CHIPPEWA MARINE BLOG

If you’re like us and are always snapping pictures to chronicle your travels, this is a must see video:

Today is Chuck’s birthday and I made him a cake. It was just a regular ol’ birthday cake, however – nothing as grand as these camping / RV themed ones I found on the ‘net:

Hope you enjoyed the cake anyway, Chuck! Your second birthday as a Full-timer – RV having fun yet?

What an appropriate video to watch for the beginning of the New Year:

Today we decided to visit “The Official Center of the World” located in Felicty, CA which is just about an hour’s drive from El Centro, where we’re currently camped. As you drive along I-8 East towards Yuma, AZ, it is just off the highway very near the border. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the place as I’m not that into man-made tourist traps. However, Chuck was really looking forward to seeing it (he loves Roadside America kitsch).

When we got there, we had a little altercation with Felicity – the person. Apparently the ‘town’ and tourist trap is named after her and she is quite full of herself. When we arrived at the place, she saw Shadow in our car and said we could bring her in. Great! We got out of the truck and let her walk on the grass. She then told us to enter the “Center of the World” by going into the Gift Shop. We thanked her and walked towards the shop, stopping to take pictures of the neat stuff they had outside, including a stone replica of Michaelangelo’s David’s arm being used as the pointer for a sun-dial on the ground. As I walked toward it with Shadow in tow so Chuck could take a picture, she came running over to us, screaming (literally) that we couldn’t go near it. Okay, no problem. I apologized immediately for getting too close to something she didn’t want us to be near. That wasn’t good enough. She continued to yell at me, despite repeated apologies for somehow offending her. Then she angrily added, “I told you to go to the gift shop. I don’t know what you’re still doing out here anyway.” Yikes! She really was going overboard. What a great way to greet tourists! If I had had my way, I would have left the place immediately. I don’t like to give business to rude and obnoxious people. However, Chuck really had his heart set on seeing the place, so we continued to the Gift Shop – but not before Ms. Felicity stomped over to the clerk inside and instructed her to charge us an additional $1.50 to allow our dog inside. Really – how petty can you get?

After paying $3 each (and $1.50 for Shadow) Debbie, the clerk, (who was refreshingly and wonderfully pleasant and polite and really made up for her obnoxious boss) apologized for Felicity, shrugging as she said, “That is Felicity, so what she says goes around here. Maybe she was upset by the Earthquake we just had.” Earthquake?!  Seriously?! Yes. Debbie told us that at about 11:20 AM the ground shook for quite a while there. And we missed it – by about 30 minutes! We were driving at the time and had no indication that such an event was taking place. Only later this evening, after watching the news, did we find out that while no severe damage appears to have been done in the area, Mexicali, Baja California Norte just south of Calexico, El Centro, CA, and Quartzsite and Yuma, Arizona all felt the quake. The US Geologic Survey reports the quake had an epicenter 20 miles southeast of Mexicali, with a 5.8 richter scale reading.

Chuck and I have lived in California before (he several times in the past; we together back in the early 1980s) and though Chuck experienced a minor earthquake himself once, I have never experienced one. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to be here during a San Francisco-catastrophic-type earthquake and wish nothing bad to happen to anyone, but if there is going to be an earthquake while I’m here, I’d at least like to have felt it to have had the experience! Oh, well.

Anyway, the “Center of the Earth” was different, and had it not been for the nasty ‘Felicity Encounter’ when we arrived, I would have enjoyed it more. Chuck was impressed and enjoyed the 7 minute movie presentation and the idea of actually being at the “Center of the World”. If nothing else, it’s one of those things we can now say, “Been there, done that.”

We came across this picture online and just had to share. A little out of our price range, we’re sure, but it is a neat idea. Chuck says he’s saving his pennies…

Me, Cheryl & Shadow standing on the Grinder (Parade Deck)

We drove to MCRD yesterday from El Centro, where we are staying. 50 years ago when I went through the main gate I thought I went to Hell, but I was in Marine Corps Boot Camp. Only a few minutes after arriving I was standing on yellow foot prints painted on the deck. The next minute I was gasping for air, a Drill Instructor had his hand around my throat. He said, “You were smiling; do you think I look funny?” I knew I was going to die because I could not even talk.
He let me down and for the next 13 weeks I never even thought of smiling.
Funny how you can remember things that happened 50+ years ago. MCRD has changed a lot but in some ways it was the same. It is a beautiful base. See more pictures of MCRD.

