Tuesday (and a little Monday)

I didn't post anything last night (Monday) because we had a lovely sunset and pizza party here and I was too tired to tell you about it later.

The clock is ticking here in San Diego and the new friends we've met will be scattering soon, so I decided it would be fun to enjoy another beautiful sunset and some pizza with  the few of us left here at Mission Bay RV Park.  Wendy and James (from Albuquerque) and Hans and Lisa (from San Diego) came with chairs and drinks in hand.  They were real troopers, we sat outside in the cold until the last rays of sun had set and then came inside to warm up.

Dave with Wendy and James - brr

Dave talking with Hans and Lisa - brrrrr

Lewis was absolutely overjoyed to meet four "strangers" that weren't dangerous!  He spent the entire outside time going from stranger to stranger grinning and looking lovingly into each of their faces.  Wendy and James have had standard poodles before, so they had a leg up.   Hans and Lisa haven't, but Lisa found out that Lew loves his shoulders massaged, so she made it onto his favorites list.  The dogs were a little too friendly for the close confines of Beluga, so into the bedroom they went while we enjoyed our New York Giant Pizza's pizza.  Hans and Lisa have just sold their house here in San Diego (July, I think) and are off for full time adventure.  Lisa was excited to have the experience of a pizza delivery to our house on wheels, so Dave was happy to oblige her!

We look forward to trying James and Wendy's favorite pizza joint, (which was closed on Monday) Marino's sometime this week, before we head for the dessert.  We all talked and talked and talked.  Fun!

One of the really enjoyable parts of this adventure we're on is meeting such interesting people.  Socializing was never in our minds as we set off, never occurred to us that we might be part of a bigger community.  You just never know whats around the corner.


Another alarm clock morning.  Its getting to be a habit.  I saw another sunrise, but just couldn't make myself race out into the 30 degree morning to photograph it.   Most of you know what they look like, right?
We had to be at the Ocean Beach Dog Wash early, before it got busy.   No way around it, Lewis needed a bath and haircut and today was the day.

the other empty tubs at Ocean Beach Dog Wash

they even gave us aprons!

Dave washed, I dried

The water was warm, the blast dryer was warm, and there weren't many people there that early in the morning, so all went off without a hitch.  Lewis wished that the clerk wasn't loitering furtively around the store, but what can you do?

After the wash and fluff dry, Dave and I stopped at the Pirate's Cove Tiki Hut for a second cup of coffee and a tiny glazed donut to re-energize ourselves after the wet, hairy morning.  Mary, see the pit bull at the bottom left?   He only had 3 legs!   We completed our "Ocean Beach" experience with a quick stop at the Organic Food Co-Op for a beautiful, huge avocado for lunch.

Dave dropped me off at Beluga and then took the jeep back to the dealer near Santee.  You may remember that they had recently installed a new radiator for us.  Turns out, it wasn't a good one and began leaking, so they put in another one today.  Dave came back with a bright red loaner car and we set right to work mowing the poodle.

Even poodles wear pony tails

Its been a busy day, we sat outside and watched yet another beautiful sunset and then came in for an early dinner and bed......

Sunday - a study in orange

Sunday is Farmer's Market day in Hilcrest and we were there.  Amazing oranges, apples, carrots, meyer lemons, and greens of all variety.  We had our second cup at the orange coffee truck, a cinnamon pastry from the pastry guy and  later, a tiny bit of lunch from the taco guy.....

After the market, we stopped at the pet store and Von's and thats all we did today!!!!   I should have titled this post BCA to warn you, sorry....

are you tired of sunset pictures yet?

Saturday - BCA

A nice, quiet day for us, a boring day to read about.....

This morning the thermometer read  37 degrees!   Whats up with this cold weather?   Dave keeps reminding me that it is winter everywhere, but I don't buy it.     Unless its raining, I need to have my second cup outside, so we had our coffees in the sun (we could have used the Coffee Joules featured on last nights Shark Tank though....man, it was cold out there).   As we were feeling sorry for ourselves (not) two shells filled with young girls passed us, with their coach (in a small motorboat) barking instructions.  They were the crew team for Cardinal Catholic High School in practice.  We know that because the coach yelled it to us as they passed.

the tiny speck on the left, near the shell,  is one of the Western Grebe's we discussed yesterday

Dave did a few routine maintenance chores, I finished my book.

filling Beluga's batteries

The high and low tides have been extreme the past few days.  We hoped this guy knew that as he passed us, way too close to shore.  I commented that he was going to run aground if he didn't move away.   On his way in, there was enough water, on the way out, however, he stuck it in the mud.   These poor guys didn't know what to do.   They just sat on the throttle, gunning it as if that would free them.  It doesn't work in the snow and it doesn't work in the mud....  

