San Diego

Feb 15     Seaworld

We always miss these 2 while traveling 

We spent the day at Seaworld. We met Josh, Casey, kids, Casey's mom Kathie, sister Courtney and her kids. They drove in from Anaheim where they've been the past week. We got there about 11am. So nice to see Josh and the kids, we really miss JJ and Jade.

Miki, Me, Josh, Casey

Seaworld was nice because there were things for everyone to enjoy. We saw some shows, got to go on the roller coaster and the kids enjoyed the kiddie rides and touch pools. JJ is staying with us for the next few days. He and Miki will fly home together next Wednesday. Josh, Casey, and Jade will go home tomorrow.

Lunch time

Jade is worn out

I bought the San Diego 4 day pass for us. Adults $209, JJ $189. If we go to at least 3 major parks, it'll be worth it. The weather was pretty nice today, cold but at least not raining. We picked the wrong time to visit San Diego. It's at least 20 degrees colder than normal. It's going to be like this for the next week or so.

Ice cream for JJ and grandpa

Feb 16     Legoland

Today we went to Legoland. We left a little late and got there around 11am. It's the holiday weekend and seems like everyone's here. The line for parking was crazy, it took awhile. Parking was $22.00.

JJ & Grandpa locked up

The park was very, very busy. All rides had a long wait. We managed to go on a couple of rides and looked around. We had lunch at the all you can eat pizza and pasta place which was pretty good.

We also went to the Legoland Aquarium. This was included in our pass. It was small but pretty neat.

We all agreed that Legoland was just ok. Maybe we didn't enjoy it because it was so busy. When I got home, I realized that I lost my gold bracelet. So bummed because this was one of my moms.

Feb 17     San Diego Zoo

We spent the day at San Diego Zoo. The weather is supposed to turn cold and rainy later this afternoon so we tried to get there early. The parking is free at the zoo, good deal because we've been paying a lot for parking at the other amusement parks.

We got on the guided bus tour first. A narrated round-trip adventure on Zoo grounds. It was a good tour of the zoo. With our pass we could also go on the Kangaroo Bus. Hop on and off transportation service to 4 locations around the zoo. This really helped because everything is so spread out.

We really enjoyed ourselves. The panda bears exhibit was busy, there was a long line to go and see them. While waiting in line JJ had to pee, we just had him pee in the bushes while standing in line. We could block him enough. Miki was so embarrassed! We also enjoyed the polar bears swimming and the hippos in the water was pretty cool too.

Dinner was at Olive Garden

Feb 18     San Diego Zoo Safari Park

I got up early and made spam musubis this morning. We brought them to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Between the four of us, it didn't last too long. We really enjoyed ourselves at this park. We got on the African Tram and got to see some animals in their naturalistic habitats. There was a long line for this tram because it's free. We waited almost an hour and the tour was about 30 minutes.

These rhinos were huge

We enjoyed watching the gorillas, lions, elephants, rhinos, and all the other wild animals. It was a fun day.

JJ liked the elephants

Comparing JJ to a gorilla

This was the 4th day for our 4 day pass. We really made use of the pass. Worth it but to keep going for 4 days straight was pretty tiring.

Feb 19     La Jolla

JJ took this picture

Last day for Miki & JJ. We took a drive out to La Jolla to see the sea lions, seals, and the pups at the cove. We got lucky with parking and walked along the coast. There are easy walking paths and benches so we could take our time and enjoy the scenery. Went to see the cave and then walked all the way to the childrens pool. The weather was kind of junky and the water was real rough so the walkway around the childrens pool was closed.

There was a lot to see and smell! We enjoyed ourselves.

Feb 20  Saying goodbye to Miki & JJ

Miki & JJ left this morning. They had to be at the airport around 8am so we got up early and started our trek to the airport. Little bit of traffic but they got there on time.

We had a really nice visit with them this past week. We did a lot and had lots of fun. This was the first time JJ was away from his mommy and daddy for so long. He had a couple of melt downs when he got extra tired or when he would get scoldings but that was expected from a 4 year old.

After Miki and JJ left, Joe and I breathed a sigh of relief. We were constantly on the go, we're not used to that. We like to relax and take our time when we travel so this was very different from our norm.

Ducks on the lake

We went for a walk around Santee Lakes later in the day. About 3 miles around the whole area. This is the kind of things we like to do.....old futs!

Feb 22     San Diego City Tour

This morning we got on the Trolley in Santee and took the green line into San Diego. I bought tickets for us to do the city tour on the Hop on Hop off Trolley, $32 each but didn't get a chance to do it earlier because of the weather. Well, we're doing it today and tomorrow we leave for Desert Hot Springs.

