A few notes on travel

 Wow.

It's funny-- we keep saying, "We're just going to go down there and relax," but, uh, we seem to be doing an awful lot.

Monday was a little scary-- ZoomBoy had a fever and as nice as the time share is, I was thinking, "Okay, gonna spend a whole lot of time here."

But Tuesday we drove up the coast and spent a bit of time at the beach and went out for pizza, which was pretty awesome.

Although, while at the beach, ZB chivalrously chased a group of seagulls and a squirrel named Rigby away from someone's picnic, and they got revenge.

Seagulls--Francis in Familiar Demon said it best: Garbage birds.

Anyway-- so Wednesday we went to Balboa Park which is lovely, but it is apparently even lovelier on a spring day. First I dragged the family through the Timkin gallery, which was apparently something outlawed by the Geneva convention and I was unaware.  Now I know. By the way, there is nothing--and I mean NOTHING--more embarrassing than having your coffee, erm, hit your digestive system while in the bathroom in a fine art gallery.

When people are knocking.


And you're left shouting, "I'll be out as soon as I can! The toilet paper isn't coming out as it should!"

Yeah. We classed the joint up, can you tell?

Anyway-- Balboa Park was all the things-- the Natural History museum, the arboretum, the rose garden, and the smaller fine art museum. (The larger one was closed on Wednesday--much to the fam's relief.) It was food trucks on a bright afternoon and music and an overpriced gift shop and the kids being awful and yet delightful at the same time.

Wednesday was a good day.

Today Mate took me to a yarn store.

A REALLY nice yarn store. ( www.yarningforyou.com if you are interested--their stock is sublime.) I bought a few things--including their mascot--Bruce and punk rock Bruce. Their store brand is called Bruce's revenge and I bought some STUNNING colors in that, and, well, a good day.

After that we went to a craft brewery restaurant (Stone Rippers, I think) for Mate, and he might have gotten away with just a taste flight of beer and called it a day, but there was a glitch with my meal, so they refired it (and took it off the bill) and offered Mate four more tasters and a 10 oz of something called Arrogant Bastard in a gesture of "good will".

We were feeling the good will, and I drove us back.

Which was fine.

Mate found a back way that had not a damned thing to do with 5 and we called it good.

And then we came back here and I kept working on "essentials bags".  Now, I have four of them made, and I was going to stop at five and one for Squish. What they are is a bag just big enough for a cell phone and a wallet and keys-- or a trade paperback, which is how I'm going to give them away at Cinema Craptastique. I sort of love the simplicity of these bags, and how three colors can be used in myriad ways for something unique and useful. I've left little slots in the straps to weave in earbuds--if audiobooks are your thing--and I'm pretty pleased.

Anyway--I'll write up the pattern for Yarn Magazine I think--I already have a story to go with them and their theme this quarter. Yay!

Now tomorrow is the beach again and maybe a baseball game. I'm sort of hoping now. I want to be good and rested up for the trip home on Saturday.

I really want to see my dogs again.