California Dreaming…

I got to spend 5 fabulous days visiting my friend Kamala—who our Kamala is named after—in sunny California a couple of weeks ago. Kamala and I have been friends for 39 years since I moved across the street from her in 6th grade, and we only lived there for 2  1/2 years, which is the shortest time I’ve lived anywhere. But even though we don’t get to see each other very often, it’s like we’ve never been apart when we do finally get together. We had an awesome time, and it was so fun visiting with her family too—some of my most favorite people!

Of course, we ate lots of yummy food because that’s what you do on vacation, right? Kamala’s mom went to breakfast with us at the 24th Street Cafe my first morning in Bakersfield (we go there for breakfast every time I’m in town). She is such a sweet lady, and I have very fond memories of her and my mom helping Kamala and me learn to sew way back when. We’d take turns sewing at each other’s homes—my mom would help us at my home, and Kamala’s mom would help us at her home. We made some cute stuff!

We took some walks on the trails near Kamala’s house, and it was so fun to watch her dog Graham chase rabbits and everything that did—or didn’t—move. He’s such a sweet guy. His bum is sofa level, and he’s not supposed to get on the sofa, but he’d stand next to it, and when Kamala wasn’t watching, he’d sneakily move backwards until his bum was sitting on the sofa. She’d get after him, so he’d move off the sofa, then he’d watch for her to to not be watching him again, and slowly sneak his bum back onto the sofa again. It was too funny! I guess he liked me, because my first night there, he left me one of his toys on my bedroom floor.

We went to Cambria for a couple of days, and I was so excited to see the beach. I LOVE the beach!!! I don’t even have to get in the water, but there’s something about the sound of the waves coming in, the smells, and the sand in my toes that really relaxes me and makes me feel calm and peaceful. And a run on the beach? Yeah…one of my most favorite things! We lived in Long Beach, California, until I was almost 6, and we’d go to the beach some nights after my dad got home from work, so I guess that’s where my love of the beach began. Here’s our view from the house we were staying in—see the ocean in the distance?

Right after we unloaded our stuff and took pictures of the view, we walked down to the beach. (Are you kidding me? Walk to the beach? It was like a dream…) There were several deer just wandering around, and they didn’t even seem bothered by us!

^We were seriously right across the street from this guy!

^What we saw at the end of our walk.

And even though it was cold (really, it was), we drove around our first night at the beach with the top down in Kamala’s convertible and the heat in her car on as high as it would go. We were bound and determined to drive along the beach with that top down even though we were both freezing! I don’t have any pictures of this because it was also very windy and I was afraid the wind would blow my phone away. However, I did get a pic of the Morro Bay Rock, which was very cool. I guess it’s foggy there most of the time.

And we went Kayaking! On the ocean! I’ve never been kayaking before, so go big or go home, right? And it was sooooo fun! I was worried I’d get seasick because I get motion sickness pretty easily, but I did okay. And it was my first time wearing a wet suit too. We saw some amazing things—including a sea otter who was grooming himself in a kelp bed—and our tour guide Cubby was a wealth of information. He had two cute Chiweenies who stayed in the back of his SUV while we kayaked.

After kayaking, we toured the Grand Rooms at Hearst Castle. It was absolutely fascinating learning about William Randolph Hearst, his life, and his lifestyle.

And if you look in the distance, that’s the cove where we kayaked.

And back to the food. I try and be a bit adventuresome and try new things when I travel, so I had Green Curry in Cambria, and a hamburger made from Hearst Ranch beef in Kayukos. I guess a hamburger isn’t very adventurous—or new, but I was curious to see if I could tell a difference between this highly-rated grass-fed beef and “regular” hamburger. Yeah…not much difference, but it was really good!

And I did have a couple of work things to take care of while I was away since we’re in the middle of this huge project (hence, the reason for no blog posts for a couple of weeks), and the internet was almost non-existent in Cambria. My hotspot on my phone wouldn’t work, and Kamala’s internet card wouldn’t work, so one night when I had something I really needed to get done, we drove around Cambria trying to get a signal. We parked in a  doctor’s parking lot because they would have internet, right? And my hotspot worked for a little while, but then nothing. So we drove around trying to find a good signal. I felt like the Verizon guy in the old commercials…”Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now?” but with internet. I was just about to ask a random vacation rental office if I could “rent” their internet for a few minutes, when I finally got a signal outside the restaurant where we were waiting to eat. Hallelujah!!!! I will NEVER take a good internet signal for granted again.

It was so fun catching up with Kamala—we talked and talked and talked. It’s been 11 years since I visited her in Bakersfield, and we think about 8-9 years since she visited me in Arizona. Hopefully it won’t be that long before we get to get together again. I’m so thankful for friendships that stand the test of time and for friends who are true friends through and through. You can never have too many of those!