Back to Guajome County Park....then maybe....Vancouver!

Where are we today? 

Ocean Hills Country Club

The repairs at the house in Ocean Hills are well underway. On Monday Rick, from The Estate Sale Warehouse, will be coming in to clear out all the small stuff. Larger pieces of furniture are staying in the house for staging. After he has been, we are moving back into the RV and going to Guajome County Park until Friday. We are hoping that enough progress will have been made for us to see what the house is going to look like before it goes up for sale.

We are toying with an alternative route back to Ontario. We have several friends in Vancouver Canada including a friend from when I was a small child in Rhodesia. Her parents and my parents were very good friends. My father has been gone for 3 years and now my friend's mother is not well, so I think a visit to that part of the world is in order. It also means that we will be back in Canada sooner and can take a leisurely 1 month trip from Vancouver to Toronto. A splendid idea, I am sure. Just have to consider the cost of fuel. Yuck!

Use the controls in the top left of the map to see the whole route.


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The 2X2X2 Rule

Where are we today? 

Oceanside Country Club

We will have about 2 to 3 weeks to get home, I have worked out a route, following some recommendations from my sister who has blazed the trail. A couple of things we have to do,

1. Look at getting solar power installed in Phoenix
2. Stop at Jayco in Middlebury, Indiana for some motorhome repairs
3. Be in Ontario by April 29th to meet the Ontario (free) Health Care requirements, 6 months plus 1 day residency in a calendar year.

Stops planned for at least 2 days in each place. Going with the 2X2X2 rule as far as possible.

Never travel more than 200 miles. Never stay less than 2 days. Never get to each destination after 2 pm. Lets see how that works out!

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Still in limbo.

Where are we today? 

Ocean Hills Country Club

The condo at The Chateau is empty, carpets will be cleaned on Monday. We are now starting on her house in Ocean Hills. Rick from The Estate Sale Warehouse in Oceanside is coming to give us a price for the buyout. They will come and pack everything up, sell what is saleable and toss what is not. Then the realtor, Deanna Smith, will take over and will organize painting, fixing and then will stage the house with some of Virginia's furniture. We are hoping for a quick sale. Once the house is sold Rick will collect the rest of the furniture. A great service.

Still aiming at leaving here in the first week of April. Three weeks to get back to Ontario.

Sorting, selling, donating, cleaning!

My sister Patricia, Loretta and I are busy with sorting everything from the condo at the Chateau. The lease expires at the end of the month, so we have to get everything out. Then we must clean the place.

We are hoping to be back on the road by the first week of April, aiming to be back in Ontario by April 29th, so that we can leave again by the end of October. This next winter we can travel a bit more around the South West, probably spending more time in Texas and the California desert. Wherever it is warm!

House by The Side of the Road

Where are we today? 

Ocean Hills Country Club, Oceanside

This is one of Virginia's favourite poems. It was read at today's Memorial Service for her.

The House By the Side of the Road

Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
Where the race of men go by -
The men who are good and the men who are bad,
As good and as bad as I.
I would not sit in the scorner's seat,
Or hurl the cynic's ban;
Let me live in a house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I see from my house by the side of the road,
By the side of the highway of life,
The men who press with the ardor of hope,
The men who are faint with the strife.
But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears -
Both parts of an infinite plan;
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
And mountains of wearisome height;
And the road passes on through the long afternoon
And stretches away to the night.
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
And weep with the strangers that moan,
Nor live in my house by the side of the road
Like a man who dwells alone.

Let me live in my house by the side of the road
Where the race of men go by -
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
Wise, foolish - so am I.
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat
Or hurl the cynic's ban?
Let me live in my house by the side of the road
And be a friend to man.

Explosions!!

Where are we today? 

Guajome County Park

The park we are camped at is quite close to Camp Pendleton. They must be doing some kind of maneuvers, because we have been hearing explosions ever since we got back to the motor home this evening.

Our days are filled with clearing out the condo that Virginia was renting at The Chateau. The Estate Sale Warehouse people are coming in on Monday to take a look at the stuff and possibly move it to their store in Oceanside. A lot of stuff has gone, but there is still a lot to go.

My sister is the trustee of Virginia's Estate and is running around, to San Diego and the social Security offices in San Marcos. There is so much to do.

We are planning the trip home, but so far, do not know when we will be able to leave SoCal. Tomorrow we move to V's house in Ocean Hills Country Club to start the process of clearing it out and getting it ready for sale. Hopefully we will be able to leave by the end of March, getting back to Ontario by May 15th.

R.I.P

Virginia Stanton, August 20th, 1920-March 11th, 2012.

A life well lived and a wonderful lady. Our hearts are overflowing with gratitude to her for what she has done for our family. 100 lbs of pure generosity.

In Palm Desert, December 2nd, 2011. Sitting in the Seneca after a shopping spree at Thrift stores around Palm Springs. 

Christmas Eve, 2011. The night before the Christmas Catastrophe

Mardi Gras Dinner, February 21st, 2011

Dee and Virginia, February 27th 2012

Greg and Virginia, February 27th 2012

Virginia and her school friend, Ila. March 1st, 2012. Friends for 80 years.

Dinner at the Chateau, March 1st, 2012. This is the last photo taken of Virginia

On the Move!

Where are we today? 

Guajome County Park to Bernardo Winery

Today we are moving back to Bernardo Winery for 2 nights. The County Park is fully booked, so we cannot stay here. We cannot stay at the Chateau because my sister and Loretta are there and Michael does not want to stay at a Walmart.

