San Diego Sadness - Final Days

So once again I find myself playing catch-up updating you all on my whereabouts over the past 3 days – Barbra has once again kept me entertained showing me the sights & introducing me to her friends on Coronado Island – When you’re on the island you can’t leave…

My last post was 5^th July, that evening Barbra and I headed to the local community park in Coronado for their weekly summer event aptly named Concert in the Park.

The concert is attended by hundreds of locals mainly families who can enjoy a good glass of red wine, food and listen to some music in the main rotunda.

Many of Barbra’s friends had decided to head out to the concert so with Georgia, Dave, Molly, Bobby-Lynn and Tara it was a good night – once again we were the last to leave.

After the concert Dave & Georgia headed home with their kids. Not content to let the time (9.30pm Sunday evening) get in the way of another successful night of drinking the remaining group headed firstly to the local Irish waterhole Mc P’s then on to the world famous and all class Hotel Del. It was approaching 1am when the barman informed us that it was time to head home –which we did eventually after four LITs…..

6^th July

At around 9am I fell out of bed ready for another full day of action with Barbra. She was excited to get me into her car as today was going to be mostly us hitting the local retail discount stores.

The stores are all located in the same area and comprises all the high end retail stores but thankfully not their normal prices – everything was on sale. It was pretty cool even though we did have to drive pretty much to the Mexico border.

Barbra and I had seen only maybe 30% of the stores when I looked at my watch and noticed it was pushing 1pm – time for lunch. Barbra suggested we head to one of her favourite vegan restaurants in Ocean Beach (People’s Market) about 20 minutes drive north of Mexico and 15 minutes south of Coronado.

Barbra seized on the opportunity to explore my keenness to try anything and I soon found myself in front of the Wheatgrass station juicing grass – it was surprisingly good and may not be my last…. Hold the gargle.

Barbra’s boyfriend Abraham (Abe) was nearby so he joined us for lunch we decided on just trying a selection of all the great looking food in the display with two Katchoobah juices to accompany.

After lunch Abe kindly offered to show me around his local neighbourhood Mission Beach so after dropping the bags off at Coronado, Barbra and her good friend Tara drove me back to Mission Beach – the 15 minute drive was pleasant even though the music selection (Meatloaf) may’ve not been the best – but the comment of the day from Tara: “You just can’t drop it to meatloaf” really made the journey.

Abe lives pretty close to the beach and famous 6 flags roller coaster, and was waiting with 2 mountain bikes when we arrived. I said goodbye to Barbra and Tara and rode off with Abe along the beach – searching for a good bar to have a drink….

Unfortunately my laminated Qld Driver’s License didn’t suffice so that didn’t work out so well.

Thinking on his feet though, Abe took me a little further along the beach to the Mission Beach Pier

and then on to Mount Soledat which is the highest point in San Diego. It offers great views of the area and is a memorial to fallen soldiers of past & present wars.

At around 6pm Abe and I headed off in his Jeep Wrangler to the local Vietnamese Restaurant for some dinner with Barbra, Georgia, Dave, their children Anthony & Elliana, Molly and Bobby-Lynn. It was again a great evening enjoyed by all. As my last full day in America, I said my goodbyes to Georgia & Dave and headed back to Coronado.

7^th July

Well, the day had sadly arrived…. flying home later today from Los Angeles – my 4 week vacation had come to an end.

In my traditional fashion I had failed to find a suitable & more so reasonably priced flight from San Diego to Los Angeles (a 40 minute flight) prices started at $525 US… Not wanting me to pay that amount, Barbra offered to drive (with Abe) the usual 2 ½ hours north to LAX. I was really reluctant given the distance plus today was the funeral of Michael Jackson which was being held in LA and traffic had been reported as being hectic… But like always she won out in the end.

So with the plan to leave around 3pm, (allowing 5 hours to get to LAX) I still had a few hours left in Coronado – so I decided to do what any red blooded Aussie male would do… and headed back to the Bikram Yoga Studio one last time with Linda.

Thankfully the 90 minute session went quickly and it was good to say goodbye to Leslie the instructor.

By the time Linda and I got back around 11am, I had to scramble to finish packing and then after saying my goodbyes Barbra and I were off to pick up Abe and then on to LAX.

Barbra still had one item not ticked on her own “Things to do” list the one missing was eat at In & Out Burger… it’s a Californian specific fast food outlet and can I say after inhaling the following: Double double Cheese burger (Double Cheese & meat) Fries (Animal Style – served with 1000 Island Dressing, American cheese and fried onion) and Vanilla Shake – it was well worth the 35km run I’ll need to do to work it off.

Back in the car and 80 miles in front of us Abe took over the driving and took full advantage of the car pool lane passing hundreds of cars stuck in the notorious LA traffic. We were making great time – better than expected.

We arrived at LAX a little past 6.30pm so I decided it would be a good idea to drop the bags and check-in (before the rush) then get back in the car to see some of the final sights of LA.

After a short wait check-in was completed and I was back in the car heading to the famous Santa Monica Pier about 20 minutes north. The pier was full of tourists enjoying the setting sun and amusement park. It was a really nice walk and I was glad to still be able to spend time with Barbra and Abe rather than be sitting in the waiting lounge at LAX.

Pushing 7.30pm and with time still on my side (flight leaving at 10.30pm) Abe and Barbra decided to also show me Venice Beach which was only 2-3 miles from Santa Monica. Venice Beach is full of characters and chiselled bodies so while there I thought it best to visit the Muscle Gym and work my magic on the rings…

Burning up quite an appetite Barbra suggested I try a fish taco and with Abe’s local knowledge of Venice Beach & LA it wasn’t long and we were ordering.

The 25 minute drive back to LAX was sombre as Barbra and I both began to realise that this was the last time for a while that we would be hanging out together.

I arrived back at LAX around 9pm and headed straight to the plane and waited patiently for the boarding call.

The plane was packed – especially given the fact that there were about 100 school children flying to NZ for a skiing expedition – they were all sitting in my immediate area but thankfully even though the plane was relatively full – no one sat next to me so I had 3 seats all to myself pulling up the armrests I made a makeshift bed - suitable for a 5 ft 8 human... shame i'm 6ft 3 (MacGyver would've been proud) and slept 80% of the way to Auckland to ensure I was alert for my connecting flight to Brisbane.

I am now home and have unpacked my luggage and now find myself battling jet lag and separation anxiety from my family & new long term friends my 4 week journey is over.

Before I signoff though I need to say a few thankyou’s.......

Firstly, thankyou to all the members of family that provided me with a place to stay during my travels (Jim & Linda / Tom & Jan, Tommy & Theo and Morgan & Kathy), Jordan & Barbra, thanks to you both for your time in New York & San Diego (respectively) I will look back fondly on those 5/7 days we had together - they really were a shitload of fun and life altering.

To those that gave up their time to show me around your beautiful cities, Dave & Georgia, Tommy and of course Barbra I cannot thank you guys enough – all I can say is should/when you’re in my neck of the woods I’ll try my best to return the favour.

To the close friends I have made across the country Molly, Abe, Bobby-Lynn, Tara, Bear, the Puerto Rican Gang member in New York, Jen, Frank and others I may’ve missed. I look forward to seeing you again some time soon – thankyou for your company (mostly while we were drinking).

Finally to those that have been reading my first attempt at a blog – thankyou. I hope I was able to provide you with some laughter as well as an update to my movements as I travelled across America and back again. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

James x