San Diego Museum Of Art Or Not

One of the things I have wanted to do on this trip was to visit some art museums.  This is really not high on Kim's list of things to do.  I like to look at paintings and photography.  His taste runs more toward artifacts and history.  I'm lucky he has been willing to visit the California Missions.  I get to enjoy the artwork and tranquility of the missions and gardens, and he gets to look at and read about the history.

Convincing him that he should visit the San Diego Museum of Art with me was a lost cause.  Lucky for me, I have a friend here in the area that is an artist and she agreed to take me.   So on Wednesday morning, we were off!

And the lesson for that day was "Check the website to make sure the museum is actually open"  Yes, that's right.  We made our way to Balboa Park only to find out the museum was closed on Wednesdays.  Disappointed, yes, but nothing we could do about it.  Looking for the positive in the experience, we found excellent parking right by the Balboa Park Shuttle at Inspiration Point.  Parking was free.  The park itself is free, and absolutely beautiful!  And huge!  The Timken Art Museum was open, and free to the public.  It's a smaller collection but some lovely pieces.   It was fun to go with an artist who could actual point out things that I would have missed.  I wish I could have taken pictures so I would not have to resort to links to share this artwork.

One of my favorite pieces was done by John F Peto called In The Library.

http://www.timkenmuseum.org/collection/american/library-1900

And this one by Emanuel de Witte called Interior of the Nieuwe Kerk

http://www.timkenmuseum.org/collection/dutchflemish/interior-nieuwe-kerk-amsterdam

And this still life by Anonymous

http://www.timkenmuseum.org/collection/italian/annoymous

We also were able to take in the Botanical Building, where I was able to snap some pictures.

Some flowering plants - mostly orchids I think.

And some others that looked cool

This one (below) is my favorite!

This one comes in a close second!

These shots are random ones of the grounds and buildings around the Botanical Building and the Art Museum.

And to prove to Kim that there was something for him to enjoy.....

To see everything there was to see here, would take a few days.  Some day I will go back, and take Kim with me.  There are far more of "his kind" of museums there than there were "mine."

Squeegees, Sheets and Other Stuff

Time for a little shout out for a few of my favorite RV things, a gripe, and a request for input.

Squeegees - Four years ago, while staying at my brother-in-law's, I fell in love the squeegee he had in his guest bathroom.  I couldn't wait to get home to get one for the house and one for the RV.  Unfortunately, I never could find that brand at home in Washington State.  When dear BIL sold his house and was moving to another, he gifted me that squeegee.  I have been using it in my own bathroom ever since.  When we packed the RV to head south, I decided to leave the good squeegee at home for the house sitter.  I purchased a new squeegee for the rig.  It was pretty and sparkle-ly.

However, the first time I took a shower, I realized it was useless in the small confines of an RV shower.   The blade is 11.5" and overall it is 12" wide.  There was only one section of the shower stall where I could easily use it.  Dang!

On a trip to Walmart we picked up an O'Cedar squeegee.  One use with that and I remembered how I didn't like that brand because you had to push on it so hard to get the rubber to actually connect with the surface.

Then Kim made a trip to Ralph's (a Kroger affiliate store) for some ice.  And what to his wondering eyes should appear.......a squeegee just like the one Tom gave us, right there!

The blade is just 7.75" wide and fits all but one little section of the shower stall where the wall rounds to connect with the door.  I am now a happy camper!

Sheets - On our last long RV trip, I did battle with sheets on the bed all the time.  I didn't know RV mattresses were shorter than regular mattresses.  We are short people so we just never noticed.  It was such a hassle to change those sheets; we had to use sheet garters to keep them on the bed.  It always took both of us to do this.  One to hold the mattress up off the bed frame, and one to hook on the garters.  Then I found RV sheets on Amazon.  You long term RVers probably knew this, but it was a very pleasant surprise for me.  And I love these sheets.  They stay nice and cool at night.  Not only does the bottom sheet fit, but the top sheet has a fitted bottom!   Here's a link to the ones I bought.  I'm not affiliated with the company.  One of these days I'll figure out how to do a screen shot on my MacBookPro.

Queen Sized RV Sheets I Got From Amazon

My other new purchase before we left on this trip was one of the NuWave Induction Cook Tops; the single burner one.  I didn't buy it from the TV infomercial, because I wasn't sure I was going to like it, so I didn't want to do the BOGOF offer in case I had to send it back.  I just went to Walmart and bought it from their "As Seen On TV" Department.  I've been very pleased with it.  It makes great fried chicken and great pork chops.  Here's their website, but my disclaimer is this - watch for all the added extras for which you just pay "shipping and handling"  Some of those fees are outrageously high.  I'm pleased with mine, but like I said, I got it at Walmart so there were no added fees.  I also made a trip to Ikea to get the pans that have the induction symbol on the bottom.  I had priced other induction pans at Target and Bed, Bath and Beyond.  Ikea's were less expensive and a better quality, IMHO anyway.  Unfortunately my T-fal pans, that I love, wouldn't work with the induction cooktop, but the ones I got from Ikea work just fine.

NuWave Induction Cooktop/Burner

Now for my little, itty, bitty gripe.  I've been reading lots of RV and travel blogs recently.  It may get boring or repetitive to continually make mention of where you are, especially if you are somewhere long term, but please do it anyway.  Lots of times people mention parks or towns or restaurants, and I have no idea where the are.  I may go back a few entries to see if it is readily apparent in a previous post, but more often than not, it isn't.  So pretty please, let your reader's know where you are.  We may want to visit there too!  We are currently camping at Champagne Lakes RV Park in Escondido, CA.  I really like it here.

Tomorrow we are off to visit the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park.  We've signed up for a Caravan Safari. I'm quite excited to go.  If you've been and have any insights you like to share or don't miss opportunities, please share let me know.

We've Not Been Travelling In The RV For A Few Years......

does that mean we are still virgins?   Well, if not virgins, certainly we are in need of more experience.  I prefer experience of the "good" sort....you know, the kind where you read about some problem and its solution before it happens to you!

We are about six weeks out from hitting the road again for a journey to California and Arizona.  Both Kim and I are busy reading other blogs and checking out websites.  I've got half the trip planned with our longer destinations being the Santa Cruz area, San Diego, Phoenix and Cottonwood, AZ.  We may be traveling by the seat of our pants on our way home, depending on weather and how much we miss seeing the grandkids.  That's the hardest part of us - missing the day to day interactions with those little buggers.  However, the traveling itch has struck and it must be tended to.

If you have any must sees in the areas we will be visiting, please do let us know.