Day 86

After five days off, I went for a forty five minute run today. And it was bloody hard. I have been a bit run down and really tired for the last week, so I figured a bit of a rest was in order. But my body has really shut down, trying to recover and today was a bit of a shock. Still, I should be feeling great again in a couple more days (I hope). At least that is what I am telling myself.

We had to check out of Harborview - especially since we were being harassed again by the staff. This despite the fact that I went down to the desk and asked the woman if we could have a few extra minutes.

We packed up and went to Richard's Pancake House or Dick's as we called it. Full of gay boys. NBC had claimed that it was the best breakie and town and I might have to agree. I had Eggs Benedict which were fab and the coffee was really good as well. And this time there wasn't really anybody staring at us. I think.

The next stop was Sunshine Center Laundry to wash our clothes.

Once we cleaned up our threads a bit, we got on to 5 again and (eventually) made our way to Encinitas. The 5, 605 and 105 were all like car parks and we only averaged about 25 miles an hour the entire time. After driving all over the country, I have to say that LA (and the surrounding area) is the absolute worst place to drive. Full stop. A total nightmare.

In order to take the edge off a bit we stopped at Lou's Record Shop in Encinitas.





Not a bad place. I found a few little gems, while Paulo bought a T-shirt for Lou. He wasn't going to but I convinced him not to leave it behind. When would he ever be in Lou's or Encinitas ever again?..

We drove a short distance down the street to Moonlight Grille for a sambo and to catch the end of the Friars - Mets game (by chance). The Friars were winning when we left and all of the locals were swilling some Spanish beer I never heard of that only cost one dollar a can. But I reckon what you save in the bar bill you make up for (and then some) with the doctor bill afterwards.

Later on we rolled into Long Beach and checked in to the Inn Of Long Harbor. Another kip. We just chilled out in the room for a while before going to bed. The end is near and I think we are both totally knackered. And I for one am not very impressed with LA.

Day 85

I skipped another run today as I am still trying to recover. Instead I went to a cafe called It's A Grind in Lickl Itly for a coffee and piece of cake. I ended up staying for ages surfing and downloading some music (legally).

Once my belly was full of coffee, I went back to the hotel to discuss plans with the chief and then I shot off to Ocean Beach. Paulo went into town to do some shopping. He was a bit concerned because he had to buy gifts for all of his fam and so far had - nothing!

I laid in the sun for about an hour then had a gander around Ocean Beach. Newport Pizza looked good so I stopped in for lunch where the pizza slices are all named after famous people. There is the Chuck Norris (cheese), MC Hammer (pepperoni), Donald Trump (everything), Hulk (greek) and of course the Ron Jeremy (meat lovers). It seemed like a really cool spot - there was a fair bit of stuff on draft as well and like the sign read "No crap on tap".

I drove back to the hotel for a Papi and then hooked up with Paulo. He had managed to go power shopping and found presents for his entire family in only a few hours. Fair play.

Although the afternoon was getting on, we decided to go to Tijuana on the trolley. Mostly just to say that we were there.





The trolley to Tijuana arrived around 6pm and took about forty five minutes to get to the border. We walked straight through and we were both equally unimpressed. A total dive. We walked past some stalls, crossed a bridge and were quickly in the center of town. We walked down Avenida Revolucion and were approached / accosted by loads of punters. Some wanted us to look in their shop and spend some money while others were trying to lure us in to avail of cheap women. Since this is a bit of a family blog, I won't repeat what they were saying to try and entice us in but needless to say it didn't work. The sun was dropping in the sky and we were both feeling a bit edgy about things. Then a truck passed us with police men carrying semi automatic machine guns. That was it. We decided that we should chuck the proverbial (u-turn) and head back to the US. Wrap it up and exit stage left.

The other side of the street wasn't any better and we were actually approached more but had a bit less hassle making our way back to the bridge. Once there, I managed a few snaps.











