Friday March 30th, 2018
We left Harry and Suzanne and flowed with the traffic to Ben’s in LA. We had just enough time to rest while we waited for Amanda to make the drive over from Pasadena. Once we were a party of four, we went to one of my favs – The Versailles, for dinner.  It’s a Cuban placefried plantains, rice, beans, garlic chicken and for me a mojito. A perfect first night together.

Thursday March 29th, 2018
It was opening day for the San Diego Padres so we stopped by the field and got lucky enough to be there for the National Anthem with the five F18s flying in formation over the stadium and the red flares and all! We stayed long enough to watch Trevor Hoffman throw the first pitch to his brother. Everyone was hyped and happy -Play Ball!

We left after that and headed for our primary destination – Tijuana. We cut through the Hard Rock Hotel where we saw some great photos, I found a restaurant with a name I loved and we marveled at all the bikes everywhere you can rent via your phone app to ride around town on!

Our next stop was Tijuana. Harry and JP got haircuts (well that’s another story) and we walked through the shops. Oddly we had lunch at a Ramen place. The food was good but it seemed peculiar?

Harry took us to the Caliente Casino. They guys had beers while I had a blast! The machines weren’t in English or US dollars. You can pay US $ for a card that holds the amount you paid for it and you scan your card at machine. Apparently I won $8.00! Though while I was playing – nope! not a clue what I was doing or what I had won. 

Before we left Harry took us to Caesar’s for a Caesar Salad (made at your table), burrito and of course, a margarita for me. It’s a really nice restaurant and rumored to be where the original Caesar Salad was created. It was a great day and always better when you are with someone who is familiar with Mexico like Harry.

Wednesday March 28th, 2018
Suzanne took the day off to play with us today so after breakfast we headed back to Balboa Park. We went to the Cannibals Myth and Reality Exhibit at the Museum Of man. Odd and interesting topic to be sure.

The Museum buildings are really ornate and impressive.

Next we went on  the California Tower Tour. It had lots of spiral steps and a view at the top that went on forever. Its been a reconstruction effort since it’s been closed for 80 years! If you make a $5,000 donation to the Tower your name goes on a lighted plate in a step of the tower walk. There is one step that looks like this:The photo isn’t very good but we were on stairs in a group and the lighting was bad. The message above the donors names is in another another language – guess what language? ELVIN! Yes! The language of Lord of the Rings! The guys that made that donation – brilliant! The stairs weren’t as scary as I thought they would be and he view from the top of the California Tower was totally worth it!

We went to the indoor gardens at Balboa too. Balboa Park was actually created from San Diego’s Worlds Fair in 1915. It’s pretty amazing. Google it – you’ll be impressed! The plant life was beautiful and the orchids – oh my!

We worked up an appetite that could only be satisfied by Phil’s BBQ. The line to get in went around the building! OMG! Yeah, we split the half rack of beef ribs dinner and left with the scent of BBQ trailing behind us. We headed to the pier and the Point Loma Public Market.

It had food booths, and yes, there is always room on a full BBQ stomach for a macaroon cookie extraordinaire! So sad really – so many kinds of upscale food and no way to eat another bite!

By dusk we’d had a full day but who doesn’t have it in ‘em for a quick trip to Barona Casino in Lakeside. Amazing new machines! No wins but tons of fun packed into just an hour. We couldn’t have packed more fun into one day if we tried!

Tuesday March 27th, 2018
Harry took us all kinds of places! Today we went to Imperial Beach
and had fish & chips on the wharf.  I thought it was pretty cool. I loved the shark mural and the clever surfboard benches. 

Next stop was Balboa Park which is immense! We visited the Automotive Museum and then the Air Space Museum. It was a little crowded but lots to see. We started with the Automotive Museum. 

Next stop was the Air Space Museum.

JP and I went in the combat simulator. He was the pilot and I was the gunner. You don’t really have enough time to acclimate, and we were spinning and upside down a lot. I was laughing so hard that I was a huge failure at shooting enemy planes. The picture looks like I have a chicken on my head but we are actually upside down and my hair was celebrating a new found freedom!

We stopped into a cool food building that was all about Kambuchi (a beverage I’m not familiar with).

