Saturday 4-10-10 Breakfast Trip 2 Tip Top in Carlsbad w/some of the FOS guys- Don "Doc" Thomas, John Ruhland, Richard Von Luft & Stan Partin.

I FINALLY have a Saturday off (well, I have 3 out of 4 Saturdays off now because I gave up some Saturday classes), and when Richard emailed me about B'fast, I emailed him back that 'oh yeah, I'm THERE'. I heard about Tip Top from Bub and John R. and wanted to give it a shot but I'm on a DIET. Richard's email said they had food and a country STORE-that little 5 letter word pushed me over the edge. http://www.tiptopmeats.com/

John told Doc and I about the breakfasts and that there was the "Big John, all you can eat meat" breakfast for $6.98. I decided on that one, because if I'm gonna break the diet, I'm gonna BREAK THE DIET. EVERYTHING in excess...moderation is for monks.

1 hour to ride there from Starbucks, traffic good, & wait wasn't too bad at all. You go in and get in line to order and pay, then find yourself a table and get yourself your drinks. They call you r number and you go back up to the counter for your tray.

The food came pretty fast considering how many people were there. At 10:30 it had thinned out.

I got some corned beef and some pastrami for Bub, since he couldn't be there. That market/store has EVERYTHING.

Richard asked me if I wanted to break off and take El Toro over the hill to Santiago, around by Cook's and out, so we tapped out and went that-a-way. Going back up the 5, BTW, I couldn't BELIEVE the traffic going south. This group always picks the right times to go, but I'd still feel like some sort of a ride, either longish or quasi-technical or something immediately after b'fast. I mean, I'm on my BIKE, I wanna RIDE!

(This next part I paraphrased Richard's words-he put it almost perfectly, but you know I have to make 4 words do the work of one.)

After we went by Cook's Corner & rode on Santiago Canyon Road, a number of motorcyclists going the other way 'tapped' on their helmets to us, ostensibly to alert us to 'something'. We figured out that the local gendarmes were afoot and so made sure we were going the speed limit. Still got more head tap signs, so we're wondering, where ARE they? At Jamboree where Richard and I split off, Richard turns the corner and I look around that corner and there are two motorcops with cars pulled over. Oh. THAT'S where.

I went by Bub's work, told him the good news about the yummies then biked around & did errands; pharmacy, vest LOS back patch switched out for the Tin Star patch, got a pad for a weight lifting bar (because I'm TIRED of using my towel!), then gas. The nice thing is that I feel I get to destinations quicker because I can definitely make the lights when I time them right vs. having to manuever a behemoth cage around. I have a system now for on & off the bike.

Oh yes, the final great thing about taking the bike-I CAN'T get the phone.

Tomorrow, the Angels' Game with my sister in from Vermont.

NOW the Point Loma/Cabrillo National Monument trip on Easter Sunday April 4th 2010 and NO we didn't feel the Mexico earthquake!

The Point Loma/Cabrillo National Monument trip ended up being Easter Sunday April 4th 2010. Unfortunately, ALMOST EVERYTHING IS CLOSED ON EASTER SUNDAY! So that's why parking was awesome!
We ended up at a little place called 'The Living Room', kinda health-conscious but good food. On Rosecrans.
Next stop, Cabrillo Nat'l Monument where Bub got to use his Senior Pass. The National Monuments are open 365 days a year which makes them a good place to go on holidays where everything else is closed. Like Easter.
Point Loma docks below. Same boats, same walkway, just NOBODY around.







This was an interesting type of thing-saw it on the way to Cabrillo, while we were on the Fort Rosecrans premises. One of these days I'll look it up.

The traffic really wasn't that bad going in, but I had to kind of juggle my money and my gloves and my throttle and clutch. Barry put his pass in his mouth. You pay at the Ranger station right there. I got a neat pic of Bub entering the area, below.

Below, the visitor center and the view of the Cabrillo Monument from the lighthouse.

Below right is the ONLY picture of me...as usual.

Fort Rosecrans Military Exhibit. Here's the link to find out all about the site.

This was a poster about 7 months after Pearl Harbor.

You can see these neat whale-watching view areas when you walk up to the lighthouse, below right.

Below, a back view of the lighthouse, and below right one of the most important structures in the area. (The women's restroom!!!)

The scenery from the lighthouse is really great.

Below right, I thought the picture of the telescope pretty apropos being that it was very close to the sentry lookout that was kind of in the ground. If you look to the left of the telescope, you can see one of the artillery cannon encasements. It's kind of a round top, almost looks like a brown pie.

Bub was checking out a whale sculpture, and the plate describing it and the artist. I though it was interesting that the plate's inscription was in braille also.

The whale-watching area. An absolutely beautiful day.

The spiral staircase was taken at the top of the lighthouse, 3 flights up. The 'window' pic was taken from inside the lighthouse. The view outside the windows was wonderful-again, a great day.

A pic of the side of the lighthouse.

The 'oil room' below was a shed where the lens was cleaned and all the equipment maintained. You can see how big and clean the lens is. The videos show it.

To the right, a view of the lighthouse from the monument. I tried to get the lighthouse AND the American flag in the shots.

Visit to the Dignity Memorial Vietnam Wall 3-30-10

I hadn't been to the wall since it came to Brea about 15 years ago, and I wanted to go again and pay my respects. Above, The Wall at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier.
Below, a picture and a written description which kind of describes what a close family member went through.

The young lady below was pointing at grandpa.

These ladies are listing everything that people left at the wall-letters, animals, flags, everything (except of course the flowers) and will put them into a time-capsule/vault with the stone above it. They do this for every place the Wall goes.

I am SO glad I went.

It's going to Oceanside and San Diego, then coming back to Riverside National Cemetary in June.

I think the pics say it all.

A regonition of trained persons with STAR Touring and Riding that may be called upon to help from time to time.

STAR Touring, like the citizens of the frontier towns, at times may need special assistance
from people trained as a police officer, physician, nurse, fire fighter, paramedic, EMT or Search and Rescue. To help identify which of our members have this special training, and have volunteered to be of assistance, we have developed a special pin, the “Tin Star.” The Tin Star readily identifies which of our members have volunteered to help when needed, and are qualified as one of the following:
• Physician
• Nurse
• Police Officer
• Fire Fighter
• Paramedic
• Emergency Medical Technician
• Search & Rescue
Or other special emergency training.

THE TIN STAR PURPOSE
The purpose of “Tin Star” is to allow STAR Touring to identify a team of volunteers in time of need.
If an accident or emergency occurs, or a member is in need of assistance (bike break down, stranded etc. or any other situation where help is needed), the “Tin Star” member in the group could be called on to lend a hand and/or to take control of the situation, until the local emergency services arrive.
(This is from the STAR Touring and Riding organization's Tin STAR website)


As of Friday, April 2nd, 2010, I have proudly become a Tin Star.
http://www.startouring.org/TinStarListing.aspx?id=CA

I was recognized by STAR Chapter 230 at the Saturday April 3rd 2010 Chapter ride for getting my Tin Star and was presented it by Scott Hamilton, the other Chapter Tin Star.

That was, by the way, the day I tipped my bike over AGAIN...standing still. Patty G. observed my Accident Scene Management patch and commented that I 'was supposed to help at accident scenes and not TRY THEM OUT'. That was actually pretty damn funny, come to think about it.

Came to the conclusion with a friend that it's slope/gravity issue and that my seat needs to be lowered somewhat. As he mentioned oh, about 2 years ago or so.

He also commented that 'Gravity is a MF'.

I agree.