 straight games, dropping the Chiefs’ record to 7-4.

Donna was out during the game. She was invited to be a guest speaker at a the monthly meeting of a minimalists group. When she returned, we watched TV for a while, then turned in.

I’ve been leaving the awning out most nights. It keeps the dew off things outside and we usually have very little wind at night. I should have checked the forecast. The wind picked up in the night and I was awakened by the sound of the awning bouncing in the wind. I got up and retracted the awning.

I had trouble getting back to sleep, but eventually I drifted off. Then I was jolted awake again by loud voices. It was 5am. Someone called out, “Hey, there you are!” Loud conversation was taking place in the dark outside our bedroom. Apparently, the motorhome with the Susan G. Komen banner behind us is the meet-up spot for the walkers staying here in the RV park. I should have remembered this rig. They did the same thing last year.

Last year, one of our neighbors complained to them, but they were noisy every morning. I think I’ll talk to the security guys today. I don’t want two more mornings of this behavior.

What’s the Story?

A couple of weeks ago when Donna  came back from a bike ride, she told me that the railing on the Rose Creek bridge had been damaged. She wondered what could have bent the railing upward over the pedestrian/bicycle bridge. A few days later, as I rode my bicycle over the bridge, I stopped to investigate.

The railing was indeed bent upward on the north side of the bridge, near the crest. There were black tire marks on the curb, beginning several feet to the east of the bent rail. It was apparent to me that a westbound vehicle had hit the curb, then climbed up the curb and struck the railing from below. There was black paint scraped onto the rail.

Rail damage on the Rose Creek pedestrian/bicycle bridge

Rail damage on the Rose Creek pedestrian/bicycle bridge

Why would someone drive a motor vehicle over this narrow bridge, which is clearly marked No Motor Vehicles? The bridge is arced fairly steeply. A vehicle moving at speed wouldn’t see a pedestrian coming up from the other side.

Workers repairing the damage

Workers repairing the damage

Yesterday, I crossed the bridge on my bicycle. Workers had the north side of the bridge closed as they made repairs.

When I returned to the Mission Bay RV Resort, I stopped to snap a quick photo of some neighbors who had moved in a few days ago. It’s a trio of Prevost (say PRE-voh, the st is silent) conversions that appear to be traveling together.

L-R Prevost Marathon, Featherlite and Millenium coaches

L-R Prevost Marathon, Featherlite and Millenium coaches

These coaches, built on 45-foot Prevost chassis, fascinate me. They are the creme de la creme of motorhomes. In my opinion, they are rivaled only by Newell. These three were completed by different manufacturers. The Marathon Coach and the Millenium Coach were built from a Prevost H series while the Featherlite Vantare started with a Prevost X series. The differences are detailed on the Prevost site.

Just for grins, I looked up current Millenium Coach pricing. Donna and I toured one of their coaches at the FMCA Converntion. The one we looked at retailed for $2.3 million. You can see the specs for a new X series here. The retail price is $2,039,025!

This new H series quad slide may be the one we toured in Redmond, OR. Retail price is $2,364,032! So, our neighborhood has gone upscale.

I’m not impressed by someone’s celebrity stature, but I often wonder how people made their fortunes. It’s interesting for me to meet successful people on the road and hear their stories. So far, what I’ve heard most often is a combination of hard work and luck. Being in the right place at the right time. Having the skillset to take advantage of opportunities. And having a willingness to take risks and overcome failures. Hopefully I’ll have a chance to hear our new neighbors’ stories.

I’m sure that driving over pedestrian bridges and crashing into the handrail doesn’t figure into anyone’s success story.

 

Who Buys This?

We’ve had cooler weather over the past few days. The daytime highs reach the lower 70s while the overnight low is in the mid 50s. The cool nighttime temperatures prompted Donna to add a comforter to our bed. We sleep with the windows open – the cool night air feels good. In the morning, it’s usually about 60 degrees in our coach, but it quickly warms up as the sun streams through the windows.

