California: Journey to The Forever Purge: Part Two

You’ll recall that Part One concluded with Sweet Baby Garrett and I wondering if we would ever make it to see The Forever Purge and after sitting through a showing of Black Widow in an air-conditionless theater twelve at the Edwards 15 Cinema, this was a very valid concern. I’m having hot flashes now just thinking about how uncomfortable that experience was, so imagine me at this time contemplating whether or not I should try and go back to the cinema, but at this point in my vacation, I had six days left, so we’ll have to see what ended up happening…

Wednesday morning, the day after our sauna cinema session, the triplets and I got McDonald’s breakfast – eating it inside of course – this being in spite of the kids objections. I can NEVER eat something so possibly deadly whilst driving! What if my intestinal lightning strikes and I’m without immediate restroom access!?! I wasn’t going to be the one ruining our day!

Following our two and a half hour trafficked drive to California State University Northridge, where Sweet Baby Garrett will be attending in the fall, I pulled into one of the visitor parking lots behind another vehicle there at the guard gate. This simple act set Garrett off, “Ben. Ben, what’re you doing!?!” He questioned aggressively.

“What do you mean what am I doing!?!” I replied in bewilderment. “We’re going to park, so we can walk around your campus.”

“Wait, what!?!” Garrett remarked with disgust. “I didn’t think we’d walk around. I just thought we were going to drive by and see it!”

My mouth fell open so far I could very well of broken my chin from slamming it into my kneecaps. I whipped around in that rental car so fast to turn and face Garrett, “excuse me!?!” I shot back in shock. “You must be fucking high right now! Drive around your campus! What the fucking fuck, Garrett!?! Don’t be dumb.”

“Ben, no!” Garrett hollered.

I no longer needed to engage a not-so-Sweet-at-the-moment Baby Garrett back in conversation because Logan and Gabby had started in on him for assuming all we were going to do was a driveby. After realizing he had clearly been living in an alternate universe for the past month since deciding on these plans, Garrett quit trying to plead his case to the three of us and instead, sat there in the backseat of the rental in a self-imposed cocoon of irritation.

The enthusiastic parking attendant gave us a paper map of the campus and greatly encouraged us to visit a half dozen or so places he had circled on there of peak interest. He was abundantly helpful and after we parked, the four of us made our way towards the first circled building. Gabby and I were extremely excited about seeing the campus, Logan was passive like always, and Garrett was dragging his feet – both literally and figuratively.

He spent the first fifteen minutes of our tour acting in such a way that I hadn’t seen from him in years! It was off-putting at best, so I pulled him aside and assured him that if he didn’t improve his attitude and behavior, I was going to ensure that his worst nightmares came to life.

There were SEVERAL other students and families doing just as we were that day, so I told Garrett that unless he wanted each and every single one of his soon-to-be fellow classmates to know exactly who he is, then he’d better get it together. I have absolutely no qualms about embarrassing myself – I’ve published SIX blogs about pooping my pants – so Garrett knew that possibility of me embarrassing the shit out of him was very real. My final warning was this: “if you thought you were uncomfortable in theater twelve during Black Widow, then just wait, you don’t even know discomfort yet.”

Thankfully, Garrett woke the fuck up and realized what a blessing and a benefit touring his school a month early was for him. He treated the remaining ninety minutes of us walking around his campus with enthusiasm and trying to figure out which building he’d have which class in. All four of us had the best time embracing his campus and I’m thankful we all got this opportunity to experience it together. As we were leaving Cal State Northridge to head to Hollywood Boulevard I made Garrett the promise that come Hell or high water, we would see The Forever Purge before my vacation ended.

When the four of us arrived at Hollywood Boulevard, there was a bit of a culture shock for Gabby. She’d never been there before, I’ve been multiple times, including once with the boys, so for her, the hustle and bustle of this mecca of tourism was a bit out of the realm of her usual. This caused a temporary delay in her embracing the exciting aspects of the area, but after another lil’ pep talk, all four of us were back on board the fun train.

