German Unimog Visit

  "Truck Buddies" from Germany stop by while on "farewell tour"

Event Report 201705-12

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The Experience

Over the years we have developed friendships with a variety of folks with the only "thing" in common being we own German trucks.  We got an email from Stephan and Petra Shumann that they were on the west coast and were headed to Baja.  We invited them to stay with us as they had during previous trips.  They were on their "way out" of the country and en-route back to Germany.  Their plan was to cross the border at Tijuana and then continue south to La Paz and take the ferry east to the mainland.  Once on the mainland, they would continue south and east to Veracruz and ship the truck back to Germany.  Kathleen and I had just gotten back from a 3-month road trip ourselves and returned just a couple of days before Stephan and Petra arrived.

These photos were taken with a Sony A7RM2 body with a variety of lenses while showing Stephan and Petra around town.

The photos below are what we saw.

Kathleen and I had been traveling for over 3 months so our internal clocks were askew.  I awoke quite early and being winter, the sun had not yet fully risen.  Above is a sunrise from Jamestown cul-de-sac.

Stephan's truck is named "Felix" and they parked in the cul-de-sac for the night.  There was a full moon rising so I attempted to photograph it, but it was way too bright relative to the surroundings.  This 15 second shot shows nice illumination of the mountains in the distance from the moonlight.

Ah, the beach.  We had suffered a string of strong Santa Ana days with high winds and brush fires.  The day we chose to go to the beach was quite windy, but very warm.  The beach was essentially deserted except for this nubile lass working on her tan.  The winds were whipping spume off breaking waves resulting in interesting veils of spray with each new wave.  We had lunch at World Famous on the boardwalk and then headed out on foot to see what was happening.

The story here is the brown smoke on the horizon.  This smoke was from the Lilac Fire in Bonsall after burning 50 homes.

I can only imagine what the "Seawall Social Club" might be.

This gal looked so fine that Kathleen wondered if she was "working".  Nope, her boyfriend was having lunch at one of the tables and she was texting.

Beach cruisers for rent.

The vast reaches of empty beach allowed a bit of football.

Many folks walk along the seawall so the City of San Diego was nice enough to post mileages to various points.

The north end of the seawall was recently renovated and now it looks great.

Crystal Pier hosts a number of cabins for rent.  The beach was quite empty.

The Santa Ana winds gave us a clear view all the way south to Point Loma and the Ocean Beach pier.

The sun produced sparkling reflections on the water.

Not many folks were in the water.

It would seem that Kathleen and I have lost touch with our own city.  When we walked past (what used to be) Armando's Green Flash we were shocked to discover that the establishment had changed owners -- three years ago!

The strong Santa Ana winds forced aircraft to land to the east into the wind.

The Lahaina Beach House, always a favorite with the beer-swilling crowd.

I never got the story on this gal, but as you can see from her legs, all is not well.  She did not appear to be looking for handouts although that was what I expected.

On Stephan and Petra's last day in the U.S. they wanted to go downtown to see the waterfront.  Above is a large tourist boat that takes passengers around the bay at high speed.


The boat was plenty fast and made plenty of noise.


The Marriott hotel and marina on San Diego Bay.

There is always pricey hardware docked at the Marriott's marina.  This rig was no exception.


San Diego has grown significantly since I moved here in 1977.  Deluxe apartments have been built right across from the marina.

More pricey apartments right on the waterfront.

We walked to Fourth and Fifth Avenues to get some ice cream.  The sidewalks were quite empty.


Horton Plaza, always a favorite with the homeless who pass out on the tables in the plaza.

The plaza has been recently renovated, but it still attracts some colorful visitors.

Kathleen and I seem to have great luck in "on-siting" events.  In this case, it was the Holiday Pet Parade.  Who would have known that such a thing even existed?  Above is a truck associated with some kind of pet food.  Red Bulls, Blue Buffaloes, what will they think of next?  Oh, how about "Red Rat" or "Pink Pig" or "Chartreuse Cow"?

I am not into pets in costumes, but I did have to chuckle at the Boston Terrier on motorcycle being driven by owner with RC controller in hand.

The main body of the parade.

This poor dog was made to suffer the indignity of wearing antlers.  Oh, the horror!  Almost as bad as the owner's choice of sox and shoes.

A nice classic car.

Petra, Stephan and Kathleen pose with Felix before they leave for Baja.

I see you, you slimy little bastard!  The gopher ate the inside of my agave plant and totally destroyed the plant.  A nice cactus was reduced to a pile of leaves.  The gopher's head is visible at the center of the photo above.

They are finally rolling toward the border.  Farewell!

We enjoyed hosting Stephan and Petra and wish them safe travels on their return to Germany.  Their border crossing was a bit fragmented, however.  In an email a day after the crossing, Stephan stated that they went to Otay Mesa because the paperwork would be easier there.  Indeed, they did get their documents in short order, but after they were complete, they were told that they could not cross at Otay because Felix was too big to fit through the X-ray machine.  They would have to cross back to the U.S. (with a full incoming inspection by CBP) and then travel to San Ysidro and cross there.  Stephan and Petra complied, but they were quite late so they had to bypass some attractions on their way south to Ensenada.

San Diego always has fun things to see and do and we enjoyed hosting our German guests.


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