My last day in California!

We didn't get up as early as the day before. And my need to prepare my check-in suitcase and carry-on backpack for two days of flying home meant that we didn't leave the hotel until after 9 AM. Our plan to drive through Beverly Hills was then cancelled since that would have taken us in the wrong direction since we wanted to go south towards San Diego.



Leaving our hotel.


I've been longing for Costco since Canada, and it turned out to be one just across from the hotel. Too bad I'm not a member.



It's definitively more windy in the backseat.


My buddy in he backseat, with a seatbelt and everything.


One of today's adventure was going through a toll booth.

We prioritized going to an outlet mall and another beach visit along the way instead. I wasn't supposed to do any more shopping but ended up with a dress, a new pair of runners (which I needed since I left my more than 5 year old runners at the last hotel), and another two pair of earrings (I needed to make up for the broken pair). The guys still beat me though (not in the buying earring contest of course :)).

I probably had the best hamburger ever at Ruby's Diner in the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. It had avocado, bacon and blue cheese among other things. So good but filling. I didn't need the sweet potato fries on the side but I needed a few since I don't know when I will be able to have sweet potato fries again.

I got to drive the last hour to San Diego! I'm going to miss the Canadian flag maple leaf coloured car. We decided to skip the beach since we couldn't access one easily and since I prioritised using the shower in Bjorne and Mr. M's hotel room in San Diego before heading to the airport.

The little I saw of San Diego looked really really nice so I may have to return one day to do some more exploring.

Bjorne and Mr. M dropped med off at the airport quite early to have time to return the car before the ESRI-conference they are attending would begin in the evening.

Everything so far on this trip has really worked out well so I guess it was time for me to have some bad luck checking in at the San Diego airport. My trip back home includes three different flights (San Diego-Chicago, Chicago-Munich, Munich-Stockholm) and two different operators (United Airlines and Lufthansa) with a 16 hour lay over in Chicago (even though I booked it together as a package or whatever I should call it). I was worried that I wouldn't be able to check my suitcase all the way to Stockholm and I was correct. It's apparently only possible if you have less than 13 hours between flights. I also had to pack another carry-on bag with all my shoes since my suitcase was 4 lb. overweight and managed to break the zipper on the extra bag (which I managed to repair later though). So I didn't have the best start to my going home trip.

My spirit got a little bit lighter when the security guard at the security control liked my dress I was wearing that I bought at the outlet.

Even though I still had 4 1/2 hours to kill before my flight the time just flew by which was really nice since I was worried I would get bored.

Another positive thing that happened during the evening was that I was upgraded to Economy Plus for free if since I gave the correct answer YES to the question if was "ready and willing to help out in case of an emergency (I got a seat in the emergency aisle just by the door).

I was so ready to fall asleep on the plane which was good since I only had 31/2 hours to charge my batteries for sightseeing in Chicago for many hours with potentially a suitcase!