Eric and I left our home in Whitestone on August 11th, so I always counted that as the starting date of our adventure. Since today is November 11th, that means we’ve been on the road for exactly three months, which turns out to be thirteen weeks, or 94 days. I know – it’s confusing. Don’t you always think of three months as 90 days or 12 weeks? Sometimes it may be -- but sometimes it's not!
We checked out of our campground and ate breakfast at a small diner called HEART’S COFFEE SHOP, on the corner of Saticoy and Balboa in Van Nuys. It was owned and operated by an Asian family and the food was fantastic. Eric had eggs with hash browns and pancakes. I had a grilled tuna melt on rye and asked for tomato on the sandwich. The tomato doesn’t come with it, I just like it on my grilled cheese or tuna melts. When we ordered, the waitress asked me if I wanted a side of mashed potatoes, potato salad or a green salad. I said I’d like potato salad.
When the bill came, there were so many items on it and we couldn’t figure out what was what, so we called the waitress over to the table. It turns out $1.50 was for the 2 slices of tomato on my grilled tuna melt. $1.65 was for the potato salad. I told her I thought it came with it and she said, “No. Don’t you remember? I asked you if you wanted a SIDE of mashed potatoes, potato salad or a green salad?”
Now, I’m asking you, if someone took your order for a sandwich, and then asked you if you wanted a “side” of several different items, wouldn’t you think it was included? Why did she offer it to me? If I wanted it, wouldn't I just have ordered it? I really felt like arguing with her, because it seemed SO ridiculous and I felt like I was “tricked” into ordering it, because it’s not like I NEEDED it. I just thought it came with it (although it WAS really good potato salad!). Anyone who knows me knows I’m not cheap, and it was just $1.65, but I still resented paying it (although I did), because it was under-handed.
After breakfast, we walked across the street and went into the AMIN THRIFT SHOP. Eric had a great time going through all the albums, and I bought a beautiful black and silver rhinestone pin for $10!
After that, I got my Starbucks, we filled up on gas, and we finally left L.A. We had such a good time with our friends and family, and we really like L.A., but we knew we had to leave and go to San Diego eventually! Luckily, we had a fun diversion this afternoon. We stopped in Murietta (about 45 minutes north of San Diego) to meet Robyn and Sal, who moved here from New York in April. They are friends of our niece, Melissa, and her husband, David.
We arrived at their beautiful 4-bedroom house at around 4:00pm. They live on a cul-de-sac in a lovely neighborhood. It's so nice, because there's no through traffic and there were a lot of children playing in the street. It reminded me of our house on Leggett Place, because although it wasn't a cul-de-sac, the way the streets ran, there was also no through traffic.
Their house is only 2 years old. They have a 2-car garage, a lovely backyard, a big, roomy kitchen, a living room, dining room, master bedroom suite, with a beautiful bathroom, and closets – tons and tons of closets! They have walk-in closets, double closets, pantries, and regular closets. I told them I’m really jealous, because I know I’ll be lacking closet space when we get a small apartment and, even with a condo, you don’t get the same closets you get in a house.
Robyn and Sal at The Fish House, Vera Cruz:
We went to a nearby restaurant called THE FISH HOUSE – VERA CRUZ. It was so much fun. They have giant fish tanks everywhere with beautiful, colorful fish. The décor is very nautical and even the handles on the bathroom doors were shaped like fish! The mirror in the ladies’ room was surrounded with seashells, very much like the one I made, which I sold in my shop (it’s on my website – in case you’re interested -- http://www.peppysdream.com/baseashells.html)
To start, we ordered clams and oysters on the half shell, steamed mussels and fried calamari strips. I ordered the scallops on a skewer, cooked with bacon (so they tasted delicious!); Robyn had the lobster/king crab combo; Eric had the rainbow trout; and Sal had Thresher shark. Everything was so delicious. This is really my kind of place, especially since I only eat seafood!
We didn’t have time for dessert, because tonight we are staying at PECHANGA RV RESORT (which is on an Indian Reservation, with a casino and hotel), and the office closes at 8:00pm. They said if we came late, it would be no problem staying here, but we wouldn’t be able to get the card keys necessary to open the doors to the bathrooms and showers. Since we only like to use the bathrooms at the campground and not the one in the RV, that was a big problem.
We left Robyn and Sal at 7:34pm and RACED to the campground, which was only 20 minutes away. We got here at 8:55pm and the office was still open. I registered and we drove to our site, which is right near the restrooms. These are some of the nicest bathrooms I have seen in any campground across the country. Luxurious! First of all, we stayed at another campground, in Williams, Arizona, where they had card keys, but they were the kind you had to insert into a slot and they didn’t work very well. You had to try at least 20 times before they’d open. Eric HATED the card keys, so I was nervous about that happening again.
Fortunately, these are the kind that you just hold up to a red light and it flashes green and the door unlocks instantly. I opened the door, the lights automatically came on, and I saw before me a fabulous huge room with cream tiled floors with a turquoise and terra cotta design. The bathroom and shower stalls were terra cotta colored – clean and looking brand new. The faucets come on automatically, when you stick your hand under the faucet. They have paper towels (love that!), the toilet paper was 2 ply, and very soft. There was soap in the soap dispenser, and the showers were big and pristine.
The other thing we love about this place is that everything is paved with either cement or asphalt. We hate places that have gravel, dirt or sand, because you track it into the RV every time you come and go. We’re a little neurotic about dirt, so this is really great! If this place wasn’t so far from San Diego, I told Eric we’d definitely stay here until we found an apartment.
Eric happily watched THE SIMPSONS, KING OF THE HILL, FAMILY GUY and AMERICAN DAD, while I worked on the computer. He’ll be asleep soon, and I’ll finish up today’s blog entry (my 94th) and then go to sleep, dreaming about finding the perfect apartment in San Diego. We have a wonderful realtor, Bonnie, helping us, so I’m sure it won’t be too hard. I can’t wait to start looking. It’s all very exciting. We are finally on to the next phase of our life!