On Saturday, my daughter, Shauna, and her roommate, Kat, came over to enjoy the nice weather on the bay. They wanted to take our Sea Eagle SE370 inflatable kayak out. One of the removable seats had been losing air. I suspected a leak around the fill valve. I unscrewed the plastic valve and sealed the threads with Teflon tape before they arrived. This seemed to do the trick, it’s holding air fine now.

Shauna and Kat paddling in

Shauna and Kat paddling in

I went to Costco to pick up a couple of things the other day. In some states, Costco sells liquor – California is one of them. While I was walking down the liquor aisle, I saw a few cabinets with bottles locked up inside. Out of curiosity, I walked over to see what was there.

What I saw boggled my mind. When I think about shopping at Costco, I usually expect to find common goods sold in quantity at discount prices. These liquor bottles were anything but common. The quantity was the usual 750ml. I don’t know if these prices reflect a deep discount or not – they’re way out of my league.

How about a bottle of Chivas Regal 62 Gun Salute  Scotch for $2,999.99? Well, they kept it under three thousand, right?

Chivas Regal 62 Gun

Chivas Regal 62 Gun Salute

Then I saw a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII cognac on offer for $2,999.00!

Remy Martin Louis XIII

Remy Martin Louis XIII

The icing on the cake was a bottle of L’Or de Jean Martell cognac priced at $3,399.00. They didn’t bother with the 99 cents.

L'Or De Jean Martell cognac

L’Or de Jean Martell cognac

I don’t recall seeing these bottles before. I wonder if it’s something special for the holidays? I appreciate fine whiskey and cognac, but I have to ask – do people really buy liquor at this price point? There must be someone willing to pay that price or they wouldn’t have it in the store.

Maybe someday, when I order a million-dollar-plus Newell coach, I’ll celebrate with a bottle of L’Or de Jean Martell.

Something’s Brewing

Donna went shopping with her sister, Linda, on Thursday afternoon. While they were out, I rode my mountain bike up the Rose Creek Trail to Santa Fe Street. I planned on riding San Clemente Canyon. The wind was gusty and made the ride north on Santa Fe tough going.

I deviated from my plan at one point and crossed the railroad track and entered the flood control channel. This channel is a wide, concrete bed with concrete walls angling up on each side. The channel is about 60 feet wide and the side walls are about 15 feet high. Its purpose is to channel storm water runoff from canyons in the area to Rose Creek, then into Mission Bay.

Above the channel on the east side is Morena Boulevard. On the west side is Santa Fe Street. There is an access road from Morena Boulevard on the north end of the channel. The access road is closed to traffic with a locked gate.

I rode around in the channel and reminisced about the days when we would drive into this channel to party. Back in my high school days, someone had cut the lock on the gate. We would drive our cars down into the channel.

Flood control channel access road - in poor repair today

Flood control channel access road – in poor repair today

High above on the east side, Morena Boulevard had very little traffic in those days. The only business I remember on that stretch of road was the Price Club. I posted about the Price Club here. On the west side, across the railroad track, Santa Fe Street was strictly a commercial district with no traffic at night.

Flood control channel - a little overgrown today

Flood control channel – a little overgrown today

Down in the channel we could play loud music and drink beer without being discovered. The sound was contained by the walls of the channel – and there wasn’t anyone around there to complain about the noise anyway.

I rode back to Santa Fe Street and stopped at the Karl Strauss Brewery and Tasting Room. This is the last business on Santa Fe Street before the road ends and the paved Rose Canyon bike path begins.

Karl Strauss Brewery and Tasting Room

Karl Strauss Brewery and Tasting Room

Karl Strauss Brewery is the cornerstone of craft brewing in San Diego. They opened their brewery in downtown San Diego on February 2, 1989. This was the start of the craft brew scene in San Diego. Chris Kramer and Matt Rattner were young entrepreneurs with a dream of bringing local, high-quality beer to San Diego. Chris’s cousin happened to be Karl Strauss – a master brewer trained at Weihenstephen in Munich, Germany. With Karl’s help, they were able to start brewing.

When we lived in Arizona, I was a member of the Arizona Society of Homebrewers. This is a beer club dedicated to crafting beer at home. I learned by reading books and talking to other members of the club and began brewing my own beer. It takes attention to detail and patience to brew good beer.

