Playing in the yard...

Sometimes a cat just needs to get outside.  No, not little Isabella, she went for 2 walks today.  This time I'm talking about our grand-cat, Jake.

Jake is a robust boy... but, definitely a house cat.  Joan and I went over to the kids' place before they got home from work, so we could have a meal on the table when they got home (we are going to make someone a great little wife someday ;-) ).  Joan had marinated some huge chicken breasts and was working in their kitchen, while I fired up the grill.  Since I was going to be out in the back yard, I let Jake out with me.

Yes, I kept a close eye on him.  He wanders around with the curiosity of a kitten.  He "stalked" a bird, played under the lawn furniture, and smelled all smells.  Just like letting a grandkid do things that they can't do around their parents... and Jake and I got busted when Steph got home.

Wait 'till she finds out I'm gonna take him to the park... or maybe teach him to drive the car - like Toonces (the driving cat - old Saturday Night Live routine).   ;-)

Timing...

One of the best things about being retired is: you can generally be flexible with your schedule.  We decided to do the drive yesterday in one longer trek, instead of breaking it up into two days... we watch the weather.  Today was supposed to be a windy day in central Arizona.

They got that one right (one in a row!).  It was gusty when we first got up... didn't take long for that to grow into: blowing like stink.  It was good to be settled in rather that running down the road with a high profile vehicle.

Plus, it gave us a "bonus day" with our school teacher daughter and son-in-law.  Yep, good timing. :-)

Miss Pants...

We have a saying in our family: if you get called "Mr. Pants" or "Miss Pants", it is a sign you are wearing your Pissy Pants.  We leave off the "pissy" part in case we are in polite company.

We left San Diego this morning at 8:30.  It was a beautiful sunny day; cool, no wind.  A good day for traveling.  The destination is the Phoenix area for the next month or so, but we decided to see how things were going before making any commitment for how many miles we'd make today.

One of us apparently did not want to leave San Diego.  I'm not mentioning any names, but she was quite happy with our RV site, surrounded by a tall hedge.  She could watch the birds in that hedge.  And lay in the sun in the back picture window of the 5th wheel.  Yes, little Isabella is a great traveler, but this morning she was uncharacteristically frumpy.

She did not want to go in her carrier.  Once in the truck, she did not want to come out of the carrier.  She burrowed under the blanket in the carrier...

When we did manage to coax her out, she sat on the center console facing the back of the truck.  If you accidentally touched her, she barked.  Really, it is very rare that she is anything but sweet.

 Crossing the mountains east of San Diego, we came across the snow that had fallen... still some at the 4,000 foot level...

We stopped for fuel in Yuma, and Joan took Izzy into the 5th wheel for some lunch.  She came back in the truck with a whole new attitude.  She sat by us, rubbed up on us, and was just her sweet little self again.

We took a different route from Yuma, east on I-8 to Gila Bend, then north to the Phoenix area.  Different desert... after Yuma, there isn't much to look at.

We pulled into our site at the RV park near our daughter and son-in-law's house, same place we always stay.  We set up for a month stay, and after having her supper, little Izzy heard a bird outside the door...

She's a happy girl. :-)

From Goodtime to Maritime...

Yesterday, it was the Deering Banjo factory (Goodtime and Deering Banjos), today we were back to the waterfront and the San Diego Maritime Museum.  Three things I really enjoy: boats, RVs, and guitars.  We've been walking around the RV resort daily, so it was nice to get in some boat stuff today.

The San Diego Maritime Museum is an interesting collection of some unique water vessels, from submarines to America's Cup racers.  We started our viewing on a former US research submarine...

 

Then, on to the Medera, a pleasure yacht from the last century...

Pretty swanky - and a LOT of teak to care for.  Next in line: America, a former America's Cup racer...

The California, a former revenue ship...

That's the view from the wheel - the bow is a LONG ways off!  The city skyline, with Abracadabra (another AC boat) and a former Russian sub...

Life aboard that Russian sub was pretty nasty compared to the US research sub we were in first...

Some smaller boats, including a Pacific Class racing sailboat, an early pleasure sailboat, and others...

The star of the exhibits has to be the Star India, a sailing transport that had several purposes over the years, but was originally designed to move passengers between England and New Zealand...

That last image show one of several groups of kids that were aboard today, learning about life on the ship, and getting some hands-on experience.  Good team building exercise.  Putting them to work meant they were just running around screaming and playing with everything - I was impressed.  We heard that the Star gets about 21,000 kid visits each year.

The Maritime Museum is based around the ferry Berkeley, a passenger ferry that was used in San Francisco starting in the 1890s - beautiful...

