Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Let's call this Part 1 - The one with the freeway

Recently we spent three nights in Los Angeles and two nights in San Diego.  The plan was to drive back to LA on our last day for our return flight home.  That was the plan.

Plans change. 

On the day we drove to San Diego, some scheduling needs prompted a change in return flights.  Matt needed to spend two days on the East Coast, and he needed to be home by lunchtime on Friday so he could attend a previous engagement.  In order to make all of that happen, Matt had to change his itinerary and leave from San Diego.

He used all of his mad airline booking skills to find an itinerary our of LA that would fit his needs.  Unfortunately San Diego was his best bet.  On a side note, Matt should earn an award for booking awesome airline tickets.  He is all over different blogs and direct airline news to find deals.  He can smell a sale months away.  When asked, he is quite humble about his mad skills and doesn't see it as anything special.  If you ask how does he do it, he can't describe it.

Anyway back to our story....

Once he figured out his itinerary, he asked if I would have any issue driving from San Diego to LA by myself.  At first I thought he was joking.  But he wasn't.  Then I had a practical thought about California driving.  Many of the roads have rush hour all day, so getting where I need to go wouldn't be so bad since the slow traffic would give me time figure out where I was going.  Plus according to Matt it was only two roads - the 5 and the 405 to get off at Century Boulevard.

"No problem," I said.  Then in my head I told myself I was crazy.

Being the amazing traveler and caring guy he is, Matt made sure to point out major landmarks to me on our way to San Diego.  I often had to look out the rear window to see signs or landmarks as I would on my return trip in a few days.  My main landmark was the Laguna Hills Mall sign. 

"No problem," I said.  Then in my head I told myself I was crazy.

We enjoyed the San Diego sun until the very last minute.  Matt left me at our Gaslamp Quarter hotel around 11:00 for his trip to Boston via Houston.  Repeated the directions, but then added a few more.

"Take the 5 to the 405 to get off at Century Boulevard.  Then turn onto Aviation to return the car.  Stop at one of the stations to fill the tank before returning the car.  Then take the shuttle to airport."

"No problem," I said.  Then in my head I told myself I was crazy.

I did write the directions down just in case I lost my mind.  After he left I had another hour to kill.  I actually had a lot of time to kill because I wasn't scheduled for my return trip until 5:00.  The warning we heard over and over was that the drive between San Diego and LA can be two and a half hours or more.  We felt the just under two hour vibe, but instead of risking it on my own, I heeded the advice.

I was slightly disappointed that I was driving alone because the ride between these two cities is spectacular.  To see the ocean as you drive is truly far removed from the Midwest.  I drove past Camp Pendleton, saw campers & motor homes parked at campsites on the shoreline, and the Coaster commuter train speed by on its way to Oceanside.  Of course I only got short glimpses since I was driving a monsterous Chrysler 300.

This was taken when I was the passenger, not while operating a motor vehicle.  Promise. 

Driving the 5 to the 405 was a piece of cake.  Once I needed to get off at Century the real work began.  Matt forgot to tell me that we did not drive on this part of the 405.  When nothing looked familiar, I started to panic (that's not saying much about me BTW).  As I have learned in recent years, relax for a bit before making any drastic changes.  As assured by Matt, Century Boulevard appeared followed by Aviation.

The remainder of my drive was uneventful.  I made it in exactly two hours.  I did chuckle when someone asked me for directions to the 405 while at the gas station.  I'm glad they decided to ask the station attendant instead of relying on my iffy directions.  The flight home is a story for another day.

Third Book of Summer

The third book of summer is from my favorite genre and by far my favorite book of summer - Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe.  This autobiography tells of the Rob's life from his childhood in Ohio to present day California.

This story was a lot of fun to read because I "know" most of the people in his life.  He grew up with Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Tom Cruise, and Matt Dillon, to name a few.  He dated many famous women, some were on the cusp of fame and others came from Hollywood royalty.  He even had a relationship with a real royal.  

The heart of the story is Rob's desire to have a good life and make great movies.  He shows that the industry is not very nice and it's hard to make a good living.  Thankfully along the way he meets good people who help him conquer his demons.  I enjoyed reading about his experiences as he made The Outsiders with Francis Ford Coppola, lobbied for votes on a clean environment initiative (Proposition 65) on a bus with Jane Fonda, Whoopi Goldberg, and Michael J. Fox, worked on the Wayne's World & Tommy Boy movies, how your true family supports you when dealing with addiction, and his time on The West Wing.

