We woke up at PECHANGA RV RESORT in Temecula and wanted to get some laundry done in their Laundromat before leaving, but two of their four machines were out of order, and since I had at least three loads, we decided to leave and do laundry in San Diego.
We stopped nearby and had brunch at THE BARLEY HOUSE WEST, which was in a big shopping center that was still under construction. It looked like the restaurant had just opened – maybe even last week. To give you an example of how new the restaurant was, the waitress didn’t know if they had ginger ale. She knew all the beers (it’s really more of a tavern that serves food), but not the other drinks. She even mentioned something about them not telling her what sodas they have when she was in training.
Their motto is “Big Beer, Big Food, Big Flavor.” They serve everything in two sizes: “big” and “small/side.” Eric ordered a cup (small) of beef barley soup and a small/half veggie burger (portabella mushrooms and roasted red peppers, over a vegetable patty with red pepper tarter on a bulky) and I got a cup of clam chowder with a half/side of salmon Caesar salad (grilled salmon, seasoned croutons, crisp romaine and classic dressing).
The waitress brought us the soups first, and as I was eating it, I felt a piece of clam that was very chewy. I finally took the piece out of my mouth and looked at it, and it was a piece of white rubber, about ¾” long, but about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti. I showed it to Eric, and then we called the waitress over, to show it to her. She offered me another bowl, but I told her I assumed that the next bowl would come from the same pot, so what’s the use? I told her the rest of the soup was delicious, it’s just that there was a piece of RUBBER in it! I said, “Maybe you should show it to someone,” meaning her manager.
She brought us the rest of our meal, which was delicious (and we didn’t find anything in it), but she never mentioned the rubber piece again, or apologized for it, or anything, which really bothered me.
When we got the bill, we saw we were charged for both soups. I have such a big mouth all the time, but I was too shy to demand to see the manager, or make a big fuss, but I told Eric I didn’t want to tip her, because I thought it was her responsibility to make sure the customer was happy (if only to get a good tip). Eric said to just leave her $2.00, instead of the $5.00 we would have left on a $27 tab (he's a softie). I did, and wrote on the bill “I wasn’t happy with the piece of rubber in my soup” and circled the soup on the bill. What would it have meant to them to NOT charge me for a cup of soup? The soup was $3.99, but what does it cost them? If I lived in the neighborhood, I would never go to that restaurant again.
I know I just complained yesterday about the "potato salad incident" and today I’m complaining about rubber in my soup, but I hardly ever have a complaint and we’ve eaten out 2 or 3 meals a day for 95 days – YOU do the math!
So, we left Temecula and drove the 60 miles to San Diego. On the drive down, we saw lots of burned trees, shrubs and land, but no houses. I’m glad, because that really would have upset me. It was bad enough seeing all the blackened terrain to the left and right of the highway. That highway must definitely have been closed during the fires, because they burned so close to either side. I mentioned to Eric how lucky we were that we went there when we did in October, because we would either have been trapped in San Diego, or unable to get there in the first place. Our timing was perfect.
We went to a different campground than we stayed at last time. MISSION BAY RV RESORT is right across the bay from CAMPLAND ON THE BAY (where we stayed last time). It’s a little less fancy, but it’s all paved and CAMPLAND had dirt and sand everywhere, which we hated, so we’re much happier here. It’s also $10 cheaper per day!
I registered and we went and checked out our site, then left to go to the Laundromat. I got my Starbucks and did three big loads of laundry while Eric read in the RV. Two hours later I was done, and we came back to the campground. Eric continued to read while I took a nap.
When I woke up we drove to our new favorite sushi restaurant -- HAIKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT on Garnet Avenue, which is the first place we went to on our last trip to San Diego a few weeks ago, before the fires. We went there twice in the four days we were here last time.
This time, we had shumai, soft shell crab tempura and three rolls: Philadelphia, Special Shrimp Tempura, and Spicy Tuna.
Everything was SO good. We love sushi!!!
After that we walked down Garnet to the RV, which we had parked right in front of a store we had visited previously. It’s called THE HIGH ROAD Lifestyle Store “2500 feet of the Coolest Sh-t @ the Beach.” They sell lots of weird stuff, mostly bongs, pipes, and other smoking paraphernalia, along with beach cruiser bicycles, t-shirts, and – POSTCARDS!!!! I got some San Diego postcards. Tony, the guy who works there, was so friendly last time we were in town, and he actually remembered us! He’s adorable. I got a better look at him this time and noticed that what I thought were rhinestones glued on the outside of his eyes are really body piercings with rhinestones (or diamonds) at the ends. Last time, Eric didn’t notice, but he did this time.
We told Tony we thought of him when we heard about the fires, because he is the only person we had really talked to when we visited last, and we wondered if he was okay. He really appreciated that!
When we got back in the RV, I said to Eric, “Tony’s the only friend we have in San Diego!” It’s been strange traveling across the country and so rarely seeing a familiar face, but it’s a much weirder feeling to “live” someplace and not know anyone. I have emailed and spoken on the phone to Bonnie, our realtor, who is a very close friend of my cousin, Audrey, but we haven’t met yet! We’re looking forward to that, because we're anxious to have friends in town!