more travel adventures from san diego

ok. back again. on a flight. but no internet so this will go up later. thought i would write about my trip some more while its fresh in my mind. i think i was writing about how we had dinner almost every night with my grandma's extended family. it was good fun.

friday night, my mom and i met my grandma, my 2nd cousin and her husband and my great uncle and his wife at a seafood restaurant. for some reason, my grandma ordered salmon even though she doesnt like salmon, or any fish, for that matter. she complained about her food. i, personally, think she ordered it because my 2nd cousin's husband heard her mumbling about having a steak and he said "steak?! no! you can't have steak at a seafood restaurant! you should have fish." and my grandma said, "well, i dont know what to have" and he said "have salmon, salmon is great." of course, my grandma has no ability to reason to herself that she doesnt actually like seafood. so she ordered a salmon. and didn't eat it all. she ate some of it, of course, because you can't put food in front of her without her eating it (she forgets that she's eaten a lot and forgets what she does and doesnt like).

saturday, my 2nd cousin's husband took my mom and i out for a drive to see different areas of san diego (i previously briefly mentioned that). he kept complaining about all the homeless people we passed, or the people who sued the city because there was a big cross on top of a hill (what about the jews or the arabs or the atheists? the lawsuit mentions). he also lamented about how this woman had made a little beach for kids and now a bunch of seals have found the beach and want to live there (and thus the kids cant swim there). now there is a big controversy about seals vs. kids. i'm indifferent to all of it, and i honestly have no idea how he feels - he was just complaining that people were divided on the issue, i think. i dont know really. BUT i thought it was curious that when giving a tour, these were the things that were talked about. [oh, and as an aside, when we said goodbye, he said he would miss me the most! ha ha - i think he just likes to argue.]

after the tour, we met the same group of people for dinner again. we were going to go play bingo, which i was kind of looking forward to, but apparently it was too busy and we couldn't get a reservation (a reservation to play bingo?? apparently). so we ended up going to a mexican restaurant instead. my 2nd cousin's husband, who took us on the tour, complained about the restaurant we were going to. he was like, "this is like going to italy and having burgers" or something like that. curious, my mom and i looked up reviews of this restaurant online and we found one woman who gave it 5 stars (out of 5) and said "i live in minnesota and i love going to this restaurant each time i'm in san diego. it's great mexican food! it's like the red lobster of mexican food." ... yes. i kid you not. apparently red lobster is a high class joint in minnesohta. i, personally, enjoyed my tacos and we had a great server. my grandma said to her "bring me the bill" because my great uncle paid for dinner the previous night. the server didn't miss a beat and said "which bill? my internet or electricity?" my grandma didn't get it, she replied "i want to pay for dinner." which made the whole thing even funnier. the server just grabbed my grandma's shoulder and laughed as she said, "yes, of course!" again, my grandma didn't order food she would like. there wasn't enough gringo-y food on the menu, so i had my grandma order an enchilada. she ate part of it and a lot of rice and beans. so hard to please.

sunday, i coaxed my mom in to joining me in the pool. it was fun and felt great - LOVE heated pools! then we got ready and went shopping - i bought 3 pairs of shoes, which is stupid because i dont really have room in my suitcase for it, but i do love me some new shoes. we went to this place called venice pizza for dinner that night and it was the regular crowd - great uncle and his wife, 2nd cousin and her husband, gma, mom and i AND a whole bunch of additional people - another great uncle (who was diagnosed with parkinsons a few years ago, so he doesnt go out much) and his wife, one of their daughters, and another cousin (from the first great uncle). it was good fun and the pizza was delicious. i told my mom that if you werent from the area, and hadn't been going to it for years, you would probably just skip the place because its in a not-super-nice area and in a kind of non-descript building. we took lots of family photos - if you want any, let me know.

each night we were home by 9pm. oh, except saturday when we went to a movie - the joneses. it was really good! if its playing in your area, i def recommend it. but i'm not going to tell you a lot about it, because i think it would be even better if you dont know what its about. so just remember to see it (you can remember because it has to do with "keeping up with the joneses") and let me know what you think. (its very independent, so it might be hard to find)

monday we hung out on our own and went to torrey pines golf course to make my brothers and dad jealous (hehehe). we also went shopping downtown in the gaslampe district. i was actually really really disappointed in that area. i thought it would be really cutesy area with tons of boutique, independent shops. we found one or two, but the majority of the stores there were big chains - puma, vicky's secret, etc. i found a neat shop where i bought a bag and another one where i bought some necklaces and earrings. we had lunch and then took off. we watched dwts together and then split a burger in the hotel restaurant. it was a nice break from the big crowds.

that night, i woke up at 1am to find my mom in the bathroom using my laptop. she couldnt sleep. so she came back to bed and we watched tv for a bit and each used the computer. we were up until after 3am before both falling asleep again. oh, right, i forgot to mention that this WHOLE TIME i have been sick. i wake up with a hacking cough and a sore throat every morning. i'm trying not to cough on the plane so as not to spread my illness. this is the FIRST TIME i have been sick since i quit my job 2 years ago. its all about transportation, i tell you!

tuesday, i went swimming by myself for a bit. and get this, I GOT a HEAT RASH. in 65 degree san diego weather. yep. i kid you not. my chest was totally splotchy and i was nauseous. can you imagine me in africa?? i can't even handle southern california sprintime. after i recovered, we went to my great uncle's house and discovered that my grandma hadn't taken her medication for 2 or 3 days. when we pointed it out to her, she said, "i have NOT missed my medication!" no use arguing with her, but it explained why she didnt feel well. we went over to their house around 2pm and grandma was still in her house coat with her hair going every which way. i had a GREAT talk with my great uncle. i made a mini family tree and got the scoop on my ancestors. i'm related to this famous explorer from canada - he (peter warren dease) even has a wiki page! my great uncle is one of the nicest men i have ever meet - i have never heard him say a bad thing about anyone. i showed him videos of player playing basketball and all of the pictures that i had on my laptop. my grandma took a nap while we were there and then the 5 of us left for dinner at outback steakhouse - my first time ever at an outback. my mom's 3 cousins met us again and we had a good time. i got to know my two 2nd cousins a bit better. grandma was very silent at dinner because she had a headache, but she finally got some food she liked - a steak and potato. i asked her how her food was and she said "the steak is a bit tough." hard to please.

mom and i used a tomtom all weekend and we would've been dead in tijuana without it. it was great. i DEF suggest buying one and bringing it with you whenever you travel. i'm going to take my parents' with me on my trip to the east coast. and now i'm back to sac for a few weeks. more to come on the job front and my half-country drive a bit later... catch you on the flip side.