I've been in Southern California since Sunday evening. It's been an adventure, though not quite as much adventure as last year when I was out here for training. The main problem is that it's been dark by 5:30 PM every night, which severely cuts into the sightseeing.
We arrived around 5:30 PM Sunday evening. Retrieved the bags and liberated a rental car, then got checked into the hotel. Unpacked, then headed out to dinner. I found a seafood place nearby so we ate there, it was decent but not outstanding. It was 8:30 PM or maybe a little later when I got back to the room, I went to bed quite early due to the three hour time difference. I did swap e-mails with a friend of mine who lives south of here, we made plans for dinner Monday night.
Went to class Monday morning, then got out a bit early. Since dinner plans were already made I just went back to the hotel to relax until dinner. My friend showed up around six, as planned, and the three of us (Friend, myself, and my co-worker who is taking the training class with me) went to an Indian restaurant nearby. Food was amazing (I ordered a lamb dish, the first time I've ever eaten lamb as far as I know), we all enjoyed the company, and too soon it was time to return to the hotel. Friend had a rather long (hour and a half) drive back home so we said our goodbyes around 9PM but made plans to meet up again on Wednesday for dinner.
Tuesday was a full day of class, then my co-worker wanted to drive up to Los Angeles. We drove to LA, then west to Malibu looking for a place for dinner. After we got to Malibu we turned around and I searched for a steak restaurant with the GPS. We found one up in Topanga Canyon so we headed up there. Naturally, when we finally got there they were closed. What kind of steak house closes at 3:30 PM every day? We turned around and stopped at a seafood place we had passed on our way up into the canyon, it was excellent! I drove home, it was probably 10 PM by the time I got back to the hotel so I wasn't up much longer.
The two of us were supposed to drive down to Escondido and meet my friend for dinner Wednesday after class but my co-worker got a call from his girlfriend that she had been dealing with a prowler around her house that day and the police were called. He was upset, and felt he needed to be on the phone to talk to her and calm her down that evening so I drove down solo. Traffic was awful and I didn't get down there until almost 7 PM, by the time we ordered dinner and ate it was around 9 PM. She shared a bite of her duck, it's the first time I've eaten duck. Everything was so good! We chatted briefly then I saw her to her car. Without the traffic to deal with I made it back to where I was staying in only an hour, even with an INS roadblock on I-5 just north of Camp Pendleton. They just waved me through when they saw I was an old white guy alone in a rent-a-car.
Thursday after class my co-worker and I drove up to Long Beach, then down the Pacific Coast Highway almost to Newport Beach. We found a Japanese restaurant to eat dinner, I had a steak and my co-worker had sashimi. He let me try a couple of pieces, I found it to be quite good. That was my third and last new food experience for the trip.
Friday was our last day of class and we had hoped to get out early but we ended up being in there until 3:30 PM, which made it too late to go down to the San Diego Zoo or even the Wild Animal Park. It rained lightly all day and we got stuck at the place where our class was eating lunch because the rain got too heavy to walk back to class. We still walked back in a light drizzle, which wasn't too bad even if it was over a half mile back to the classroom. After class we drove out to Newport Beach, walked down the beach to the city pier and took some photos, then drove down the Pacific Coast Highway through Laguna Beach. Around 6 PM we found a steak restaurant and went in to order. The steak was amazing, but awfully expensive. We drove back to the hotel and I made an early evening of it, I was tired.
It's now a few minutes past 6 AM I'm getting ready to shower then load the car for my return trip. I'll grab a breakfast downstairs in the hotel then our flight back to Charlotte leaves at 9:30. I'll get back to Charlotte around dark then drive back home. I'll upload and post photos once I'm home, the wireless here in the hotel is rather slow and spotty. |
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