Chula Vista stop 1

January 25 in Chula Vista began with Church. It was a friendly church (Baptist) with the sermon on tithing. We, along with Dick & Judy and John & Judy, were all stuffed into John’s truck. After deciding to grab a bite, we headed for the San Diego Zoo. Parking was limited and difficult for a big truck at the zoo but we finally found a place. Walking up to the entrance at 2 pm, we were told the admission was $32 each. After a quick discussion it was decided that another time would be great. Judy and I both were freezing so we bought a $9 sweat shirt from a vendor. Next we headed for the USS Midway. That was something - a great tour with headphones so you could go at your own speed. We closed the gates down at 5. It was so interesting including the planes on the flight deck but it was freezing since the wind was blowing hard across the flight deck. We headed home.

January 26 was the first day of the caravan. We had our first meeting at 12:30. It sure took a while to get all of the information across. Bruce and Enid are the leaders. There are 25 rigs with 4 of them being singles – 2 women and 2 men. I think 17 states and 2 provinces are represented. We found we didn’t know many of the people. The meeting was long since there were so many things to discuss and we had 8 rigs that had never been on a caravan. Our first event was a social hour followed by a wonderful dinner at a close-by restaurant that a number of us walked to. The original planned restaurant was closed on Monday so the leaders had to make a quick change. Our campground is very nice – all paved spots with lots of green stuff around, even though the grass still has signs telling us not to let the dogs go there.

January 27 was our day for a tour of San Diego’s Little Italy. We soon learned how easy it is to get around in the area. We carpooled about a mile to a trolley stop where we learned how to purchase our tickets - $1.25 for seniors. We rode to Little Italy where we got off and walked up the hill to a restaurant where we took advantage of the wonderful looking pastries before our 2 Italian guides appeared. They, the guides and the pastries, were excellent. Each of us had our own head phone so we could hear what the guide said. We did a walking tour and learned the history of the Italian community. We learned they came as fishers and made their own community. We went into a local grocery that we would love to have visited longer. The Catholic Church was one stop where we learned more history - how the priest was able to keep the church going after he had spent more than he should have building the outside with not enough left to complete the inside. He read the names of all who given so all of the others felt they had to jump on the bandwagon as well. Soon there was plenty of money. We learned about the house where prohibition was a blessing – they had bootleg liquor. We ended the tour at a very nice restaurant that served us a wonderful meal Italian style – slow and leisurely. Then it was back on the trolley to the campground. Winston stopped at a camera shop before we got on board and was told of a wonderful shop that might be able to fix his camera that evidently had been dropped at some time. When we got back to the campground we jumped in the jeep and off we went through all of the freeways about 20 miles. The shop did fix the camera.


January 28th What a day this was to be! We left for the trolley again but headed south and to the border. We needed to get our Visas stamped so we would not have to stop on the way with our rigs. We also were exchanging dollars for pesos. We got our Visas fine but then discovered that they would not accept Traveler’s Checks. The exchange rate at the border office was 13.0. The couple we were with, Betty & Rolf, were from Canada and they would not exchange their Canadian money either. We decided to ride the trolley back and go to Bank of America and get the money turned into US funds and then determine where we could get it exchanged. Winston got the travelers checks cashed and was able to get the Canadian money exchanged The cashier told us we would have to drive back down I-5 to a certain exit where a number of exchange places were. Instead we decided to get back on the trolley and go back to Tijuana again. As we going a fellow riding with Rolf and Betty said there was a place right where you get off the trolley. Sure enough and their rate was 13.2, so we did better. We got right back on the trolley. We went to Costco for lunch and to get a carrot cake for the group since Betty and I are in charge of birthdays and anniversaries. While at Costco, Rolf teasingly asked where he could get his money changed to pesos and was told right over there – that rate was 13.5. For each $1 you get 132 pesos. It makes you feel like you are rich with all of those pesos! Later we had our first driver’s meeting to discuss the route and answer any questions. Bruce and Enid had decided, because of the fears and problems that we had heard about, that we would convoy. They were to lead the first 9; Tom led the next 8 and we were to lead the last 8. We were given directions and told not to stop unless there was an emergency. The trip was only 85 miles.