May 25-27, 2013
Sunday and Monday
This is our last day in Oceanside for this trip; we’re
moving back down the coast to Solana
Beach, to spend a couple of nights again with Marc and Lynne. Yesterday we all
took a beach walk and Jack made some panoramic shots with his new iPad app—love
the photos, almost like being there! Click here for panoramic view of Oceanside Beach.
This morning Cindy, Tom, Jack and I walk
down to the 101 Café, one of our old Oceanside hangouts. This diner has been there
for a LONG time, and it’s always been a favorite for breakfast. The surfers
love it. Still good!
After breakfast, Jack and I spend a couple of hours
reorganizing and packing the RoadTrek. It tends to get a little messy after
weeks on the road. We say our goodbyes to Cindy and Tom and depart about 11 am.
We first take a little detour so Jack can see the condo where we used to live,
and then we notice that the interstate is very backed up, I guess because of
the holiday weekend. We decide to drive down the Coast Highway instead; it’s
slower but much more scenic and doesn’t look as congested. Good decision—it’s a
beautiful drive, with lots of great people-watching and beach views. The
surfers are out in full force this weekend. Each little ocean town has its own
flavor, some funky, some elegant and artsy.
Lynne and Marc are up in Los Angeles attending a family
wedding and won’t be back until late afternoon/early evening. It’s a beautiful
day so, after eating a snack, we take a walk down to San Elijo Lagoon, on a
trail that’s right next to Lynne and Marc’s house. This is a good birdwatching
spot, so we take the binoculars. We do see quite a few birds on the walk, but
either we can’t get a good enough view for identification or they are birds
we’ve seen already on the trip. We do see another black-headed grosbeak, a
striking bird we saw for the first time in Texas, and close to the end of the
walk we see a loggerhead shrike, which is a new one for our list! Shrikes are
interesting in that they sometimes impale their prey (insects, lizards, etc.)
on a thorn or barbed wire. Yuk.
Lynne and Marc return about 6:30 pm so we visit for a bit
with them. Sounds like they had a nice time in LA with family members. (They
went to a Dodgers game today.) In the evening I work on my book project and
Jack watches a movie on his iPad.
Monday morning Lynne and I get up and take a walk on the
beach, this time with another friend Frank from her walking group. He’s a
retired physician, in his 80s, and still getting around well—he’s an
entertaining character! (Unfortunately no photos…)
Marc has purchased online tickets for us all to see the
new Star Trek movie at 11:15 am this
morning (we’re all Star Trek fans from way back). Lynne tells us that this
theater is one where you can order off a menu and eat regular food while
watching the movie, so we’re going to have lunch at the theater. Sounds very
“California”! We go in, not knowing what
to expect, but I asked Jack to bring his iPad so he can photo-document the
event for our blog. He takes a pic of us entering the movie area. Marc couldn’t
get us seats together, so Jack and I sit together on one side of the theater
and Marc and Lynne are together on the other side.
 |
| Entering the movie theater |
The seats are EXTREMELY comfortable and they recline
completely! They also vibrate when an explosion happens in the movie!
 |
| Carol relaxing (with 3D glasses) while Jack takes a forbidden photo. |
The
waiter comes by right away to take our order from the menu and we order popcorn
(of course), sushi (California roll, of course), sweet potato fries, and some
edamame. The food comes promptly and we start munching. Jack takes a couple of
photos to document for our blog, and then a person comes to tell him that he
can’t use any recording device during the movie. He says OK, closes the iPad
and we focus on eating, as we watch the previews onscreen. Then in a couple of
minutes, a young man, identifying himself as a manager, come to Jack’s seat and
says that since Jack has a recording device, he has to ask him to hand it over
during the movie. Jack refuses to relinquish his beloved iPad and decides to
leave instead. I’m sitting there surrounded by all this food and the movie is
starting, and Jack has walked out! I’m in a quandary, but I decide to extricate
myself from the food (not an easy process) and follow him out to see what’s
going on.
Jack is nowhere to be seen but I talk to a manager in the
lobby and he says that Jack decided to leave the theater. I told him we were
from Virginia and didn’t know any better. He was apologetic and said they’re
required by law to request to hold any recording device that they become aware
of. (I’m sure plenty of other people here have their smartphones and other
recording devices but were not taking blog photos blatantly like us yokels…) I
couldn’t see Jack from the lobby and decided to go back and eat lunch and watch
the movie; I figured he could amuse himself in the surrounding mall with his
iPad for the duration, which is in fact what he did. (Actually I think he took
a nap in the sun.)
Strange experience, but the movie was great. I don’t
think having real food works that well in a movie, however, although I loved
the seating.
Back at Lynne and Marc’s, I worked most of the rest of
the afternoon and evening, while Jack took another nap and played on his iPad.
We went out for Mexican at a very authentic restaurant in Solana Beach, Tony’s
Jacal—good food and fun! Back at home, we all watched another old Star Trek
movie, The Wrath of Khan, to remind
ourselves about the character Khan, who was featured prominently in the new
movie. Then to bed; have to pack and depart San Diego 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, Anna’s hummingbird, dark-eyed junco,
white-throated swift, Steller’s jay, mallard, common egret, brown pelican,
western bluebird, loggerhead shrike
State
count: 11 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California] 
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