We’ve been in San Diego over a week now and have really enjoyed seeing all the friends that we’ve made over the years. We are parked in the Palisades Presbyterian Church parking lot in our old space with most of the comforts of home. (Take a look at Google Earth and check the satellite picture of 6301 Birchwood St. You’ll see the motor home in the southeast corner of the church parking lot.)

We arrived at the Palmdale Elks Lodge after a 330-mile day. We were both tired and hoping the Lodge would have a typically great evening meal. Our surprise was that the scheduled meal was pizza - purchased from Costco and baked in the kitchen at the Lodge. Well, we passed on that and I brought out the BBQ for a couple of small steaks. We enjoyed the quiet surroundings of the Lodge and retired early.

On Saturday morning we were up and ready to head out to San Diego. On the way out of town we visited the Super Wal-Mart, probably the last one for a while. We drove down the hill into Riverside and were amazed at all the road construction - even on a Saturday! The traffic was typically Los Angeles frenzied with all the cars seeming to be in a great hurry. We drove down through Murrieta and Temecula and were shocked by all the home construction. When we got to Escondido, the freeway was eight lanes of traffic moving at least 70 mph. I just stayed in the right lanes and let the speeders pass us by. Even on Saturday the traffic was horrendous! If there were one reason I don’t like to come back to Southern California, it would be the traffic.

I had checked a web page that shows the best fuel prices in San Diego and saw a station in El Cajon that was selling diesel for $3.03/gallon! I decided to divert our route to top off the tank. We went to El Cajon and filled up before heading for the church. When we arrived I was able to dump the holding tanks and then get parked. We have had a wonderful time getting back in the groove with all the activities here. We’re attending two Bible study classes and just being available for anything that needs to be done. I’ve already made a few small repairs and have a list that continues to grow.

We had the opportunity to baby-sit our grandson yesterday for almost nine hours. He’s a typical three-year-old and challenges his parents with his bargaining tactics. That dog ain’t gonna hunt with Granddad!! He was a well-behaved boy and we had a great time with him on Saturday afternoon. When his folks arrived to get him last night, our son was dressed in a Halloween costume as Shrek. I’ve never seen such an accurate depiction as we saw last night. Dottie and I have chuckled over it a lot today.

I have been searching on the internet for RV lots in Yuma and we have both decided that we need to get serious about it. Prices have dropped a bit and this may be the ideal time to purchase a spot for future landings. We don’t know when we’ll get the chance to go over there for a few days, but we need to sit down and talk with a realtor to get a feel for what is available in an affordable price range.

Weather in San Diego has been as warm as it was in Rapid City this past summer. We haven’t needed an air conditioner, but the fans have been working overtime. At night things cool off wonderfully so the sleeping has been fantastic. Both of us have noticed the increased humidity compared to what we’re used to, but it hasn’t been uncomfortable.

Barring any major change in our plans, we’ll be staying in San Diego until after the first of the year. We plan to go to Indio for the FMCA Western Area Rally, then on to Quartzsite for two weeks. We’ll return to San Diego for about a week before we depart for Moultrie, GA and a Monaco Pre-Rally where we need to arrive by March 2nd.