We are probably moving Virginia back into her condo over the weekend and hiring 24 hour nursing care for her, through Silverado At Home.

Virginia is slipping away. She is bedridden and is hardly eating a thing. She sleeps 20 hours out of 24. It is so sad to see her decline so quickly after the Christmas Day Catastrophe, but she is ready.

Candy and Randy R please read this

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Fitting LED lights

Where are we today? 

Guajome County Park, Oceanside, CA

Some time ago our fluorescent lights in the motorhome started failing. We bought new tubes, but they still would not work. We did some investigating and found out that the lights that were fitted in the Seneca have cheap ballasts which fail about 4 to 5 years after installation. We were thinking of getting new ones, but then we saw a sale at Camping World where they had new LED fittings for sale at $39.99 each.  Today we picked up 6 fittings (shoulda bought 8) and Michael is busy installing them. What a difference! The light is a bright white and once we instal solar, it will a big difference as they use a lot less electricity.

Loretta arrives

Where are we today?

Guajome County Park

This morning my sister went to LAX to meet Loretta who has flown in from Brisbane, Australia. Loretta and my sister lived with Virginia back in the 1970s, so it is important for Loretta to be here now as Virginia is slowly slipping away. I went over to the condo for a while to meet Loretta and then I came back to Guajome just after lunch. The weather is getting cooler again and it looks as if we might have more rain.

I have reserved a spot back here next week. We will more than likely go back to Bernardo Winery for the weekend as the park is fully booked.

This evening we are periodically being startled by explosions from Camp Pendleton. They must be doing maneuvers over there. We are quite close to the military camp, so it is quite disconcerting to have the RV rattled every so often.

Guajome County Park and My sister and her children arrive.

Where are we today? 

Guajome County Park, Oceanside

Welcome to our blog, Elaine and Robert and Robert the Wheels (who is actually Robert of Elaine and Robert). :-)

Yesterday we asked the lovely folk at Bernardo Winery if we could stay Saturday as well. They were very happy for us to stay. Wonderful place with wonderful people.

At about 11:30 We left Bernardo Winery. I went to San Diego Airport to meet my sister, Patricia and her two children who are coming, from Maryland, to stay and see Virginia. My sister will be here for about 3 weeks and the kids will be here for about 5 days. Michael took the RV and went over to the parking lot outside the Chateau to wait for us.

As soon as my sister and family were settled into the condo, we took the RV over to Guajome County Park, where we had reserved a site for 5 days. The park is big, over 500 acres, but only 35 partial hook-up sites, with water and electricity. We were not able to get weekend bookings as the campground is full on weekends, but that is OK as we can stay in wineries. We are about 12 miles from the Chateau. We have already paid for a month at the storage in San Marcos and now it seems that we will not be using it for 1/2 the month. Oh well, as my Dad used to say, "It is only money".

Robert and Elaine were also here, so we had a "Happy Hour" or three with them. I forgot to take photos!! Grr.... It was hard to say goodbye as I felt there was so much more to talk about.

Here are some pictures of the park and some of the other rigs. We are kinda out of place here:

Our site.

A Walk and a Meal

Where are we today? 

Bernardo Winery

This morning we went for hike along a trail near Lake Hodges in the San Degiuto River Park. We saw the old Sikes Adobe Farmstead and walked round to see the old Mule Hill Battlefield and where the town of Rancho Bernardo began. The site of the old town is now below the surface of Lake Hodges. 

In the afternoon we went over to the Chateau and had dinner with Virginia, Ila and Peggy. Virginia was not well and had to be taken back to her room in Assisted Living so that the Hospice Nurse could attend to her.

Peggy, Ila, Virginia and Dee

Bernardo Winery

Where are we today? 

Bernardo Winery

Our "spot"

We asked Bernardo Winery if we could stay 2 nights (Thursday and Friday). Permission was given. We parked down in the lower area near some multi-million dollar homes where the "Ball Players live" we were told by the winery staff. Don't know which ball players, but we think it is baseball because we found a wifi internet signal with the name of ALEast. Encrypted so we could not use it.

Harvest Hosts is an organization which allows members to park at Wineries, Farms and Orchards for free. usually for only 1 night at a time. At the right is the Harvest Host Logo. Click on it to be taken to their wen site. If you decide to join, please enter our names into the "Referred By" field. That way, you will get an extra free month added to your membership as will we.

At Bernardo Winery we met a British couple, Elaine and Robert. They have been travelling in their Fleetwood Bounder for the past few years. They store the motorhome in British Columbia and fly over to Canada every year to spend the winter months travelling North America. We spent some time chatting and, again, it felt as if we had known them for longer than just a few days.

Our stay was really nice. We were close enough to the Chateau to get there if we were needed, but far away enough to get a much needed break. Friday morning there is a farmer's market at the winery and we bought some yummy granola and some fresh strawberries.

Walking through the Winery "Town"

Farmer's Market 

Cafe Merlot

A really busy week.

Where are we today? 

The Chateau at Lake San Marcos

On Monday the 27th we took Greg to San Diego Airport for his trip back home to Toronto. We went back to the condo at The Chateau and started getting the place ready for the visit of Virginia's friend from Seattle. Virginia and Ila have known each other for 80 years!! Now that is a friendship! Ila and her daughter, Peggy, arrived on Thursday March 1st and moved into the condo for 3 nights. Michael and I took the motorhome over to Bernardo Winery under the Harvest Hosts membership. 

Virginia and Ila - Two 91 year olds.