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5 lemons and 22 avocados- Day 1
Aug. 14th, 2001 02:16 pmWe're back. Did I mention we were going to California? Eric's paternal grandparents are having a 50th wedding anniversary in late September, but one of the children (I'm not sure if aunt Karen was the one mainly behind this, or father-in-law (FIL) Robert) decided to hold it when the grand- and great-grand-sproggen would be out of school for the summer. 'It' of course being a surprise party for the happy couple. I've never met them, and neither had Eric's sister's husband.
So, we go to California. FIL paid for us and for Erin and Thom to fly out there with him, and all of us plus other out-of-town relatives stayed at The Historic Santa Maria Inn about a 15 minute drive from where the grandparents live in Nipomo (so named because a lot of Japanese moved there, I believe).
The flight out was OK, except I am realizing how much I am in denial about the fact that I am very prone to air sickness. I have no fears of flying, and just figured if I ignored it it wouldn't exist. They say you outgrow that. Not true. It's an inner ear thing, and now I must admit it: I have a wussy inner ear. No matter how much I don't wish to be airsick, I get that way regardless. The flight to San Francisco was OK, except the couple in front of us had a toddler who of course shrieked the entire way up. It probably was air sick too, or getting an earache. However my empathy was eroded when they would put the baby on their shoulder, which meant facing us over the seat. Ugh.
Then we flew from San Fran to LA. I wish I had had a chance to actually look at San Fran, but there was no time. When in LA we had a bit of time, so I grabbed some food and tried to call an old boyfriend who moved to Torrence several years ago. Then Thom came to get us, and we found out that we were supposed to have taken a shuttle bus to a completely different gate across the airport to get in a tiny plane to go up to Santa Maria. By the time we figured this out we had missed the plane, so we instead took a tiny plane to San Luis Obispo, which is about 20 minutes drive away from Santa Maria. The stewardess was one of the most beautiful women- not looks-wise, though certainly she looked fine, but she had a genuine air of friendliness and charm about her than most stewardesses only can pretend to have. I would have enjoyed basking in her happy vibes more if I wasn't trying not to throw up. Those little planes are a bitch. It feels like when you've drank too much and you're nauseous, but without the pleasant buzz. Then we arrived at SLO and hopped in a cab for the drive to the hotel.
This was the first time I'd been outside since the beginning of the trip, and the air was cool and clear- it was about 75 degrees. Aaaaaaaaaah! This was an ongoing source of amazement for me the entire time. I kept thinking things like "the Sun is out and it's August and I'm standing outside but I'm not praying for a quick death!!!" No kidding. I didn't even break a sweat. What a foreign concept!
The driver mentioned that this area gets about 12 inches of rain, mostly in the spring. The land was mostly brown, but there were trees galore of all shapes and sizes, and flowers along the highway like in Texas, but they were blooming. In August! OK, I'll try to stop with that. When we got to the hotel, I looked at all the wonderful blooming everythings and liked it right away (I notice plants when I travel more than anything else). I was still feeling sick though and wanted to go upstairs and go to sleep for a bit. I was assaulted by some relatives at first, but they let me crash.
After an hour or two we went and had dinner at the Olive Garden with the aunts and their kids. There are 3 aunts: Karen had a 20 year old (Lacey, who was described as being 'hugely obese', and upon meeting her, I discovered she was more what I would have described as 'plump'; I'm sure I outweigh her, which makes me wonder how I'm being described :( feh), Sharon with 2 teen boys and an 'oops' 4 yr old girl (who, like many 4 yr olds, insisted on being the center of attention at all times), and the oldest aunt Jeanie with a grown daughter who had 2 teen daughters, and Jeanie's son Scott, who lives in Alaska. I was nervous meeting all these people, so I drank. Note to self: when just getting over air-sickness, do not drink excessive amounts of alcohol. I felt just as sick as I had earlier, and had to dart out before everyone was done eating. I noticed Eric, who is more socially phobic than I am, was getting that strained look around his jaw and eyes so I told him to come with me. We just wandered off, lay down in the grass, and enjoyed the cool air and talked quietly. Gossiped a bit, wondered if anyone was gossiping about us, wondered if we had anything in common with these strange relatives. They finished dinner and we all went back to the hotel, and some of them went down to the hotel bar to drink more and sing karaoke. Eric and I just crashed. Tomorrow was the big surprise party.
