staged attack

staged attack, originally uploaded by threeleggeduck.

Pete Yorn Plays SD

We were so excited to find out that Pete Yorn was playing at the House of Blues in San Diego. Why you ask? Not only is he a hard-core rock star, weak-in-the-knees heartthrob, and a fabulous musician with an awesome entourage, but he also has a way of convincing Mary to travel across the country!

Mary found out Pete was going to be in San Diego and as a bonus, so were we! Well, maybe it was the other way around. It's hard to tell. Anyway, we didn't care what brought her here, we were just happy to spend time together. I have a way of forgetting that I own a camera when I am with Mary, so I didn't take many photos, but I am sure once she sends some our way we can add to this post, so keep checking.

Can't wait to see those photos, Mary! I bet they are more impressive than Annie Leibovitz!

Mary had two items on her San Diego Wishlist: the zoo and a Pacific sunset. After checking the weather we decided that the best day for a sunset would be Friday. We met Dirt Doc at work and then hiked over to Torrey Pines State Park. Dirt Doc promised the long trek would be worth it and he was right!

Hey, look! There it is!

See you tomorrow!

On Saturday, we went to the world famous San Diego Zoo. So did about one million other people. Although we were frustrated at times with the amount of mouth breathers tapping on the glass right under signs that said "Please do not tap on glass", the zoo was awesome. We both bought annual passes so we can go as often as we want (we also figured many of our visitors would be wanting to go, too!). We totally loved watching the hippos! They were enourmous yet graceful (and cause more deaths in Africa than all the other animals combined! Yikes!).
The gorillas were fascinating and had some adorable babies. Mini-milano theory holds true! I know Mary will have some awesome baby gorilla photos, so stay tuned.

This red panda was way cuter than the giant pandas and you didn't have to stand in a ridiculously long line to see him.

While Mary was here we also took her to see the other stops along our personalized San Diego Tour. This includes stops at the OB pier, Cabrillo National Monument, and Balboa Park.

We made it to OB just in time to see a surfing competition. So California!

View of the Pacific from Cabrillo. There were whales migrating, but we didn't see any this time.

The Cactus Garden in Balboa Park is one of my favourite places. A perfect example of no-money fun!

The First Visitors

Okay, so our house was all set up and open for business. Time for our first round of house guests! Our friends, Matt and Kyleen, decided they needed a break from the blustery Flagstaff winter. San Diego was only a one day drive and promised warmer weather and the ocean. Pie Girl and Dirt Doc were excited to give them the tour!

Ocean Beach Pier:

Kyleen is skeptical of these fish tacos she has heard so much about.

Fish tacos?

"I like fish tacos..."

Meanwhile, back on Mt. Soledad:

Which one is the real poopster?

Misty view of La Jolla

Birdrock Beach:

Kyleen dips her feet in the Pacific.

Birdrock Beach had two things: rocks...

...and birds.
Birdman prepares the pile of bread for the trained seagulls of Birdrock.






While observing the spectacle that Birdman was creating, our view was obstructed by a spectacle of an entirely different and more unsettling nature: These 14-year-olds, partaking in today's ritual of passage into womanhood - getting your first thong

La Jolla Beach:

Seal colony in La Jolla

There was also a lot of "Apples to Apples" fun, after Kyleen bought us a copy at Target.

Home Sweet Home

Hooray! We have a place to live! The next thing to do was to get it into shape so we could be happy living there. And make it suitable for the many guests that have already made their reservations! The landlords had originally scheduled the property to be available for February 1, but here it was January 15th and we had moved in the day after the previous tenants moved out... So the landlords did not have a chance to get in and do regular maintenance, and the previous tenants didn't do a great job (or apparently, any job) with cleaning up the place. Well, no big deal - this was the "cost" of being allowed to move in early.

Besides simple cleaning, the bedroom in particuar was in serious need of some paint and upkeep. Check out the wall paper and "window treatments".

Also, the wood paneling on the lower half of the wall was white at one time (maybe in 1915, when the house was built!), but had browned with age - or dirt. Who knows. In the photo above, you can see where we had cut in with a new coat of white paint. Having new paint on the paneling really made a difference, but we weren't nearly done - that wallpaper had to go!

Behold! Our new bedroom, complete with "window treatments" that will hurt a lot less if they happen to fall on my foot. Maybe. They look like they'd hurt less.

Anyway, to all those people on HGTV's "Designed to Sell" I say: In Your Face!






Here are shots of the dining area and living room.

And some shots of the outside. Our house came with a front yard and gated entrance:

The vines (which provide an excellent privacy curtain) are all passion fruit - we have eaten a couple since we've been here. They are kind of like pomegranates, with lots of seeds and a messy pulp inside of a thick rind. Pie Girl has invented a passion fruit-based drink she calls "Light in the Loafers."

