California: Journey to The Forever Purge: Part One

In order for my soul to feel whole, I need to visit Southern California at least once a calendar year. Having made a lifetime of friendships and memories across the three plus years I lived there, I feel it imperative to return annually. My 2021 trip fell between July 8th and 19th and needless to say, I had THE BEST time!

While sharing my California Adventures (pun intended) over the past couple weeks, I realized something from my tales: The Forever Purge, the fifth installment in The Purge horror franchise, bizarrely dominated my time there. The journey to see this film was surprisingly interwoven across nearly every single day of my trip! I most certainly didn’t realize it in the moment, but the seemingly never-ending quest to see this movie truly umbrellaed my vacation!

I arrived to San Diego in the late afternoon of Thursday, July 8th where my Aunt Debbie and Cousin Cole graciously picked me up from the airport. The three of us then went to north to La Jolla, where Cole recently moved into a sixteenth floor condominium, and had a wonderful dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant called “Red O.”

The food was perfectly fine, but the highlight for me was the DJ booth to our left as soon as we walked in. While I yearned to hear the hymns of the one and only Britney Spears, I instead got a large helping of Shakira, which of course is still a win as she too is a Queen, a Legend, and an Icon.

Following dinner, we went to Cole’s condo where we said farewell to my Aunt Debbie before Cole gave me a detailed tour of his new residence and believe me, it truly was something spectacular.

There was a beautiful third story pool and jacuzzi, several bars and lounge areas throughout the complex, a library, an indoor/outdoor gym, a steam room, a twenty-third story community observation area, and best of all, a karaoke room. Given that it was already past 11:00 at night, I opted out of serenading the skyscraper with those highly desired hymns of Britney’s, but you can bet the next trip down there I’ll be giving it a go!

The next morning, Cole took me to the Enterprise Rent-A-Car in Pacific Beach, so I could rent a vehicle for the duration of my trip. Unfortunately though, this should-have-been simple process turned out to be quite the ordeal. I got there right on time for my 8:30 reservation and STILL had to wait some SEVENTY-FIVE MINUTES before getting placed in my rental!

Under normal circumstances I would’ve complained and while I did a little at the forty-five minute mark: “Excuse me miss, but this parking lot is full of vehicles and I’d very much like to get inside one of them.” I otherwise resisted the urge given the unique situation of my reservation.

My good friend Ricardo, or Richie as he goes by, set me up with this reservation just before he left his job at Enterprise. I don’t know if you’ve tried to rent a car anytime this year, but they are INSANELY EXPENSIVE! It would’ve cost me over $1,200 to rent from the San Diego airport and the rates out of the Pacific Beach branch were still $800 if I would’ve rented on my own without an inside source! I needed a discount and thankfully, that’s just what Richie got me.

Richie got me a 50% off discount by falsely stating I was his spouse on my reservation. DREAM RESULT! This act of generosity saved me over $400! You better believe I prepared to be VERY MUCH in love with my husband for the time I spent in that office, but luckily, they never even asked. This is actually quite uncommon in these situations, but given the fact that they were all immersed in chaos and confusion, I’m sure who I knew at Enterprise was the last thing on their mind.

Because Enterprise took FOREVER, Cole and I couldn’t go to breakfast at the place we had planned, so instead we grabbed a quick bite to eat at one of my California favorites, Bruegger’s Bagels. I had to shovel it down though because my California Sister, Gabby, who I was to pick up at the San Diego airport at 10:45, arrived FAR ahead of schedule.

After getting Gabby, she and I made our way back to Temecula, but in true Ben fashion, I had to pee something fierce, so I made the convenient pitstop at the North County Fair Macy’s, where I spent thirteen months of my professional life working. Having not been inside this store in years, it truly served me a blast from the past. I didn’t have time to reflect on my multitude of memories though, I HAD TO PEE, so we hustled up to the third level where the restrooms were located. By the time I was done relieving myself, California Melissa had opened my Snapchat to see I was inside her store and she met Gabby and I over by the restrooms where we had a wonderful, yet quick conversation.