As we were coming back down off the bridge, two police men stopped us and wanted to see our IDs. It seemed like a fairly reasonable request but I couldn't help feeling a bit anxious. I had to show the entire contents of my camera bag while Paulo had to empty all of his pockets. But, in fairness, they seemed to be more curious than anything else. I spoke in my best Spanish and had a conversation with one of them. I told him about our road trip and that we were staying in San Diego. He wanted to know what I did for a living and how I learned Spanish. I explained things to him as best I could. Then he asked me about Ireland because he realised that we both live there. I told him that it was beautiful and very green but that it rained a lot. He laughed. By now the other cop had finished searching Paulo's things and was shouting rather loudly Irlanda! Irlanda! He also kept saying U2, Bono! U2, Bono! Having made a couple of new friends, we were allowed to go on our way - thankfully. I'm sure that things could just as easily have gone pear-shaped.

We walked over another bridge, back into the US and we were hit - a serious queue going through immigration.



But it moved quickly enough and they let us both back in without too much hassle.

We went back to San Diego and called into the local English Pub in Lickl Itly called Princess. They had some great beers on tap but they were very prizy. And the staff was terrible. Still, we managed to knock back a few pints. They rang the bell for last call at 11:00 and by 11:15 they were giving us grief for not having our pints finished. Of course we decided to start drinking more slowly. They were really obnoxious as well saying things like, "guys, you have to be done - now!" We continued to ignore them and the waitress as well who was yelling from across the bar that we had to pay our bill. The money was on the table but since she was too lazy to come and get it we didn't move. Fuck them. We were very unimpressed.

Then, it was the usual - back to the room and crash time.

Day 84

Today I slept it out. I think 83 days on the road is finally starting to catch up with me and kick me in the arse. I'm wrecked. I eventually got up and went for a sniff around Little Italy. It was a bit disappointing really. The closest that I got to a coffee (other than Starbucks) was this wall.



So, I had to settle for Starbucks where I had a coffee and a scone.

I met Paulo later on and we walked down to the trolley station. We took the blue line, changed to the orange and went east to the Gaslamp Quarter.





We went for a bite in a strange place called PJ's. There were no jacks and the staff was very unfriendly. Our sambos took ages so we did get a free drink for our troubles. Paulo had a soda but I went for an espresso. I asked for a double but got closer to a triple. Giddy up!

Walking around the corner, we went to Petco Park. The Friars weren't in town but we had a look around the stadium.









The official store at the stadium was quite disappointing. Not much in the way of caps but the ones they did have were thirty eight dollars and up!

We got back on the trolley and took the orange line all the way around to the other side of the city, traveling north. There was nothing to see. Nowt. Nada. Zilch. Zero.

We changed on to the green line and traveled east back to the old town. Still nothing. We did an entire loop and didn't see anything interesting all afternoon.

Feeling a bit under stimulated, we went back to the room for some wifi time and watched the Friars lose to the Mets - bitter!

Then we walked into town to the Gaslamp district and went to Xaviers for a bite. We both had burgers - they were seriously tasty and we washed them down with three dollar bottles of Dos Equis. Ya canty go wrong! We hung out and watched the Angels hammer the Yankees and even got a free beer at the end of the night for being in the right place at the right time. It was pretty much a perfect night!

We strolled back to the hotel and I went straight to bed. At this stage I need all the sleep that I can get.

Day 83

I wanted to wake up and go for a run this morning but I was wrecked and didn't sleep well. And it was already about 100 degrees by the time I got out of bed. So instead we got on to the laptops and sorted accommodation in San Diego before checking out.

We went next door to a restaurant called Carrow's for breakie and then drove to San Diego.

We decided not to chance our arm with a possible three star hotel and went for the sure thing - a one star near the harbor. Well, we quickly realised the difference between one and three stars. Our first room smelled of shite. And there was food in the refrigerator. And the ceiling. Yes, you read that correctly. There was food on the ceiling. Fortunately, we were able to switch rooms and we were given one that was a bit more acceptable.

We unpacked and then went our separate ways. I went to watch the sunset at Loomas Point and Paulo walked into town for a bite to eat.













The sunset was fabulous and the sky was unbelievably clear. The only thing missing was a cocktail and some quality tunes.

I drove back to the hotel and then walked into to meet Paulo. He came across a place on 5th street called Whiskey Girl. It was bananas, especially for a Monday night. A crap DJ playing predictable tunes and everyone going mental for them. The usual. We had a bite and a couple of beers and then walked home opting to save our energy for later in the week.

Back at the hotel we wasted no time getting off to Z land.