California Here We Come

It's early on Saturday morning and relatively cool outside, although 100 degree temperatures are coming shortly.  I'm having a quick cup of coffee before I take Joe to Grassland for two games in the 11U Cal Ripken state tournament.  He's only going to get two games with his Braves' teammates, though, because tomorrow morning we leave for San Diego.  Three days in San Diego, followed by four days in Los Angeles.

California here we come.  

My native state.  I haven't been back home for many, many years.  I am excited, of course, but because I am above all else the travel curmudgeon, I am a bit apprehensive.  Everyone - and I mean everyone - is traveling the summer, so I firmly expect there to be trouble at the airport, trouble with the rental car, trouble with the homes I booked through VRBO.  I will be pleasantly surprised if everything goes smoothly. 

What I am particularly excited about is spending time in a place where the high temperatures are in the low to mid-70's, as opposed to the 100 degree heat and humidity that arrived in Nashville this week.  It's been miserable.  Seven days away from the heat will be nice.  

Assuming our flight is on time and we get our rental car tomorrow morning in San Diego without incident, we should arrive in time to walk over to a huge farmers' market near the house where we're staying.  We're also a longer walk away from the San Diego Zoo, which has Jude very excited.  I bet she talks Joe into going to the Zoo, while JP and I do something else.  Other than that, no set plans.  I would like to see Point Loma, La Jolla, and the beach.  

Visiting Los Angeles was the real point of our trip because I have tickets for us to see two games at Dodger Stadium.  We will see the Pirates, followed by the Angels.  Hopefully, Brian Reynolds (Pirates) and Shohei Otani/Mike Trout (Angels).  And, of course, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and crew.  I purchased tickets to a tour of Dodger Stadium, which should be great fun.

I booked a house in Santa Monica for the Los Angeles portion of our trip, so we should be relatively close to Dodger Stadium.  Traffic, I am sure, will be horrible, but I think we are less than 30 miles away as the crow flies.  My hope, too, is to see my Aunt Leslie, who lives in Yorba Linda, CA.  Maybe we will get to the San Gabriel Mountains, the Santa Monica Pier, and the beach, too.

A lot of ground to cover, so let's go.