When we arrived the weather was of course fantastic (I could get used to this). All pumped to enter the
Then it was rent-a-car time baby ! The bus driver was super friendly to the point that he was making random stops along the way to check with people who looked like they were lost if they were still ok (I exaggerate not people). When we arrived at the Avis lot, the guy behind the counter just couldn't have it that I'd have to wait 10-15 mins for the more boring (part of the rental agreement) car to be brought round, so he insisted he upgrade us for free to a Mustang. I mean who am I to argue with the guy???
So we lashed on the 'Where 2'; tapped in ye olde Hotel address and headed on our merry way. The drive down wasn't too bad but took longer than the last time I was over - most likely because there were 3 accidents on the way meaning that traffic really grinds to a halt. About 45 mins from our destination we decided to pull over for a little break (mother nature calls !) and a little snooze - 25 hours into one's little adventure the old eyes weren't quite functioning the way they should anymore. Shortly after the multiple interuptions while sleeping and the proceeding caffeine hit we again headed on our merry little way to the hotel where a most magnificant bed greeted us with open arms. Twelve glorious hours later it was house hunting time !
Melanie (our realtor) met us at 11am the next morning (Sunday - cos she just likes to work that hard !). She already had a list of available properties so we proceeded to visit them one by one. The second property looked like it had some hope, but it was more the "if everything goes horribly wrong then at least there's one" backup plan. All the others were pretty scary from "oh look we're in the dead guy's house where they're selling all his stuff - and I mean - ALL his stuff right down to his undies for $2" to "Aaaah aren't those rather cute vicious pitbulls about to chew on my leg .... oh no wait - there's Debbie the only living Zombie coming to visit our potential new neighbours". NOTE: Debbie was rather grey in the face; wearing grey clothes no shoes and walking (unaccompanied) rather strangely with drool dripping strategically from her mouth. We discovered shortly afterwards that poor Debbie had a stroke, but at the time this wasn't the first thought that crossed my mind (picture the night of the living dead in full technicolor).
Despite the housing disappointment, we had a great time with Melanie. She's really good fun (bordering on crazy). She drives this amazing Mustang customised to the limit which just so fits her personality. She's great ! It was obvious that she just pours her soul into everything (including her work) so we were confident we'd be looked after. True to form the next day proved successful in one visit ... though again Melanie had to pull some strings / ropes rather quick in order to make it happen for us. Even then she insisted that we take a look at another house which she thought would suit us down to the ground the next day ... which we 'obligingly' did. As it turned out we were happiest with the original house.
Most realtor's would be happy enough with having found you a house, but oh no - Melanie then insited on bringing us round to visit Johan, Freke and family and then the next day to CostCo's for an orientation trip. On top of it being really great fun we got some really good tips as well.
To finish the day off, we headed as far as La Jolla. It was late-ish in the evening so it was a bit chilly, but still lovely to see (again !).
Signing off - Alma lashed a so-called 'medium' sized milkshake out of it. Medium = 4 extra large scoops of ice cream over here for those not in the know.
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