Oasis trip Oceanside nov 2025

Oceanside Nov 2025

View of the Oceanside sign from the boat slip

The Civic center foundation of Oceanside

With Thanksgiving vacation, we decide to bring Oasis for another trip. Initially planning to go to Avalon but the weather was iffy coming back. So we decide to go to Oceanside instead as we can get a 3 day free slip at the Oceanside Yacht Club and it's a good scouting trip. 

We never brought Oasis there but we always thought it would be a good pit stop on our way to Catalina as it breaks up the 16 hours to 8 + 8. And we can leave in the day time and get to Oceanside by 3pm. 

Off we go!

It's a beautiful day to be out in the ocean. 

2 Military Ospreys above Point Loma

We got to the slip and I jumped off the boat and was face to face with a big sea lion. Lol. Turns out the sea lion/seals are big issues at the marina as they have a dedicated island and slips for them there. But they like to roam around the boat slips. So we saw a lot of buckets and caution tape around boats just trying to deter them from getting on the slips and rubbing against the boats. Turns out they leave a  brown fishy slime on the dock and boat that doesn't clean off easily. The good part though is after the first encounter with them on our dock, they never came back after the first day. Whew! 

Buckets on slips to combat the seals!

Beautiful sunset across the Harbor

Oasis in its slip

The 2nd day we went to Oceanside downtown. First stop is Oceanside Pier and we saw a bunch of people swimming for a race. They are fast! And the lifeguards are on guard with 1 boat, 1 surfboard and 1 jet ski! And we saw a lot of people surfing too. 

Oceanside Pier and top gun house

We got a coffee from Pier View Coffee and noticed they have a lot of old pictures of Oceanside

Historical pictures of Oceanside

After that we went to the Art museum OMA (Oceanside Museum of Art). They have 5 galleries that rotates every 3 months (no permanent display) and work with a lot of local artists. There are a display of a competition where 54 works are selected out of 2000 and we got to see those. They also have a display with the surf museum collaboration that is also quite interesting.

Oceanside Museum of Art

Artwork related to Oceanside 

Surfing artwork

We stopped at Petite Madeleine and got a small pumpkin pie for our Thanksgiving dinner. Their pastries look very good and it's on my list to go back. 

Personal size pumpkin pie for our thanksgiving dinner

We decide to stop at crunchy burger for lunch but it was not as good as Rombom. I don't think we need to go back. We also stopped at Johnny Mananas for their happy hour wine

Crunchy Burger

Before heading back to the boat, we did the obligatory touristy stop at the Rooftop bar for a happy hour drink. The view is slightly compromised as it's indented between 2 buildings. Also the sun beats down without shade from the west side. It's worth a visit but not likely to repeat it. 

Happy Hour Drink at the rooftop bar

The Rooftop Bar

The next day is Thanksgiving. We went on a paddle on our paddle boards around the harbor and saw some good fishes population around the rocks of Oceanside Marina suites. Again, beautiful day and great weather! 

Oceanside Harbor

We were able to sit outside for our Thanksgiving dinner on the boat! 

Thanksgiving dinner on Oasis

Another great sunset

We took off the next day back to San Diego. That's when we saw a pod of dolphins after Bill spotted a bunch of seabirds. 

We were about 5 miles offshore from  La Jolla when we saw 2 whales spouts. Bill was able to keep going and we managed to intercept them and went parallel for them for a while. It's quite amazing being this close to them! 

The dolphin and whale spotting really made the trip. It's always fun to bring Oasis out but we will always remember this trip! 

The gnomes of Oceanside =)

Creating some nice meals on Oasis

Paso Robles trip Oct 2025

 Paso Robles Oct 2025

Truss winery

Another trip to Paso! It's the time of the year to collect our wine. This time Joe and Cathy joined us in this trip and we had a lot of fun. 

Who are the good looking people!

Since we didn't get to do the entire Pioneer Day Parade last year, this year we decide to go back during the same weekend to do the full experience! 