We took a tour of San Diego Bay onboard the Pilot, a pilot boat from 1914...

The San Diego skyline from the water...

Aircraft Carrier...

A controversial sculpture (big bucks!), The Kiss...

We had lunch on the waterfront, in amongst all the touristing.  Back to the truck, we decided to go back to the resort via Coronado Island.  The Coronado Bridge offered some pretty impressive views...

We were told the island had a "small town feel" to it.  Well, one of the Naval Air Stations was letting out - nothing small town about the mass of cars on the road.  Still it was a beautiful drive down the island, along the Pacific, and back into Chula Vista.  A quick view of the Hotel Del Coronado along the way...

A stop at Fresh & Easy, where Joan stocked up on some Big Kahuna Wine, back to the RV, little Izzy got some leash time, then one last walk around the marina...

We have had a great time in San Diego - what a great city!  Heading out in the morning.

Plucking and jiving...

Another music factory tour today, this time, the Deering Banjo factory.  No, I don't have a banjo.  No particular desire for one.  Joan has an aversion to banjo music, so it surprised me that this was something she wanted to do. 

Pulling up to the Deering factory...

While I have jammed with a couple different banjo players, I don't know squat about them.  We looked around the showroom while we were waiting for the tour to start - we learned a few things while we were waiting...

... things like: some banjos have 4 strings.  Some have 5 or 6.  The only other person taking the tour has a 12 string banjo... who knew?  There are banjos with open backs and some that are solid on the back.  The nice lady who gave the tour taught us about these things before we went into the factory; Carolina was knowledgeable, friendly, and enthusiastic.

Before going into the factory, she told us that building a banjo was more "hands on" than what we saw at the Taylor factory.  Turns out that was an understatement.  On with the tour.

We saw necks being shaped and glued up.  The only CNC I saw was on the neck shaping...

Plenty of gluing...

Gluing up the wood rings that make the body...

Sanding...

The painstaking work of scraping the binding...

The stain is sprayed on the body as well as the binding, then scraped off the binding, without scratching the wood.

Inspection, then shipping and receiving...

They make around 10,000 banjos a year; about 75% of them are Goodtime Banjos, 25% Deering.  We saw banjos that were very simple, on up to gold-plated, hand-engraved custom models costing over $30,000.  Really - who knew?  Of course, that is from a guitar-player's perspective.  A guitar player who enjoys jokes like:

Q: What is the difference between a banjo and a trampoline?

A: No one cares if you jump on a banjo with your boots on.

(rimshot)

A very interesting tour.

On the way home, one of us decided that I needed something besides "old man" jeans.  That same one of us suggested we stop at Old Navy.  Now, I have actually been in an Old Navy before, when shopping for Christmas gifts for our daughter's Angel Tree kids.  I have also seen commercials on TV for Old Navy... honestly, no one in those commercials looks like me.

The first thing one of us suggested was jeans that already had worn holes in them.  I pretty much gave up that look when I was 10.  "OK, I'll play along - let's find some others to try, too."  Boot Cut, Straight Cut, and Slim Cut... at least they didn't already have holes in them.

I came out of the dressing room laughing at the first pair.  I was apparently the only one who was amused.  Really, no one over 20 should be doing the torn jeans look.  Boot Cut?  That apparently means "big flair at the bottom."  I had "elephant bell" pants... back in 1972.  I also had an afro as big as a basketball.  Yeah, I don't really have to do that again.

Straight Cut - that means the legs start out wide at the top and continue that look all the way down.  I'm sure those look good on someone; I am not that one.  Perhaps someone who has an inseam bigger than the waist size?  I could have invited someone in there with me.

Slim Cut - Not what I was expecting.  Apparently, I have misplaced my ass, because these didn't feel all that slim.

Joan suggested the Skinny Cut... I had to put a stop to the frivality at some point; this was the point. Picture Howard Wolowitz from the Big Bang Theory.  Yes, they even had them in red.  No, I didn't even give them a try.  I quit playing rock 'n roll back in the 70s, mostly because I didn't look good in tight leather pants... you have to know when to fold 'em.  My physique has changed some since that time... "Pardon me, do you have an 'Old Fart's department'?"

I'm also not into the 'baggy pants hanging below my ass' look.  Joan suggested a smaller size.  I don't feel any smaller than the last time I bought jeans... um, Bush was still President. 

On the bright side, Slim Cut is way less offensive than the "Huskies" I had to wear when I was a kid.

Nowhere near as informative as the banjo tour, but a lot more laughs.