Caliventure Chronicles Episode 6: The Day of Weird

Yesterday was a strange day.

If you’ve been following my daily adventures, you already know why based off yesterday’s post. If you haven’t been following my daily adventures, you can click here to get caught up: https://hortonhearswhos.com/travel-adventures-2019/

Most of my day yesterday was entirely uneventful. I’ve been receiving a lot of encouragement from friends that it was entirely okay that I had a day with little to no adventure. Part of me agrees. Another part of me starts to get anxious because time is ticking and I have yet to do some of the bigger things I want to do. For the record, as I type this, thunderstorms are my main obstacle. But that is a story for another day–like tomorrow. Yesterday went like this:

• Wake up at 9 AM
• Ugh.
• Fall back asleep.
• Wake up at a random time. Ow, my head hurts.
• Fall back asleep
• Wake up at 1 PM
• Eat leftover Mexican food
• Kill some tiny bugs who infiltrated my Airbnb. They stood no chance.
• Write a blog post
• Kill a lone tiny bug. He thought I wouldn’t notice. I did.
• Edit blog post
• Update travel journal
• Contemplate what to do
• Shower

You kinda see how my day was lazy. The true excitement was wiping little insects off the face of the planet. I eventually decided to find a coffee shop to sit down at and sort through my life. I selected a coffee shop called The Stirring because it looked really cool and Yelp said it was open until 10PM. I got ready at 5PM, donned my new Black Lives Matter shirt, and went forth into the world.

But first? I had to stop and get a Dutch Bros Coffee. Specifically the mysterious and alluring Dragon Slayer per Emma’s suggestion. Who knew something so simple would become so complicated?

I pulled up to the window and greeted the friendly cashier, proudly declaring, “I’d like a medium Dragon Slayer tea please!” I was excited. The picture on the website made it look super cool. It was a raspberry and blue raspberry drink with a red blackberry drizzle. Essentially it looked like tendrils of blood reaching into the depths of a purple vortex. Epic.

"So you want the rebel?" asked the friendly cashier. 
"Uh, the what?" was my lame response. 
"Well, you see, the Dragon Slayer is normally a rebel." 
I stared dumbly. 
"Right. Okay. So the rebel is our energy drink mix. Of course we can make the Dragon Slayer as a lemonade, tea, or soda. However, rebel is the norm. So... rebel?"
I was not up for being rebellious. In fact, I have a personal vendetta against energy drinks. I've boycotted them strongly for nearly ten years. So I smiled and said, "I shall have the Dragon Slayer as a tea, please." 
"Why, of course! I'll get that in! Any fun plans tonight?" 
I mumbled something about doing something, pretty excited for my pretty drink. 

The moment came. She reached around a corner and pulled out….

Well, to say I was underwhelmed is an understatement at best.

I mean. Where was the blackberry drizzle? WHERE WAS THE DRAGON BLOOD?!

So, I drove away, sipping the drink that looked nothing like the promoted picture and cursed myself. I mean maybe if I had agreed to the energy drink, things would’ve been different. Maybe I would have dragon blood. Defeated, I followed my GPS as it barked orders to The Stirring. I sipped the drink, which was actually really good, but there was a particular lack of dragon essence if you ask me. Don’t ask me how I know that. Some things are better left secret.

And then it happened.

Not even a mile down the road another Dutch Bros Coffee came into view.

I looked at my empty drink. Yes, I drink things fast.

I looked at the Dutch Bros Coffee.

I told my GPS to shut its heinous robotic mouth, lurched into the drive thru line of Dutch Bros Coffee, and resolved to order the Dragon Slayer right. It was a big moment. I was about to break my boycott of energy drinks in hopes of drinking the true form of the Dragon Slayer. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. All these years. I was about to ruin it in the name of dragons. As if to intensify this moment further, the hit song “Everybody-Backstreet’s Back” by the Backstreet Boys serenaded me from the Dutch Bros outside speakers.

Yes, Backstreet Boys. I was coming back to the energy drinks. Thanks for noticing.

The cashier was full of bubbles. She was dancing and grooving to the song. I made it a point to praise the music choice. I mean, you cannot go wrong with 90s music, especially Backstreet Boys. This ensured she continued singing the song as I ordered.

“Am I sexual?” sang the cashier.

“Um, I’ll take the Dragon Slayer, please.”

“Yeaaaaahhh.”

I smiled at her as she tapped in my order, grooving to the beat.

