Seaport Village - 20 Years Later

The folks visited Seaport Village 20 years ago and Mom wanted to go back.  It was a place that she fell in love with back then. 

Seaport Village is in San Diego and is built on the water.  It consists of shops and restaurants. The shops all have a theme such as kites, wind chimes, candles, eye wear, shirts, etc.  The first time the folks visited, Mom had never seen anything like it and thought it was so much fun.

The wind chime shop.

Dad said they stayed at the Marriott last time.

The duck pond.

A lantana plant.  Mom loves lantanas. 

The folks ate at a seafood restaurant while there.

This was their view.

Inside the restaurant.  Almost every table has a water view.

Fried pickles

 Mom had fish and chips.  Dad had a seafood platter. They said it was good.  No leftovers for me.

This guy thought he might get some food, but there is glass between him and the folks. He was outside their window for most of their stay.

Mom enjoyed visiting Seaport Village again.  She said it didn't have the same magic as it did 20 years ago.  She didn't expect it would.  She still enjoyed it though.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Happy That The Sun Is Shining Again

El Nino Has Arrived

The first thing Mom said when she found out we were coming to the San Diego area was El Nino.  She had heard that this area was going to be hit hard. They showed videos of past flooding on the news which made Mom nervous.  Well, our first taste of El Nino arrived on Monday.  Monday was just a few showers but people were flipping out.  Tuesday, we had heavy rain.  It rained most of the day.  Wednesday, we had some heavy rain but it was not as bad as Tuesday.  However, on Wednesday we had thunder.  Thunder is not common here.  Then, we had a tornado warning issued.  At first, we didn't think it was for us, but they repeated it and it was for us.  Mom opened up the windows so she could hear if the sirens were going off. They weren't.  The skies were white.  Mom has never seen white skies when a tornado warning has been issued.  She decided it wasn't real.  They came on the news again and said it was heading straight for us and that it would just pop out of the clouds.  They also said that San Diego County does not have tornado sirens.  The radar did show a large red blob headed towards us which usually means very heavy rain.  Mom decided that maybe we should take shelter in the bath house since it is a brick building.  She packed up a blanket for me and a towel to dry me off since we would be walking in the rain and put those in a trash bag.  We headed to the bath house.  No one else was there.  We felt kind of silly and probably looked homeless.  She checked her phone and the warning had been cancelled.  BOL!  Mom realized she didn't take her purse with us so that could have been a problem if a tornado had taken our RV away.  She needs to be better prepared for the next time.  After we got home, we received a text from Dad asking if we were doing okay.  He later told us that there was hysteria at his work over the tornado warning. He asked if a tornado had been spotted or if it was radar indicted.  No one knew what that meant. Thank goodness it turned out to be nothing.

Mom's main concern here has been flash flooding and mudslides. The news people have been very upset about the weather and Mom has learned it it best not to watch much.  After Tuesday's rain, she decided we were going to be fine.  She talked to a worker here today and he said that they usually loose a tree after heavy rain, but that is about it.  We have been watching the lake levels and they look about the same even though the water comes from the mountain. That is what our brochure says.  There has been a little bit of mud and debris on the streets, but they have been cleaning it up quickly. 

Our satellite has been going out a lot with the rain, but Mom hooked up the cable so we haven't had a loss in programming.  We can't miss our programming.  If anyone watches Days of Our Lives you know why.  BOL!

Do you want to see some photos from our park?  Sure you do!  BOL!

A little bit of mud came down.  Mom pictured the whole thing coming down.

We like the big rocks here.

Water coming into the lake.  It was faster last night.

One of the three lakes.  Mom likes watching the ducks.

Our street. See the hills in the background.  We are surrounded by hills.

These RVs are below us.

Another view of our street.  You can see on the left how the RVs are down a level.

 

We wondered if they would have mud in their sites.  They didn't.

Our wet site. The backside of us is a street.

This is the dog park.  It is huge.

Dog park.

However, the dog park is full of holes. There were some really large ones, but they filled most of them in on Monday.  This is a small one.  We saw a Jack Russell fall in a hole.  I haven't been able to run due to the holes.

 

Do you see the RVs near the top of the photo?  They are at the highest point We haven't walked up there yet.

This sign hangs on the restroom door.  It just appeared one day.  Makes you wonder. 

Rainy days are good for sleeping

...and watching TV.

