San Diego Day 3

     Well, my sleep was definitely piss-poor due to my injury so I had decided to make an appointment with a local urgent care to get checked out. Was able to get in and out quickly when they opened. They barely did any kind of exam, told me to RICE, gave me a neoprene knee brace and a Toradol (like advil only a bit stronger) shot. Okay well, GG I guess?

    After that, we went to breakfast at Breakfast Republic, and that was some of the yummiest food I'd had in awhile. I ordered the Oreo Pancakes and they did not disappoint. Patrick had ordered the banana split pancakes with ice cream and he really liked those as well. Dessert for breakfast, just my kind of place! After breakfast I wanted to find a gift shop that sold comfy hoodies (I'd ran into a few before and almost bought one but finally decided I really wanted one), so we visited Old Town. It was like stepping into an old Western but was Mexican inspired with gift shops selling ponchos and sugar skulls. I found a super soft hoodie that I could snuggle up in, but we didn't stay long because we needed to make our way to Patrick's old stomping grounds - El Cajon. We drove around and he showed me some old places he used to frequent. We also stopped at a local mall so that he could find a new jersey and hat for the Padres.

    His friend Ruth had rented out a space at an RV park she worked at and was throwing a get together starting at 2, so before we left to go back to San Diego for that, we stopped by one of Patrick's favorite Mexican restaurants call Victoria's. I had a trio of street tacos and they were delicious. And Patrick was right about the best Carne Asada burritos being in San Diego - theirs were very tasty. 

    Then it was time to finally meet the fam. Unfortunately my face was scratched up after the incident and I had quite a limp - a memorable first impression for sure. I really didn't interact with them much at all; Ruth had her family with her, and Josh had brought his wife and kids as well, so I kind of just... didn't talk much. I feel bad about it, because generally when I'm uncomfortable I don't participate in any conversations; I even prefer not to sit with others in order to make my quietness less awkward, and I don't accept any accommodations like food or drink nor do I ever ask for any, even if I'm hungry or thirsty. I feel like I'm imposing. I prefer to make myself invisible - it's just easier for me. But I probably came off as standoffish or rude. Anyway, they were all very nice and accommodating. They tried to make me feel welcome even though I didn't really join in. It's definitely nothing on them.     

    We played 1975 trivia, ate pizza and tons of candy, the kids went swimming in the pool while Patrick chatted with his friends. There was cake, and a very moving speech by Ruth about how close they were and how they would always be friends and it really made me wish I had friends like Ruth and Josh.

    We left right after cake because we needed to rush to Sunset Cliffs and catch the sunset. Well, as best as we could. Despite our best efforts the whole trip, the clouds refused to let up during the evening and I never caught a good sunset. The cliffs were gorgeous though, I could just imagine how they would look when the golden hue of a spectacular sunset would light them up. I'll probably have to add it to my spite list!

    We had an early flight to catch but we had to make one more stop tonight; we drove out of our way to find the closest In-N-Out for a late dinner. He promised me it would be better than Oregon (our closest location, which has lines 1+ hour long constantly) because In-N-Out was everywhere so it should be fine. Yeah, no. It was packed, the drive thru line took up the entire parking area, and we waited at least 30 minutes for our food. Sigh.

    After that, it was bedtime and our flight back home was uneventful. Despite my injury and lack of good sunsets, I had a good time. I would definitely like to return some day.