I found that the best way to make sure you will wake up at 4 a.m., is to not go to sleep. That worked. Cody got up at 4, we got ready and were able to be on the road just before 5 a.m....sorry to bust anyone who was in an office pool betting on what time we'd leave. I lost. I bet on the 8 a.m. time slot. Dammit.
Autumn was thrilled to see the sunrise. In fact, all of the bambini commented on its beauty. It was a nice one...
We made good time right through to Gila Bend, which sucked the wind out of our sails. First, we stopped to use the restroom the Shell off of the first exit...we let Bella stretch her legs - first time traveling farther than Wilcox, AZ, so we thought, if we have to go, she must too. She didn't. Then, Autumn announced she was hungry, so we took the 'business route' (what an oxymoron in the case of Gila Bend!), slowly winding our way through 'town' to McD's...and Gila Bend continued to suck time from our trip...as McD's got our order wrong...and until I went inside and got it squared away, we had spent a glorious 45 minutes in that little hell hole!
After that, we made decent time, despite California having an incredible amount of highway patrol out...I can never see 'CHIPS' without smirking...the two little ones in the back chattered incessantly. Horrifically, we discovered that the adapater for our portable DVD player had gone missing...about an hour into our drive...Cody tried to keep me sane, keeping the Ipod playing good tunes, just loud enough so we could not hear the two in the back...there were also quite a few Border Patrol stops, instead of just the one after crossing into Cali. "Do you have any produce?" they asked at our first stop. "is that some kind of code Dad?" Cody asked. Our only worry was Bella...at the second stop, she appeared at the window, greeting the BP agent with a Thompson submachine gun...we quickly sped away...laughing.
Road delirium. Without Kim to spell me, I only had the McD's coffee from 6:30 that morning to keep me going...Yuma, we discovered, is a four letter word. Interesting. We decided to substitute that the rest of the day for other four letter words...which was fun.
As we rolled into San Diego, around 11ish, the back seat kids started to say they were hungry. I quickly decided we should stop downtown and hit Little Italy for lunch!
India Street - downtown...two blocks north of Seaport Village....
Autumn anxiously waits outside of Filippi's for some food!
Autumn got pasta (what a surprise!), Cody a pepperoni calzone and Tonio...just fruit salad...I got fettucine with pesto sauce and fresh tomatoes...completely out of character for me, as I'm not a big fettucine guy...but they had it in display case and it looked so good - and Kimmy would have chosen it...so I did and it was great!
.. Afterward, we walked the crowded streets in Little Italy - they were having a farmers market, with live bands and other fun stuff. We finally left around 2 and headed to Laguna Beach, about an hour up the coast.
Just as we were getting into Laguna, Puke-a-palooza started! Bella let loose in the back seat the little ones lost their minds!! I threw wipes to them, as I slowed down from the 80 MPH I was doing on the 5 to make my exit and pulled into the first gas station as Bella leaned up front and hurled in Cody's lap!! We cleaned up and made it to our hotel, the bambini all gagging, struggling to hold onto their lunches...
We are staying at the Travel Lodge Laguna Beach, just across from the Montage Resort - I can't even describe the amount of beauty and detail they put into that place - but, a room goes for around $500/night...
The Travel Lodge is beautiful enough for us and the kids were thrilled to be there. I ran in to announce our arrival and tell them about Bella...'Oh, we don't accept pets', the desk lady told me. OK, I'm at the end of my proverbial rope right now...thinking 'should I leap off the cliffs of Laguna or simply swim out to sea...' and she tells me this...'Uh, I specifically chose this hotel because online, it said you do accept dogs'...'No, we don't'...'Your website must be mistaken', I calmly told her through clenched teeth...'when did you make reservations?' 'February'. 'Oh, you're right. We used to take pets, now we don't. Since you made your reservations in February, we will take care of you.' I was thanful and explained how we had stayed in this very hotel 7 years ago...back then, we were in room 114. This time, 106. As we pulled our suitcases into the room, Bella let loose one more time. Luckily, it was on the sidewalk outside our room! I quickly ran inside, grabbed the ice bucket, filled it and scoured the sidewalk before anyone would notice...Then, we ran to CVS, next door and bought Kaopectate and gave her a dose - thus pulling out my inner-Kimmy-who-used to be a-vet-tech...and, I grabbed the last bottle they had! Surely a good omen.
But I was spent. I needed a quick nap and to just decompress. No. Way. 'Let's go to the beach!' the bambini cried! It's a nice walk through the Montage to the beach...
Two views from the top - lots of foilage and flowers on a winding walkway to the beach...at the bottom was Kim's favorite cove...
The cliffs surrounding the beaches are covered with ice plants and other flowers...
The bambini loved playing in the surf...Tonio got his first boogie board today!
On the other side of this natural rock arch, is a little cove, Kim's favorite beach at Laguna...
Autumn found some great shells to add to her collection...the water was pretty chilly!
Solerno's was one of Kim's favorites downtown Laguna...but we could not get in tonight, the wait 2 hours and it was about 6:30 when we got there...so we went to a little restaurant on the water that Kimmy liked to go to...and about half way through dinner...Tonio announced "I'm not feeling so well..." I jumped up, rushed him to the men's room - LOCKED! I pushed him into the ladies room and just in time - he vomited more than I could ever believe could fit inside of him!! Just as I got him cleaned up, about 5 ladies came in (I did not get a chance to lock the door!)...I explained our 'emergency' and they graciously let us finish up...
We made it back to the hotel and Tonio went right to sleep...Aut and Cody hit the pool, while I tried to make sense of our dirty clothes, toiletries, etc.
