February 21 to 27, 2008
Hemet, California to Estero Beach, Baja California, Mexico
Thursday ; Today was cloudy and mild. I had another day of doing nothing, trying to rest my leg. The pain in my hip and thigh diminished yesterday to just a slight level of discomfort, but it persists. I was hoping that 2 days of doing nothing would completely eliminate the problem, but apparently not. Tomorrow I'll resume normal activities, and hope that the discomfort doesn't increase back to the level that it was a few days ago.
Friday ; Today was cloudy and mild. The pain in my hip and thigh has almost disappeared. I can ignore the mild level of discomfort that remains. I hope it will completely disappear within another few days.
This morning I phoned my investment broker in Penticton to initiate an investment sale transaction. I need money to pay our MasterCard bills. I drove over to Staples to make photocopies of our driver's licenses which will be required as part of the documentation to be provided to enter Mexico with the RV. I drove around Hemet looking for the best price on diesel. The price of diesel fuel in Southern California is outrageous ! Almost a dollar a gallon more expensive than Arizona !
This afternoon I did some minor maintenance chores, then reconciled our MasterCard statements. At 3:30 we went to the RV park's weekly wine and cheese party. We drank wine, ate cheese and crackers, and chatted with people until it was time to meet our friends Glen & Rosi for supper at 6:00 P.M.. Glen and Rosi were our next door neighbours for 2 weeks in Pahrump, Nevada in November. They "live" nearby, although as full time RV'ers, like us, "home" is a bit of an elusive concept. Erbon and Lorraine joined us, and we all went to dinner to Marie Callendar's, a local chain famous for its pies. And we found out from a couple at our table at the soup supper a few nights ago that this week Marie Callendar's was having a pie sale. WOO-HOO ! We had a nice dinner, and a long pleasant evening of chatting with Glen and Rosi. And ... of course ... we came home with a pie.
Saturday ; Today was cloudy and cool. We had a lazy day. I read and napped. While it was a bit too cool for the swimming pool, we did spend the afternoon in the hot tub. Joanne went Wal-Martin'. I read and napped some more. HA HA HA ! Tough life !
Sunday ; Hemet to San Diego, California
Today was cloudy and cool. We departed Golden Village Palms RV Resort in Hemet this morning heading west on Hwy. 74. We turned south on Interstate 215 until it merged with Interstate 15. At Escondido we turned west on Hwy. 78 to San Marcos where we found our way to Camping World. After shopping at Camping World we crossed the street to Home Depot where Erbon had to buy some hardware. We had lunch in the Home Depot parking lot before leaving San Marcos and heading back on Hwy. 78 to Interstate 15 where we continued south towards San Diego. Interstate 15 merged with Interstate 5 as we entered San Diego from the north. Just before the exit we were to take to get to the KOA San Diego, the freeway was closed due to a vehicle accident and we had to detour off I-5 onto Hwy. 54. Joanne did an excellent job of navigating us through a detour and finding our way to the KOA San Diego. Especially since Ebon was telling us over the CB that his GPS unit was disagreeing with Joanne's navigation. We ignored Erbon's GPS which was a good idea since we found out later that Erbon had input the wrong San Diego KOA into his GPS ! San Diego has more than one KOA !
After getting registered and set up at the KOA we had tea and Marie Callendar's apple pie at the Dickinson's RoadTrek before wandering around the KOA checking out the facilities and amenities. There is Wi-Fi at each site so I was able to spend enough time online in the evening to completely resolve my ongoing AOL software problems by downloading a new version of AOL. We gave stinky little Bo a bath.
Monday ; Today was sunny and warm. Another perfect "June 18" day. This morning I helped Erbon replace the RoadTrek's sewer hose. The RoadTrek's sewer hose is permanently attached to a macerator pump underneath the van, then routed under the van and out through a storage pod. He has already had the factory installed sewer hose replaced once under warranty, and it cracked again recently, in multiple places. Yesterday at Camping World he bought a much better quality hose. I also cleaned all our external fresh water hose ends and connection fittings in CLR to remove the heavy build up of minerals resulting from being connected to Yuma's hard water supply for 2 months.
Immediately after lunch wewent to the KOA meeting room to meet our caravan group and leaders. We received t-shirts, vehicle decals, documents, a binder fullof information, and a short orientation lecture. We had a 3 hour break until our next, more detailed meeting. While Joanne read the information in the binder, I rushed out with the truck to find a bank to cash some traveller's cheques, to pay for camping fees for the Baja trip, Mexico tourist entry cards, and a whale watching expedition. Crowded big city streets, a difficult to enter bank parking lot with parking spots too small for a dually, and a long line up at the bank < sigh >. After cashing traveller's cheques, I decided I might as well find a fuel station and refill with diesel. < another sigh > Like in many inner cities, it was difficult to find a station with diesel. I must have passed a dozen fuel stations until I found one with diesel. I refilled with diesel and adjusted the air pressure in the truck's spare tire. I returned to the KOA and had time to review the binder of information before the late afternoon meeting.
