Vaccination Vacation, Part 3: Highland, Ut!

MAY 5, cont’d: And so, a few hours later (PLUS the time it took me to walk from gate to curb in the new, disastrously bad Salt Lake Airport) Kristen picked me up and we got some Mexican ingredients for dinner and then she bought me a birthday Pretty Bird sandwich. Won’t someone please make a hot chicken sandwich that is hot enough! That night we made birria tacos and a bunch of TEENAGERS came over and ate them. The teens were all very polite! And at night we watched Walker, Christian and Nate skate.

MAY 6: Went down to Provo/Orem and ate at new area sensation, Holy Taco, with displaced NY’er Rebecca. The black sauce with the sesame seeds? Be careful! I like that they only have Al Pastor there. You may think it odd that I only had 3 tacos. You’ll see why I ate so light in a bit. After Holy Taco we went to the BYU art museum and walked around campus a little bit in the super bright mean sun.

And then I had Taco Lunch Number 2 with displaced NY-er Arthur. And then Erick showed up with a couple other New York kids. What a reunion!

MAY 7: Had a Salt Lake night and woke up the next morning in Midvale at Cher’s new crib. She took me aon her trademark 5 mile Midvale walk to show me all the sights. Seems kind of odd that I didn’t get a picture of Cher. I’ll try to do better next time.

Then I went and had lunch at Cancun Cafe, Grandma Barnes’s favorite restaurant, with Erin and Cindy. After that Erin treated Cindy and me to a walkaround of new house as it undergoes amazing renovation. Realizing that Erin lived rather close to Teresa I went over and paid a surprise visit to my aunt.

And then . . . I went up to Midway for dinner at Hawk and Sparrow Bread Company Headquarters and met their new employee!

MAY 8: This day I woke up in Highland. I went with Kristen and Cory to watch Walker’s lacrosse game but got the numbers mixed up and watched #39 the whole time thinking he was my nephew. Oh well!

Back at the house we started celebrating Cory’s birthday by discussing how to celebrate it. We wound up having sushi and going bowling, what a celebration! And then that night I got to meet up with the grown-ups at my first anti-masker restaurant! Sorry that I hardly have pictures of anything. I was chillin’!

MAY 9: Mother’s Day! And I got to celebrate by being part of the plot to surprise Cory’s mom down at Cover Fort where his folks are in charge of everything. It was a nearly successful surprise and a totally successful good time!

And even though it was a nice big outing we still had the strength to take a walk when we got back.

MAY 10: I spent most of what I thought would be my last day down in Salt Lake, seeing the sights (Temple construction), visiting Jake and Natalie, and getting Jaripeo with Tom, Cindy, Eve, Jared and lots of wonderful children!

MAY 11: I was going to go back to New York this day but my flight was so delayed that I just rescheduled it for the 11th. It was a pretty chill day. One thing I did was go to Costco with Kristen and take one picture while I was there. Just of watermelons. And then on the 12th I got up and went back to New York. No pictures of that, either. I took too many pictures at the beginning of this trip and didn’t have any picture-taking energy left by the end!

Vaccination Vacation, Part 2: San Marino and Other Nearby Cities

APRIL 29: So after a few hours of flying I find myself at LAX, my first California visit since August 2019. Collin picked me up from the airport and we went right on over to Brother Cousins for some wonderful, wonderful tacos.

sometimes I see pictures of when my hair was still long and think: wow I looked like kind of a cool dude

APRIL 30th: Woke up and met Blair. Then she took me around the neighborhood and I met some of her favorite traffic cones and parking meters.

A little bit later I went with Collin to Santa Monica for a breakfast of Sidecar Donuts and a Santa Monica walk-around. Do you see that chubby squirrel? I kicked him.

Saw Moulin Rouge inside this theater many years ago

Then our day on the town really began to swerve about. Went to Brentwood Mart to try on a suit, went to Petit Trois for oooh boy what a meal and what a burger, drove about some more, took some calls, ate Sichuan hot chicken in Silverlake, and made it to Grandma’s. We all had Yang Chow.

After Yang Chow, a birthday cake! For me! Thanks, Grandma! What a wonderful birthday I had.

MAY 1: Ok, a new day in San Marino. First things first, gotta walk over to CalTech and check on the turtles!

For lunch we picked up burgers from Goldburgers in Highland Park. And after lunch I went and got my haircut for the first time since early February, 2020. Then I drove to see the gates of Phil Spector’s castle and picked up a hitchhiker on my way back to Grandma’s house. Later that night I’d enjoy some tacos at Ditroit, Enrique Olvera’s new taco stand, but I only have a picture of the ample parking situation at that establishment.

