Author: Easin' Along

Helen and I are settling in nicely at Fiddler’s Cove RV Park on Coronado Bay.  The view is remarkable, and the weather is even better. We’ve had nothing but clear skies and temperatures in the mid-’70s. Of course, we have the added benefit of no humidity in Southern California…quite a change from Eastern Tennessee.

Another benefit of camping in Coronado is that our son and his family are about two hours north of us.  We will spend much time with them in the coming weeks, but we couldn’t wait that long, so we arranged to meet for a full-day outing in Oceanside, CA, about halfway between us. 

Justin (son), Abby, and Carter drove down early on a Saturday morning.  Unfortunately, Wendy, our daughter-in-law, had to work that day and could not join us.  We met up at the Oceanside Pier, then walked to “Hello Betty” for an early lunch. It was fantastic to see the grandchildren—they have grown so much and too fast!

Lunch was fun but filling.  We decided to walk back to the pier to rid ourselves of a few calories.  A beautiful day is not something to waste, and the surfers were out in force, taking full advantage.  Fishermen were out as well, and a huge Pelican kept tormenting them.  Each time a fisherman tried to put bait on a fishhook, the big fellow would try to snatch it away.  Attempts to move him along were futile.

The day got away from us too soon, but Helen and I wanted to visit Camp Pendleton with the kids before they drove home.  The vast Marine Base is a few short miles from Oceanside, and we wanted to see the RV Park for future reference. We found the campground and hiked around it. After we finished our walk, Carter played us a few tunes on his saxophone. We hated to see them drive off.

In Coronado the next day, Helen touched base with Ann and Joe, friends from Knoxville who were in the area visiting their daughter.  Before leaving on this trip, we discovered that we would be in San Diego at the same time and agreed to get together while there. They came to the campground the next day. We chatted away in our trailer before driving into Coronado for drinks and dinner at Coronado Brewing Company, a favorite Helen and I discovered on our previous visit here. We had a delightful evening and made plans to meet the next day.

Ann and Joe’s daughter, Catherine, lives in Solana, a very scenic beach town near La Jolla. We met them at the train station, jumped in their car, and rode with them to Catherine’s lovely home atop a peak overlooking Solana with a view of the Pacific beyond. In addition to the fantastic views, Catherine’s home is a gardener’s delight, complete with fruit trees and terraced vegetable gardens.  She even has banana trees producing fruit.  We captured a picture of the family under the banana tree.

Before returning to the train station, Ann and Joe took us by the condo they rented while staying in Solana.  They rented well.  The view from above the beach was outstanding.

I couldn’t live in California…but I love visiting there.  We have another week to enjoy ourselves in Coronado before Easin’ Along to Temecula. Stay with us.

After a restful visit, Helen and I pulled out of Tucson, AZ.  We toured Saguaro National Park and slipped into Davis-Monthan Air Force Base for a much-needed couple of hours in the laundromat. We drove to our next stop at Lost Dutchman State Park in Apache Junction, AZ, east of Phoenix, with fresh minds, fresh coffee, and fresh laundry.

We camped at Lost Dutchman once before and loved the experience.  The elegant beauty of the Superstition Mountains hovers over the campground and provides a fantastic backdrop to almost every campsite. I booked the reservation several months ago and obtained the last site available at the time…I soon discovered why.  Our campsite had no electric or water hookups. We don’t roll that way.  I have sleep apnea and MUST have electricity. I carry a portable power bank for emergencies, but it only has enough stored power for about five hours. It was a long night.

The following day, we called Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, AZ, to see if a campsite was available at Saguaro Skies RV Park on the base.  We were living right.  One site was open for the next two nights, and we arrived before noon. The staff at Saguaro Skies were so helpful and welcoming, Helen and I couldn’t feel more at home.  The RV Park was clean, well-landscaped (we had a desert garden at our front door), and the pads were large. Luck was with us on this one!

During the planning stage of this trip, I reached out to a blogging friend, Ingrid (Live, Laugh, RV), to see if she and her husband, Al, would be around when we got to the Phoenix area. I knew they were in the process of moving out of their full-time RV life and into a new home, so the timing might not be good. She replied that they would be around and contact her when we reached Phoenix.

Ingrid was one of the first blogging “pen pals” I made when Easin’ Along got up and running. Whenever I researched lifestyle blogs, Live, Laugh, RV always appeared on the list. It also seemed that every blog I read included Live, Laugh, RV on their blog roll, so I began to follow her website around the time she and Al were wintering over in Texas.  I became a fan of her blog and her incredible photography. We corresponded through the comments section of her blog and eventually met when Helen and I camped at Lost Dutchman in 2019.  Ingrid and I had similar cameras, and she came to help me learn the ins and outs.  Al joined us, and we enjoyed a delightful afternoon hiking and taking pictures.

On this trip, Ingrid and Al invited us for lunch. Although they have only lived in their home for a few months, they have done a lovely job with what Ingrid described as a mess.  Her choice of colors and her decorations are beautiful. It seemed that they had lived there for much, much longer. After lunch, Helen and Ingrid went into the citrus grove in the rear of the house, where Helen filled a bag with Naval oranges, tangelos, and ripe grapefruit.  The time passed quickly, and I can’t thank them enough for sharing their day with us.  I hope I can repay the favor at some point in the future.

The next evening, we visited a local casino…Helen cashed in for $450, which doesn’t happen very often. She was kind enough to share.

