... no one does anything about it.
We've all heard that old saying. Today might be different. No, we can't change the weather, but... when we booked our site in the RV park we're in, something we haven't seen before: a "weather guarantee." Well, not really a guarantee, but kinda like trip insurance. If it rains a certain amount or for a significant portion of a given day, you get a good portion of what you paid for the site back.
It was only $26, and the sites in this RV park "by the sea" are not inexpensive. When we booked this, the long-range weather forecast looked very nice. We decided to go for this "weather guarantee," anyway. Like trip insurance. As it closer to heading out, the weather on the southern California coast was looking more iffy. And today, rain is predicted. We may get some money back.
As of 7:30 this morning, the sun is out and it is breezy. The rain is predicted to roll in by 11:00 or so. That timing works for me: I will be able to leisurely unhook utilities while it is dry. We'll probably drive south along the coast, towards San Diego. No fixed plan. We know we have a place here to come back to whenever suits us.
This trip wasn't about any activities or particular sight-seeing - just looking to get away for Joan's birthday (her request). I'm always in for a get-away.
We don't have to pack everything up to day-trip from here - we can leave our patio mat and chairs on the site. With the van being compact inside, everything is always put away after we get up in the morning, so it is just a matter of latching the cabinets (they have a push-to-lock button) and rotating the front seats.
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We could see on radar that the rain was coming. Before the first raindrop fell on the van, the company who "guaranteed" the weather made a deposit to my PayPal account. That was easy.
Before we started getting the van ready to roll, Murphy was getting a morning nap on the dash...
I went out to put utilities away, and when I got into the van, the rain started; quite light to start. We pulled out of the park and headed south - no destination, just wanting to look around a bit. And having a water-tight conveyance to get us around is a good way to do it. There was a lot of palm tree debris in the streets - we tried to get a photo of that, but the camera wouldn't focus with the raindrops on the windshield.
As we headed south, the rain let up a bit. The next town along the beach is Carlsbad...
Lots of southern California vibe shops along this main drag. I think it would be interesting to walk some of that... when it isn't raining... and if you could find some parking that wasn't "tight." I have said that this van fits into "a regular parking space"... the parking here is smaller than that. Still, fun to take it in from our own personal tour bus. ;-) "And on your right, you will see a California dude walking with a marvel of plastic surgery."
As we rolled out of the main part of Carlsbad, the rain came back - a view of the beach, with some rain on the windshield...
Over the years, we have driven all along the coast of California. Highway 101 is a pleasant drive, but in many of the beach towns, this is what you see...
Houses and landscaping block the view of the beach and ocean from the road. As we got out of town, you could see the water again...
Vans are a popular conveyance along here - good for taking your surfboards and beach stuff. And a open stretch of road (below)...
Next up is Carlsbad Beach State Park - nice camping right along the beach; I've read you have to get a reservation a year in advance...
Next up is the town of Encinitas...
A bit more "blue collar" compared to Carlsbad, but still very So Cal. This was about as far as we planned to go south; Joan said, "How about Shakey's Pizza for lunch?"
"Don't toy with me, woman. But I didn't bring you to California to drive inland and have pizza." It is a nostalgia thing for us: we used to go to Shakey's frequently when we were dating in high school. She punched it into Apple Maps: 13 miles away. And, we're off.
As usual, Joan and Siri don't always agree on routing - Joan prefers to take us on "back roads" rather than highways. We got to see some interesting "country lanes" as we made our way east and a bit north...
Some definite "estate homes" along this stretch. And, the rain let up as we got further from the coast. 20 minutes later...
According to their slogan: they serve fun at Shakey's, also pizza. And, Mojo Potatoes (below)...
The pizza was as good as we remembered. It was a big place, with lots of tables; I think we were two of about 8 people in there. Maybe because it is a weekday? Did I mention: the pizza was mighty fine!?
I let Siri pick the route back to the RV park. Along the way, the rain came back even heavier. Rather than pull into the park, we drove north to check out the marina area. The rain...
No decent photos of the marina, thanks to the camera not being able to focus because of the rain on the windshield...
Hey, I told you. We still enjoy the marina atmosphere, even though we are officially out of "the boat biz." We drove back to the RV park, pulled into our site, turned off the engine and kicked back for an afternoon nap. No need to plug in or connect city water right away... we waited until the rain quit.
The leveling ramps we bought for the van work great - much faster to use than the traditional stacking blocks. As soon as we leveled and hooked up, the rain started again. Good timing, or good clean living. Either way, I didn't get wet. And, we're down for the evening.
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