I hit the road early in the morning – around 5:30. I had borrowed an adapter from my parents to run my MP3 player through the tape player, so I had 14 hours worth of battery power and 3100 songs. It worked really well with the mini-van’s stereo system, and I could really rock out on the drive down.
The drive is a long one, 8 hours or so. I used to drive all this route all the time, but it hasn’t been a while and it was fun to check things out and see how things have changed.
I reached the top of the valley by 7 a.m., and I was over the grapevine and in L.A. by noon. Around 2:30 I pulled into Carlsbad, and I did a walk by my old employer, RealCapitalMarkets.com. They appear to be still in business, but it was fun to walk by anonymously after how that little job adventure turned out.
Eager to hit the beach, I stopped in at Torrey Pines and walked down to the water. The temperature of the water was warm and comfortable, and I spent about 20 minutes walking on the shore. Feet all sandy, I headed back to the car and into town.
My next stop was Barnes and Noble in Grossmont center. I worked there during the time I was waiting to see if my JET program application would go through. I bumped into a few people that remembered me, and I even got a chance to talk to Pat, the manager there. She offered me a job, but I had to decline – that would have seriously put a damper on my vacation.
I dropped some things off at my grandparent’s house, and then I went over to Nancy and Lynn’s place. It was great to see them again! They both looked great – we caught up over tequila, beer, and wine, and had some awesome smoked ribs. We stayed up late chatting and listening to music, and then we went to bed. I was exhausted after so much driving around.
