california: san diego

I flew from chicago to san diego via pheonix. Easy flights.
I met Stephanie when both of us worked at a resort on the Pacific island of Saipan. We've kept in touch ever since, she is now married with two kids. Hard to believe it, but our time in Saipan was a long time ago. 2005! Ten years ago! Stephanie picked me up at the airport, we went straight to lunch.
Lunch was at a place called Lucha Libra, a gourmet taco place. Steph told me it was a local place, and is now a busy place because it was featured on a cooking show, or best of list. Now everyone wants to eat there. I don't know how I feel about the "best of" lists, because hidden places become overrun.
It was good food, and the line moved really quickly. They have their own salsa bar, how awesome is that?
Then we went to Steph's house, where I met one of her children, and the nanny. The baby was 8 months old, and seemed happy when I held her. Awesome! Steph collected some of the stuff she had for newborns, and we took it to one of her friends who had just had a baby. (4 days ago.) Awesome. Instead of buying all new stuff, people who are having children should be able to reach out to friends who have already had children and use a few things. Newborns are tiny tiny humans, but they need so much stuff!

After baby time Steph took me to a place called Blush Desserts. YUM. They make macaroon ice cream sandwiches to order, yahoo! You get to choose what flavor of macaroons you want, as well as what flavor of ice cream you want. I got a bit greedy, and ordered a red velvet cupcake too, more yum. Clearly, Steph knows me too well :)
Then we picked up Steph's other kid, a 3 year old. He talks, a lot. Steph told me when he started preschool a year ago, he cried for 3 months straight. I wouldn't have known it from the child I met. He is a happy kid, he wanted to tell me everything he knows about everything.

We went back to Steph's house to hang out for a while. I really enjoyed the view, which looks out over Qualcomm stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers. While we were there I met her husband, a nice guy.
Then Steph took me over to her sister's house, where I fell asleep at 8pm! To be fair, 8pm San Diego time is 10pm Chicago time, which is 11pm Bloomington time, and I'd had another early flight after sleeping in the Chicago airport again. I deserved to fall asleep early :) Oddly enough, the people who lived in the house weren't yet home when I fell asleep!

The next morning Steph picked me up and we went to breakfast at a place called Bear Buns Bakery. Steph had a meeting, so I sat in another area, writing a letter. I loved my chai latte and red velvet cookie. Yum.
After breakfast, Steph dropped me off at the trolley stop at Qualcomm Stadium. There isn't a lot of public transport, but this was perfectly convenient for me. I rode the trolley into the city center, getting off at the stop for Old Town. It's a historical park/district, mostly for tourists. Too many kitchy shops for my taste, but great for people watching. There were a few good (and small,) museums too. I really liked the old schoolhouse. It reminded me a lot of the one room schoolhouse in Bloomington, Indiana. 

Nearby was an old synagogue, no longer used.
Eventually I hopped back on the trolley, transferred to a different line, then caught a bus. All of these took me to Balboa Gardens. A huge, beautiful area in the city. It took me a while to find the central area of the parks. The pin shown on tripadvisor and google maps is not where you find the majority of people.
It was hot and sunny, but I still loved walking everywhere. My first find was the cactus garden. Despite my attempts to be nice, the cacti did not return my love. (I was still digging prickles out of my fingers a couple weeks later! Tiny little prickles you can't quite see, but you can feel.)

I loved seeing some of the cactus flowers, you don't get to see those very often. Beautiful.
By the time I found the central area of the gardens, I was really dehydrated. I got really lucky when I saw a server coming into his shift at one of the restaurant cafes. I asked him where I could find a drinking fountain, he brought me a big cup of ice water, then brought me a to go cup with more ice water. Random acts of kindness are amazing.
Sadly, the Japanese garden was closed for a private event. Argh.
After the garden, I walked to a bus stop for a bus that would take me to a trolley stop. The trolley took me back to Qualcomm stadium. As the trolley got closer and closer, I saw more people with football jerseys boarding the train. I figured out there was a game that night, between the Dallas Cowboys and San Diego Chargers.

