Hi Cuz!

Had a great day Saturday as one of my cousins was in town for the first time in, well forever. Kathryn Davis of Houston and my cousin on my Mom’s side blew into So. Cal. for a little getaway and to attend a couple of Kenny Loggins shows here in the Southland. She had caught a red eye flight from Texas and arrived Friday evening which turned into Saturday morning with the rent a car and getting to her hotel and all. She set up camp in Hollywood and finally hit the sack in the wee hours.

I woke up as usual at about 4:30 Saturday morning, grabbed some coffee, checked emails and went right back to bed for a couple of hours. The morning malaise wore off about 7:15 or so but I decided not to ring her up until after 8 am or thereabouts. When I did make the call she was up and about and we made plans to hit the County Fair down in San Diego in the early afternoon. I haven’t done the exact math but it should be noted that I haven’t seen her in about 30+ years. Heck, I don’t remember how old I was when I last visited San Antonio. Let’s just say it was quite some time ago.

She hit the road on her way down to South County and immediately experienced the joy that is Southland traffic. Southland holiday traffic at that. The text messages started flying but once she hit a break things started to look a little better. When she finally got past the industrial district of LA it was smooth sailing and she was on my doorstep just a little after 11 am. Pleasantries were exchanged and she was afforded the guided tour of the digs despite my abode being in the “Spring Clean Shambles”. Kat seemed to like the neighborhood but as all of you presently residing here know it’s been unseasonably HOT the last few days. KD stated she didn’t remember California being this warm.

We we’re both a little hungry and decided on Schlotsky’s Deli for a sandwich and/or a salad. I pounded a Snapple there and had already made sure we had plenty of bottled water for the Fair. We went over logistics and since the Loggins concert didn’t start until later in the evening I decided to run her over to the Mikkelsen household where she could meet Mike and Paddy as well as the hounds. Paddy was away but Mike was home as were the mutts. Much to my surprise the dogs pounced on me instead of welcoming the newbie!! Kat really liked Mike’s neighborhood as do I. I’d kill for a single story in that tract. Love it. Unfortunately, the going rate over there for a single story dwelling is about 750K…

So we hung out with Mike for about an hour and Kath got to see all the kitchen remodeling as well as the pool replastering project. Felt like jumping in right then and there. Hot, Hot, Hot. It was approaching 1pm when we left Mike’s and headed for the freeway south. Traffic wasn’t all that bad even in the San Juan Cap. area where it usually backs up for a little bit. Nice scenic ride down the coast with a few landmarks that Katarina may or may not have remembered. She had been in the area of Camp Pendleton awhile back but nothing looked really familiar. No matter as we were headed to the Fair to goof off and catch up on one another.

Can’t recall exactly what time we arrived at the Del Mar Fairgrounds but I can tell you it was still hot. The good thing is that the grounds and racetrack are really close to the ocean so you get a little breeze blowing in onshore to cool things down a bit. It was still a little warm but pleasant for the most part. We did the parking thing and started the trek to the ticket booth. We were admitted in short order after a short search for weapons (my keychain box cutter was confiscated) and started cruising the grounds. An obligatory stop at the restrooms and then around to the arena where someone was messing around on a dirt bike. Reached the other side and lo and behold one of my favorite attractions. A BEER STAND… I slugged down two Heiny’s whilst Kat had a light beer and we sat there for about 45min. or so just talking about our lives and family. Great stuff. From there we wandered around some more checking out some of the exhibits and animals in the big halls.

We put a lot of miles on our sneakers that afternoon. Used the bridges to cross over the turf at the racetrack and into the infield area, which was set up as most carnival midways are. Rides and Food all over the place. We just missed a wine tasting session. Dang! We were getting somewhat hungry and spent another half hour or so just going from booth to booth in search of the perfect afternoon snack. We saw a ton of signs that looked like they might have something appetizing but the food didn’t look all that good for the cash most folks were demanding. We did end up finding a reasonable place that was whipping up Gyros. Very tasty and just filling enough to last us the rest of the evening. Saw a little bit of the demolition derby in the small arena but the most fun thing to watch was the Swifty Swine pig races. They had a little 4 lane starting gate and a small track set up with rails.

Then introduced the piglets one by one all with names like “Brad Pig” and “Snoop Hoggy Hogg”. You get the idea. It’s a one lap dash for the treat at the end. They had different categories as well. Pot Belly’s as well as the piglets and a half time show with the tiniest little piglet that dove into a water trough and swam from one end to the other. Pretty funny actually.

We wandered over to the Grandstand to check out the concert seating and found a bunch of art exhibits from schools in the local area. Some great stuff there. Kat’s seating checked out and she had an excellent sight line to the stage. There was some more stuff going on in the courtyard with some bluegrass musicians so we checked that out for a bit as well. Then it was show time. Kat hit the reserved seating (she’s a fan club member) and I headed upstairs to get a decent seat. We agreed to meet after the show at a predetermined area downstairs. I settled in upstairs and enjoyed the show. My only regret is that I couldn’t get on the rail upstairs and try to zoom in for a picture of her in her seat. Very enjoyable set and I must say for a guy that’s 58, he hasn’t lost a thing in the vocal department. His supporting musicians were outstanding as well. Good Times.

When the show let out we met up again and filed our way back to the main gate. It had been a long day and we had a little bit of a drive left to get back to the OC. Traffic heading back up north was non-existent and we pretty much breezed back into town. Made a brief detour through San Juan Cap and then over to Ortega for fuel (broken pump) and then dashed the rest of the way back home. Cuz came upstairs to check out the map one more time before heading up to Hollywood. She wanted to be certain that there was an exit off of the 101 for Hollywood Blvd. I should have put the day bed upstairs down for her but it made more sense for her to hit the hotel. She had a bunch of stuff to do the next morning in preparation for Sunday night’s show and squeezing in some sightseeing on the Boulevard. Plus she was staying at the Roosevelt, which is a little swankier than our place and infinitely more comfortable given the heat and our lack of AC. So I walked her to the car and we said our goodbyes all the while reiterating what a fun day we’d had and how nice it was to get reacquainted after all these years.


Kathryn and Yours Truly

That’s how it went folks and I thoroughly enjoyed my day and her company…..

-Scott