San Diego skyline captured during Happy Hour at Candela’s in Coronado.ĭue to moving so often in my youth, I have never truly developed a sense of “place” – only a list of destinations. We land here with world travels under our belts, go to high school, and when the parents deploy, transfer, or retire to their state of origin we stick around – especially back in the ’60’s and 70’s when California residents qualified for free college tuition. Transplanted navy brats like us are an untracked dynamic of the San Diego census. The Chula Vista KOA is one of those full-circle things – a landmark for my life in California. The other side of the river is National City where Jim’s friend, Scott introduced us to each other on 16th Street. The KOA – located on the Chula Vista side of the Sweetwater River is my old stomping grounds.įresh from Seattle, Washington, my family settled in the KOA during summer of ’71 while house hunting. Taking Beauty back to the storage lot and driving away feels like abandonment – but we leave her in good hands. She emerged today with new brakes drums, magnets and bearings and since she’s pushing 15 years-old, they installed new grey and black water tank valves. No major worries, just some proactive deep-tissue maintenance.