Kanlaon

Self is back home, finally.

It started to pour just south of Gilroy, but self was able to beat the worst of the traffic and make it home just before 4. Then she had to return the rental car and pick up the dogs from San Carlos Pet Hospital. My, that was a hectic trip, and self still has to teach first thing tomorrow morning.

Self doesn’t know why she only managed to take one picture of son, and that was just before she and son parted ways, in the parking lot of the LaCuesta Inn on Monterey Boulevard. The weather in San Luis Obispo was good most of the time — that is, at least it wasn’t pouring the way it did here, although it was chilly. 9 PM last night found self and son walking The Embarcadero in Morro Bay, entering one restaurant after another, all of whom had done with serving for the night. We were not completely alone on this futile quest: another family consisting of grandparents, parents, and a couple of teen-agers, including one wearing a Cal Poly sweatshirt, were also forlornly wandering about, and we kept bumping into them at various restaurant entrances. Finally, we gave up and drove back to SLO, where we ended up at the Firestone Grill for hamburgers (self had an avocado, bacon, and tomato burger which was absolutely yummy, or maybe it was just that she was enormously famished at 9:30 PM). Son knew one of the girls at the cash register and struck up a conversation. Self heard the girl say to son, “Hey, we ought to go camping together sometime!”

Here are some of the questions self asked son during this trip:

Why are there no African American students in Cal Poly?

Why are there so few Asians in Cal Poly?

Why are there so many Christians in Cal Poly? (Son maintains that self makes being Christian sound like some sort of “disease.”)

Why are most of the girls blonde in Cal Poly?

And so forth and so on.

After dinner at Fireside, during which we watched Roger Federer trounce a hapless Czech in straight sets at the Australian Open, we drove around and saw a line stretching down the block for “Cloverfield” at the art deco-ish Palm Theatre. On the other side of the marquee was a sign touting “The Princess Bride.” When self told son, we had to double back just so that he could see it with his own eyes. And there it was, plain as day: SLO Rewind presents “The Princess Bride,” Feb. 5

At which point son became extremely cranky, because after figuring out that Feb. 5 was a Tuesday, he realized he would be “on duty” in the dorm that night. Self said why not turn it into a dorm activity — perhaps the rezzies would really love to see “The Princess Bride” and they might even get a discount if they went as a group. And son said that sounded like a good idea (Self not completely lame, after all — !!!)

Let’s see, what else happened on this trip? Aside from self discovering that son gets all dressed up for Sunday mass; and discovering that he is writing a novel that takes place in the future; and that he has just begun the William Goldman novel on which “The Princess Bride” was based, self was also able to hear the following tunes (on the car radio, and at Borders, where there was a live performance Sunday afternoon, and the woman had an absolutely rich and throaty delivery):

Eric Clapton’s “Lay Down Sally,” from the album

Slowhand

“Heat of the Moment” by ______ ? (Son didn’t know, and self ran through her list of usual suspects: Boston? Journey? Foreigner?)

“Cisco Kid,” by War

Caetano Veloso’s rendition of “Cucurrucucu Paloma”

Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time”

(Why, self wonders, does she always end up listing songs when she is in San Luis Obispo???)

Son told self there was a great record store on Monterey Street called Boo-Boo Records. Self was dying to see it but there was no time, so self will have to remember to see the place the next time she visits SLO.

Now, self had better start grading papers. Stay tuned, dear blog readers, stay tuned.