Home Again

Inspirational song: Sit Down, John (1776)

I made it all the way home. Amazingly, all of my plants and pottery seems to have made it intact as well. My suitcase came in under the wire at 49.5 pounds once I handed it off at the airport. I'm so relieved I didn't have to hand carry any of the pottery.

Unlike the flight out, I accepted the wheelchair rides once I checked the rollator with my suitcase. I was too sore to refuse. Similar to the way I got through Universal Studios, it made a huge difference in ease of access. I bypassed lines and boarded early. So much less stress. I missed tipping the guy wheeling me in Vegas when I changed planes, because I was just not alert, and forgot. I can't imagine the shape I would have been in had I done all the walking and carrying on my own.

I received an enthusiastic welcome upon arrival. Mr S-P asked if I was ready for dogs as soon as I was inside, and of course I said yes. Beinn raced into the bedroom, and he was so happy that I wasn't gone forever that he squealed for upwards of a minute. Saoirse followed soon after, and gave me lots of cuddles. The cats were happy to see me too, but I didn't get solid snuggling from them until I lay down to nap. My fur grandbabies in California were wonderful, but it was nice having all my familiars surrounding me again.

End of Week

Inspirational song: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (Warren Zevon)

Vacationing can be hard work. I had a full seven days of non-stop entertainment with my daughter, which was outrageously fun, but I'm a bit tired now. I fly home in the morning, and I have blocked out the afternoon to lie completely still in my own bed, hopefully with the foot of the bed elevated (if I can find the right remote). We did a ton of driving, which always makes my ankles swell, plus my daughter lives in a third floor walk-up. I'm a mess from the rib cage down.

We did almost everything we set out to do. The only things we missed were touring the rose garden at the Natural History museum and doing water colors here at the apartment. I never found the exact plants I wanted, but somehow it seems fitting. I'm on a quest, and flying out here and getting all of them in one spot would seem anticlimactic. This way the quest continues, and I have things to look forward to over the growing season.

My suitcase is packed, and weighs about 47 pounds. I put some things in a small tote as a carry-on, which should keep me from paying an overweight fee. At least that is my hope. My clothes are hanging on the door, so all I have to do is roll out of bed, dress, and go to the airport. I just hope I can wake up enough after the first leg to change planes in Vegas.

Before the Rain

Inspirational song: Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

We had one last chance to get out and about before the weather turned. For all that my daughter has lived here for years, she really hasn't made all that many trips to the beach. She was determined to get us there this trip. There was something about making my feet touch salt water, and honestly, if it could help take down the massive swelling of my feet and ankles, I was gonna stand there for a good long while. If there was some relief, it didn't last long. My lower limbs are still swollen to maybe twice their normal size.

We had one last plant shop to try, one I'd seen featured in two separate plant videos on YouTube in the last year. This one was in Hollywood, and I really thought I'd find my big three there. I did not find a single one. As I wandered around, getting more and more depressed, my daughter asked me if I was going to at least buy something, just to prove I was there. Yes, I did. I bought a beautiful tiny porcelain planter with dainty purple flowers on it, and a small hoya kroniana silver. It wasn't one of the plants I was seeking, but it was a pretty one at a decent price. I have hope that it will be a good one.

While we were at the plant shop, talking about how stupid parking was, a lovely woman a few years older than me joined our conversation briefly. She was very nice and funny and as she walked away, I figured out that it was comedic roles I'd seen her in. In the back of my mind, I was pretty sure her first name was Amy. I pulled up IMDB, and just searched on actresses named Amy until I found her picture. She was the woman who played Marian in Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and she was married to John Ritter before he died. I like finding out when people I've heard of are kind. It probably helped that we didn't react to her as if we were celebrity-chasing.

From there, we gave up on plant shops. We found a cool little occult shop called The Green Man, and since I have a long-running fondness for that particular archetype, we had to go there. We loaded up on incense and shiny rocks and the sorts of things two little goblins like us go for. We went to one more rock shop after that, and a couple more pretties followed me out of there. No manjula pothos came my way this trip, but I have several new palm and worry stones.

And now we are under a flash flood watch, and thunderstorms are rolling through. No more sightseeing.

In With the New

Inspirational song: Rasputin (Boney M)

Oh, for sure yesterday caught up with me today. We pushed hard to cover miles of walking at Universal, so today was supposed to be a super easy day. Naturally we got out and ran around, grocery shopping, enjoying ocean views, and creeping past multi-million dollar homes we loved but will never own. By late afternoon, I limped up to the apartment, barely coherent, and took a long nap until it was time for my daughter to go to band rehearsal.

Meanwhile, back in Colorado, Beinn got his first trip to new-daddy's cabin. Murray stayed home, because even when there isn't more than a foot of snow, he has started struggling to climb the hills. It may be time for him to retire as a mountain dog, and for young Beinn to take over. The pictures we saw proved that he is ready for such a life. Yet another reason I am glad he joined the family.

Tomorrow is the last real plant shopping day. Surely the store in Hollywood we are planning will have one of the big three I'm seeking? If not those, maybe one of the pretty colors of aeonium I want. Just please don't let this plant mission be a total bust.

