The Left Coast Trip

Buenos Tardes,

It's been some time since my last post. This past October I had a pretty structured regimen of rehab and mannying. Now i'm feeling way more mobile on my left knee and i think i'm just a few weeks away from being 100%. I have a little mobility left to address along with some internal swelling.

SOoooo I guess I can talk about the trip I took as of late. The journey down the beautiful West Coast…. First I started off with a nice 2.5 drive to our family friends' home in Portland. My dear mother accompanied me to this check point (btw Portland neighborhoods/houses are some of the coolest looking places).

The next morning I woke up bleary eyed at 7am (i know i'm a baby) to start my direct trek to San Francisco. The 10 hour drive was quite enjoyable mostly because I had an uncontainable energy of anticipation for the journey and sunshine waiting in California. I also enjoyed the 10 hour concert that took place in my car featuring highly acclaimed musical artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Drake, YG, Problem and celebrated Seattle artists…..Mackelmore and Jeremy Taiwo (Legerald Jackson). Funny fact… in high school I was in a small Rap group "As A Matter of Faction" and if you're into goofy-high-school-inspired-North-West-small-time-artists… check us on iTunes (content warning of incredible lyrics).

 

I had a few brief gas stops and one quick lunch at a Mexican place in southern Oregon, and was in San Francisco before i knew it! So began my first stop of epic couch-surfing. I stayed with my non-biological sister from Spanish Immersion (i've known her since the 1st grade) and was able to see three more childhood friends! San Fran is a gorgeous city. The first time that I visited San Fran I experienced  some gloomy weather and the worst Dim Sum of my life, so I wrote the city off as an overrated NorCal destination. I was happy to be proved wrong. I was able to see the awesomely packed night life, and acquired some scrumptious  breakfast at a place called "Stacks" the following morn (highly recommend this place).

 

 

 

 Saturday, after a mouth-watering breakfast, I ventured to the Palo Alto area to see my nonbiological "brother" (a family-friend i've grown up with) who is a genius and has been at Stanford for Med School! We caught up for an hour or so before he went to see Ender's Game and go to dinner with friends. During that time, I ventured down El Camino Real a little further and met with a mentor of mine. Turns out he had tickets to that night's hockey game of the San Jose Sharks hosting the Phoenix Coyotes. After watching the epic 2010 hockey battle between USA and Canada in the winter Olympics, I realized that I was a fan of hockey. Swear. So I was super pumped and enjoyed the game with him and his son.
I was talking to my mentor's son before the game started and asked if the pucks ever came flying into his seating area. He said of the many years and games that he has attended they never did. Two minutes into warm-up, a puck came flying over the glass wall and hit this guy's hand two rows in front of me. I looked at him in total shock and he said……"yeah that was crazy". After that I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation of some rocket-powered shots on goal. The game was super fast paced. The Sharks had an astounding 50 shots on goal (compared to the Coyotes' 30), but only managed 2 goals on account of the Coyotes' Mike Smith's keeper abilities (yes.. i'd rather say Keeper than Goalie because of Quidditch). The San Jose fans were wild and i loved the atmosphere. I got to see the game from behind the opposing keeper's goal for two periods, and watched from a box for one. I was very fortunate to see the entire hockey experience because the game went into over time and a shoot out. Unfortunately the Coyotes scavenged a narrow victory on the road, but it was an awesome game to watch.

 

 

 


Randomly I got a phone call during the game from a friend who saw my Instagram post of the game (My Official Instagram!) and said that he was at the game too. It so happens that he is a friend of mine from high school who was also a part of the rap group that I mentioned earlier in this blog. I got to catch up with him for a bit.

After the game later that night, I met up with my Med School brother and went out with him to see my friends on Polk street for some more night life and the wacky halloween costumes of San Fran.
The following morning we had lunch, and then I set off for LA (Santa Monica) for a brief stay before driving the final hours to San Diego. I waited for my friend to get back from Huntington Beach because she also took the 5 hour drive from San Fran and had to drive additionally 1.5 hours to drop a friend off in Huntington and drive back. yikes. I went to see Ender's Game in the Brentwood area, treated myself to a small popcorn (which was halfway gone after the previews) and a cherry coke. I don't usually drink soda… but I made the recent discovery of the killer combo of cherry coke and buttered popcorn, so I occasionally indulge in this unhealthiness at the movies. The old style architecture of Santa Monica and other LA areas make me love SoCal. I can kinda imagine the lifestyle and older Madmenesque-times when people would get dressed up and go to the movies theatre's that just had ONE MOVIE PLAYING!! Class class class….. like well-seasoned crab cakes at big-band weddings.

 

 

Ender's Game was awesome by the way. I read the book this past spring for the first time in anticipation of the movie's release Nov. 1st. For people who like visual effects and are in the realm of nerdiness of Sci/Fi… you should probably go see it.

The next afternoon I toured around the Beach and Pier of Santa Monica a bit, before i had lunch with my high school friend (i had fish tacos!)…. and no... not the fish tacos from the restaurant in "I Love You, Man", but I did see Lou Ferrigno yelling at some dude after he stepped in dog poop.

 

 

After lunch, I cut through LA to avoid traffic to see an old teammate in Studio City. We caught up, had dinner, and watched Monday night football (i'm getting destroyed in fantasy football) before I made the last 2.5 hour drive to San Diego.

Finally in San Diego, I made my last stop and stayed with my two amazing friends from high school that have been living in SD since they went to undergrad at UCSD. As one was in class for grad school at USD that day, the other took me to see Coronado beach and get un plato de comida mexicana :) The following day I got to get dinner with the other twin and enjoy the San Diego weekly celebratory "Taco Tuesday".

 

 

 

The following morning I finished the last 20 minute drive to Chula Vista to the Training Center. I unknowingly pulled up to the visitor center (rookie mistake) and had to find my way to the athlete entrance.

So i've been here for two days and one night, and in my next blog I will definitely post some pictures………. (i know, the suspense is killing me too)

Arrivederci!

Jeremy