“Wait. Is that the rebel then?” I frantically asked. No room for a second mistake, folks.

“Yes. That it’s normal form. You can also order it as…”

I decided to keep it as the energy drink and then tacked on a quick Passion Water soda order. It’s passionfruit and watermelon made as sparkling water. Hey, I have a limited time here. I have to try all the things.

Absolutely certain I’d remedied my prior mistake, I pulled up to the pickup window, leaving my Backstreet Boys backup dancer to her funk. You go, girl!

The moment came. They handed me the drink.

And I stared like one betrayed by the universe.

You may be like: What am I looking at here? Also, that’s a lot of fluids.

You wouldn’t be wrong. Here is what you’re seeing. At the very top is the failed Dragon Slayer tea with no notable dragon blood drizzle. The little cup is my Passion Water drink. Listen, there was no time for a picture of it. That baby was gone in .5 seconds due to sheer deliciousness.

I have no regrets.

That last cup? That’s the Dragon Slayer in its natural form. If you look closely you’ll notice that there is NO DRAGON BLOOD DRIZZLE! I felt betrayed, confused, isolated, unworthy of all dragons–you get the point. And not only that but I broke my energy drink boycott for nothing. And I’ll have you know, it was not a pleasant taste or feeling. Energy drinks are gross. This was no exception.

Sad, alone in a world without genuine dragon blood drinks, I urged my rental car forward to The Stirring.

To my horror, The Stirring, despite Yelp’s proclamation of it being open until 10 PM, was closed. CLOSED AT 6PM. I mean… coffee shops that close at 6PM should be ashamed of themselves, just saying. Interestingly, this coffee shop was connected to a church. Upon further reading, it is owned by the church but also works as a public business. Also, I’m going to guess me and my shirt wouldn’t have been entirely welcomed there. Based on my personal experiences, churches seem to scoff at the Black Lives Matter movement saying “Well, all lives matter.” Which, of course they do! But the whole point is that Black lives are still being treated unfairly through systemic racism, police brutality, and racial profiling. The Jim Crow laws are still embedded in a system set up by White people. Black Lives Matter is a movement that is speaking up against racism. It shouldn’t be so easily dismissed. Okay, that was a little political. Actually, no. That was not political–that was about social justice. Anyway, I recently wrote a 14 page research paper on racial hierarchy and how messed up and racist the system is. You’ll find I’m very passionate on that topic. If anybody is interested in reading it, let me know!

But back to our adventure where I was not going into the church-owned coffee shop with my Black Lives Matter shirt. They were closed. I was shut out.

So I decided to visit a place called T4: Tea for U. Once there I ordered a wintermelon milk tea with passion fruit bubbles and something called egg puffs.

I thought wintermelon would be green and, well, something to do with melons. As you can see it was brown and had nothing to do with melons if my taste buds were correct. It wasn’t a bad drink. I enjoyed it well enough, but it followed the trend of breaking expectations. The egg puffs were great. Think soft fortune cookies. It was so delicious that I ended up knocking my fork off the table halfway through my consumption and had to eat the rest of it with my hands as I didn’t want to shame myself by asking for a new fork.

I sat there for at least two hours updating my travel journal, researching some events I can do with my remaining time, and even writing a few paragraphs in my story. Nothing too crazy though. It was a neat little place that had board games and an Xbox in one corner of the room. Pretty relaxed place, but also got pretty loud at times.

I left from there to go home, use the restroom, change into a dress shirt, and go to a hipster brewery called The Dip. However, I wasn’t feeling so good. I still had the remnants of the migraine. I was also lightheaded and woozy. Maybe it was just the lazy day. Maybe it was the energy drink sugar spike. Maybe it was just a sign I was not to go to The Dip that night.

So, deciding to play it safe, I elected to order pizza from a place called Round Table Pizza which literally is themed after King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. And, of course, I needed a drink to go with it so I visited Dutch Bros Coffee. Again. This time?

The Dutch Mojito which consists of lime, coconut, and creme de menthe. It was heavenly and delicious and I loved it. I spent the rest of the night eating pizza, drinking magic, and watching another episode of The Boys as a rare thing happened outside.

Severe thunderstorms shook the walls. Bright scathes of lightning. Torrential rain. For a city known for primarily sunshine, this was rare weather. Sadly, it’s still a thing today. But I’m going to continue to adventure.

So, until we meet again!