I thought the checkout time on our AirBnB listing was humorous -- 10 a.m. or earlier. In our usual efficient way, Gayle and I were up, packed and out the door "earlier". We planned to get a late breakfast or early lunch somewhere along the I-5, hopefully with a view of the ocean. Then we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon resting at my house.
I was driving down the carpool lane when my car started beeping. The dash said, "Get immediately off the road and stop." I put my flashers on and got off at the next exit. As soon as I turned right on Poinsettia Lane in Carlsbad my car stopped moving. I admit to being quite shaken by the experience and so grateful we got off the freeway before my car stopped moving.
I called AAA and a technician arrived fairly quickly and swapped out my battery. It was not the battery. He called for a tow truck that would tow my car back to Claremont with Gayle and I in the cab. Charlie, our tow truck driver, showed up just before noon and got my broken car onto the bed of his truck.
Charlie was about my age and had a deep Slavic accent. I got about every other sentence he uttered....and he uttered a lot of sentences. He wanted to chat. And chat he did about cars; how he would never buy a hybrid; about the nice tip his last customer gave him; about how men continue working longer than women; etc. Gayle and I smiled for awhile and then pretended to sleep. We got back to Claremont around 3 p.m. with bladders that were about to burst and no food in our stomachs.
I had Charlie leave my car at my favorite auto mechanic. They are low on mechanics right now and won't be able to fix my car before Gayle and I were planning to leave on the rest of our trip. I got the same report from the dealership. So we rented a car for the remainder of our time together. Stern women can not be deterred from a vacation.
Tom Evans picked us up at the garage and helped us get all our travel gear home. Then he drove us to the rental car location. Thank you, Tom!
We took Gayle's wheelchair with us so we could be sure it would fit in the compact we ordered. The woman who helped us was not sure that was possible so I took the wheelchair out to the proposed rental and forced it in. By the time we had a rental car it was 4 p.m. and we drove across the street to eat. We were hoping that food would revive our bodies and spirits. It helped.
I had gotten us reservations to Bavel for dinner but it was clear we did not want to go. We canceled and got about an hour of down time at my house before we headed out again. We had tickets to see Ladysmith Black Mambazo at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. I told Gayle if we found ourselves too wiped out we could leave at intermission.
We located out seats only to discover we had a handrail directly in front of our view but we know how to deal.
The program listed an opening act before intermission -- Madison McFerrin -- daughter of Bobby McFerrin. If we left at intermission we would not see Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Another plan foiled. Madison McFerrin's style is called "soulapella". She had a keyboardist, a drummer and the most incredible outfit. I wasn't overcome with her talent.
We stayed after intermission and we weren't sorry that we did. There were nine South African men in Ladysmith Black Mambazo, which was started by Joseph Shabalala in 1960. Shabalala died in 2020 and four of his sons are currently in the group. They sing in the tradition of their Zulu heritage without any accompaniment. Their movements are incredible and mesmerizing. Their harmonizing is beyond comparison. Their message is one of harmony and peace. I turned to look at Gayle during the performance and she had a contented smile on her face.
When we got home at 11:30 we were completely done in. It wasn't the day we planned but it was the day we had. We are alive and we are agile!
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