August 11-13: Elated with Eleanor
What an incredible blessing the last three days have been. Thursday afternoon I rode from Julian to San Diego California to spend several magical days with my daughter Eleanor. I am so very proud of the young woman she is and so grateful she went out of her way to make our visit meaningful.
I was able to connect with Eleanor midafternoon Thursday after she finished her work as an undergraduate lab technician at Perry Labs on campus at University of San Diego. My heart jumped for joy when I saw her beautiful smile in person, and we were able to give each other a big hug. Now that she is so much taller than me, it’s not quite as realistic for me to lift her up off the ground but I gave it a good try.
She welcomed me like royalty, offering me homemade iced tea, giving me fresh towels, and providing me with my own bed with extra pillows. We spent a leisurely afternoon catching up and talking about how we wanted to spend our time together. After so many days traveling in heat it was wonderful to relax in the balmy Southern California climate together.
I so much enjoyed her showing me the butterfly garden she helped develop on campus, swimming in the ocean together, painting our toenails, applying matching temporary tattoos, going shopping for clothes at a local thrift shop, eating several fantastic meals, and sharing our thoughts and memories.
Two of my favorite restaurants this visit were The Taco Stand and Regency Pizza. The Taco Stand makes fresh-to-order burritos and tacos in a variety of combinations, but my favorite is the “Camaron,” with grilled shrimp, melted cheese, cabbage, avocado, tomato, and chipotle sauce. I don’t particularly love shrimp, but the burrito is probably the best one I’ve ever had. Of course, it was a plus that the shell was grilled and I could also get as many extra sauces as I wanted. Eleanor picked out four different ones for us to sample – cilantro, chipotle, pico de gallo, and avocado. Wow!
My favorite menu items at Regency Pizza were the garlic bread knots with homemade marinara sauce and a slice of Chicago – style deep dish meat lovers’ pizza. The food there was so good we ended up eating there twice.
Although Eleanor and I had to part ways today to head north to different destinations, I will always treasure this precious time with my favorite daughter. I am so proud of the kind, wise, caring, resourceful, and generous person that she is. My nickname for her is “beautiful” because she is extraordinarily beautiful both inside and out.