We had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood where I promptly asked our waiter if there was any Britney Spears memorabilia in the place. He apologized for there not being any, but said he would make it up to us by adding as many of her videos to the playlist as he could. This was honestly almost better. Not only did Logan, Gabby, Garrett, myself, and our waiter get to hear and see Britney’s beautiful hymns in 4D Glory, but so did all the other patrons dining inside as well. #blessed

Following lunch, the triplets and I went and had THE BEST time at Madam Tussaud’s Hollywood Wax Museum! I love that place so much! I have well over a hundred pictures on my phone right now from our time in there and I even deleted about three times what I kept because I always omit the unnecessary duplicates! The boys pretended like they weren’t into it, but I know deep down they were loving themselves because they never once argued with me over any of the picture directions I was giving, so suffice it to say, a great time was had by all.

We then went to the nearby mall and shopped for a great long while where Gabby got herself some makeup at Sephora and caused us both to wish Melissa was with us. I don’t know shit about makeup and Gabby had a lot of questions, luckily the Sephora staff was super helpful because Melissa has terrible service at work and never even got a chance to answer our barrage of Snapchats.

There was a movie theater at the mall and back-to-normal Sweet Baby Garrett begged Logan and Gabby for us to go see The Forever Purge, but they weren’t having it. They were ready to get back home and lowkey, I was too, so that was the decision we made. After all, I was going to Disneyland the next day, I needed to make sure I was ready to roll!

Needless to say, Amanda and I had THE BEST time at The Happiest Place on Earth! Everyone knows that this is my ultimate happy place and I’ve never had anything less than a perfect time in Disneyland park and that day was certainly no exception!

We were even successful in getting a boarding group (201!) for the new Star Wars attraction: Rise of the Resistance and let me tell you all what, THAT RIDE WAS AMAZING!

The experience was so interactive and had so many different cinematic moments that I truly felt transported to a galaxy far, far away… Having been a lifelong Star Wars fan, the new Galaxy’s Edge portion of the park is like something out of a dream for me. My personal favorite moment came near the end of the ride when our tram was racing towards what I thought was a mirror, so I was waving feverishly at it while flashing my signature smile only to realize as we got closer and closer that I wasn’t wearing white and the person opposite of me was a solid decade younger with much more hair than I. I couldn’t stop laughing at my mistake and then to learn that Amanda was next to me making the same one made the experience even better!

The rest of our day was every bit as magical! We got to ride the revamped version of Snow White and LOVED IT! We rode what may very well be our last time on the original Splash Mountain before the overlay to Princess and the Frog. The Jungle Cruise and Winnie the Pooh both opened a day earlier than announced and we got to experience both, it was just the best! Like I said, I’m always at my happiest at Disneyland. I just love it so much.

While I always feel a great deal of sadness every time I have to leave Disneyland, I didn’t feel it as much this time because I knew once I got back to Temecula, my nearest and dearest cousin, Alyssa, would be there. She had just flown back from Denver that afternoon and with her was her boyfriend, Cody, who I hadn’t yet had the privilege of meeting and was most excited to finally meet!

When I arrived back at my Uncle Joe’s house, Alyssa and Cody were just getting out of that wonderful jacuzzi. I gave Alyssa a hug like I always do and then Cody went to shake my hand, but I just gave him a hug too. I could tell he wasn’t expecting that, but I knew that if Alyssa loved him, I was going to too and I was not at all wrong.

Let me preface with this: I’ve never met a Cody that I didn’t love. I have this weird thing with names and find that people who share the same name seem to share many of the same characteristics and for me, Cody is one of those names that I just know I’m going to love the person with it. The Original Sweet is the original Cody in my life and is without doubt one of my favorite people on this entire planet, then there’s my new friend from TJ Maxx, he’s super amazing as well, so it came as absolutely no surprise to me that Alyssa’s Cody was more of the same level of phenomenal!

On Friday morning Alyssa, Cody, and I all went to Starbucks for breakfast and then we went and got Garrett and Logan (Gabby had to work, so she couldn’t go) and the five of us went to the Edwards 15 Theater there in Temecula to see… the movie this entire trip seemed to oddly revolve around… The Forever Purge!

