so here's the thing, I packed all black to wear on this trip.
because I packed the last 2 hours that we were home before going to the airport.
because black is easy and lazy.
because black is chic and fancy too. because black is low-maintenance.
Yet I'm still going to be going home not with a souvenir of a bronzy clean tan, but of my body weight in salsa absorbed into my clothing.
You might be asking yourself: "..now she either ate a lot of salsa or is a really messy eater"
the answer is "both" my laddies.
(my mum is embarrassed for our family dynasty, the airport staff at Qdoba duck further behind the counter to avoid salsa-contamination, HAZMAT teams are sent out, the local SAR team is also called to rescue nearby innocent travelers)(lost in the salsa while just trying to enjoy their non-messy, non-complicated pizza)
My mum & both packed laster-than-last minute & then slept for around 3 hours then woke up to be at the airport at 5. Everything went smooth, thank you Jesus because I wanted to catch up on sleep. But once on the plane I couldn't nap because I always look out the window and then I can't fall asleep. So I forced myself to stay awake to look at mountains, it was VERY worth it. Flying over the PNW is my favorite thing.
Once we get to California it gets a lot more yellow and dry. We stepped on the plane at home in 40 Fahrenheit weather. When we step off at LAX, it's 65F and I feel like Summer never left us. We don't fly to SAN, because we take the AMTRAK there Sunday evening. So the whole weekend, we were actually in and around LA staying with family.
What a stay!
WEDNESDAY: we got picked up by my aunt at LAX. Because she is an amazing person, she drove 2 hours to get us. She then took us to Porto's, which is a Cafe/Bakery that is so big when we first walked in I thought we were in a food court place and Porto's was the one counter to our right. Not so, it was ALL 4 COUNTERS in that huge enclosure, all with fresh food and drinks and delicious Cuban-style cuisine! My first time having Cuban, and the black bean soup + rice and fried plantains I got for lunch were really really good. I was also really hungry since we woke up at like 4 am but still, the food was prepared well (quickly too), cheap, and I know Porto's would be my regular for sure if I had one near me in Oregon!! No vegan or dairy-free pastry items, but they did have gluten free. (I mean, they're the real deal so I fully understand that they don't have butter-free croissants and dairy-free chocolate, it makes sense eh?) My mum likes almost anything chocolate, so she rated the Grain-Free Brownie 4 stars but I tried some and didn't care for the aftertaste. She liked the other 3 pastries she tried that were gluten-free too. But I'm suspicious because I've heard all their pastries are phenomenal but because they have so many you you could live your whole life near a Porto's and still not try them all. So maybe there's 1 or 2 that aren't bomb, but you might never try them because their menu is insane.
After we fought traffic for awhile, and arrived at my aunt's house, I hung out with my cousins and played with them on the trampoline. We also were just hanging out and I was occupying them so my mum could catch up with my aunt and stuff. I loved how in the beginning my younger cousins were really shy and the youngest boy wouldn't even look at me, but by the end of the day he was smiling at me and playing jokes on me. The younger girls warmed up to me quicker, but it could be because they remember me better from when they came to our house this past June.
We did a short hike in the hills near their house to catch the sunset. No trees, and the dirt was so dry and slippery and steep that I think doing my morning runs would turn into more of morning slides. I'm trying to recall the shoe knowledge I have from working at REI, but I'm not sure what shoes I'd use to run there, it's so slippery. No mud or plants to stop your descent either. The view was incredible, the neighborhood, train, and you could see more than you might think because there was no trees to obscure the view!
When we got back I helped with dinner prep and we had dinner with all the family plus more aunts/uncles/cousins who came, it was a blessing for sure to be together with everyone in California! :)
THURSDAY: we visited Long Beach, Del Mar, and then Laguna. Was my first time at Laguna, I'd heard a lot about it and it was beautiful, but not my favorite beach. I thought it was small-ish, but may have been just the location we went to.
FRIDAY: we got a late start and went to Brandon's Diner which was PACKED because Veteran's Day, we waited about 90 mins or more I believe. But this was actually great because my mum got to catch up with her family who she hasn't seen in awhile, then we talked more inside and the food was worth the wait, as well as the service! The place is open 365 days a year (yeep) and has bomb American/Mexican food, prices, and they serve Brek-Lunch-Dinner, dessert, coffee, etc.
(I will Yelp review them once I get the chance ;)
SATURDAY: It's 10:35 pm in Yucca Valley: "I have your tomato, let's go!" I turn around to see my mum holding something round up that she's grabbed from the trunk and I yell "wait I want to.." then I turn back to the cacti to try poking it. "OW ok nevermind never mind, run awayyy" it stabbed me first, so I retreat to run back to the car. Also, did I mention it was pretty cold for 65F? But the desert does that, it has a more bitter/clear feeling coldness than the city. Why were we in Yucca Valley, outside, at 10 pm, on a Saturday night? Well we visited my cousin actually!
It was really fun! We went all the way out to Palm Springs to visit my cousin Louie in Marine training. He was super happy we made it and we got to see Joshua Tree National Park (I've wanted to see it for the past 5 years!) and eat dinner in Palm Springs (Louie really wanted to see Palm Springs!) So that was cool and I'm really thankful, we we safe too, no car trouble or even getting lost. Seriously a great day: I saw my first cactus too, which is the beginning of this story. There was actually 3 of them, and it was a great time. ALSO; yet another reason to get outside more, we got free admission to Joshua Tree because it was Veteran's Day weekend! Normally admission is $25, which is pretty steep for a National Park I'll admit! (it's generally around $5-10). Vet's Weekend meant we waited in lines more than usual (see earlier, Brandon's Diner) and tickets for airfare are obviously more expensive over the weekend AND a weekend holiday, as well as everything in general being more crowded in LA : as if that was an actual thing that could happen. But, hey, free admission to a Nat park and I was a happy gopher.
