Sunny San Diego

The first weekend of December (after just coming home 4 short days before) I headed down to San Diego for the weekend.  My mom was in some classes down there for her continuing education for her MFT License; so I figured I'd tag along.  I had a free ticket on Southwest and figured a nice little weekend trip would be fun!!  I flew down on Thursday night and made it just in time for ER; thank goodness!  Since mom was in classes during the day I was left to my own devices!

Friday after a relaxed morning I decided I wouldn't do anything too far out of my comfort zone (as far as being on my own); I looked online and found a mall that was about a mile away.  I also discovered in my googling that the mall was right next to a bus station.  Perfect I thought; that way I could wander the mall and check out the bus situation for the days to come.  This wasn't jut any mall; it was huge. Of course it had all the regular shops but it also had all the fancy ones like Tiffany and Co, Loui Vuitton and the likes.  Oh plus an 18 screen theater!  It was an outside mall so after grabbing a quick bite I wandered around for a few hours checking in all the shops; but not buying a single thing; just the way I'd planned!  After that I met my mom for an early dinner and then back to the hotel for a trip to the hot-tub!!  

Since I'd checked out the bus situation the day before and was now a "pro"  I was feeling brave enough to take the 14 bus to Old Town San Diego; I was not yet feeling brave enough to take the 14 and then the 8 to the beach; I'd save that for another day.  I figured I'd start slow with just one bus; I wasn't ready for a transfer.  I headed to the mini-mart for some new sunglasses (I didn't bring any with me); and then walked to the bus station 

Umm, while riding the bus to old town I had a little laugh that at the age 23 I was on the first bus I'd ever ridden by myself.  Sure I travel a lot and have taken my fair share of public transportation, but never a bus on my own.  And as I revealed later (acting so proud of my new found bus schedule decoding skills); it's very stressful.  I was having this conversation with my mom and Bill (who mom was talking to on the phone) about how stressful it is, and you don't want to get on the wrong bus and everyone else seems to know the protocol and how to pay and all that hub-bub, but not you!  Bill and I were on the same page!  

My Bus

Ok, I digress; I wandered around Old Town for a few hours checking out all the fun little shops and the First Mission in California!  I must admit thought; I think my favorite part was the tortillas I bought off the street; 3 fresh made flour tortillas for $1!  So tasty!  I was also very pleased to have stumbled upon the Saturday Farmers Market while I was there! After wandering around I hopped the bus back to the hotel and then later walked over to meet my mom and from there we headed back to the mall to watch Australia (great movie but a little confusing to start out; an epic movie!)  Then it was home and hot-tub again!

Saturday I decided I was going to brave the two buses to the beach; and to even show my smarts buy the day pass because I'd discovered it would save me $3 then if I'd paid the fair each way; thank goodness I'd brought my laptop along to do all this research!  I'd mapped out the bus times for the 14 and 8 which I needed to take to get to the beach and the 9 and the 14 which I needed to ride back.  First I had to go to the mini mart for sunscreen; then to the bus stop (by this time I was way cool and didn't even need to walk to the bus station).  But it was cold and windy and I waited and waited and waited until a trolly stopped and tried to pick me up (by this time the bus was 5 minutes late) and she informed me the bus would be about 15 more minutes.  I'd checked the Saturday schedule and found two different ones depending on where I looked and apparently went with the wrong one.  I was already cold and decided with the wind and such I probably wouldn't enjoy the beach anyway, so I just walked back to the hotel.  While I waited for mom I watched Batman Begins and X-Men 3; yay superhero movies!

The Trusty (but today not so trusty) #14

That evening we met up with an old family friend that I first met when I was 10 on a trip to Hawaii.  It was really fun getting to catch up with Becky and see her; it's been about 5 years since we last saw her!  Later that night was of course another trip in the hottub!

Monday my mom didn't have class and we'd planned to stay the day so we could do something fun together.  We decided after checking out to head back to Old Town for some more of those tortillas and a wander around.  My mom thought the place we bought tortillas from was really funny because it was called Fred's (didn't seem very authentic I guess!)  We spent a few hours over there and did a few things I didn't do before; like some olive oil tasting (yum!)  Our plan was to head back to the hotel and maybe play some games but instead my mom had taught me how to knit on the way back to the hotel so we knitted away while sipping hot-chocolate and watching Ellen.  Well I can say I'm capable of knitting a row now but I'm too afraid to do it without my mom by my side; plus she taught me right handed; and I think I need to learn the left handed way (and not it's not a matter of just turning the needles around; we tried that theory!)  

Mom Insisted on a picture

When I saw this sign I shouted "Congratulations; You did it"  Quick Name that Movie

Off we went to the airport and after a quick game of Canasta we headed to our respective flights!  Monday was a very fun day because having someone else to joke around with makes everything a little more fun!  My mom and I had a few running jokes throughout the day!

Oh my goodness how could I forget; when we got to old town we noticed that one of the signs to one of the shops was pointing in the wrong directions; It was one of those big sandwich board type signs.  Well I being the good citizen I am thought I'd do a good deed by turning it around for them.  So apparently there's a special trick to doing that because as I was doing it the thing folded up and pinched my fingers; it was very painful.  I was telling my mom my fingers were stuck but she was too busy taking my picture and cracking up to realize my fingers were actually stuck.  It was super funny but my poor finger was squished in on both sides and read for a good while!!!!  See; if my mom hadn't been there it just wouldn't have been as fun ;)

I'll be headed back out on Tuesday for my next adventure so stay tuned!