Nothing

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Nothing to blog about today.  We just took it easy and hung out around the park here.  No plans for tomorrow, but we’ll see what happens.
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Rainy Day

Posted on February 7, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Rain!  Something we haven’t seen much of in a while.  It didn’t last long and didn’t amount to much but we stayed in and spent most of the day inside reading, cooking (and eating), watching TV, and some computer time.
After the rain Bernie went out to clean the motor home.
That’s it.
Bernie Cleaning the RV
Surrounded by ducks after the wash

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Oranges

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We’re still in Riverside, and plan to stick around until Friday.  This morning we went to find the Parent Navel Orange Tree.  Every navel orange grown in California is a descendant of this tree.  We found it on the corner of a busy intersection in Riverside.  The plaque thanks Mrs. Eliza Tibbets of Riverside for obtaining two young Washington navel orange trees, native to Brazil, in 1873, one of which is on this corner.
Parent Navel Orange Tree
At the entrance to the California Citrus State Historic Park is a replica of an old-fashioned roadside fruit stand.

Unfortunately for us the visitor center, museum & gift shop there were closed.  We parked and walked around a little anyway.  There is paved trail that shows off all the different varieties of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, etc.
Kumquat
Fingered Citron Buddha’s Hand
Farm Equipment

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Super Bowl Sunday

Posted on February 5, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We went to San Bernardino today to check out the casino there and see if they had free RV parking for us and to spend the $20 in slot play coupons we got from the California Visitor Center.  We didn’t think they were very RV friendly like other casino’s have been so we won’t be moving there.  We did go into the casino and played slot machines for about 20 minutes, then left with $30 more than we went in with and two    free hats, so that was good.
Before we left town we went to the downtown area just for kicks.  It’s Sunday, and hardly anyone was around.  We found the Cruisin’ Hall of Fame wall in a parking lot by City Hall.  It was painted with a long map of Route 66.  Every year since 1995, plaques have been added to honor those who “have made a major difference to the uniquely American automotive cruising era.”
Cruisin’ Hall of Fame
 Across the street from that was what used to be the local mall.   Now it’s a ghost mall.  It was nearly 100 percent empty, and only a security guard walking around alone.  The few stores that were left were going out of business.  We learned the downtown mall has failed for various reasons and a new plan is in place for something else to be built there some day.

Carousel Mall
Then back to the RV to watch the Super Bowl on TV.
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Mission Inn

Posted on February 4, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We learned that there is a California Welcome Center in San Bernardino which is only 10 miles north of where we are here in Riverside, so that’s where we went this morning.  We left with a bag full of brochures and maps and posters and a free pen and $20 in slot play coupons for a local casino.
Not far from the welcome center, in downtown San Bernardino, on old Route 66, is the very first ever McDonald’s Restaurant.  It was closed when we got there so I could only take a picture through the fence.
Original McDonald’s
Next was a visit to the old railroad station / museum.  Beautifully restored inside and the museum was interesting, but did not have a yard full of all the train cars and trolley cars like the other train museum we had just seen a few days ago.  This is still a functioning train station and it’s where you can get on Amtrack as well as the Metrolink into Los Angeles.
Old Santa Fe Train Depot in San Bernardino
Back to Riverside.  We went to the downtown area for some exploring.  One of the first things we saw was a Chinese Memorial Pavilion.  This was “dedicated to the spirit and courage of the Chinese pioneers who came to Riverside.  The culture and heritage contributed by them exemplifies the diversity that is an integral part of the magnificence of this land.”
Chinese Memorial Pavilion
 One block over is the National Historic Landmark Mission Inn.  We went in to see as much as we were allowed to see without being a registered guest or paying $12 each for an actual tour.  It’s beautiful!  Never was an actual “mission”, just looks like one.   
“Frank A. Miller (1857-1935) made adobe bricks for a small 12 room guest house which he opened in 1876.  Over the years by successive building additions he fulfilled his dream by recreating this early California mission style setting of a hotel.”
It covers a full city block with gardens, towers, a Baroque alter, gargoyles from Aztec ruins, Tiffany windows, and a large golden Buddha. It’s now a fancy schmancy hotel & spa and has several very nice restaurants.

