#2295 tour of California is done

The last time I wrote I promised there would be fun words the next day, but the truth is that I was having so much fun that I was too tired to write. Yesterday I was just tired. I'll try to make up for it a little tonight. Sorry to leave you hanging!

On Saturday Mom, Lizzie and I went to San Diego. The main reason I went to southern California was to celebrate my mom's birthday (which is actually tomorrow). We got a hotel right on Harbor Blvd across the street from the water. Lizzie and Mom's room had a bay view; my room had a city view. Their view was great during the day and my view was great at night.

Star of India

San Diego skyline at night

We had dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. It is so good. Mom had never been there, so it was fun to watch her enjoy the excellent service (thanks Sergio!) and the delicious meal. I thought I had a photo of my mom, but I used her phone to take it and we forgot to share our photos. Believe me when I say she looked cute and happy.

After dinner, we strolled across the street to the Star of India ship for the annual Tim Flannery show. Lizzie almost always starts off the night by reading a poem, and this year was no exception. She is phenomenal. I did take a couple of photos of her, but I was way in the back and they didn't come out very well. Believe me when I say she looked and sounded great.

We hung out and listened to the music. Of course Lizzie knew all the musicians and we got to go "backstage" and say hi to everyone. It was nice that I had met many of the people before and they were all kind enough to say they remembered me.

It was a fun night. Listening to live music on an old ship (it stayed docked) is cool and fun. Again, we took photos on the deck after the show, but not with my phone. Believe me when I say it was awesome to see the sails all decorated with lights (which you can see in the top photo). There was even a Christmas tree way up on the tippy-top of the mast. I bet if you double click that top photo, you can maybe see the tree.

Thankfully the hotel was right across the street, so we went to Mom and Lizzie's room, had a drink, and Mom opened the gift I got for her. They were just some little ceramic mushrooms to put in her garden. Super cute. I went across the hall to my room after midnight and totally crashed.

In the morning, Lizzie and I took Lulu the dog for a walk to Starbucks. San Diego is a very dog-friendly town and not an eye was batted when we brought Lulu inside. We ordered a Puppacino for her and had a hilarious time watching her lick the whipped cream out of the cup. I was holding the cup and being pesky about trying to get a dob of whipped cream on her nose so Lizzie could take a photo. I don't have the photo, so believe me when I tell you it was hilarious.

We walked around a little bit, then it was time to head back to La Mirada. My flight boarded just after 6PM, so we had time for a bite of lunch and a quick nap. A fun thing happened at the airport: I got an seat upgrade! I was in Comfort+ and it really was more comfortable.

By the time I got my bag and used the potty and rode the shuttle-bus out to my car, it was after 10:30. It was cold, but not snowy, thankfully. I got home around 11PM, unpacked, talked to MT, and went to bed a bit after midnight. I did not want to wake up this morning to go to work, but I did anyway.

I went a lot of places in those five days: Sacramento to Dixon to Sacramento to Long Beach to La Mirada to San Diego to La Mirada to Long Beach. I slept in three different beds. I spent a bit more money than I was planning to spend, but I don't have any regrets. It was a fun break, even when I was sitting in the conference room at the hotel in Sacramento learning about the finer points of plant financials. I saw a bunch of people I knew, and that is always fun.

Tonight I did some online Christmas shopping. I think I'm done shopping for Mom and Lizzie, so I'll just have to get stuff for my menfolk. We're going to see the new Star Wars movie this weekend. In fact, I'm going to buy those tickets as soon as I'm done here.The food festival at work will kick off tomorrow and we are in the Christmas home stretch.

Good times!