Is it me or is it hot in here?

Preface

My camera was packed deep in my trunk, so there are no pictures of my trip to Mesa. Let me tell you what I wanted to take pictures of. The I-5 South sign as I first got on the freeway. Meeting with relatives. Universal Studios. Welcome to California sign. Signs of things from music and television – Reseda (Karate Kid), Ventura Highway, Pasadena, Coachella, San Dimas (Bill & Ted), Joshua Tree, etc. Pretty view at shopping area in Palm Desert. Welcome to Arizona sign. Cacti. I guess I can just take pictures of Mesa now.

Friday May 11, 2007

We left Hillsboro to visit family in Roseburg. When we got to Oakland, we took Megan’s good blanket from her (the one that Debbi made) so we could sleep with it. Good thing too because Savannah vomited on the blanket Megan ended up sleeping with.

Saturday May 12, 2007

With a tearful goodbye, I left Debbi in Oakland and went to Roseburg to say hello/goodbye to my parents. My mom loaded me up with junk food for the trip to Mesa. My dad loaded me up with gasoline. Actually, I haven’t learned to like gasoline (funny aftertaste), so I put it in the gas tank. My dad helped me check the fluids in the Grand Prix and I was off. Thanks to my parents for their support.

My first gas stop was Sacramento, 400 miles from Roseburg. I hadn’t eaten all day. I had a monster headache (HA for you medical types). With hopes of forcing some food down (throwing groceries down my neck for you Smokey And The Bandit types), I bought a few cheap chicken sandwiches from McFastFood. I forced one down but didn’t enjoy it at all (it’s hard to enjoy McFastFood anyway) and saved the other two for later.

At 9:45pm-ish, I finally stopped at a TA Travel Center between Sacramento and Los Angeles – about 250 miles out, where I got some frequently interrupted, but secure sleep…sitting up…in the car…in 80 degree heat…with Woofie.

Sunday May 13, 2007

This captain’s blog starts at 3:30am. Still dark, I got an early start toward Los Angeles and some familiar faces. Some hours later, after a beautiful sunrise, I gassed up just outside of Los Angeles, then took I-5 to I-210 and exited a couple miles down. Oh, and I’ll tell you what. I’m not used to motorcycles splitting lanes like they do in California. I’d be scared to death to do that. I stopped at a popular submarine sandwich restaurant and contacted Grandpa. Grandpa greeted me with a few hugs and I followed him to Aunt Marci’s house. Aunt Marci and Uncle Joe kindly agreed to house my car in their garage since it had, oh, $10k of stuff in it. I got to wade my way through a sea of clutter in Kevin’s room (hehe) and shower before heading to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate Mother’s Day with Grandma Anne. The food was yummy. I got to see lots of family – Uncle Mark, Aunt Jennifer, Dave, Rachel, Uncle Joe, Aunt Marci, Steven, Kevin, Shayna, Aunt Laurie, Grandpa, and of course Grandma Anne. Aunt Laurie paid for my breakfast (Monterey omelet, in case you were wondering). Thanks Aunt Laurie. Oh, and Aunt Laurie had to do a double take to make sure she was seeing things right when she saw me. And Uncle Mark whispered to Aunt Jennifer, “Is that Joseph?” Hehe. And thanks to Uncle Mark for showing Dave the ways of his trademark ear flick.

After breakfast, Grandpa took Steven (codename Kevin), Shayna, and me to Universal Studios. I love that place. We saw the Waterworld show. It had the boy from Lemony Snickets, except he’s not a boy anymore. We also saw Terminator. I love 3D stuff. We went on Jurassic Park. I went on that one last time I was at Universal Studios. I really like it. We sat in the front row. Apparently, that’s the row to be in for the thrill seekers…lucky me. When it was over, we went to view the photo they took as we dropped down the final hill. It was the funniest picture as I was not only front and center, but also wearing a look of genuine terror in pure white to match my shirt. I was also the biggest person in the row, so I stood out a lot. I wish I had that picture. Then we went on Mummy. Steven and Shayna talked me into going on it. As we moved through the line, I kept seeing signs about how violent the ride is and how people with certain medical conditions shouldn’t go in the ride. I hate scary rides (I’m surprised I enjoy Jurassic Park so much), but Mummy turned out to be pretty good. I can proudly say I kept my eyes open more than half the time. I even started smiling by the end. It’s a short ride, but sweet – well worth the wait. After Mummy, it was nearly time to go, but the sign at Jurassic park said the wait was only 5 minutes, so we went on it again. Shayna asked the worker if we could wait for the next boat so we could ride in the front again. We sat in the same seats as before, me front and center. By chance the two people filling up the five-person row were the same two kids from our first ride on Jurassic Park. This time, I was brave enough to hold on with only one hand as we went down the final drop. With the other hand, I pointed at Steven and Shayna for the picture.

Other miscellaneous Universal Studios notes: Everyone was a Dodgers fan. There’s even a Dodgers store just outside the gates to Universal Studios! And inside Universal Studios, genuine Dodger Dogs. I missed Back to the Future. That was my favorite ride the last time I was there. Too bad the line was so long. I also missed Shrek 4-D. I wanted to do that one with Debbi anyway. We also didn’t have time to do the tour. That’s always fun. Grandpa bought us Dippin’ Dots. It’s like a bowl of dry ice cream beads (until the sun hits them). And my admission to the theme park included a pass good for the rest of the year. I hope I can go back.

After Universal Studios we went to Canter’s Deli to celebrate Mother’s Day with Uncle Joe’s mother, Grandma Bea, and her family. I had a French dip. I almost had the corned beef sandwich, which is what Steven and Kevin shared. It looked yummy. Grandma Bea bought us children each a cookie – it’s good to be young. Hehe.

