I had trouble finding a decent and reasonably-priced RV park in the area of Oceanside, so we ended up staying at Lake O’Neill RV Park on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. My father did his WWII basic training here before fighting in the Pacific. This huge base covers 125,000 acres and extends from California’s largest stretch of undeveloped Pacific coastline east into the Santa Ana Mountains. It is the largest west coast expeditionary training facility, and its mission is maintaining combat readiness for a variety of Marine, Army, and Navy units. We’ve stayed at several Air Force Base RV Parks over the past 3 years, and they were sleepy hollows compared to this jumping place. The helicopter traffic after dark was particularly impressive.
The RV Park was still priced higher than what we budget for; however, it was beautifully set among mature trees, beside a lake, and up in the mountains. We couldn’t have been luckier or happier.
The second day, we,drove to Point Loma off of San Diego. This gorgeous piece of real estate is home to Naval Base Point Loma, Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, and the Cabrillo National Monument. MFI’s father was interred at the cemetery (one of the largest in the US), and what better opportunity to pay our respects. In the cemetery office, we easily located his site on the computer database, and with assistance from a friendly groundskeeper, we found him quickly.
We left the cemetery and stumbled upon the Cabrillo National Monument at the southern tip of Point Loma. Just another chance to use our National Park Senior Pass for free entry. The monument was named for Spanish Conquistador Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, who in 1542 was the first European to land on the West Coast of the US. Cabrillo was leading an expedition to explore the north and west New Spain coast of Mexico and continue as far north as Oregon. One hundred and three days into the journey, his three ships entered San Diego Bay, and he landed on the east side of Point Loma. He claimed the land for Spain (of course) and named the bay San Miguel. Unfortunately, he died as a result of injuries sustained during a skirmish with natives near the Channel Islands less than a year later.
We spent a little bit of time in and around the park gift shop. There was also a small theater and museum, but we preferred being outside and visiting the Old Point Loma Lighthouse and tidal pools 120 feet below. The tide was only about half way in, and this provided for some spectacular scenery.
While the pictures were great, I had to take some videos to capture the sounds and better depict the coastal environment.
MFI’s younger brother Jim and his son Max reside in the vicinity of Pendleton, so we called and arranged to have dinner together. Jim picked the Ember & Rye restaurant, which was part of the Park Hyatt Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad. We treated ourselves to several scotches, and he treated us to a delicious dinner. Luckily, nephew and fire fighter Max was was able to join us despite being in the midst of completing paramedic course training. After the classroom work, he begins an on-the-job internship program required for becoming a certified paramedic. His fiancé Natalie was in her final week of Naval Officer Training in Connecticut. She’s under Navy scholarship for medical school and then will serve out her military commitment as a Navy Doctor. It was really gratifying to see Max and Nat doing so well and facing bright futures together. A few days later, we met Jim for breakfast at Swami’s Cafe in Oceanside and spent several pleasant hours catching up further and reminiscing.
In the nine years we volunteered at Pisgah View Ranch, we met a lot of friendly people, many of them repeat guests. Bart Bartlett had been returning to PVR for over 30 years, and we got to know him quite well. He lives in Irvine, CA not to far from where we camped, so MFI contacted him, and we spent a very nice afternoon catching up on our respective lives. Bart is simply one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. We tentatively planned to meet up with him again in Cornville, AZ.
Our final day trip was north to Rolling Hill Estates for a wonderful reunion with Lou and Ilse Persichina. We met them about 17 years ago when their youngest son Joe and our daughter Sarah were dating while attending ASU (go Sun Devils). Joe played baseball for the Sun Devils, and we often spent time with Lou and Ilse who of course came to many home games. They showed us a terrific afternoon, stuffing us with healthy hors d’oeures, regaling us with their interesting travel stories, never letting our wine glasses get empty, and serving the most delicious home-cooked steak dinner from Lou’s Bar & Grill. We comfortably picked up our friendship right where we’d left off and seemed to laugh together all afternoon.
Our first six days in SoCal were delightful. We finally found ourselves in cooler temperatures (yeah) and enjoyed connecting with some family and dear friends. What better way to end Part 1 than with a video of our view of the Pacific from Oceanside’s Buccaneer Beach.
