May 7, 2013
We stayed in all night at our B&B in Julian and both
worked on our respective projects; it’s still raining outside, and chilly!
After breakfast we worked a little more and then drove to Escondido to meet our
friend Cindy for lunch. It’s still raining and cold, not at all the weather we
expected in southern CA. The drive down the mountains is one that we’ve made
many times in the past, but it looks unfamiliar and we strain to recognize old
landmarks.
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| On the way from Julian to Escondido in the rain. |
It’s a scenic hour-long drive, and finally things start looking a
little more familiar as we get closer to Escondido.
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| Now the sun appears. |
Cindy has been a good friend for many years and is the chief
financial officer for BMT-SMS, a marine engineering company that Jack helped to
found back in 1992 (we visited the Houston area division of the company when we were staying with son Jeff and Mariann--see past blog). The company has
grown and changed so much since those early days—they’re in new offices since
the last time we were here, much bigger, and getting ready to add even more
space. We meet up with Cindy at the new office building and go to lunch at a
Thai restaurant with her and another old friend Tom, who’s worked for the
company since the beginning. Lots of “war stories” told over lunch! It’s great
to catch up with old friends. We will spend more time with Cindy and her
husband Tom, an engineer at Qualcomm, later in this visit.
Now we’re off to Solana Beach, to the home of our friends
Lynne and Marc. We used to live in Escondido, but it’s changed and grown so
much that we have a hard time finding our way around—can’t remember the names
of the roads and everything looks so different. Thank goodness for the GPS; it
gets us oriented and headed west on the right road to Solana Beach.
This is a pretty drive. Lots of flowers and trees are in
full bloom, the orange trees are loaded with fruit, and it’s nice to be around
palm trees again.
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| Orange groves. |
The sun has finally come out—ahhh! We go through the ritzy little town of Rancho Santa
Fe—one of the wealthiest communities in the United States. Median home price is
around $2.6 million. But you can’t really see the homes here—they’re tucked away
at the end of a long driveway or well-camouflaged with beautiful shrubs and
flowers.
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| Driving through Rancho Santa Fe. |
Things start to look more and more familiar as we get
closer to Solana Beach, and as we crest the final hill, we catch our first
glimpse of the blue Pacific Ocean.
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| The Pacific Ocean from Solana Beach |
We lived in this little beach town for
several years, in an apartment over the offices of our small publishing
company, HighText Publications.
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| My, how things change! This was the offices of HighText Publications and we lived for awhile in an apartment on the second floor. |
We decide to drive down to Fletcher Cove, the
town beach, and check out our old building, which is just around the corner
from the beach. Surprise—our building looks completely different and has now
turned into something called the “Karma Building,” apparently a center for
holistic medicine.
Fletcher Cove has received a major upgrade since we were
last here and looks wonderful—new picnic areas and benches and a play area for
kids, and beautiful art. We watch and photograph the surfers for a while, and
remember that this was a fun, and beautiful, place to live.
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| Fletcher Cove looking north. |
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| Surfin' USA |
Lynne and Marc’s house is back up the hill, on a scenic
spot overlooking the beach and a tidal lagoon filled with birds and wildlife.
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| View of ocean and lagoon from Marc and Lynne's home. |
Marc is
out for the afternoon at a meeting but we have a happy reunion with Lynne, and chat for a
while about what we’ve been up to, and what our plans are for the coming week.
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| Carol and Lynne |
(As mentioned previously, she and I are heading out in the morning for our Palm
Springs getaway.) She teaches a science writing class at the university on
Tuesday evenings and has to prepare for it. I do some laundry and check out my
new binoculars in the backyard (I needed better birding binoculars!), while
Jack works on his book in the living room.
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| Jack working on his book. |
Marc comes home soon, and we have a lively
chat session while preparing and eating dinner (chicken on the grill) after
Lynne leaves for class.(Poor Lynne, no dinner, just a
snack…)
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| Mark on their patio grilling chicken. |
Lynne gets home around 10 pm and, after talking a bit, we all head for
bed. Big day tomorrow!
Bird species count: Vermilion flycatcher, turkey vulture,
Bell’s vireo, *golden-fronted woodpecker, Say’s phoebe, northern cardinal,
greater roadrunner, house finch, common raven, *northern rough-winged swallow, *summer
tanager, *prothonotary warbler, *yellow-breasted chat, *yellow-rumped warbler,
northern mockingbird, mourning dove, cliff swallow, Mexican jay, black-headed
grosbeak, black-chinned hummingbird,
Wilson’s warbler, *Scott’s oriole, chipping sparrow, house sparrow, lesser
goldfinch, black-crested titmouse, acorn woodpecker, scrub jay, *western
kingbird, white-winged dove, *canyon towhee, *Grace’s warbler, *zone-tailed
hawk, *curve-billed thrasher, Bullock’s oriole, Gambel’s quail, great horned
owl, black-throated sparrow, *cactus wren, ladder-backed woodpecker,
white-crowned sparrow, brownheaded cowbird, Brewer’s blackbird, *pyrrhuloxia,
hooded oriole, verdin, crow
State count: 11 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California]
Odometer count:
Surber, VA: 107,435
Solana Beach, CA: 112,123
Accommodations avg cost: 31 nights @ $17.40/night
Where we are now:
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