San Marcos :)

Hello from Sunny Southern California. What a great time to be here! I can't say I'm missing whatever weather that has been going on up in Montucket. Sorry guys. :)

So, let's see. I was in Yuma yesterday morning. Woke up early and headed down the road. The most exciting thing about the three hour drive was the border stops, since we are so close to Mexico, AND the spanish radio stations. It was awesome. I really need to learn Spanish. I wanted to know what they were saying. Dang. Andrea kept texting me and asking me where I was, like I know??? I passed through a town named Plaster City. That was weird. What a weird name. I don't get these names. Blows my mind a little. Can't we be a little bit more creative?

Arrived at Miss Andreas place sometime after one, where she drilled me for over an hour about prison life. I'm sure there are more of you out there obsessed with the show "Locked Up." I've only seen it once, but apparently Andrea has been watching it for YEARS. Who knew? Not me. Not something she ever told me, until she started reading my blog and realized that we now have SO MUCH IN COMMON and my knowledge of the prison system may be more than anything she will get from a TV show. I know an insider. It's pretty funny. Don't judge my friend for being curious.

Let's see let's see. Kind of a laid back day, which was SOOOOOO nice after three days in prison. Eric wasn't there, that was sad, but it's nice to just hang out with an old friend. Andrea and I met in college. We had some wild and crazy times and have managed to keep in touch. She's been down here in California for five years now, and this is only the second time I've come down to see her & Brandon, her hubby. I will be back. It's beautiful down here. And I guess the ocean is pretty cool too.... She took me to a garden down by the beach. What was it called? It was a monks garden, a place where people go to meditate. We were probably too loud to be there, but it was really pretty, overlooking the ocean, with all these flowers and Koi ponds. Self Discovery Gardens? That sounds right. Are you trying to tell me something Andrea? LOL We basically just spent the afternoon catching up. Laughing. It's always good to laugh.

For dinner, Andrea and Brandon took me down to Old Town, San Diego. I have never been! It was so exciting, and there were so many Mexican restaurants. I couldn't believe it. So tasty. I can't wait to go back! After we ate we walked through some of the shops with, as Andrea called it, "trinkets". One of my favorite things to hord. Trinkets. LOL Something I've been working on. All I bought myself was this little ceramic turtle. I have a habit of buying cute turtles every once in awhile. Cute. Not Tacky! I swear. Hopefully he will make it home without me accidentally breaking it.

That's about it for my first day/night in San Marcos. Low key, laid back. I did make fun of Andrea for saying she was cold. Um...... It's not freaking cold. The restaurant we ate at had heaters outside. Really? Is that completely necessary. Bunch of sissies. Ha!

I actually slept peacefully for once. I was told that it was the bed. Okay. I'll believe that. I woke up with the house to myself and a run on my mind, which is exactly what I did. The best part about where Andrea lives, is the convenience of running. It's at sea level, so nice. I love it here. She had pointed out a trail system, so I walked out her front door and headed in that direction. It was only about a mile and a half away, so it fit perfectly in my ten mile run plan for the day. This is where I ran into a sign that said (and I sent this in a text to a few of you...)

"Warning, Mountain Lions have recently been sighted in this area. Do not walk or ride alone. Keep small children close to you. If sighted, do not run away, back up slowly and give them their space."

Nice. Ha! Great. Just perfect. I laughed at it for a minute. Took a picture, sent it to some friends. Laughed some more and as I began to run again I started to get paranoid and nervous. Great. I turned around and crossed the street to the other side of the trail. There was no sign there, so I just assumed the mountain lion knew it was supposed to stay on that side of the street. I felt safer there. lol. Stupid. I guess what really got to me was that they even had a sign posted. I'm thinking, "Yeah, there are mountain lions where I run in MT, but we know that," Thanks California, for posting a sign and making me doubt my toughness. The wildlife where I come from are afraid of me, okay???

Ha.

I just got a text from Andrea. She's going to be gone for another hour or so.... hmmmmm. Whatever shall I do with myself. I'll write more later. I think I'm going shopping :)

K