I bought the necessary implements, such as a large propane burner to boil the wort, copper chilling coils, five-gallon glass carboys for fermentation and so on. I kept vacuum-sealed hops in our freezer. I bought yeast at a local homebrew store. I would prepare a yeast starter in a one-liter Erhlenmeyer flask the night before I would start a brew. The yeast starter gave the yeast a jump start and allowed fermentation to begin more quickly once it was added to the chilled wort versus just adding a small packet of yeast to the wort. I believe getting a quick and vigorous start to the fermentation process improves the quality of the beer. One of the challenges of brewing in Arizona was temperature control. I would carry out the fermentation process in a glass carboy placed in the bathtub of our guest bathroom. A small amount of water in the tub and wet towels wrapped around the carboy provided evaporative cooling.

Once I learned how to properly brew and started coming up with tasty brews, I expanded my capabilities by brewing different styles of beer. I brewed pale ale, India pale ale, red ale, Belgian-style wheat beer, stout and so on. Donna bought a three-tap kegerator for me for my birthday. I could have three styles of beer on tap in five-gallon Pepsi kegs (the correct term is Cornelius keg) while another batch was fermenting. I kept a rotation going so I would never be out of beer. My friends would come over on Sunday afternoons to watch motorcycle races on TV and we would enjoy fresh, home-brewed beer.

When we moved to Michigan and I began working 50+ hours per week, I never got back into homebrewing. Eventually I sold my brew equipment. It was great hobby for a few years though and I learned a lot about beers and different styles of beer.

Today, the craft beer scene has exploded. According to the Brewers Association, there are more than 3,000 craft breweries in the country. Craft beer sales continue to climb while light lager sales fall. People have fallen for quality beers brewed in various styles.

The craft brew business continues to evolve. I read an article this morning about a small brewery in Bend, Oregon – 10 Barrel Brewing – selling out to Anheuser Busch In-Bev Corporation. This has stirred a lot of emotion among brewers and the fans of 10 Barrel beers. They aren’t the first craft brewery to be bought out by a corporate beer giant. It makes me wonder what the definition of craft brewery will be in the future as these breweries become parts of huge corporations and integrate corporate policies and mass production techniques.

Last evening, Donna and I walked to the west end of the park to view the sunset. I had a glass of Ninkasi oatmeal stout in hand. Our neighbors, John and Sharon, came to the same spot. We talked and watched the sunset, then we came back and sat together outside our coach. I found out that John and Sharon are craft beer drinkers. Sharon loves the stouts and John likes IPA. I had Stone IPA in the cooler and we enjoyed a couple of beers together before dinner.

Sunset on the bay - Friday night

Sunset on the bay – Friday night

I have something brewing, but I’m not ready to reveal it yet.

Are We on Vacation?

A few weeks ago while Donna was waiting at the finish line to see her nephew, Connor, finish a 5k run, a vendor made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. He offered her a $150 American Express gift card, valid anywhere American Express is accepted, in return for having the  two of us sit through a two-hour presentation.

The presentation was from Wyndham Vacation Ownership. We knew we would be subjected to the usual high-pressure sales tactics. We also knew we wouldn’t get sucked into anything that wasn’t right for us. We figured what the heck? Take a few hours out of the day and walk away with $150. Why not?

Our appointment was set for 11:30am, Wednesday. We rode the scooter out to the Hazard Center in Mission Valley and found the Wyndham office. We checked in at 11:25am. Then we sat and waited while other people arrived. It was more than 20 minutes later before we were introduced to our salesperson, Hernando, and escorted back to a large room with open cubicles and desks. Each couple was assigned to their own salesperson.

Before we sat in Hernando’s cubicle, we were given plastic plates and napkins and had our choice of various sandwich wraps delivered from a nearby deli. We also had a variety of chips and drinks to go with the wrap. It was interesting. For the next 20 minutes we sat and ate while we talked about our backgrounds. Hernando told us about his family and how he ended up with Wyndham. My cynical take was this was designed to put us at ease and make us feel like Hernando is our friend.

