California knows how to party.

The second half of my glorious vacation began with a short drive from Hesperia to Camp Pendleton to pick up my BROTHER! The first time I see him after a few months is simultaneously heartbreaking and perfect. I can't really explain it. When I see his handsome face, I realize that, for the first time in my life, we are growing up without each other. I instantly start wondering what I've missed in his life - how he feels, what he's doing everyday. I worry that we aren't just growing up, but maybe growing apart, too.

Then, I hug him and realize we aren't. At all. That first hug reassures me that nothing has changed and nothing ever will.

We got the grand tour of his luxurious room, met his roommate Schieler, and high-tailed it out of there.


We checked into our hotel in Oceanside and walked to the end of the beautiful pier. We saw seagulls, pelicans, surfers, a baby shark (someone caught it!), and a SEAL! Much to LP's humiliation, I started to scream and chase it.


At the end of the pier, we noticed what looked like a pirate ship making its way toward us. When it passed the pier, a little kid screamed, "FIRE IN THE HOLE!" and there was a huge BANG! This boat actually had a fake cannon that it shot at people. Needless to say, I had a heart attack.


That night, we went bowling. Last time I bowled, I took first place and bowled my very first turkey. This time, I came in dead last - both games. I refuse to share my scores.


The next morning, we left early for San Diego to go to the world-famous San Diego Zoo! We took a quick bus tour, rode in the Skyfari aerial tram (I assure you - LP is WAY more afraid of heights than I am), and had some ice cream before scoping out the animals.


We saw polar bears playing, gorillas, a red panda, orangutans, a baby giraffe, a two-headed snake, sleeping koala bears (which I tried to steal), turtles in mid-fornication (LP's personal favorite), and my favorite, an incredibly hungry and lazy panda bear.





After leaving the zoo, we headed downtown to eat lunch and watch the Packers vs. Bears game. We went to a sports bar called Jolt'n Joe's in the Gaslamp Quarter. The doors were open to the street, TVs were playing every NFL game, the guacamole was taste-gasmic, and the atmosphere was awesome. I think I spotted every single team jersey in this place, except for the Bengals, and people were cheering like crazy. Let's just say - I fit in. Luckily, the Packers won by more than 3-1/2 points (despite a late Urlacher interception). We won $192 on our Vegas bet, so my dad promised to feed me for the rest of the vacation.

After lunch, we walked around the Gaslamp Quarter for a bit. I promise to return. That place is a party waiting to happen. LP also found his namesake.


We spent the rest of the night walking on the beach and watching football.


The next morning, we left early for Los Angeles because Mom and I had Jeopardy tickets! I wasn't allowed to take ANY pictures and I got in trouble for taking this one of the studio gates (stupid).


I cannot explain my excitement for Jeopardy. I have been a Jeopardy fan my ENTIRE life. I am not kidding. There is a video of me dancing to the Jeopardy song at age 2. Much to my surprise and excitement, I was there for three tapings of the TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS! I felt like a mega-dork when I recognized most of the contestants. It was so exciting to see the studio in person, see Johnny Gilbert (the announcer - who is a precious, nice old man), and see Sarah from the Clue Crew. See why I'm constantly fending guys off left and right?

Before the tapings started, my mom covered my mouth with a band-aid so I wouldn't say the answers out loud. When Alex came out, she actually started crying because she was so excited for me. The taping went pretty fast, but during the commercial breaks, Alex would take questions from the audience. He talked to us about dealing with his ruptured achilles tendon and his love for the Montreal Canadiens (ick). I wanted to ask him his opinion on Will Ferrell, but we ran out of time.

After a contestant mistakenly guessed, "What is a threesome?" when the answer was actually 'Love triangle,' Alex took the next commercial break to explain something to us. These aren't his exact words, but they are pretty close: "Supposedly, it is the ultimate male fantasy to have a threesome. Not for me. In fact, if that ever were to happen, and the girls were together, I would probably be sitting there, reading or watching TV." I thought I was going to die.

They had to re-tape a few things that didn't sound good on audio the first time. A legal expert on the panel made Alex re-record the answer 'Expedia.com' because he sang the jingle and Jeopardy didn't want to pay the royalties for it. The panel of judges just sat there, cross-referencing wrong answers in dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps, etc. It was so awesome to see. Truly a dream come true. Hopefully next time, I'm on the other side of the stage.

After Jeopardy, Dad and LP picked us up to see The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson! After a bit of a wait, we were allowed in the studio, where warm-up comedian Chunky B entertained us and taught us how to laugh correctly. They really stress that it's the audience's job to laugh hard - even when it's not funny. I actually thought Chunky B was funnier than Craig. Plus, he handed candy out to the audience before the show started.

As always, Craig was great, too. We got to see his gay robot skeleton Geoff Peterson in all his glory (including the guy who provides Geoff's voice). Much to my excitement, we did the Secretariat dance - if you don't watch the show, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. There was only one guest, but he was hilarious - it was JONAH HILL! He was there promoting Moneyball and, as you already know, he looks so different! He was really funny, joking about starring next to someone as handsome as Brad Pitt.

Since I've been home, I watched the episode and I can actually hear my brother laughing multiple times! He has a pretty recognizable laugh. Plus, he always seems to laugh at things that no one else finds funny.

After the taping, we went downtown to see Grauman's Chinese Theater. A few key roads were closed because President Obama was in town for something. However, after a bit of tricky maneuvering, we finally reached our destination. It's such a tourist trap, but you can't not go there. It's fun to pretend you're holding hands with compare your own hand size to George Clooney and Matt Damon. My personal favorite, however, was the cast of Harry Potter. They even put their wands in the cement.


As we were leaving, we overheard some music nearby. After checking it out, we realized it was Kelly Rowland, performing outside for Jimmy Kimmel's show. So, we listened to "Motivation" before heading back to Oceanside...because nothing is more gloriously awkward than listening to that song with your parents and brother.

The next morning, we woke up early our excursions in Dana Point. Dad and LP went deep-sea fishing. Mom and I went the stereotypical girl route and opted with whale watching, instead. The boys' trip was a few hours longer than ours, so we drove to nearby San Clemente Beach. While there, we were swinging when we noticed some dolphins swimming by. It was just one of those moments that you can't explain - a rare moment of complete clarity, relaxation, and peace.


Unfortunately, we didn't see any whales on our trip, but we did see thousands (I'm not exaggerating) of dolphins.



LP caught a poisonous fish of some kind and got plenty of fish fillets from the other fishermen on the boat. This is his fierce look, by the way.


Then, the moment I had been dreading finally arrived. We drove back to Camp Pendleton and returned my brother like a rented DVD. As always, it hurt like crazy leaving him, especially not knowing when we'd see each other again.

On the upside, this gives me some time to work on my wrestling skills. Between boot camp and MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program), he's gotten pretty good.