We've been in California for about a week now. Sorry for being so far behind, but we've had a lot of visiting to do with dear old friends, and we haven't had much time to sit and enjoy the surroundings. The weather has been iffy. Cold, rainy and breezy in the mountains, but nice along the coast. We've been told that the weather has been in the 80's & 90's recently, but now we've seen a pretty regular pattern of mid 60's. Shouldn't be too concerned since MAE seems to be battling repeated snowstorms up home. Debbie and I took a ride a few days ago up to Julian which is in the mountains above our old house in Pine Valley. The wind was blowing about 45 mph, down in the mid 40's, and rain. We didn't spend a lot of time up there, as the purpose of this trip is to stay in a warmer climate. Julian is a great little gold mining town and is famous for its apple pies, although I haven't seen any apple orchards anywhere. They must just make pies up there.
We traveled through parts of the Cuyamaca State park and also the Anza-Borrego State Park, and viewed the destruction still evident from wild fires that ravaged the area nearly 8 years ago. The Cedar Fire burned nearly 3 weeks before they were able to get it under control. Some of the views down into the Anza-Borrego Desert were quite spectacular, although we got excited a few times as we peaked over the edge during some pretty high wind gusts. In a few days we'll be taking Weezie down these mountain passes into the desert as we head for a few days of camping in the Anza-Borrego Desert. They haven't had a lot of rain this year, so we're told that there will probably minimal flowers in the desert. But the weather will be well into the 80's and the desert hot springs, which we think are similar to the Saratoga hot springs, should be quite refreshing.
On Ben and Joanne's day off, we took them for a ride out toward the east county near Jacumba. I had worked that area back in the day, and the ride down the grade into the desert can be pretty exciting. We exited I-8 near Boulevard, and traveled east on Old Highway 80 into Jacumba.
As we approached Jacumba, we got our first glimpse of the border fence which stretches out through town and up the mountainside.
Probably a great tool to prevent illegal entries from Mexico, but for the hundreds of BP Agents patrolling the border, it makes for a long and boring shift. It's too bad they won't have the war stories to tell when they get together in the coming years. Nothing beats a war story from Walter after a few cocktails!
We also took a ride down to Chula Vista and Ben gave us a quick tour of the border at TJ.
It was amazing to see the traffic backed up, which Ben said was quite common. I couldn't imagine waiting in line for 4-5 hours to go "shopping" in the U.S. but that what they say when they get to him in the booth. He's trying to arrange for a tour of the POE for us, but his bosses say we have to pass a background check first! I'm pretty comfortable, but I'm a little worried about Debbie!!! The traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, was unbelievable coming into the U.S.
Ben advised there were plans to expand the number of lanes coming into the U.S. so the local economy should flourish with the construction and new hires that will be required to man all the booths. One would think that Ben would move up quite rapidly in seniority at the port, but they've experienced a net growth of 6 agents in the past year even though they've hired more than 400! Sounds like a little attrition problem on the border. Take away the fence, and it hasn't changed in 30 years.
Debbie and I traveled up to Del Mar and had dinner with one of my Campo trainees, "High Speed" Chase. He only stayed with the BP a few years before moving on to an illustrious career with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Dick and i have spoken a few times over the years, and his wife Lori always sent a Christmas card from wherever they were living. It was nice watching their kids grow into the fine adults they are today. After retiring, Dick became head of security at an aerospace company here in San Diego. Dick and Lori did a great job keeping the family together, and now they share time between Montana and San Diego. Lori will be down in a few weeks and we've already made plans to get together in Old Town with them. It will be great seeing Lori after all these years.
We also got a chance to get together with Ben's babysitter from Pine Valley days, Tom and Mary.
Tom stays busy raising chickens, after retiring from the U.S. Forest Service, and his wonderful wife and saint, Mary, continues working for the Post Office. .
They have 2 kids, Erica and Little Tommy, although we shouldn't call him Little anymore. He works with Ben down at the border and Erica works, like her dad, with the U.S. Forest Service. We haven't seen them yet, but I'm sure we'll be getting together again.
We met some wonderful people here at Los Coches RV Park who invited Debbie and I down to San Diego for a look at their boat. Debbie and I would never pass up an opportunity to look at a boat, especially a 50' Californian. What a beautiful vessel. They've spend about 3 1/2 years restoring the boat, and now they have it for sale. As soon as it goes, they're headed for Wisconsin. Personally, I think they are nuts, but that is home for Mike. Dawn is a Michigan girl, who retired from the Sheriff's Dept over in Maricopa County, Az. She says Sheriff Joe Arpaio was great to work for, and I bet he was. Gotta love a Sheriff who puts all the inmates in pink!
We're spending our free time up visiting the kids and bugging the hell out of Jamo. He gets awfully excited when Granny comes for a visit. Joanne keeps talking sleep over, but I don't think so. Wednesday we're heading down to Anza Borrego for a few days in the desert. That should be a great time to get the final memories of cold out of our bones. MAE is coming in a few weeks and I think Ben is getting kinda excited. Debbie is for sure! Hope all is well with everyone.
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