Mah 2019/20 trip to the US - second leg

On Saturday we had brunch and just hung out, and on Sunday we went to see the new (last) Star Wars movie and it was roughly as bad as I'd expected. That franchise is dead as doornail, hopefully. Time to get some new ideas into the genre! Monday I can't really remember us doing much of anything.

Saturday's brunch. Yum.


On the 24th, we took a trip out to Birch Acquarium, a part of the famous Scripps Institute of Oceanograpy. We spent a nice, relaxing hour or so wandering the exhibits and on the way home we drove to La Jolla Cove to take pics of the seals basking in the winter sun.

A sea turtle giving me a stern look.


Seals.


In the evening, Courtland prepared next day's food.


The humongous steak we ate the next day.


Of course, nothing says peace on earth and goodwill to men like two bloody, hard fought rounds of Cards Against Humanity. So that's basically how we spent Christmas afternoon and evening (with assists from other guests).


On Thursday, we began eating all the stuff that was left over from the previous night's feast. We still had enough meat to feed a small African village.


In the evening, I retired to my usual haunts up in El Cajon. Lest you should envy my trip to California, let me inform y'all of my environs. At night they have a couple of guys doing security, checking that cars coming in have a parking permit etc. They did NOT have that when I first started coming here ten years ago. The neighborhood otherwise contains several charming characters, such as hobos, people screaming in rage for no discernible reason and a wide selection of examples of why cousin marriages is a bad idea.

My room was conveniently situated in some sort of triangular courtyard, which did WONDERS for the accoustics of such sounds as dog barks, people having sex, strange women calling out for their father at 3AM and of course the wonderful cleaning personell chatting away in Spanish. Ah, the glorious melting pot.

The weather in SoCal was iffy, with rain pouring down on the 24th and intermittently on other days too. I don't think the temperature has climbed above 20C (68F) once. This is southern California and I want my money back! I am going to take this up with the management, you can be sure of that. In good old American fashion, I might even sue someone!


Finally, mah SD crew's two cats. First off we have Bosch. He's a clingy, cuddly, little fella who'll turn to putty in your hands if you just give him a scratch behind the ears.


And here's the boss of the house, Maine coon Coco. A cat if ever there was one; haughty, aloof, arrogant... and absolutely beautiful. I think she knows it, too.