Today is my typical pre-trip day. The plan was to pick up Gary at SNA (John Wayne Airport) and take him to his hotel near LAX. In the middle of doing that, I was going to get the rest of my errands done. Daniel and I got up early and headed to IHOP for a goodbye breakfast. Daniel had gingerbread pancakes and I had my usual. I decided to get a couple of errands done quickly, so I went to the bank to deposit some paychecks and get some money for the trip. Then we did a quick stop at Target and headed back to my apartment.
When we arrived, I noticed Daniel’s rear license plate on his Prius had been stolen. I can’t believe this was the second crime against one of my friends since I have lived in my apartment complex – the first being Tiffany’s radio being stolen way back in 2003. We called around and determined we needed to go to the police station to file a report. By this time, we were getting close to Gary’s arrival at SNA, so we quickly went down and filed the report. Heading back to the apartment, Daniel and I started calling around to see where he could get replacement plates. His mom offered to come and take him to AAA to get the replacement plates, the only catch being he had to become a member. I went to pick up Gary at the airport and came back to the Apartment. Daniel then went with his mom on an adventure to get his plates changed.
I hit up Wal-Mart, Kohl’s, and REI for shopping with Gary while Daniel was gone. It took him about 2.5 hours to go to AAA only to be told he had to still go to DMV because the address on his license was not where the car was registered. So all in all, he had to pay for replacement plates and a new license at the DMV. Once he was back and the new plate was on his car, we headed out to eat at the Olive Garden. We made a quick stop at DSW for shoes before heading to take Gary to the hotel.
We had Carpool access so the trip to the hotel and back went pretty quickly. It is weird that Gary, Mom, and I will all be arriving in Dallas on different flights before we join up for the trip to Buenos Aires. I spent the rest of the night packing and then watching some Ghost Adventures before finally heading to bed. I am either forgetting something major, or I am getting used to traveling and now can remember what I need.