Visitor for a week - written 11/5

This past Thursday my friend (and previous co-worker/lab manager) flew in to help for a week with organization and lab flow. It's been fun to have Angie around again -- we were partners in crime in St. Louis -- and just to have someone to talk to! I think Friday, she told Dwayne I hadn't stopped talking since she got here :) Oh, my... I'm writing this on a train with pencil and paper (11/5) for later publishing (now), and I actually drew that smiley face on its side. It's official; the Internet has taken over my life.

So, Saturday we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway, also called Highway 1, ALSO called the King's Highway or 101 in places, but anyway... We drove up past Pepperdine University, a green mirage surrounded by scorched land from the recent fires, and on up to Ojai, a kind of artsy community. There were all sorts of hand-made artistic works, pottery, jewelry and clothing.

BUT, the coolest thing I will remember? The name Ojai is actually Chumash, which all of you Buffy fans should recognize from one of the funniest episodes ever: the one in Season 4 where Xander falls down into an old Chumash Indian burial site unleashing some unhappy spirits on Sunnydale, and Spike, Buffy's most annoying vampire nemesis is so desperate for something to eat (due to the "Initiative's" placement of a computer chip in his head that prevents him from hurting anyone), that he goes to the Scoobies (Buffy and her crew) for help. All this in the midst of Buffy's first attempt at hosting Thanksgiving dinner... with unwanted frozen peas and not enough condensed milk... The episode ends after a climactic bow and arrow attack by the Chumash spirits with everyone sitting around the dinner table, including Spike, who is tied to his chair, as he is throughout the entire episode.

Ok, so back to the trip. We drove past lots of trees and irrigated farmland full of peppers, tomatoes, strawberries and some avocados. We actually saw some horses, too, which was fun for Angie (she has 2 at home).

After Ojai, we continued up the coast to Santa Barbara, home of the soap opera in my mind, and went out on Stearn's Wharf. It was rather foggy but still nice to see, and definitely chilly out on the wharf. I almost bought a pirate flag, which I'm sure I will at some point, but resisted for the time being. There were lots of shops and restaurants and some guy doing sand sculptures for donations. Angie and I went on a walking tour of the 'downtown' area, which was a lot like an outdoor mall but with beautiful Spanish architecture. The highlight, though, was definitely a 30-something mom sporting some serious Hammer Pants. I've seen lots of colorful high-top Velcro sneakers out here, but that takes the cake.

Sunday, I tried another church and really enjoyed it. The big surprise was that the Longs attend there. I had been trying unsuccessfully to get ahold of Jaime to let her know I'd moved out here (she's a screenplay writer and he's a counselor; they used to go to G&P). So, it was great to find them, and I'm sure we'll see more of each other.

After church, Angie picked me up and we drove from the coast through Beverly Hills and Hollywood on Sunset Blvd, where we discovered the Beamer is actually the Toyota of the region. We had lunch at a nice little Italian place and then set out to find the Hollywood sign (my request) without any real directions. We ended up stopping for help since we didn't know what we were doing, and we were directed through a labyrinthine neighborhood where we eventually were able to catch a view of the sign. I amused Angie with my excitement, but she took a picture too, so she has nothing to say about it. Although, she didn't make me take a picture of her posing in front of it in some clever way... I of course, couldn't resist.

With 2 days of sightseeing under our belts, we decided to go home to be mundane for a while, run some normal errands, get some gelato and finish off with an episode of Firefly. I'm trying to win over a new convert.