Day 13 - Homeward Bound...

I woke up with a sore throat and shook my fist at L.A.

Our plane left at four, so we wanted to be at the airport by two.  That meant half a day to kill before we left.  We decided to see the things we wouldn't be able to see at home:  Mission Beach and In-n-Out.



It was a gorgeous day at the beach, busy for what I would have expected on a Tuesday, and warm.  Our luggage was in the car, and our feet were in the sand.

We wandered down past the area where we'd turned around a few nights prior.  There's a point where the beach goes from nice and peaceful to a little bit ghetto at night.  Bit in the day, there were people all over.



If you look closely at this photo, you can see a little toddler peeking out of that hole that hot dad is digging.

We people watched, tried to stay dry, and took photos.



Since it was still kind of early, there were shells people hadn't scooped up yet.



We wandered for a few hours just enjoying the last time we'd be able to wade in the Pacific for a long time.  And when we were sufficiently hungry, it was off for food.



Yum.  I miss it so much.

After that, we waited around in the rental car office for a ride to the airport, sharing the tiny space with this guy who had horrible B.O.  It was great.  Finally, we were off, though. 

I started feeling like crap about this time...weak and dizzy with a headache.

Security was a breeze, so we ended up having almost two hours to kill.  And what is there to do at an airport?  How about...people watch!



So we did.  Those two guys down the way were making eyes at us at one point.  They were cute.  And a cop kept coming to talk to that woman seated next to them.  Apparently there was some problem he was trying to resolve.  I couldn't really hear, and it was hard to pay attention to words when all I could focus on was how tall, dark, and handsome the cop was.  Wow. 

Before long, we boarded, and we were on our way home.



I said a little prayer as we left the ground, and settled into my seat.  By now I was feeling like absolute garbage.  I was so sick, my skin hurt.  No lie.  But I soldiered on taking photos as we left my new favorite place on the globe.



We swept out over the ocean and headed back toward land.

I took one last look at the bay:



Our original little bayside hotel is right there by the docks...

When we flew over Coronado, the scrubby little hills on one side of the beach finally made sense to me.



Enlarge this one...you'll see CORONADO on the beach.

I loved this shot of the bay bridge:



So pretty!  And then it was cornfields and clouds as I tried not to die on the way home.



We passed this in the desert:



It looks like several tracks designed to test cars...but there were no major roads leading to it at all, just a tiny little building.  I wonder what it was...

I was fading out, and Robb was scoring us extras by flirting with our gay flight attendant...but I managed to get a photo of one last sunset:



Goodbye, San Diego.

Hello, Chicago.



I stumbled along to our bags, ready to just curl up and die.  We rode back to Robb's dad's house to get our car, which wouldn't start.

After that was all cleared up, I slept on the ride home, wishing I could float.  I'm sure I had a fever, and I cursed L.A. the whole way home.

We got to bed finally around 2 AM, and I had to work at 7 the next morning.  Isn't my boss lovely?

Yeah...but I made it.  And I am finally getting over my cough.  After what...three weeks?  A month?

Remind me next time we go to California to stay away from L.A.

Overall, it was a great time.  Thanks for coming with me, everyone! 

Out

The Power of Ten--or Fifteen...

My friend Melissa (check her out) ran a feature on her blog today that I think it would be fun to emulate.

She did a "10 Things About My Disability" post that I thought was very informative and witty. And while I don't have a disability, per se, I do have a unique perspective. So I thought it might be fun to tell you fifteen things about myself.

So, onward!

1. I am not contagious. I know, this was Mel's first point, but really. You can't catch gay. What you can catch from hanging out with me, though, is well-timed humor and maybe a laugh or a yawn.

2. I am a bibliophile. My room is filled with stacks of books in front of shelves full of books. And on top of those shelves? Books. I adore them, how they look and smell, the sound of turning pages, the magic of words passed through time. It's a vacation in the comfort of my home, and I love it.

3. I always wanted a Chia Pet. Since the first time I saw the commercials during Thundercats and Transformers when I was just a tiny Viewtiful_Justin. I asked my mother to get me one. I wanted them for birthdays and Christmases every year for what felt like ages. And I never got one.

