Nataliya and Seth's La Jolla Vacation

Happy Thanksgiving! While our flight didn't leave 11:40 AM, we left at around 9 AM, expecting to hit a lot of traffic. There wasn't any - we to JFK in 35 minutes. We checked in and made our way to the gate. By one of the gates, JetBlue was offering free snacks, which was nice! They said they were only doing this because it was Thanksgiving.

Soon we were on our way! Shortly after takeoff, before they were able to start serving us drinks, a woman across and one row up from where we were sitting had fainted. Apparently she was diabetic and had low blood sugar. They gave oxygen to the woman and called on the loudspeaker for any passanger who was a doctor. One passenger helped, but his area of expertise (I believe) was dentistry.

The rest of the flight was uneventful, and we arrived in San Diego International Airport ahead of schedule.

Once off the airplane, I called my brother Jared. He lives about 20 minutes from the airport, and he said he was on his way. There was a sign that advertised a $67 fine for parking which struck me as odd. Why not $65 or $70? Also, I noticed a car with one of those vanity license plates that read "YAJNE". I thought the driver might be Jayne but a little mixed up (or dyslexic).

Jared soon met us at the airport in his new Saturn and drove us to his place where we met his new kitten, Tooey, and changed. We were going to his girlfriend, Karina's place to join them for a Thanksgiving dinner. They had extended the invitation to us which was very nice.

Since we still had time before dinner, Jared drove us around. We went to the cove to look out over the ocean and to see some seals relaxing on the beach. A short time later, we were on our way to the Lombrozo residence for Thanksgiving dinner.

Up in the hills of La Jolla with beautiful views all around, we arrived at their home in a cul de sac. I noticed that the same car we saw at the airport with the "YAJNE" vanity license plate was here as well! Small world, eh? (Incidently, this person's name was actually Yajne.)

The Meyers had arrived at the Lombrozo residence. There were quite a few people there and we felt a bit uncomfortable. Still, they welcomed us into their home which was very nice and they made us feel more at ease.

Dinner was very tasty, and Jared added his own touch by making a sweet potato dish and bringing a plant. Tooey had also put his own personal touches on the plant in the form of teeth marks and partially missing leaves. We also had an amazing merlot, 2001 Carmenet from Napa Valley. We hadn't had much luck with California wines so this one was a delightful surprise.

Their home was amazing! The first floor was filled with many windows that offered great views all-around. The interior was large and very spacious. We didn't get a tour of the house, so we can only imagine how impressive the other floors were. In the center of the home, however, leading up to a large sunroof, grew a tree, surrounded by various plants. It was very cool.

We were fading out after dinner. We did catch a funny story that Karina's mom, Diana, relayed to us. She had spent some time creating centerpieces that she ultimately used for a previous party and for Thanksgiving. Someone at a previous party had taken a couple of them without asking and started to drive off with them. Diana had given chase and the driver threw back one before leaving. Bizarre, right? While I will agree that the centerpieces looked kind of cool, but why would you even want to take them? Then again, people took the centerpieces off the tables at our wedding reception, and I couldn't figure out what people would do with those, either!

Anyway, We soon said our goodbyes and Jared took us back to his place to get some sleep. Once we were settled in, Jared drove back to spend more time with Karina.