OK, before I start gushing about our big fun vaca, I must frame up the trip with three realities:

1) The pandemic started going all Jekyll and Hyde again about a week before our first flight. An outbreak in super-vaxxed Provincetown had the CDC backtracking and mask mandates returned. I was fine with wearing a mask but the implication of what masks returning meant (maybe this isn’t quite the aftertimes…) definitely put a damper on the party.

2) Two nights before we left, Chris bruised his rib. Luckily he didn’t break it, but he was hurtin the first few days and had a cute black and blue goin at the beach.

3) Halfway through, I got sick. Then Chris got sick. Not covid sick (thanks vaccines and CVS testing), just a regular. old. cold. Like you used to get on airplanes. Remember those??

So, with no further ado… I bring you our “not quite as planned but damnit we’re going to make the best of it put me on a beach and give me a pina colada, where are the sea turtles” vacation!

We got into LAX late, and the ol’ pal jetlag had me up nice and early. I was excited to fit a run in, and ran my first 10k of the year down to the Santa Monica pier.

Next, we hit the road for a little LA landmark adventure.

*Scientology!! This one was a coincidence and skeeved us out.*

I was pretty bummed because a taco place we like, Salazar, wasn’t open. It’s in a renovated gas station and is very hip. Well, it didn’t matter, because our friends Alex and Victoria invited us to another taco place that was in a renovated tire shop and was also very hip. Never fear, LA is here.

We hit the hay early for our next stop: DINNYLAN! The goal: Experience A Star War.

Ah, Pandemic Disneyland. A cotton candy scented semi-masked wasteland. Just kidding, that’s harsh. But really, there were some not great changes. A few rides had dumb rules, including hitting a button at 7am to join a virtual line to later have an opportunity to get in a real line which prevented you from other virtual lines. All the attractions were going, but the parking tram sure wasn’t. And worst of all: pretty much all food had to be ordered ahead of time on an app. A corn dog, you say? Better plan that well in advance, buddy. Oh, you want to ride Winnie the Pooh? You gotta pick Tigger or churros, kids. Can’t have both in these here parts.