Mon Weekend Avec Le Baron: Deuxième Partie

[zrath]

Saturday April 19th

Several months ago, coyote_seven had told me that he wanted Pasccal and I to have his old faithful
pick-up truck, which he no longer used. And he had talked his parents into agreeing to this. I had thanked
him profusely and told him that I couldn't do anything until my driver's license problem was resolved.
Well, it was resolved now! So "Operation Kzin Truck" was go!
C7 had to get the truck towed to his family mechanic first, because of a persistent radiator leak.
Since I had a rental car, I was going to drive over, get him at the mechanic's place and take him wherever.
We wound up cruising around and hanging out for the whole day.

So of course, eventhough the weather had been awesome the day before, it was starting to go wonky today.
There were scattered clouds and the wind was awake. I put on a long-sleeve Big Dogs t-shirt, just in case.
I squeezed into the Red Baron and put the top down immediately. I was not gonna let the weather spoil this.
I met up with C7 at his parent's place, where we discussed the truck's status and what we were going to do
for the rest of the day. I wanted to go to the Citadel outlet center to get me some clothing.
(The Citadel used to be a tire factory with the facade of a Babylonian temple. When the factory closed,
the facade was preserved. An open-air mall and office buildings were eventually built behind the facade.)
I had seen a sign for a Casual Male XL store there, and they were having a weekend sale.
Also, I distinctly remembered there being a Big Dogs store in that mall as well.
But first, LUNCH! We were both starving, and C7 guided us to one of the local joint.
The place: Arry's. The menu: vast. I ordered: a pastrami sandwich with fries.
There was enough pastrami for two french rolls, but they only gave me one. And it was desintegrating.
My long-sleeved Big Dogs t-shirt valiantly tried to protect me from the dripping pastrami.
It did not escape unscathed, despite my best efforts at damage control.
I remarked to C7 that we REALLY needed to go to the Citadel now, if only to get a clean shirt! :D

So we went, and boy has the place changed since I last visited it. The amount of stores had doubled,
and the parking lot I usually used was turned into some of these new stores!
I found a parking spot, we got out of the Red Baron and headed for the mall.
A shifty guy approached C7 and almost said, "Pssst, hey you! Need a dentist?"
I'm gonna let Coyote Seven fill in the details here, since Shifty Dentist talked to him. :)

There was a whole lot of people at the mall too. There was a contestant search for some TV show called
"Deal Or No Deal", and several clusters of loud people were roped in and being guided through lines.
Hey, lookit me! I wanna be on TV! Hyuck hyuck hyuck!!! :D
Anyway, the Big Dogs store was right where I left it, so we went in.
I picked out a couple of t-shirts: Muscle Car Club (navy shirt) and Biker Club (black shirt).
I liked the Muscle Car shirt so much, I left it on. The "pastramied" shirt was folded up and bagged.
I wanted this shirt, but they didn't have my size. I tried to interest C7 in getting something. After all,
a coyote is a big dog, sort of. And he always seems to wear black, so he could use a little color. :)
We were both really thirsty and wanted 1) water (C7) and 2) Gatorade (me). We found some vending machines
with both, but I didn't have any change. There was an information office near the machines, so I went in.
I was pretty confident they could make change because they had lottery terminals behind the counter.
And by law, they can only take cash for lotto tickets. So yeah, they had change. :)
Change gotten! Drink gotten! Aaaaaaaah, refreshing...

We meandered toward the end of the mall where Casual Male XL was, and encountered one of the few
KB Toys still open in this state. It was right where I had left it, but instead of a parking lot beyond it,
there were more stores! Like I said, the mall had expanded. But the KB was still laid out the same way.
C7 and I saw toys both amusing and frightening. I mercifully can't remember any of them.
We meandered on and reached the Casual Male store. I went in, looked around, and walked back out.
There was nothing that grabbed me, and I had already gotten two nifty t-shirts from Big Dogs.
So we headed back to the Red Baron, discussing our next objective.
I wanted to hit the Glendale Galleria to check out the Lego Store there, but C7 proposed we go to the
Lego Store in Downtown Disney instead. It was actually closer to us than the Glendale one.
That seemed reasonable, so we hit the 5 freeway and headed southbound. (o/~ Follow that sound! o/~)

Adn we got there in a very reasonable amount of time. I missed a turn and had to backtrack. I knew I had
missed a turn as soon as I found myself driving UNDER the Lego Store! Ouate zoeufs phoques?!?
I was used to being a passenger when coming to Downtown Dizzy, Spino usually drove!
We parked far away from the entrance, because we're not afraid of walking! Yes, that's it! :)
So, the Lego Store, wowsers!
They had all sorts of nifty things you usually can only buy online: the motorized walking AT-AT,
the big Star Destroyer and the Death Star, the new city block sets (Café Corner, Market Street),
the Eiffel Tower, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the Jawa Sandcrawler, most of the train stuff, etc...
I was looking specifically for the Building Crane (7905). It's bigger than it looks, it reminds me of
the remote-controlled toy cranes that were so popular when I was growing up in France, and it's ON SALE!!!
And it was OUT OF STOCK! But, the salesgirl told me that I could order it right there at the store,
and it would be shipped to me for free! Hey, that's not bad! So I went for it.
Also, there were a few sets on sale for half-price, including EXACTLY ONE Exo-Force Aero Booster (8106)!
I had been looking at that set for the past month or so, but I had shirked at paying the full $30 for it.
I mean, it was cool and all, and it's possibly the most Gundam-like of all the Exo-Force sets.
Well, I could stop fretting! I got it for $15! Hoo-hah! Score! And other colorful expressions of win!
We exited the Lego Store and walked to the other end of Downtown Dizzy. C7 was hoping to get into the
park and ride a few rides. His parents and sibling were already there, but they couldn't help us.
We retraced our steps and made our way back to the Red Baron.
We left Downtown Dizzy and started looking for somewhere to dine.

I was heading generally Westbound and suddenly came across Gilbert Street, which sounded familiar.
So I made a left. Then I remembered where I knew the street name from: the infamous Prancing Skiltaire!
I wasn't planning to stop there, but it served as a convenient navigational point, and from there,
I knew where to go to find various eating establishment. C7 seemed slightly alarmed at passing so
close to the PS, and couldn't believe the light-up sign was still there, attached to the tree.
We ghosted by, made a right on Trask and headed for Beach Blvd., where all the food was.
We cruised North on Beach, looked at all the choices, and decided on Red Robin.
The food was great, the service was awesome, and we had a bitchin' funky disco time!
The waitress was very personable and I think she exchanged e-mail addresses with C7.
o/~ Coyote's got a girlfriend! Coyote's got a girlfriend! o/~ :D
Just kidding! She already has a boyfriend. :)
We eventually left and headed back to C7's parents' place, where his car was parked.
Eventhough it was chilly, I kept the top down. And C7 wanted it that way, too.
Nothing like driving at night and looking at the stars...
There was a Volkswagen commercial like that on TV.
And, hey, it's on YouTube!
Why convertibles are awesome! (Turn down your lights where applicable)


Next post will cover Sunday April 20th and will be photo-heavy.

Comments

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

I've only ever been to the Lego store at Downtown Disney, but it too Rocks The Casbah. That complex has everything you need including Disneyland, so why ever leave?

I like Big Dog stores, they have clothes for all the Big Dogs and, er, Bitches. My favorite fuzzy slippers too.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

I don't think I've been to Lego at Disneyland's DD, but the one in Orlando rocks.

Hmm. If I get out there this Summer (still working on that...) we'll have to go. }:D