I noticed that Rob had a penchant for two words - zeitgeist and auteur.  These words are outside of typical vernacular that they stood out to me each time he used them.  Here's your vocabulary lesson for the day (thanks to Miriam-Webster.com): 

zeitgeist - noun, often capitalized \ˈtsīt-ˌgīst, ˈzīt-\: the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era

auteur (refers you to auteur theory) : a view of filmmaking in which the director is considered the primary creative force in a motion picture

Remember those when you get on Teen Jeopardy some day.

Celebrity Sighting & "Celebrity Sighting"

Matt and I spent the first few days of our vacation in Los Angeles.  We used some of his hotel points to stay gratis at the Hilton Universal City.  This hotel is within walking distance of Universal Studios & Universal City Walk.  We were not going to the theme park but free can't be beat.

Celebrity Sighting (a real one)

In addition to theme park proximity, we were really close to The Hollywood Bowl.  The schedule for the weekend included A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keeler, Grease Sing Along, and Reggae Night.  Why do you care about The Hollywood Bowl's schedule?  The cast of The Prairie Home Companion happened to have a rehearsal at the Hilton on Thursday.  As Matt and I walked to the elevator for we looked toward a conference room and each saw different things.  He pointed out that the event in the conference room was for A Prairie Home Companion.  On the other hand, I was looking at the people in the room and thought one of the men looked familiar.  By golly he was familiar, it was Martin Sheen.  Yes, Apocalypse Now Martin Sheen and President Bartlet Martin Sheen.  He looked quite casual in a Hawaiian shirt.  It was not appropriate to attempt to speak to him since he was busy.  Made us giddy seeing a real celebrity.


That brings us to....

Celebrity Sighting (not so much)
I flew home out of LAX alone (more on that in another post).  I grabbed a bite to eat in an airport restaurant.  At the bar a man was talking quite loud.  He used to be in a band, but now he was focusing on his acting.  He's met Christian Bale's wife, what a nice lady.  He pays $500/month for a room in an LA suburb, which is an AMAZING price for a room.  Blah, blah, name drop, blah, name drop, name drop, blah......He is not a celebrity.  That is unless you consider he's a dead ringer as Luis Guzman's doppelganger.

That's LA for you.

Second Book of the Summer

I'm not certain how I specifically came across my second book for the summer.  I think I read some list of books that people should read and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.  By nature I am not a fan of the science fiction genre, but I thought I'd read outside of my box this summer.  I have mixed feelings about this book.

I'm not giving anything away with my synopsis - An alien that's ben on Earth for several years figures out the planet is about to be destroyed.  He grabs his favorite Earthling and escapes just before doom.  These two hitchhike across the galaxy and have several adventures.  They eventually meets up with two other familiar faces and continue their explorations.  

Positive - There were amusing parts.  The book starts off with the human character lying infront of a bulldozer so it does not knock his house down.  The different alien species they meet in space are quite a creative menagerie.  I read the book in a day and a half.  I could have finished it in a day, but I chose to close my eyes at the pool for a bit. 

The not so positive - The action in the book is mediocre.  They are jettisoned into space and will die if not picked up by another spacecraft.  All of a sudden they just so happen to get picked up.  Very non-dramatic stuff.  The ending was slightly abrupt.  The last few chapters had me hoping for a dramatic ending, but it just didn't happen.

Should you read it?  Meh, if you want a quick read with some amusing parts (and you checked it out from the library).  I might put the movie version at the bottom of my Netflix queue, and if it ever makes it to the top I'll watch it.

California Dreamin'

We made the decision to go to California on vacation. No surprise, right? My sister encouraged us to branch out on our choice of destination. Mexico or the Dominican Republic would be an adventure. She was right about that, but when we looked at our goals for the trip, a passport-worthy location didn't fit.We are looking for a low-key trip to recharge our batteries. One goal was to stay in a hotel that provided proximity to restaurants, entertainment, and possibly a little coffee shop for some morning energy. From what I have been told once you get to your resort in Mexico you don't leave your resort. There is something to be said about staff to bring you what want when you want it, but we are cool with doing for ourselves. Another reason we chose Cali is that we love Cali. You can't beat the sunshine and low humidity. Cali is beautiful. Driving down the PCH has to be one of the most beautiful sights. So for the next few days we'll get some R&R in our favorite state. Stay tuned for the relaxing details.

Doppelganger

Did you know you have a twin?  You may have never seen them, but you have one. 

After I buckled G into his carseat at the grocery store, he saw one.

"Bye, Papa," G says from the backseat.
"Papa?  He's not here," I laugh.
 G retorts with, "Yes he is.  He's right there."

I looked out the window and had to do a double take.  The man getting into the car next to us was most definitely my dad's doppelganger  The glasses perched on his nose, the t-shirt, the denim shorts - it was my dad!  In order to get proof, it was needed to play it smooth.