Next, we were all herded into a conference room. A sales guy named Cory took over and all of the other salespeople left the room. Cory started by introducing himself, then had each of us say where we were from, where was our best vacation and if money was no object, where would we go on our next vacation.

Then he launched into his presentation, starting out by telling us there would be no pressure. They just wanted us to understand the benefits of Wyndham Vacation Ownership. He was pretty lively through most of his presentation and everyone participated as he asked the group questions. We sat through a couple of videos that were designed to make you feel like you were really missing the boat if you didn’t join.

We learned that Wyndham Vacation Ownership isn’t your typical timeshare arrangement. You buy in and become an owner of shares. This is somewhat like the Escapees program I described when we were in Jojoba Hills. The Wyndham Worldwide Corporation has a number of resorts, hotels and other vacation properties. They also have exchange programs through RCI, that allow trades with other resort properties around the world. There are more than 900,000 owners of shares in the Wyndham Vacation Ownership program, making it by far the largest in the country.

Ownership allows you to buy credits, which is how you pay for your stay at a property. They have standard plans with various amounts of credits, beginning with 5,000 credits. It takes about 4,000 credits to stay for a week at most properties. It could be more or less, depending on the location and size of the condo you’re staying in and whether it’s a peak or off-peak stay.

We returned to Hernando’s desk. I think Hernando knew he was facing an uphill battle to get us onboard, since he knew we were full-time RVers and don’t need a condo at resort locations. We can move our home anywhere we want. He was a little offstride as he went through his workbook, which was designed to show us how affordable the program is, compared to typical vacations.

Filling in the blanks on his workbook didn’t give the normal results. When he asked us how much we spend on hotel rooms, we said “zero.” We pay for hook-ups though. We figured our costs for full hook-ups average about $35/night. This didn’t fit the formula in his workbook.

Then Cory came over to lend his support. He mentioned an affiliation with Thousand Trails. That got my attention. Thousand Trails is a campground and RV resort membership with sites all across the country. Cory said he would have someone come over to explain the Thousand Trails program. Shortly, another salesperson came over to help. Her name was Christine. It turned out the Thousand Trails affiliation only entitles Wyndham members to get a discount off the Thousand Trails non-member rates, which are typically quite high.

At this point, Hernando went through the cost of ownership at various credit levels. I could tell his heart was no longer in it though as he could see this wasn’t a fit for our lifestyle. Their whole presentation was based on getting away from it all and lowering your level of stress by having the availability of going to a resort wherever you want, whenever you want. Well, that’s what we do already.

Finally, Cory came back to take one more swing at us. He offered us a special one-time chance at a bare bones membership, available only if we signed up right now. Then he had us sign a document stating that we didn’t want to accept the offer and would not be offered it again. No pressure tactics, right?

By then, it was after 2pm. Our two-hour, no-pressure presentation had stretched to about two and a half hours. The other participants were still stuck at their salesperson’s desks as we left.

On the way out, Donna collected her $150 American Express card. We found out the reward for sitting through the presentation wasn’t the same for everyone. Some people received only a $50 card. I don’t know how they decide which amount to offer, but they obviously offered us too much. Their program wasn’t for us.

It did get us talking a bit about what a vacation might look like for us. When we made the decision to live the full-time RV lifestyle, I told Donna that it was a lifestyle, not a vacation. She said, “Oh, good. So we’ll still go on vacation?” She had me there.

Because we can travel anywhere, any time and there still so many places we’d like to visit in our motorhome, we have yet to make any “real” vacation plans. Often we find ourselves on vacation by default like the time we spent a few days in Winthrop, WA. Donna was so enamored with our location, she declared herself on vacation. We walked around town, shopped, and ate out at least once every day. We did the same when we stayed just outside Yellowstone National Park. And then there was the long weekend we spent on a friend’s property in Montana with no cell phones, Internet, or television.

The more we thought about our “vacations” over the past 15 months, the more we realized that while we are not on vacation 365 days a year, doing all the touristy things, we can be on vacation whenever we choose. So yeah. Thanks but no thanks, Wyndham.

