Vacation - Day 5 – San Diego to Tucson

We woke up much later than anticipated. The long drive home left us exhausted and we needed to sleep in. We packed up the truck and said our goodbyes to the dog and our friends. We heard about this awesome grocery store in La Jolla called Bristol Farms. It’s a super fancy grocery store. It was awesome. Best grocery store ever. Gerd walked past the carrots and said, “those look so good, I want to buy them and it’s like 10am!” All of the meat and produce looked like it could be in a picture. Just beautiful. Go here if you get a chance. We grabbed some donuts and cookies and went out to the car.

On the way out to the car, we saw a McDonalds. Both Gerd and I love McDonalds breakfast, so even though we had just gotten road donuts, we swung through McDonalds for our Sausage and Egg McMuffins. We also noticed on their regular menu, they had ANGUS burgers, which looked amazing. Hey Mickey D’s, I don’t see that top notch stuff in Minneapolis! What gives?

Gerd needed to stop at In and Out Burger in Arizona, so we planned a stop in Yuma, AZ. I wasn’t impressed, but the concept is cool. The only thing they have is burgers, fries, cokes, and shakes. Gerd thought it was awesome though. Go Gerd.
We saw some dune buggies and four wheelers out in the desert sand dunes which was pretty sweet. But the nicest part about the Arizona stretch is that the speed limit is 75mph. Wurd.

We made a quick stop in Oro Valley on our way to Tucson. My friend from San Diego’s mother lives there and I hadn’t seen her in years. She’s the most wonderful lady. Seriously, I miss her a lot. Her new house is beautiful and I wish we could have stayed longer. But my cousin in Tucson had made us dinner. Next time.

We arrived at my cousin’s house, whom I haven’t seen in like 5 years, so after shoveling food into our maws, we sat around and got caught up with my cousin, her boyfriend, and her daughter. It’s so nice to get caught up with family you haven’t seen in a while. Especially when they’re as fun as my cousin is. She rules. All kinds of family crap talking, gossip, catching up, hilarious stories about who’s mom beat who more, etc. Awesome. We stayed up late, but since some people staying there had to work (aka NOT us), we hit the sack for a full day of Gerd’s birthday.

Top 5 things about vacation day 5
1. Bristol Farms
2. Seeing my cousin
3. Seeing my friend’s mom
4. Speed limit 75
5. Gerd says In and Out Burgers

Bottom 5 things
1. Seemingly endless drive including a time change
2. No angus burgers at McDonalds in Minnesota
3. Whole lot of nuthin in many places along this route
4. Periodic random border patrol stops along the way
5. Wished I could have spent more time with my friend’s mom