A ride around Mission Bay

During our last week here in San Diego, Tom & Shelly invited us out on their sailboat with some of their friends. The photos here are shots as we motored out and back from the bay while dinner cooked on the pier.  I'm not a boater, but Dona & I had a great time.  The boat is a nice 48 foot racer that sleeps 10. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but take my word for it - it's a nice boat!  (Lots of gadgets!)

This is our last week here and the weather's wet.  As one person said, "If I wanted Seattle weather, I'd stayed in Seattle."  At least we didn't get the bad weather that the rest of the country is experiencing.  And as wet as San Diego is at the moment, apparently it's still some three inches short of it's annual rainfall amount.

Moving on, if all goes well we'll move to Castaic, CA (north of Los Angeles) for the Escapees' Rose Parade program tomorrow.  Be there a week.  A cool, sunny day is predicted for our three hour trip up I-5.  We'll see how that holds up.  Today, we washed the truck after Donna got back from assisting in foot care for homeless veterans with Tom & Shelly.  About an hour after finishing with the truck and with over half the sky absolutely clear & sunny and a small, fog-like cloud covering the remaining sky, we got treated to a nice rain shower and beautiful rainbow.  (There would have been no rain if I hadn't insisted on washing the truck!)

Anyway, we've spent a great Christmas with Bill & Nancy's family, plus Donna's uncle Larry & aunt Lillian.  We've said good byes to everyone plus Mike, Terry, & our favorite daschund, Ike.  We'll miss everyone, but it's time to leave.  Later, David

Roaming San Diego

Crystal Pier with its Christmas tree & cottages

 Today's trip was out to Pacific Beach and a walk out to Crystal Pier followed by lunch at Tom Ham's Lighthouse on Harbor Island.  It was good to get out after a weekend of rain.  San Diego was a little busy, though, with all the Ponsetta Bowl activities.

This past week we've met up Donna's friends Shelly & Tom, and had Donna's Uncle Larry & Aunt Lillian

over for dinner.  Donna's cousin Nancy and her husband Bill have invited us over for Christmas.  Lookin' forward to that!

Anyway, that's it for us.  Until next week, Merry Christmas!!!  David

The local eagle hanging out at "the lakes".

San Diego Zoo

This week Donna's Aunt Lillian and Uncle Larry arrived in the campground, and we got away to San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park.  We're continuing to settle in.  Donna's found a Curves (gym) and a knit shop over in La Jolla.  We've found a place to wash the truck (no washing of vehcles in the campground) and hit Phil's BBQ for lunch for the second time since arriving in Santee.

After a perfect beginning, weather's gotten wet by today.  Interesting to

watch the local weather forecast and see them predict rain, flooding & snow with highs ranging from low 60s to low 40s.  It all depends on where you're at: beach, inland, mountains, or desert.  And they actually do a pretty good job of predicting, too.

Anyway, that's it for us this week.  Here's some pics from our visit to the zoo.  Hope you enjoy them.  Later, David

2nd Week @ Santee, CA

San Diego Bay from Cabrillo National Monument

Point Loma lighthouse

We've been out & about this week visiting Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego Zoo's Safari Park & Scripps Research Center's Birch Aquarium.  We've had a couple days of rainy weather, but it's usually a cloudy morning that ends in a sunny afternoon.  Highs are usually in the low 70s with nightly lows into the 50s.  We've located Mike & Terry from the Nuwa Owners forum and expect to meet up with Donna's friend over this coming weekend.

Safari Park

Donna's also found a kntting shop over in La Jolla, and I've introduced her to the Souplantation (restaurant).  We've located decent grocery stores. Unfortunately, Super Walmarts here aren't all that super in that they're missing fresh vegetables and fruits.  Albertsons and Vons are pretty good grocery stores that are in this area.  And we've also located those all important shopping malls and one great BBQ restaurant (Phil's).  So we're good.


Safari Park

One other thing of note - this isn't a strong Verizon Wireless area.   Verizon's locator map notes Santee and San Diego is 4G LTE, but we're constantly in 3G coverage or none at all - and that includes voice coverage.  So Verizon users beware.  On the north end of the campground's West Oak loop where we're located, Verizon Wireless is useless for voice & data.

Safari Park

The Santee Lakes campground WiFi is pretty good, but can slow down when a lot of people are on it. We've found it pretty much useless on the weekends when the campground fills with families and kids (& grandchildren, etc). 

We've also driven around and looked at several other campgrounds in the San Diego area.  Just based on asthetics, we don't think you can beat Santee Lakes campground, though. It's a great walking/bicycling park with nice wide sites here on the north end.

Anyway, we're having a great time. I've posted some pictures from the areas we've visited so far. Still more to see.  Later, David 



Safari Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safari Park

Safari Park



Birch Aquarium



Birch Aquarium

La Jolla as seen from Birch Aquarium