We've Arrived in Long Beach!

After a very, very, very long day and night, we dragged ourselves into our fluffy Marriott bed last night at 2:30 AM Pacific time (which is 4:30 to y'all at home, and to our tired bodies which had been up almost 24 hours!). John just left a few minutes ago to register at his ELUNA conference, and I'm still blinking like a mole at the morning light with my coffee and Cheez-It's. This hotel doesn't have a continental breakfast, so I'll have to wander downstairs to the overpriced restaurant, or test my navigating abilities (which are inadequate at best) to find something cheap to eat and hopefully a convenience store where I can get a few non-perishables. Sigh. Already I'm feeling the agoraphobic hermit taking over me.

So, we left the condo in the responsible hands of John's brother, Dave, said goodbye to the little stink-bombs, and took the bus and LRT to the Humphrey terminal. Our flight departed early, and despite the "jimmy-legs" really bothering me, I did get a few winks, although not more than a few minutes at a time, therefore I refuse to consider it official "sleep". John said he got a little sleep and that he kept waking himself up with his own snoring. I'm not sure if that was truly the case since I didn't hear him, but I also wear earplugs and am used to his sleeping noises, so maybe I just tuned it out. We ran into a co-worker of John's and her beau, also headed to the conference and to the same hotel, and they offered to drive us to the hotel in their rental car, so that was very nice! Unfortunately, the National Rental guy was really slow. I mean, REALLY slow. Dude didn't get us out of there until after 1:45 AM, and then as we got to the gate to check out, the Check Engine Oil light came on, so we had to go back to fetch a new car, which took until after 2:00, then we still needed to drive all the way to Long Beach. Thankfully, at that hour, there was very little traffic and we made here where the staff were super-friendly and got us into our rooms in less than 5 minutes, where we promptly passed out.

I'm at a little bit of a loss without my John, I must confess. He's the planner, I just sort of tag along behind, taking note of where the food and bathrooms are at any given stop on the itinerary. It's one of those Yin-Yang features that has helped our relationship, even though you might expect the opposite. And I do have a bit of a fear of going out alone, so I've got to be a little Braveheart today. I can't just sit in here and eat Cheez-It's all day. Well, not that I couldn't do it, I am most certainly capable, just that at some point, ya know...I'm going to run out of Cheez-It's. And me without food is a dangerous thing!!

We ended up with a handicap accessible room which is impressive from an accessibility standpoint, and makes me beam with delight for those with disabilities. For us, however, it's kind of a pain in the ass. The shower floor is absolutely flat, of course, and there's a sprayer instead of a regular shower head. John warned me that the water would run all over the rest of the floor, so I'll have to keep that in mind when I finally decide to bathe. The toilet is great for me with my short legs, and the T.P. is so near the floor you almost have to get off the camode to reach it. Again, not too big a deal for me, but for my 6' hubby, a bit of a stretch.

Christ, it's only 9:29! What am I going to do with myself all day? He's gone til 7pm!!!! Oh, and I'm very quickly losing any nerve I had to actually squeeze into my two-piece to hang by the pool. That might have to be a Hollywood Hills Hotel thang, at least then John will be with me to suffer the humilation of "shark-bait" whiteness in the land of the tan. Plus, it looks like it's an outdoor pool here, and amazingly, it's cooler here than in Minneapolis. Last night it was 65 degrees!!!
Well, I should put on my brave face and go for a walk. I'll post again soon!
Love to all ;)~
R&J

PS: We have not felt any earthquake activity, thankfully! They said there were a bunch of aftershocks yesterday, but we missed all of that. I went to sleep wondering what earthquake protocol is...hmmm, the earth opens up beneath you, debris is falling from every which way, where the fuck you gonna go??