I told Garrett as we were walking in that the only way we wouldn’t end up seeing this movie was if they were showing it in that air-conditionerless theater twelve, but given that this place had fifteen screens, I felt the odds had to be in our favor, right…?

I told the boy at the counter I wanted three tickets to The Forever Purge, but ONLY if it wasn’t playing in theater twelve. There was a very awkward and elongated pause on his end where he just stared at me nervously.

I broke the silence, “you’ve gotta be kidding me.” I looked back and Garrett who looked absolutely defeated.

“Listen, we were just here three days ago and saw Black Widow in that theater with no. air. conditioning.” I emphasized. “We cannot sit through another movie here without a/c.”

“Oh, oh no, don’t worry about that,” the boy laughed. “We literally just got it fixed this morning, so it should be totally good now!”

“Oh, thank God,” I dramatized. “In that case then, yes, three for The Forever Purge.

California Melissa met us there and the six of us watched this intense thriller of a movie! I was on the edge of my seat throughout and had become so engulfed in the lives of the main characters that I was sitting there CRYING in the end scene! I was NOT expecting to cry in The Forever Purge, but in the most bizarre way, the film was poignantly beautiful and I absolutely LOVED it! I would STRONGLY recommend watching this one! It definitely made me want to watch all the other Purges between this and the only other one I’ve ever seen, the first.

We all then went and had lunch at Lucille’s Barbecue, a true staple of mine and California Melissa’s friendship. We used to go there every single Friday night for like a year! We share so many great memories in that place, so it’s impossible for me to visit without us going there at least once!

I then left the five of them to head up to San Bernardino to meet my friend’s Kamber and Charles and their kids at their youngest’s softball game. This year has been a real blessing for my friendship with them because not only did I get to spend this weekend with them, but Melissa and I spent eight days with them in Hawaii back in March and now come October, we’re all going to Walt Disney World (minus their children!) How wonderful for us all!

True to form, that evening Kamber and I found ourselves at the true staple of our friendship, The Cheesecake Factory. Like I’ve mentioned before, we share so many of our best (and worst) memories there, so we never go anywhere without going there!

The next day we went and had breakfast at this cute little restaurant in Redlands where Kamber and her family are soon moving. I was having some awful sinus issues that day and even found myself taking a lil’ nap once we got back to their house. I needed to make sure I got myself right because Kamber and I were going to the Hollywood Bowl that night to see one of the greatest voices of all time, Christina Aguilera. I could not go feeling like I was, so I took some sinus medicine and gave myself a time out!

Parking at the Hollywood Bowl was some of the craziest shit I’ve ever seen. They don’t have parking spots, they have parking rows. You literally just line up one car after the next till the entire row is full around you. There is quite literally ZERO possibility of leaving early – unless you’re the very first car in line – otherwise you gotta sit there and wait till every single other car in front of you has rolled out. It was the most LA thing I’ve ever seen. Wild.

Christina Aguilera was performing with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra and you better believe it was every bit as phenomenal as it sounded. Her voice is as powerful as it’s always been and her multitude of hits sounded so damn good with that symphony backing. It was truly an awe-inspiring performance. Kamber and I were up out of our seats for nearly the entire second half and we were jamming with the best of them – including the Xtina super fan who was wearing the assless leather chaps from her “Dirrty” video! I super cried during her duet with a Great Big World, “Say Something.” It was so Beautiful – pun intended! The true highlight for me though was when she closed the show with “Fighter!” That song was the theme song of Club Aurora – Melissa’s old car from way back when. We would rock out so hard to that song in that car. That hymn really takes me back to a different place and time. FIGHTER IS OUR JAM! I sent Melissa as many Snapchats of it as I could, so she could live vicariously through me. I wanted so badly to get the autographed poster for $100, but it was sold out! I had to settle for the regular one for $50! This was a once-in-a-lifetime performance though and there was no way in Hell I was leaving without some merchandise! It was a night that I’ll never forget seeing an iconic performer at an iconic venue in an iconic city. It was genuinely magical.

The next morning I bid Kamber, Charles, and their kids farewell and returned to Temecula where I met my family and set off for our day’s activities. As I was sharing how perfect and phenomenal Christina Aguilera was with my Uncle Joe, Cole, Alyssa, and Cody, Cody said something that was just spectacular to my ears. I was telling them all how I even cried once during Christina’s show and Cody goes, “so it was on the same emotional level for you as The Forever Purge!”