We have overcast skies this morning. The temperature is in the lower 60s and will top out at 68 degrees. I want to go out on my mountain bike today.

What Do You Want to Know?

The temperature reached 69 degrees yesterday. The predicted high over the next three days is 68 degrees, then we’ll see the 70s again over the weekend. Although this is cooler than usual weather around here, it’s nothing compared to the arctic blast hitting the Rockies, the midwest and southern portion of the country. We’re so happy to be able to spend the fall months in a place where the sun shines with clear skies and warm temperatures most days.

There’s truth to the adage: “If you don’t have much to say, you can always talk about the weather.” When I started this blog, the intention was to chronicle our preparations for a lifestyle change and adventures on the road. I thought family and friends might find it interesting. I also wanted to honestly portray the full-time RV lifestyle as we live it.

I’ve written more than 350 posts since then and our site has been visited nearly 53,000 times. At first, it was pretty easy to come up material to write about. We were constantly on the move and exploring new places. We made stops in places that were interesting for us and most likely interesting for others to read about.

Now that we’re back in San Diego for another three-month stint, I’m having a harder time coming up with new material to post. Last fall, I found many interesting sights in the area and posted a little history. I don’t want to rehash that, although I’m sure I could find other interesting places here.

What do you want to know? If you have any suggestions for topics I should write about, please post a comment.

San Diego Mercato

On Saturday morning, Donna and I rode the scooter over to Movin’ Shoes on Garnet Avenue in Pacific Beach, to pick up her race packet. The packet contained her race number with timing chip, a T-shirt and some other goodies. Donna registered a few weeks ago for the San Diego Duathlon, which would take place on Sunday morning.

San Diego has a long history of triathlon and duathlon racing. The first triathlon was held at Mission Bay on September 25, 1974 – four years before the first Ironman triathlon. You can read about it here.

After we returned, Donna’s sister, Linda, picked us up and we drove to Little Italy. Little Italy is a gentrified district north of downtown San Diego. Originally it was populated by Italian fishermen. Nowadays, it’s home to many restaurants, sidewalk cafes, pubs, boutique hotels and residences. Donna and I stayed here at La Pensione hotel back in 2006.

Little Italy sign on India street

Little Italy sign on India street

On Saturday mornings, they have a farmers’ market, known as the Mercato. The market covers three blocks of Cedar Street between Kettner Boulevard and State Street. This is one of the largest farmers’ markets in San Diego. It’s a favorite shopping place for tourists and locals as well.

Farmers' market on Cedar Street

Farmers’ market on Cedar Street

We browsed through the market for about an hour and a half. They had all of the usual local produce plus a few unique items – like live sea urchins.

Sea urchins

Sea urchins

I like sushi and eat seafood, but sea urchins aren’t my cup of tea.

Donna wanted to buy marinara sauce. We didn’t find any at the market so we walked up India Street to find a store. As we started up India Street, I heard someone call out “Kuper!” I turned around and saw my old friend and former colleague, Skip Redmond, on the corner. Skip and his friend, Steve, are street musicians. They were playing on the corner at the farmers’ market.

Skip and Steve

Skip and Steve

I first met Skip in 1980, when I was the service manager at Herman Cook VW in Encinitas, California. Skip was working for Volkswagen of America. I went to work for Volkswagen of America in 1984 and our paths crossed many times during our careers. We’re both Volkswagen of America retirees now. We chatted for a few minutes, then continued our quest for marinara sauce.

We walked to Filippi’s Pizza Grotto and market. Donna was about to buy a jar of sauce when we decided to eat in the restaurant. It was nearly 1pm and we were hungry. We ordered a pizza and Donna asked our server if we could buy some of the restaurant’s sauce. She sold us a pint of their meat sauce to go.

That night, we had spaghetti with chicken meatballs and Filippi’s meat sauce. I opened a bottle of Stone Smoked Porter brewed with chocolate and orange peel. I’ve acquired a taste for flavored stouts and porters when they’re subtly spiced. The Stone doesn’t hit you with any over-the-top flavors. It’s a complex blend that tastes great.

