A visit to Southern California is very much a re-visit to favourite locations. Take for example the road trip north up into Riverside County to the museum at March.

 (Oh, look, a TRUMP billboard,

and a few days later there was a KAMALA HARRIS car bumper sticker – recent history…)

 By the day after Thanksgiving Santa had already piloted a sleek Blackbird (Lockheed SR-71 long-range reconnaissance aircraft) into the Field Air Museum building.

Cal Guy Jnr spent some time exploring the cockpit of a Folland Gnat (British 1950s fighter aircraft and jet trainer). This specimen (note its pretty colours!) had been used with the Indian Air Force.

 When the talk got technical Boatwif wandered away to discover for herself some fascinating exhibits: there was a moving letter, handwritten by King George V in April 1918, read the words if you can,

there was a ring indicating that the wearer had a son or husband in military service (WWI);

there was a wedding dress made from parachute silk

and an armored Bible designed to give physical and spiritual protection to a soldier or airman. (There were some, it seems who contended that such Bibles were part of a growing “racket” in World War II that preyed on the concerns held by military families.)

Elsewhere was displayed a pair of heavy, brown leather flight gloves. GLOVES…

On a shelf in the corner of the second exhibition room was an elaborate piece of silverware, the Riverside Trophy, awarded for success in navigation and bombing competitions.

This was another trigger to Find The Gloves. (During a 2018 visit to the UK Cal Guy Snr had inherited one of the Captain’s flying overalls – and subsequently he wore it in the US at Halloween events… Oh, how the Captain bemoaned the loss of his flying gloves, which he’d left in a pocket of the flying suit. Discussion at the Museum with the Curator focused on the Captain’s offer to donate memorabilia from the 1976 USAF competition… but wouldn’t such a donation be enhanced by the addition of the flying gloves…? After twice daily reminders Cal Guy Snr ‘dug deep’ - and then dug deep into his storage boxes to discover the missing flying gloves. Result!)

It's a museum concerned with aircraft - and also with related subject matter, hence some striking poster material.

“We’ve got north of 80 aircraft out there,” a volunteer Museum guide explained.

A military aircraft fan could spend a good deal of time patrolling round the vast static display, but Boatwif was content to note the “era” noted for each aircraft:

The airfield sits in a desert landscape within a bowl of hills; M (for March) is marked out on a hillside to the north.

After a long wander between the static aircraft there was a return down the freeways, passing through the edge of Escondido (note an E on the hillside above the city)

and back to San Marcos where there’s a P on the steep slopes behind Palomar College.

A favourite spot for a picnic lunch is Double Peak Park which overlooks the still growing city of San Marcos. It’s a slow pleasure to look beyond the Baquitos Lagoon to the coast,

to try to make out the skyscrapers of San Diego to the south and to gaze down on the fast growing city. You can look across at the steep slopes of the surrounding hills -

hikers and bikers should take note of local signage…

Twenty years ago development in the Creek District was just a planning proposal - now buildings (student accommodation, local shops and offices) have taken root just across the road from the Cal State University campus.

Another MUST DO event is a day trip to Balboa Park

– for museums, musicians and free entertainment…

The Cal Guys and the Captain found much to see in The Air and Space Museum while Boatwif admired the newly restored Botanical Building,

checked out the exhibits in the Spanish Village Art Center,

saw The  Jewels of the Season in the Timken Museum of Art

and discovered for the first time the Institute of Contemporary Art.  What a find – sculptures and wall installations inspired by weather data and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Then there were just two days left of the California trip. “I’ll drive you round tomorrow, if you like,” said Cal Guy Snr.  A satisfying day included a visit to a UPS store to send out mail, a Pannikin lunch,

a return to Oceanside to view the seafront from the Pier (minus the sea fog),

to look at the the beach and the harbor

plus make a nostalgic visit to Walnut Grove Park at the northern end of San Marcos.

There were new memories now to seal and cherish: Cal Guy Jnr cooking a spag bol for the family, boats on the water out at Oceanside,

a quartet of lifeguard lookouts gathered together for winter,

the harbor sea lions barking and arguing,

a shiny vehicle alongside on the freeway

and backyard sunsets.  

A badge on a T-shirt says it well:

And when early one evening the aircraft was heading back to Heathrow there was one book store  title to be remembered.

As for the white leather flying gloves, they’ve come back to the UK for now, where seriously warm winter gloves are required every day to contend with very different weather conditions…

 Distance by air back to the UK: 5,500 miles

Films watched during overnight flight: 1) The Holdovers (2023); 2) Young Woman and the Sea (2024)