April 5 - United States:
Heidi: San Diego, CA
Jon: Springfield, VA to Harrisonburg, VA
Ketron decided to stay home from work today. So we slept in and went for a long walk up into the hills again. I'm starting to feel all this walking in my tushie. Back at the house, we packed up and then hit the road to run a few hours of errands and then head to San Diego.
Trip To San Diego
We decided to go the long way to SD, and took the 110 to the 1 to the 5. (It's very important, in California, to refer to all the freeways with the article "the".) Ideally, the 1 should have taken us through some scenic beach spots. But because we were still so close to the city, there wasn't much view at all. We did manage to stop in one beach community and get some lovely sunset pictures, though.
Heidi and Ketron on the Beach at Sunset
We arrived at the Doubletree Hotel around 7:30 or so, completely starving and ready to head into the city for food. So we checked in with Ben, the desk supervisor, who had pity on us and gave us four chocolate chip cookies instead of only two. I didn't know that the Doubletree was associate with chocolate chip cookies, but these things were delicious! We were staying about twenty minutes outside of San Diego, because the rates were much cheaper. Regardless, this is the nicest hotel I've stayed in for months. Probably since the Renaissance in Saigon.
Gaslamp Quarter
The Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego is a renovated area of downtown, filled with restaurants, outdoor cafes, bricked sidewalks, and - of course - gaslamps. Ketron and I wandered around for a while, checking out the different restaurant choices. We finally decided on a lovely little Italian place called Quattro Gatti and knew, as soon as we walked in, that we were in the perfect place. The decor was lovely, and the food smelled delicious. And - to top it all off - there was a gentleman singing Italian arias accompanied by a man on a guitar. Absolutely lovely.
Italian Singers at Quattro Gatti
Ketron was charmed by the maitre 'd (also the owner) because he told her that if she got cold, just let him know and he would shut the door. We were also delighted by our very attentive waiter, whose name was Ben. Ben was from Morocco and had some great recommendations for food. And then he carded us for our wine, which absolutely thrilled us. Our bus boy, Bora, was from Istanbul and thought it was funny that we were so happy being carded. We then proceeded to play the "guess my age" game with him, and were surprised that he was only 26.
So, aside from the attentive staff, the food was divine. We each had the lobster bisque and one of the specials. Ket ate the grilled shrimp and I had the crab and scallop ravioli. She and I decided not to stay in San Diego tomorrow night, so we rationalized blowing our budgets on this dinner tonight. And it was so worth it! We bonded over our delicious Italian dinners and stayed there for hours. We were so happy, but we're always happy with good food and good friends.
Heidi and Ketron at Dinner
Another in a series of guest appearances by Jon
More errands
The first thing I had to do today was wait for FedEx to deliver my new cellphone, which was pretty much on time at about 11am. Next I paid Mom for the BMW (after a bit of negotiation - she thought the car was worth more than the trade-in value listed on KellyBlueBook.com) and then we headed to her BMW dealer to pick up her loaner car while her convertible awaited delivery.
This much done, I then headed to REI to see about getting my old Yakima roof rack, which I first bought for my 1994 Honda Civic then adapted for my 1996 4Runner, to fit on the BMW. Well, wouldn't you know it, Yakima doesn't make and adaptation kit for this model of BMW. Talk about luck! Luckily Thule, the only other major roof rack manufacturer does make a kit for our car. Did I mention that we really need this rack so we can store our scuba gear, which we decided that we absolutely needed to have, while we drive cross country? I ended up buying one of those hard-shell ski carriers thinking that we can actually use it after the trip cross-country. While waiting for the roof rack to be installed I also found lots of cool stuff that we couldn't live without like aluminum fuel bottles for fuel for the stove, a book on National Parks west of the Mississippi, and even a new sunglasses strap for myself.
Packing the car, saying goodbye, and hitting the road
Finally I headed home and got the car packed up, which was no easy feat, and said goodbye to Mom and headed to the Marstall's (Heidi's parents) for dinner. Mr. Marstall has been our savior on this trip. He has taken care of all of our mail, paid our bills, and kept up with our steadily dwindling bank account. He and I spent an hour or so going through the approximately 40 pounds of mail that had accumulated in the previous 10 months and then we all headed downstairs to go through the packages that we had sent home during the trip.
That done, I then said my goodbyes and headed down to Harrisonburg for a black tie reunion...this should be fun, since the nicest thing I have with me is a hawaiian shirt and Tevas!