Well, the day has finally arrived, but if I knew it was going to start off like it did, I would have probably stayed hidden under the house.

Now, this is the Big Summer Vacation and one that we hadn’t been on easily since 2017, but certainly not for 2020 or 2021. You know, that pesky little COVID thing. So, we had quite the agenda set before us.

We were going to go visit a friend of the wife’s, whom she hasn’t seen in, seriously, 10 years. We would spend some time there and hit up a few wineries there and watch the sun go down there and listen to his conspiracy theories there and not rock the boat there, OK? He’s the wife’s friend, so unless I want to sleep under the house, make nice.

Then, we would leave there and tool down the road to the Land of Disney and spend some time there, and spend a crate load of money there and rub shoulders with people there so we can spend three hours in line there for Space Mountain. Maybe have a Dole Whip there (they are still popular, right?) Then, when we finish up there, point ourselves north to the Staples Center (yes, I know it’s called something else like’s Dick’s Hangout or the Bootyville Palace), grab our room there and see the latest in panels and events there. Watch anime at an anime convention? What are you, a noob? (PS, OK, it’s called Crypto.com, like that has any charm).

However, we got a dirty deal from the bottom of the deck.

The daughter came down with COVID a week before the vacation started and we had to quarantine, whereas I got it and the wife got it a few days after that. So, seeing the friend went off the list first. Then, the wife’s temperature would not drop, so that meant a ton of frantic calls in regards to Mouseville to get that all swapped, but that came off. So, I have spent the bulk of the vacation in bed, coughing my brains out and swabbing my nose (double yuck!), but we finally reached a point where we are all clean and nice and ready to go, so we did, using that last day to clean and scrub and boil and barbecue and make everything nice and tidy and pack them bags and whatever.

We lurched out with last-minute car issues, but we could work around it. It was also an unusually unpleasant drive down Highway 5. My problem is that I had been watching videos on Facebook of cars getting in horrific accidents (flying off the road; flipping over six times; getting t-boned by a tank) and we got behind a Penske truck that was listing so much to the right that the left-side wheels were barely on the road. No Final Destination here, boyo!

Then we used a driving app that seem to save us five minutes by wasting 10 minutes to do it. I felt it did more harm than good, so we got to the Biltmore later than we wanted and there was already a line to check in to get to the room. But the shuttle buses were not running yet, and you needed to go down to the crypto.com arena to get your COVID band (see above). No band, no entry. More time wasted, but it’ll be worse tomorrow.

Tried to get our swag bag, but those aren’t being handed out until tomorrow. Then, we needed to know where the bus shuttle location is and that was down on West Street on the other side of the arena, instead of in front, as in years past. There is going to be a ton of walking for this one. PS, we are Shuttle Two and the drop off point is the bus stop up the block from the Biltmore, but ACROSS the street.

This meant after all that walking, a late dinner and a late return to the hotel and etc., etc., etc. I felt like a punching bag, but I am hoping a good night’s sleep and a decent breakfast, and I’ll be ready to tackle taiko drums on Day 1. Excelsior!