San Diego Days, Part 2

Time Flies

Well, I wouldn’t say the time has flown by, but it is kind of amazing that I only had three days left in San Diego after returning from Joshua Tree National Park. When I arrived earlier than expected, two and a half weeks felt like an endless time to be in one place after ten days of skipping across the country. It occurred to me how long I’d been here when I noticed the cold remedies covering one of the side tables in my bedroom… I’ve recovered so completely that I forgot how sick I was when I arrived.

There were no big plans over the last three days. Here’s what happened.

Saturday, May 14, 2022

The plan for tonight was to get together with Shon and Tara, so my aunt made plans to go dancing with her friends, leaving the place for us to hang-out. During the day, I put in a solid block of billable time, getting the project I’m working on into a good place. Shon and Tara arrived a little after 5 PM and we headed to their favorite ramen restaurant in San Diego. It really was a phenomenal dish with a super rich broth like nothing I’d ever tasted. From there we hit a dispensary and headed back to my aunt’s to hang-out on her patio while listening to music. My aunt returned around 11 PM and sat with us for a minute before going to bed. Shon and Tara left a little after that, at which point I crashed myself.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

Today was my last laid-back day in San Diego. It started a bit slowly due to the activities of the previous night and some bad sleep. Before doing yoga, I went with my aunt to her neighbor’s place to see the cats that she’s taking care of for them. It was interesting to see their condo, which was a mirror image of my aunt’s. All of the neighborhoods I’ve visited in San Diego seem to be filled with people who strive to do something cool and unique with their properties, which is a bit different than my home in Akron where everyone seems to strive to be the same. Anyway, after returning to do my yoga routine, I put a few hours of work in before heading out to lunch with my aunt.

After lunch, we just watched some television before I headed back out to La Jolla one last time on my visit to see the sunset and lunar eclipse with Shon and Tara. The first thing we did was go to Mount Soledad to see if it would be a good place to view the eclipse. While up there, we witnessed some serious clouds blow-in from the ocean along with some cold air. Viewing the sunset was out of the question due to the cloud coverage. After a dinner of bahn mi sandwiches, we checked-out a location near an airfield hoping to see a bit of the lunar eclipse. We did see it begin to turn red, but the temperature and increasing cloud coverage sent us packing.

We hung-out for a while before they had to leave to pick-up their son at the airport, at which point hugs and farewells were exchanged across the board. It’s hard to believe I only have one day left in San Diego.

Monday, May 16, 2022

Woke-up thinking how weird it is that I’ve been in San Diego for over two weeks and today is my final full day here. The morning was a bit slow for some reason. It was primarily concerned with washing my clothes and getting everything back into my bins, so that I wouldn’t be scrambling to get things done tomorrow. The clothes were finished around noon, about the same time I got my work project in a good place, so I hung-out with my aunt a little to discuss what to do today. It was decided to go shopping for dinner, something simple like sandwiches and homemade pasta salad. While I was there, I did some shopping for the rest of my trip, specifically my night in Death Valley tomorrow.

After getting back from shopping, I got into organizing and re-organizing my bins. Again, it’s weird to think I’m going to be living out of my car for two weeks again soon. Once we were finished with dinner, I reserved hotels in Estes Park, Colorado, (just outside Rocky Mountain National Park) and Interior, South Dakota, (essentially in Badlands National Park). My aunt and I spent the rest of the night talking on her patio and watching a movie. Then, it was time for what will probably be my last, truly restful sleep for the next couple of weeks.