Mission Inn
Several president’s have stayed here.  President Nixon was married in this hotel in 1940.  And there is a giant chair made for 350-pound President Taft when he visited in 1909.
Chair built for President Taft in 1909
In a small shop on one side of the Mission Inn is Casey’s Cupcakes, owned by the daughter of the current owners of the Mission Inn.  There was a big banner over the doorway indicating that Casey’s was a Cupcake Wars winner in 2011.  We went inside to check it out.  While the cupcakes looked beautiful and I’m sure they were delicious, they are $3.50 each or a 6-pack for $18.  I guess we’re the tightwads today since we didn’t want to pay.  
Cupcake Wars Winner
However, I did pay $4 for a box of Girl Scout cookies when I saw the little girl with her parents selling from a curbside table.  hmm

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Riverside, CA

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We moved today to Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside, California.  It does belong to the Passport America network, but that discount is not valid over the weekend.  There are two campgrounds within the park.  We chose the cheaper one for $25 a night for now, but it has a few drawbacks….no Wi-Fi and very poor TV reception.  We may move to the prime area on Sunday where we can get TV cable and Wi-Fi, but this will do for now.
Rancho Jurupa Park (Lakeview Campground)
After we got settled and ate lunch we decided we would head to the Trader Joe’s in town.  On the way there we noticed a very interesting restaurant, Tio’s Tacos.  It has a rather interesting landscape and yard art.  There is a chapel made out of beer bottles, a garden with fountains and water, some rather interesting statues and homemade art.  We may have to return another time to actually eat there. Here are some of the pictures:

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White Castle

Posted on February 2, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
What started as a foggy morning turned into another beautiful day.  There is a big unusual looking white house high upon a hill overlooking the town and the lake.  We were curious about it so we drove up narrow windy Sunnyslope Avenue to have a look.  It was hard to get a good pic of it without a helicopter!
We found out that it is one of the region’s most famous and mysterious homes.  The Arabian-style house was built in 1929 by Aimee Semple McPherson, a celebrity Pentecostal evangelist, as a retreat.  It does resemble a mosque, but it’s not one.  There has been a lot of mystery and intrigue surrounding the home since it was built, and urban legends have been told for years.  It was finally opened up for a tour one day in 2007, but not now.
Aimee’s Castle
That was the highlight of the day for us, so it was back to the RV to chill out and watch The Doctors and Dr. Oz on TV.
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Easy Day

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Marsha Brecht

I don’t cook steel cut oats for breakfast very often while we are RVing because they take so long to cook. But today we had no plans and didn’t need to use our own propane since we have electricity here so that’s what I did. Topped with blueberries and cinnamon it made for a nicer breakfast than just a bowl of Cheerios.

Then we decided to drive to town for supplies and stopped at a nice Mexican restaurant for lunch. When we got back we walked around the RV park and sat by the lake like we did before.

Now I am sitting by the pool waiting for our clothes to wash in the laundry here. $1.25 to wash and $1.25 to dry each load.

While I am waiting I am blogging this on my iPhone. So far so good, I’m just not so sure about how adding the photos will work this way.

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Temecula

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
To the south of us is the town of Temecula, we decided to go visit it today.  Temecula Valley is Southern California’s wine country.  But we did not visit any wineries.  There are just too many and we’ve seen wineries before.  They do have a very nice Old Town that we chose to see instead.

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center which is located in the civic center just a block off Old Town.  We enjoyed the fountain out front which is designed after the local Indians’ grass woven basket.