Prior to this little quip I already knew I loved Cody, but it was in that very moment that I KNEW I loved Cody! His quick wit and willingness to insert it into my story really resonated with me. I couldn’t possibly be happier for my cousin Alyssa and him that they found one another. Literally the cutest couple ever and I love them both SO much! Melissa and I will be visiting the two of them in Denver at the end of the month and I already can’t wait for the memories we’ll make!

Fortunately for me, I got to spend that entire last Sunday with Cody and Alyssa as well as Cole and my Uncle Joe. The five of us went down to Coronado Island and I was absolutely thrilled to be going back again. Like I said in Part One, it’s one of my favorite places in the whole world, so it was quite the treat to return.

We lunched at this cute lil’ Irish Pub right there on that enchanting Orange Avenue that I just love so much and then went to the exquisite Hotel Del Coronado where we walked all around before enjoying some quality time on the beach and in the ocean. The water was every bit as perfect as the time prior, so Cody, Alyssa, and I spent a great deal of time in it. We closed out our island adventure with a visit to this picture perfect park that sits opposite downtown San Diego and as you can see from the picture below, the view is breathtaking!

We drove back up to Cole’s condominium in La Jolla and said farewell to Cody and Alyssa as they were on their way to spend the next couple of days with my Aunt Debbie. Cole, Uncle Joe, and I all went to the extremely conveniently located mall and had dinner at this bizarrely modern establishment. The food was good, but I wasn’t digging the forced use of technology. Trust me, it wasn’t just scanning a QR Code for the menu, they wanted us to do everything – including requesting drink refills – from our phone. Very Californian because that shit would NEVER fly here in the midwest.

Finally we’ve arrived at Monday, July 19th, the last day of my trip. I went over and picked up Garrett and Logan and the three of us went to my favorite place to have my final meal each trip, The Original Pancake House. Regrettably, Gabby was feeling ill that morning and couldn’t join us, so it was just me and my California Brothers. Of course we had a wonderful time together and the food was great, but I can never shake the pit of sadness that sits heavily in my heart each time its the last day of one of my California vacations.

After breakfast I took the boys back home and Gabby was feeling well enough to come down and bid me farewell. Yes, it goes without saying that I was definitely crying – Hell! I cried during The Forever Purge! You think I wouldn’t be bawling my eyes out when I’m saying goodbye to my babies!?! This time though was particularly bad for me…

With the three of them going off to different universities in the fall, this could quite possibly be the last time the four of us were together for several years to come. Working in retail prevents me from going back there during the holidays and if any one of them does take a summer course, like had been discussed, they might not be there during my future travels. It weighed really heavily on my heart and still does now even as I type this. We shared our hugs and goodbyes and then I went in that rental car and sobbed like a lunatic for the duration of the ten minute drive back to my uncle’s. I wasn’t even wearing sunglasses, just my regular glasses, so anyone who saw me saw me crying my eyes out. Even putting on Christina Aguilera’s “Fighter” and trying my best to sing along through my messy sobs wasn’t enough to shake the sadness.

I was such a mess after that influx of sadness that it literally took me FOREVER to pack my bags! Thank goodness my flight had been delayed an hour and a half! I might not of made it otherwise! I thanked my Uncle Joe greatly for allowing me to stay at his house, where I already share so many fantastic memories and made even more this time around, then made my way down to the San Diego International Airport where I left the west coast to return home to the gateway to the west!

As always, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your continued support! PLEASE feel free to leave me a comment below! You know I LOVE reading and responding to them! I always have THE BEST time in California and am thrilled I was able to share my California Adventure with you! In fact, I have MANY other adventures to share this month! I visited Chester, Illinois, the home of Popeye the Sailor Man just recently and let me tell you what, that was quite the experience! Then, like previously mentioned, Melissa and I are headed to Denver at the tailend of this month to rendezvous with Alyssa and Cody! Hope you’re all excited because I know I am! Until next time, I wish you ALL all the best!