The Very Scenic Route

Road Trip to Long Beach 6/4 - 6/6
We drove down to Long Beach over the weekend for Andrew's friend's graduation from medical school. The trip started out with a bang, in that I left my house on time, but was delayed 45 minutes because of commute traffic. I am still upset that all those people were late for work.

We were on the road a little before noon and reached LA a little after 7:00. It was a pretty pleasant trip and we passed the time playing a game that's a cross between I Spy and Car Bingo - "Find Me Three Things." You'd be surprised how quickly time flies when you are intently searching for an El Camino or a car transporting fauna.

LA is just too surreal. I know I shouldn't hold a grudge against the current residents for the fact that their forefathers decided to build a city in the desert and "borrow" the water from up north. But I do. The whole California Dream thing is just crazy. And yet to my consternation, I am always sucked in by the "dream," and I find myself in awe as I pass by the landmarks and streets that I know from movies (Sunset Blvd, Wilshire, Mulholland). And upon arriving at our hostess's home, my awe was compounded by the grand golden-era Mediterranean style house, complete with an exotic backyard that reminded me of the one from the movie Laurel Canyon. Yes, Virgina, people really do live like this.

On Saturday evening after the graduation, we went out to dinner in Huntington Beach. The memory of walking on the pier in the fading light, listening to the drummers, and watching the gamers linger on the beach volleyball court will always be accompanied by the smell of seaweed. We ate at Duke's. It's a fun seafood restaurant named after Duke Kahanamoku, the father of surfing, and we were seated in the "board room." Ok, I confess, I had the chicken. I just don't do seafood, but I did taste Andrew's opah (white, moist filet of Moon Fish). And the garlic mashed potatoes were divine. Good food, good conversation, good times.

We left town around noon on Sunday, fully expecting the drive to be as uneventful as it was on Monday. No such luck. Just past Santa Barbara we saw a "Road Closed" sign, but there was no closure, so we kept driving. Ten minutes later we came upon a police woman who had set up cones and was directing people off at the exit. We sat in a line for awhile, but were finally waved over the overpass and.... back onto the freeway? Turns out the detour was to go back south to that original exit with the "Road Closed" sign and take Highway 154 until it connected back up with 101. 154 is a somewhat windy 2-lane highway, and since 101 was closed in both directions, it was horrendously congested. After a quick stop for me to pee by the side of the road (yes, you read that right), I took over the driving. In truth, it only set us back about an hour and a half, so it could have been worse.

Kicking Myself in the Ass, Part 3
So besides the aggravating drive on Sunday, the small blight on the weekend was that I paid too much for the motel room. I did not ask in advance how much a room was, I simply said "give us a room," and then the first time I saw the price was when I signed the credit card receipt. Why did I do that? I have been known to do such things in the past. You'd think I'd learn from my mistakes. What it all boils down to is that I am too smart to be so dumb.