Day 79

"Hey, everybody, let's have some fun
You only live but once
And when you're dead you're done, so

Let the good times roll, let the good times roll
I don't care if you're young or old
Get together, let the good times roll"

---BB King, "Let The Good Times Roll"

Dad and I have had a very fun filled weekend!  I am sad to see it end and to see him go home in the morning.  Yesterday, we spent most of the day at Balboa Park in San Diego with my cousin Steven.  We started off my visiting the zoo.  I have to agree with everyone who has told me that it is the best zoo in the world...I LOVED it!  They have such a variety of animals and the setting is so different than most zoos.  I love that the zoo is built into the hills of San Diego...it really creates a workout when walking around.  After seeing just about everything there is to see at the zoo, we decided to walk around Balboa Park.  Steven showed us the rose garden and the cactus garden.  We also saw all of the cool architecture and buildings that house museums in the area.  After all of that, we went on an adventure to somewhere to eat.  Steven suggested that we check out Coronado.  We found a great seafood restaurant that looked across the water on downtown San Diego.  We had an awesome meal.  I had Lobster Ravioli; Dad had crab stuffed prawns, and Steven had scallops!  It was great to sit around and let Dad and Steven catch up and listen to old family stories.

When we got home last night, Dad met my roomie.  Spindle happened to be outside in his web.  We have decided that he is my attack spider and that he now protects me in my apartment.  I am perfectly happy having him around as long as he is not IN my apartment :-)  I even remembered to get a picture...HE DOES EXIST!  The picture doesn't really show how HUGE he is but I promise...he's a big boy...and apparently my phone and my computer are not cooperating right now so I will have to post the picture of Spindle later.

Today, Dad and I drove up to Claremont, California to visit his friend Gayle Kelley who was visiting some friends.  We went to Gayle's friend's house and were treated to a wonderful pancake meal with their family.  It was great for Dad and Gayle to catch up and I enjoyed hearing more stories from where my dad was younger.  Also, Gayle has worked a lot in the music industry and had some great stories.  Her and her partner, Jimmy Lockett sang at my parent's wedding and had a great act for many years.  It was great talking to someone who seems to have fulfilled all of her dreams in life.  She has had many different careers and seems to be perfectly content with her life so far.  This evening, Dad and I took in some NY pizza at Brooklyn Brothers Pizza...(highly recommended by my landlord) It certainly did live up to expectations! It is run by two brothers from Brooklyn (imagine that!) and they do pizza by the slice as well as many other things.  Dad and I tried 3 slices of pizza, pepperoni, everything, and lasagna.  I didn't try the everything but the first two were great!  We even each brought home a to-go slice to eat a little later since we had gone to eat early.  Great pizza, great company, great weekend! Here are some pictures from the last two days...

It was a fantastic weekend.  I am sad to see Dad go but I know I will be home to see my entire family in less than a month :-)