After grabbing a six-pack of Cinnabons, Gabby and I were back on the road to Temecula. The drive from the airport gave us our first of what ended up being a handful of amazing car conversations, but this is no surprise, Gabby and I always have the best talks. She’s truly wise beyond her years.

Once in Temecula, I found driving down those familiar streets bringing me back to what almost feels like an alternate reality now given just how much has and has yet to change (the latter of which will highlighted greatly in Part Two). I miss it terribly, but to answer your question: NO! Not enough to ever move back there and again, NO, this isn’t a negative thing either, so don’t interpret is as such.

I had a wonderful lunch that afternoon with all three of my California siblings: Gabby, Garrett, and Logan, as well as their mom, Danielle. It felt great being together again. I hadn’t been back since my March 2020 trip, so their entire senior year had elapsed since my last visit. It was a lot for me to wrap my mind around given the fact that they’re all now eighteen year old high school graduates. I FaceTime, Snapchat, and all else with the three of them pretty much daily, but still, being there in person and facing this reality was a different feeling.

Following lunch, I went over to my Uncle Joe’s house where I stayed for nearly the entirety of my trip. He and I had some great conversation, focusing heavily on my brother and his current insane situation, all before his new girlfriend, Beth, came over and I got the privilege of meeting her. I liked Beth a whole lot and she complimented my uncle well. Seeing them happy together really made me happy too.

My aforementioned Aunt Debbie and my Uncle Joe recently divorced and while its sad given that I’ve always known them as a pairing, I was pleased to see just how happy the two of them are as they forge their own individual paths outside of one another. Both are doing exceptionally well and look better than they had in years! I swear, this divorce shed a decade of aging off each of them! To think, I thought I was the only one in this family getting younger with age!

That evening Gabby, Garrett, Logan, his girlfriend, Izzy, Colsen, his girlfriend, Grace, and myself all went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. We had both a phenomenal waiter and time. Miraculously, I gave the four main kids their graduation cards, and did so WITHOUT CRYING! Miracles really do happen.

Logan and Colsen’s girlfriends were absolutely wonderful and finally getting the opportunity to meet them both in person was a real blessing for me. They both compliment their respective boy so well, I just found that to be wonderful. I love Colsen and Logan so incredibly much and always want the best in the world for them, seeing how happy these girls made them made my heart swell.

Now THIS is where The Forever Purge FINALLY comes into play. Sweet Baby Garrett and I ALWAYS see a movie when I come to California and this time he really wanted to see that film. I of course told him I would go despite lowkey not really caring about it, but it’s not about me, it’s about Garrett and for him, anything. We decided that evening we would go to the 1:30 afternoon showing the next day.

The following day I went to brunch with my Uncle Joe and Beth to this rustic, yet cute, biker bar type place in Rainbow, the town immediately south of Temecula. The food was delicious, but at exactly 12:00 noon, things took a turn for the BIZARRE! Everyone in the place stopped whatever it was they were doing and stood for the National Anthem. I’ve been out to eat more times than I can count and never once have I experienced this while dining. It was definitely something different.

After brunch I text Garrett around 12:45 telling him I was leaving to come pick him up. He immediately replied that he couldn’t go because he was taking some sort of math test for his college admissions. Instantly I FaceTimed him.

“What the fucking fuck, Garrett!?!” I demanded. “When did you know you weren’t going to be able to go!?!”

“Well, I wasn’t sure if we were still going because you never text me,” he said innocently.

“Why would I text you asking if we were still going to the movie we decided we’d go to barely twelve hours ago!?! How many confirmations did you need!?!” Needless to say, I was a wee-bit irritated.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it,” he said sadly. “Can we go see it another day?”

“We can try, but my trip is pretty packed, so I can’t make you any guarantees,” I replied matter-of-factly.

“Okay, well hopefully it works out,” Garrett responded sounding very down about the situation.

Even though I was highly irritated with him for throwing my afternoon plans away, I knew that I’d have to ensure we got to the theater to see that damn movie before this trip ran out. I wasn’t about to leave that state without taking Sweet Baby Garrett to see that movie he wanted to see so badly.

