December of a Lifetime

I'm standing in front of a Mola Mola, also known as the Sunfish. This is the heaviest vertebrate fish in the world.

For Christmas my husband and I said nay to spending money on tangible gifts. We chose to make memories from taking exciting trips and leaving the comfort of home for awhile. When we weren't taking a trip we were in our town taking time off work and further exploring our innumerable outdoor opportunities.

The First Trip:

The scene is 4:25 in the afternoon standing in the Hertz rent a car parking lot. Ben is there trying to get our rental car. He has to leave for swim practice in 5 minutes. They made the rental such a hassle that I needed to come down there to verify something and once I got there they were going to charge us an extra 25 dollars a day for our car! We were fuming, Ben was running late and we aborted the plan to rent a car for our drive to Bend Oregon. This turned out to be a much better plan anyway. We were able to throw our surfboards, our bags, pillows, and sleeping pads right into our van and feel confidant that if we stayed away for longer we could sleep in the van and be pretty dang comfortable. We left with smiles on our face, sun in our eyes and anxious ears waiting to listen to the John Butler Trio that night.

As we ascended into higher altitudes, an overwhelming sense of joy came over both of us. There was a stretch of road that seemed to never end that we took a pee break along side of and had a snowball fight. Snow is rare for us now since we live in a temperate rain forest. It was like rushing back to childhood in Indiana where we both could reminisce about similar snow forts and snowmen. Once we made it to Bend Oregon we were delighted to take in the smells of crisp cool air and warm fresh baked goods steaming out of cafes. We dropped our luggage at the Old St. Francis School hotel Mcmennamins. I was looking forward to our delicious dinner accommodations and heady beers we had waiting for us. As expected our crab fondue and shrimp won tons were out of this world! After dinner we enjoyed a few more pints and strolled down the street to the John Butler Trio concert. We walked in and meandered our way to the front row and watched as the crew finished setting everything up. Once the concert began, a few "crunchy" individuals stood behind us and offered us some whiskey from their flask. The trio blew me away and I felt like they were only playing for me. Of course they weren't but it is fun to imagine that. My ears had their fill after the encore and we tumbled out of the door along side other fellow fans whose eyebrows seemed to have melted off due to the incredible drum solo near the end of the show. Ahhh it was surely an amazing night! We finished it off with a night ender cocktail at the Fireside lounge just across the courtyard from our hotel room.

During the day in Bend we went shopping and bundled up for this real winter weather. We dined at the Bend Distillery and also a great pizza by the slice place. We weren't sure where we were going to stay that night but we did decide we needed another day in Bend. So as the day wore on we made the decision to stay in a state park just outside of town. When we went into the Patagonia store where Ben bought himself a new jacket, the manager offered us her extra bedroom for the night. We were taken a back by this generosity. She was a fellow mid westerner and told us to call her in 2 hours to follow her back to her place. It was heaven sent. We weren't really looking forward to sleeping in the van in 14 degree weather. We spent the night getting to know her and her husband and their little black puppy. Morning came early and we took off around 6:30 am. It was essential to find a coffee and a breakfast muffin ASAP. As soon as we did we were off towards the coast. We winded our way through central Oregon with one run in with a cop who pulled me over because I was swerving. He must not know that it is hard to change the song in our big van without turning the wheel a little. Oh well, got off with a warning! Eugene became our hostess for lunch and we enjoyed a soup and sammy at the Rouge Brewery. Our slow crawl down the coast brought us home around 10:00pm that night. That trip was completely worth the drive. Those moments with your other half mean the world and certainly create memories that will last forever.

One Week Later

There I was, in a tiny Nissan Versa heading towards San Fransisco to pick up my dear friend Berea. This was going to be the first time I would see her in a year and a half. Traffic was to be expected near Santa Rosa and I had to kill time by talking to myself and singing loudly to Van Morrison. It is hard to explain the feeling that comes over me when I finally get to the Golden Gate Bridge. I can only say that I am elated to be alive at that moment. In the distance I see the topographic city and in between the rushing cars along my side I catch a glimpse of the Pacific which never fails to impress me. I was looking forward to my stint in Union Square where we intended on staying that night. I was to meet Berea at the Powell Street station at 1:00 where I told her to take the BART. I rushed to our hotel after being lost on the wrong one way for about 45 minutes and finally parked my car illegally in a construction zone so I could at very least drop all of my luggage and have them direct me towards their partnering parking garage. Given these circumstances I believe I held myself together pretty well. In Humboldt county everything is very slow and calm. There is no traffic, no waves of human beings, and certainly no 25 cent per 3 minute parking meters!

I ran towards union square and made it around 12:56. Deep relief. I haven't missed her. So I posted myself up against a wall and watched some street performers do a dance, diverted my attention to an old man with his saxophone and all of the sudden... Bereas face! We screamed! I had to touch her again and again to see if she was real. She was, luckily. Skipping forward to the evening session of beers, dancing, and overpriced long islands, we were truly enjoying ourselves. I have come to many realizations since being married and one of them is that although my husband is certainly my best friend, my love, my everything, my girlfriends give me a different satisfaction and zeal for life.

As we tumbled down the streets that night arm in arm and with leftover bar residue on our jackets, our rekindled friendship flourished. Over the next week Berea and I spent time up in Eureka where Ben and I showed her some amazing redwood groves and also the fun areas around our city. I can always count on Berea to enliven my musical senses, my taste for extended nitty gritty conversation, and for some of the best hugs I have ever had.

Next

Ben and I chose to drive Berea back down to the bay area together and make another vacation happen. After we dropped her off at the SFO airport we headed southwest towards Half Moon Bay and on towards Santa Cruz. My dad had gifted us two nights at the Hilton. We found it alright and quickly went looking for a place to wine and dine. We went for the touristy take on the evening and went to one of the acclaimed fish grills in the city. It was very good, service took a bit long, but we were very satisfied afterwards. We went on to walk through downtown, shop, bar hop a bit, and simply enjoy one anothers company. We have found that after having visitors in and out of our home we re-connect most easily through an adventure together. This was turning out to be the perfect medicine. We slept like royalty in our king size bed and awoke to a beautiful day in Santa Cruz CA. We experienced Steamer Lane, which is a world famous surf spot. We went to the surfers museum, walked on the board walk, and we were able to catch the last 20,000 monarchs that arrive in Natural Bridges state park every winter. What a sight that was. Thousands of butterflies were gathered in bunches high up in the trees. We just laid there on the ground watching them fly to and from the branches. It was spectacular.

The next day we decided to drive south towards Monterey Bay and check out the world famous aquarium. Lucky for us, we arrived early enough to enjoy a lovely lunch in cannery row and then the rest of our day was spent marveling at luminous jellyfish, and gigantic kelp forests. I have never seen such an amazing man made display of God's creation. Driving back that night towards Santa Cruz, we planned on sleeping just one more night somewhere in town. Our only option was to spend 60 bucks or less on a hotel. Who would have thought 60 bucks these days only gets you a shitty mattress, 13 inch TV, a heater that barely works, and a shower head that just about shoots your hair off your head it's so strong? We didn't sleep much that night. Our drive home wasn't the most enjoyable thing we have done. It happened to be very long, stressful and tedious. Although we arrived home with tired minds and sore bottoms from all that sitting, we were refreshed from our month of travel. It was worth every cent.