Michelle has the week off school and so we decided to try that time honored tradition: The family vacation. For the first time since we began our family, our schedule was dictated by school and not our own planning.
Last week was a bad week at work, trying to get a program working, and so I was up late last night hammering away at the program rather than preparing for the trip. Despite that, out goal was an early departure, by car, for San Diego – a 6 hour drive under good circumstances. Much to my surprise, we made an earlier start than I’d hoped for. We were on our way to the sounds of Lindsay Buckingham’s Holiday Road at around 7:30AM. There were stops and delays and bathroom breaks, but we managed to make Yuma by 11:00AM – just in time for lunch.
It was also time for me to turn over the keys, as I was falling asleep at the wheel.
Not once did Michelle say, “Are we there yet?†Not once.
“Why will it take a long time to get to San Diego?†“Why is San Diego west of here?†“Why are still in the mountains?†“Why are the mountains falling apart?†“Why do people live in San Diego?†“Why are we going to San Diego?†– and every variation of those questions, ad nauseam, until we arrived at our hotel at 4:00PM. It’s surprisingly stressful.
We’re staying at the Lafayette hotel in old town San Diego, near Balboa Park and the zoo. The Lafayette is a former Inn Suites. We’ve had good luck with Inn Suites in the past, and were a little disappointed that this hotel was no longer part of the chain.
It’s certainly an older hotel, and the carpet is a bit grubby, but otherwise it seems quite nice. Somehow, I’ve come to expect that. I don’t know why, but no matter where I go in California, it’s grubby.
It was too late and we were too tired to do much tonight. We drove out in search of food, but after an hour of driving, ended up at Carl’s Jr. The food was good, but the place was grubby.
Burned out the full charge on my iPod on the trip, but it was great having my full music collection available. When Chu-Wan took over driving – and therefore music selection – I just popped my headphones on and listened to 007 soundtracks. I can say with certainty that On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is my favorite Bond soundtrack.
My cellphone, which suffered a dip in the pool last week had sufficiently dried and began working again (unlike the dead iPod). I think the battery may have been damaged, though, as it burned through a full charge in less than 24 hours. I’ll try fully charging it tonight and see how it last tomorrow. I might have to buy a new battery before we leave California.
Tomorrow – The San Diego Zoo.
Update – October 10, 2006
My mistake: We’re not in “Old Town†San Diego, we’re in University Heights.
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