Flutterwheeling: SEAL BEACH & CAMP PENDLETON

We drove 105 miles from Lake Casitas to the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, CA. The installation is very clear that there can be no pictures taken without prior approval of the commander. This memorial to the lost submariners is located outside the station, at the entrance.

Of the 52 submarines lost during WWII, there were 374 officers and 3,131 on board.
This is a touching memorial, and is likely little frequented by residents of the vicinity. It is well-kept and touches the heart. I have the sense that WWII is so far in the past as to not be relevant to present generations. In fact, I believe the Vietnam ‘war’ is a dim memory for many today. Lots of people now travel to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City on vacations, seems to me a slap in the face of all the lost GIs and civilians who fought to the death in that war. Now that I am reflecting on that issue, I can’t say just when it is that we should let bygones be bygones. Personally, later for me.

Even though photos weren't allowed, I took this one from the doorway anyway. The RV park was in excellent condition…full-hookups, 50A service, totally paved with lots of room and quiet except for the mower and weed eaters! They really do a bang up job of keeping everything neat and tidy. A Par Course runs behind there where you can see it. There was a small BX on site, no commissary. An excellent place to stay to see Disneyland and other attractions in the LA/Long Beach area.
One notable thing about the station is that there was an RV/car wash at the entrance to the RV park. Having been down the coast from Astoria, OR to here, none of the parks allowed vehicle washing. I took advantage of it for the car and the rig. The car took $2.00 and I had extra time left. The rig took $5.00 and we shut off the timer with some time remaining. Try getting by that cheaply in a civilian operated wash!

Actually, not so sure it was the right thing to do unless you wipe the vehicle down after. I did it on our way out of the park so didn’t wipe it down. Now there are spots all over everywhere! They use recycled/filtered water of course. I simply didn’t think!

This is the Lorna (E’s sister) & Dick Hall house in Long Beach. When they owned an RV it was parked on the concrete slab, that’s why it’s there in case you were asking yourself. When we had a shorter rig we parked there too. It’s a pretty old house, but seems to suit their needs since they put in all new windows a few years ago. We visited two separate times, the first time we had a nice visit with a niece, we were really happy to get to see Nancy. The second visit we timed so we would be there when they got home from church and we went out to lunch, here:

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Know where this was?
Wrong, it’s Marie Callenders. Yummy pies. I had the brunch buffet that included champagne. After the dinner I asked why I hadn’t been served any champagne. They told me that I had to ask for it. Hmmm, that just don’t sound right to me!

Dick Hall, Eloise’s Brother in law.

Lorna Hall, E’s sister. She’ll be 90 in February.

We were able to visit our grandson Samuel Sagartz, who attends USC (University of Southern California) as a Junior on an academic scholarship. We’re very proud of him. After a lunch at a place that was very noisy, he took us on a tour of the USC campus. What a beautiful place to get an education. His interest is in medical technology. Also working on an interesting project. I can’t speak smartly about it, but our understanding is that it is an application for cell phones that will provide access to campus activities. He and his partners are in the process of signing up various functions operating on the campus. If you want to know more about this…forget it, it’s way by us. It started out as a class project and when the class ended his instructor encouraged him and his partner to continue with it and develop it into a business.

Sam Sagartz, grandson extraordinaire

No, Grandma didn’t shrink, we just grow them big in our family.

Below is a farmers market that was set up right there on campus.

There are lots of fountains around campus, it makes for peaceful settings.

Here’s the famous mascot. The Trojan. Sam takes the ribbing from the other schools very well!

Where we parked we came across these parking meters that accept credit cards. Never seen them before! E and I were looking for change and not having success, Sam walked up and swiped his card, which totally amazed us!

When we left Long Beach we moved about 50 miles south to Camp Pendleton. Actually San Onofre Recreation Area and also State Beach. There we were parked facing the ocean with the railroad tracks right behind us. Fortunately, most of the trains there are passenger trains so they are very short and not nearly as noisy as freights. The ocean seemed to mute the sound of the trains too and with a view like that, who cares anyway?

San Onofre is famous for its nuclear power plant, that went inactive in January 2012.
A news account at that time:
QUOTE
LOS ANGELES -- The demise of California's San Onofre nuclear power plant began with an attempt to fix it.
A $670 million equipment swap in 2009 and 2010 went haywire, leaving Southern California Edison on Friday with two idle reactors, more than $500 million in bills and a federal decision on a possible restart nowhere in sight.
The company decided to close it, permanently. The announcement triggered a celebration among environmentalists and other critics of the nuclear power industry who argued the plant was too damaged to operate safely. UNQUOTE

That’s the nuclear plant in the background. The picture was taken on our bicycle ride thru the State Park and on down the coast thru more of Camp Pendleton. The old highway 1 was closed to motor vehicles, only walkers and bicycles are allowed now. It was really nice, we did a total of 10 miles that day and were really glad to get home when it was complete. I guess we aren’t as young as we once were.

Dana Point was not very far from the camp. We went mainly because there were several geocaches hidden here. It was a beautiful day, not much smog or fog, in fact the only day that really had a marine layer was the day we left. You can’t see it but there was a cache on one of the poles for the sign below.

Where’s Waldo? This is only a portion of the marina. There’s much more and café’s and restaurants and stuff. A terrific place to walk and find caches! Too busy for bikes.

So, where’s the fire hydrant?

Just a few of the elephants spread around the marina.

“The world’s largest open-air exhibition dedicated to saving the Asian Elephant, a species threatened with extinction. After stops in Milan, London, Singapore and other global destinations the spectacle of culture and creativity makes its American debut at Dana Point.”

While here, we were able to connect with Gary’s niece Becky and husband John Droigk, who live in San Diego.

We spent a nice afternoon with them, and played some board/card games. Eloise spent a good deal of the summer making a quilt for the daughter that Becky is due to deliver in November.

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Our site was right on the beach, with full hookups, 50A. Couldn’t ask for a neater place. Step out your door and you’re there! Even as a military park, it was a little pricey, but considering it’s on the beach near San Diego, maybe $40 a nite isn’t so terribly bad. We spent a week here, and loved every minute.

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Yes, there was a train right behind us, but it didn’t make much noise, and it was only the Metro link that ran there, no freight. Hardly knew when it went through!