going to cali: day one

19 july 2007

john wayne airport, santa ana, orange county

we arrive after our first class flight to cali. we loved the hot nuts and the roominess. we did not like the bette midler lookalike who ran into an old friend and then decided to sit with her and drink about 6 glasses of merlot. chatty bette also insisted on rubbing her stubby sandal-less feet on the front wall of the cabin. turkey sandwich was gross. brownie cake dessert was good. quick flight. left on time. excited to get to cali. arrive and bette is having trouble getting suitcase from overhead bin. tells becca to "go ahead" repeating louder "go ahead." easy boozy.

arrive in santa ana. rental car woman doesn't get that we are together. sue, the hertz lady, decides to throw in gps and satellite radio... no charge. thanks sue.

John Wayne @ John Wayne Airport - Orange County
Originally uploaded by SJL

crabbiness factor: 4

we hope in our convertible mustang (never gave it a name) and immediately try to program IN N OUT burger in our GPS (we named her Gerry... after St. Gerard Majella--patron saint of convertibles). sunshine is gorgeous. traffic is horrendous. we go to the mall and order my glasses. i'm excited to be in a mall in torrence. it feels like what you are supposed to do. i ask if we can eat at CHIK FIL A (I have dropped my fast food moratorium) but becca wants IN N OUT. we leave the mall and head out into traffic. we finally find IN N OUT and then i get crabby because I didn't want to eat in the car or at least wanted to drive-thru. it is hot and I lie and say that IN N OUT is not that good. but it is.

crabbiness factor: 6

arrive finally at the hotel. in a corporate park area. lots of chains. everything you could ever want in a little area of manhattan beach. visiting a houston's restaurant again is tempting. macaroni grill across the street. becca wants to suggest it for dinner--but is afraid no one will know she is kidding. get up to the room and becca is disappointed with the view of the parking lot. I am happy to be out of a car. girls are down the hall. we get call that we are going to LA for dinner. be ready at 5:55pm for the van. becca gets me a beer. first drink of vacay. we rush to get ready and head down to the lobby for quick roadie. first ones in the lobby. so we decide to have a vodka and cranberry.

crabbiness factor: 2