⇾ HEADS UP: Black Friday, this November Friday 24th, most National Parks will have free admission/parking to encourage people to go outside and not buy 50% off UGG boots. (just kidding, my best friend wears UGG boots, they're ok kind-of)
(not kidding about free admission though, go get it :)
SUNDAY: we attended church with my LA family, the church is also really small so it was literally "my family's" church. The service was really nice and I got to sing with my mum and aunts last minute because their church schedule has that room available on the schedule, for people to hop in. We didn't get to practice at all, I think I was doing about 50% Alto, 50% Soprano and 50% my own key...it was a good time. M
Maybe it didn't sound like it, but hey it was a time to remember.
My cousin who was setting the octave might not think so, since she was giving us the side-stink-eye.
She has a gift.
Both in guitar, singing, piano, and facial expressions.
We hit El Pollo Loco for lunch which was really fun but we shoveled food down so fast I remembered what Louie told me about mealtimes in Marine Boot Camp (not the rigidity, but how fast we had to eat):
We were eating really fast because my mum and I had to catch AMTRAK down to San Diego. Bright and early and 7:30 am Monday morning was when my scholarship interview day was going down, so we had to be in San Diego and hopefully check into a hotel preferably Sunday night. So we shoveled salsa and tried not to ruin or church clothing or choke on rice while booking our hotel room on Priceline. Guess what, booking on Priceline is more shifty than booking a flight. The room rates fluctuated 4 times in the 30 mins we were struggling with wifi to try and download their app so we could book. Checking the price on my cousins cell, then my mums, then mine, and then after we'd booked, it changed 4-5 times. Shoot man, it could be due to again, Veteran's Weekend, but I'm not sure I want to deal with it next time. We finally booked our room 4 hours before check-in, while on our AMTRAK down the coast to San Diego. AMTRAK was a great experience overall. We hopped on and the attendant checked our tickets later in the trip, around 30 mins in. Seats were spacious and windows were wide with a killer view of the coast! We also had ports to charge our electronics, free wifi that semi-worked, and legroom as well as overhead bins to stash our bags. (This was the beginning of us becoming Bag Ladies in Balboa Park later that day, but on the train we felt classy because it's AMTRAK, we're savvy travelers man) I also didn't get pictures of the station in San Diego, but I like. I like very much, the place has history, just like Balboa Park! Ride was about 1 hr 15 mins total from San Juan Capistrano to San Diego Santa Fe Depot, and no dealing with traffic. We made about 3 stops, but when you're traveling along the coastline with those huge windows, you don't even care how long it takes. Because unlike the Polar Express, you want to stay as long as possible. That movie is pretty weird you know?
BAG LADIES IN BALBOA PARK (SUNDAY NIGHT):
My mum wanted to see the park, and because the tour guide inside me was screaming "yes show off to her!!" even though this was my second time in the city, I had to show her. So we took public MTS bus service to Balboa Park Zoo stop (end of line) and walked to the Botanical Garden, which I knew would be closed but wanted to check anyway. That makes the 2nd try, the 1st being this past Sep 2017 with my brother. It's closed on weekends, but I for some reason can't grasp this concept and so keep going to that pretty wooden building to stand outside the door and read the sign and smell the perfume of the flowers. (The building is built with an open design slats all over, the tropical flowers smell amazing). So I proudly showed her the Clock tower and Shrub Garden, (which I actually had not seen when I was with my brother but whatever) and the Carousel, and the History, Science, and Airspace Museums, and all the water fountains etc!! It was definitely more crowded this time than when I was here late night with my bro, but I can't say if I like it more at night or morning. I think daytime is great for families and friends, night is really romantic and you can enjoy the lights and ambiance but not so much the architecture. We took MTS back to Santa Fe Depot and rode the trolley to the general location of our hotel, which we walked to. Then because we didn't look questionable enough in our weird layered-on outfits "oh-shoot-its-cold-now-let-me-put-on-leggings-jacket-and-trainers-over-my-church-dress" outfits, we also gained a new member to our bag-family ----> a cardboard box! He came to us because we ran to grab some Vietnamese food before the place closed and I got excited because they had a WHOLE SEPARATE VEGAN MENU but the portions were so big the owners put all our food in a cardboard box that I hauled back to our hotel (while my mum filmed it).
good times.
And our room no longer smelled like cigarettes, only Vietnamese happiness.
MONDAY (SCHOLARSHIP DAY!!):
We woke up early, and WERE 40 MINS EARLY TO CHECK-IN AT MY SCHOOL. So, it's safe to say that's probably the thing that ended up surprising me most on this whole trip, even more so than the real-alive seal we saw at off the pier at Long Beach. We walked around a little, the welcome service started at 9 so we had a little time to drop our backpacks off in their Admission Office. By now I think the Director of Aviation at the school thinks I have a backpack growing out of my back, because 90% of the time he's seen me, I've got my bag on (like when my brother Nathan and I were at the school for the first time back in September!)
I need to add more to this entry, but I'm going to publish it now because I published the video. So, I'll leave it almost done for now.
Here's a cool list of firsts' I realized I experienced on this trip!:
1st time in LA kinda (past times I was driving and either didn't
get out of car or didn't get to hang out in the city).
1st time at Joshua Tree!
1st time trying Cuban food (A+)
1st time riding AMTRAK! (or a passenger train at all, for that matter).
1st time on a plane ride when the sun was setting as we took off!
Cali Video!