A girl could get used to this

So here I am in Monterey. It's been one hell of an adventure already, to say the least. Let me start from the very beginning, Julie Andrews claims that it's a very good place to start. 5 am came so early this morning. You know it's early when your one year old dog doesn't even want to get out of bed. I dress for cooler weather, dad heaves the suitcase into the car and askes why I didn't pack two bags? Well, when you're packing for a month and carrying everything yourself, why would you pack two suitcases? As we're heading to the airport I'm wondering how much this beast is going to cost me and morbidly curious as to how much she weighs. And in the back of my mind, I can't help wondering if I'll get turned away. The moment approaches and I put big bertha on the scale. Now, I know she was big, but I had no idea that this thing I've been dragging around weighs 88 POUNDS! I could fit a small child in my bag and still have room. They could bring some meals, which I should have done. Well, if you're at all interested in how much an 88 pound bag costs, your wait is over. That bag cost me $100. 100 smack a roo's. I could hardly believe it myself, but at the expense of questioning the guy at the counter, I paid the nice man and went to security. It's hard to explain to people how different security is at a DC airport vs. oh, anywhere else. Every time I fly out of DC, I'm always amazed at how little attention they pay to what anyone else is doing in the security line. I'm not even sure they checked my ID. This guy had about a million other things that he would rather be doing than sitting at that job at 6:30 in the morning. Trust me buddy, when the terrorists won, it kind of ruined my day too. But then as I eased further into line I spotted them. THEM. You know, "those people". The people that are probably from Omaha but act like they are the trendiest people on the planet. Allow me to describe. Him, messy hair, 80's sunglasses, red and black checkered shirt, carrying all the bags for HER. Her, blonde Asian (reflect on that for a moment), shirt cut down to there, tight sparkly leggings. And the conversation I could hear made me want to pretend to be deaf. They get up to the actually security line, don't have enough containers. The lady behind them grabbed two, b/c she needed them. The guy, actually took one of her containers b/c he needed it and didn't think twice. The only thing you could have really done was laugh. So I did. It was really funny. I just hoped and prayed they weren't on my flight. And thank God for small favors b/c they weren't. All goes well boarding on the flight. I sit down and have everything I need around me. The guy in the aisle seat looks normal enough. And then he gets on the phone. "Hey baby. Oh, I miss you too. I love you so much. Happy Anniversary. Oh baby, don't say that". Meanwhile, he's not noticing me throwing up in my mouth and trying to keep it to myself. It's early sir, I'm happy you love your wife or whoever, but really, some of us haven't eaten yet. And this isn't a young guy, he's probably in his mid forties. Oh wait, actually he's 45, he told me, b/c after he hung up with the "no you hang up first, no you, no you"..he started talking with me. Come to find out, this bozo does this all the time. Leaving his wife is normal. Apparently he was only home 20 weeks last year. Seriously?!?!?!? Don't get me wrong, I can't wait for the day when someone actually misses me so much they can't stay away from me that long, but when you're essentially a rock star and on the road that much, is this your conversation every time? I'd have to ask my husband if he packed my skirts with him. There is no way that wouldn't drive me up a wall. So, this happened again when we landed in Phoenix. And since I still really hadn't had a meal, it made me sick again. Different strokes for different folks. This brings us to Phoenix. Oh Phoenix, I don't think I've seen a better people watching airport in my life. But this is the flight where I fell in love. Our flight attendent was possibly the cutest, oldest man I've ever seen in the air. Or at least working in the air. There is no way this guy was under the age of 75. Oh Randy, you're the first person I've ever watched do the security shpeel before we took off. I was just enamored by him. He made room for every single roller bag and got them up there himself. When he was asking the people in the emergency row if they could help, I couldn't help but wonder if he could. He was just so animated. I bet he was the ladies man when he was my age. Of course that would have been 40 years ago and I'm not entirely sure I would be his type anyway, if you know what I'm saying. I was sad to say goodbye to ole Randy, but so happy that I was finally closer to my destination. The bag/toddler came out, no problem. Got on the rental car shuttle and I was getting closer and closer. As I walk into the rental car terminal, I notice that the only line in the place was at the company I was renting through. I know that these guys were the cheapest option, but this is a little suspicious. I have a history of picking these rental car companies that are, in a word, shady. Apparently the "gentlemen" that were in line in front of me were not happy at the process of the whole thing. Look, when you rent through a place called Fox, are you really thinking you're going to get the 5 star service you would get with Hertz? No, not at all. They go ahead and leave b/c they were just dropping their cars off. Now I'm two people away from my destiny. The guy at the desk is having problems b/c his air isn't working. I'm all for getting your money's worth, but now I'm getting a little frustrated. I've been up since 5 am EST. I haven't had a real meal all day and you're complaining about your AC. Call the company buddy, you're going to get a little further. Finally the lady at the desk tells him that and now I'm one person away. I can't quite make out what this lady is doing, besides not renting a car. She's pulling out card, after card after card. Rental lady is telling her that if she uses a debit card, they rack another $250 on top of the rental fee. Lady starts crying. I don't want to seem heartless or anything, b/c trust me, I've been there, but COME ON! Get someone else behind the counter. Have a complaint department, SOMETHING, ANYTHING to help a sister out. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I just want to stop moving. I get my car, finally after an hour in line and make my way to Monterey. The drive is amazing. The weather is fantastic! It's like Spring, all the time. I need to leave in 30 minutes to go pick up my apartment keys and then head over to Pebble Beach for a look around. And then this girl is going to find a place to have a meal. I was going to try and find a movie theater since I haven't seen Sex and the City 2 yet, but since I have to be at work at 7:30 in the morning, I find it best to have some food and come back here to my nice and cozy dorm room. I will say this. After the day of travel that I have had, I don't miss dorm rooms one bit. I love my queen sized bed, in my 1200 square foot home, that I don't have to share with anyone. Sorry no pictures in this post. I'll hope to be better tomorrow.