January 31st: Back in Florida

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale and arrived 20 minutes early at Midnight. When Linda made the reservation we figured it would be 9:00 PM  California time so not too bad. It was the best flight option from Burbank. Somehow it felt more like midnight than 9:00 PM. We were staying the night in Ft. Lauderdale because Linda's 10 week shoulder check-up was Monday morning. Although a late night, Linda's good planning saved us another trip to Ft. Lauderdale.

Our hotel room was very nice. Linda asked for a bath tub and the receptionist said that the suites had bathtubs but not the double rooms. Our appointment was in the afternoon so we had planned to sleep in and enjoy the room. I asked if any suites were available and he checked. Sorry, none left. (It was 1:00 AM by now.) Then he said, "I think the deluxe double has a tub, I'll put you in there, no extra charge." It was a very nice room with a great bathtub.

Linda's doctor said her shoulder was doing great and the only restrictions were, "If it hurts, don't do it. No heavy lifting. Other than that continue with physical therapy to build back the muscles." That was the expected report but good to hear and we headed back to the boat, after of course, our stop at the Chinese restaurant. We were happy to get back home to the boat.

I received a pickle ball paddle for Christmas from Matt and Wendy. I played a couple times and it's fun. It's kind of a cross between tennis and badminton. Not as much running as tennis but a lot of hand eye coordination and plenty of exercise.

When we bought our car, the right tail light was replaced because it was broken. The left tail light had a scrape and a small hole. It didn't look good to begin with and then I noticed the tail lights were not the same. The left tail light had a black background and the right was silver. No wonder it looked so noticeably bad.

Tail light replacement

I found a replacement on the internet for $45.00. I replaced the tail light and it was surprisingly easy. The car looks much better.











Florida cars don't have a front license plate. The front license plate holder on our car was broken but not really needed. Linda found a nice Turtle plate so I replaced the broken front license plate holder and installed our front Turtle plate.

More fun than a license plate.






There are always mechanical issues on the boat. Our roof top air conditioner was making a lot of noise due to a worn bushing. It still worked but not for long. Linda found a good price on a replacement that would be a duplicate. Because it fit into a hole we cut into the fly bridge deck, it was very helpful to get an exact replacement. The unit arrived and I installed it. There were some extra wires that I decided were for a wall mount thermometer, which we didn't need. We planned to use the old control panel because it worked fine.


I hooked everything up, turned it on and nothing! Not good. I called the tech support at Atwood and the lady I talked to tried to help. She finally conferred with others and said we need to get the new control panel because it was different. Okay, not a big deal. It would arrive in a week. Fortunately, if anything we would have been looking for heat not air conditioning.

Mutton Snapper

Hog Fish

The weather changed rather suddenly to "wonderful for fishing." When the weather is good for fishing I go! Our friend Lois started fishing with us last year and really enjoyed it. She had been waiting for an opportunity to go this year. It was a perfect day  so we headed out, on a very calm ocean, to fish under the bridge.

We caught some nice fish at first but not keepers, a nice hog fish, out of season, and a Mutton Snapper that was 2 inches too short to keep. We then caught several keepers. We hoped to catch an 18 inch keeper Mutton Snapper.


I cast my line out and thought I was snagged on the bottom. I told Lois I might have to break the line. Then it started moving. Hmmm. Was it wrapped around a rock or something? I started winding and I could tell there was a big fish on the line. It took a while but we could finally see it. It was a very big fish for dinghy fishing. After wearing the fish out for a while Lois did a great job netting it.

Goliath Grouper

It was a Goliath Grouper. Actually a very small Goliath Grouper as they go because they grow to 8 feet and 800 lbs. Click here for more info. It was fun to catch. I was surprised we could land it but Lois did an excellent job getting it into the net. Fortunately, I brought the big net because Lois said she wanted to catch a big fish.

Lois's tiny catch

I got the prize for the biggest fish and Lois got the prize for the smallest. I didn't need the net for hers!

We ended up catching several keepers, not huge but perfect for dinner.



