All Good Things...

Sunday marked my final day in San Diego. And I slept in. Duh. For brunch that morning Jay and Jan took me to the Emerald Restaurant for Dim sum, something I do not think I had experienced. Basically a brunch of Chinese food. Jay and Jan, with all their guests recently and general tendencies, have made the weekend journey for quite a little streak! It was a good culinary experience for me, especially the little ladies pushing the carts around. The turnip cake took the most to get used to, but I liked most of the things we tried. They remarked the carts were few and far between, and a lot of the dishes were cold. I did notice.

We were quite lazy today, watching a lot of Olympics and hanging out. I was treated to a visit of one of San Diego's Costco stores. We first started with some cheap Costco fare out front - I don't think I've ever bought the prepared food out front - ever. And I do have a "long" Costco history. I mean come on, I grew up in Kirkland, Costco's original home, and no doubt genesis of the "Kirkland Signature" brand. It looked a lot like the Costco here in Charlotte. Big surprise. The big treat before heading out to the airport was a stop in at In-N-Out Burger. One must experience this, even if the food is "simple." It's a classic burger joint founded in 1948 and found only in the southwest. Locations are found throughout the southwest, and it has a lot of cult popularity. Burgers are cooked to order, you can see them preparing raw potatoes, and the milk shakes (deemed "Weapons of Mass Destruction" by a nutrition book Jay was reading) are the real deal, not the cellulose variety found at McDonald's. I got the Double-Double, fries, and a strawberry WMD. Unfortunately I had to wait longer than usual as some kid stole my meal before I could get to it, but props to the staff for rectifying the problem. The shake was unbelievably concentrated, I could feel the 690 calories in such a small cup oozing through my body! If you want, you can add up the damage yourself! The main problem was that there wasn't too much time to enjoy - we had to hurry up to the airport. And even worse, Point Loma was closed so I would not be able to get a shrimp sandwich to go!

We did arrive at the airport later than I would normally be comfortable with, but Jay was spot on in stating the facility is not a particularly busy one, especially at this time of the day. There was a moderately long line at the US Airways counter, but it consisted of folks on a canceled Pittsburg flight. I got whisked up past them and made the quick checkin. Apparently I wasn't going to be charged $15 each way for my piece of baggage - most likely because I purchased my tickets far before the announcement, although the date of the flight was after the one the airline set. Security was quick and I was at my gate with 45 minutes to spare. It was a full flight and they were offering tickets to those wanting to leave tomorrow at noon. I would have been in a position to benefit, but I was anxious to get home! Once on the plane there was a "chatty Kathy" in my row but super props to the guy in the center (reading Into Thin Air) who shouldered the initial barrage. The flight left around 10:30 so this was the red-eye special. I think I fell asleep for 30-40 minutes, but I'm not totally sure. I just could not stand the seat constraints, mostly with my long legs.

The flight did land in Charlotte early, about 5:48AM Eastern time. I quickly retrieved my bag and took a taxi home. It was very odd to come home to an empty house. I had about an hour to quickly unpack certain things and get ready for the day. This idea turned out to be a horrible one, as I struggled mightily to get through the day. The funny part was that I brought my running gear for a lunch run! I was a little bit loco to think that! Time for some serious recovery!