So, we go to California. FIL paid for us and for Erin and Thom to fly out there with him, and all of us plus other out-of-town relatives stayed at The Historic Santa Maria Inn about a 15 minute drive from where the grandparents live in Nipomo (so named because a lot of Japanese moved there, I believe).
The flight out was OK, except I am realizing how much I am in denial about the fact that I am very prone to air sickness. I have no fears of flying, and just figured if I ignored it it wouldn't exist. They say you outgrow that. Not true. It's an inner ear thing, and now I must admit it: I have a wussy inner ear. No matter how much I don't wish to be airsick, I get that way regardless. The flight to San Francisco was OK, except the couple in front of us had a toddler who of course shrieked the entire way up. It probably was air sick too, or getting an earache. However my empathy was eroded when they would put the baby on their shoulder, which meant facing us over the seat. Ugh.
Then we flew from San Fran to LA. I wish I had had a chance to actually look at San Fran, but there was no time. When in LA we had a bit of time, so I grabbed some food and tried to call an old boyfriend who moved to Torrence several years ago. Then Thom came to get us, and we found out that we were supposed to have taken a shuttle bus to a completely different gate across the airport to get in a tiny plane to go up to Santa Maria. By the time we figured this out we had missed the plane, so we instead took a tiny plane to San Luis Obispo, which is about 20 minutes drive away from Santa Maria. The stewardess was one of the most beautiful women- not looks-wise, though certainly she looked fine, but she had a genuine air of friendliness and charm about her than most stewardesses only can pretend to have. I would have enjoyed basking in her happy vibes more if I wasn't trying not to throw up. Those little planes are a bitch. It feels like when you've drank too much and you're nauseous, but without the pleasant buzz. Then we arrived at SLO and hopped in a cab for the drive to the hotel.
This was the first time I'd been outside since the beginning of the trip, and the air was cool and clear- it was about 75 degrees. Aaaaaaaaaah! This was an ongoing source of amazement for me the entire time. I kept thinking things like "the Sun is out and it's August and I'm standing outside but I'm not praying for a quick death!!!" No kidding. I didn't even break a sweat. What a foreign concept!
The driver mentioned that this area gets about 12 inches of rain, mostly in the spring. The land was mostly brown, but there were trees galore of all shapes and sizes, and flowers along the highway like in Texas, but they were blooming. In August! OK, I'll try to stop with that. When we got to the hotel, I looked at all the wonderful blooming everythings and liked it right away (I notice plants when I travel more than anything else). I was still feeling sick though and wanted to go upstairs and go to sleep for a bit. I was assaulted by some relatives at first, but they let me crash.
After an hour or two we went and had dinner at the Olive Garden with the aunts and their kids. There are 3 aunts: Karen had a 20 year old (Lacey, who was described as being 'hugely obese', and upon meeting her, I discovered she was more what I would have described as 'plump'; I'm sure I outweigh her, which makes me wonder how I'm being described :( feh), Sharon with 2 teen boys and an 'oops' 4 yr old girl (who, like many 4 yr olds, insisted on being the center of attention at all times), and the oldest aunt Jeanie with a grown daughter who had 2 teen daughters, and Jeanie's son Scott, who lives in Alaska. I was nervous meeting all these people, so I drank. Note to self: when just getting over air-sickness, do not drink excessive amounts of alcohol. I felt just as sick as I had earlier, and had to dart out before everyone was done eating. I noticed Eric, who is more socially phobic than I am, was getting that strained look around his jaw and eyes so I told him to come with me. We just wandered off, lay down in the grass, and enjoyed the cool air and talked quietly. Gossiped a bit, wondered if anyone was gossiping about us, wondered if we had anything in common with these strange relatives. They finished dinner and we all went back to the hotel, and some of them went down to the hotel bar to drink more and sing karaoke. Eric and I just crashed. Tomorrow was the big surprise party.
