I started my trip to San Diego to see Sarah, Tom and Liam. It will be a fun trip.

The travel out to San Diego was not ideal but as my father always said, if you have time to spare, go by air. My original flight through Detroit was cancelled so the new flight was going through Atlanta. The flight did leave later than the original flights so I thought that would be good as I would not get to San Diego quite as early and before Liam and Sarah arrived. It ended up that I landed in San Diego at exactly the same time Sarah did which meant that I was two hours late arriving on the new flights.

I should have known that it would be problematic as Atlanta airport (Hartsfield International) can be a mess with summer weather – thunderstorms. The flight from Washington to Atlanta was very bumpy and affected by storms – there was a lot of turbulence. It was late taking off from Washington as it was late arriving from Atlanta. I thought that I might have a tight connection because of this in Atlanta. Ended up not being a problem as the flight to San Diego was delayed. Once we boarded, we headed out to the runway to take off and then there was a ground stop because of weather. There were severe thunderstorms so we sat on the runway for 40 minutes or maybe a little more. Once we took off there was more turbulence but in all that flight went smoothly. So in the end I was about 1:30 minutes late.

It worked out well in the end as I could meet Sarah immediately at the airport and we Ubered up to Pacific Beach and the cottage we are staying in there. Liam had a hearing (he works for the California Attorney General) in Los Angeles so he took the train down from LA. We all managed to arrive around the same time which was good. I did miss out on sitting along the waterfront in San Diego and enjoying a beverage while I waited for the others to arrive but other than being annoying, it was not a bad trip.

We wandered down to Cass Street Bar & Grill for dinner of tacos and beer (very California – especially San Diego). The tacos were delicious and it was fun to be able to sit out as the weather was great! – Cool and dry.

After dinner, we walked down to the promenade along the ocean. There is definitely something about being by the ocean that makes me happy. I love the smell of the ocean and the sounds of the waves breaking on the beach. We found another bar to have a beer and catch up. Liam, Sarah, Tom and I have not spent a lot of time with each other in quite a while.

Tom, Liam and I travelled to the Baltic States a couple of summers ago. It was a fun trip. Tom and I came out a number of years ago and spent a long weekend in Berkeley and time at Sarah’s family ranch in San Juan Bautista. Then when Liam and Sarah got married I read during the service. After the wedding Tom and I went up to Napa Valley and enjoyed some wine. It is fun to be able to spend time with them again.