Off to the Left Coast

What a winter it’s been in Ohio this year! I’m happy that we’re on our way to San Diego. It looks like they’re finally getting winter, too—highs are only in the upper 50s and low 60s—but it’ll be better weather than at home. At the very least, the sun will be shining.

Neither Mark nor I got much sleep last night, so we’re both pretty punchy this morning. I can’t sleep on planes unless I’m much more tired than I am now, so I decided to pass some of our four-hour and thirty-nine minute flight to LAX by starting today’s blog entry. I’m sure I’ll be beat by the time I get back to it tonight. Mark, however, can sleep pretty much anywhere.

The plane we’re on is only about 60 percent full—a luxury I haven’t experienced in a while. I supposed it’s because we left Columbus at the butt-crack of dawn. Mark and I have a whole row to ourselves, so we’ve taken over the middle seat as our junk storage and breakfast tray.

A goofy guy is sitting front of Mark. When we were about to get into our seats, he was already seated, and he stopped me and asked me to put his carry-on in the overhead storage. Of course it wouldn’t fit, so I handed it back to him. A flight attendant came by shortly afterward and said she’d check it for him since it was too full for the bin. I think he asked her four times if he would get it back. I’m not sure if he was really concerned or if he was being funny. I don’t think he has it in him to have been being sarcastic. (How’s that for a verb tense?) I think his sense of propriety is a little underdeveloped. He’s one of those people who stare intently at strangers. When the flight attendant announced that the video system on the plane was not functioning, he expressed his dismay a little too loudly. I’m so glad he’s not in our row.

Our plan for today is to meet Kevin at the airport, run back to his and Jeff’s house to drop our bags, and then hook up with Jeff for sightseeing. I’m hoping lunch we grab lunch before we start really running around. I’ve only had a breakfast bar to eat, and my stomach is going to think it’s three o’clock when we arrive. I did, however, save the peanuts, pretzels, and cookies that we got for a snack, so I can snack on those if I need to. Yes, we got all three!

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Here’s a quick thought while Mark and I wait to board our flight to San Deigo: Some days when I find myself people watching, I think, “The human animal is really beautiful.” Other days, I couldn’t disagree with myself more vehemently. Today is a not-so-beautiful day, but I admit that people aren’t generally at their best in airports.

And a celebrity citing in LAX: Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, is on our flight.

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We had a lovely lunch with Kevin and Jeff at Tom Ham’s on harbor Island. Thank God! I was starving. Here is a shot of the bay and a shot of the boys.

And now that we’ve stopped at their houses to drop off the luggage and freshen up, we’re heading to La Jolla to walk though the arts district and just hang out.

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Walking along the La Jolla Cove, we saw these guys.