Uh Oh, tide going out - Be careful

A jet ski and a motorboat tried to come to his rescue, calling to him to shut it down, that he was going to ruin his engine.  They said they'd be back with a rope to tow him to deeper water, but by the time they returned, the tide had gone completely and he was aground.

its important to check those tide tables......

sunset at low tide
See the poor boat still aground?

It will be after 10 p.m. before that boat will have enough water to move away.  Hope they had warm clothes on board.

Friday - already?

Goodbye for now...

Polly and Lewis have a last play session on the couch

a farewell snuggle with Nina

Paul driving "the Beast" out of their site and heading for the open road.
Safe travels - see you soon!

Paul and Nina et al drove away this morning, heading east towards the siren song of the desert.  We hope to cross paths with them in Arizona next month.

We had an exciting morning over outside coffees.  We spent an inordinate amount of time deciding whether the grebes on the bay were western, clarks or pied billed.  Binoculars, book consultation, discussion - binoculars, book consultation, discussion, and so went our morning.    In case any of you are on pins and needles, the consensus was that there were both western and pied billed.   We were also able to identify a group of ruddy ducks amongst the northern pintails.   Be still my beating heart.....

After such an thrilling morning, we thought we'd mosey over to Ocean Beach, a little town just around the corner from us.  We'd heard about a stellar burger joint there, named Hodads, and we were definitely in the mood for a burger and beer.   Ocean Beach is the ultimate haven for free spirits, hippies (young and old), surfers and assorted alternative types.   Its a unique beach town in a world all its own and we really enjoyed our time there.  Hodads is a tiny, jam packed joint of a place that assaults your senses with every inch of space filled with old license plates, surf boards and memorabilia, tattooed/pierced customers, loud music and baskets of insane burgers passing by just over your head.    Fun!    Hodad, by the way, means one who hangs out at the beach, but doesn't surf, one who is into cars and counterculture.  We fit part of that bill....

Dave trying to nonchalantly read the walls.
 Can you see the vw bus sticking through the wall to the left of Dave?

my view

the start of lunch....burp....

We really needed to walk off that lunch, so we turned right out the door and strolled the streets a bit before heading to the beach and pier.

If you read today's blog already, you'll remember that there was a picture of a guy with a huge snake wrapped around his arm right here.    I just removed it, even though it was posted innocently, because I don't want to publicize his hateful message.  But....the snake was really cool.

below the pier

Ocean Beach fishing pier as seen from the dog beach

We walked out to the end of the pier, its a long walk.  This is one of the  longest concrete piers in the world at over 1900 feet.  It even has a little restaurant halfway out with beautiful views of the crashing waves below.    After the long walk back we  gave up our perfect parking spot and drove down the coast just a little bit to find the dedicated dog beach.  Its huge, especially at low tide.  Lots and lots of room for dogs to run and play without feeling hemmed in.  We didn't have Lewis and Sasha with us so we just walked along and enjoyed the dogs enjoying themselves.

all eyes on a nearby seagull....

On our way back to Beluga we stopped and checked out two potential self service dog washes in case the weather doesn't warm up enough for us to bathe sweet Lewis outside.   I had a brief, but nice phone conversation with Lisa on the way home, so good to catch up with her.   She's orchestrating a big family contingent to attend Mike's "Colonel" ceremony in February.

Beautiful sunset at the end of another wonderful day.

Thursday

Today is cool, sunny and very windy.   We've had a busy two days ending last night with a lovely happy hour  at Wendy and James' Holiday Rambler and dinner together at Pizza Bella in Old Town.   We're enjoying a lazy day, catching up on some neglected dog time, laundry, paying bills and just taking time to take time.  

I'll tell you about our whale watch cruise yesterday....

The 6:30 alarm woke us both us with a start.   We've only set the clock a few times on this trip, and we don't like hearing that blaring beep!    We booked the morning whale watch because the brochure said it always has less people on it, so we needed to get going.   No morning coffee outside for us.    Well, thats not actually true.   We did have our second cup outside yesterday, but it was on the top deck of a boat motoring out to the open sea in search of whales!

adding a new skill set to his repetitoire

Before we left, Dave tried his hand at grinding coffee beans and making a cup of coffee from Jesse's left over beans.    Now Jesse likes his coffee strong, and Dave doesn't, so he was prepared for a bad (in his estimation) cup of coffee for his first attempt.  He also has never used a coffee grinder, so we were hoping for the best.  Turned out good on all accounts.  Only a small pile of coffee scattered on the counter and a pretty decent (in his estimation) cup of coffee.   Thanks Jess!

sunRISE!!!!! 

