Thursday morning we visited my Aunt Mary.
Her daughter was supposed to come over also with her adorable little boys, but she wasn’t feeling well and had to stay home. Driving to her house was fun because we went on so many familiar streets that I remembered going down for various reasons over the years. I don’t think I could have found my way around by myself, but my dad never faltered.
I really wanted to visit Old Town so that is where we headed next. The restaurant I remembered was no longer there, or I couldn’t find it, but we still had some delicious Mexican food for lunch. And right next to our restaurant was an old fashioned candy store, where all items were stored in wooden barrels. You just filled up your basket and paid by the pound. I was so excited when I saw they had root beer barrels, and bought several handfuls, plus some other treasures, to bring back for the kids. Yes, that’s right, for the kids. 🙂
We wanted to do some more sight seeing , so didn’t go into the Mormon Battalion visitors center there in Old Town. When my dad worked for the church, that was one of the visitors centers he designed and built. But the displays he designed are gone now, as they have updated the building at least twice since then. Still, we always got a kick out of going there as kids and seeing the things that Dad had made. And we loved watching all the old Mormon commercials in their theater.
In Hillcrest, we drove past where Dad’s old office used to be.
I remember coming to visit him a few times with Mom, and I always loved the smell of the ink and paper. The other smell I love and have always associated with my dad is fresh cut sawdust. He used to have lots of woodworking tools in the garage, and would often be out there working on some project. Walking in and smelling that sawdust will forever be associated with me sneaking some alone time with my dad.
We then went over to Pacific Beach and Dad pointed out where he had first lived
, where he had always wanted to have an office and told stories the whole time about how he first came to visit San Diego, his first job here, how he joined the Church, etc. I wish I could have had a tape recorder running to capture them all. A short one I can share here was about his first time in New York City. He was driving right downtown in his black convertible Thunderbird, just enjoying life, when he was surrounded by several taxi cabs. One of the drivers leaned out the window and yelled, “Ah, get outta town!” Apparently they didn’t like tourists doing their own driving. He has used that phrase my whole life, but I never knew where it originated from. It was just something my dad said. Now I know.
We went up to the Cabrillo Monument, where we also spent many family home evenings as a kid, but it was closed for the evening already.
And in Mission Bay Dad pointed out the bridge he was driving across while he prayed to know if the Church was true.
We were meeting Aunt Wilma, Uncle Brian, and my cousin Dusty and his family at DZ Aikin’s for dinner, so we needed to head back, but Dad got a bit confused on the highway, the one and only time it happened the whole trip, and we ended up at La Jolla Shores and then had to turn around in rush hour traffic to get back to La Mesa. Didn’t get to see the beach where I spent so much of my summers, but just driving to the exit was fun. The same bougainvillea plants were growing on the side of the road, with their beautiful blossoms, and lots of happy memories came rushing back. I really did have a magical childhood, despite the fact that we had so little money. My parents knew how to make the most out of our surroundings, and we took full advantage.
Anyway, we got to the restaurant a bit late, and felt bad that everyone had had to wait for us. Dusty has three of the most adorable children ever, and the nicest wife that we got to meet when we were in the States 2 years ago.
It was so nice to be able to see them again, and I even spoiled the kids dinner by ordering a chocolate mint shake and sharing it with them before their food arrived. They were so cute, I had to! 🙂 It was a great visit and I only wished we had been able to spend more time with them. Every time we are in the States, Wilma and Brian make the effort to come up and see us, which means so much to me. I hope it works out again this summer.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel where I had my leftovers from lunch for dinner. I know, I know, but DZ Aikins was never a favorite of mine, just my parents and Tom. That’s why I just ordered the shake to tide me over…
The next morning we packed up and headed out. We drove north to Temecula and Uncle Pete and Aunt Marjorie’s house. He is my dad’s younger brother. I hadn’t seen them since before Nicholas was born and they came out to St.George for Memorial Day Weekend and I drove down from Provo to see them. That was a great visit,and this one was as well, even though it was very short.
My cousin, Nicole and her two super cute kids came over and we all headed out to lunch together. Pete treated us to quite a feast, and a gorgeous view as well. The restaurant looks out over a large park with a duck pond and lots of trees. So lovely.
Finally it was really time to say goodbye, and we headed back on the road to St. George. We got home safe and sound and I was sad to realize that I only had the weekend left before it was time for me to leave. 🙁