Civic Center / Visitor Center
Inside the visitor center in the less-than-one-year-old building is a lit glass ceiling picture from the hot-air balloon festival they have here in the summer. 
Ceiling pic in Visitor Center

 Beautiful Old Town has lots of nice restaurants, antique shops, and specialty shops and we had fun looking in them.  Our favorites were The Old Town Rootbeer Company, Old Town Spice Merchant, Old Town Sweet Shop, Old Town Olive Oil Company, and more! (yes, I know, it’s all food!)  We had lunch at the Swing Inn Cafe.  Bernie particularly liked this rocking chair made from a wine barrel.  Too bad it was over $500, or we might have bought it.

Wine Barrel Rocker

Old Town Temecula, California

We have decided to stay in our present RV location until Friday.

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Orange Empire Railway Museum

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We walked around the RV park this morning.  It’s on a small lake, and this is the view.
Lake Park RV Resort
Lawn Mowing in January, cool.
We went exploring today to see what is in the area.  We found these apple boulders someone had painted along the side of the road.
Apple Rocks
We found a train museum called the Orange Empire Railway Museum.  We didn’t really expect much when we drove up to it as the parking lot was empty except for two other cars.  There were two ladies in the gift shop and one man out in the yard.  Free admission, so we went in anyway.
What a pleasant surprise.  This place is on 90+ acres and really was interesting.  The man in the yard gave us and another couple a personalized tour of the place.  Turns out this is the largest railway museum in the western United States.  
The museum houses I think at least 30 old trolley cars in various stages of restoration, as well has several train engines and train cars of all types.  The tour was very informative and we were glad we stopped.  They do have some big events throughout the year, one of which is a Thomas the Train Engine event which is a really big deal with the little kids.  And on weekends they start up a few of the engines and you can ride, but not today (Monday).
For more information they have an extensive website [click here] that gives information about their inventory.

Old Old Steam Shovel
One of the buildings housing trolley cars
Pullman Sleeper Car Inside
Executive Car
Narrow Gauge Steam Engine
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Lake Elsinore, CA

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
One more walk along the beach this morning before deciding what to do and where to go today.  While we do like it right where we are it is a little more expensive than we want to pay as well as no hookups.  
The Surfers are Out There
 My project for this morning was to put the State Stickers on the RV.  I finally decided the best location would be just under the passenger side window. I’ll add a sticker for every state we visit with the RV.
State Stickers
 The fence behind us has apparently been here a long time.  The trees and shrubs have grown into it.  Looks like this one was trimmed away.  Mildly amusing.

We finally decided to leave, and found a Passport America member park about an hour north of us.  We can stay here for $15 per night with all the hookups we need, as well as Cable TV and free Wi-Fi.  The view isn’t so great, but for the price it will do for now.  We can stay here for 5 nights at this price, but so far we only committed to two nights.
Lake Park RV Resort
Lake Elsinore, California
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San Juan Capistrano

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We drove about 30 minutes up the coast this morning.  The beach goes on and on.  I swear everyone is out this Saturday morning, walking, jogging, biking, and surfing, or playing beach volleyball, except us.  Well we were leisurely walking, does that count?  The surf was up, and I think we saw about 100 people out trying to catch that wave.
 We went to visit San Juan Capistrano Mission.  It was a very interesting place and I’m glad we went there.  Here are some pictures:

This was so beautiful, all shiny gold, the photo does not do it justice.

Seriously??  A Plaque?

“To commemorate the visit
of the
President of the United States
Mr. Richard M. Nixon
and
Mrs. Richard M. Nixon
To the old mission of San Juan Capistrano
March 22, 1969
When they rang this bell of San Rafael
Cast in 1804″

The original mission was destroyed in an earthquake around 1812
The Mission is perhaps best known for the annual “Return of the Swallows” which is traditionally observed every March 19 (Saint Joseph’s Day).  In the last 20 years the swallows have found other places to nest as the town around the Mission has grown, development of the area, and fewer insects to eat, so they are not seen in the great numbers like they used to be.
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South Carlsbad State Beach