After the deli, we went back to Aunt Marci’s house and relaxed the rest of the evening with some Halo and a good movie I had never seen, Almost Famous.

Monday May 14, 2007

Kevin and Shayna were gone when I woke up, but I just chilled the morning away and made plans with Grandpa to meet one last time and with Micah to meet in Palm Desert. Aunt Marci went down the road and got me a bagel with cream cheese (yum), which went wonderfully with the strawberries and orange juice. Micah called to tell me that he had a couple cancellations (he’s a personal trainer) and he would be available at 1:30.

So, off I went to Palm Desert. It was about a 4 hour drive during which the outside temperature quickly reached 100 degrees. I easily found Micah’s place and after a hug and a few minutes of conversation, I quickly remembered why we’re such good friends, even though I hadn’t seen him in years. We got caught up while halfway watching The Haunting. Micah had a 5:00 appointment. I stayed behind and caught up on my email while he was gone.

When he got back, we went out to dinner at The Yard House. The Yard House in Rancho Mirage is located at a beautifully landscaped shopping center called The River. It was wonderful. We shared calamari and I had jerk chicken with shrimp stack (which truly was a stack of shrimp). Micah had the chicken fettuccini (or something similar), which he said was his regular meal there. Micah seems to know everyone in Palm Desert and those who he doesn’t know are so friendly that it’s as if he knows them. I could enjoy living in a place like that. The Dodgers game was on one of the many televisions. They were down 3-0 after one inning. That’s about all I watched. I told Micah they had won the previous three games. What more could you want?

After dinner, we walked around the area. We stopped by the movie theater, but decided to keep looking around. We wandered into Hallmark Gallery of Rancho Mirage. There were even a few sketches by Garfield creator Jim Davis for $699 each. I wish I were famous enough that I could spend one minute on a sketch and sell it for $700.

Then we made a quick stop at an ATM before stopping at a bar to play some pool. Micah and I tied 2-2. Micah’s friend Mike showed up later. We talked for just a little while before heading back to Micah’s for the night.

We returned to Micah’s place and sat in the hot tub for a while. We talked and let the dog walk around while we were in the hot tub. Then back for sleep. Micah let me use his bed and he took the couch. Dozed off to Batman Begins, which was ok.

Tuesday May 15, 2007

Micah and I got up around 7:45 and had breakfast at a leading pancake house. He picked up the tab and he dropped me off at his house. We said goodbye and he left for his appointment. I did one last email check and left for Mesa.

I didn’t see a single Texaco in California, but I found one as soon as I crossed into Arizona. That’s the only one I saw, though. I pulled into the apartment complex and checked in shortly before 2:00. I unpacked the car in the heat, sweated a bucket or two, inflated my mattress and slept.

I got up after a while, unpacked some bags, and went off to explore the complex. I found the swimming pool and hot tub, the laundry room, and the mailbox. All are within yards of each other. It turned out to be less of an exploration and more of a trip behind my building.

It got dark and I decided to see what was in walking distance on my road. There’s a Chevron, Circle K, video rental store, salon, water and ice store/vending machine, leading submarine sandwich restaurant, and a 24-hour Mexican restaurant. I had the California burrito dinner (complete with Dr. Pepper). Then sleep.

Wednesday May 16, 2007

I stopped by the apartment office to submit a work order for a few issues I had with my apartment before venturing out into Mesa for some food and other miscellaneous items I didn’t bring with me. I shopped at Fry’s Marketplace, which is like Fred Meyer except everything in the store says Fry’s. I kept hearing the self-checkout stands saying, “Thank you for shopping at…” in a familiar voice. But then the voice would say “Fry’s.” Surreal (did I use that word right?). I came home, put food in the fridge and went right back out to the internet company to pick up a modem. Internet should be hooked up Thursday.

When I got home from the internet company, there was a notice hanging on my doorknob from a florist. It said “Sorry we missed you” and that I should call for re-delivery. What could it be? Who is it from? Debbi? My parents? The clinic in Mesa? So I called the florist and they said they would re-deliver in a few minutes. When the florist arrived, I signed for the delivery and she asked me how to pronounce my first name. What? Joseph. Is it really that hard? Anyway, it turns out the flowers weren’t for me. That was sad. Can you imagine expecting a flower delivery only to find out they’re not for you? Whatever.

I made my first attempt at cooking. It was interesting because I wanted to make quesadillas, but my frying pan is too small (or are my tortillas too big?) and I had the heat turned up too high. I quickly burnt a tortilla I was struggling just to manage in the small confines of the pan. Oh well. And the Totino’s pizza was interesting because the spatula I brought is plastic. I pulled the pizza off the oven rack with a fork. I figured if I let the heat keep me from cooking at home, then I’d never get any cooking done (I don’t have a microwave yet). Just the same, I even burnt a scented candle despite the gazillion degree temperature.

After dinner, I sat by the pool reading The Joy of Work: Dilbert’s Guide to Finding Happiness at the Expense of Your Co-workers, an amusing book I started reading ages ago. Then Jon called and we talked and let me know I’d be missing a Fountains of Wayne concert in August. Then Debbi called and let me know I’d be missing a Rufus Wainwright concert in July. Thanks.

What freaks me out about Arizona: liquor in the grocery stores and no helmet law. I haven’t seen people riding motorcycles without helmets since I was a kid. Freaks me out, man. Oh, and I asked – no recycling program. Lame. Though, it’s no surprise Arizona isn’t as “green” as Oregon.