California Wrap Up

Our month in the Oceanside RV Park came to an end on November 2 and we had to vacate the site.   The monthly rate had been quite acceptable, but their daily rate was outrageous.  However, we were not quite ready to leave the area, so we scouted around for another place to stay for a few days.

Enter our good friend Susie Bruun one more time; she told us that several of the local Elks Clubs had small RV parks.  Susie and her son-in-law John Corbin (who is Exalted Ruler of the Encinitas Elks Club) arranged for us to stay in the Vista RV park as their guests.

Woo hoo.  We couldn't turn down that offer.

Elks Club RV Park

We lived in Vista for over 30 years, and drove by the Elks Club hundreds of times.  We had no idea there was an RV park behind the club.

John Corbin paying a visit to Pooh II

We stayed there for 5 nights. Lovely place, but no TV service, so what else could we do but buy that satellite we'd been talking about. (Note the coax cable coming through the driver's window above.)

Pooh enters the 21st century

We were close to our house in Vista, so we made a couple of swings by the place to make sure the tenant hadn't painted it purple or something. 

So many memories here

Actually the whole cul-de-sac is now rental properties and the lack of pride of ownership is beginning to show.  But, we are grateful to have a responsible tenant.

We also "joined" the Valley View Casino, and we each got a Players Card.   The real deal with this card is that the casino gives you one free dinner at its all-you-can-eat Lobster Buffet. 

Our ticket to the lobster buffet

We met our good friend Tina Baroni, her daughter, sister and brother-in-law at the Casino, and feasted on the buffet.  It was better than most Las Vegas buffets.  The lobster, of course, was not on par with what we had in Maine, but the price was definitely right.

Casino promo picture . . . in reality, they serve you one tail at a time

Fellow lobster lovers

And there was one last shopping trip at the Best Grocery Story In The World, Frazier Farms in Vista, CA.  Truly a remarkable place with the freshest produce, the best bulk bins, fabulous prepared dishes, hormone free beef and poultry, incredible baked goods, etc., etc.   California does have the best and freshest product anywhere . . . and the cheapest, also.  Of course, most of it is grown within 100 miles of the stores, so this is to be expected.   No other state compares . . . and we have been to a few states!

One of the few places in California that Linda misses

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Updates from the Old Friends, New Memories post:  Tina's daughter had her baby.   A healthy, hearty (9 lb 8 oz) baby Hudson was born on November 3.   Mother, son, and grandmother are all doing well!  And our friend Gloria finally was able to go home from the rehab center.  She is getting strong every day from her back surgeries, and we hope she will be able to visit us again in Florida this winter.

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Our last stop in California was up in Riverside to spend a few hours with Frank's brother Phil, and his significant other, Theresa.

Our last visit in California . . . at Phil and Theresa's place

Too soon, we were back on Interstate 10, this time heading east . . .

It seems as though we just got here.