Stone Smoked Perter with chocolate and orange peel

Stone Smoked Porter with chocolate and orange peel

Donna was up early Sunday morning. She rode out of the RV park on her bicycle at 6am. It was a three-mile ride to the race transition area where she stowed her bike, helmet, gloves and cycling shoes. The race started with a 1.5-mile run at 7:30am. The run ended at the transition area, where Donna put on her gear and rode three laps (about 12.5 miles) around Fiesta Island. After the third lap, she returned to the transition area and put on her running shoes to finish the race with a 2.5-mile run.

I rode the scooter over to the transition area and arrived at 8:30am. I looked for Donna’s bike, but couldn’t spot it in the mass of bicycles there. I wasn’t sure if she was still riding or if she was already running the last leg of the race. I walked down to the finish area to wait. They had a band performing near the finish line. I can’t imagine rockin’ out at that hour.

Blue Rockit band

Blue Rockit band

As I stood there, a guy next to me tapped me on the shoulder and pointed up the hill behind me. Donna was running past waving at me. I didn’t hear her call my name, but it got the attention of the guy next to me.

Donna approaching the finish line

Donna approaching the finish line

Donna finished the race with a time of 1:33. She was pleased with her result, considering she hasn’t done much running since February. I scootered home and became a couch potato watching NFL football while Donna stayed back for the race ceremonies. She rode her bike home later.

While I was watching football, Jeff Sandler picked Donna up and they drove to her sister Sheila’s house for brunch. Later they looked at a few homes on the market in the Point Loma area.

Today, we expect cooler weather with highs in the mid 70s. I need to pick up a couple things at Costco, then I’ll go for a bicycle ride.

 

Road Ride

I haven’t been riding my road bike since I bought a mountain bike last March. Yesterday I got on my Orbea road bike and headed out. I followed  another bicyclist – he looked to be a triathlete – for a few miles. Riding in his draft was a good way to warm up.

I rode to the Sea World bike path near the entrance to Fiesta Island. It felt good to be on a road bike again. I’d forgotten how fast this bike is. A mountain bike can do things that cannot be done on a road bike. However, a mountain bike will never match the speed of a road bike on the pavement.

I stopped at the crest of the West Mission Bay Drive bridge and shot a photo of boats on the bay.

View of paradise Point from the West Mission Bay bridge

View of Paradise Point from the West Mission Bay bridge

From there, I continued on to Mission Beach, then rode north to Pacific Beach. It was going to be a warm day and there were already lots of people at the beach.

I was out for little over an hour and put about 17 miles in. I need to take more rides like this and get back into shape. Then maybe Donna and I can start riding together again.

In the afternoon, Donna and I scootered over to Von’s grocery in Pacific Beach and stocked up on groceries. We had a full load coming back!

While we were at Von’s, I picked up a bottle of coffee stout from Coronado Brewing Company. It was indescribably good. Refreshing beer that tasted like a cup of good coffee is all I can say. They brew it with locally roasted coffee beans.

Coronado Brewing Company Blue Ridge Coffee Stout

Coronado Brewing Company Blue Bridge Coffee Stout

We sat outside for cocktail hour and enjoyed the weather with fresh veggies and a sun-dried tomato and fresh basil hummus that Donna made. I grilled a rib-eye steak for dinner that we enjoyed with sauteed mushrooms and onions and a baked potato.

It was a great day – life is good.

This morning, we’ll go to a shop in Pacific Beach and pick up Donna’s race packet. She’s competing in a duathlon tomorrow morning. It’s a sprint race, starting with a 1.5-mile run, then 12.5 miles on the bike followed by another run of 2.5 miles.

After we pick up her race packet, we’ll go to the farmers’ market in the Little Italy district downtown with Donna’s sister, Linda.

Ruckus by the Bay

After I posted to the blog yesterday, Donna and I went out in the Sea Eagle kayak. We paddled south along the east side of Mission Bay. As we cruised south, we had a tendency to veer to the right. We tried various paddling techniques, but couldn’t really understand the root cause. After awhile, I told Donna to paddle normally (she was up front) and I would make adjustments to keep us on course.