We had a really nice day today visiting San Diego, CA. We started with a two hour drive from El Centro through some interesting terrain on Interstate 8. As many times as Chuck and I (before we met, and then together) drove back and forth between our home base in California and my family in Texas for holidays, I don’t think we ever took I-8. The rock formations reminded us so much of City of Rocks in NM. The winds were wicked too! Going west, there were no signs indicating it to be a very windy, dangerous area, but coming back east, there were numerous signs, the first stating “Strong Winds Next 63 miles”. Very scary if we had been pulling our RV behind us! In addition to the winds, the elevation gain was wicked as well – Sea Level to 4,000+ feet in less than 120 miles. Better have some good brakes and transmission.

We got to San Diego and first drove to MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot), right next to the International Airport. Chuck went to boot camp there waaaaay back in 1959! 50 years! Wow. I’ll let him write up a post on his deja vu, but I will say we both enjoyed visiting the base again. It’s a beautiful place – and so nice to be on the other side of those yellow footprints.

After MCRD, we drove around the area, especially the beaches, and in the process found out about a 25ft tall statue of the famous photograph taken by Alfred Eisenstaedt during the VJ Day celebrations in Times Square in 1945. The statue was dedicated in 2007 and is located next to the USS Midway Museum in downtown San Diego (something else we didn’t know was there). As I’m sure many, many couples before us have done, we just had to strike the same pose and take a picture:

Not too bad, if we do have to say so ourselves. We’ve since learned that the official name of this sculpture is “Unconditional Surrender” but it ought to be called “The Kiss”, don’t you think?

It’s always nice to see Crazy Horse Mountain and the Ziolkowski family getting more press:

We just came back from seeing Mystère at Treasure Island, courtesy of Shadow winning Best Dressed Pet at The Great Santa Run last Saturday. THANK YOU, Shadow! What a great kid we have to give us such a great Christmas present. We felt so bad having to leave her alone at home to enjoy it. Rest assured, though, she got some special treats when we got home.

Our first reaction to the show? Wow! and Awesome! And that’s the very mild version! Personally, I really didn’t know what to expect from the show and wasn’t that interested in seeing a circus-style act in Las Vegas, preferring something like The Rat Pack or something similar that seemed more Vegas-y to me. But the show was a gift, and Cirque du Soleil is something Chuck has been wanting to see for a very long time, so I was excited to go – and excited for him.

Simply put, I was completely mesmerized and literally had my mouth agape throughout most of the two-and-a-half to three hour performance and Chuck was equally thrilled; smiling, laughing, and gasping all the while. It was a great show. Mystère is actually very hard to describe as it is the most unusual show I’ve ever seen. I hesitate to provide too much detail, as not knowing what to expect is part of the whole fun of it. I will say that the premise for the program is that it explores the ‘mystery’ of life. I think they did a very good job of making you feel like you’re in a dream while you’re watching. It was funny and entertaining. At various times throughout, performers flitted through the audience, sometimes completely surprising viewers and at others, actually involving them in the performance. It was also a jaw-dropping and mind-blowing time as the strength, agility, and grace demonstrated by the performers just had us shaking our heads and giggling with amazement. Everything was live, and bigger than life. Even the music included costumed singers giving voice to haunting melodies in the balconies while a small symphony played behind them.

We are not usually the type of people to pay $60+ per person for a show. However, if we had not won the tickets and we knew what kind of performance we would be getting for our money, we would probably have bought them ourselves. It was just that good and worth it for the experience. However, I have to say, the concessions were a giant rip-off, a’la movie theaters. $7 for a small plastic cup of beer? $3 for a simple candy bar? Outrageous! But who needs snacks? Just go for the experience of Cirque du Soleil.

If you’re ever in Las Vegas and want to be enthralled, we highly recommend Mystère™ at Treasure Island. Look for discounted tickets during the holidays, or if you’re in the military, from the ITT office at your base (or at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas). We even had half-price coupons handed to us while walking through the casino. So, you can see, you don’t need to pay full price to see a great show – though it would be worth it if you did.

Enjoy the short trailer below. We didn’t take pictures, as they’re not allowed.

Today Shadow won the Best Dressed Pet award at the Las Vegas Santa Run. It was a fun day here in Vegas. 7,000 plus people signed up to run/walk the Las Vegas Santa Run, everyone dressed in Santa suits. There was a best dressed pet contest, which Shadow won easily. She got a big basket of goodies and VIP tickets to Mystère™, Cirque Du Soleil, at Treasure Island for her mom & dad.
See our Photo Album for more Santa Run Pics.