We decided to get some routine maintenance on the RV which caused us to be late leaving San Dimas on a Friday at the start of a holiday weekend.  This is the view of the I-15 traffic headed on the freeway in the opposite direction…a constant line of headlights backed up for many, many miles.  Luckily for us it wasn’t quite that bad in our direction.  We arrived at our campsite after dark which is something we both hate to do.  We settled in at a nice regional park in Oceanside.

Ah……the Pacific Ocean!  Huge and beautiful.

We enjoyed the feeling of the beach town and enjoyed a glorious sunset.  We even found a street sign with my maiden name….a town where everyone knows my name!

One thing we are getting used to in California is having to pay a deposit on plastic and glass bottles and containers.  When we were in Michigan we were also required to pay a deposit, but we were able to take the bottles back to each local Walmart where they had a recycling area inside the store and if you paid a deposit of 5 cents per bottle, you got back the entire 5 cents.  In California you have to find a recycling center and they weigh the items and give you back about half of the deposit per item.  Items are worth different amounts; for example a pound of plastic Diet Coke bottles or plastic milk containers are worth more than a pound of beer bottles, and beer bottles are worth more than wine bottles.  They also take aluminum cans which we rarely buy, as well as paper, etc.  It is challenging for us in a couple ways.  We have limited room to store empty containers, especially large milk containers, and it is hard for us to find recycling areas when we move every few days.  We took a load to the recycling center near San Dimas and got back a whopping $1.84.  We estimated we received about half of the deposit we had paid in the stores.  Just doesn’t seem fair.  But considering the amount of smog and pollution in California, they need to do something.  We did notice EC gas being sold in the LA area which is an emission control gasoline.  On every street corner are businesses advertising smog testing stations which is required in California.

In spite of this, we do love California, especially the weather and the incredible beauty of the mountains, valleys, and beaches!