Nov 6-9... It’s Friday afternoon and we’re on the Freeway again headed toward Carlsbad, Ca which is on the coast about 30 miles north of San Diego. It’s about a 60 mile drive and we’re visiting Dixie’s Aunt Marge and Don. The plan is to overnight and then drive to the small town of Julian on Saturday. Friday evening we took a long walk along the beach and then had dinner in the condo.
After a wonderful brunch at the condo Saturday morning, we drove the 65 miles to Julian. It’s an old mining town that is at 4,500 feet, and is now home to many shops and restaurants where pies are the specialty.
After a bit of sightseeing, we drove 4 miles out of town to the California Wolf Center where Aunt Marge’s niece works as a volunteer. This is a requirement of her studies at the University of California at San Diego. Quoting from their brochure, “The California Wolf Center is a non-profit wildlife education center committed to increasing public awareness and understanding of the importance of all wildlife by focusing on the history, biology, behavior, and ecology of the gray wolf. This is accomplished by offering educational presentations, participating in conservation programs, and hosting and funding research on both captive and free-ranging wolves. Founded in 1977, the Center is located in the mountains, 50 miles east of San Diego, near the town of Julian, California.” After a short presentation, we were then taken to the area where we could view them, an enclosed area of 1.5 acres. They are fed only twice a week in order to closely simulate life in the wild. Today, frozen whole chickens had been placed around the perimeter. This was done so that we could easily view them. Although most are quite shy, some of them did come up to the fence for their meal. Dixie was able to get some photos that will be posted. There is more information about this effort at www.californiawolfcenter.org.
The drive back, in the dark, on a very busy freeway, was an adventure to say the least, but we made it safe and sound. Dixie’s brother, Danny and daughter, came over Saturday evening for a visit. They were overnighting at a local hotel and going to Lego Land on Sunday.
Today, Monday, we utilized the brand new fitness center at the RV park. We plan to drive to Corona this afternoon to visit Mike’s Sister and family.
Nov 5 ... It’s Thursday morning which means we’re back on the road again (Willie Nelson?). We leave the park at 0730 (I’m sure our neighbors complained when I started up the diesel) and get on the road. But only to the Flying J in St. George for a fuel stop. After navigating the truck fuel island because there was no RV island at this one, we were, once again, headed for our next destination of Menifee, CA, which is near Sun City and Temecula, CA. The weather was sunny and cool in the morning. After lunch in Baker, CA (home to the worlds largest thermometer) we ran the generator in order to run the on board air conditioner. Once in California, as usual, the freeway traffic was, as always, awful. I have no idea how some people can drive in this day in and day out. We got to the RV park around 4:00 p.m. (one hour earlier in Calif) and found a nice site next to the water canal that runs throughout the park. There’s only a couple of problems; there’s a dairy farm close by that is odorous and there are lots of flies around the campsite to contend with. Oh well, at least there is a fitness center on site and wifi in the adult center, and, the weather is nice and our satellite TV works . If only those ducks keep quiet in the morning.
