BEA or bust - Part 4

BEA or bust -
The trip to Book Expo 2008

Day 3 - Phoenix to LA - 3:56 am

We crawled out of bed less than four hours after we crawled in. We sacrifice four crickets to the gods - frogs - and pack quickly. The sky is a deep shade just shy enough of black to let you know that it’s a dome over you, even though the hotel lights block out any stars. None of this matters. We are wide awake, because we are a mere 349 miles from the nearest Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

We set the GPS and tell her: Lead on, Maggie!

We ride in relative silence, it has been a year since either of us has had our favorite drink - Ice Blendeds at the Coffee Bean. Maggie (named after her maker: Magellan) took us to the Irvine Center store. Surely we have passed others along the way, but they were not ranked as a GPS “point of interest” so they must not be as good.

The only problem was, this store was in a mall and it was 9:15 am when we arrived. There were tense moments finding the store on the mall map and the deep seated fear that the store would not be open until the mall was: at ten!

We were formulating Plan B when we spotted a man sitting out with his morning brew in front of the store.

“Look! He has coffee!” One of us yelled. The man startled, by the look on his face he seemed afraid we wanted his coffee. And we probably did look a bit like rabid dogs. We had come a long way for this. (and the book expo, but whatever.)

The boy behind the counter thought our glee was a bit odd. But I didn’t care. I had a Mocha Ice Blended in my hand in minutes.

Unfortunately, it was much better than I remembered it being. I was so certain that I had idealized the drink during the time I had been without, but no. And the fact that it was so good saddened me. Like a junkie coming down, it would be just as hard to leave it behind as it had when I moved from LA the first time.

A new plan was hatched: make ourselves so sick on Ice Blendeds that we will willingly give them up at the end of the week. It is a good plan. I went back in and got a second one for the road. I am nothing if not determined.

Coffee Bean in hand, we arrived at the Expo and spent the afternoon setting up our booth. For all this, we will sell no books. The expo is for tradespeople. We are meeting PR people, other authors, artists, and rights agents (Like Hasselhoff, I hope to be loved in Germany!)

The day has left us excited about the show, but both glad we are ex-Angelenos. Of course, here there is a Coffee bean on every corner - three within a stone’s throw of our hotel (this is equivalent to a twenty minute drive.)

We hit my favorite sushi house for dinner. While I learned that LA driving (and the mild muscle cramping that goes with it) is not a skill that is lost, sadly the ability to stuff your face with sushi is quickly gone without practice.
At last we are snug in our hotel in West Hollywood. The frogs and crickets are chirping sweet songs of predator and prey. It may be time for bed . . . at last a real night’s rest. But I swear, through the forest sounds of the animals, I swear I can hear the Coffee Bean calling me.