Sunday April 20, '14

Happy Easter everyone!  Sure wish every one of you had the sun and nice breeze that I have here on the inland side of San Diego.

To catch up, cell phone reception went from bad to worse, and Bill had no idea how to hook me into their wifi system, so you heard zip for a few days.  On Thursday we went out to dinner at a Goleta tavern whose name I have forgotten.  I had a great turkey burger with a nice BBQ tang to it.  I spent the night on Marge and Bill's wonderful couch, and was able to spend some time with Marge's neighbor Pat.  She's been a good friend for years, and it was nice to catch up on events in both our lives.

I hate to sound like all we did was eat, but Marge and Bill took me up the mountain to Rancho Oso and Myrtle and Livy, and we stopped at a fantastic spot for late lunch/early dinner.  The Cold Springs Tavern, on the east side of San Marcos Pass, was a stagecoach stop from 1861 to 1901.  There are several old buildings, but I took Marge and Bill's picture in front of the original tavern.  You can tell that it was a bit breezy and cool, but they smiled anyway.  Very dark inside--I couldn't get a picture with my phone.  They had little LED lights up around the edges of the ceiling, and I think that the bar had water piped in.  The food is fantastic, and well worth the half hour or more wait!

I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on laundry and cleaning the dust bunnies off Myrtle's floor and the dashboard!  I don't know what Paulso RV used to spiff up the truck cab area, but it is magnetic to cat hair!

Saturday morning I folded up camp and headed down hill to Goleta and Marge's, Bill's, Susan's, and Rick's.  Susan had a tour of Myrtle and took me to lunch.  We walked over to Fresco's--and why is California's food so good?

I went over to have a last visit with Marge and Bill (and to pick up my computer cable) and then settled in for an early evening as an uninvited parking lot camper.  Susan showed me an Encino Royale (retirement community) parking lot that is pretty empty at night.  I settled in, left the window shades open, didn't turn any lights on or put my bedroom slide out.  And I slept in my clothes in case someone wanted to throw me out of the parking lot.  I slept like a log in the upper bunk, after reading a very little on my Kindle.

I woke up shortly before 7 am and headed south down highway 101.  I had a nice smooth transfer onto 405 south in Beverly Hills (early on a holiday helped, I'm sure), and 405 turns into I-5 without even telling you.  I wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't been watching the exit numbers count down.  Jumped from 1 to 91!

I stopped at a beautiful rest area shortly before I left I-5 for 78.  It was breezy, cool, and there was some fog off shore, but skies were so blue!  I made a few calls, took a couple pictures and got back on the road.  On highway 78 I found gas ($4.35 per gallon for 87 octane) and a cup of Starbuck's iced tea, then continued east to highway 15 and Karen Sharkey's exit.  Such a  calm, quiet neighborhood--and I'm in love with her house!  She has a farm-style kitchen with more storage than she has items to fill it up.  And she has a "California sun room"  that reminds me of our old family room/office--sliding doors on two sides.  AND she has a gorgeous back yard of rock landscaping with a tangerine tree!

You are now up to date!  I am going to have a shower, then hunt Easter eggs and have dinner with Karen's daughter's family.   Here are a few pictures from the last couple days.

Bill and Marge at Cold Springs.

Rest area on the beach

The retro Spanish rest area.