Some highlights of the trip

Some of you know I happen to be on my first real trip west of the Mississippi - way west, actually. I'm visiting my niece in California. San Diego, California.

We flew out of Greensboro with a connection in Minneapolis. Besides a weird tram and a delayed flight, the ride was long, but smooth. The baby slept much of the way, and he was good while he was awake.

* the pilot didn't know which Great Lake we were flying over
* to be specific, he didn't know we'd flown OVER a Great Lake
* neither did the stewardess
* scary, indeed. Who was flying the plane?

Des and her friend Chili met us at the airport and showed us a bit of downtown. Everything anyone could ever dream up in their entire lives is within walking distance. Krispy Kreme, auto parts store, grocery store, liquor store, comic book store, laundromat, fabric shop, sporting goods store, sushi, mattress store, dollar store, doctor's office, post office, interstate... you get the picture.

The first day out we just vegged out in front of the TV until time for bed - besides a trip to Walmart and Target for diapers, baby food, etc.

Thursday, Destiny worked, so we wandered around the apartment chasing the baby. I did my best to rid her computer of spyware and viruses. Mom and I both used Terry's truck for a trip to WalMart. We went to Mr. Wasabi for dinner and had some so-so sushi and chicken.

Friday, we went to the Flying Leathernecks museum next to the Miramar base and looked at all the old Marine planes. Then we went on base, and then we went to La Jolla beach (so what it's pronouced La Hoi-ya? I'm not spanish) and watched the seals play in the water and sand.

* seals are cool
* Logan loved the seals
* got some great shots of my first time at the Pacific Ocean (wanna see?)
* Jim Lee's studio (Wildstorm Productions) looks out on the water
* I'd be a great artist too if I had a corner office there
* La Jolla is a rich, posh neighborhood, but the people seemed pretty nice
* The grass, however, is so fake.
* People in California like to build on cliffs instead of land
* Watch that first step, it's a woo-woo!
* There are no such things as ridge laws here - everyone wants to be on the top of the hill, not the side
* The weather forecast out here for San Diego county includes 4 different zones: the beach, the mountains, the desert, and the city.

* We went on base to see where Destiny and Terry worked.
* Marines are hot
* especially when they're greasy and in big helicopters
* Terry's unit is deployed to Iraq, but some of the units in their hanger were still working.
* Bought some stuff at the PX
* ate lunch at Sky Burgers
* had lots of fun exploring the vastness of a military base.

Saturday, we drove up in the mountains to Julian. It's a cute town founded during the Gold Rush that has been preserved and restored.

* I had to pee behind a bush on the interstate because Destiny kept passing all the bathrooms in town
* There happened to be many bushes and boulders on those crazy looking mountains
* When I got back in the car, I realized I brought back about half of the rosemary bush I peed behind in my hair
* wait, does that make sense?
* Rosemary, the natural deodorizer.
* I spent way too much money
* Bought post cards, knives, candy, and a tooth fairy pillow at the craft sale.
* ate the best desserts of my life at the Candy Apple. Des had the triple berry cheesecake, and I had the vanilla custard tart with strawberries and chocolate and a rum ball and a caramel apple.
* The rum ball made me drunk. My. Word.
* I would have had more, but I was nearly sick from eating a huge meal at the Rongbranch across the street just minutes before.
* In Julian, you pay to use the toilet.
* Each trip costs a quarter, so hold it until you can't anymore.
* They have a super cool cemetary on the side of the mountain.
* We drove back down the Pacific Ocean highway.
* I love California. Just sayin'.
* We stopped at a beach and stuck our toes in the water.
* The beach is covered in sand and big river rocks and seaweed.
* We beat the parking fee.

Sunday we took a trip to the San Diego Bay. The Harbor tour was great, but man ALIVE the asians really took over. I couldn't take photos on the boat because there were so many standing up around the edge. The captain had to come yell at them to sit down so people in the middle could see, too. Luckily, on the second half, we switched boats and they didn't come with us. There were only about 15 of us on that boat.

* Sea Lions run a close second to seals on the cool-o-meter.
* Sea Lions have it figured out
* Sun on top of the bait nets. Feels great, smells like lunch.
* Don't mind the F-5s flying overhead. They live here.
* Logan got sunburned from walking all over the boat.
* Yes, I put sunscreen on him. The sun is hotter here, though.
* Des is such a good mom. She's really taken up with Logan and has cleaned up after him as much as I do.
* Bobby and Pawpaw got to see us last night thanks to webcam technology.
* trying to keep a webcam focused on Logan is similar to video taping a balloon that's been pricked

I made dinner last night. We planned on going to Victorville today, but we didn't get started early enough. So we're here, getting things ready to come back home. I did walk down the street to the comic book store, ComicKaze, but they were closed, so I bought more postcard stamps next door and mailed them.

There were a few things we wanted to do that were too expensive, even with a military discount, but we'll do those when we come back in February for Des and Terry's reception.


Once I'm home, the stress of finding another place to live and packing up the incredible amount of crap we have will be weighing on my mind once again. But I'm not home yet. Yes, palm trees and sun and no humidity and 70 degree highs and happy little trees... wait, what? Oh yeah. I like Cali. See ya soon!