The Long San Diego Story, Day Two

 The short version: relaxing, the beach, Dollar Dollar Bear Y’all, bowling.

July 23, Day Two

This was a low-key day. Hey, vacations are for relaxing, right? I slept all morning. Steven went to work at 1. I spent the afternoon hanging out at the apartment, reading The End of Mr. Y and marveling about the 70-degree weather. I watched them play Rock Band, which they are all Experts at. I watched them play Guitar Hero, which they are also all Experts at. And Metal Gear Solid 4, which they have already beaten. I drank a super tasty Jamba Juice mango smoothie. Of course we have smoothie places in Memphis too, but somehow it seemed like a special California thing to do. We were supposed to go to Comic-Con Preview Night, but Steven worked too late. No Fringe pre-screening for me.

But I didn’t want to spend the WHOLE day at the apartment. So we went to Mission Beach. As soon as I got there, my camera’s battery died. No photos tonight. I waded in the Pacific Ocean for only the 2nd time, and walked on the boardwalk (like here and here). The weather was amazing. It was so comfortable, it was like there was NO weather. We walked around the rollercoaster and thrill rides and carnival booths, I realized every single person in California looks like a model, and we passed a basketball toss booth where the prizes were bears wrapped in fake dollar bills. Steven went, “Hey, dollar dollar bear y’all” and I cracked up. A few booths later, I pulled a girl move and declared, “OK, I want that bear.” And damn if he didn’t walk back and win it in only four tries. After that, we spent a bit more time at the boardwalk in the arcade, introducing Dollar Dollar Bear Y’all to the world and telling him how truly hard it was out here for a pimp.

Back to the apartment. Midnight bowling with the roommates and friends. The bowling alley guy was one of the angriest men I had ever seen in all of the service industry. “Whatever you people are gonna do, you better hurry up and do it”…”give me one of your shoes. NOW.” Dang. OK, dude. So anyway, I had all kinds of excuses for why my game sucked (the ball didn’t fit my fingers, it was hot in the alley so my hands were sweaty, my shoes didn’t fit right, blah blah blah). I only got one strike all night! My bowling name was, I bet you can guess, Dollar Bear Y’all. Steven’s was Raptor Jesus, and Josh’s was Tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. (btw, they say “tiiiiight” as often they breathe. It’s their Hello, their Sweet, their Nice, their Thanks. Whole conversations can be had with just that word, it’s pretty hilarious.)

Um, I think that’s it for Wednesday? On to the zoo…