Thursday November 26: Thanksgiving California Style!

With Matt and Wendy in from DC, Becky in from LA and my brother Tom in from Flagstaff AZ, we took the opportunity last Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving. First turkey Steve has cooked in ???

Usually we're on the boat somewhere for the holiday but this year we were having dinner on the deck outside, in the sun, overlooking the Pacific. How can that be beat?

The weather cooperated nicely with warm sunny days for the 5 days everyone was here.

Steve and Becky were out in the water with surf/boogie boards working to catch the "foam" as the waves were not the best but they were still having fun!

Matt was still hopeful though and waited patiently for the waves to build. Not the greatest surf days when they were here but still any day surfing is better than a day without it :-)

Sunsets were cloudy so nice looking but no green flashes.










Tom had ridden the Amtrak train from Flagstaff so  on Tuesday we waved as he left to walk the few blocks to the station.

On the train here at Oceanside at 2:30, arrive at Flagstaff at 6:00 am. Maybe a sleeper room is in his future next time :-)


For the past week, we kept seeing signs that our road would be closed Thanksgiving morning until 11 am - for the "Turkey Trot" - we weren't sure what to expect but decided that we would have a front row seat!

Turns out it was a walk/run involving 10,000 participants (8th largest in the states) - the youngest age group being 4 and under!







It was quite the event and entertaining to see with quite a few of the walkers really getting into the 'turkey' theme.

This gal received our vote for the best turkey costume. But the couple below were pretty fun as well!











It's almost time to start packing. We leave next Wednesday to return to Cleveland for a week and then finally "home" to the trawler - after a LONG absence of 7 months.  Way past time - we really miss being on the boat :-)

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family - we have so much to be thankful for .........

November 17: At Least It Wasn't Snow!

The 'storm' went through southern California yesterday. Very different than the storms we were used to in Ohio.

Very windy, cool (actually jeans and jacket) and lots of blowing sand!

It's just like snow back home only it never melts. Just sits there until someone sweeps or shovels it away. Or uses a small sweeper machine which picks up the sand which is then returned to the beach.

Quite interesting to watch!

I'm amazed once again at how quickly our time here in Oceanside is passing. Seems like we just arrived but it's actually been a month. Not sure what we do all day ....

Although we did make it to Point Loma by San Diego. The cliffs here are amazing with great tidal pools when the tide is low.






From the road to the point, the view overlooking the bay at San Diego is really amazing.

The presence of the armed forces in this area is huge - maybe bigger than Norfolk, VA (the largest Naval base) area if the Marine Corps base at Pendleton and the Marine Corp Air Station at Mirimar are also included.

We made a visit to the local casino but as you can see we didn't so so well. The cashout voucher was kept as our reminder of why we don't go to casinos .......

But we really went for the buffet anyway - of course the line was SO LONG for the seafood buffet ($20 all the lobster tails and king crab legs you can eat!) we skipped it and found a local place on the way home. Oh well. Maybe before we leave here but we'll have a better plan before we go.

Last weekend was a trip to Becky's place in LA. It was nice for a change :-)

A few things on the repair list: fix the closet shelf that was coming down, fix the dryer (luckily it was only the door switch and the part was easily obtained) and disconnect the buzzer - a really loud obnoxious one!, replace the pressure cartridge in the kitchen faucet and finally - fix the stopper in the bathroom sink.






In between the fixes was a trip to the coast for lunch at the Malibu seafood place and a trip to downtown Hollywood - Mann's Chinese Theatre.

It is the neatest building! The area in front of the theatre is the Hollywood walk of fame with the embedded stars in the sidewalk. At the entrance is are the footprints and handprints of many stars as well.

For more information about the theatre, click here. Of course the day we were there the place was packed with people! The new James Bond movie Spectre was playing - it was actually quite good! Not over the top crazy like some of the James Bond movies have been ....

The rest of the time was spent hanging out at Becky's place and watching her relatively new 3-D crazy huge television!

Lord of the Rings - Return of the King. One of our favorite movies for sure :-)









The sunsets continue to be amazing almost every night. No green flash this night due to the clouds but it really makes nicer colors in the sky.











Steve spent part of today making his great turkey meatballs in preparation for tomorrow.

Matt and Wendy and my brother Tom will be here through Monday - and Becky will join us for the weekend.

Sounds like a party to me :-)

Sunday November 1: Perhaps the Best Place to Live

We're learning why it is that so many people like living along the coast here in southern California. The weather has been perfect - literally.

Sunny days, cool breezes off the ocean at night, no hint of rain in the 2 weeks we've been here.

The harbor at Oceanside with it's many lunch places is just a 10 minute bike ride away. Somehow it's easy to justify having clam chowder for lunch when we've ridden our bikes to get here :-)

My favorite lunch might still be macaroni and cheese though. Steve hit the jackpot when he found this generic mac and cheese that has ZERO saturated fat!

I'm not sure things can get much better .....

A walk along the nearby pier has the usual assortment of pelicans, seagulls and pigeons.

Apparently there is an issue with tourists and pelicans though. Warning sign to leave them alone.

Wonder how many folks get bitten anyway :-)


Sunsets more often than not produce a green flash as there is a definite lack of moisture in the air. This gives a horizon that is clear of any clouds or haze that would obscure the sun dropping over the water. Hence, the green flash most nights. We're getting spoiled for sure.

And then there's the fishing! A record for Steve yesterday - he may never go fishing again! How is it possible to beat catching EIGHT yellowtail? And once again he landed the biggest fish on the boat at 38 inches, about 25 lbs. Also two vermillion rockfish plus a seabass. (Just for the record, he could bring only 5 home as that is the per person limit. The others went to people on trip that did not catch their own five.)

Crazy fun day - so he says :-)


The rockfish grilled whole was amazing -

We may have to try this at Becky's as we head out Friday for a road trip north to LA!