Chapter Nine

My Aunt Kay and Uncle Sam — my mom’s brother and Lillian’s son — had a lovely pool home in La Jolla. Sam was a real estate agent. Kay helped manage the PR/Guest Relations department at SeaWorld.
They had four kids. Sue and Jill had fled the nest. Randy and Ricky were still living at home, but for reasons we’d discover later, we didn’t see much of them.

Sam and Kay seemed legitimately thrilled when we showed up on their doorstep, in spite of the God-awful early hour. We accepted their offer for breakfast, then grabbed some much needed sleep.

John and I stayed in La Jolla for about a week. The longest crash of our trip. The reason for this was simple: My aunt had “reciprocal agreements” with every major attraction in Southern California through her job at SeaWorld. She got us into everywhere for free.

We were without the truck for a day or two while the exhaust system was being repaired. I seem to recall a part needed to be ordered that took a day to be delivered.

Meanwhile, we spent a day at the beach. The infamous “clothing optional” Black’s Beach below the Torrey Pines cliffs. La Jolla Shores. The pier. It also gave us time to rest and recharge by their pool while performing one VERY important task.

Laundry.

Once the truck was ready, we never stopped. At the urging of my uncle, we took a day trip to Tijuana, then to Ensenada on the coast. Sam told us to be sure and enjoy a few Dos Equis, his favorite Mexican brew, while we admired the view.

(Dos Equis was, evidently, a legendary guilty pleasure of the La Jolla surfer crowd. It would eventually be available in the States five years later.)

Sam also stressed that we’d need to obtain a one-day “Mexican” car insurance policy before crossing the border in the truck. I don’t recall it costing much. But, as we were warned, we could end up in jail for a fender bender without it.

Most vivid memory of Mexico: Roadkill. On the road to Ensenada and back, we lost count of the dead dogs and cats.

Thanks to my Aunt Kay, we had free passes to the San Diego Zoo and we received First Class treatment at SeaWorld….including sloppy kisses from Shamu, the killer whale!

Oh…and as if that wasn’t enough, she even had the photo lab at SeaWorld process and mount all of John’s slide film from the first half of our trip.

She provided us with free passes to Disneyland, too. A day that will live in infamy.