Posted on January 27, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Our discount period has ended at Mission Bay RV Park in San Diego, so we decided to move on up the shore.  San Diego is awesome, I’m looking forward to being there again.
We didn’t go far, maybe only 25 miles north, along the shore.  We’re at South Carlsbad State Beach.  It’s along a bluff overlooking the ocean.  
Carlsbad State Beach Campground
 Close to our campsite are the steps going down the bluff to the beach.  We went down for a walk.  There were about 20 people out surfing today.
Down To The Beach
 This beach has been described as “cobble beach” because the sand periodically buries the natural seawall of cobblestones for long periods of time.  It was covered with the stones today.  I thought it was cool how when the waves rolled in it would roll the rocks around and they would knock in to each other and make a lot of noise, like tipping a giant box of rocks.
Rocks
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Balboa Park and La Jolla

Posted on January 26, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
 What a beautiful day!  We went to Balboa park in San Diego.  This is a fantastic park!  There is so much to see and do, I can’t get it all in this blog.  This was the site of the 1915 California-Panama Exposition to celebrate that San Diego was the first U.S. port of call for ships traveling north after passing west through the Panama Canal.  That’s when they built a lot of the buildings here, and the architecture is amazing.  There are several museums, theaters, restaurants, and shops here, and it’s also home to the San Diego Zoo.  The museums are not free, and we didn’t want to spend the money, but they would have been fantastic to see.  Maybe another time.
Add caption
There was one free exhibit that got our attention.  This 1990 Beetle was decorated with 2,277,000 beads, completed in 2010, and is beginning an international tour, so watch for it.  

Incredible
Museum of Art
There are several walking paths thru various gardens.  We spent some time walking around the cactus garden as well as a rose garden and a palm tree garden.  There was a Japanese Friendship Garden, but they wanted $4 to walk it, so we passed.
Cactus Garden

Balboa Park
We spent some time inside the Botanical Building too.
Lilly Pond and Botanical Building
Every Sunday 2:00 there is a free Organ Concert.  Hmm, we may miss it.  I believe they said it was the largest outdoor organ in the world.
Outdoor Organ Pavilion
After the park we went for a drive up the coast to see what we could see.  Beautiful!  Oh, I wish I lived here.  San Diego is beautiful, but I think La Jolla (La HOYa) has a more fantastic shoreline.
West Coast View

There are at least 10 people sitting out in the water here
on their surf boards waiting for the perfect wave.
I may have to get a better camera.
There are a lot of birds on the larger rocks, and on the smaller rocks, closer up, are about 20 sea lions.  They were barking like dogs and making quite a ruckus.  And on another spot not far from there was a flock of giant gray pelicans.
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Zoo and Beach

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We went to the San Diego Zoo today.  What a nice zoo.  It didn’t really seem any bigger than the Minnesota Zoo but it crammed more to see and do in that space.  It is almost 100 years old.
Gorilla
hahaha, don’t get too close to the lions.
Panda
We saw this small film crew making a movie.  Bernie asked them what they were doing and they said something about Dianetics, but it didn’t make much sense to us.  The name on the truck said Golden Era Productions, which is run by the Church or Scientology.  So wasn’t a blockbuster movie in production after all.
Movie in the Making
 We found this old suspension footbridge and stopped to walk across it and take some pictures.  It goes over beautiful deep ravine.  The bridge was built in 1912, and is an historic landmark.
Not far from our RV park is a hot spot for San Diego.  Mission Beach Boardwalk, a recreational paradise.  It’s a huge beautiful sandy beach with boardwalk lined vacation homes.  The “boardwalk” has been replaced with pavement now, but it’s still a popular spot for bicycles, skateboarders, joggers, walkers, etc.  It looked like it went on for a couple of miles. Of course, it wasn’t very busy today as it was a work day and a school day and the weather was a little cool.
Mission Beach “Boardwalk”
 Gas is expensive in California!
California Gas Prices
You Just Never Know!  
Be Prepared
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Moved

