San Diego, Day 1: We're Here!

June 29, 2008

The morning was still dark and cool as we arrived at Oklahoma City’s Will Rogers World Airport. We parked our car, checked our baggage, boarded the plane, and off we flew to San Diego.

In two hours we were in Salt Lake City; after a brief layover and another hour-and-a-half flight, we arrived at San Diego International Airport. As we descended into the sunny, breezy, southern California city I was awed by its expanse.

(Nathan playing his PSP in SLC)


“There’s the Naval Base,” Joe pointed out through the airplane window. “There’s the Coronado Bridge, and there’s Sea World. Over there is ‘Nasty’ City, where I used to live, and back that way is Imperial Beach, where the kids live now. Just beyond that is Tijuana. I can’t wait to show you my old hangouts, and we’ve GOT to spend a day in Julian!”

It must have been Dollar Rent-A-Car’s busiest day of the year; we stood in line behind other would-be renters for 2 or 3 hours before we could pick up our car. But finally we drove a white Dodge Caliber out of the parking lot, north on the 5 and east on Interstate 8 to the Quality Inn in El Cajon. (waiting for our rental car at Dollar)

After checking into our room and unloading our luggage, off to an early dinner it was. Por Favor, a bright, airy Mexican Restaurant and Cantina at Magnolia and Main in downtown El Cajon served up delicious enchiladas and fajitas. It was a wonderful meal after an already long day.

Now we’re back at the hotel room, winding down and seeing what’s on TV. Joe just called his kids, at their Grandma’s house. “We’re staying here in El Cajon; just had dinner. Por Favor. It’s Mexican. We got in town about 3:00. We’ll be in Imperial Beach tomorrow. Yes, Renee and Nathan are with me. He’s 11, close to your age. No, she doesn’t have green skin or warts on her nose. She left her black pointed hat at home. Yes, our hotel has a pool. You can go swimming in it tomorrow. What time do you get up in the morning? That late?! Well, we’ll be there about 11:00; that should give you plenty of time to wake up, have breakfast, and get showered and dressed. Yes, we’ll go to Sea World, not tomorrow but maybe the next day. I want to take us all to Julian, and sure, we can have lunch at Yoshinoya sometime….”

And so ends our first day in San Diego. Tomorrow we will unofficially become a family.

(Por Favor in El Cajon)