Oceanside, California: We had a lazy morning at Silver Strand State Park. While DT went on another epic bike ride, I made our usual Saturday morning potato hash (that I had not prepared last Saturday). We ate it on the beach - with a huge platter of watermelon - before saying goodbye to our new French-Mexican friends. They were headed north to Santa Barbara, but we had no idea where we were going. Rain is predicted up and down the California coast (thankfully!). Honestly, we just pointed ourselves north along the ocean road and decided to see if we could get a campsite in Oceanside. We did.
We stayed in Oceanside for a week in July of last year. Great city, great beaches, great food. The campground we stayed at last time was very nice, but our site was 50' from a commuter rail line. The train itself wasn't too noisy at all, but we were also camped a few feet from Highway 101, so when the train crossed the highway, arms crossed-down, lights flashed, and CLANG CLANG CLANGED.
We decided to camp across the highway (and south a block) from our last campground, Paradise by the Sea. This RV resort also has a train track 50' from our bed, but it is the Amtrak and Coaster train - not as frequent and no railroad crossing signal noises... plus we did not hear a train at all overnight. This RV park has a path to the beach, requiring no street traffic at all, and a bike path with a connection to the beach paths. We booked for two nights.
We arrived into town about 12:30p and check-in time was 2p... so we found a free parking spot on the 101 and walked around to find somewhere for lunch, lured to The Privateer for their coal-fired pizza, and were seated on the covered patio. Thing is, as soon as I saw a birria grilled cheese sandwich on the menu, all thoughts of pizza went right out the door. We split it.
This dish is usually a taco with stewed shredded beef and a bowl of the stewing liquid for a dip. The Mexican version of a French Dip? A grilled cheese version is simply genius, and the sourdough bread was one of the best ingredients. Crunchy. I couldn't finish my half and we didn't eat the fries. Would I eat it again? Probably not because it isn't the healthiest choice and the taco version is so much better.
The afternoon was quiet. DT did walk down to the beach to recon our adventure tomorrow. I sat outside in the sunshine stitching. Dang near finished with my teeny project. Salad for dinner, and we continued watching Brothers on Apple TV. Can't say it is great, but I do get to look at Matthew McConaughey for an hour. The actress playing his mother, Holland Taylor, steals the show.
It did rain overnight. Poured, actually, for a good 30 minutes, but the sun was shining when we woke and we headed out on what would become a five-mile walk. The path behind the RV park goes through a small shady park, which has a popular coffee bar. I saw several fellow campers returning from their dog-walk duties with a cup of coffee. Now I know where they had been. We walked north towards the pier through a neighborhood, then turned west at Oceanside Street where the path continues along the shore.
We walked to the pier, and out onto the pier, then went across the street to the famed "Tom Cruise House" which is the house Tom Cruise (as Maverick in Top Gun) rode to on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX900 to visit his girlfriend, played by Kelly McGillis. McGillis (aka Charlie Blackwood) lived in this very house.
The house has been used as several different things, but it currently a gelato shop. Lunch! We were the only customers at the time of our visit, so I asked probably too many questions, but learned they make everything in-house, except for the Nutella and milking the cows. I had a chocolate with shortbread and caramel. DT had browned butter and chocolate chip. Both were very good, and it was good we we still had over a two-mile walk back to our RV! We meandered around the downtown area, stopped-in to say hi to our friend's friend's pizza shop, and somehow stumbled past the transit center to find a bike path. We followed it for a while, but decided to walk back closer to the ocean.
I made a little video of our walk along the beach today:
This left us with a few hours to rest, read, and stitch. Dave grilled chicken thighs I had been marinated in Mexican spices for two days and we had ourselves another taco fest.
We drove home Friday morning and are all settled in. Our dining chairs are finished and will be delivered Monday. Yeah!
Until my next update, I remain, your home again correspondent.
NOTE: No idea how/why all the pop-up ads are showing up on my site. I had an email from my site host about it while we were away, so will get it sorted out next week. Sorry.