Notes from the Road (10) - California Dreamin'

One of many baseball pitches in the local park

While in the planning stage of our trip, Iain had contacted big Brian O'Neil who lives in California to ask for advice on a layover in Los Angeles with a toddler. Instead of Brian taking the call, his wife, Kimberly, answered and duly invited us to stay with them! You just couldn't knock back an offer like that! So, big Bizu picked us up at LAX and took us down to San Marcos (San Diego) to stay with his whanau for the Easter weekend. 

As we weren't in a hotel, or a real tourist hub, or the heart of a big city, this was a brilliant experience of seeing real Americans operate in their own habitat. And boy, the Californian's are quite a different species to our previous encounters in Chicago and NYC. A prime example is this overheard conversation in the park:

Kid "Your dog is cute. What's his name?"

Adult (in full walking gear and 90s-esque sun visor) "HoneyBear. You wanna stroke him?"

Brilliant. 

Kimberly has quite a lot of family living close by and one of her cousins was also in town from Vegas for the weekend. So, on the Saturday they invited us to the local park (for William) to participate in the Egg Hunt which was organised by the council. The park was enormous, and it was absolutely rammed full of kids high on refined sugar. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it, or will again. A real education in how commercialism drives the society and how it's all about organised fun. It was quite spellbinding. We relaxed over the most amazing food at a fully Gluten Free cafe called 2Good2Be. It was amazing to be able to order anything on the menu; massive sandwiches, pasta, meals with gravy or dressings, and incredible cakes, and not have to worry about ingredients or cross contamination. Being GF has certainly changed how I approach travelling, but that's probably a topic for another post. 

Collecting eggs

The end of the madness behind us

Why is this dog so small, Mum?!

Later that day I hung out with Kimberly and her cousins and sister, and we shopped, talked nonsense and drank wine, and I thought, these Californian Girls are awesome. They would not be out of place on a Blazing night out, and I never actually thought I'd say that about a group of American ladies. Thumbs up, girls! You rocked! 

In true USA holiday mode, we also spent a bit of time shopping at one of the typical outlet malls. However, we were already sailing very close to the wind with our baggage weight so we didn't go too nuts. William got a cool San Diego baseball cap though. A true holiday keepsake! 

Before we knew it, it was time to shoot off and back to the airport. Traffic in CA, particularly around LA, is absolutely mental so we were extremely thankful that Bizu did all the driving and we hadn't gotten a hire car after all! 

Thanks for having us guys, you were top hosts, and exactly what Master William needed to help break up our massive trip. 

LM.
PS - The madness of being on the road, and being coeliac. If you're going to someone's for dinner, you always need to take a picnic so we stopped at the supermarket on the way to Brian and Kimberly's house. I was amazed at the BFree options available. However, on the way back to the airport I needed to eat on the move. This is never easy. But, a packet of boiled eggs saved the day! Crazy Americans!