October 10th: Art projects and enjoying the area

As I was leaving Karen and Craig's house at my last visit, Karen showed me some of her art projects. She has set up a nice little studio in her garage. I was particularly impressed with the Halloween Cards she made. If I remember correctly, the cat is a stencil and the background she created somehow. 

Happy Halloween! by Karen Rahn

The skeleton is very cool. It's a picture from a magazine that she used an acid on to change what it looked like. She said she never knows what she'll get until she uncovers the picture after letting the acid sit on it and do its thing.

As I was doing this blog I thought, "I should have asked to see the original picture." But then it occurred to me that she probably didn't have two copies. Maybe she took a picture of it? Next visit I'll find out.

I am still enjoying getting exercise by exploring the area, walking and on my bike. The San Elijo Lagoon is a very nice place to visit and I can easily ride my bike there. The park is in the process of many improvements which is nice to see. The lagoon is formed by a river that empties into the ocean close by so the tides cause the water to rise and fall twice a day changing the views.

River leading to the ocean

One of many wooden walkways

The trails are very well maintained and there are a lot of wooden walkways to protect the undergrowth.

Yucca plants, one with
a very tall blossom stalk

There are also a lot of interesting plants. This particular Yucca plant has grown an impressive flowering stalk. I'll have to return to see it in bloom.

The park has a very informative brochure which you can see here. Park brochure

When I'm not out and about I invariably end up at Matt and Wendy's. It's always fun to spend time there. Not only do I get excellent technology help, but also projects to work on while hunkered down because of the Covid19. Wendy got me hooked on making fun t-shirts after wearing the frog shirts displayed in the last blog. Here are some of our most recent shirts.

Dolphins, of course!

I decided it's easier to see the T-shirt designs if I just show the shirts. The next two are Wendy's. I love her Halloween shirt

Wendy's Halloween shirt

Wendy's Medieval Gargoyle

Steve's mushrooms and snails shirt

It's a tough call, but I think I like the snails and mushroom shirt I designed the best. There are others to display in a future blog.

Canadian trip prime rib (2015)

I was talking with Tom, Linda's brother in Arizona, and he told me had just gone to an outdoor restaurant and had a great prime rib dinner. The first in a long time. He said it reminded him of our trip to Banff Canadian National Park in 2015 when we had an excellent prime rib dinner. He even had a picture. I asked him to send it and he sent some extras. I decided since we cannot do any current trips, we could virtually enjoy this trip again. 

Linda and Tom, Banff trip 2015

It's been fun remembering how much fun we had on that trip. There are some great pictures of Banff at this site. Banff National Park 

We drove through Banff and into Jasper. We weren't certain why Jasper is a separate park, because they are right next to each other. Linda Tom and I went horseback riding through beautiful country. I remember the guide telling us, "Don't let your horse eat the brush, it gives them gas." I was behind Tom and could see the horse was winning the eating battle. After the guide told Tom twice, "Don't let your horse eat the brush," the third time he finally said, "Look. You have to let your horse know who is the boss!" Typical Tom response was, "My horse knows who the boss is, it's him!"

Steve and Linda relaxing at
 our very comfortable cabin

Tom and Steve, Jasper
Canadian National Park

There are, of course, Brown bears in both parks. There is a lot of information about how to avoid them. There is a Kicking Horse Mountain Resort that is next to a grizzly bear refuge center. We were fortunate enough to meet Boo close up. He is very large and seemed friendly enough. Of course, the electric fence kept Tom safe as he got this great picture. You can see a lot more at this site. Grizzly Bear Refuge

Boo the grizzly bear

Boo ended up at the refuge because he was orphaned as a young cub. Being raised around people, he became too familiar with people to stay out in the wild. After a couple tries at releasing him they finally brought him to the reserve as a permanent resident. You can see at the above site that he has lots of room to roam around.

Bait dock, Oceanside Harbor

Back to Encinitas. I rode my bike around Oceanside harbor. It's fun to see all the boats and there are usually sea lions hanging around at the bait dock. The bait tank is in the harbor. Fishermen come up to the docks to buy live sardines for fishing. The sea lions  know some usually escape into the water. But talk about frying pan to the fire, the sardines never have a chance. 
 

I was disappointed when I found the bait dock was closed. I assume because of the Covid19. There were some sea gulls and pelicans, but no sea lions. I rode all the way around the harbor and heard what I was looking for. On an empty boat dock there was a group of sea lions hanging out, a few barking for no visible reason! Not much movement but a few were in the water.

Seals - Oceanside Harbor 

Massive trim job by Matt

One morning Wendy and I made a T-shirt run to Michael's. When we returned, Matt had completed a major trimming of the bushes on the back hill. He was cutting up all the little branches to maximize space in the green waste bins. It was good timing. I helped and we had everything cut up in time to have the green waste truck pick it up that afternoon. The hill looks great. Great job Matt!

Steve and Matt, cleaning up

Speaking of trimming, Linda's oldest brother, Warren, takes care of the family farm. He sent some pictures of the house after he did a fantastic job trimming the shrubs. They were in serious need. The house and grounds look fantastic. I do miss being able to get together with the Drouhard group at the farm. We always enjoy those visits. Hopefully this Spring.

Drouhard family farm,
Loudonville, Ohio

Back yard, very nicely trimmed by Warren

Sunrise from my balcony

It's been interesting to watch the sun move across the horizon now that it is Autumn. Of course it is coming up a lot later now. I actually am up and can see the sunrise most mornings from my balcony. The sun is now behind a huge pine tree that makes a beautiful view. And then, almost like the moon is competing, I can see the moon as it rises at night. Very pretty. 

Moon rising seen from my balcony

I have made the decision to remain here in California thru December. I had planned to go back to Florida in November and move the boat to Banana Bay, and then fly back to spend the holidays with the kids. The more I thought about it, even though I can fly free on Southwest, two trips doesn't make sense. And especially now that Covid19 is looking worse again, staying here sounded better all around. I miss living on Yesterday's Dream and being on the water, but I love being here also.