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
We went for another walk on the beach this morning.  The surf is still up although it is not a windy day.  Mostly seaweed is washing up on shore, but we did find this piece of plywood that looks like it must have been part of a boat.  If only it could talk!  Where did it come from?  What happened to the boat?  Is it debris from the tsunami in Japan?  We will never know.
Boat Part
There’s a big old hotel here, the Hotel del Coronado.  We wanted to go inside and look around but when we discovered we had to pay $16 for Visitor Parking we changed our mind.  Supposedly it is haunted.  Also, Orville Redenbacher, the popcorn king, lived at the Hotel del Coronado from 1976 to 1995.  There may be a way to walk in for free, but we didn’t take the time to look for it.  Maybe later.

Hotel del Coronado
Being on the beach was nice, but we wanted to save some money.  The beach was $33/night to dry camp.  We found a nice RV park 10 north of here, not on the beach, but is only $25/night with our Passport America half price discount and we have full hookups.
Driving Across the Coronado Bridge
Mission Bay RV Resort in San Diego
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Trolley Tour

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Cloudy and gloomy this morning.  We walked on the beach for a while anyway and then decided to go explore San Diego.
The Pacific Ocean This Morning
 We have taken Old Town Trolley Tours in other cities we have been in and were happy to see that they have it here too.  Since it was a drizzly cloudy day we thought we would let them drive us around and we’d keep dry.
The trolley soon filled up to capacity.  We learned that there are two cruise ships docked here today and the (foreign) tourists are using the trolleys.  I think we were the only English speakers there!  Everyone else spoke German, Italian, or French.  They obviously didn’t understand the driver’s narration, didn’t answer any of his questions, and did not laugh at any of the jokes, but that didn’t stop them from seeing the sights.
Soon into the tour it began to rain harder.  Usually we get off to explore and hop on the next trolley to complete the tour, but not today.  We were able to complete the tour but they had stopped selling tickets due to the rain.  Visibility was poor and I did not take any pictures.
Old Town Trolley Tour
The rain had stopped when we got off the trolley (of course).  Near by is the Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, so we walked around that for a while.  The buildings have been restored and reconstructed and are now museums, shops and restaurants that capture the essence of Old Town between 1821 and 1872.  Very few people were visiting there today, most likely because of the weather.
Old Town

Old Town

Old Town
San Diego is a beautiful city!  It’s such a pleasant change from the desert scenery we have been seeing the last month.
San Diego
 The weather was the top story on the news reports today.  It doesn’t rain very often so when it does, it’s a big deal.  The trolley tour driver said that the boulevard trees in the downtown area suck up so much water that they have begun replacing them with plastic trees!  Really, you would never know unless you examine one closely, they are very good.
On our way back to the RV we decided to go visit the Old Point Loma Lighthouse high up on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean on one side and San Diego on the other.  It was built in 1854 and shut down in 1891.  Turns out the fog and low clouds often obscured the light.  A new light station was built at the bottom of the hill.
Old Point Loma Lighthouse
The San Diego Skyline is in there!  It really is!
 Bernie and I got texts on our phones welcoming us to Mexico!!!  Wha???  I certainly hope I’m not paying international rates.  I’ll have to look into this.

Welcome to Mexico??
Oh, and remember, we are in Pacific time zone now, so if my daily blog is late it’s because we’re two hours later than Minnesota time!
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San Diego, California

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Marble Just Hanging Out
The wind let up over night so we left the Walmart parking lot this morning and continued on west.  If it wasn’t for the beautiful mountain views the desert would be horrible to cross.

Desert Mountains
When we got to the mountains we saw they were very harsh.  I can’t imagine what crossing this area was like 100 years ago.  These mountains were so rocky.  In the summer it can get to 120 degrees.  There are “Radiator Water” Cement Barrels every tenth of a mile on the way up the mountain.