Next up: We went to see Pacific Rim
in 3D. Harry and I liked it OK but not even the 3D made JP give it a nod.
Suzanne met us at the TJ Oyster House. It’s a casual place but had amazing tacos!

Side Note:  On our way home in the afternoon traffic we saw this Hispanic fella up on the overpass and he was nicely costumed and dancing! Not like “It feels great to be off my meds” kind of dancing either! He truly looked like he was enjoying himself! It turns out this is just what he does – he wants to make the commuters happy when they see him dancing. 

Monday March 26th, 2018
We left Lucky behind in the storage area at our KOA and headed south for family time. It was a perfect day for the drive from Palm Springs to San Diego. Luckily Siri didn’t pull any of her usual tricks and we made it to Harry and Suzanne’s (Jerry’s brother and lovely wife) place by dinner time!

Monday March 26th, 2018
We tucked Lucky away in a storage site in the KOA we’ve been staying at  and we headed south. Our destination – San Diego to spend some time with Harry (JP’s Brother) and his lovely wife Suzanne. Later in the week we will be heading to LA and Pasadena to see the kids. Lovin’ being able to see them more often! 

I’ll catch the blog up after our 8 days in Southern California but it may take awhile to post them. Our next stop is Lake Alamo for a couple weeks. No Wi-Fi there so I’ll have to post all at once at a later date. I’ll let ya know on FB when we’re up again. Until then, Welcome to Spring and Happy Easter!

Saturday March 24th, 2018

JP and I made a trip to the Palm Springs Air Museum about 15 miles away. Its much smaller than the Pima Air Museum outside of Tucson. We spent the afternoon roaming the 4 different hangers full of military memorabilia, planes and military displays.

Outside the hangers, planes from all eras were parked along the fence that backs up to the Palm Springs International Airport. It was cool to watch the planes take off in front of a beautiful mountain backdrop while we toured. We even got to watch an exhibit plane land at the airport and then taxi into the museum grounds.

JP and I had our eye on different parts of the museum. He focused on the planes, helicopters and the history at the museum and I liked the art. There was plenty to see and learn about and the museum is staffed by veterans.

The “Nose Art” was cool and who knew Disney had a hand in any of it? There was also a display of art by Chris Demarest called Humanity Within War that was an interesting addition to the museum.

It was an interesting day. There were a lot of visitors of all ages.

By the time we got home today the Desert Hot Springs WIND was at its strongest so it was a noisy night in Lucky!

Friday March 23rd, 2018

Now that we have decided to lease our Sodaville house out again and we have our taxes done it should be smooth sailing from here. Our next week is with family then on to no WiFi again so today was all about tying up loose ends. JP’s replacement  seat for his pontoon boat came so he busied himself with that while I did accounting.

We had a great (as in good and huge) farewell dinner with Patsy and Peter at Red Lobster. I’m pretty sure there is no greater food than their cheese biscuits!

Thursday March 22nd, 2018
We were up and at ‘em this morning. Patsy and Peter have sold their place in Cathedral City, so  JP lent a hand loading the trailer for their trip back to Canada. They got it done in no time and even though there was a light shower or two, it was warm enough for a noodle in the pool and a hot tub. I’m having a hard time imagining life with out those 2 treats on an everyday basis! After a mid-day Happy Hour and snacks we left in time to make a Walmart pit stop and still made it back in time for a JP to play Texas Hold ‘Em at at our KOA. 

I’m thinking Happy Hour is another version of Taco Bell’s “4th Meal”! Luckily we don’t have room in Lucky for a blender!

Wednesday March 21st, 2018

JP let me shop to my hearts content today for any and all things trailer. We will be heading back to Alamo Lake AZ shortly and its pretty remote. While JP is fishing his heart out I plan on getting the trailer rearranged and pulling all the excess stuff together to drop back at our storage unit. We’ve decided to stay in the trailer for another year so my goal is to make it super cozy and as spacious as 18 feet can be! I’ll be doing a little fishing but I’m looking forward to some reading and writing time too!

Alamo Lake is in mid-west AZ. The nearest tiny town is Salome and that’s about 30 miles and not much of a destination – but a hell of a bass and crappie lake!