Saturday, July 19, 2014

Day Trip to L.A. - bridal showers and running



I am very delinquent in blogging.  I have been writing and half-finishing lots of our life happenings in our seven-and-a-half months of married life, but this is my first one I'm posting to my public blog.  Thankfully I can backdate these with Google to keep them organized along a timeline (this day blogged below occurred a week ago on 7/19/14).  I want to do better because I love looking back and reading about past experiences because I re-remember details that I had forgotten and get to relive all the memories again.  I don’t want to forget anything from this first year of marriage.

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Heidi’s former roommate Hannah was having a bridal shower down in L.A.  Heidi initially was disappointed thinking it impossible to go.  It was the weekend after father-son campout and her watching Ava and Caleb, so it would be too much to be out of town again the whole weekend.  So I proposed a day trip.  The shower was at noon, and really close to where Daniel Z. lives, so I made plans to hang out with him.

So we set out early and stopped at McDonalds on the way for breakfast.  Since becoming “part-time vegans” (as I call our food plan changes), that food tastes like plastic to me, but I was desperate, so I ate it.  We did have healthy snacks in the car for the rest of the day.

I drove the whole way down there.  We talked, listened to music, and one Adventures in Odyssey episode.  We enjoy our opportunities to travel together.  Heidi still had to buy a shower gift, so we stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond just a mile away from the restaurant where the shower was being held.  The clerk Stacey, was so helpful.  We were frazzled from just walking in after driving 200 miles nonstop.  She was from Florida, so we talked about the Disney World trip we had taken.

Then I dropped Heidi off and plugged in Daniel’s address.  I should have actually looked at the map before following the directions.  Google changed the zip code on me, so it took me in the opposite direction of Daniel’s apartment.  It took me awhile to figure it out, and I finally got to Daniel’s an hour later.  I was so frustrated that I was really glad we were going running.  So I changed into my running shorts and off we went.  Daniel took me along a new running route that I hadn’t been on before through some nice ritzy neighborhoods.  It was a cool but sunny day, absolutely perfect outside.  We ran and talked, catching up from the last few months.  Daniel had manager at his firm a week earlier.  I told Daniel about married life and the Tough Mudder, trying to convince him to join me for my next one.  We ran a hard 4.5 miles.  I'm usually lagging a few steps behind Daniel huffing and puffing because his legs are so long, but we were holding together pretty well.  A little slower than our usual, but we were happy with a 9:10-minute-mile pace.

We headed back and I called for push-ups until dropping (trying to cajole him into Tough Mudder shape).  I did 16, but Daniel pumped out at least five more than I did.  We re-hydrated and walked down the street for some lunch.  Daniel took me to this place that serves amazing pita wraps.  Back at the apartment, we took turns showering, and then it was time to meet Heidi.  She had gotten ride from Hannah’s aunts to a Starbucks down the street.  We drove over to meet her and sat talking for awhile so Daniel and Heidi could catch up, and then we got back in the car.

Heidi drove the first leg of the trip home.  I conked out for a good 30+ miles and barely woke up when she stopped for gas before Magic Mountain.  She continued driving, I napped a little more, and then we switched at the base of the 99 freeway.  I got us the rest of the way home, and was so grateful when we were done driving.  We pulled only the necessary stuff out of the car and crawled into bed.  It was a long but “worth-it” day of memories.