Today is Wednesday, and we’re back home. As I begin this post, its 430am (I slept in) and I’m in my basement office. A stark contrast to the balcony.
Tuesday morning started out cloudy, me on the balcony writing up Monday’s post. Quiet and loud all at the same time. C surprised me being up earlier than she has been (or did I sleep in later), so we headed down to breakfast. After breakfast, we got cleaned up and ready for the day. Not wanting to waste any time, we packed everything up, and were ready to rock n roll.
Before we left the room, we spent a little bit of time together out on the balcony, just enjoying our time there. Not wanting to be left out, ba-ba decided to join us finally.
C and ba-ba took in the walk as I snuck a pic.
We asked ba-ba to take a picture of us on the balcony.
Ba-ba wanted one last look before we packed him up.
We then grabbed our stuff, and headed out the door. Our mission was… well… the Missions. So after dropping our baggage off at the front desk, we had them call a cab for us. It’s a few miles to Mission Conception. There is public transportation, but I opted for the cabbie as it would be quicker. apparently, there’s a “kickback” system between the cabbies and the hotels. When he arrived, he threw them a kickback (looked like about $2). When we got outside, I made sure he was aware that we were headed to Mission Conception. He was clearly disappointed, as he thought we were going to the Airport. I felt bad for him. That was until we paid our fare. When we walked into the visitor center, I realized that he had taken us to Mission San Jose, which is about 2 miles south of Conception. Oh well. After living in the Chicago are for so long, and feeling so comfortable with cabs, this is the first time I’ve been “taken for a ride” by one. Live and learn.
There are no words that properly describe Mission San Jose. It is just incredible. You feel so small, so insignificant, standing there. Looking at the buildings, knowing they have stood for 300 years. It surprised us both, walking into the cathedral itself, to see they looked much like any other church. I heard the missions were active parishes. I just didn’t think they were that active!
From here, we took the bus up to Mission Conception. The bus doesn’t actually stop there. It stops by Dairy Queen, about 4 blocks away through a residential area. It was a nice break, taking that walk, seeing how people live there. Arriving at the Mission, it was once again breathtaking. Same feeling of being small and insignificant.
After leaving Mission Conception, we found a different bus stop to take back to the city. I chatted with a local fella who was standoffish at first, until he realized we were tourists. After that, he was helpful as can be. Told us which bus to take. Even let the driver know where he thought we were headed (the Alamo). When we hopped off a stop early, C thought the driver might have said that we had one more stop. But there was so much commotion there, we weren’t sure. So to the bus driver and the other guy: Thank you for your help! We planned to get off on that stop to walk the riverwalk one last time.
After 5 days, you tend to learn the RiverWalk when you’re staying on it. Over those 5 days, we had walked every foot of the walk except for the stretch from La Villita down to St. Mary’s. So we made that walk. We took our time, taking in the sights. The whole concept is just fantastic. The layout. The landscaping. The entire use of space. The waterfalls and fountains under almost every bridge (to oxygenate the water for animal and plant life). The giant trees. The businesses. All of it is just amazing. I will write up a riverwalk post to highlight the sights. Relaxing and peaceful, it was a great way to spend the remainder of our trip.
We stopped at the hot dog joint on the bridge at St. Mary’s, in the shadow of the Drury Plaza, for lunch. Took the dogs down to the bench outside of our hotel, the Drury Inn and Suites, and just enjoyed the moment. We said goodbye to the riverwalk, then headed back inside to get going.
The cabbie was called. Kickback given. Stuff loaded up. As we’re riding in, I feel warmth on my neck. On Friday, it was 90+ and sunny, at Sea World. I knew we’d be exposed to the sun quite heavily, so we greased up accordingly. On Tuesday, it was in the upper 80s, but overcast most of the morning. Didn’t think to take the same precautions. The phrase was uttered “Honey, does my neck look red?”. The windows were tinted, so it was hard to tell. When we were awaiting check-in at the airport, redness was confirmed. I checked myself out in the mirror (cause I look that damn good), and sure enough, there it was: the beginning of a semi-neon glow of a mild sunburn. Welp, at least I got some color.
We get all checked in, scoot through security, eat at Blimpies, and hop on the full plane. The flight was as to be expected. But this time, I wasn’t “that guy”. We made sure to grab all essentials prior to boarding. Had them in hand when we sat down in Row 10, seats C and D. As our flight out was Row 9, seats C and D, I would think we’re starting on Chapter 10 of our life. We watched License to Wed. It was cute, but nothing great. Robin Williams is declining in his roles, it seems. Hit some storms over Kansas again (I didn’t see Dorothy this time). But we made it through, and landed at MSP on time.
Baggage Claim 4 was our destination. We came down the escalator at Claim 14, so we had a bit of a walk. But it didn’t matter how quickly we made it, we still had an hour wait. Turns out, they were waiting for luggage from 3 flights before they put it on the carousel. How efficient of them. Thanks NWA. Finally got our luggage, and walked outside to the 50s with drizzle. R came to pick us up at door 6 (all the way at the end). Loaded up, gave out the hugs to R and J, took off. Shared our trip memories. Listened to J’s trip to Florida. Apparantly, she had the same rental car we did, just a different color. Picked up a delicious and nutritious dinner at the famed Golden Arch Restaurant and scooted on home.
When we got home, we were both worried how Barnum the attack cat would behave. When we went out west, he was pissed at us. Nothing worse than having that giant tiger angry with us. When we made the walk up the back path, there he was, hanging out in the window. He was happy to see us. Hopefully, he’ll feel the same tonight when we return late. I’m sure we’ve messed with his schedule a bit.
Miss Bailey was retrieved from puppy daycare (aka: C’s grandparents) and returned to us by the lovely and talented R (in case you don’t know: R = Mom-In-Law). Once she realized we were home, she was excited to see us. She made her laps around the yard, then the kitchen, then the house. After she finally settled down, we all decided it was time for bed.
And so this adventure draws to an end as the next adventure begins. It was a great trip, and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. I spent 5 days doing the thing I love doing the most: enjoying the time with my lovely wife.
The rest, my friends, was just a bonus.