Radiator Water Cement Barrel

US Border Patrol Checkpoint
  Finally, we made it to the Pacific Ocean!  We are staying at Silver Strand State Beach in San Diego.  Not ON the beach, but on the paved area that is on the beach.
Pacific Ocean
  We went for a walk on the beach as the sun was going down.  There were people digging for giant clams, they let me take their picture.
People Clamming
Clams!
There are not a lot of people here, it’s the off season. 
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El Centro, CA

Posted on January 21, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Sunrise 
We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise this morning.  A rare thing here, as there are not often clouds around.  Then we went into the Casino that owns the parking lot we had been staying in the last two nights.  We had not been in there before.  It’s a small one, and smokey.  I did put $1 into a penny slot machine and lost it all. Oh well, we did get complimentary coffee and Pepsi, so wasn’t a total loss.
Then we packed up and headed west on I-8 towards San Diego.  About a mile in to California is an Agriculture Border Inspection station.  All traffic stops.  They are trying to protect their state from invasive insects.  They asked us where we were coming from and if we had any citrus fruits, which we did not.
California Border Protection Station
Shortly after that was a small Border Patrol station (sorry no pic) with a working dog sniffing the vehicles.  They only thing they asked us was how many people were in the vehicle, and waved us on.
We drove through the dunes area again, on our way west.
Imperial Sand Dunes
It was only about 6 or 7 miles and the dunes were gone.  On the other side we found more vegetable fields. They were hard at work picking here too.
California Veggie Pickers
About the time we got to the town of El Centro, about half way to San Diego, the wind picked up a lot!  It was gusting up to 50 mph and pushing us around and blowing sand messing with the visibility, so we found a Walmart here and hunkered down for the rest of the day.  This gave us an opportunity to do some shopping anyway.  
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Official Center of the World

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Marsha Brecht
Today we stood on the Official Center of the World!!  It is located just west of the Arizona/California border on Interstate 8.  Frenchman Jacques-Andre Istel somehow convinced Imperial County, California, to legally recognize a spot on his property as the official Center of the World.  Then he built a town around it, named it Felicity (after his wife) had it incorporated, held an election and was unanimously (2-0) elected Mayor.
Center of the World
You stand on the spot, make a wish, and you get a certificate stating that you stood at the Official Center of the World.
The Center of the World bronze disk is in this mirror-lined, pink granite pyramid.
“This town, dedicated to remembrance, fulfills our mission to unveil the planet’s highlights of the collective family of humanity.”
There are currently 100 granite panels, and plans for many many more, etched with history.
This is only some of the history in granite.
There is a wall of the History of the World
The History of the United States
The History of French Aviation
A US Marine Corps Korean War Memorial Wall
Princeton University Class of 1949 Wall
History of Humanity
History of California
History of Arizona
And there is a Wall For The Ages that is open to anyone who wants to have engraved on it his or her name for $200.  
This is a work in progress and we were told that next week there will be more engraving happening.   There are plans for lots more panels and walls.  Right now it did not appear to be a hot spot for tourists, but perhaps in the future.  The walls are engineered to last 4,000 years and become “the one book that survives.”
At first I thought it was a bit hokey but after being there a while it was really rather interesting.
Korean War Memorial
Princeton University Class of 1949
Museum of History in Granite
Literacy for Millennia
Only a few miles west of that are the Imperial Sand Dunes, the largest mass of sand dunes in California, approximately 45 miles long and 6 miles wide.  This is the most popular off-road destination in Southern California.   We saw several groups with RVs and 4-wheelers.  What a fun thing to do with a group!
RVs and 4-wheelers
Doesn’t that look like fun??
The area where we were is right on the Mexico border.  You can see the border fence near the horizon on this picture below.  The trucks are Border Patrol agents with cameras and electronic surveillance equipment.
Border Patrol
And then there are the remains of the old Plank Road, an Historic Landmark.  For a time, 1916 to 1926 this was the only way to get across the dunes from Phoenix to San Diego, other than going to Los Angeles first and then south to San Diego.  Can you imagine traveling this??
Plank Road

 This was at the Quartermaster’s Depot in Yuma.  Displaying the Plank Road travel. 

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