Day 2 & 3

Day 2

Sunday, August 14th

The jet lag had kicked in but that didn't stop us from getting up somewhat early. We had a loooong day ahead of us - but a fun one!

We parted ways with Robyn and Chris, who went for a jog. Or as Chris put it, "She jogged. I walked." Haha....Chrissy and Andrew had a baptism to attend that morning. My aunt would be the godmother to a friend's daughter :-)

We found a Denny's nearby. Fuel for the road was needed.

A preview for the next day's activity...

On the way out, I saw a pretty sweet looking car. If that were mine, I wouldn't feel safe leaving it in the lot!

And we were back on the road...

There was a heavy fog at one point heading up to L.A

And the usual traffic.

There was a line to get into Staples Center by the time we got there. It looked like it would go on forever but luckily, it moved quickly. Still, that took us by surprise. Thought it would be a little like Madison Square Garden, where you walk right in.

First glimpse of a packed Staples Center for SummerSlam 2011!

We were in for a treat: Adam Jones from Tool performs The National Anthem via electric guitar.

The Miz's entrance really is rather awesome.

John Morrison can do no wrong.

Cee-Lo Green performed SummerSlam '11s theme song Bright Lights, Bigger City followed by Forget You. He definitely knew how to work the crowd! He was great live.

Punk did his thing...

...and Cena did his...

But ultimately, Alberto Del Rio came out with his Money in the Bank suitcase and swiped the title. Whoops. Sorry, fellas.

With the lights on and the crowd emptying out, Staples Center looked like a shell of what it was just minutes before!

It's too bad we didn't have more time to check out what the area had to offer but we had a 2 hour drive back to San Diego and we couldn't risk getting home too late.

The drive back was definitely tough, because unfortunately I don't have my license so Jonathan was the only driver at hand. He started to feel sleepy halfway so we stopped at a rest stop to wake up a bit. Despite that stop and then missing our exit right as we entered SD, we still got back before everyone else! They were having a blast at SeaWorld. Next year, I will definitely make time to do that.

The boys passed out early but Robyn, Chrissy and I stayed up late to catch up. We filled each other in on the events of the past few years, including things that had happened right before she got married and left New York. It was a much needed heart-to-heart that I thank God we had the opportunity to have on this trip! Despite the late bed time, we all managed to wake up at a decent time because it was off to the San Diego Zoo for all of us.

Day 3

Monday, August 15

The outside of their place was cute, with the decorations.

It was hard to make this photo less overexposed because I only have the iPhoto editing program not Photoshop. I do love it though :)

We stopped for lunch first but the parking lot was not what we were used to. Each car space got a number and you had to put $5 into whatever # your car was parked in.

We were in for a real treat with this place.

The detail in this place was ridiculous! Sidenote: we have that photograph "American Girl in Italy" at home in the room we share. That was a nice surprise, since I never see that photo anywhere!

What a great nod to all things Yankees!

We were greeted by this tough guy when we entered the zoo. Would you believe he's only a baby? Apparently he has much more growing to do. Yowza.

It was intimidating when he looked right at you!

That day we saw many different animals...

Rob & JD gave us a glimpse of what we were about to see...

Monkeys!!

This shy koala stole my heart.

Baby giraffe!

Beautiful artwork.

Not sure why I thought this was a face a butterfly makes...

Haha...

They even had some non animal things to see...

We pretty much spent all afternoon and evening there. I can see why Andrew & Chrissy are members of the zoo...so much to see & do.

We ended the day with a visit to Claim Jumper and by the end of night, I was in a serious food coma. We crashed pretty hard once we got home, on which would be our final night in San Diego :'(

Day 1 - Saturday, August 13th

Saturday, the 13th started off like every other morning. Shower, coffee, prayer...

...but unlike every other morning, we would be ending the day on the West Coast! Oh yeah!

Chris and Robyn met Jonathan & I at his house at 6. At least Chris did. Robyn came running down the block at 6:20, when the cab was waiting to take us to the airport! That made for some early morning amusement.

Our 8:45am flight was right on time.

I am happy to report barely any turbulence during the almost 6 hour flight. Even more so, because this was Chris' first ever plane ride!

I got a kick out of the fact that Jersey Shore was playing so early in the morning. Hey, I had 6 hours to kill! No judgment right? =P

Chrissy and Andrew met us at the airport when we arrived, although Andrew was driving around trying to find a spot for the car. We were thrilled to finally be there!!

Beautiful airport.

Reunited!!

We had a little mishap at the car rental place when Hertz couldn't pull up our reservation. "Impossible," I said. It's definitely for today!" Indeed it was...just not for Hertz. We actually had a reservation at Avis. OOPS. We went over to the right place, only to accidentally walk into the preferred customer area. The lady took us, taking pity on us I assume, and corrected us for where to go next time. At least we didn't have to wait on a long line! I was already 0-3 at this point. Forgot to mention in the morning, I tipped the wrong guy for handling our bags. Oops, again. Mornings are not really my forte, even if I do love them.

Once we were all in our respective cars, we decided to go to Seaport Village by the San Diego Bay. I absolutely love the rental car we had.

...and the guy in it.

Driving to Seaport Village, we got into a little scare because the car would make a funny noise every time we tried to go over 40mph. Considering this was a) Jonathan's first time driving a rental car and b) first time driving in California, he and I got a little nervous. We had Andrew come in the car and try to work it out. Turns out, we had it in the wrong shift. 0-4 here...

Our first meal did not disappoint.

Too sweet! They had live music as we ate.

The ultimate irony...considering Robyn is the biggest cupcake lover you'll ever meet.

San Diego Bay

I was smitten.

First Coffee Bean visit!!

Robyn tried my blended mocha....DELICIOUS!

Big fans!

After Coffee Bean we drove to the house to drop off our luggage so we could attend Mass that evening, since the next day, there really wouldn't be any time.

The sights were oh so pretty.

Robyn and I got settled into the guest room while Chris and Jonathan camped out in the living room. The couch for Chris and the big air mattress for JD. That pig (Toffee, we named her years ago) came from NY! There was one incident back in, I want to say 2005, where Chrissy spilled a toffee nut frappuccino on it and we spent a good long while cleaning the pig in the bathtub. Since my grandma's eyesight is not the best, she walked in on us and gasped, asking what that thing was in the tub. She thought it was a real animal. Hysterical!

Time to head out to Mass...

Our Lady of Grace was beautiful. It had the most realistic crucifix I'd ever seen. Even Jonathan said the same.

It looked even prettier in the sunlight, LOL.

After Mass we had our first In-N-Out experience! The food looked a lot like Shake Shack when I first ordered. I had really hoped it didn't taste like it. Although I love Shake Shack, I wanted something different! And it definitely had it's own flavor to it.

Day One, you exceeded our expectations! The next day would have Jonathan and I driving up to Los Angeles...a much anticipated road trip.