Good bye, U.S.

After Cosmo’s fixup, we took off as fast as we could to L.A. (yeah, never thought ANYONE would say that). Though SLO was a nice town, waiting for repairs is rather very boring, and I was getting impatient even though no one else seemed to be. After 3-4 hours of driving, which was largely composed of looking at the countryside and measuring out the number of times before we saw another In-N-Out, we arrived at Culver City, where Tia Mary and Tio Nacho were waiting for us. We hung out, told jokes, ate dinner, generally got our ‘Internet Fix.’ We finally got to sleep in an area bigger than 3 feet wide, even if I did hit the cabinet holding the T.V. several times in my sleep. It was a good night.

The next day we got up late and had breakfast, and I played computer. Canela the dog got dropped off at the house. We played with her until lunch time, when Marcela came over for lunch. We made plans to go to the beach after lunch, and Marcela and Amelia plotted to go to the mall. When Marcela took off, so did we, and to the beach we went.

The beach was a lot of fun. Nate, Amelia and I played in the surf for a good four hours or so. We swam around, body- surfed, and ducked from massive waves, which when we did unsuccessfully, we got smacked around until we could regain control. Overall, it was a fun day. We left late to Tia Ceci’s and Tio Jorge’s house, and when we arrived, watched T.V. and talked with them.

We had a good breakfast with Tia and Tio, and packed up. We left to Tia Angie’s and Tio Ravi’s, and did some errands like shopping at Costco and going to a computer store, which didn’t have the Mac charger adapter that we needed. We arrived at Tia Angie’s and Tio Ravi’s, were we were met also by Tias Ceci and Mary and Tios Jorge and Nacho, and had a very good dinner. I played with the humidifier. We slept, me on the couch, which was nonetheless comfortable. The next day was pretty calm, besides clearing out ants from the van. At the end of the day, I went on a nice bike ride with Tio Ravi.

The next day, we left Rancho Cucamonga and visited Nick, Melanie, Wolfi, Pascal, Fiona the dog, and the chickens, ducks, and goat. We had a delicious breakfast, and afterwards I went to the chicken coop and decided to get as many of the chickens as I could. Nick showed us his electric bike, which Nate and I rode on for a bit (at 25 miles an hour without pedaling). We said our goodbyes and left for San Diego.

Riding Nicolas’ electric bike

Welcome to San Diego

After four hours of driving, we stopped at Balboa park. We walked around, visiting the fountain and the botanical garden. Amelia found a geocache and I drank a lemonade. We left to Home Depot to get some stuff for the van, and met up with Roscoe, Colleen, Aria, and Bowen at Cotixan, a Mexican restaurant. We had burritos and left to their house, where we met Snowball, the Cook’s black cat (watch the Simpsons if you don’t understand the reference). We sat around talking until we needed to go to sleep, seeing as the Cooks needed to get to the airport at 5:00 a.m.

Balboa Arboretum

Balboa Park, San Diego

We ate at Chili’s (thanks Isa!) the following day, and then went to Ocean Beach, had fun in the semi- sun, and boogie boarded. We walked around O.B. afterwards, discussing dogs on the way to the van. On the way back, we were driving when Nate suddenly said, “Is that black smoke I see coming from the van?”

Well, the rest of the evening was attempting to figure it out, but it looked like it was gonna be an extra day in San Diego while we figured it out.

And it was. Nate spent the day trying to figure out the problem, browsing the forums, and contacting Gary. For me, it was a day of computer games. Everything seemed to be OK and it looked like we’d be crossing to Mexico the next day. That night, we ate at In-N-Out, an homage to California and the U.S.

Welcome to Mexico!

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Showing 6 comments
  • Wayne
    Reply

    Enjoyed your post Benjamin. Clearly, (good) food is a central theme. No more hamburgers now! See you in Costa Rica.

  • Sal Vivanco
    Reply

    He guys it was nice to meet you at Shilshore Beach a few weeks ago. I am planning to headout for Jackson Hole Wyoming next month prior to my wife going back to school. Good luck in South America (never been) and safe travels.
    SV

    • Nate
      Nate
      Reply

      Great meeting you Sal! Enjoy your trip to Wyoming. Some friends of ours just returned from that area and had a great time.

  • Lina L
    Reply

    Gracias queridos por compartir sus aventuras 🙂 Espero que Cosmo se porte a la altura y que sigan disfrutando cada dia de esta maravillosa locura. Los queremos mucho!
    Lina, Brett, Connor & Ethan

  • Tío Teban
    Reply

    Gracias Tomín por tu post! Nos encanta leerlos a uds también, sus impresiones. Cuándo es el turno de la Gordis? 🙂

    Se ve que California fue una estadía bastante familiar. Qué rico que pudieron verlos a casi todos y que pudieron disfrutar de una camita o sofá un poco más cómodo (a pesar de que sos un tontín que se casca con el mueble de la TV). Además, se ve que comieron rico!

    Cómo te pareció Canela? La última vez que la vi era una loca demente, al igual que la dueña. Sigue igual de bobita?

    Así que la bici de Nick era ‘fully-electric’ en vez de ‘assisted pedalling’? Cómo la viste? Yo prefiero las de pedaleo asistido porque el motor eléctrico no entra en funcionamiento si no estás pedaleando. Además, en la mayoría de ellas, si vas a más de 25 kmh (15 mph) el motor deja de funcionar, lo cual me parece positivo porque la idea de las bicis eléctricas es su uso para transporte urbano, en vez de para correr como locos.

    Bueno Mansito. Espero más posts tuyos porque los disfruté en grande!

    Muchas saludes a todos, los quiero mucho y los pienso siempre!

    Pasen muy muy rico!

    Tío Teban

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