nice small getaway

Well, I just made it back from a nice small getaway. I saw I had some money coming in from my school so I took the family to CA. I needed to make the trip anyways as I needed to go to my Battalion (BN), to gain access to one of the systems for the Army. I also had to go and pick up a laptop as my work computers are outdated and I was locked out of them for reasons I am sure I have explained before. So, we left Thursday night and headed to Riverside. Got there about 11pm. Found where my BN was and looked for the closest hotel. It was a mom and pop motel called MOTEL 7. It seemed it was in a corporate/industrial area as I had not seen any houses in the neighborhood, just businesses. I went to check in and it was only $55, not bad for the first night. As I drove around, I saw that there were maybe three other cars in the parking lot. Well, it is a Thursday night, I figured. Went into the room and it was really small. Kind of like a spare bedroom size with two beds in it and a tv mounted on the wall that really didn't work so well. Oh, well, we were only there to sleep for the night as I had to be ready early the next morning. We walked in and unloaded our vehicle. The room smelled like mold. I went to the front desk and informed them and they switched rooms. I had them go in the first room to smell it as well. Anyways, we get into the second room and the kids start saying they want to go home, they miss the dogs. Finally after getting them settled down I tried to go to sleep. I say try because this room sucked. The pillows felt like pillow cases inside a pillow case. No cushioning. The beds were hard. I started thinking about the Bates Motel. My wife couldn't sleep and mainly hung out in the vehicle listening to the radio as the kids and I slept. She did tell me she saw a few african american teenagers walking through the parking lot looking at vehicles, but they didn't cause her any trouble. Maybe her being out there kept them from doing anything. Not stereotyping, but this motel was not in a neighborhood, it was in a corporate/industrial area and it was between 2-3am.

The next morning, we checked out and I took the family with me. I was not about to leave them there. So I went to my BN, did my stuff to get access, talked to a few key personnel in BN and introduced myself to those that I have spoken with on the phone, but have not met in person, and spoke with the BN Commander, who again says what a great job I am doing and to keep it up. After that, we went to Bell to where my Headquarters is located. Talked to the leadership there, got my laptop and took care of a few other things. After that, we proceeded to Santa Paula where one of my wife's friends live. She was still working and couldn't find a decent hotel in that town, so we continued another 20 miles to Ventura. I ended up booking a room at the Marriot in Ventura, less than a 1/4 mile from the state beach. Took the kids down to the beach just to walk it and chase the waves, not swimming. We then went to my wife's friend's house later that evening as she was hosting a birthday party for another friend, but wanted to see us. We stayed for a little while then headed back to the hotel.

We woke up a little later than we wanted and decided to check out instead of swimming at the beach in Ventura. It was like in the 60's, overcast, and the water was cold the night before. So we began to head south. Ended up going to Seal Beach to go swimming and the kids had fun. Walked the pier and everything as well. We then proceeded to San Diego and went to Seaworld. Since I am in the military, my family and I get in free. Let me rephrase that. Me and three of my family members get in free. I had to pay for my 5 yr old daughter....$50 to get in. Geez, I may have saved $200 getting four of us in, but $50 for a 5 yr old? That is ridiculous. So we stayed there for about 3 hours and decided to head home instead of wasting money on another hotel. We got back around 4am this morning. It seemed busy and a lot of driving, but it was also relaxing and nice to get out of AZ. Oh, and it finally rained at our house. The whole time we were gone.