View from the Coronado Bridge

Very good tour of San Diego, it made 10 stops around the city. We got on in Old Town, got off at Balboa Park and walked around a little bit, continued on to Little Italy and had lunch at Filippi's. Excellent food, we had a pizza and spinach lasagna. So much food....we had leftovers for dinner.

Balboa Park

Filippi's was real good

Pizza & Spinach Lasagna

When we got back home, we went to the pool and hot tub. First time in 10 days camping here! It was a little cold but we had to do it. The hot tub was really nice and relaxing.



The weather in San Diego was pretty cold and rainy for the last ten days ranging from the low 30's to the low 60's. Not typical San Diego weather. We made the most of it. Managed to see everything that we planned for. Next stop, Desert Hot Springs for some relaxation.

Spring 2019

On a sad note.....

We started our Fall 2018 trip last August and after two days, we got a call from my brother back home and was told my dad had a massive stroke. We flew back home and sadly my dad passed away the morning we flew back to Hawaii. We got to spend an hour with him before he passed. I know he waited for us and just so grateful that we got to spend a little time with him.

Papa Rudy in Vegas last year

So needless to say, the last few months have been very difficult for our family. Joe and I was very close to dad and we miss him terribly. But life goes on....things are going well enough and we feel like we need to take another trip to unwind.

On this Spring trip we are meeting Josh, Casey, and kids in San Diego. Miki will also be spending some time with us in San Diego. Then Joe and I will go back to Desert Hot Springs for a couple of weeks, then onto Scottsdale, Arizona for an RV show.

Las Vegas

Feb 11   The weather last night out of Honolulu was pretty crazy. Very high winds and rainy. When we boarded the plane we met Winky & Leslie's friend Luana. She was one of the flight attendants on the flight. She told us we got tail winds so the flight will be fast. We got out to the runway and it was taking a long time for anything to happen. Then the captain announced there was something wrong with the brakes and maintenance would have to come out and tow us back to the gate. We ended up being delayed 3 hours.

We arrived in Las Vegas at 830am and it was very, very cold. Winky and Leslie picked us up and we went to Omelette House for breakfast. Then they dropped us off in Henderson to get our Kia. The car started right up so we started our errands. We went to Costco to put air in the tires, then drove to a carwash for our dusty car, got a smog check, then went to the DMV to pay for our car registration. By this time it was 1pm. We went to Sunset Station to see if we could check in and thank goodness our room was ready. We were both real tired and ready for a nap. We'll stay here for 2 nights comp.

Bento Box at Tata's Asian Restaurant

Winky woke us up around 5pm to meet for dinner. Tata's Asian Restaurant in Henderson, pretty good. My bento box had shrimp and vegetable tempura, teri beef, sushi. So ono!

Feb 12   We spent the day getting the RV ready because we'll be leaving for San Diego tomorrow.

Santee, California

Feb 13         Las Vegas, NV - Santee, CA                345 miles     7 hours  45 minutes

We got an early start this morning, left Vegas around 6am. The first half of the trip went pretty smooth. We didn't realize there was a lot of uphills and mountain areas between Las Vegas and San Diego, mainly on I15. The wind really kicked up in some areas and we had to take it slow. Joe finally took a break at Pechanga Casino in Temecula. I was curious to see this place but it's set away form the freeway. We just made a brief stop to have some lunch.

Some ugly weather coming up

We checked in at Santee Lakes Recreational Preserve for 10 nights. Good Sam rate here is about $51 per night. It's very nice here. Nice walking area around the campground and lakes, and lots of playgrounds. Lots of wind and rain so can't do much of anything today.

Feb 14   Santee Lakes is about 20 minutes from San Diego. The weather is really bad today. I planned the San Diego Trolley On and Off Tour today but it's storming. Lots of wind and rain. There's even flash flood warnings. Since we can't go anywhere today I decided to do some laundry. Expensive! $2.75 to wash and $2.00 to dry.

Miki came in late tonight. She will be with us for about 1 week to explore San Diego.

Las Vegas...another awesome trip winding down

I forgot to post this blog at the end of our Spring 2018 trip....so about a year late....

Mar 20     Laughlin - Las Vegas RV Resort       92 miles       1 hour 45 minutes

We're back at the Las Vegas RV Resort. We really like it here. $229 for one week. It gives us time to clean and possibly polish the rv before putting it back in storage and heading home.