Following my conversation with Garrett, I got another irritating message, this time from my friend Richie, the aforementioned one who helped secure me the spousal rental reservation rate. He informed me he wouldn’t be joining my friend’s and I for dinner that evening at the Irvine Spectrum because he would be going to a Los Angeles Dodger’s baseball game instead. I told him he was rude as shit since he already told me he’d go, but whatever, my plans weren’t dependant upon his going.

That evening I met seven of my best friend’s at the Irvine Spectrum mall where we had an interesting dinner at Yard House. Interesting because several of our dishes weren’t prepared correctly (meat undercooked, etc.) or weren’t what we ordered at all (edamame versus side salad!?!) and the conversation was all over the place, but that’s not entirely unexpected when you have eight people together who haven’t seen one another in well over a year. Despite these few the hiccups, we had THE BEST time and I’m so thankful that even though I left that Mission Viejo Macy’s back in 2015, we’ve maintained our phenomenal friendships.

Early Sunday morning, Amanda met Michael and I at his house (where I had stayed the night in his beautiful guest bedroom) before the three of us went and picked up Jenna at her place. Then, we all went to Disney California Adventure Park at the Disneyland Resort where it’s safe to say we had THE BEST time – despite several obstacles that made our day quite a strange one.

THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION, but just about every ride we got in line for shut down when we were waiting for it. I’ve NEVER experienced ANYTHING like this before at a Disney Park! Considering I’ve probably been to the six North American Disney Parks a combined three hundred times, this is really saying something. It was truly an unbelievable experience, but we weren’t about to let it dampen our spirits! No, we got all our wetness in on Grizzly River Run, where we met this adorable family on our eight person raft and had the most wonderful time enjoying the ride with them. They were so cute and we even saw them later on Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree! It was just wonderful.

That afternoon we had lunch at the Carthay Circle restaurant and I really must say, it was one of the best Disney dining experiences I’ve ever had! Our waitress was hilariously wonderful and the food was PHENOMENAL! I’ll be honest, it takes some really special food to excite me because I’m pretty passive when it comes to eating, but this place left me WOWED! I could’ve sat right there at our cute 1920’s old Hollywood themed table till dinner because it was seriously that good. If you ever go to Disney California Adventure, I would HIGHLY recommend eating at Carthay Circle, you’ll pay a bit more, but you’ll get an experience unlike any other.

The next day I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park (or WAP as I liked to keep calling it) with California Melissa, my Aunt Debbie, and Cousin Cole. While in line to get California Melissa’s ticket, I learned that Cole is not, nor does he plan to get, vaccinated. I was instantly furious. How can someone so intelligent be so stupid!?! We stood there in line for well over twenty minutes arguing about him not being vaccinated. It still pisses me off, but it is what it is. I can’t help he makes poor life decisions – and so do you if you too aren’t vaccinated! GET THE VACCINATION SO WE CAN ALL MOVE BEYOND THIS PANDEMIC! Lord Jesus, help me. Too many stupid and selfish people out there holding the rest of us back. The unvaccinated really piss me off, but I digress.

Despite this incredible irritation, I had a wonderful day. I’d never been to the WAP before and was amazed by its massive size and array of animals. I figured it’d be a less thrilling version of the San Diego Zoo, but I WAS WRONG! I was so impressed! Yes, I would’ve liked to have rode the tram ride through the “savannah,” but Cole didn’t want to wait in the thirty minute line, so we didn’t. Now whether that was a subtle way for him to get back at me for our argument earlier or he truly was uninterested in riding it – despite him having an annual pass and being able to go back any time he wishes – I may never know. We already had one argument that day and there was no need for a second, so just like Elsa, I let it go.

We ended the day with an absolutely delicious dinner at this Indian restaurant near my aunt’s new house. I truly love Indian food and unfortunately hadn’t had it in some time, so this was a real treat. We then went to my aunt’s new place, which was real cute and I loved for her, before California Melissa and I bid Cole and Debbie farewell and went back to Temecula.

That evening I joined my Uncle Joe and Beth in his jacuzzi in the backyard. I love that thing, I look forward to using it every time I stay there. There’s this large lemon bush next to it that drops dozens and dozens of lemons all over the place, I just love it. Normally I’m completely relaxed in a jacuzzi, but my good vibes were interrupted when my brother sent me an email of a deposition he wrote to present to a lawyer for this absolutely insane ordeal he’s currently wrapped up in. I read it aloud for Joe and Beth and the three of us were taken further and further back from all the craziness given to us in those three pages. It left Joe and Beth exhausted and they soon left the cuzzi, which granted me the opportunity to call Chris to get further clarification on what in the world I had just read.