Pioneer Day Parade 11 Oct 2025

Driving up via Santa Barbara, Bill found a Argentinian empanada place Buena Onda. Their empanadas are tasty but can be overwhelming with cheese if you do the options that has melted cheese.  

Empanada at Buena Onda

Before getting to Paso, we stop at Tin City for cider and shopped for truffle gnocchi and Italian crackers at Etto. 

Cider at Tin city Cider

After checking into the Paso rental apartment, 

Our apt in downtown Paso

We went to Bushong to collect our wine and get free tastings. We still like Bushong and will keep our wine membership! Had a lot of discussions on their tasting notes with descriptions like wet asphalt =) 

Bushong tasting with Cathy and Joe

Dinner on Friday night is at Grace & Rose. I found a good review of this restaurant that I never heard of. Turns out they used to do a wine bar in the food court area and only got their own place in August. They restored a 110 year old farm house and the project took so long that the owner gave birth to a 2nd child  during the process. Turns out Grace & Rose are the middle names of their 2 children. Very good restaurant with well executed dishes. I'll go back in a heartbeat. 

Grace & Rose dinner. Pics not great due to low lighting

Sat 

We got some pastries from Just Baked in downtown Paso. Last year I noticed it's a really good bakery but didn't have the chance to try their products till now. And took a bunch of their Halloween decorations

Just baked. I can eat anything and everything in there!

After everyone is happily stuffed with baked goods, we joined the parade

Fun in the parade. Joe without whiskers need his button to avoid jail 

Horses and more horses for the parade

Tractors and more tractors for the parade

We were finally able to join the entire parade and got fed by the Bean Feed! 

The whole parade is extremely well organized and efficient. They have 4 lines going through the beans, with everyone collecting a bowl of beans, a bread roll and a water. And you can bring a pot of any size and they will fill it up. 

The Bean Feed

And Joe Joe Gelato is giving away vanilla gelato for dessert. 

Eberle winery

We decide to try a bunch of new wineries this trip and Eberle is top of the list. First is they do free tasting and the atmosphere is very casual but crowded. But their red wines did not finish quite right for me except for the cabernet. 

Pretty tasting room in Eberle

Fun merchandise at Eberle

Sculptera winery 

This winery was recommended by a friend. They have interesting sculptures. Their wine is again not quite right for me to justify their price range. The reds are not complex enough except for the $80 bottle and the white is ok but not worth the $45 price. 

Sculptera winery

Sculptures at Sculptura

Hoyt 

We went to this winery downtown before dinner. It's meant to be a quick pop in and try their wine as we heard they are quite casual. Sure enough there's a cute doggie inside! We had a lot of fun tasting with Janice and once it's just the 3 of us, she totally was entertaining with stories. We end up purchasing some wine from her as they are reasonable and quite good. Esp their Temperanillo taste very similar to Guadalupe valley

Hoyt very casual and fun tasting room 

We had a easy steak taco with zucchini dinner at the apt on Sat night with our friends and called it a night. 

Sun 

We have the full day for tasting. So after a nice breakfast on the patio with more Just Baked quiche and croissant, we head out for more wine! 

Peachy Canyon

This is another very friendly and low key winery. We were there early enough that it's quiet and the pourer is chatty. The only wine we truly like was the rose as the finish isn't there for the other reds. They also waive the tasting with a bottle purchase so we end up buying the rose. They are one of the first 10 wineries in Paso and moved a few times. The current building is a school house so their wine names are quite cute. 

Peachy Canyon

Austin Hope 

We tried to get into the place but bailed once we realized it's a 90 mins tasting and the place is super crowded. Their welcome rose also didn't pass our sniff test as it's very weak. Maybe next time if we can do it at Paso downtown. 

Fratelli Perata

We went to collect a wine shipment for a friend and they comp our tasting. We still like their wines but I do notice their later years have a sweetness that seems more unique to the wine maker Cathy. They have a fun zinfandel that's carbonated for no reason. So they called it the fizzy Zin and it's light and fun. 

