From the Desert to the Beach

The most important thing about my drive from my in-laws' house in the desert to my dad/stepmom's house at the beach was that I stopped at Del Taco again. And I'm planning a third trip before I leave. Most people insist upon eating at In-N-Out when they visit the West Coast. I prefer Del Taco.

[Ducking]

Also, I blew through a toll during the drive. I went through the FastTrak lane and I didn't have the transponder. I assume they took a picture of my license plate, and that the rental car company will be calling me about it.

In case you were wondering what my rental car looks like:

It's a Chevy Aveo.  You might think it's a really fun car to drive, but it doesn't have much pick-up.  It was struggling to go up some of the hills in the high desert.  I, meanwhile, was struggling to go down some of the hills in the high desert.  It turns out that living in a flat prairie state for the past 7 years has given me a pretty low comfort level with driving downhill.  Downhill, curvy, and fast is an especially scary combination for me. 

But I made it to my parents' house at the beach safely:

Yay!

Although my parents live a hell of a lot closer to the beach than I do, they don't live right on the beach.  They do have a nice ocean view from their backyard, although you can't see the ocean too well in this photo with Bangy-Nose Pooh:

Whew!  It's bright and sunny at the beach!  Bangy-Nose Pooh needs to put on his sunglasses:

Bangy-Nose Pooh also enjoyed the statues of himself and his friend Piglet in my parents' backyard:

As for me, I'm going to be treated to a delicious Italian dinner tonight.  It will feature goat cheese pizza and caramel pudding, but not together.  (Almost as good as Del Taco!)  Tomorrow, after another gourmet lunch, my parents are sending me for a massage and facial.  All perfect to de-stress before the stress-fest that is BlogHer San Diego.  (Note sarcasm.  But, you know, not really.)