We drove down to Southern California on Tuesday morning and the drive went rather smoothly for most of the way down.  On our way out of SF, we drove through the eastern span of the Bay Bridge one last time before it would be closed permanently the next day.  It’s kinda sad but really necessary to get rid of this section.

Our car was also at full capacity with Kumquat, Koa, and my mom in the backseat.

We made a lunch stop at In N Out in Santa Nella instead of Kettleman City.  It looks pretty new and everything was so clean and empty when we were there.

At the 5-hour mark, we encountered some major traffic.  It was in the Grapevine and the sign said there would be an 8-mile backup with everyone merging in to the left lane.  We were at such a snail’s pace.  When I looked at our Google Maps instructions, it said to to exit Quail Rd and take some side streets.  Taking a desperate chance, we listened and totally won!  Part of it was a little sketchy with it being mostly dirt and rocks and a sign saying that we were leaving the maintained portion of the road.  We managed to by-pass 5 miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic and cut in line at the front when we got back on the freeway.  Thanks, Uncle Google. I will never doubt your instructions again!

The drive took a total of 8 hours including 3 stops.  We were so tired of being in the car that we walked to Don Jose for some enchiladas and margaritas.  This is Jes’ Corona-Rita.

The next day was mostly for errands.  Before taking Koa to the vet, we stopped at Wahoo’s for lunch.  Yum.  Oh how I miss a good fish taco.

Then we took Koa to the vet in Irvine.  This is the place that we’ve always taken him since he was a pup and he was shaking as much as the first time we brought him.  He did surprisingly well during the examination and walked out of there with a bunch of shots.

After that, we went to Pish’s office for my long-overdue check-up and cleaning.  It had been 4 years since I had seen a dentist!! Thankfully, I had no cavities.  Yippee!

In the afternoon, I met up with Holly and Andrew for a little catching up before dinner.

For dinner, we met up with Johnny and Joy in Torrance for some izakaya and beer.  Boy, we had a very productive first day!