The late afternoon meeting of our caravan group lasted 2½ hours. While I'm eager for this adventure down the Baja, I've had apprehension since the very beginning about travelling as part of a group. Sure enough, as I expected, it's already obvious that the pace of the group is determined by its slowest member. And the intelligence of the questions asked is determined by the member with the stupidest questions ! And the importance of the concerns is determined by the member who's most trivial ! Oh, well ... it's only 2 weeks.
I received an interesting e-mail from Escapee friends of ours from Quebec. We met Marcel and Louise about 3 years ago in Mesa ( Phoenix ), Arizona. They were jugglers. I introduced them to magic. I taught them a couple of magic tricks. They taught me 2 person juggling. They became interested in magic, and have become quite adept magicians in the last few years. Certainly better than me ! They are currently in Guatemala, performing magic and juggling shows in schools.
Tuesday ; Today was another gorgeous day. This morning I took a propane tank to be refilled. Joanne went grocery shopping with Erbon and Lorraine. I visited with our next door neighbours who are from Lethbridge, Alberta. A younger couple with 2 young boys who were very fond of Bo. And Bo loved their attention. The family waspreparing for departure, to go to Yuma to visit Grandma and Grandpa. I hitched the truck to the trailer to be ready for departureearly tomorrow morning. Baja, here we come !
This afternoon Joanne did laundry. I puttered around with some minor maintenance and preparations for tomorrow's departure. We trimmed Teddy's and Bo's claws. I clipped two of Bo's nails too short, hitting the quick. They hurt, and bled a lot. I'm very sorry, Bo. But I learned something. It seems as if his two inner rear claws grow slower than all the others, and should be trimmed less.
We spent part of the afternoon lounging around the hot tub. We took Bo for a long leisurely walk around the campground. We found a beautiful Bird Of Paradise plant blooming in one of the KOA's flower beds.
Wednesday ; San Diego, California to Estero Beach, Baja California, Mexico
HELLOOOOOOOOOO, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO ! ! !
This morning we lined up for departure as a group from San Diego KOA at 8:00 A.M. Yup ... I am not going to like group travel ! We headed south on Interstate 805 to the border crossing into Tijuana, B.C. ( Baja California, not British Columbia ), Mexico. I think the caravan wagonmaster ( leader ) earned the entire caravan fee today just leading us through Tijuana. SHEESH ! We got onto the toll road leading south, Mex 1D, following the Pacific Ocean shoreline. Great beaches ! We stopped at one of the beach side rest areas for a "Lenny" break, the name our caravan company has given to rest stops, in honour of a previous client with a weak bladder. There were 3 toll booths on the highway from Tijuana to Ensenada. Just before Ensenada the toll road ended, and joined the "free" highway, Mex 1. We drove through Ensenada, the second major driving challenge of the day. The opinions amongst our group were divided as to whether it was more difficult to drive through Tijuana or Ensenada. In either case, I surely am glad that we had a guide.
Just south of Ensenada we stopped for the night at Estero Beach Hotel & RV Resort on Bahía ( Bay ) de Todos Santos. Our wagonmaster has advised us that this will be the nicest RV park of the entire trip. It's very nice, with sites backing onto the beach. As soon as everyone had a late lunch, we gathered for a short meeting then all piled into "toads" ( the cars towed behind motorhomes ) and set off for a trip to La Bufadora ( The Blowhole ). We went in the toad of Gary and Debbie from Tucson, Arizona. It was about a 45 minute drive around the Bahía de Todos Santos to the tip of the Punta Banda peninsula. La Bufadora is a cliff with a narrow chasm. The incoming surf and tide funnel water into the chasm at high speed and high pressure. When the water hits the back of the chasm it erupts upwards like a volcano, spraying high into the air. Very high ! I hope my pictures will do it justice. From the parking lot to La Bufadora is a half mile or so stretch of vendors. Kind of like "walking the gauntlet" of Los Algodones or Nuevo Progreso. I guess wherever gringos go, there will be Mexican vendors of all sorts. Of course, Joanne found a panaderia ( bakery ). Of course, we shared an empanada con leche ( pastry filled with sweet cream ). MMMMMMMMMM ! ! ! While walking back to the parking lot after viewing La Bufadora I stopped to watch the making of churros, a type of deep fried pastry rolled in cinnamon and icing sugar as it comes out of the deep fryer. I tried a free sample. MMMMMMMMMM ! ! !
We drove back to Estero Beach. I downloaded my photos of today into my laptop, and began to work on this journal entry before it was time to walk over to the restaurant on the other side of the resort, where our group gathered for dinner. It was a lovely, leisurely walk along the maleçon ( waterfront walkway ) at sunset to the restaurant. Supper was mediocre and expensive. We shared a table with Kevin and Sandra, a British couple who are spending two years exploring North America as full time RV'ers, and Julian, an elderly man from California who is travelling with our group down the Baja in an Airstream, by himself. His wife did not want to make the trip by RV. She will fly down and meet him in Cabo San Lucas when we reach "Land's End", then fly back to California as Julian drives back by himself. Okaaaaay !
Because this caravan group departs much earlier in the morning than we are used to, Joanne went to bed at 10:00 P.M.. I went to the hot tub. Had the hot tub, surrounded by a lovely cactus garden, overlooking the beach, all to myself. AHHHHH ... life is good !
DSK
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