Old Mission Bay Visitor Center

Old Mission Bay Visitor Center

We paddled past the old Mission Bay Visitor Center, which sadly is no longer open. Budget cuts strike again.

We continued paddling south for more than 30 minutes and reached the Hilton Hotel. We saw a couple of other kayaks out on the bay and a few jet skis and power boats, but all in all, it was a relatively quiet day.

Hilton Hotel viewed from the bay

Hilton Hotel viewed from the bay

We turned around at the Hilton and headed north, back to De Anza Cove. The paddle back was much easier. Our difficulty in holding our course on the way out was a combination of the current (the tide was going out) and wind effect. On the way back, the current helped us and the wind was quartering at our backs from the southwest.

Looking north as we paddled back

Looking north as we paddled back

It was a pleasant cruise on the bay. We spent a little over an hour paddling. I wondered if I would have sore shoulders, but I’m not sore at all this morning.

After we rinsed the kayak off and loaded it in the trailer, we returned to our coach just in time to see the FedEx guy make a delivery to us. I thought it would be my new road bike tires, but it turned out to be three large boxes sent from the Brillo people to Donna. One box contained a new wet/dry mop she wanted to test out and the other two boxes contain 100 packages of Brillo’s eraser sponge that she requested to fill goodie bags for an upcoming speaking engagement.

Anyway, I went online to track my tire package and found that it was sent via USPS. It showed “delivery attempted, notice left.” What? I didn’t have any notice. I clicked on the link for more information. The mail carrier indicated that he attempted delivery on Wednesday at 4:43pm. I was in the coach at that time, no delivery attempted here. I went to the park office to see if a notice was left there. They told me no package or notice was left there.

I rode the scooter over to the local post office on Cass Street. I explained my situation to the guy at the counter and he went into the back to look for the package. After awhile, he came back empty-handed and told me to talk to the office manager. I gave her the tracking number and told her what was shown on the web site. She pulled up the tracking information, then went into the back.

She came back and told me that my address, site 111, isn’t valid. I told her that I received mail the week before that was left at the office, not delivered to the site. This time, nothing was left – no notice, no package. She told me the mail carrier on Wednesday wasn’t the usual guy on that route. Russ, the usual guy had my package and would deliver it today. I thanked her, but I was thinking, is it okay for the guy to say he attempted delivery and left a notice when no such thing happened? She seemed to think it was okay. No accountability. No wonder the US Postal Service is in such dire straits.

On the way back, I saw a USPS delivery truck on East Mission Bay Drive. He turned at the golf course parking lot. I followed him. When he came out of the golf course office, I asked him if he was Russ. He was. I told him what happened. He had my package. He asked me for ID, then he handed it over to me. Whew, problem solved.

It was lunchtime by then. Donna made street tacos from leftover pork tenderloin – they were delicious! I had a few more things on my agenda for the day.

My first project was replacement of the air filter on the scooter. I had received the new air filter I ordered on Wednesday. The air filter is in an airbox on the left side of the scooter. Most modern engines utilize an airbox which not only houses the air filter, it’s a Helmholtz chamber. Helmholtz chambers are resonators. Engineers calculate the mass and velocity of the air and design the air box to resonate at a frequency that coincides with the engine rpm at maximum torque output. This resonance force feeds air into the intake and increases power.

Intake airbox

Intake airbox

Some guys think they’re hot rodding their engine by removing the airbox and clamping a filter directly to the intake to maximize airflow. Not a good idea. This old school, shade-tree thinking actually robs power.

The old air filter was dirty and in need of replacement. It did its job, dirty on the outside but clean on the downstream side. It had 6,000+ miles on it. I think next time I’ll replace it after 5,000 miles.

Old, dirty air filter

Old, dirty air filter

Prisitine, new filter

Pristine, new filter

With that job done, I took my new bicycle tires over to our trailer and set up my bicycle work stand. The work stand made it easy to remove the wheels from my bike and install the new tires.

Bike work stand outside the Busted Knuckle Garage (our cargo trailer)

Bike work stand outside the Busted Knuckle Garage (our cargo trailer)

My bike is road ready again!

