Ok, I got up at 4am and got ready and went off to the airport.
Once I arrived at the terminal, I see the sign stating 3-5 minutes delay for security. Oh God, I’m way too early. I sat at the gate for over an hour and a half.
It was only a 4 and half hour flight, so they only served a small bag of pretzels, a bag with a couple Oreos, and a small cup of a drink. Not nearly enough fuel for my day.
I managed to nod off for 20 minutes or so, but didn’t really get any rest. The couple sitting next to me had a 3-ish little girl, who managed to sleep almost the whole way, so no crying, hurray!
The plane was a 737, which I didn’t know anyone still used. There was no entertainment or information displays, so I had to guess on location and ETA, based on time used so far.
I was thinking about using Uber or even the bus, but last year, the Uber to the hotel, about half a mile, was over $40. This year, the hostel is 3.5 miles, so I really didn’t want to even look at the price. Everything in CA is outrageous. The bus was only $2.50, but I had 4 hours before I was supposed to check in, so no hurry, so I decided to walk.
About 20 minutes later, I regretted that decision immensely. At home the temperature yesterday was about 98F. Here was only 77, but felt so much worse. There are almost no clouds or trees, so the sun just beats down.
I was smart enough to refill my water bottle before leaving the airport, but I almost drank the entire liter by the time I arrived. Also, my ipad lost 20% of the battery, just from the heat, so it wasn’t just me being too damn old.
I did figure out a solution, not that it would help today. I should have fond a big name hotel neat the hostel, then used the airport shuttle to go there, then it would be closer to walk, but hindsight…
Fortunately, the clerk let me check in early, so I dumped my stuff and sat in the common room for a bit, recharging my ipad up, and cooling me down, before heading out to find food.
I found a Yemeni restaurant, but they won’t be open for another month. I can’t wait that long. So I hit a bar that a couple people said had good food. I had a burrito, not bad, but didn’t have any salsa.
I came back to my room, to dig out my Comic Con badge and went down to the con center to get my goodie bag. really only the schedule is want I was wanting. I returned and marked up the programs I wanted to see.
3.5 miles from the airport to the hostel, plus maybe the same for roaming around downtown. My hips are sore, something I haven’t had to experience, so far, even last year.
I hung around the common room awhile, talking with whomever came in. One guy was from Crystal River, wherever that is.
An employee said they were going to have a “movie night”, but never actually played the movie, but did have nachos and popcorn in some bowls.
I did not want to go to bed too early, I would just end up waking too early and have nothing to do. I hung out until I realized I had basically been up for 21 hours, then went to bed.
I was stuck on the top bunk, and the woman below kept coughing and getting up to go to the toilet or whatever, shaking the bed, squeaking the very loud hinge, and closing the tight door. Meanwhile, I had placed some of my things at the foot of the bed, so I was worried that I was going to kick something off and make a huge noise or mess.
I finally got out of bed around 8, peed for the second time since arriving (man am I dehydrated), and walked a few blocks to a market.
It was basically the same as a Sav-alot, just a bunch of cheap, no-name brands, but I got a few items and headed back to eat.
Wednesday has nothing really going on, so I though about going back down to TJ. Halfway to the market, my hips were arguing with me again, so there is no way I am going to walk aimlessly around. I am probably stay in, only going out to eat, today. Wasteful, I know, but better than wasting a day or more not being able to use the tickets I paid so much for.
I am sure I will get bored and go out anyway.