Trip to Oceanside

This morning, after a loooonnnggg chat with "James" at Netflix, during which I managed to get my Airbnb hostess, Joan, hooked up on a new Netflix account, I set off for Oceanside to see old friend, Tim Zuverink. Tim and I had last probably glimpsed one another at a distance back in 1973, when we graduated from high school. But we had gone to part of elementary school together, and we had played together in the same neighborhood, so we wanted to see each other.

I drove the 2 hours to Oceanside and turned up at Tim's door. He was ready to go, so we didn't subject his cats to Remy's presence or Remy to them. We hopped in the car, got a burger, and our first stop was the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia. The grounds are expansive, and the church is beautiful and old. It's obviously a place that still functions as a Catholic mission/church.

Taken outside the Mission.

The view from the back. The seating area is not very wide. 

This wooden dome impressed me. It's not ornate, but it's still lofty.

One of the bays in the transept. 

The very front of the apse.

From the Mission, we drove to the Oceanside pier. The wide, heavy, wooden planks were solid and easy to walk on. There were many people fishing and strolling on the pier. The beaches were busy, but not overfull on a Wednesday. There were a few surfers. There is only one business on this particular pier, and it is a restaurant at the very end.

This gentleman stood watch on a trash receptacle. (Yes, it is real.)

Next, we drove south along the water, enjoying the refreshing breeze off the water and the stunning views. At Carlsbad, we visited Jamba Juice and then, because Remy's been having trouble with at least one of his paws (frequent licking, some swelling and pinkness of the pad), we decided to drive down the coast a bit more, rather than walking around Carlsbad. Tim took a number of photos of me and Remy, trying to get some of the gorgeous surf in the background.

We took a more direct route (with different, beautiful vistas) back to Tim's place where I got a chance to meet his partner, Chris. 

This gorgeous tree was on the way back.

We chatted for a bit, and then I decided to face the traffic and head back to LA. The drive actually ended up not being too bad. Chris snapped this shot of Tim & me with Remy.

It was great to spend some time together!

I snapped the following photos in front of my Airbnb. Succulents abound here. Many of them look like what I learned to call "hens & chicks," but mutated. Some are extremely large. Some have longer stems. All of these kinds of succulents grow outrageous flowers. 

Many of you have encouraged me to report my bike stolen. Perhaps I still will. It just didn't seem like a good use of my time. I have four more days in LA. We'll see what more interesting pastimes I can choose to pursue.