A Mini Vacation

Michael called me one day and asked me to go out and visit him, I had not seen him in over 7 years. He lives in southern California. I told him I don't think my boss will allow me to take a vacation so soon. I had been with the company for only 4 months.  The next day I went to my boss and asked if I could take a vacation? He said I can only allow you two extra days off, which meant only 4 days off.  I called Michael and he said well come on, four days are better than none. I agreed, so Michael and I booked a flight there.

I was so nervous the week before I was to leave. I hadn't been on a plane in 10 years.

On November 30th right after work. I had a friend drive me to the airport. He missed the exit and drove over a medium to get to the exit. I was really freaking out. I was like you cant do this. He looked at me and said you want to make your flight or not?  I shut up and sat back and let him drive off road.

I went into the airport, found my airline, and waited in line. Once to the counter, the lady said oh my hun your in the wrong line. You see the kiosk over there? I said yes, she said that is where you need to be. I asked her if she could help me? She smiled and said yes, follow me.  She used it and explained it all to me. She then handed me my boarding tickets.  She said now go up stairs to the tram and take it to your gate. I thanked her and headed to my gate.

TSA

As soon as I stepped off the tram, there was a huge line. I waited and waited. I got up to the TSA and they checked my id and ticket. I went and put all my stuff in the tubs and took off my shoes. The TSA said step over in that line. There in front of me was a huge machine. It scans everyone. I turned around to him and said, umm. He looked at me and said you want a pat down? I looked at him and said yes. He calls it out on his radio and two officer approach me. One grabs my stuff and the over leads me over to a chair and the officer starts to do his thing. (in front of everyone) I looked at him and said umm, he said well do you need a private pat down. I said yes please. They escort me over to a tiny room. When I say tiny, there was enough room for two of us, and the other had to stand holding the door open. But it was better than being in front of everyone.

Landing

8 hours later, I am finally in California.  I finally find my best friend. I get in his car, Michael and I talk while he is driving.

He said you hungry? I said yeah. He said ok I am going to take you to IN n OUT. I said what on earth is that? He said hamburgers, they only have 4 items on their menu, and they cut their french fries fresh.

 When we were done eating we took off and headed to his apartment. His apartment was on a huge hill. We talked for awhile and then he showed me his game. It's called VR Vine. Its a Virtual Reality game.

VR Vine

This gaming system is off the chain. I mean it makes you feel like you are part of the game. And it wares you out playing it. But OMG is it ever fun.  We stayed up until about 3 am my time.


Where is the Coffee?

I am up first, I stumble to his kitchen and start looking for a coffee maker. I guess I was making to much noise cause I woke him up looking. He asked what are you looking for?  I said the coffee maker, he said I don't own one. I looked at him like WTF.  I said I need coffee. He said get dressed and we will head out. I head to his car and he asked where are you going? He then said we are walking, its only a couple of blocks this way. We walk for over 3 blocks. It was fun, we talked so much on the way there. We get to the little shop and order our coffee. I sip slowly to saver the flavor. Oh it was so very yummy.

Pacific Ocean

In all my travels through out my life. I had never been to the west coast before. So I had to see the ocean. I have seen the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. So yeah this was a have to do on my list of things.

While we was at the beach, I wanted to take a picture of us. Right after I snapped the picture, a huge wave knocked us down. We laughed so hard. I can say I was in it. haha

Michael and I

Michael asked if I was hungry yet. I said yeah. He said ok I've got the perfect place for us to go eat.

Grater Grilled Cheese shop.

The food was excellent, and huge portions. So much so that I had to take half of it back home.

Fry's Electronics

I was amazed at how much stuff this company carries. They didn't just have electronics, they had everything. I even saw beds. We walked and walked and walk, until my feet hurt. We don't have this company where I live.

We head back to his home and play more games. My jet leg finally kicked in, I was exhausted. I went to him and asked if I could take a bath. I only have a shower at home. He said sure. I went and took me a long (over an hour) bath. I soaked and relaxed. When I was done, we played more games until we both couldn't do it anymore.

The next day we get up and get ready. It was going to be another long day. But I really didn't care, I was with my best friend.

IKEA

I never been to an IKEA. I've heard Sheldon Cooper talk about it on his shows, but never been to one. I was truly amazed. They had everything. It was so cool how they had it all laid out. Each section was set up. Like a bed room was completely set up, as you would have it in your room at home. Or a kitchen, living room etc. Close to the end of it, was their Cafeteria. We ate lunch there. I could see spending a whole day there, but we had much yet to see. After lunch we headed out to the boarder.

The Boarder of Mexico.

I got to see Tiauna from the United States side. We went to the shops that was next to the "Wall".

I got all my souvenirs there. We had much fun. Lots of walking. After we were done there, we took off and head to the Mall. I needed new shoes.

It was a huge outdoor mall. We found a shoe store, and I bought a new pair of shoes, we went into a Game Stop and they had a zip up batman sweatshirt. I had to have it. Its funny, at home I hate shopping for myself, but there I spent quite a bit of money on myself. It was fun. :)

We head back to his place and played more games.

Next day

The next morning I said lets not go anywhere, just stay here and play games. He agreed. We played games for most of the day and then he said lets go eat. He gave me two places, either Mexican food or Chinese food.  I chose Chinese.

We went to Pei Wei. It was a small restaurant, and the food was excellent. I really enjoyed the food and company.  After we was done, back to his home. We spent the rest of the time playing games. The next morning I was flying back home.

I did not want to go home.

Heading home, I was so sad to leave my friend. I really and truly did not want to go.

The flight home was long, and I do mean long. 6 hours flying from the west coast to the east coast. We landed in North Carolina. I caught the next flight out to Tampa. We had a long wait on the Tar Mat.

The trip was amazing. I truly had so much fun. I enjoy our time together. I cannot wait till I go back!