Getting out of the trolley station and stadium area was quite different than when I'd been there in the morning. Near game time, traffice patterns for both people and cars are different. For security reasons, people getting off the train have to walk a specific way (that takes you through turnstiles to make sure you have a ticket!) and I was worried about how to get out of the crowd; I wasn't going to the game. It took me a bit, but eventually I was able to go where I wanted.
Traffic was already pretty heavy at that point, but Steph and I were able to figure out where she would pick me up through texting. Thank goodness!

I ate dinner in the house that night with Steph and her family.
The next morning Steph dropped me off at a street corner across the street from the Marine Corps Recruiting Depot in San Diego. A few minutes later, one of my cousins picked me up.
My cousin is a chaplain in the Navy, currently stationed at MCRD. This was a Friday, and he'd arranged tickets for us to see the graduation ceremony for the recruits who had finished basic training. Our seats were in the VIP pavillion, under cover. Thank goodness, as I was sunburnt, and it was again (as is normal,) sunny and hot.

Impressive. I love the mix of tradition and youth. Since my cousin is an officer, and most of the folks on this base are younger and enlisted, he was saluted approximately every two feet. I got to see his office, learn how the recruits are organized, and watch the ceremony. Awesome.
After the ceremony he took me to the gift shop on base, where I got to buy postcards and a mug for his unit.
Then we drove to his house. San Diego traffic is nuts. Not very well organized, full of freeways, too many cars and people. Just as we got to his house, his wife was leaving to take one of the kids to the doctor.

This was only the second time I've met these kids, they didn't remember the last time three years ago. This visit was awesome, as they were old enough to have real conversations, and understand how we are related.
The original plan was to have a picnic dinner with Grandma later that afternoon/evening, but plans changed when my cousin got a call from work. He had to go back to help with what they call an AmCross situation. This is by far the worst part of his job, when he has to help deliver a message to one of the recruits. The message is always a bad one, about the death of a loved one.

When recruits are going through basic training, they don't have access to email, and other electronic communication, so these AmCross messages are delivered by the folks in charge.
We had dinner after my cousin came home again, after going for a short walk to a neighborhood playground. My cousin and his wife said this was a great neighborhood in which to live. Their kids can walk down the street without worry. They know other kids in the neighborhood, and other families. Most excellent.
The next morning breakfast was my choice of cereal. Definitely a Johnson tradition, one that I love.

During the morning, my cousin's wife went to an education fair/school registration. The family had just moved from Colorado, so they still needed to figure out where the kids would attend school in a couple weeks. From what they'd already learned and heard from others, the system in California is rather broken, and definitely not as fantastic as what they'd had in Colorado.
At some point, I hopped in the truck with my cousin and the kids. We stopped at In n Out Burger, my first visit to that chain. I think it's a California/west coast thing? Grandma likes it. The menu is small, and simple.

We brought the food to Grandma, and my cousin's wife joined us when she was done with the school stuff. It was really nice to spend some time with Grandma. She is my Grandma, but is great grandma to my cousin's kids. Awesome.
After a while, I had to go back to the airport. Everyone trooped downstairs, and we asked someone to take a family photo. Very very cool. I wish family photos were taken more often. By everyone. Being able to look at these photos years later is a fun thing to do.
Then my cousin took me back to the airport, and I flew back to Chicago.
This is when I should mention the EXCELLENT people who worked one station of TSA. While I was going through security, a small bag in which I keep foreign currency and various cards fell out of my bag. I didn't notice it, and made my way into a nearby store selling books and newspapers. A few minutes later, I heard someone saying my name, I perked up.

He asked me if I was planning to buy anything, and I said no. At this point I was scared, thinking he was asking me if I was stealing. I wasn't, of course. He kept asking questions, and I could tell he was looking for a specific answer, but it took me a while to figure it out. Eventually, I did. I'm sooooooooo grateful for his effort in finding me. I was able to say what my bag looked like, as well as name a few items in the bag, including currencies. THANK YOU SAN DIEGO TSA.
My flight landed in Chicago at 0100, not a great time. Another night of sleeping in the airport. Thank goodness, I'm good at this.