Apr 4, 2011 - Lagoon and Beach

Date: April 4, 2011 Tonight’s Location: Escondido, CA Mileage: End - Start - Total Miles for the day: 0 Weather: sunny, warm, breeze by ocean Temperature: start 56º High 78º Wildlife count: American Wigeon, Great Egret, Hummingbird, American Phoebe, Blue-bellied Lizard, Red-Tailed Hawk, Coots, Brown Pelicans, Western Gulls, Marbled Godwit, Dunlins, Long-billed Curlew. Since it was Monday morning, it seemed fitting to do our laundry and clean the house – a quick chore in the park. Tom and Val picked us up after lunch and we drove to the...

Apr 3, 2011 - California Sunday

Date: April 3, 2011 Tonight’s Location: Escondido, CA Mileage: End - Start - Total Miles for the day: 10 Weather: sunny, warm Temperature: start 53º High 68º Wildlife count: California Towhee, rabbits, hummingbird, Red-poll Finch We enjoyed a relaxing morning as we took a long walk after preparing for church. We attended the Praise service of the First United Methodist Church in Escondido. It was a delightful service, small, but spirited, and we were warmly greeted. We had been told that jeans and flip-flops would be really...

Apr 2, 2011 - Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers

Date: April 2, 2011 Tonight’s Location: Escondido, Ca Mileage: End - Start - Total Miles for the day: 0 Weather: mostly cloudy, cool Temperature: start 61º High 65º Wildlife count: rock squirrel Tom and Val (John’s brother and wife) picked us up at the RV park after breakfast. We went to Carlsbad to “Flower Fields,” the annual celebration when their Ranunculus are in bloom. There are huge fields of the flowers, along with a sweet pea maze, antique cars, and a rose garden. It was lovely! Then we went to Oceanside for fish and chips at...

Apr 1, 2011 - April Fool's HEAT - really, no fooling!

Date: April 1, 2011 Tonight’s Location: Escondido, CA Mileage: End - 75714 Start - 75304 Total Miles for the day: 410 Weather: Sunny and hot Temperature: start 56º High 108 Wildlife count: hummingbird, red-tail hawk, Great Egrets We left Apache Junction, AZ this morning about 8:30 am after delightful bagels and coffee with Jim and Gayle. Traveling west on I-10 across Arizona, we were completely in the desert. We had purchased a Mountain Directory of Steep Grades, and I checked the route that Good Sam had recommended for our travel...

Feb 2, 2011 - Wild Animal Park

The San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park has changed its name to "San Diego Zoo Safari Park". We enjoyed seeing the elephant's newest baby just born about a month ago. How cute it was. They had a tram that drove you through the wild animal fields where we saw such animals as Rinostous, Giraffes, bob cats, chimpanzee's, gorilla's and many others. We also got to see their bird show. That was the final event of the day at the park. Everyone was cold and tired so we headed back to David's and Clairetta's for the evening before retiring to our...

Jan 18, 2011 - BlueBird Rally in Quartezsite,AZ.

We went to Quartz Site in January with our newly bought Bluebird. Wasn't sure what to think of it at first, a whole lot of motorhomes parked out in the desert with no hook up or anything. We came to the Birds Nest, that is what they called the camp site with all the Bluebirds. We pulled into the the circle of it where they was all having a potluck. I got out to find out where we was to set up at and that was when we got surrounded by people telling us that we had the most famous Bluebird on the road. At the time I really didn't care I was...

Jan 10, 2011 - THE CATBIRD SEAT

Talk Dani into buying a 25 year old bus/motorhome "THE CATBIRD SEAT" 40 ft. 43,000 lbs. of Steel and Chrome - 'She a Tank" 330 hp.turbo Detroit Diesel Pusher, With All the Bell's and Whistles The next Journal will be The Portillo's Adventure's Till Then Bye!

Dec 22, 2010 - Southern California flooded roadways

Not for long however, when we reached the Mojave Desert we started to see sprinkles and it was evident that the area had recently seen heavy showers, as low areas of the road way were underwater and we had to slow appreciably for miles. Sections of the roadway in the vicinity of Victorville were eroded away which resulted in stop and go travel. When we hit I-15 leading into the long downhill into San Bernardino and Riverside areas, the rain came in downpours and darkness hit, resulting in nervous four lane freeway driving 70 mph+ almost all...

Dec 18, 2010 - Misc Stops

I know it has been a while since the last update. We have been busy with many miscellaneous activities. When we left Joshua Tree we went back to Anza Borrego. Thought maybe we could find the sheep again. We had no luck. We did meet the photographer we saw the last time. He indicated that they had gone to the other side of the mountain. We decided to treat ourselves to a night at Carlsbad State Beach. I said treat because a night her is normally $50 but as a senior we get a $2 discount. This is a huge park over two miles long. It sets on a...

Nov 9, 2010 - San Diego Wild Animal Park

We got up on Tuesday to another beautiful day. Our activity for the day is to go to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. It is only about 8 miles from where we are staying. We decided to get an annual pass. As a senior it was only $80 for both of us and includes the San Diego Zoo. The pass also included a bunch of discount coupons and several guest passes. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the park and its wild life. Sue's Brother lived in Escondido years ago. We drove by his old address and found that the house had been torn down and two lots...

Nov 7, 2010 - Escondido RV Resort

Today is a day to relax around the trailer while Matt goes to the ski resort for some rescue training. The pool here was a perfect place to read the Sunday paper. The temp was delightful. A bike ride around the campground was good exercise. You were either climbing or coasting down. The entire campground is on the side of a hill. Sue did a bit of laundry. I reorganized the back of the truck since Matt’s stuff was gone. A walk around the campground provided today’s pictures. Joined Matt for dinner and baked cookies for him to take to work....

Sep 24, 2010 - The Last Hara

Hello everyone. Martha & I have some news. No, she’s not pregnant! We have been in discussions with some old friends in San Diego for a little while and have been presented with an opportunity to phase back into aviation in San Diego, CA. We are disappointed to be leaving Fantasy RV Tours but at my age I don’t expect be given many more great opportunities to return to my profession. For those who are not familiar, I lived, and flew, out of San Diego for over 10 years in the 80’s and 90’s and we really like the area. As soon as I am at...