Camp Pendleton

We drove down to Camp Pendleton on January 3^rd for a six week stay at Del Mar Beach Resort. We decided this time to take a spot on the 2^nd row facing the Pacific Ocean, with the utility hook-ups on the correct side of the motorhome.

 

We’ve been busy the past month with a VA appointment to get my new hearing aids, new eyeglasses, routine dental appointments, and hanging out at the beach. By the way, the Oceanside VA Clinic gave me outstanding service. 

We enjoyed going out for breakfast with our friends Rob and Janet to the Beach Break Café in downtown Oceanside on the old Highway 101.

We also liked the tea at a small business called Succulent. The outdoor café décor included beautiful succulent plants.

 

Julie and I went to Solano Beach on January 18^th to the Belly up Tavern to see the band Tower of Power, from Oakland. They have been performing horn-based R&B since 1968. We enjoyed a concert at Belly up Tavern two years ago when we saw the Colorado-based band Big Head Todd & the Monsters.

We went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park with Rob and Janet on January 19^th. It was our first visit to the safari park and the wildlife there have lots of room to roam. The safari park is just east of Escondido, CA about 30 miles northeast of San Diego.

We have enjoyed dinner a couple times with my aunt and uncle, Clara and Earl, who live in nearby Vista. It was interesting to see their lemon, lime, and avocado trees as well as the garden they have in their back yard.

Last Tuesday we drove to San Diego with Rob and Janet to visit the San Diego Zoo again. It was 100 years old in 2016 and we never tire of visiting one of the best zoos in the world. I enjoy the pandas, on loan to the zoo from China, as well as the koalas from Australia. The polar bears were pretty neat to see too.

 

Steve & Julie Cornelius

Rose Parade

After I published the last blog we got a call Christmas Day evening that we were proud new grandparents of a healthy baby boy, born in Kaohsiung, Taiwan to our son Paul and his wife Ying. Our new grandson, named Connor, was born on December 26^th since they are a day ahead of us on the other side if the International Dateline. We will travel to Taiwan in late-March to visit Paul, Ying and our new grandson Connor.

 

We arrived in San Dimas, California at the East Shore RV Park, on Thursday, December 29^th, and joined our Winnebego tour group. It was a nice RV park with a great view of the San Gabriel Mountains across the valley.

Friday morning, we went by tour bus to visit Warner Brothers Studios. It was interesting to see the sets and sound studios where many famous movies were filmed and TV programs are recorded. If a TV program runs at least 10 years, the sound stage is named after it (e.g. Friends Soundstage).

 

 

Friday afternoon we went to the Rose Parade Bandfest, entertainment by a selection of the high school and college bands. It was a great show, in spite of occasional light rain showers.

 

Saturday morning was a trip to the L.A. Farmers Market, which has been in the same location since the 1930s. We enjoyed breakfast and looking through a few shops for about an hour. Next, our tour bus took us to Hollywood for a guided tour of the Dolby Theater, home of the Academy Awards. It was exciting to see the theater seats from the main stage and the backstage areas.

 

We also had time to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Hollywood sign in the distance, and Grauman’s Chinese Theater before we boarded the bus to head back to the campground. We had time for naps before New Year’s Eve dinner and early evening 2017 countdown at 7PM.

 

Sunday morning, January 1^st, we departed the campground at 6AM to go to an area near the Rose Bowl where the parade floats were being built  It was awesome to see all the work that goes into building the floral floats.

 

Around 8:30AM we left Pasadena and headed across L.A. to Long Beach to enjoy champagne brunch and a guided tour of the Queen Mary. The brunch was very, very good and we were told it has been recognized as one of the best in the country. The guided tour of the Queen Mary was very informative. We saw areas of the ship and learned of its history way more than during our February 2015 visit.

 

We got back to the campground around 3:30PM, in time to watch the Broncos-Raiders football game I had been recording.

The 128^th Rose Parade was held on Monday, January 2^nd, since it is never held on a Sunday. We got up at 3:30AM for our 5:30AM bus departure to the parade. The parade starts at 8AM and lasts just over two hours, with nearly 100 parade units of bands, floats, etc. We had reserved bleacher seating on Colorado Blvd, a block or so from where the parade is broadcast on TV.

 

I understand now why we left so early for the parade. Our bus parking spot was at the head of a line in a parking lot full of buses. After the parade, our bus departed quickly and we were back at the campground in less than an hour and avoided the huge traffic jam of nearly one million parade attendees. The Rose Parade was well worth a visit and is checked off now on our bucket list.

We left the L.A. area yesterday are now settled in on the beach at Camp Pendleton for six weeks.

Steve & Julie Cornelius