Day 2: Hello Jetlag.

Sunday: 03.08.2009
Whoa. We woke up sometime late morning feeling like refreshed zombies. Aimee suggested a brunch so we threw some clothes on and freshened up a bit while we waited for her boyfriend, Jeremy to come and meet us. We met him, and he’s a super nice guy. He brought two of their fur children, two 4-month-old Dauschund puppies named Finn and Otto. Cute and cute. We went to this great coffee shop, where I had a breakfast bagel with scrambled eggs on it and a vanilla tea. I later went back to get a cinnamon raisin pastry because all of their desserts looked (and smelled) amazingly delicious. We sat outside to enjoy the beautiful day and inviting atmosphere with our animal entertainment. FYI, with two Dauschund puppies, you achieve instant celebrity status. Everyone you pass wants to talk about them and pet them. But really, who can blame them? Afterwards we went to a nearby beach in La Jolla. It was a little chilly, and Jeremy was nice enough to get me a jacket out of the car. We walked along the beach for a good stretch. I walked Finn, which made my trip just that much more fun. He liked to zigzag back and forth without much preference for a straight line or keeping his leash untangled from his brother’s. Next we rode down to downtown La Jolla where there is a really neat seal beach. The seals come up from the ocean and sun on the beach. They socialize, play, and roll in the sand. It’s a beautiful scene. It is ocean life as it’s meant to be enjoyed. Next we went to this grassy cove just above the beach where lots of families and pets were hanging out. It felt wonderful to sit and bask in the sun. We hung out there for a little while, but Finn and Otto were just a little too enthusiastic about all the green grass and wouldn’t stop eating it. So as a precaution for future upset little tummies, we began our walk back to where Jeremy had parked. We returned to Aimee’s apartment to relax and unwind for a little while.
We went to Su Casa for dinner. Some west coast Mexican food! I was shocked when I ordered a cheese dip and the waitress informed me that they didn’t have any. What? Mexican food with no cheese dip? But I bravely forged ahead. Aimee ordered some tableside guacamole, where they bring all the ingredients fresh to your, well, tableside and make it for you. I never thought I’d like guacamole, but this was really good! Maybe I just like fresh California guacamole. We returned home, and I took a refreshing hot shower and got ready for bed. I started reading Eclipse (again) to wind down from the busy day. I slept really well that night, unlike Meghan who both never fell asleep, and heard her watch beep every hour, on the hour. Poor soul; but oh how the next day would make up for it…
Interesting conversation: Held ~2:45 a.m.
I notice Meghan is partially awake so I ask her, “Hey, are you hot?”
She sits bolt upright and enthusiastically says “YEAH!” I begin to fiddle with the lock on the window, but can’t really figure it out. I give up because I’m about to pee on myself, and when I return, Meghan has magically opened both windows and is already lying down again. Oh Meghan.

