i just ran i ty ran no saur away

2009-06-19 5:55 p.m.

I have many things to get done, but I can't bring myself to do any of it. With the minor exception of three hours yesterday thrift shopping with Julie, I have been wearing pajamas for three days solid since I've gotten back to Milpitas.

The goodbyes were terribly hard, one in particular. Ryan accomplished the unprecedented/impossible task of making me cry at the airport. Long Beach airport is really janky, and only the strong survive. When the security check man asked me how my day was going, I glared at him through watery eyes and he didn't finish his sentence. The whole terminal must have been wondering why I was being so dramatic.

The day before I officially moved out, the Charolastras had one last hurrah out in Cabazon. The day trip itinerary was: dinosaurs, outlets, buffet, gambling.

A few weeks before, there was talk of going to Las Vegas, but who needs it considering the aforementioned?! Also, Vegas does not have dinosaurs!

There was absolutely no doubt about what part of the day I was most excited about. I volunteered to drive so that the others could eat egg mcmuffins, and all went well until I spotted the dinosaurs from the highway exit. According to the three of them, I started to drive frighteningly erratic. I was just too eager!

If any of you are confused, watch Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure.

I would love it if I had a romantic moment inside those dinosaurs - but alas, I was alone.

Christina, Ryan and Christine were happy enough to indulge my madness with a pit stop, but refused to pay $5 to go inside.

Ordinarily I'm a cheap person who would grumble about admission fees, or a shady person who would find a way to sneak in. I was too excited and in love though, and quickly paid to get in. Aside from a family I would later find to be obnoxious, I was the only one inside the "exhibit". There had been signs promising fun activities and "ride-on robotic dinosaurs". In actuality, it was a square mile of dust and rickety old dinosaur statues. I was the only person in the T-Rex proper. I was actually happy about this fact, because I proceeded to set my timer and take many pictures of myself inside the jaw.

On the way out, I saw a sign that said "Smile, you're on security cameras!"

How embarrassing!

In total, I probably spent too much time there and enjoyed myself too much for an adult woman. Ryan described me as "like a ten-year-old boy".

Christina, Ryan and Christine were happy to leave, and we headed over to the outlets. I've never been big on outlet shopping, probably because I'm disillusioned by the many times my parents dragged me to Gilroy for misshapen clothes from Eddie Bauer or Gap. These shops were amazing, though! Burberry, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Kate Spade, etcetera! And people talk of the Great Mall or Gilroy! Those places have nothing on Cabazon!

We went into a couple dozen shops, all the way to the end. At the start of the trip, Christina made fun of me for looking panic-stricken at the thought of being "in the desert!" but by day's end, had to admit that the sun and the arid atmosphere dehydrated and tired us out.

We were ravenous once we got to the buffet in a nearby Indian casino, Morongo. The lunch price was only $11, which made me feel less like a waste (being vegetarian, I can't hit up the pricier items such as alaskan king crab legs or steak).

Christina really wanted to book a hotel room for just an hour to nap, but we walked off the food comas in due time. We did laps around and through the bright noisy slot machines and card tables a few times. Christine's eyes shone with the big lights, and I could have sworn I saw dollar signs reflecting off her eyeballs. She was the most excited and I suppose professional at the whole deal. She kept rattling off dodgy strategies she had learned from her parents, and once she sat down at a blackjack table, I was genuinely worried that we would never get her to leave.

When I was little, I never snuck a few pulls on the slot machines in Reno or Vegas, so this was my absolute first time gambling. I won $9, and stopped there. I was really impressed with my measure of self-control! Ryan and Christina gambled away much more, and of course Christine ended up winning the most.

All in all, it was a great day and way to end the year. All I needed were my dinosaurs, and I was more than satisfied.

back | forth