Saying goodbye to Santee Lakes, hello to Carlsbad State Beach

WELCOME to two new followers: 

Alan and Connie, their blog ends March '08 after traveling over six months and putting 5,076 miles on their motor home in the US and Mexico.  Thanks for following along with me and Katie - are you still RVing?

Bob, who writes The Caretaker Chronicles, lives in Vienna and has a very entertaining blog.  Check it out.  Bob, we appreciate your following us as we begin what I hope will be a long time on the road.

Thursday evening I started getting everything ready in The Palms for traveling.  It was easier than I thought it would be, since I have what I want out on counters, etc. I guess I don't have as many counters as some of you, especially the fiver owners. I thought it would take longer.  Anyway, I also dumped tanks, added fresh water since I'll be dry camping for over a week, and stowed the water hose. My neighbor, Mary, offered to help, and I told her I needed a supervisor, but wanted to do it myself because from now on, I'll have to know what/how to do it.  

 

 More photos of Katie and her friends, Buddy and Buster.

When I started, I figured she was "overseeing" from inside her rig, and as I stood there thinking how to undo the water hose without getting all wet, she came out and suggested I turn off the spigot, then go into The Palms and turn on a tap, that way I would use all the water in the hose and not get sprayed.  See?  That's the kind of info we newbies need. : )

 Katie and Buddy

She talked me through removing the waste hose and how to clean it out with my fresh water hose, then I stored it in the bumper "hose container" area.

Put the water hose away, lowered all the air vents on top and lowered the TV antenna.   We were almost ready to go in the morning.  I kept the electric connected so I could have coffee to take with me, and Katie and I went to bed.  I had my checklist with a couple of things still to do before driving away.

 Checking out the lake before swooping on for dinner.

 Another kind of birds flying overhead.

 

Sun is just starting to go down on our last evening in Santee Lakes.

 

I love the way this guy looked.

 White egret?

 
First thing Friday, I heated coffee, unplugged the electric cord and stowed it, removed the leveler blocks and stowed them, checked the roof from outside to make sure everything was done.  Lucky I did that, because the TV antenna was still up partway - that happened before and I drove with it up, seeing it after I was parked again.  I climbed up on the roof and saw that the antenna wasn't fitting into the slot properly to go all the way down, so I manually moved it and came inside and finished turning the handle to bring it all the way down. I'll have to make sure I check that from now on.  

Mary came outside then to make sure I got backed out okay, and at 6 am I was on my way to the beach.  We got there around 6:30, the same beach in Carlsbad that we stayed at before, and Katie and I got settled for the day. It was a foggy morning, and then a beautiful day and gorgeous sunset.  Really nice.  

 Encina Power Station across the street from the beach.

 Lots of people enjoying the beach on a Friday.

 Beach, sea wall, sidewalk, parking and street.

I was asked how I park at the beach.  This is a photo above - The Palms is right at the top of the line of parked cars.  There's a concrete sea wall between the beach and the sidewalk, then a wide area for parking, large enough for RV's, then the street.  You can park here from 5 am until 11 pm, so that's pretty much what I did when I was here.  From early until after dark.  

 Another of the same.

 There were a couple of these on the beach. 
To the left for surfers, to the right for swimmers.

And here are my last sunset photos from Carlsbad State Beach (Tamarak Beach):

It was calm, and warm, and beautiful. People were still on the beach, lots still walking arm in arm down the sidewalk, walking their dogs, just sitting on the wall or benches watching the sunset.  Very peaceful.

Around 9 pm we drove back to Lake San Marcos and stealth camped in the same parking lot as before.  

This morning Katie and I met my next door neighbor from the condo, Julie, for a last brunch at our local cafe, LeeAnn's.  (That's the parking lot we were in.)  So... since I was actually having breakfast there, we slept in until 9 and were ready and waiting at an outside table when Julie drove up.  We had a really nice brunch and catch-up conversation.  I'm glad I got a chance to see Julie once more before we take off again.  She was a great neighbor and I will miss her.

There is a truck stop gas station here in town with the cheapest gas around, so when I post this, Katie and I are going there to fill the tank, then I'll drive to Tom and Trish's house for a final day with my son's family, and an overnight in The Palms with Kennedy and Gavin. Graydin is too young to have a sleepover, so he'll have to stay in his own bed tonight.  Luckily he's also too young to know what's going on, so he won't feel left out.

Tom's going to bar-b-que Costco filets and shrimp for dinner.  He is a great bar-b-quer and they put on such a nice spread - it's always a treat!

After breakfast tomorrow morning, we'll be on the road again, we have about a 9 or 10 hour drive to my daughter's house in Vacaville, so we'll stop somewhere about half way to rest and sleep, and complete our drive on Monday, July 4th.

From Me and My Dog, have a wonderful weekend, everyone!  : )