4. I have a thing for firefighters. It's true. Joe Regular? Meh. But when I find out he's a firefighter, his hot points go up five-fold. The hat, the coat, the trucks...all of it. I don't know any reason why this is. I've tried to explain it, and I've plumbed the depth of my childhood. Nothing. But I do.

5. I have an irrational fear of being abandoned in a public place. I don't care if it's a grocery store I go to three times a week and I'm the one with the car keys; if I look up and I can't see you, I get nervous. Anxious. And I have to stop shopping and come find you. I've never been abandoned in a public place. I've never really been abandoned anywhere. But if I can't see you...I'm afraid.

6. I used to have a great memory, but now...not so much. I was a vault. Lock it away and never lose it. Now? It's more like a sieve. Lots of holes...I put something there, and when I go to look for it again in ten minutes...gone! Names, dates, ideas...gone! That is, unless I write it down. If I put pencil to paper and make those marks,

7. I had a great one for number seven, and then I forgot it while writing the last one...hrmmm....oh! I got it! I was going to say that I love to sing. And I do! If there is a song on the radio that I know, I will be singing along. Not well, mind you, but singing along nonetheless. And if I don't know it? I'll be singing along by the second chorus. And, because of that, I judge a lot of music based on its singability. If it's not fun to sing along, I probably don't like it.

8. My feet are cold. Unless I am wearing shoes, I can guarantee you that my feet are cold. I'm sure it's poor circulation, although I've never been diagnosed or even checked out. But I've heard "Your feet are like ice!" enough times to know it's true.

9. I try to figure you out. When I am in public and I see two people together or a group of friends are all around one table at a restaurant, I try to figure out the dynamics of the group. I like to see if they seem like they're on a first date or it it's someone's birthday, if it's a work group or a school study date. I love figuring people out. People watching...to the extreme!!!

10. I find rudeness deplorable. When I say hello to a cahsier, I expect a response. When I talk to someone, I expect their attention. I hate seeing people come through the drive at work while they're on their cell phone. It bothers me even more to see them talking while they're inside and I'm waiting on them. I can't imagine how people could think that it's okay to do this. It's rude, and it's unacceptible. It's important to be polite.

11. I have written three novels. Each year I participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and every year I've participated, I've won, which means I've finished three 50,000 word novels, each in 30 days in the month of November. It's crazy amouonts of fun. But...the funny thing is that I've never edited one of them. Never even gone back and read them.

12. I'm a gamer. Many, many hours of my childhood were spent (not wasted, spent) in front of the television with a Nintendo controller in my hand. Not Sega. Not Playstation. Nintendo. I am and have always been a die-hard Nintendo fan...although right now they're working very hard to lose my affections--what with their lack of games for true gamers and their mountains of shitty shovelware crap. But, I digress. The fact is, I play, and I always have.

13. I like pirate slang. When I greet people, it's "Ahoy-hoy." Sometimes when I finish packing things at work I say, "Thar she blows." And sometimes, for no reason, I let fly with a "Yarrr." But I don't particularly care for pirates or the Disney Pirate movies. It's just...a love for the sound of it all.

14. It's a texture thing. This is the line I use when I don't like a food. I love cheese, and I love yogurt, but cottage cheese? Those little lumps turn me off. Baked beans, kidney beans, navy beans? Grainy texture. Ick. Same with peas. And marshmallows? Don't even get me started on marshmallows! I don't understand how something can be simultaneously puffy, slimy, chalky, and squishy at the same time. Eww. Add Peep's crunchy sugar coating and you've got the most revolting thin on the planet.

15. I love. There is so much hatred in this world, and only love can set it straight. I want to try to do my part to reverse the ravages of hate. So, I love. I love people and animals. I love quirks and mannerisms, accents and hair colors. I love facial tics and fashion, expressions and emotions. I just try to love. And I fail at this regularly, but I'm always trying. And really, that's all that matters.

What are some things that people don't know about you? Post them up and let me know about them!

Out