The weather was absolutely beautiful when we started out.  As cool as you would expect in the morning, but the mist was burning off quickly and by the time we cleared the harbor, the skies were brilliant blue.

Pt. Loma seen this time from the water
Thats either a Seahawk or a Blackhawk  (or some other kind of "hawk")  helicopter in the air

As the morning wore on, the cloud bank moved back in and we were under cloudy, grey skies.  I'm glad Dave suggesting bringing our winter jackets and gloves along.  When we sat still in the water, scanning for whales spouting, we were quite comfortable.  When we were under way, however, and the wind was blowing, I was very thankful to have my jacket.

We spotted and followed, at a respectful distance, two whales moving lazily through the ocean, heading south.  They would snorkel at the surface for long stretches, regularly  blowing huge sprays of exhaust into the air and arching their backs for us to see.  Once in a while we'd see their tail flukes shoot up above the surface of the water as they dove deeper.  We actually saw them "breach" (leap entirely out of the water, then crash down with an enormous splash) twice, and everyone on the boat cheered!

Two other boats eventually joined us, so we peeled off those whales and went looking for others.   It wasn't long before our captain alerted us to the presence of two widely separated beasts also moving south.  We followed them and were rewarded with more wonderful views into their journey.
The law does not allow boats to move in close to the whales, does not allow us to intrude into their lives and thats a good thing.  It was exciting just to see them at all and I wouldn't have wanted them to be disturbed by our needs.  I spent a good bit of time trying to take pictures of the spouts, the tails, the bodies, but quickly realized I was missing the whole experience by zeroing in on getting a shot.  I put the camera in my pocket and just absorbed it all - the sights, the smells, the sounds, the whole thing.  Much better.

a tiny glimpse of a back - I give up!

the Yacht America....the most famous racing sailing vessel in the world.

The America sailed past us as we headed back to port.  It was taking whale watchers out from the San Diego Maritime Museum.   I wish I had known that it was an option, I can only imagine how wonderful it would be to quietly sail along beside the whales.   Ah well, next time.

We saw hundreds of dolphin on our way back in.  They came racing at us like we were a homing beacon, leaping out of the water, zooming alongside us and fearlessly, even joyously riding our bow wake.  As slow and  calm as the whale watching experience was, the dolphins were fast and exciting.    They raced in, had their fun with us, and disappeared just as quickly.  They left us breathless.

Our dock was right next to Seaport Village, and it WAS lunchtime when we returned, so we walked to the Pier Cafe and ordered that wonderful smoked salmon panini we'd been dreaming about.  It didn't disappoint,  it was just as good the second time around.  We sat at almost the same table as before, and sure enough, we  were joined by this big guy, peering in the window at me, imploring me to share....

"Please sir, can I have some more" part 2

pale, but beautiful sunset back at Beluga

All in all a wonderful, exhausting day.  I'm a lucky girl.

Wednesday

Yesterday we had a nice day exploring the tide pools at Cabrillo National Monument.  Today we spent most of the day on a whale watch cruise so, once again, I'm really really tired.  Here are a few pictures from the tide pool exploration, I'll tell you about the whale watch tomorrow.

the drive down to the tide pools at Cabrillo Natinal Monument at the tip of Point Loma

a piece of red coral resting in the sand

Dave is deciding when and where he'll get his shoes wet

its very hard to see, but this green anemone is under the clear water in a tide pool

more colors and shapes 

so many tiny details in each pool

a knobby seastar clings to a rock waiting for the sea to return

lucky seagull finds a giant squid trapped by the outgoing tide

we can see whales spouting in the distance  as we explore the tide pools

A huge Agave flower, probably 15 feet tall

Cabrillo National Monument lies at the end of Point Loma.  To reach it, we must drive through the gates of Ft. Rosecrans and past its haunting national cemetery.   It lines both sides of the road on a ridge high above the wild ocean.

Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery

Monument to Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, the first European to set foot on the west coast of America.

I don't know why I was so sleepy last night, maybe its the ocean air.  At any rate, we had forgotten to take the port tenderloin out of the freezer for dinner, so we took the easy way out and went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  We both agreed that it was a good, but odd dinner.  I went immediately to bed when we got home and slept like a rock til the d amn alarm woke us both early this morning.  We had to be at the whale watch boat by 9 a.m.

Tuesday - I'm too tired

We had a great day at Cabrillo National Monument and the cool tide pools below.  But....I'm too sleepy to tell you about it, so check back, OK?