School's Out For Summer

At the beginning of June 2018, my parents, my two brothers & their families all came out to visit San Diego.  We knew about it months in advance & told them we were up to our shoulders in farmers markets with Mad Munch, but nevertheless the time of year worked out best for everyone visiting.

Six set-ups in five days was the norm for us back then.  Kate posted this Facebook update on Tuesday, but we ended up getting called up to do Poway later in the week.

They got all got in on Friday, June 1, & were staying in South Mission Beach at a nice, large second floor  apartment next to the boardwalk.  

That morning, I had an appointment with another SCORE mentor in Southeast San Diego to go over our business plan, which I had been diligently working on for the past four months.  I was putting the finishing touches on it & had requested help from SCORE to look it over & help me prepare a loan package. 

"Looks good," the lady told me.  She gave me a few minor critiques & more importantly gave me a list of small business lenders in the area.  I left to oven cook fifteen pounds of Bacon, then iced & loaded the big cooler & Kate & I drove out to La Mesa to setup for the 3-7pm market.

"What time do we need to leave for Poway tomorrow?" Kate asked.

"Well, it starts at 8am, so we'll say 6:45," I said.  "Since it's our first time & all."

We brought a few extra loaves to Poway & I'm glad we did.  Our sales were three times better than our average at Scripps Ranch.  

Beginners luck?  Were we the hot new sandwich at the market?  Who knows?  But, we made sure to tell Diane we'd fill-in there any Saturday.

We got back home after 2pm & it felt real good to put our feet up & have a cold beverage.  It was "Hawaiian Shirt Giveaway Night" at the Padres game & we were meeting my whole family at Petco Park.  There wasn't quite enough time to take bus 35 & the trolley down to the ballpark, so we took an Uber.

The game was great, the Padres beat the Cincinnati Reds & everybody got a Hawaiian Shirt with a group photo to prove it.  Kate & I caught a ride home from my folks & called it a night.  Rancho Santa Fe would come early & my family was gonna come get some sandwiches.

We'd been doing RSF for five months, so we had that setup down pat.  The fam all made the trek up north about halfway through our day.  My mom paid for our biggest order of the day, getting Cheezers for everyone.  It was the first time my older brother & his family from Florida had eaten Mad Munch.

After unloading the Escape & putting everything away it felt like Kate & I had just finished our last final exam of the semester.  And, after "turning in my big paper," a.k.a. showing my business plan to the SCORE mentor, I was ready for our weekend to start.  

Kate & I decided to rent a couple of those electric Bird scooters & ride over the bridge to stay the night with my family in South Mission.  But, unfortunately, it was Sunday & both of our scooters batteries were drained from the weekend (much like we were).  

It took over an hour to get over there- by bicycle it usually takes me all of twenty minutes.  

Ah, the summer season had only just begun!