From the POC to the OC

It’s a new tradition – when we go somewhere doable, Wendy comes out to visit! Well, okay, two times might not constitute a tradition, but hey… I like it. This time Daniela was able to come too. We went all over Orange County, and San Diego and Los Angeles as well. Very fun packed five days. Long enough to get out and do the highlights, short enough that we didn’t get bored. I think… at least I didn’t, but this is my life as of a year and a half ago, so I’m used to it. Always somewhere unknown and unfamiliar, yet somewhat familiar required driven by day-to-day living such as food, entertainment and necessities. Chaos and normalcy at the same time. That’s an odd combination but it’s actually quite comfy when you get in the groove.

Charlie is a member of the California State Beaches, and got a (spendy) pass just so she could run, romp and annoy random strangers on the closest beach that allows her to do so. Dog discrimination runs rampant here, so the few beaches that allow her, she takes full advantage of. Anyway, I digress… due to said pass, we spent some time at the San Onofre State Beach where we could all hang out together as a happy family does.

Our lovely bivouac comes with hundreds of fellow RVers, great views of Camp Pendleton, beautiful sunsets, and mountain lions. Luckily, despite hearing from all the people that have seen (the cute little guys) them, we haven’t. And Charlie is still here, unscathed from her (chair lounging) tie out. Do they not understand the concept of a mountain lion, or am I just a paranoid Idahoan?

When we went down to San Diego, one of our must dos (besides my pit stop of Marukai and Daiso) was Ocean Beach where we had a great chill afternoon wandering around the stores, the beach, and of course Hodads. You know how much I adore Guy Fieri, and he stopped here too. Atmosphere rocked and food was decent. Until I got a mouthful of sand in my burger – my fault I admit.

We also went to the border but didn’t cross (sans passports) and hit the Gaslamp area downtown.

Lucky us, Cujo got a day off to hang with us so we boogied up north and did Hollywood aka typical LA. This is what (I believe) Wendy pictured in her head when you say the term L.A. but when we drove down Hollywood Blvd, she said, “This is it?!”. I can empathize – it does look quite so much more glamorous on television. That, folks, is the magic of tv/marketing. It really is an art.

We made it to three, count em, three of Cujo’s former hostels – how funny is that – San Diego, Santa Monica, and Hollywood. This was before the movie “Hostel”. Dear God, have you seen that movie? If not, don’t. Anyway, something that always makes us happy is great teppanyaki – and we got it in Santa Monica. I could eat teppanyaki every day, seriously. And if I did, I would promise to eat only once a day, it would be worth the sacrifice. It sounds and looks so easy - take a grill and throw food on it, but it really just doesn’t turn out like theirs when you attempt it at home. Maybe I should try to get a job there. Hey wait, have you ever seen a female chef there?! I haven’t. Maybe if we get to break barriers next Tuesday, I’ll work on breaking that barrier at Benihana.

Venice Beach has to be the most individual place ever. With a hefty scoop of liberalism, that is. And capitalism. No wonder people have issues with clowns, this is just plain strange. Was Kubrick here?

Speaking of horror movies (Hostel) we had a movie night – a slumber party of sorts, which we pulled out the bed for. Literally. Pretty groovy when your entire front room/dining room/kitchen can be a bed. Reignites the fort days of your first decade of life. However, if you do so… may you choose a different flick. Daniela had seen and liked this movie, and Wendy swore the setting looked just like our current living situation so we got it. It’s called the Hills Have Eyes, and it’s a remake. Not sure about the original, but the remake was funny. And it wasn’t supposed to be. For anyone who has seen it, gobble gobble. You’ll get it. Charlie looks like she got possessed. But… the real scary part of this movie is that there is a woman here who I happen to run into in the laundry room (every damn time) who belongs in this movie. She’s like a character from the X Files – that inbred episode to be exact. She scares me so much more than that movie. I do look up in the hills now, and I do see glimmering lights that could be binoculars… but it IS Camp Pendleton, so come on – isn’t that their job? Not to torture, maim, murder and eat us, but to train in the element, I mean.

Did I mention how much I love the hookah hookah? Yeah, we are goofy, but don’t blame the hookah.

The San Clemente pier is really a beautiful place. Especially during the sunset. There is a guy that supposedly looks like a guy on the box of fishsticks – now I don’t buy fishsticks, so does he look like him? Captain Gordman or something like that? And look at this poor seagull – ONE foot. Wtf, how did that happen?

The Rainbow love has spread – not only Cujo now… oh yeah baby… the whole family has ‘em.