Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Yay for fun trips to the beach!

Mom and Dad's friend, who is a chief of police, gave me a cop-sized bottle of pepper spray to take with me on my trip when he heard I was going alone. He is so thoughtful. At the last minute, a friend was actually able to go with me, but we took it anyway. Anyway, it was so fun! The first night we left after work and spent the night in Mesquite. We sat in the hot tub for a few and went to bed. (Nope, no gambling.) It took until about 6 p.m. to reach the cali coast from there because we got started late and made about ten stops on the way, ha ha. But we got there! We stayed in the Marriott Courtyard in Old Town for two nights and someone's house on the last night. I learned a lot of things and had some firsts on this trip:

  • Learned how to place a bid on Priceline and get a great deal. (Thanks Uncle David!) I will never book another hotel without first bidding on Priceline.
  • Ate Tirimisu and Creme Brule for the first time. YUMMY! Also we ate at an expensive restuarant in Balboa Park and I ordered a salad, which ended up being just cheese on lettuce and a couple croutons.
  • Went to Balboa Park, which was absolutely beautiful! We walked through the area with the giant organ and all the museums. We saw the Botanical Gardens and went to the Bodies exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. Such a beautiful park! If I lived in San Diego I would go there all the time.
  • Drove around for two hours looking for beach parking during peak hours in tourist season at Mission and Pacific Beach. We ended up at La Jolla, which was still crowded. We parked about a mile away and walked!
  • Had my car die.
  • Went to Newport Beach a couple days later, which was one-thousand times better! Much more beach and much less crowding.
  • Swam in the ocean.
  • Learned what it means to eat shit. (Will explain later.)
  • Ate on the roof at Ruby's Diner on the pier at Newport Beach.
  • Spent the night at a friend's friend's mom's house without anyone else being there. (Rachel has the hookups!)
  • Pulled an all-nighter while driving home.
  • Had some political realizations.
  • Realized that even though California drivers come here and complain about Utah drivers, they are actually much more rude, impatient, fast, and dangerous drivers than we are. By a hundred times, probably.
  • Played a card game called "Bang" with Amos Watene, voice of Brobee the Yo Gabba Gabba character.

So, we decided to swim at Newport Beach. I haven't been to the ocean since I was 15. I don't think I have ever actually gone swimming in the ocean, ever. The water was pretty cold but you could get used to it after a few minutes. We went all the way out to our shoulders-ish and bobbed up and down in the waves and tried to body surf. As I followed Rachel out, she said, "just try not to eat shit!" I had to ask her what she meant, and she just said if a wave came at me and started crashing over me, to dive under and into the wave and let it pass over me. Well one such humongous wave did come, only I am not skilled at diving into and under a wave (It's hard because you're actually being pulled by the water), so I did the next-best thing I could think of at the last second and ducked under the water. That wave pounded me. Before I could think, I was being flipped and rolled head over heals and didn't know which way was up. I just prayed it wouldn't shove my head into the ground. Finally I found the bottom with a body part I don't remember (not my head) and righted myself, and came up gasping for air. It totally screwed up my swimsuit (let's just say it's a good thing there weren't a lot of people there), and I felt like vomiting after swallowing so much nasty seawater. Oh. Eating shit. Makes sense. (My mom did the same thing in Hawaii except her head got hit on the bottom and I think she's still having problems from it). The beach was so much fun though. And we layed out to dry and then went for a walk and dinner on the pier. Next time I go to Southern California, I am staying in Newport! It was the best!

Anyway, that's all for now! We left Newport Beach at 5 p.m. and drove straight home. We got home at 6 this morning and I fell asleep almost immediately. So, I'm still salty from not showering. So I should go shower. Rachel has most of the pictures we took on her camera, so I'll post them when I get them from her.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay Cali! I am so happy you got to go on a trip. I love trips. That's all about that. Balboa Park is super pretty, love it there. I love San Diego!

Anonymous said...

How did you hook up with Amos Watene? Was he on the beach?

Chakeshemo said...

might want to keep the giant organ story to yourself.