MAY 2: Big big day! Blair came over to Grandma’s for dinner and boy did they hit it off.

Then it was time to…you guessed it…check on the turtles!

Back at the house, eventually we had to all say goodbye.

But Sunday wasn’t even over yet! Because Grandma brought me to game night and Wow did I have a fun time with Helen and Lucy and their Apple Watches.

MAY 3: Started the day with a turtle pond visit, of course, and boy those guys were out! Saw at least 100 sunning themselves and roaming the grounds. New world record!

Then Grandma took me to lunch at the Guidados they have in Pasadena now. I hadn’t had Guisados in…seven years? Lucy’s neighbor is the owner, so that crew all has an interest in what’s going on at this taco shop now. I had a ceviche tostada, a potato and chorizo taco, AND a Level 10 spicy Cochinita Pibil taco. Level 10 put up a fight but I think I could handle a Level 13, at least.

Then we went over to Alhambra to see Louise and learn about reinforcing apartment buildings for earthquakes.

Making a stop at Dinosaur Park first, I picked Grandma up some Korean fried chicken for FHE dinner before heading to the westside myself.

At the remodeled home of Keith and Leslie I saw Gwendolyn for the first time in, I don’t know, 15 years? Nothing’s changed! Then Keith, Collin and I went to Top Round, which I’ve been dreaming of getting back to for not quite 15 years but it’s been a bit.

MAY 4: Surprise! Did NOT go to CalTech this morning but Lacy Park, instead.

an all-time favorite San Marino home

Had a bit of an LA afternoon, beginning with a couple shrimp tacos from Mariscos Jalisco before meeting up with Broek for Sonoratown.

Then we went over to Lucy’s to have a look at her garden. Grandma brought sheer gifts for the gardeners.

And then…how’s this for a surprise? Dim sum dinner with Greg! Followed by an inspection of local construction.

MAY 5: Up very very early to secure the only Uber in Los Angeles for a ride to the Burbank airport. Where would I fly to next? I bet you can guess!

Vaccination Vacation, Part 1: Chicago!

Bad news, for at least the next three posts, I won’t have any pictures of walks through Inwood Hill Park. That’s because I took a big Vaccination Vacation visiting people all over the country. As I keep telling you, I stayed totally put for the pandemic, but, with my vaccine fully kicked in and my most recent gig wrapped up, it seemed like it was finally time to go see some people.

So on APRIL 23 I caught an early flight from the shiny new LaGuardia home to Chicago where Dad picked me up at Midway and I met the neighbor’s new dog, enjoyed a few Welcome Home Cheez-Its, and when Mom got home from the Dentist “helped” my folks go buy our first new TV in 15 years. What an exciting start to the trip!

Then I went to the grocery store with Mom and that evening we all went downtown and had some nice Mexican food and then took a walk on the thing in Chicago that’s like the Highline, but has rude bicyclists on it.

APRIL 24: Sundays certainly are Sundays, aren’t they? After dinner we took a walk to one of the Oak Park parks.

APRIL 26: Big day! Went downtown to have a look at the big Monet exhibit at the Art Institute (along with other arts), walked up Michigan Avenue, had ramen for lunch, dipped into the Field Museum to check on the t-rex named Sue, and took Mom and Dad to H Mart.

APRIL 27: I know you’ve been waiting and wondering when you’d see this, but that Tuesday I got Johnnie’s with Mom! And she told me an Elmwood Park park with permanent cornhole holes and bacci ball courts. I’m not going to share a picture of a combo juicy hot w/ ice, no cap and a hotdog w/ fries. But probably you know what they look like? I am including a picture of the Minion birdhouse I painted on our Michigan trip in 2019, though, since it’s on display in the kitchen. At night we took a walk and Mom and I got our picture together.

APRIL 28: For lunch I tried the Hot Chicken sandwich from a new place nearby called Chubby’s, it was great! And Mom tried the Popeye’s chicken sandwich for the first time. I’m a little mixed up on dates, today might be the day I went to the dentist. Or it was the day before.

APRIL 29: I took Mom and Dad to the airport in the morning so they could go check on everyone in Utah. I had seen on the internet that extremely formative restaurant of my teenage years (and thereafter) El Gallo de Oro had closed, so I drove over to pay my respects. Then I came home, went to the mall, asked myself why I went to the mall, drove back home, got an Alpine sandwich for my flight that afternoon, wound up having Johnnie’s again, and then caught my flight to the next destination of my Vaccination Vacation.