I reluctantly leave Santa Monica, with the songs of Sheryl Crow and The Beach Boys stuck in my head. It was another sunny day here, drying out my damp Portland bones. The only thing to look forward to in going back home is a reunion with our pups and cat. Overall, we had a very Happy Anniversary, southern California style.

 

Our rooms were “free” at the J.W. Marriott Le Marigot, thanks to rewards points, but we always feel obligated to do a lot of tipping. We even got locked out our in-room safe, so we had to call for maintenance assistance. Management sent up some complimentary chocolate-covered strawberries as a belated apology for the room switch we had to make, so that was worth a tip. Then they comped us a couple of farewell drinks for a cold burger & fries delivery earlier at the pool, so that cost a little more cash on the side. There were also bell-hops, servers, Uber drivers, musicians, bartenders and housekeeping to properly compensate. Sometimes, I think they just screw up to get more tips from generous me, as I played Santa in Santa Monica. Ho…Ho…Ho.

 

I might get a sunny day in Portland tomorrow and then it looks like the clouds return. It will be back to the slow-paced homebody, retirement routine for the next couple weeks before our trip to the Big Island. It was a good idea to get a little base tan before spending time in the big league Hawaiian sun. We’re there for an auto dealers convention, so I’m once again tagging along on my wife’s business. While she’s in boring meetings, I’ll be hanging with the other spouses, and maybe rent a car to see the rest of the island. Although we’ve been to Hawaii, many times it’s always been to Maui or Oahu, so this is unexplored territory.

 

I’m headed to another baseball game this week. This time the Oregon State Beavers play the Portland University Pilots at Ron Tonkin Field. I watched the Angels lose in Anaheim a few days ago and The Beavers beat Cal Poly in Surprise, AZ a few months ago. We’ll see the Cubs play in both St. Louis and Chicago before the season is over. While we were traveling, my Hoosiers dropped two college games to Ohio State, while the Cubs actually won a road series against the Rockies. Baseball and retirement seem to go together, at least for me, like hand-in-mitt. The Trailblazers were also eliminated from the playoffs, so there will be no more basketball games to attend for awhile.

 

Our flight is on-time, so hopefully it will be another uneventful plane trip home. We’ll relax here at the LAX terminal for an hour or so before boarding begins. We’ve talked about booking a trip to Las Vegas, after reminiscing all weekend about our wedding there seventeen years ago. Although we’ve been back many times since, it was seven years ago that we were last there to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I have both Alaska and Marriott points to use, so tips, gambling losses, fancy dinners, and show tickets will be our “only” expense. That’s practically free!