I'm Out of Prison and Am Still Sick, But I Can Type

My Dear Readers,

First of all, I've missed all of you. I didn't realize what a close family you've all become to me.

Second, I'm going to have to divide this post up because of the sheer volume of crap I have to dump on you.

I'm going to begin with our vacation and work my way forward. We began our trip in Poway and arrived a few days early so we could dork around, go to the beach, and hit Old Town in San Diego. Hubster took the pictures - I really suck at taking them unless they're sitting on the Monster and not moving. Let's start out with Happy Pam in the ocean - the place where I'm truly at peace.





We always try to hit this particular beach right before the sun goes down. It's so pristine and beautiful, and the sound is incredible. I always have to wade into the water and goof around, but this time, I misjudged the strength of the tide and got soaked up to my knees. No matter. I was as happy as the proverbial clam. I figured I'd dry out sometime during the night (which I didn't, but who cares?).

These next shots are of the ocean as the sun is setting. I have a ton of them, but I tried to cull some out to give you an idea of how magnificent it truly is. Enjoy.







After hitting the ocean, we went into San Diego to Old Town. The world's most haunted house is there, and I wanted to take a tour of it. No pictures, but I can assure you that it is indeed eerie. I saw a curtain moving where there was no breeze, as well as a white figure moving across the front of a fireplace. It was enough to creep out a lot of people who were there that night. It was considered a mansion in its day and is preserved as it was in the 1800's. A must-see for anybody who goes down there. We also went into a bunch of crappy "Made in China" shops (you know... real Indian goods), as well as one shop that does have real Indian goods. I actually made it out of there without buying anything. I was trying to be good.

We had a beautiful suite in a La Quinta in Poway (I can just hear you thinking, yeah... a suite in a La Quinta?). Absolutely true. It had a huge front room, an equally large bedroom that could be shut off from the front room by French doors, and a lovely bathroom. Best of all, it had ceiling fans all over the place and windows that opened. I'm booking that room for next year.

For the couple of days before Mac (my duet partner in the concert) came into town, we just goofed off. One night, we went into Encinitas for the best Italian food I've ever had, as well as going into a so-so yarn shop (I had to go into at least one). This is why I don't take the pictures, although in my defense, I was trying to take a picture of an arch while in a moving vehicle. Hubster took the second picture while I was inside the store trying to find something to buy (I don't like SoCal yarn shops - they never seem to have anything I want).





We had this great idea - since we had a fridge in the room as well as a microwave, we were going to this Albertson's (you gotta see this place) and stocking up on food so we didn't have to eat out all the time. Well, we stocked up on food and ate none of it. I still have the Peppridge Farm Tahiti cookies that I bought. No matter - they're still good. Besides, what's the point of going on vacation if you don't stuff yourself full of restaurant food?

Mac came into town on Friday, and I went over to his hotel room for two hours' worth of practice before the concert the next night. Saturday night was the concert, and what a terrific event that was! I played my set (please forget that I look like a leather-clad whale in my regalia) and was bombarded by people in the lobby at intermission congratulating me. The upshot of all this is that I'll be recording my first CD within the next three months - how exciting! The performers were wonderful, the audience gracious and kind, and the whole evening passed in a whirl. At 1 a.m., we all finally got out of there and went to Denny's (the traditional watering hole of the concert performers), where we stuffed ourselves full of crappy breakfast food. No matter - I was hungry.





Unfortunately, I had a slight mishap that morning on the way back to the hotel after sound check. Yep. I ran into a parked car and ran my truck down it's entire length. It's amazing to me how it looks like a piece of crumpled tinfoil. I also managed to rip off the side mirror. Argh. At least the cop was nice to me and didn't write a ticket. The guy whose truck I hit (it sustained very little damage) was an asshole. I stopped my truck in the middle of the road (it was a narrow country road, and I had been trying to avoid hitting another truck who was going right down the middle when I hit his), and he yelled at me that I'd better park my truck behind his so he could get my information. Yeah. I'm going to flee the scene with vanity plates you can read a mile away. Give me a break. Assclown.

On Sunday, we checked out and went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. What a cool place! We got there late, so we couldn't take the tour that let you feed the rhinos and giraffes. However, while we were going around in our tram, I noticed what looked like smoke in the sky. We had seen on the news the previous night that there were fires being fueled by the Santa Anas, and this looked close. Hubster said nah, that the smoke was probably far away, even though you literally could taste it. So we went on our tour (it was hotter than hell), got in the mangled truck, and proceeded on to Universal City, where I'll pick up the post tomorrow. It turns out that the smoke was a lot closer than Hubster thought. A LOT.

Chapter 2 tomorrow, dear readers. This sick old broad is going to drag herself over to the Monster, sit down, and begin my knitting. I haven't touched the needles in two or three nights. I did, however, finish a pair of socks on vacation.

Until then....