Another Trip to Oceanside
April 28 - May 1, 2011
From home
to my son Dean and family's home in Oceanside, CA
Thursday, April 28, 2011 Day 1: Home to Bakersfield, CA via SR99: 227 miles.
The time had come to head south to my son Dean's home to visit him and his family. I make a point of visiting every three months so he remembers who his Old Man is, and so the two kids, Connor and Aidan, know who their Grandpa is.
I left home about 1100, and had made plans to meet my cousin, Murle Jean, at an IHOP restaurant in Fresno, very near her home. We had a wonderful visit, as usual, gabbing about the past and current happenings for over an hour and a half. She lost her husband, Ken, a couple of years ago, and is doing very well with new friends and her involvement with the church.
After our visit I continued south to Bakersfield, arriving at the Rosedale Walmart at 1730. It was 87degrees in the coach, and after opening up a few windows and the door, it was tolerable. Usually I head to the summit of the Grapevine, but the weather forecast indicated winds up to 40 MPH at the summit. I chose to avoid that misery and spent the night in The Valley. I had dinner consisting of a Mickey D's Fish Filet and Chicken Jalepeno sandwich. After dessert of a McFlurry Reese's, I settled in for the night.
Friday would bring the usual drive through LALA Land, and arrival at Dean's around noon or so. I hit the sack, tired after the long drive and needing a good nights sleep.
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Friday, Day 2: Bakersfield to Guajome Park near Dean's via SR99, I-5, I-405: 206 miles.
After a much needed good night's sleep, I awoke with one thing on my mind: Get gas cheap. I had seen one station along Rosedale Highway selling at $4.08 - about 10 cents less than the area norm.
I got my morning chores out of the way early, including showering, which is usually an evening chore. At my age, I consider a good shower to be a good 20 minutes of exercise! I was on my way by 0630. My first stop was that cheap gas station which turned out to be an Arco, which accepts cash or debit card only. I always buy with my credit card, so I headed out onto I-5 and headed south and up the Grapevine to Frazier Park's Flying J. Gas there was $4.19; with my loyalty discount I got the "bargain" price of $4.17. That figures out to be over $300 for a 75 gallon fill up. I never fill up from empty, but that surely underscores the cost of traveling nowadays. For this Oceanside trip, I use over 1 1/2 tanks of gas. Wow!
Driving through LALA Land. I cannot imagine why anyone would live like this!
I continued along my way to Dean's, taking I-405 south from I-5 which is a few miles longer but a better highway and generally fewer slow-downs. There was some bumper to bumper traffic through LALA Land, but mostly I just flew along to Oceanside.
I arrived at Dean's about 1130. The kids were home due to Spring Break, and so was Dean and Melissa as Dean took the day off. (He works for an England based company and they declared a day off for the Royal wedding.)
Dean and I headed to the harbor-side restaurant for our usual lunch. We had a wonderful time together, including a stroll along the waterfront to admire the many boats. I settled into my space at Guajome Park right after our time at the harbor. Afterward, Dean picked me up and we headed back to the house and spent the afternoon with the family.
At rest overlooking Oceanside's lovely harbor. We lunch here every visit.
I was back in the coach about 1930. It had been a long day and I was again ready for a good night's sleep.
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Saturday, Day 3: Jacks down and a visit with Dean and family.
Jacks down at Guajome Park in Oceanside, California once again. This is a marvelous RV park. I always choose this particular site because is sits pretty much alone from the other spaces - and the rural setting is very relaxing.
The plan was for Dean to pick me up at 0940 to drive me to Connor's baseball game, so I had plenty of time to do the usual morning chores, shower, etc. We had a good time watching the game, and I was impressed with all the friends Dean and the family have through the league. They have a great time with all the activities.
Grandson Aidan is a chip off the Old Block; he loves his sweets!
After the game Dean and I went to Chin's Chinese Restaurant for our usual Chinese lunch. It was a grand lunch and we have have good times when we're alone together to just chat away. Afterward, we headed home, and spent the day just hanging around and visiting. Dean, Connor and I threw a baseball around for some time. After a dinner of turkey burgers, I headed home around 1900 so I could hit the sack early and get an early start on the drive home Sunday morning. That's the best time of the whole week to drive through LALA Land - if one must.
Sunday morning at 0500 I was pulling out of Guajome Park and heading back home. I had a good trip home, driving the 400+ miles in about 8½ hours.
Dropping down the infamous Grapevine into the Central Valley and on home.
We have plans this summer to visit Colorado, another visit to Oregon, another visit to Dean's in Oceanside, and a fishing trip with my old high school friend, Al, with the coach and boat to Flaming Gorge in Utah come September. I'm looking forward to a grand summer of RVing!