Next up on the itinerary was the El Centro (CA) Naval Airfield, the winter home of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s precision flying team. We camped at El Centro in March 2019, but the Blue Angels had moved out by then, and we missed their training flights…not so on this trip. The roar of jets overhead became part of our daily life at El Centro, and I loved it.  I captured a picture of two aircraft flying near the campground one morning.  I put the camera in burst mode and barely got them. These jets are FAST!

On our second day, the winds reached gale force and remained that way for the entire day. El Centro is in the heart of the Imperial Valley. Enormous agricultural fields are in the tilling and planting stage now, and it is scorched there. A dust storm kicked up in the windy conditions, and we could barely see beyond our trailer. I have a picture of the dust in front of us and a picture of the following day.  It is an excellent example of what was around us.  I also captured sunset in El Centro.  The image is the real thing; I only made one adjustment to the contrast

From El Centro, we drove about two hours to Fiddler’s Cove RV Campground on the Navy Base in Coronado, CA. Fiddler’s Cove is an exceptional campground in the military inventory.  Our campsite is within fifty feet of the waters of Coronado Bay.  Sailboats are moored in front of us, and San Diego’s skyscrapers form the backdrop. We couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting.

Yesterday, I took a picture of the view from our trailer (above). After dark, I captured the same view with the skyline lights in the background.  This shot stretched the limits of my camera, but I’m proud of the results (f/8, 1/3.2 sec, ISO 800).

We’ll be in Coronado Bay for two weeks of relaxation and exploration and we’ll post an update next week. Thanks for Easin’ Along with us…it’s gonna be fun! Helen and Joe

When I retired from working full-time, I took a part-time position inspecting HUD-owned foreclosed homes. The work was both stress-free and fun.  I awoke each day and opened my computer to read each day’s assignments. I would then drive to the properties in Eastern Tennessee or Western North Carolina to complete the inspections.

The above summarizes the work portion of the job.  The fun began when I would travel through the small villages and towns in our region that I would never visit without this position.  Eventually, I learned many of the small diners where locals gathered, browsed the unique thrift shops and antique stores filled with someone’s discarded treasures, and met friendly people who greeted me along the way.

That describes a large part of why we RV…

Helen and I have visited countless small towns and villages as we’ve crossed our beautiful country from Key West to Seattle, Northern Maine to San Diego, sampling diners, drive-ins, dives, local shops, and unusual attractions. A recent example is our drive from New Orleans, LA, to Tucson, AZ, earlier this week.

We spent nights in Beaumont, Van Horn, and Fort Stockton, Texas, on this leg of the trip. Each town had its assortment of small diners and coffee shops offering barbeque varieties, Mexican specialties, waffles, and biscuits. There were thrift shops, the local mechanic, T-shirt stands, even a Dollar General.  Fort Stockton featured a large Road Runner Statue and mock-ups of cowboys on the plain. Each town had a style and charm of its own.  You don’t get this fun sitting in an airplane.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, came next—more significant than the others, but small. We checked into a well-run KOA campground and issued a prime campsite overlooking the town of Las Cruces. The picture below is our view of the city and the mountains.  I also captured a night shot in the same direction.  We were fortunate that our view was completely unobstructed

The following day, we ventured into Mesilla, a historic village and once the territorial capital of the region. Helen and I parked near the town square and walked through the shops and the square itself.  Mesilla reminded me of a miniature Santa Fe with its Hispanic touch and without people around.  On one corner was the building where Billy the Kid was tried and sentenced to hang for his crimes.  It’s now a gift shop and tourist attraction (of course).  Las Cruces was our last stop in a small town.  The next day we left for Tucson.

On the recommendation of our friend Pete, a former Knoxvillian and resident of Tucson, we drove to Saguaro National Park on the outskirts of Tucson. After a short drive from Voyager RV Resort, we left the residential and business district and entered the Sonoran Desert.  The scenery was stunning. Giant Saguaro Cacti filled the expanse of land in front of us several miles before we reached the park entrance.  We stopped at the Visitor Center for recommendations on short hikes.

The friendly and very helpful Park volunteers suggested we take the Desert Discovery Trail first.  The hike followed a loop through the desert marked by informational signs about the Saguaro Cactus, the wildlife found in the area, and the vegetation that thrived through long periods without water.  The experience was delightful.

Next, we drove to the Signal Hill Trail, an area inhabited between 450 and 1450 A.D. We hiked from the parking area to the top of Signal Hill to see the petroglyphs, ancient rock drawings, and designs left by people of the Hohokam culture. The hike covered about a half-mile up Signal Hill.  Helen debated doing the climb because she had a touch of bursitis in her hip. This condition was also complicated by Helen’s lifelong affliction of the FOMO curse (Fear Of Missing Out).  There was no way she would sit in the truck and miss the adventure of the day. With assistance from her husband, she climbed the hill and did fine. The petroglyphs were as fascinating as the entire National Park.

We met Pete and his friend Barbara at the Silver Saddle Steak House for a great steak and prime rib dinner.  We thanked him profusely for his suggestions for seeing the best of Tucson.

At this point, I’m going to have to sign off.  We’re in Apache Junction, Arizona, at Lost Dutchman State Park. We have no electricity at our campsite, and my computer battery is about to shut down. 

We’ll see you next week.  We’re Easin’ Along and loving it!