You raised him well! I too repurpose most anything I can get my hands on. While remodeling our house, there was an "eyesore" of a pile of demolished materials, but I kept getting things out of it. Had I not had the pile, there is no doubt my bills would've been much higher. Too bad there was no flooring I could use. :) It's gone now, the spot now covered in soft new grass. I'd love to see your buildings you make/improved with your stuff. Can you?

I should not have look at Queensland. By October I will have persuaded myself that since I once proved I could bring tulips into bloom in the South, I should do so again. Somebody show me some Iceland poppies, and some hyacinths, Quick! Baby Buffy ate the potted tulips last year before I ever saw a blossom. Somebody come tear the tulip pictures out of all my catalogs, and just leave the Amaryllis, which do not taste good. Nell

I checked the maps and found that Camp Pendleton is between Oceanside and San Clement, way north of San Diego. Will you be staying in San Diego or will you stay in Oceanside, which is where Camp Pendleton is located? I've only driven through Oceanside, either on my way to San Diego, Vista (to buy orchid cactus), or Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (great for camping/hiking in winter - too hot in summer). If you will be staying in Oceanside, I would recommend Trupianos Italian Restaurant, and otherwise, I would recommend that you do some research before choosing a place, since most of the restaurants there are chains. If you want sushi, try the fish joint. There's nothing adventurous in Oceanside, and so your family should be okay with whatever you find, if that's where you will be. If you go north to Laguna, you can get very adventurous, however, and it's closer to Camp Pendleton than San Diego is. If your family is like my parents, that would not be a good idea, however. You can get adventurous when you get to L.A. Surfas closes at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, but you can view their inventory on line beforehand. Penzey's and TJ's are rather ubiquitous and therefore less of a draw, I think. You'll have a lot of choices for lunch and dinner here. I look forward to meeting you! Lars

I'm new here and just happened across this post. All I can say is Thank God Visa was on duty when we were on a trip last year. We were on a cross country drive to Oregon and the PNW to a family reunion. We had only been home a day when we got a call. Visa said that someone in California had tried to buy several things using our card number. Also that there was evidence that the crook was trying to steal my husband's identity. He had aready asked for a change of address. Needless to say it got our attention. Our card had not been stolen, but the number sure had. Visa gave me all the info I needed, where to call, whom to call. They canceled our card and gave us another card and account number. Their help was invaluable to me in the following weeks. I ended up cancelling all of my accounts, on advice of the feds. Yes, I had to report everything to the federal government's fraud division. My account now has a fraud alert on it for 2 years. It was a royal pain to do everything but if the thief had succeeded in stealing an identity it would have been much, much worse. They can call me anytime. Yes, Kathy, by all means let them know when you are going on vacation.