Truss

This one was an unexpected stop. I saw they only have 5 yelp reviews so figured they are new but good. So we decide to stop by and luck out that they are giving tasting even without reservations. Their lineup was very similar to Russian river as they bought the current place with the wine ready to go. But the previous owner must have chardonnays and pinots in barrels so they are selling those. But we also barrel tasted some GSM that is stunning. So we joined their club as I thinik they will have some good wine coming our way. 

Truss tasting with barrels and bottles

Ecluse

This one was also recommended by a friend. When we got there it's crowded as it's the wine collection day and everyone is doing their free tasting at the same time. We didn't get any wine as we know our taste buds are busted at that point. What's interesting though is Ecluse got bought by a bigger winery. And their wine is split into 2 sections. The bigger winery is totally uninteresting while Ecluse wine has much more complexity. It will be interesting to see what they will continue to do going forward with this merge. 

Final breakfast with the park view and Just baked goods before we got out of Paso

We are set again for Xmas and New year

Canada gulf island day 9 - Galiano day 2 and Campervan thoughts

 Galiano Day 2

Foggy summit

Did a hike to Mt galiano today and it's foggy at the summit! 

Mt Galiano hike

Waited for 10 mins and saw partial Mayne Island!

We end up bailing and went to check out the japanese charcoal kiln

Japanese Charcoal Kiln

We had lunch this time with Meg, Bob, their neighbour Jan and Martin at the Galiano Inn restaurant Lena which has great pizza. 

Lena pizza

We also saw a studio show that has a few paintings that reminded me of our trip

Exhibit

Our trips through the islands is summarized by these 2 pictures

Today is our last day of the van rental

A little sad packing up the van after it's been our home for 10 days. And a little relieved that we are not handling such a big vehicle anymore

I want to put some of my thoughts and learnings in campervan for my own future reference.

I would do a van trip again especially in a low population area. I don't want to drive it in a freeway getting to campground. The mileage is also top off at 18mpg so I won't want to drive a long way to go camping. It's fun and great to have your home with you where you go. 

Learnings

Safety and tools

Important to have a reputable company with reliable van. They also provided flares,  heat gloves and a simple first aid kit. We brought some basic tools like a Swiss army knife, a sharp tool knife, masking tape and strings. Essential are flash lights and a simple camping light, insect repellent and need basic long sleeves shirt and pants for buggy places. 

It would be nice that the van can provide an indoor space to escape the outdoor if needed. 

Access to driver side without going outside is safer. 

Bring a long cable power plug with usb connections as inverter can be at awkward places. But keep an eye on battery level when using it, especially for heating appliances. 

Solar panels is essential to avoid plug in. 

Eat shit shower  

I like the idea of not having open flame or food smells in the van as the bedding is so near. but the propane is a simple answer which means you need a way to cook outside the van. A electrical kettle to boil water efficiently indoors is ideal. 

Electric fridge is superior to a soggy ice box but that depends on availability. 

Bathroom is the toughest. The bucket is not a bad solution and potentially setting up a bucket indoors might be unavoidable in cold weather. 

Outdoor showers using sun showers  is impossible if campground does not get sun or it's too cold. Indoor showers with heater waters is almost unavoidable 

Organization

Packing cubes is crucial for this trip in order to keep our clothes organized. We also have a hanging organizer to keep things handy and visible without stuffing drawers. It's very similar to boat organization that we are familiar with. 

Put the trash can and coolers in places that you can access from outside the van. 

We need a way to keep dirt out of the van that really just include constant sweeping and not wearing shoes in the van. 

Also during showers we need flip flops that gets all muddy and wet that we had to dry and clean

After getting to Vancouver and returning the van, we stayed a night at the accent hotel which is a hoot.

We picked them as they are 30 mins walking from the van place and has a free shuttle to bring us to the airport in 10 mins. But they had the cutest things ever! 

Cute captain Ducky

Good dinner at Fogg N Suds that's walking distance from the hotel