I came up to San Diego yesterday, and spent the night last night. Usually when we're in San Diego I don't bother running because we don't stay in an area that's good for it. However, I didn't want to push my run to tomorrow morning (Saturday), so I decided to be brave and drive down to the harbor for a run.
I had visions of a cool morning by the harbor, gleefully running along. But, just like my town in Mexico, San Diego has been experiencing a mini-heat wave. It's not exactly extremely HOT (it was about 85-90 yesterday), but it's been humid, which just makes it worse.
I do not run well in the heat. I never have. This is one of the main reasons I get up at the crack of dawn to run. I hate running in heat. But, at 6:30 this morning the temperature was already at 75, and humid. I had planned on doing 4 miles, but I think I only got in about 2.5. I'm actually fine with this, because, after all, 2.5 miles is better than nothing.
It really is a nice place to run (save for comments made by men on benches). I specifically ran away from the restaurants and attractions and out toward the airport - there's a path that goes quite a ways. There are a lot of people out biking, walking, and running, and the parking at the actual harbor is free before 8am.
We were only in Portland a couple of days. We drove down from Seattle, and Manfriend declared it our first road trip. I argued with him, saying that Seattle to Portland isn't really a road trip - you don't even need a bathroom break, a convenience store, or to fill up on gas. I really do try to keep this relationship interesting.
Manfriend's car only has a tape player, and he forgot his iPod, so we stopped at Salvation Army to pick up some tapes. YES! They were only 50 cents, and we stocked up on some classic rock. If you ever find yourself in this predicament, this is the way to go. Hint: Be sure to check the contents of the cassette container. We thought we were getting Tom Petty Live, but instead we got Tom Petty's Greatest Hits. Talk about a disappointment!
Just kidding.
We went to dinner with his friends when we arrived, and we spent Friday lazing around. That means we went to breakfast, he visited a pizza restaurant to write his article, and I played Angry Birds while I waited outside. What is WITH level 20-2!!! I CANNOT GET PAST IT!!!
Angry Birds makes me a little upset.
After Manfriend rescued me from Angry Birds, we went to Mt. Tabor to laze around in the park. We are definitely getting good at this activity. I absolutely love Mt. Tabor. I went to school nearby, and I just love the view. Mt. Tabor feels like home.
It was warm both days I was there, and even hot on Saturday, as it got to about 85 degrees. I may live in Mexico, but my Mexico is temperate and windy, not hot!
That evening we went to a Guatemalan/Salvadorian/Mexico restaurant (I kid you not) in Hillsboro, and to see Bridesmaids with my bestie Stephanie. I don't like spending money on movies in the theater, but at the end, I said "That was absolutely worth the ten bucks". The comedy's not for everybody, but mannnnn, it was good.
I found this video of an interview Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph did with a French journalist. If you don't find this funny, you probably shouldn't see the movie.
On Saturday we went putt-putt golfing, and I got my hair cut.
We lazed around in another park before going grocery shopping with Steph. We had our friends over to her place for a BBQ on a hot evening, and it felt like summer.
After LA, we flew up to Seattle. I've done a bit of flying in my 20s, but it's all been by my lonesome. How nice it is to fly with someone. And not just anybody - but somebody I like! I didn't see any celebrities at LAX, but Manfriend did offer to buy me a magazine, and since I love magazines, Manfriend won a special place in my heart.
I can't find too many pictures of our Seattle time. I'd like to blame this on the fact that the weather wasn't so great, or the fact that we were actually busy. Who knows.
However, on Memorial Day we went to lunch, and walked around Seward Park, and the weather was pretty perfect. Seward Park is a nice walk, and there were a lot of people out running, biking, and walking.
After the park, we headed to get groceries so that Manfriend could make me homemade pizza. Considering that Manfriend reviews pizza for a well known pizza site, and knows really fancy words to describe crusts and flavors, I trust him when he says "I'm going to make pizza". I'll write about the pizza in another entry. Suffice to say, it was delicious.
Manfriend bought the Seattle Citypass for the both of us, knowing that we'd want to go do things. It was a great deal. Considering that the pass was $54, and one trip up to the top of the Space Needle costs $18.90 (yeah, right), we were really pleased with the deal.
We hit:
The Pacific Science Center (which actually didn't have anything on Portland's OMSI).
We also visited Discovery Park and Kerry Park. We're getting pretty good at this park visiting thing. Discovery Park had some really great trails and benches, and in the middle of the park are some old historic buildings. The houses were occupied, but there were a few unused buildings.
And let's just say that I won't even attempt to write about all of the great food we ate. Manfriend has a special gift for finding great restaurants. It's not even possible for me to write them up as I should.
We abandoned my family after Disneyland, and Manfriend and I rented a car and spent a few days in LA. We met with some friends, but also managed to see a few sights.
We went to the Natural History Museum in LA, which was really fun for me because I'd never been to a Natural History museum before. The exhibits were pretty cool, and we enjoyed the butterfly pavilion outside.
We also went up to the Griffith Observatory. It was incredibly busy, but we found a parking spot, and looked around the exhibits. We watched a short film about the history of the place (which I enjoyed), and then a planetarium show. I'll admit it - I don't really know anything about space or stars, but some of the things were interesting.
(Rebel Without a Cause was filmed here!)
We also had time for some self portraits. Of course.
We rented bikes and rode around Venice Beach. And rode the ferris wheel at the Santa Monica Pier. I didn't take pictures of either of those things. But they look like this.
Whew! I went on vacation for a couple of weeks, and right after I got back to Mexico, our internet went out for a few days. My Google Reader is backed up to 103 unread blog entries (even though I read a few things over the two weeks), and I've got some major catching up to do in the blogging department.
I'm going to just do highlights of the trips. What this actually means is that I'm going to write about the things I have pictures for. That's right - the only things that matter are the things that can be shown with pictures.
My brother, sister in law, and (smart, beautiful, wonderful) nieces, my parents, and I all drove up to Anaheim a couple weeks ago. We stopped in San Diego to pick up a very important person: Manfriend. That's right. Let's all stop and give a round of applause to Manfriend for saying "yes!" to meeting my brother and his family and "yes!" to hanging out with all of us at Disneyland. He is a good manfriend.
So we went to Disneyland! We all went for one whole day together, but my brother's family stayed for a couple more days. We had a nice, relaxed day doing whatever we wanted. A few big rides were closed down, but we didn't let that dampen our day.... especially because Splash Mountain was closed (ba-da-ching!)
On the tram to Disneyland!
Me, my brother, Mom, Dad (in front of the Haunted Mansion)
Manfriend, Rinda, Joel, Dad, Mom, Dana, Hannah
She likes it when my double chin attacks her head.
Two bad chicks await their Riverboat Cruise
I guess we are just this cool.
At one point Manfriend and I ran over to Space Mountain to see if they had opened it yet (they hadn't). Instead of going straight back to wait for the kids to get off a ride, we ran into watch Captain EO. Yeah. Michael Jackson in 3D? With weird side characters, an evil witch woman, and choreographed dance? Yes, please!
Have I mentioned how wonderful my nieces are? Their parents are doing something right because they are the most well-behaved kids I know, along with being incredibly smart and hilarious. While we waited in a very long line I invented a game for Hannah (8) to play with me. "What's a 5 letter word for a piece of clothing?" "Shirt!". "What's a four letter name of a President?" And yes - she got it.
The weather was great, the company was even better, and we were all exhausted by the end of the day.