At the time it was after 11:00 p.m. California time, so 1:00 a.m. in St. Louis, Chris asked me to rewrite it for him. I responded by asking him when he needed it by. He replied with, “8:00 in the morning.” I could not properly rewrite it in less than seven hours given how exhausted I was, but I did tell him what he needed to change to strengthen his case. He made my recommended changes and sent me a revamped version, which I read first thing the next morning. While it was much better, the source material is just so out of this world insane that only so much could be done.

The next day I went and got Dunkin’ Donuts for Gabby, Garrett, and myself. I knew immediately when Logan said he didn’t want anything that this was his sly way of trying to soften the blow of him not coming with us to Coronado Island. He hadn’t mentioned anything prior about not coming, but I know Logan well enough to know that him not getting Dunkin’ was exactly what this was leading up to.

Sure enough, I was right. Logan adamantly refused to come and this was despite all my best efforts. Even Gabby and Garrett were sad by his last minute decision. Yes, I was initially pretty pissed off with him, but after about fifteen minutes of all three of us complaining about Logan in the car, we all vowed to not talk about him anymore. It was good vibes only from there on out.

I’ll be honest, normally I think the ocean is too cold to truly in enjoy in California, but it was just about perfect that Tuesday afternoon! Garrett and I spent almost an hour in the water and went further out than I’d ever gone before! This was a big deal for me! YOU KNOW HOW SCARED I AM OF SHARKS! The three of us then had a delicious late lunch at this cute little Italian restaurant before going hog-wild in the adorable little candy store nearby. Garrett was even a great sport about taking a plethora of pictures with Gabby and I, something that is quite a rarity for him. I was so incredibly proud.

The three of us then decided we would go see a movie back in Temecula. Garrett of course fought hard for The Forever Purge, but Gabby had zero interest in seeing that, so Garrett, being the team player he always is, took one for the team and we all went and saw the latest Marvel offering, Black Widow. I felt bad for Garrett because you could tell he felt like he was watching his chances of seeing The Forever Purge slip away when he settled for Black Widow. The kid’s so damn sweet, I wasn’t expecting to see two movies while I was out there, but again, there was no way I was leaving that state without he and I seeing that damn Purge movie.

Well, let me tell you what, if I thought I felt bad for him before, I felt absolutely awful for him once we got into the auditorium for Black Widow. Garrett, anticipating it would be cold in there, wore a sweatshirt and pants, but much to all our misfortunes, but especially his, the air-conditioning in theater twelve was broken! It was like watching a movie in a fucking sauna! It started off warm, but by the end it was HOT! HOT! HOT! I kept nodding off during the last third of the film because it was somewhat late and we had a wonderfully vibrant day, but damn! That heat was making me wanna pass out! I’m telling you all now, if I didn’t live it, I wouldn’t have believed it. Everyone in that place is lucky I didn’t strip down to my boxers to watch the movie. It was awful.

We returned to the triplets house to find Logan eagerly waiting for us. I was still super pissed with him for bailing on us, but I can never stay mad at him. He had sent me more Snapchats that day than he had all year combined and he was as apologetic as he gets that evening, so we gave one another a hug and made up. His incredible girlfriend, Izzy, then stopped by and the five of us had a wonderful time just sitting around their dining room table talking and enjoying one another’s company.

When the conversation about the unfortunate sauna movie session came up, Logan was shocked we didn’t see The Forever Purge, and even Gabby was left saying she wishes we would’ve seen that movie – assuming it was in an air-conditioned theater. This left Sweet Baby Garrett wondering out loud if we were ever going to get to see that movie and me secretly wondering the same to myself…

THANK YOU SO MUCH for tuning into the FIRST HALF of my California vacation! PLEASE feel free to leave me a comment below! You know how much I love reading and responding to them! I promise I’ll return with Part Two SOON, so until then, I wish you all THE BEST!