Friday & Saturday, Dec. 23,24, 2011Dec 27, 2011
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| Friday, December 23, 2011 When we got home from Sharry and Don’s last night, I fed Zack, but he only took two bites and then went straight to my bed and fell sound asleep, totally exhausted from the days activities. I knew he was hurting and had given him an aspirin earlier, and now a pain pill that I had my vet prescribe. I felt sorry for him, allowing him to sleep with me the whole night. Zoey had pulled her usual escape routine as soon as I opened the door, so was out for the night. I got up around 3 AM and quietly called her, but she wasn’t around, so went back to bed. When I climbed into bed, I patted Zack’s hindquarter and he cried out, so I know he was sore. Zoey finally awoke me around 6 AM, meowing loudly at the door, so I let her in and returned to my slumber until getting up around 8 AM. The nights at the beach have been cold (mid to high 30s) and my heater has been running, off and on, all night to keep the inside temperature at 62 degrees. Upon rising, I turned it up as 62 without the warmth of my bed covers, is colder than I like. The sun strikes the front of the motor home, so it soon warmed the entire interior to a nice cozy temperature. I got ready and headed to Sharry’s for a day of activities. We had lunch at Ruby’s, the 50s theme café, enjoying a really good cheeseburger and old fashion cherry coke. We ate on the open upper deck and the sun with a light breeze, made for a nice atmosphere for lunch. After finishing, we drove along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), to Heisler Park, which I’m told is world famous, being the most beautiful walk along the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There were plenty of other people, and dogs, doing the same as we were and the weather was perfect for it. The Red Pointer plants were in bloom and covered many of the cliffs and surrounding area, lending to the beauty of the walk, along with artistic statues of a whale and a Memorial to the Twin Towers, made from actual beams of steel taken from the wreckage. We walked almost to the end of the walkway; turning around and making our way back to town and the parking lot were we had left the car. We drove back to Sharry’s and I worked on her computer, cleaning it up for her, and then we relaxed and recuperated from our walk. Don was home earlier than expected, with the business not as busy as he had hoped for this time of the year. He owns the meat business in Central Market, which is in downtown LA, across from the Bonaventure Hotel. He caters to mostly the Hispanic community and is normally very busy just before Christmas. I stayed at their place until just after 11 PM, and then came back to the motor home for a good nights rest. Zoey pulled her usual escape and was out for the night, so I went to bed, not worrying about her, knowing she would be asking in around 6 AM in the morning. Saturday, December 24, 2011 I spent the morning making a rough plan of where I might go next, and had decided to spend a couple of weeks at Ramona Canyon Resort, which isn’t too far inland from where I am now. I called for a reservation, but discovered that they were full until January 3, so made a reservation starting then. Now, I need to find a place to go for the six days between leaving here and going there. I had learned of another State Park that is across from San Clemente, where I had stayed two years ago, so drove down to check it out. The park is San Onofre/San Mateo State Park, and is actually on Camp Pendleton Marine Base. The ranger let me do a drive through to see what the facilities were like. There were only two areas open right now, and I only counted about 8 sites that had anyone in them. The ranger told me that they usually get crowded after Christmas, but I could go online with Reserve America and see what might be available. The prices are the same as San Clemente, with full hook ups being $60.00 a day and dry camping (in other words a piece of asphalt to park on) being $35.00 a day. Other than the comfort of being in my own place and being able to fix my own meals, motels and hotels are cheaper than camping these days. Speaking of Reserve America, which California and several other states contract with to handle all of their park reservations, I fired off a complaint email about their site not mentioning the Doheny had NO hook ups and got a reply. It stated: Our website www.ReserveAmerica.com does not list any hook-ups of any type for the sites at this park. There are no hook-ups listed for site #12 and this would also be seen in your confirmation letter. Sincerely, Ginny ReserveAmerica I, of course, responded that it does have the options to choose power, water and sewer, and doesn’t say specifically that there are no hook ups. It states that the sites are “Developed sites,” with no definition of the term developed. I can’t wait to hear their response. Reserve America is a CANADIAN based business and is not subject to any of America’s laws, rules, or regulations, so I doubt that they care whether or not they comply with fair advertising requirements, and know that they aren’t subject to liability for misrepresentation. A large majority of people I’ve talked to, don’t like the idea that California has contracted outside our country to handle state business, and dislike dealing with Reserve America, but I’m sure that as long as the state gets their share of the monies, they don’t care. I never thought I’d see this responsibility being outsourced outside of the USA, but now you know. I drove back to Laguna Beach and my sister’s condo, spending some time on the computers, hers and mine. We didn’t go out to do anything, as she was preparing dishes to take to the Christmas dinner tomorrow. I came home early and went right to bed, being tired for no apparent reason, other than the stress of Christmas and trying to find a place to stay. |
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