The South Takes What the North Delivers

900 miles in a car (the 2008 Dodge Avenger at 30 mpg) plus a flight to and back from the coast isn't exactly enviro-friendly, especially after the recent deluge of guilt-creating documentaries I've been watching, but I don't care, I had a great time.

Let's crunch some numbers:

24,5: Amount of bottled beers and bottles of wine, respectively, that were collectively consumed in hotel rooms across the CA coast. Since most days we were so active we had no desire or energy to be out after dinner, San Francisco excepted, we'd typically plan the next day, watch bad cable TV, and drink on the bed during this time. We did stop at a winery at one point, and felt no shame in consuming more than one fancy (read: over $15) bottle of wine using the cheap plastic cups wrapped in plastic in hotel rooms. Also, we didn't have a bottle opener until the end, so most beers were opened using drawer handles and deadbolt locks (with occasionally messy results).

29: Approximate number of 200 mg ibuprofen tablets taken by me. Considering that we probably walked close to two marathons in total, I was surprised that I was able to walk at all after the first day, let alone complete a couple surprisingly difficult hikes. This was a pleasant surprise all around.

2: The number of times we were caught in the rain and soaked to the bone in San Diego on Friday. San Diego! I think it rains like eight days a year there. I was unimpressed by the city in general; downtown is nothing special and the beach is fine but only if yr a surfer. One Positive: Traffic is not a problem.

7: Meals eaten by me that involved fish or seafood. A whole crab, salmon, scallops at a Chinese place, fish tacos (twice), shrimp/scallops with pasta, and sushi. The crab was the only thing which I knew to be fresh, but since I was near water I thought I should be eating seafood.

301: Photographs taken.

42: Price, in dollars, of the cheapest hotel we stayed in, The Silver Surf Motel just south of Hearst Castle in San Simeon. It was also the only one with an indoor pool and hottub. We kept things pretty inexpensive.

2: Parts of my body that are sunburned. My left and right calves only, since this was the only area I forgot to put sunscreen on on Saturday, in which we left SD and drove east to the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. This was the only day I wore shorts the whole trip, and maybe only the second day I wore sunscreen.

3: Number of Desert Bighorn Sheep, an endangered species, spotted in the desert.

8.5: Hours spent at Disneyland. Not my idea.

8: Approximate hours spent waiting in lines at Disneyland. The worst culprit was the Roger Rabbit ride in Toontown. (I can't believe I typed that sentence). Since Disneyland sucks, we basically did everything M wanted to do by 1 pm, so the rest of the afternoon was going on the second-tier attractions and a couple things a second time. The Roger Rabbit ride looked horrible, but we got in line anyway, stuck between literally 6 screaming kids aged 5 and under and their inadequate parents. Unlike most lines in the park, this one moved incredibly slow, and it took us nearly an hour to get to the front. Then, while about 8 people away from getting it over with, the ride broke down, and a 20-30 minute delay was announced. We didn't stick around, and left Toontown cursing.

1,239: Amount of 'Whoas" and "Wows" spoken by us, mostly in the drive from SF to the end of the Big Sur area. Every corner on Highway 1 seemed to bring postcard views. I think we probably pulled over to take pictures about 25 times as well. Hiking in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park contributed a lot of ecstatic noises as well.

All in all, a great trip, we did a lot and saw everything we wanted to. Probably should have spent more time north and less south, but whatever. This kind of trip was the kind I like, I can lay on the beach and do nothing when I'm old and tired.

Other nice thing about vacation was not being woken up by Kim Gordon three times a night. She's at my parents house until they visit on Saturday, so I'm going to plan on enjoy not being bothered the next two nights.

*First picture is me on Alcatraz with SF behind. This was the least hideous picture of me in the bunch, I think. What you don't know is that I'm naked from the waist down. In the picture. And also, right now.