Alohamora

Inspirational song: Hedwig's Theme (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

We have stumbled upon a new cheat code. At least it felt like cheating, because it was so helpful. I have been wanting to go to a Harry Potter park for more than a decade (since before we knew what an awful person the author is), and today my daughter, the only other member of the family who likes the series still, took me to Hogsmead. To be more accurate, she took me to Universal Studios theme park, and we bookended our long day at the Harry Potter section. 

Both daughters have conspired to get me to use mobility aids, and this week has proved them right to do so. One daughter bought me a rollator-walker from Facebook Marketplace, and both threatened me with banishment if I didn't take it to LA this week. It helped some at the museum Sunday, but was also a pain to deal with. Today at Universal, however, it was a magic token. On several rides, they waived us over to the express pass lines, or sent us along ramps and up elevators to spaces where we could board the rides and leave the walker. On both the Harry Potter and The Mummy rides, we were in and out in 10-15 minutes. I still had to wait in line at the Transformers ride, but having a place to sit when I needed it made the wait go much faster. It wouldn't have knocked a thing off Jurassic Park water ride wait, and we bailed on that one immediately after seeing a 1.5-2 hour wait.

I have now tried butterbeer, and we picked out our interactive wands (which do tricks at HP parks all around the world). I was tempted by clothing several times, but other than a Marauders Map scarf, I abstained. For the children we picked out plushies of three Mario characters: Bowser, Boo, and Goomba. I'll probably hold off on giving them until Valerie's birthday, but no guarantees on that.

Tomorrow's plan is for a recovery day. We might go out to the gluten-free bakery for breakfast, but we won't be leaving Long Beach for anything.

The Drive

Inspirational song: The Distance (Cake)

We had an errand to run down in San Diego today. That one fifteen minute task turned into a full, long day of driving. By the time we were at a restaurant for dinner, my daughter said it felt like a major road trip. Honestly, it was. I'm sure we have put over 300 miles on her car and our bodies today. Neither one of us will have trouble falling asleep once we are back. 

We hoped to see California poppies in the mountains by Lake Elsinore, but they hadn't really started blooming yet. It's fine, really. I enjoyed the scenery I did see.

We went out of our way, literally, to eat at a chain restaurant I had a gift card to. The gluten free options were limited (to pretty much the most expensive item I could get), and we both had an adult beverage. Even with the gift card, it felt like an overly expensive evening, with a hefty dollop of kitsch on top. Sometimes revisiting one's youth isn't worth the effort.

Wholesale

Inspirational song: If I Had a Million Dollars (Barenaked Ladies)

Land underneath the electric power transmission lines appears to rent for cheaper than other available industrial real estate in this part of Los Angeles. As you drive along the power lines, you see wholesale plant nurseries one after another on those properties. I mean, if you have a business model that works, heck yeah, work that system. 

We started the day at a hip local plant store called Plantitas. They were nice, but they didn't have any of the specific plants I intended to buy on this trip. I'm in search of manjula pothos, hoya linearis, and the particular myrtilocactus known colloquially as a boobie cactus. I also want to pick up a variety of very small aeoniums in different colors. All I bought at Plantitas was a cute terracotta pot for 8 bucks. Then we went to Rosales nursery, under the power lines, and holy hand grenade, that was geranium heaven! I'm not in the market for one, but my daughter got the prettiest dark maroon geranium, and a gorgeous orange gerbera daisy. I found a cool sanseveria and a couple pretty succulents. Our grand total combined was 20 dollars. She wondered out loud whether she will ever go into another plant store after realizing that they just buy from these folks and then mark the prices up.

We did end up doing a little more plant shopping before we gave up, mostly because she told me that the dollar stores here have a good selection of succulents (surprisingly), and we kept trying Home Depots in search of that elusive manjula. At the last one, I found a pothos that might be it. It was in a pot labeled epipremnum HI Gold, and that might mean it's a golden pothos of the large Hawaiian variety. However, the leaf shape was rounder, more like the classic spade shape on a deck of cards not spearhead like a golden pothos. The nursery pot didn't fit properly inside the wick and grow pot it was sitting in, and there was no wick hanging into the reservoir. We think it could have been a manjula, but are not 100% certain. I bought it anyway, and worst case scenario I grow it up a pole and it's just a Hawaiian golden pothos. 

There will be other opportunities to find the things I'm after. We haven't even hit the place in Hollywood that I have wanted to go to since last fall. I still have a chance of finding the big three.

Palm Sunday

Inspirational song: Hosanna (Jesus Christ Superstar)

Not sure this will be coherent. I was up at 0330 this morning, 0230 local. Since then I have ridden in the car, navigated an airport, flown, navigated another airport, rode, toured a famous museum, rode, ate, rode... There's a pattern here. I traveled far and wide today, and I'm brain and body tired.

Lots of storms have rolled through SoCal this year. Lots. There are palm fronds down all over sidewalks and streets everywhere. Sometimes I think I'm seeing bad things in the streets-- trash, wrecked car parts, roadkill. Every time it's just palms. 

We spent a great deal of the day touring religious iconography and historical home decor at the Getty museum. It was quite the mix. We had a really good time, but it was a lot of walking. Now we are just sitting at my daughter's apartment, waiting for the cats to come out of hiding. Ralphie remembers me, but Harvey's mother and brother want absolutely nothing to do with me.