The weather was so good I went out fishing three days in a row. Lois came twice and we caught plenty of keepers. The third day I went out with Bill  from Snow Bird and we again did very well. Four Yellow Jacks, four Porgies and one Grey Snapper. The knife in the picture is for size perspective, (12 inches) All excellent eating. After the third day I decided I was worn out. No more fishing for a while whatever the weather. Besides, we now had a lot of fish to eat!

January 22nd: Enjoying California

Steve's Kindle (Back)

We still had a few days in Encinitas and we made the most of them.





Wendy and I decided to use some of her craft supplies to decorate our Kindles and Fires.

Linda's Fire

Steve's Fire

The library has a great machine that cuts out stencils and stickers. We used some of her vinyl paper to make the stickers. They turned out great.

Steve's Kindle Front

I also used some of her glitter glue to make the dragon and dragon flies.

Wendy on top of  Moonlight Beach Stairs

There just happened to be a super low tide while we were in Encinitas. The low tides are fun because there are tidal pools we can explore. We parked near some stairs that lead down to the beach The top of the stairs offers a great view. Wendy is at the top in the picture on the right.






Wendy and I went to the beach at low, low tide. There were a lot of mussels, anemones, a few hermit crabs and Wendy even spotted a small fish. This structure is usually under water.

On the way back down the beach we saw a beautiful sunset.

Torrey Pines Beach

It is important to time a hike to Torrey Pines State Park because high tide eliminates walking on the beach. It is one of my favorite places to hike so I picked the best day considering the tides.

View of Torrey Pines State Park Cliffs from the beach

When I arrived, the tides were rising and I needed to change my plan. Usually I go up the cliffs on a path that eventually goes in a circle and leads down to the beach, about 1/4 mile away. It's less strenuous that way. I decided to play it safe and go down the beach first and climb up the path, after all I was trying to get some exercise and I didn't want to swim back!

Path leading up from the Beach

The climb up the cliffs is very scenic. The pictures just don't capture the immense size of the cliffs.

If you look closely at the picture on the right you can see people on a trail. There is also a person much farther away standing on top of the cliff overlooking the water.

While we were in California we took the opportunity to visit Craig and Karen Rahn. We met them while boating in Canada and traveled both the Trent and the Rideau Canals with them. We always enjoyed their company and they were great traveling companions.

Unfortunately, they sold their boat so we can no longer boat with them. However, given they are in California close to where our kids live, we can still easily get together.





I included a few pictures from our trips. Very fond memories

Rahn de Vous on the Trent Marine railway

Rahn's boat Rahn de Vous on the Trent Canal

Craig, Karen and Linda on the Rideau Canal

Steve and Craig kayaking on the Trent

We planned to drive a rental car north to Studio City to spend a few days at our daughter Rebecca's house. After the visit we'd fly back to Florida from Burbank airport so we were dropping the car at the airport. It was fortunate that they must have needed cars in L.A. because there was no drop charge. Very unusual. Burbank is a very easy airport to fly from.and close to Rebecca's home. 

When we went to pick up the rental car they said, "We can give you a free upgrade to a Convertible Mustang GT. Would that be okay?" Of course we said yes. When we started the car it sounded like a race car! It was too cold to drive with the top down but it was fun and quite comfortable.

Rebecca has a major renovation going on and we were anxious to see it in person.







When we arrived, the dogs London and Trevi, were very excited to see us. I think they know I always take them for a walk. They play very well together and are entertaining to watch. Also Linda loves laying on the couch with the dogs,








I continued with a project in the garage. When we took out a wall in the garage we opened up a large hole in the room behind the garage. Rebecca and I made a quick trip to home depot, bought a custom cut piece of plywood and installed it to cover up the hole. While we were at Home Depot Rebecca also bought a new faucet so we could replace one that was old and leaking. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished projects but they're not that exciting.

Overall we had very little project work and lots of relaxing. We once again enjoyed Linda's video games on Rebecca's even bigger large screen television and binge watched The Good Place. We were so relaxed we didn't take any pictures. I'll be certain to include pictures of the completed renovations to Rebecca's home when we return in April.

