Monday, March 2, 2009

There's No Place Like Home!



We decided earlier this weekend to head to San Diego for a mini vacation. Mr. Mustard has a few days off work before he starts an intense schedule on his next job, so we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get away.

We left early yesterday morning (Sunday), and headed down to Sea World. The day started off a bit rough when Paprika was very upset about being woken up early. Finally, we got her calmed down, and she was excited to go see the dolphins and whales.



After a few hours in the car, we arrived at Sea World- and it was hot and packed with people. I guess we should have expected that for a Sunday. Paprika had a great time riding a few rides, and looking at the aquatic life. She especially loved the underwater shark tank.

She was tired, we were tired- so we decided to check into our hotel and call it a night. We had booked a cute little mom-and-pop place online. It was close to the beach, not too pricey, and looked adorable. Well, it was shockingly bad. We thought we could rough it out, maybe. We decided to go to dinner, get our stomachs full of food, and then see how we felt.

We went to a wonderful Thai restaurant Mr. Mustard used to go to in college. It was delicious! Paprika (despite being exhausted) was perfect at the restaurant. She was a real trooper during the whole trip.

We got back to the hotel, tried to sleep...but it was not happening. Paprika discovered an opened box of condoms in the nightstand, we found a very questionable hair in the bed, and then...we discovered that the kitchenette had a gas leak. The windows had been open when we arrived, and we closed them when we went to bed. After an hour or so, the air was thick with gas. Also, the electrical outlets were sparking! Not a good combination. We tried to contact the front desk, but no one was answering and when we went down to check, the office was dark.

So, around 3am, we packed up the car and headed back to LA. We had pre-paid the hotel for three nights, but it didn't matter. We could NOT stay there, and there was nowhere else to go at 3am. We got back home to Los Angeles around 5:30am, and Paprika finally fell asleep...

We had planned to spend the first part of this week at the beach and at Sea World (which hopefully would have been less crowded during the week), but it didn't work out.

So, our vacation has become a "Stay-cation" and we are enjoying the comfort (and safety!) of our own home. Today it rained, so after Paprika woke up (at 3pm!)- we took her to a nearby indoor playground. She loved it! Maybe not as much as she would have loved Shamu and Sea World, but it was close.

Mr. Mustard and Paprika at the Indoor Playground Today:






We had a great time today hanging around our neighborhood, and we were together- which is what is important...

Moral of the story is: stay in a recognizable and nice hotel when traveling...and, truly, there is no place like home!

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