SB09: California Bound

Saturday: 03.07.2009
Today I woke up about 9:58 a.m. I know this because I set my alarm for 10 and checked my phone to see how close it was to being time to get up and get ready. I thankfully slept well last night due to my friend, Mr. Tylenol PM. I didn’t hear it, but I got a text message from my one of my favorite agents saying that she was just now returning home from being at a crime scene all night. When the boss called her, he asked how early I was leaving the next day. She was sweet enough to make it seem as though my flight was pretty early and that I shouldn’t be bothered. THANK YOU! I talked to her as she drove to the office to make sure she stayed awake, and when we hung up, I hopped in the shower to get ready for possibly the best vacation ever.
I got ready in time, but I was still stressed about my suitcase. I’m always nervous about the 50 pound weight limit. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but I’ve gone over before. Plus, they now charge you for every bag you check. $15-20!! Ridiculous. Our economy has all but collapsed, and we have to travel by carry-on only to fly “free.” At any rate, I met Meghan in the parking lot because I was checking the mail, and she greeted me with an excited hug. Meghan arrived around 11:15, and by 11:30 I had double, triple, and quadruple-checked to see if I had left anything. I cut the heater off, said good-bye to T.I. (our fish, a tilapia for the record), and lugged my massive suitcase to her car. We ran through the Chick-Fil-A drive-thru for lunch. We didn’t think we’d encounter any of those out west. We drove to Atlanta, but my trusty captain took the wrong exit off the interstate and we ended up in a pretty bad (excellent drug area) of town which I affectionately and appropriately named “the Tijuana of the East Coast.” She phoned her brother, who quickly got us straightened out. We finally arrived at her relatives’ house, and her brother and cousin took us to the MARTA station to ride it to the airport. We got there safely and remained unscathed from our fellow passengers. It wasn’t too bad, but I don’t plan on riding it at night anytime soon (ever.) We explored around the airport for a little bit, then went ahead and checked our over-bearing suitcases. Then we wandered around until we found the correct terminal and specific place to wait for our plane to arrive. This all went really well for us, and I was very thankful to have a pretty stress-free day. To make things even better, a girl was on our flight that had flown to Georgia to pick up a puppy for her sister. The puppy, named Hector (I know, too cute), was a Rat Terrier. He was absolutely adorable and very friendly. Being prone to loving on any animal within reach, I quickly befriended the girl and later had Hector in my lap. He fell asleep curled up, with his head draped across my arm. He was mostly white, except for a short black tail with a white spot on it. And like others of his kind, his ears stood straight up, with the exception of his right ear that hyper-extended and kind of curled backwards. Too cute. Unfortunately, it was close to time to eat before boarding, so I had to part with Hector. We grabbed some Quizno’s for supper (moderately overpriced might I add) and took it back to our area. As we got back, I felt like I was missing something. We were supposed to tear a certain area off of our boarding passes and I realized I couldn’t find mine. Panic. I could remember fiddling with it on the way to Quizno’s, but it was no longer in my purse. Without much explanation to Meghan, I took off to find it. I returned victoriously to a puzzled looking Meghan left in my wake. I had left my boarding pass on the counter when I took out my wallet to pay for my dinner.
We boarded our plane, but not without another small hitch. At no point in our waiting around did we discover that our seats were not side-by-side. Which I really don’t understand because I hand-picked them myself. I mentioned this to the lady taking up the boarding passes, and she was able to work something out. I asked this very nice gentleman if he minded changing from his seat, to the same seat just on the other side of the aisle. He had no problem with it, thankfully, and Meghan sat in his middle seat, and I sat in the seat near the aisle. The flight was pretty long, but we were really too excited to care. I listened to some music and did some crossword puzzles. I managed to lose the top of my felt tip pen which had the potential to be very messy. Meghan took one for the team and gave me the top to her pen, which didn’t match in any way, shape, or form, but it did the trick. We landed in Phoenix very gracefully and set off to explore a new airport and enjoy a new state for about an hour. We walked around for a little bit, but were pretty tired at this point. So mostly we sat around in our waiting area until it was time to board again. This time I had a window seat, and Meghan was in the middle again. It was a short flight (~44 minutes according to the pilot). It was really pretty flying into San Diego at night with everything lit up in the city. The airport is right downtown, so it seems as though you are going to land right on top of the buildings.
Our flight landed about 15 minutes early, and we had no problem finding the baggage claim (still a surprise to me really). I called Aimee when we got our baggage off the conveyor and got to a safe and uncrowded place. She told me she was just driving into the airport and would be there in about 5 minutes. We walked outside and pretty soon she drove right up to get us. Perfect timing! I got a good hug from my long-lost cousin and introduced her to Meghan. We loaded everything up and were on our way to Aimee’s apartment. We stayed up talking till about 3 a.m. Georgia time, so needless to say, we were good and tired. I loaded Meghan and myself up with Tylenol PM to calm the jitters and weird jet lag feeling, and we slept like rocks.