We went up to Orange County to see our daughter, Susan. We stayed at this very unique hotel in Irvine. The Old Town Historic La Quinta Inn & Suites Irvine Spectrum is in a league of its own. This four-story hotel is listed in the National Registry of Historical Sites.
In 1986, La Quinta Motor Inns converted the grain silos of Irvine's former bean and grain warehouse into an inn; making it the most creative re-adaptive use of a building in the historic district. The concrete structure was made to hold 16,000,000 lbs. of beans and barley in each of the 32 hexagonal silos. They were capable of loading a railroad car in ten minutes!
La Quinta Inns decided to keep the industrial look of the granary to preserve it as a historical landmark. They have accomplished this by keeping the original tin roof and leaving the cement walls unpainted in accordance with the standards set by the Irvine Historical Society.
In the silo lobby, there are picture displays, as well as the original main lift. It is really an interesting hotel.
Friday, March 9, 2018
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Our New Car - National City
After selling the RV, we took steps to sell the truck (2008 Ford F350 Crew Cab Long Bed). We had it washed and detailed before taking it to Car Max for an independent appraisal. They offered $14,000 cash.
Next we went to the dealers for our top 2 choices in the replacement vehicle – Honda CRV or Subaru Forester. The local Honda dealer is also the Ford dealer so we thought we might get a better trade value than Car Max’s offer or even Subaru’s. Since we had each had Subaru Loyales for almost 20 years prior to our RV adventure, were leaning that way. So began the difficult decision process – Honda CRV or Subaru Forester???? Test driving wasn’t really very helpful, as they were pretty comparable. Nor, was the comparison of amenities/options. Finally, it came down to the trade-in value offered by the dealers. AND, they both agreed that $16,000 was a value they could do! The process was not working out in favor of 1 or the other, damn!
Finally, we went with our history of Subaru and got a red ’18 Forester! The car is smaller than the truck both inside and outside. From the INSIDE perspective, we are learning what we really need to keep inside and where to put it all. Since the car is not like our truck was a home away from home, there are a number of things we don’t need – like a full 1st aid kit, Karma’s dog park paraphernalia bag, emergency items (no longer travelling in/on unimproved roadways), etc. etc. etc.
With respect to the OUTSIDE perspective, the biggest advantage is that we can now park the vehicle in any standard space in any standard parking area. With the truck it was always a challenge to 1) find a parking area we could navigate and then 2) find a parking space wide and long enough to safely leave the truck without obstructing others or worse yet being hit by another.
Next we went to the dealers for our top 2 choices in the replacement vehicle – Honda CRV or Subaru Forester. The local Honda dealer is also the Ford dealer so we thought we might get a better trade value than Car Max’s offer or even Subaru’s. Since we had each had Subaru Loyales for almost 20 years prior to our RV adventure, were leaning that way. So began the difficult decision process – Honda CRV or Subaru Forester???? Test driving wasn’t really very helpful, as they were pretty comparable. Nor, was the comparison of amenities/options. Finally, it came down to the trade-in value offered by the dealers. AND, they both agreed that $16,000 was a value they could do! The process was not working out in favor of 1 or the other, damn!
Finally, we went with our history of Subaru and got a red ’18 Forester! The car is smaller than the truck both inside and outside. From the INSIDE perspective, we are learning what we really need to keep inside and where to put it all. Since the car is not like our truck was a home away from home, there are a number of things we don’t need – like a full 1st aid kit, Karma’s dog park paraphernalia bag, emergency items (no longer travelling in/on unimproved roadways), etc. etc. etc.
With respect to the OUTSIDE perspective, the biggest advantage is that we can now park the vehicle in any standard space in any standard parking area. With the truck it was always a challenge to 1) find a parking area we could navigate and then 2) find a parking space wide and long enough to safely leave the truck without obstructing others or worse yet being hit by another.
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