We have three more days of predicted rain and then a break for a day or two and then more rain.  We think the worst is over for now.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Not Fond Of This El Nino Guy

Our Year In Review - 2015

Our year started out at the Escapees Park - Rainbow Plantation in Summerdale, AL.  Dad was in Baltimore working.  Mom, Scout and I were nice and warm in Alabama.  Scout and I loved the park.  It had sand, lots of walking areas and a huge dog park.

Mom enjoyed visiting Gulf Shores.

I enjoyed digging holes.  Shhhhh

Scout and I napped outside a lot.

Mom enjoyed the food. Danny's Fried Chicken was a favorite. They have a great buffet.  She also liked Fish River Grill where she took Grandma, Grandpa and Dad.

Swamp Soup is good!

Gator Bites are delicious!

February brought Dad home to us.  We traveled to Livingston, TX for a few days.

We had planned on attending two RV rallies in AZ, but our plans changed.  Dad needed to get a new drivers license because we planned on buying a new rig.  That turned into a big ordeal.  We ended up driving to Austin, TX so that he could take the test. While we were in Austin, the folks toured the Lyndon Johnson Library and also his ranch.  They really enjoyed his ranch.

We then drove to the Dallas area to purchase our rig.  The weather and delays at the dealership caused us to miss both rallies.  However, March found us in a brand new rig!

Our next destination was near Los Angeles.  We were only there three weeks and had to move three times.  We hated it there because of the traffic.  Dad's commute was anywhere between two and half to four and a half hours.  The folks did tour the Nixon Library.

The highlight of our trip was the week we stayed near Disneyland because we were able to see the nightly fireworks from our campsite.

 April found us in Golden, CO.  We were shocked at the high price of the campground but later in the year, that price was not so bad.  Our rate was $1,600 a month.  We ended up loving that location though because Dad's work was just three miles away and it was located near shopping and restaurants.  It was also near the emergency vet that Scout had to see.  It was there that it was determined that she had cancer.

Scout was thrilled to have grass again. She hated driving through NM and AZ where there was no grass.

Bunnies were everywhere in this park.

This tiny house appeared on HGTV.

Our site.

Scout had a day out with the folks at Red Rocks while I stayed behind.

 

At the very end of June, we were on our way to Baltimore.  We were able to stop off in Missouri and visit friends and family.  Mom was thrilled that Scout was still with us.  The swelling was actually almost all gone from her head and she felt really good for her trip home.

July found us in Baltimore.  Our campground was very boring.  We didn't make a single friend there.

We did have a nice view.

Scout died about two weeks after we arrived here.  This is also where I was when I had to have surgery because I got that bad cut under my tongue.  Needless to say, Mom was glad to leave here.

We did have some fun times though.  The folks really enjoyed Lancaster, PA.  They went there three times, I think. They also liked Gettysburg and I even went there once.

October found us heading towards San Francisco.  We were able to stop off in Missouri for two nights.  We visited with Grandma and Grandpa.  Our next stop was two nights in New Mexico and then on to San Francisco.

We stayed at a KOA in Watsonville, CA for two weeks which is near San Cruz.   The folks visited the Boardwalk which they enjoyed.

Me just enjoying life.

We then moved on to the greatest campground ever!  Yep, it is where my Monique works.  I loved staying at the Alameda County Fairgrounds because I had lots of friends there and Monique made sure I got treats every day!  This was the most expensive park.  It was $2,000 a month.  Yikes!  The campgrounds in that area are just expensive.  We also put a new transmission in our Jeep while we were there.  $$$$$

Our $2,000 a month site. 

Giving Mom the stink-eye because she told me I need to move away from the office door.  The treat door as I called it.

 The folks visited San Francisco three times. They visited the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Chinatown.

Alcatraz

Ah, I slipped this one in of myself.

They also toured the Jelly Belly factory.

Winchester Mystery House was a favorite of Mom's.

Mom did not enjoy the trolley ride. It was uncomfortable.

 We left San Francisco and headed south.  We stopped off for a few days and the folks toured the Ronald Reagan Library.

We are ending our year the same way we started it, near a beach!

Christmas Day 2015

We hope you enjoyed our year in review.  It is not as detailed as it should have been, but Mom had a hard time helping me with it.  It brought up a lot of emotions regarding Scout and we just wanted to get it done.  It has been a sad year.  We lost a few friends and relatives and several four-legged friends have made their way to the bridge this year.  We hope that 2016 is a happier year for everyone.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Knows 2016 Will Be A Good Year