Long day...and a flood of memories that I am unable to describe right now...and we did have some fun along the way...I guess I will sleep tonight! I promised to get the bambini up around 5 to hit the tidal pools at their finest...
I stepped out into the Laguna night to say goodnight to Kimmy alone tonight, everyone else fast asleep...the Big Dipper followed us out here - thank God - I needed that...
Love,
Dave
Autumn was thrilled to see the sunrise. In fact, all of the bambini commented on its beauty. It was a nice one...
We made good time right through to Gila Bend, which sucked the wind out of our sails. First, we stopped to use the restroom the Shell off of the first exit...we let Bella stretch her legs - first time traveling farther than Wilcox, AZ, so we thought, if we have to go, she must too. She didn't. Then, Autumn announced she was hungry, so we took the 'business route' (what an oxymoron in the case of Gila Bend!), slowly winding our way through 'town' to McD's...and Gila Bend continued to suck time from our trip...as McD's got our order wrong...and until I went inside and got it squared away, we had spent a glorious 45 minutes in that little hell hole!
After that, we made decent time, despite California having an incredible amount of highway patrol out...I can never see 'CHIPS' without smirking...the two little ones in the back chattered incessantly. Horrifically, we discovered that the adapater for our portable DVD player had gone missing...about an hour into our drive...Cody tried to keep me sane, keeping the Ipod playing good tunes, just loud enough so we could not hear the two in the back...there were also quite a few Border Patrol stops, instead of just the one after crossing into Cali. "Do you have any produce?" they asked at our first stop. "is that some kind of code Dad?" Cody asked. Our only worry was Bella...at the second stop, she appeared at the window, greeting the BP agent with a Thompson submachine gun...we quickly sped away...laughing.
Road delirium. Without Kim to spell me, I only had the McD's coffee from 6:30 that morning to keep me going...Yuma, we discovered, is a four letter word. Interesting. We decided to substitute that the rest of the day for other four letter words...which was fun.
As we rolled into San Diego, around 11ish, the back seat kids started to say they were hungry. I quickly decided we should stop downtown and hit Little Italy for lunch!
..Just as we were getting into Laguna, Puke-a-palooza started! Bella let loose in the back seat the little ones lost their minds!! I threw wipes to them, as I slowed down from the 80 MPH I was doing on the 5 to make my exit and pulled into the first gas station as Bella leaned up front and hurled in Cody's lap!! We cleaned up and made it to our hotel, the bambini all gagging, struggling to hold onto their lunches...
We are staying at the Travel Lodge Laguna Beach, just across from the Montage Resort - I can't even describe the amount of beauty and detail they put into that place - but, a room goes for around $500/night...
The Travel Lodge is beautiful enough for us and the kids were thrilled to be there. I ran in to announce our arrival and tell them about Bella...'Oh, we don't accept pets', the desk lady told me. OK, I'm at the end of my proverbial rope right now...thinking 'should I leap off the cliffs of Laguna or simply swim out to sea...' and she tells me this...'Uh, I specifically chose this hotel because online, it said you do accept dogs'...'No, we don't'...'Your website must be mistaken', I calmly told her through clenched teeth...'when did you make reservations?' 'February'. 'Oh, you're right. We used to take pets, now we don't. Since you made your reservations in February, we will take care of you.' I was thanful and explained how we had stayed in this very hotel 7 years ago...back then, we were in room 114. This time, 106. As we pulled our suitcases into the room, Bella let loose one more time. Luckily, it was on the sidewalk outside our room! I quickly ran inside, grabbed the ice bucket, filled it and scoured the sidewalk before anyone would notice...Then, we ran to CVS, next door and bought Kaopectate and gave her a dose - thus pulling out my inner-Kimmy-who-used to be a-vet-tech...and, I grabbed the last bottle they had! Surely a good omen.
But I was spent. I needed a quick nap and to just decompress. No. Way. 'Let's go to the beach!' the bambini cried! It's a nice walk through the Montage to the beach...
Autumn explores the tide pools...This was Kim's favorite thing to do!
Bella absolutely LOVED the water!! She would charge the waves fearlessly and got pretty wet!!
When we were done at the beach, we headed for dinner downtown...
We made it back to the hotel and Tonio went right to sleep...Aut and Cody hit the pool, while I tried to make sense of our dirty clothes, toiletries, etc.
Long day...and a flood of memories that I am unable to describe right now...and we did have some fun along the way...I guess I will sleep tonight! I promised to get the bambini up around 5 to hit the tidal pools at their finest...
I stepped out into the Laguna night to say goodnight to Kimmy alone tonight, everyone else fast asleep...the Big Dipper followed us out here - thank God - I needed that...
Love,
Dave
Oh YUMA Dave (using YUMA as a 4 letter word of your choice :) ) - anything but PUKE! I can do it all, but puke - UGH!!! Especially NOT at home! I hope you are able to regroup and settle them all in for a nice relaxing family trip!
ReplyDeleteI will be praying for serenity and peace for the rest of your trip :)
Cheers!
OH MY GOSH! Dave! It's almost too bad to be true!! Sounds like you were a champ though! And really, doesn't that mean things can only get better from here?? :) I bet Kim got a few chuckles watching everything that was going on! Hope you enjoy the rest of the trip. Will surely be thinking of you all tomorrow. :)
ReplyDeleteDave, I really hope the rest of your trip goes well. The beach looks wonderful! The kids look like they're having an awesome time. Enjoy your vacation and God bless.
ReplyDelete