January 21st: Christmas in Encinitas California

Matt and Wendy's Christmas tree

It was a very smooth flight to San Diego and we arrived Wednesday evening. We planned our trip so we would miss the rush hour San Diego traffic. Matt and Wendy picked us up and drove us back to their home in California. It was great to be back in Encinitas. It was dark when we arrived so it was fun to see the Christmas tree lit up as we went in the front door. There was also the giant fish wearing the Brown's hat behind the tree.








It was pretty chilly so we were dressed warmly. Wendy had on a fun hooded sweat shirt with ears. We never figured out what animal it might be.

It was fairly late so we basically just went to bed that night. Looking forward to breakfast at the Encinitas Cafe.

Huevos Rancheros Encinitas Cafe

We had some excellent Huevos Rancheros breakfasts when we were in Oceanside last year. Linda decided to try them at the Encinitas Cafe. Notice Linda's warm jacket. It was still pretty cool, even in the restaurant. Southern California is not as warm as southern Florida! The Huevos Rancheros were pretty good but not as good as the ones in Oceanside. We put Oceanside on the list for Sunday breakfast.







After breakfast Wendy and I did some shopping for some last minute presents. We found some fun stuff at Party Central. Wendy took care of loading the Christmas sacks and stockings. (Years ago Wendy came up with the idea of Christmas sacks that she made for each of us. No gift wrapping necessary and no wrapping paper used. We each just pull items out one at a time.)

Wendy makes great pumpkin pies. Fortunately, she planned to make some for our Christmas dinner Friday. She baked them Thursday night while Linda watched. They smelled wonderful while they were baking. They would go great with the lobster dinner we planned for Friday night and the prime rib dinner Saturday night.






Rebecca arrived Friday afternoon along with London and Trevi. The dogs  are still very friendly and cute. Added benefit for Linda, London is nice and warm and enjoys sitting by Linda.








We had decided to open presents as soon as Rebecca arrived so we had maximum time to play with them. Wendy wore her Llama Christmas sweater! She won the prize for most festively dressed.




Matt had the "fire" on for Linda and we set about opening gifts. I'll just include  a few.





There were a lot of fun and useful gifts. Rebecca gave me an original Betty Crocker Chiffon cake cook book. When watching a baking show one time they were making chiffon cakes. I told her I used to make a cherry chiffon cake when I was a kid. I looked briefly and couldn't find that same recipe and forgot about it. Obviously a cherry chiffon cake was added to the dessert list for Saturday.




Matt's gifts revolved around his mountain biking passion. These cool sunglasses should work as he's pedaling through the mountains.







Linda's gifts revolved around her video games. Actually, we all enjoy them. She got a new Mario game and the new Link game. Wendy even found a miniature Link for Linda. His eyes and sword actually move!






I will enjoy wearing the "Cool Dad" shirt from Rebecca. I also will enjoy using the 8 inch cast iron skillet from Matt and Wendy. I've wanted one for a while but never got around to buying one. It will work great for pan frying fish! I'll have to keep catching some.

Wendy's bead work

Wendy's knitted animal collection and pottery

Wendy was all about craft stuff. Yarn, vinyl sticker paper, beads, etc.













Rebecca got some shish kabob baskets that I can't wait to try on her grill. Other fun gifts for her included a macaroon baking kit, a cheese making kit and a beach tent







There were of course several chew toys for the dogs. Perhaps the coolest gift was the glow in the dark collars for the dogs' night walks. Matt took the dogs out for a trial run. They were entertaining going down the street.








Also very popular were the Dood (Doodle) T shirt and the Doodle mug.









After playing with our toys for a while, we enjoyed a wonderful lobster dinner including the pumpkin pie!

We used one of Rebecca's Christmas gifts, the lobster crackers, forks and shears.











Matt and Wendy have a big screen television. Perfect for playing video games. We played the new video games after dinner. I believe Matt was the overall winner! (Some might contest that statement.) It was a great day!

Christmas in Encinitas 2019

Saturday morning Rebecca and I took the dogs to the dog park. They really have fun running around with the other dogs. Then we came back and worked on our Christmas llamas. The video games were a tough competition so I felt like the llama production was cut short, but they still were fun.












Here are the results on the tree.

 The prime rib dinner was excellent. Best prime rib we have had in a long time and the cherry chiffon cake was pretty good, although I know I can do better. All-in-all a great Christmas!