Sunday was another long day of driving. The drive through New Mexico was fairly scenic, though I got a little tired of seeing billboard after billboard of “Turn right for authentic Indian goods!”
Arizona was very pretty, though very hot. It got up to 112 degrees. I mean, that’s overdoing the heat, don’t you think?
When we got into California we were stopped by the border patrol. A sign advertised their achievements including confiscating more than 3600 pounds of drugs. An officer engaged us in a quick conversation to see if we’d slip up and admit we were hauling several illegal immigrants across the border or that the box of food in the back was actually full of cocaine. The conversation ended in one of our favorite quotes of the trip.
Officer: “What were you doing in Yuma?” [We drove through Yuma to California.]
Vince: “We stopped and got some Arby’s.”
Maybe because he hates roast beef, he backed away and waved us through.
We made it to San Diego by 9:00 p.m. and checked into the Harborview Inn, which offered us a nice view of downtown. We were happy when we were upgraded to a suite for no extra charge, though when we got in our room we were disappointed to see instead of the two double beds we had before, there was now only one bed. I offered to take the couch and then saw there was a bed inside of it, which made for an okay sleep, minus metal poles jabbing me in the back.
We quickly made our way to the Gaslight Quarter area, a hip part of downtown. It gave me that college downtown feel that I love. Despite being a proud graduate of KU and loving Lawrence, I also love the downtown areas of Mizzou and the University of Nebraska. No hatred for those places.
Comic-Con was wrapping up in the downtown area. That would’ve been fun to attend. This year’s guests included Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., people from the Simpsons, and many, many more. Nearby the San Diego Convention Center was an art gallery showcasing prints from Chuck Jones and other animated TV shows/movies including Batman, Superman, The Simpsons, and more. It was very neat to see. Too bad I didn’t have $700 to part with, or else I could own of those.
We walked up and down the streets checking out the area. We both really liked it. We got a slice of pizza from a disgruntled employee at a pizza stand. We stopped for a drink at a place called Rockin’ Baja. A guy was singing and playing songs on an acoustic guitar in the corner. I don’t think anyone was paying attention. I feel your pain. He was playing covers, which included “Fluke” by Jack Johnson, a summery pop song. Not really a fan.
After this we made our way to Henry’s Pub, which was fairly crowded. Karaoke was going on, but weirdly enough, the people participating could actually sing. That’s a rarity. About two songs in, a guy in a Rancid shirt [popular punk band] got up there and started singing, “Fluke” by Jack Johnson. Please, no more!
Though we did like San Diego, I think hearing “Fluke” by Jack Johnson twice was really a sign we would just not fit in there as we don’t really fit in with the beachy vibe. Still, it’s a nice town.
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