Joe's brother Noah and his family drove in from Phoenix today. They stopped by for a visit and we all went to the Rio for dinner. We haven't been there in years and the kids wanted to eat crab. Kind of expensive $32.95 but we figure, hey let's treat ourselves. When we got there we found out, to get the seafood it would cost another $20...what a ripoff!

We were already there and decided to pay for two seafood upgrades and four regular dinners. Was good because we would get plates of seafood and put it on the table so everybody could eat. The wait staff didn't say anything and everybody got their share of the goods. Was a pretty good buffet but I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon.

Mar 21

We went to Sam's Town this morning to enter the blackjack tournament. This was a first for Noah. I didn't place but Joe won 4th place and Noah got 8th. Not bad, at least they got their money back.

We had lunch at the buffet at Sam's Town. Was pretty good, cost was $10 each. We ended up spending a lot of time eating and talking story with Noah and Manu while Noah boy and Laola went to the arcade. At home we're all so busy , we don't have time to just sit and talk story so it was a nice visit. They check into a house today in Summerlin and they have other family coming in for the Monster Jam so they'll be busy for the next few days.










Mar 22

Very lazy day but for dinner we drove out to Summerlin where Noah and his family are staying. We picked up pizza at Biaggios. Was very good. The house was nice with a pool, hot tub and a pool table. So something for everyone. We swam for most of the evening. By the time we got home it was after 10 pm. That's late for us old futs.

Noah Boy & Joe

Noah, Joe, and Laola

Mar 24

We took a ride out to Blue Diamond near Red Rock Canyon to see a cactus farm called Cactus Joe's. I just wanted to look around. We didn't buy anything but they got a lot of stuff.

Seafood Hot Pot

After that we drove to Orleans Casino to meet dad and Uncle Mike. We went to Gold Coast Casino for lunch at the Noodle Exchange. Was real good. Dad ordered the combination seafood hot pot with tripe on the side. He really, really enjoyed it. We all had some soup, had plenty to share. I think we ate for 1 1/2 hours.

Salt & Pepper Shrimp

Hot tub time

In the evening after dinner, we went to the pool and hot tub. It was kind of cold and windy but was still nice to soak.










Mar 25

We finally stayed home and cleaned the rv. I gave the inside a good cleaning and Joe polished one side. We've been putting it off, so it's nice to have a clean house.

We're trying to eat up all our food. For dinner I made soba salad and used up some eggs, zucchini, and a block of tofu. Cooked some broccoli and Joe grilled some sweet potato and fish marinated in ginger and miso. I buy the fish from Trader Joe's, so good. Turned out to be a lot of food but we ate almost everything.

Mar 26

We picked up dad and Uncle Mike and went to 808 HMP for lunch. As always, the food was greaat. Then we dropped them off at Golden Nugget where they'll be staying for the next few days.

We met Noah, Manu and the kids at the buffet at Sam's Town. We're kind of tired of eating at buffets but this is the best place for the kids. The buffet here is actually pretty good and it was nice to hang out and talk story with Noah and Manu.

Mar 27     Las Vegas RV Resort - Henderson     5 miles     20 minutes

Dad & Uncle Mike 

Today we put the RV in storage and checked in at Fremont Casino and Hotel. We normally don't stay here but dad got us comp rooms for our last four nights, we're so grateful. They're still at Golden Nugget so easy to get together. For dinner, we went to the seafood buffet at Fremont. Of course, I had my share of crab!











Mar 30

Last day in Las Vegas. We spent the last few days just cruising, gambling, and eating...too much! Because we met up with family and friends a lot, we overate a lot. If we lost any weight during our RV trip we definitely gained it back during the last ten days.

Sportsbook at The Cal

Our flight was scheduled to leave Vegas at 615pm. We had to put the car in storage and catch a cab to the airport, so we planned on leaving Fremont at 2pm. Everything went smoothly. Got the car stored and arranged for Lyft to take us to the airport. This was the first time for us using Lyft and it turned out pretty good. The fare was under $20. This is half the price of a cab.

When we checked in we found that the flight was delayed and is now leaving at 730pm.  We were so upset because it was only 330pm and now we had a four hour wait. After checking in we sat and I started checking my phone, only to find an email sent at 1147am advising us of the delay. What a babooz! We had an early dinner, watched part of a basketball game, and I gambled a bit.

IN CLOSING.....another awesome RV adventure has come to an end. We finally made it to the Coachella Valley and explored Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Indio, Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and the surrounding areas. We put 718 miles on the RV and have memories to last a lifetime.