One thing we can thank the previous tenants for is the fact that this front garden is all strung up with twinkle lights, which makes a neat effect at night. They also left their cat, Pee Wee. Poor Pee Wee! The landlords are her new caretakers and asked us not to let her in the house since they were trying to teach her that their house (right behind ours) was her new home. She used to try and get in everytime we opened the door and even jumped in an open window one day! We had to endure about an hour each night of her cries at the kitty door, but she is starting to get the hint. She still hangs out on our porch and guards the house for us.

Who could leave this kitty behind?


The front yard at night.

Setting up shop

Here's a photo we took from the road and forgot to post earlier.
In case you can't make out the words, it says, "ANIMALS NOT POTTY TRAINED. BACK OFF!"

OK, so shortly after arriving in SD, all our stuff arrived courtesy of Larry. Since we didn't have a place to live, let alone to put all the stuff, we rented a public storage space and shoved it all in there. It worked out fairly well. With Larry's help, we had everything in the locker in about 2 1/2 hours. Then we continued looking for a place to live!

Rent is much different here. You could get a pretty sweet place in Delaware for $1000/month. Here, that very same rent will get you a luxurious studio apartment (read: one room does it all!) in Crackton. So we had to adjust to what you can get for the money. After two solid days of searching, we found an apartment in Pacific Beach that was right on the bay. It was an ordinary apartment, but we felt that the view would make it worth it. We were "okay" with it, but not gung-ho. We made it back to Shannon's feeling a little downtrodden, but happy that we at least had a prospect. Pie Girl had scheduled an appointment with a landlord that she spoke with before we even left Delaware and it was for that night. We figured we might as well go, even though we figured we would most likely end up renting the place in Pacific Beach. This other property was in the Golden Hill neighborhood.

This Golden Hill property was the first place we felt really good about - the previous tenants were getting ready to move out, and the landlords were really nice and friendly. They felt more like people we would be friends with than landlords. We filled out an application and crossed our fingers. We even did a little dance outside the house after we left. Afterwards we headed out to Ocean Beach with Shannon to meet up with her friend, Sean, to get a lobster taco - they are huge out here. And by huge I mean everybody loves them, not that they are necessarily large in size.

Well, lobster tacos are so popular that we had to wait in line for a really long time at the restaurant we had gone to. Word on the street was that this place was the best, but we just couldn't get a table. At eight months pregnant, Shannon was having a wicked lobster taco jones, so we decided to go to this little restaurant out on the Ocean Beach Pier (just a short walk from where we were) since they were also supposed to have a pretty "bitchin" lobster taco. But they were just closing when we got there! We noticed they had "mango pancakes" and made plans to come back for breakfast some day. Some day soon.

We gave up on lobstah and went to a Greek place instead. While we were there, the landlords called Beth to say that they really liked us - they had a good feeling and they wanted us to have the place! I guess it all magically worked out in the end. God be Praised!

Stop groveling! I hate it when people grovel...

Meanwhile, our friends Chris and Shellie were planning on coming down from San Jose to help us move in, and they had timed it just right. The old tenants moved out, we rented a truck and moved our stuff out of public storage and into our new place. And we had help doing it! To celebrate, we had breakfast at, you guessed it: the Ocean Beach Pier! Mmmm...mango pancakes...













Shellie and Chris chillax on the pier.

Shannon and Shellie - California buds

(*Please note that Shellie's hair is being blown by the wind
and she in fact does not have 80's hair.)

Humprey is turning into a beach bum.

More soon!

Get on With It!

It was exciting to wake up that next morning and know that when we went to sleep that night it would be in San Diego. We headed to one of our favorite Flagstaff eateries, The Place, and ordered ourselves some good eats. We were especially impressed with the tea bags. They were so cute! All boxed up and made of....silk? Not your ordinary Lipton. Pie Girl liked them so much she bought two to go!

We said good-bye to Matt, happily knowing that like tomorrow, he was only a day away. Then we hit the road....

Most of the drive between Flag and San Diego looked like this.

Pie Girl smiles as at the thought of not having to drive anywhere tomorrow.





After a couple of hours we finally saw it....our new home....

We arrived at Shannon's house around 6 or 7 p.m. It was comforting to be welcomed to San Diego by a familiar face. Not that Motel 6 isn't friendly. We like them, too, but they just don't compare to a Williamson. Exhausted from our journey we all went to bed fairly early. We had a big day ahead of us tomorrow. While Shannon's house is super nice, we didn't want to wear out our welcome and live in her back bedroom/office for too long.

Snow in the Desert

The next morning was cold and clear. We loaded up the car and, rather than eat at one of the many chain restaurants surrounding the Santa Rosa exit, we secided to strike northwest for Santa Fe to get breakfast. There was a little snow already on the ground in Santa Rosa, but the drifts deepened as we headed west. Apparently, there had been a snowstorm that paralyzed much of New Mexico about 2 days earlier. Glad we missed that!

