Classic Cars and more at the San Marcos Grand Summer Festival - 08/31/08 05:32 PM
The San Marcos Grand Summer Festival had two stages with wonderful live music, a classic car show, plenty of great food and lots of local businesses showing off their expertise.

The City of San Marcos was well represented again with a large open booth that was full of maps of what San Marcos will soon look like.  The City had information on all of their projects including the San Marcos Creek Project and the University Village Project.
"No on O" was another booth with representatives explaining why the wonderful projects that the City of San Marcos has planned may be … (0 comments)

an evening in San Marcos - 08/30/08 07:55 PM
While relaxing after a long day showing property, I was sitting out on our deck in San Marcos and noticed the sky take on a wonderful color.  After all the rush and stress of the day this really helped me STOP and enjoy.
We are very lucky to be able to live where we live.  The weather, if you can call it that, is generally wonderful.  I know that some prefer the change of the seasons but since I am a native Californian, I have not had the pleasure.  I can ski in the morning and still get in an afternoon … (0 comments)

New area code 442 in North San Diego County - 08/29/08 07:38 PM
******UPDATE****  THIS WILL NOW BE AN OVERLAY AND NOT A AN AREA CODE SPLIT ******
760 is the largest area code in the state of California so it is no surprise that it will soon be split.  The new 442 area code will affect most of the cities in North San Diego County.  The cities affected include:
Borrego, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Escondido, Fallbrook, Julian, Oceanside, Pauma Valley, Pendleton, Ramona, San Marcos, Valley Center, Vista, and Warner Springs.
 
According to the CPUC, the start of mandatory dialing will not take affect until May 16th, 2009 but permissive dialing will begin on November … (0 comments)

San Marcos Grand Summer Festival - 08/27/08 03:26 PM

The Grand Summer Festival in San Marcos will be held August 31 from 9 am to 5 pm on Via Vera Cruz, near Old California Restaurant Row. Once again, the Classic Car show will be sponsored by Dalton's Road House, which is located near the 78 and Nordahl.  In addition to the two stages of live music, there will be a beer garden and hundreds of vendors!  A fun filled day for the whole family!  The admission cost is FREE!! 
There will be two stages of live entertainment to include the acts listed below:
Salt Creek, Country Rock Band: 12-2 pm
Backwater Blues Band, … (1 comments)

Old California Restaurant Row in San Marcos - 08/27/08 02:51 PM
Old California Restaurant Row began as a Fruit stand in the early seventies by Los Angeles transplants Jim and Vera Eubank.  The first full service restaurant. Gentleman's Choice, was built in 1978 by Jim Eubank.  Soon after the success of the restaurant and because of the central location of San Marcos, which is between the City of Escondido and the Coast, many more restaurants followed.  Today there is no shortage of variety at Old California Restaurant Row in San Marcos with almost every type of cuisine represented. 
Dining aficionados throughout San Diego and North County will have an unprecedented opportunity to … (6 comments)

A "Wild" day at the Park - 08/25/08 06:35 PM
While we have great hiking trails, tasty restaurants, and enjoyable festivals, we are very close to the World renowned San Diego Wild Animal Park.  The Wild Animal Park is the sister park to the famous San Diego Zoo but the layout is completely different.  The animal enclosures at the Wild animal Park are many acres in size, which allows the animals to be seen in a habitat that is much closer to their natural surroundings.
I highly recommend a season pass, which allows unlimited access to the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
As you can see by the photos … (3 comments)

Growth Management in San Marcos - 08/24/08 07:53 PM
There will be two initiatives on the November ballot that are specific to the City of San Marcos. While the two initiatives are very important, one could have detrimental long term effects for the citizens of San Marcos.Proposition "O", if approved would take away your representative government as it relates to city planning. The decisions made to make amendments to the general plan are not taken lightly. Your elected city government spends a great deal of time and energy when making a determination on amending the City's general plan and to ask each voter to be this diligent in reviewing mountains … (0 comments)

Alzheimer's disease common symptoms - 08/22/08 09:11 PM
I thought this would be a good time to repost this from a few years ago.  Very helpful information!
I belong to the Kiwanis Club of San Marcos and at our weekly meeting this morning Melissa Chaty from the Alzheimer's Association presented some very helpful information.
Among other items, Melissa provided us with a list of "10 Warning signs of Alzheimer's disease"
     1) Memory Loss (more than occasionally forgetting a name or an apointment)
     2) Difficulty performing familiar tasks
     3) Problems with language
     4) Disorientation to time and place
     5) Poor or decreased judgment
     6) Problems … (0 comments)

Jack's Pond: Another hidden gem in San Marcos, CA - 08/22/08 11:59 AM
Jack's Pond is great little rural piece of the City that is hidden in a small canyon below the Walnut Hills area in San Marcos. There is a very easy 1 mile trail with abundant wildlife all around. I do not believe that most residents even know that it is part of our community. I took a stroll through the other day and snapped a few photos.



You can locate more information about the San Marcos Trail System on the City's web site at City of San Marcos, CA
… (2 comments)

Discover Discovery Lake, San Marcos CA - 08/20/08 04:39 PM
Below are a few photos from around Discovery Lake in San Marcos, which is a nice little gem hidden in Discovery Hills.
                             
                            
                            
The photo in the bottom right corner is a little (ok extremely) hard to see but there is a duck feeding a chick.
Discovery Lake is at the end of Foxhall just beyond the small park and tot lot. The loop around the lake is part of the San Marcos trail system, which includes over 50 miles of hiking/biking trails throughout the community.
 
… (4 comments)

No on O - 08/20/08 02:16 PM
Among the many initiatives and propositions coming to voters this November, one is specifically for San Marcos and has potentially devastating ramifications for the citizens and the City of San Marcos.
 Seifert Consulting Group was commissioned by the City to offer an unbiased fiscal impact report.  That report, combined with the initiative itself, speak volumes.  There are several areas that are of concern financially to the City and to the taxpayers should this Proposition O pass.
 The initiative, submitted by two community activists, is an initiative that has been called legally flawed by both the Seifert report and the City Attorney. … (1 comments)

You can't use a John Deere when you farm - 08/20/08 01:45 PM

If you walk your own farm or contract out the work there are a few rules to keep in mind:
1) Try not to walk across home owner lawns.
2) Never leave your literature at properties that are already listed by another agent.
3) Always provide something of value in your door drop material.
4) Always wear a smile. Be friendly and acknowledge neighbors if they are out.
5) If the property has a stack of papers, literature, newspapers, etc, don't add to the stack.  Simply make a note of the address and mail your information to that home.
6) … (2 comments)

REOs look a little better now - 08/17/08 11:47 AM
These photos were taken about a year ago and I have noticed that REO properties are not usually this bad anymore.  It seems that there is a pretty good process in place by banks and brokers to get the properties ready to show.
The following are all from the same property. There were MANY other issues including electrical, broken windows, damaged AC, etc. 
After viewing this property, I contacted the listing agent about the active leak in the garage.  They initially had turned off main water supply but it takes a while for a 50 gal water heater tank to empty with a slow … (1 comments)

Can't see it from the street! This is why I encourage buyers to select an inspector that will walk the roof during the physical home inspection. - 08/09/08 08:34 PM

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A bird in paradise. Caring for client's bird while they are on two year deployment. - 08/07/08 06:12 PM

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