I dusted off my acting skills and launched the camera on my phone.  As Papa Twin returned his cart and walked to his car, I pretended to attend to G in the back seat.  Then my hand started snapping photos with my phone.
 

This is the best photo I could get, but it's great proof of Papa's twin.  You never know when you will run into your doppelganger. 

I Was Right

Remember last night's meltdown about the airport? G came into our room this morning and asked me to change his diaper.

"I need a new diaper so we can go to the airport."

One track mind.

This Weekend

Finish the second book of the summer

Plan activities for vacation - you will find out the location soon!

Find a fun family activity out of the heat

Take the kids to Nana & Papa so we can....

Attend the wedding of a work colleague

Fold laundry - probably not

So sweet

In case you didn't know, it's really stinkin' hot outside.

It was even too hot to go to the pool today.

After dinner we had to go for a drive before the kids hurt each other (more than they had already).

Once we devoured some Italian Ice we continued our drive.  Once we started our way home, Matt did a loop around the airport.  G saw the airplanes and was super excited to see them.  He saw them landing and idling at the gate.  Once we turned toward the exit ramp, G's tears started to pour.

He wanted to get on one of those airplanes.  We tried to explain that we were not going anywhere tonight.  That was not the answer he wanted.

"I get on the airplane now, Mom."

"Sorry Big Guy, we aren't getting on a plane tonight."

"Yes we are!!!!"

A similar conversation continued all the way home.  I tried to rationalize with the tyke that we did not have a ticket or our suitcases.

"Yes we do!!!  The suitcase is in the trunk."

"Really?  Mom & Dad did not pack our suitcases."

A few minutes later he whispered, "When we get home we get a suitcase and our ticket, OK Mom?"

My heart broke hearing him say this.  

It broke even more when we got home.

G went into his room, changed his clothes, and grabbed his Lightning McQueen suitcase.  Oh my goodness, he looked so hopeful about going on a trip.

Thankfully we were able to diffuse the situation and get him into pajamas and to bed.  I have a feeling this discussion is not over.  I've got money he packs his bag in the morning........

Go with the flow

One could say that our family is low maintenance.  We have minimal needs in life and don't get caught up in much drama.  G brings his own drama, but what do you expect from a 3 year old?

Our kids are not over scheduled for activities.  Both kids take a Spanish class once a week and M played softball this summer.  That's it.  The lack of activities allows us freedom to do what we want each day.  Beach?  Sure.  Ride bikes to the park?  If it's not too hot.  Pool?  Absolutely.

While we are relatively drama free; there are some things that frustrate me beyond belief.  One thing I will focus on today is kids' sports.  M wanted to play softball with her friends this summer.  We did not object to a season that went from the end of May to the end of June.  We liked the social opportunity, for M and for us.  Working full time limits the social interactions I have with other parents.  I am not at daily pick-up and drop-off to mingle among the moms.  This was a good chance to meet new people.  Let me just say making friends with adults is very hard.  I will leave it at that. 

I have to say M is a great ball player.  She has an accurate throw and a decent swing.




When softball started in May the coaches had some items for which they needed parent support - striping the field, uniform pick up, etc.  One item on the list made me bristle - Snack and End of the Season Party.

When the coach asked if one parent would like to create a snack schedule, I had to speak up.  The games were scheduled for 90 minutes.  Did we really need a snack?  Is there a designated snack time during the game?  Did we really need a snack?  We've all been parents for 8+ years and can be responsible for a snack for our own kid. 

The coach didn't know how to answer my questions.  He fumbled an answer out to say that they've had snack in the past and should continue it this year.  So one family created a snack schedule for us.  I graciously participated because I was not going to disappoint a group of 7-8 year olds who have come to expect snack at every event. 

In addition to snack, there has to be a party at the end of the season, right?

My ulcer gives kudos to the mom that planned it.  She decided to have a brief picnic at the ball field after the last game.  Each parent contributed a small snack for the girls.  I signed up for baby wipes since I already had them in my purse - no shopping necessary.  It was a lovely 25-minute fiesta.

During their snack I noticed that M was having trouble opening her bottle of water.  I walked over to help.  As I bent over, I felt a rush of freezing cold down the back of my shirt.

Time stood still for a few seconds.....

One of the assistant coaches decided to douse the coach with the cooler of water.  Apparently his aim was a little off and I was an unintended victim.  Once the Earth started rotating again, I stood up and instinctively took my own bottle of water and dumped it down the back of his shirt.  The look on the assistant coach's face was all the apology I needed.

I did snag a beer from his cooler.  How's that for going with the flow?



*On a side note - we did not give out goody bags at M's birthday party this year.  I heard at least three of the kids express disappointment to their parent as they walked out the door.  I'm taking a stand, will you join me in not giving these bags of crap out at parties?*