The last item on my agenda was picking my teams for this weekend’s football pool and turning my sheet in. I rode out of the RV park on Mission Bay Drive. I rounded the curve near the intersection at the entrance to I-5 where there was a concrete island separating the lanes. Just then, I saw a car on my side of the road heading straight at me! I swerved quickly to the right curb as he sped past me, inches away.

When I reached the intersection, I saw traffic backed up as far as I could see in the opposite (southbound) lane of Mission Bay Drive. I wondered what that was all about as I continued north. When I reached the parking lot for the boat ramp, south of the visitor center, I saw police activity. There were at least 20 patrol cars in the lot with lights flashing. The lot was cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape and the road was closed. The police were turning cars back, thus the big traffic tie-up.

I turned around and rode the scooter down the center line and took an alternate route. When I reached the tavern, I pulled up the local news on my smartphone and saw what the ruckus was all about.

A California Highway Patrol (CHP) officer had stopped a woman in the parking lot. He was investigating a hit-and run accident and had taken her into custody. Details are sketchy, but the report said shots were fired and then the handcuffed woman drove off in the CHP car. More shots were fired by the officer as the car sped away.

The woman drove the stolen CHP car to Friars Road, hitting several cars along the way before she was finally stopped. More shots were fired on Friars Road. I don’t think anyone was killed, but I’m not sure of the extent of injuries at this point.

Today, I want to go out on my road bike in the morning. The temperature will reach the mid 80s this afternoon. I don’t have any other plans.

Riding with the Wind

We had rain over the weekend. It rained on Friday night and Saturday night. I love it when it rains overnight and we have clear days. The rain makes the air seem so fresh.

On Sunday, my daughter Shauna came over to visit and watch the Chargers game with me. The game was a blowout. It was worst Chargers performance I’ve ever witnessed. In the third quarter, Shauna decided she’d seen enough. She went out for a run. She’s training for a half marathon coming up in a couple of weeks. Her training schedule called for a 10-mile run on Sunday. She ran from Mission Bay RV Resort through Crown Point Shores to Mission Beach and back.

I watched the Denver Broncos get taken down by the Patriots in the afternoon. The Chargers have a bye next weekend. Hopefully they can gather it up and come back playing like they did in the first quarter of the season.

The cooler temperatures lingered on Monday. The temperature dropped into the 50s overnight and the high for the day only reached 72 degrees. It was windy in the afternoon. We had 18mph wind from the northwest with gusts of 24mph. I rode my bike to Pacific Beach. The wind made the ride out difficult. The wind pushed me along on the way back though.

The funny thing is, when you’re riding into the wind, the wind resistance makes it hard work. However, the wind also aids evaporative cooling, so you don’t notice how much you’re sweating. When you ride with the wind at your back, there’s very little resistance and you can speed along. But with very little air passing over your body, evaporative cooling doesn’t work so well and you feel hotter as the sweat starts dripping from your body.

I made a few stops on the way back to take photos. People were out on the bay taking advantage of the windy conditions. I saw sailboats, wind surfers and kite surfers. The kite surfer had a board that was a hydrofoil. As he gained speed, the board rose up out of the water and rode along on a small winglet on the keel. It looked fun, but I couldn’t capture a picture of him at speed. The only photo I got was just after he hopped off of the board.

Kite surfer at Sail Bay

Kite surfer at Sail Bay

The wind surfer struggled as he sped along. I saw him capsize a couple of times from powerful wind gusts. You can see the wind blowing the flag in the background of this picture.

Wind surfer near Paradise Point

Wind surfer near Paradise Point

Sailboat tacking into the wind

Sailboat tacking into the wind

I saw something I’d never seen at Mission Bay before – a peregrine falcon perched on a pole. I shot a picture but I couldn’t hold my camera phone steady enough to zoom in.

Peregrine falcon perched on a pole

Peregrine falcon perched on a pole

As always, clicking on the images will enlarge them.

I have to run some errands this morning, then I’ll tackle defrosting the refrigerator this afternoon. Donna will return this evening, I can hardly wait until she returns!