Santa Fe was a cute little town that seemed to be full or artisan shops, art galleries, cafes, and real estate offices. Pie Girl dug the architecture, most of the city looked like an adobe pueblo, down to the gas stations. It also smelled terrific! Everyone was burning a certain type of wood (What was it called again, Patti?) that made the whole town fill with the delicious aroma. We hope to make a trip back to check it out when we have more time - and better weather. So here we were, in Santa Fe on a Sunday, during the off-season, in the days following a blizzard... not much was open. We managed to find a coffee shop and had a cup of joe with some pastries. Not the honking stack of French toast I was jonesing for, but it would do.

Pie Girl was feeling particularly inspired by our surroundings, so she opened one of the many packages from Michele, given to us when we began our journey. The one she opened was marked: Open me if you are feeling creative. It was a cannister of Play-Doh. She formed it into a giant fuchsia flower in honor of Georgia O'Keefe (who had a gallery there in Santa Fe).











We left Santa Fe and headed for Albuquerque to get back on I-40.
The snow and the more varied landscape of NM made for a more interesting drive than those other states, that we won't mention.

We arrived at Matt's place in Flagstaff, AZ around 6:00. Once we had Harry settled inside the house, we went out for dinner - you like Thai? The restaurant was hopping, and we were about to settle in for an estimated 1/2 hour wait. Two minutes later, our table was ready! The food was great, second only to the company of Matt and Joe, who entertained us with stories about moving and about the locals. Then we went home to relax. Pie Girl crawled into her sleeping bag and passed out immediately. I stayed up with Matt to watch some Venture Brothers, and some other fun stuff he had found - 'Spaced,' which is a British show made by the same guy responsible for 'Shaun of the Dead,' was hilarous! As the evening wound down, Matt and I caught up on what had been going on the last few months and took turns trying to flick popcorn into Pie Girl's gaping maw.

This is a test

It has nothing to do with our roadtrip, but it is funny! The good news is: Thanks to V, I can now post videos. Look out!

Delaware: At Least it's Not the Midwest

The next morning, we decided to cave into statistics and go to McDonalds. I mean, they're everywhere, and eventually you're going to end up at one. I don't know when the last time was I had McDonald's breakfast, and it seemed somehow appropriate to eat a McGriddle in Arkansas. When we walked in, the ladies behind the counter were full of cheer, dancing about and singing - in fact, they were singing "Doe, a deer" from the Sound of Music! They were probably the happiest McDonald's employees I have seen yet. Well, McDonald's can do one thing right: hashbrowns. That was probably the best part.

After we finished breakfast, we walked back to the motel and loaded up the car, and blew straight out of Arkansas and... into Blowklahoma. It was a pretty uneventful drive, except for my road rage.

What does this clown think he's doing?

Move that heap!




Close your eyes, kids!

Ok, it's not good to get too stressed out. Let's calm down... get it under control. Go to your happy place.

Ahh. That's better. And it looks safe, too.

We made it across Blowklahoma in a straight shot, but not before seeing the following Typical Oklahoma scenes:

Free crap - my FAVORITE kind of crap!

Yep. TV and a lazy boy by the side of the road. Looks like it's been used recently.

Harry was very excited to see scenic Rabbit Creek!












We reached the Big Texan in Amarillo, TX by about 4:30 in the afternoon. We made sure Harry was comfortable in his Fortress of Solitude, and went inside. The waiters were all dressed like cowboys, in boots, hats and vests. The waitresses were either cowgirls with too-short denim skirts or burlesque show dresses. And I thought it was a family place!

After perusing the menu, Pie Girl asked if there were any burgers smaller than 1/2 lb. Nope. So she got the half-pounder. Meanwhile, I spied the 5 oz steak-burger and ordered that. Just then, there is some commotion on the stage. "The stage?" you may ask. Yes, there was, in fact, a stage in the restaurant for fools wishing to attempt to eat a 72 oz. steak. Turns out, we had the great fortune of being witnesses to the revolting spectacle of someone trying to eat 4 1/2 pounds of meat in an hour or less. But that's not all. I guess with all the fat-ass, overeating Americans now crowding this nation, eating a steak the size of a small dog isn't enough. To get the steak for free, the challenger must eat not only the obscene amount of beef, but also one (1) shrimp cocktail, one (1) side salad, one (1) baked potato, and one (1) dinner roll - in 60 minutes. And there's a big ol' basketball scoreboard behind the dude reminding him how much time left until he has to cough up the $75 for dinner - or just cough up the dinner. Good luck, buddy. You're going to need it. I quickly made a pact with Pie Girl to finish our meals and leave before this guy blew chunks. Here, watch for yourself...

Beef Pile.

I hope your insurance is paid up.

He was making good progress, but still had way too much left to eat and only 27 minutes left when we paid the bill and walked out. Since there were still several hours left in the day, we decided to press on a little further, marking Santa Rosa, NM as our stop for the night.

We made it, but just barely. Gas was running low and we were in the middle of the desert by this point - no exits or rest stops. We watched the miles count down to Santa Rosa as the gas tank indicator light flashed with increasing urgency. We made it to our exit and immediately pulled into a gas station. It was very windy and very cold - our first taste of winter, since it hadn't even been that cold yet back home. We checked into the Motel 6 and hit the hay.