Summer 2021, Day 52; California vacation, Day 2

The morning started with breakfast at a little diner in Eagle Rock with Tim. After walking home, we repacked the car and tried killing a few hours before going to the Terranea Resort, where my work retreat was being held.

First, we drove to Cal Tech in Pasadena. Michael isn't necessarily interested in the school, but we are showing him some colleges to get him excited as he gets closer to the next step. The campus is neat but was really quiet -- but I guess that's understandable on a Sunday during the summer during a pandemic. Afterward, we found a Starbucks and a Winchell's.

For our next excursion, we visited two used video game stores in Burbank -- one cool store where Michael bought a used Wii U, and another at a mall in beautiful downtown Burbank that we couldn't for the life of us find (it was incorrectly located on the mall maps, and tucked away in a corner of the mall that wasn't easily seen). Our effort to find the store wasn't worth it: The selection was limited and overpriced.

From Burbank, we found a Costco and waited in a long line to fill up our gas tank. From there, we started heading south, first to a Trader Joe's in San Pedro to pick up some food for the room as well as flowers and wine for one of my co-workers who was celebrating a birthday today. Trader Joe's in California is much different than in Utah -- besides being bigger, it had a full liquor section. We didn't dawdle too long and drove the last few miles to the resort.

Checking in was a little chaotic -- the valet, the line at the front desk, and then seeing coworkers live for the first time in two years. We settled into the room for a little while, then walked down to one of the pools to cool off for a little bit. Ben and I tried the water slide and liked it.

The evening was great. After a few of us wished my coworker a happy birthday, we went to the reception. Seeing everybody after so long -- and after the long pandemic -- was both wonderful and a bit cathartic. Dinner was yummy, and I enjoyed a few glasses of wine while hanging out with old and new friends. When I returned to the room, Lori and the boys, who were on their own while I did the work thing, were already asleep, well before 10 p.m.

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