Last month, I took a trip to the California coast. It was an amazing experience, and I'd like to share it in writing. I realize that this would turn into a very lengthy post, and difficult to type all at once, so I will write it in segments.
The PurposeFor a few years, it has been a life goal of mine to take a trip down (or up) the coast of California and see some friends along the way. I had lived out there with my friend CH for a summer in 2000 and had visited LA once before too. But the opportunity was arriving and a little voice in me said:
It was a trip I needed to do alone, because no one else I knew really had this type of goal in their life and dragging someone along on your dream vacation is not much fun for anyone. The bonus, however, would be to have shared the experience with someone else. But, that's where my CA-resided friends come along. They didn't take the journey with me, but they were wonderful stops along the way.
Carpe Diem! I decided upon the trip about 2 minutes before I bought the plane tickets. I bought the tickets about 2 weeks before my spring break. This was key: SPRING BREAK. I only have limited amounts of time off of school -which needs to coordinate with time off of work - in order to be able to plan a week-long trip. So much for a life of spontaneity. However, the lack of planning the trip altogether left plenty of space for fun and surprises. And I LOVE being spontaneous.
My friends were gracious enough to spend time with me on such a short notice and I am truly thankful for that. They are all kind of spontaneous too. Especially DMH - the King of not-planning. But it's always a fun time.
Flying the LineI flew out of O'Hare on a Monday morning. Got to see "Walk the Line" as an in-flight movie, which made me smile with glee because I was dying to see it and was so glad I hadn't spent the time to watch it before the trip. I really enjoyed learning more about Johnny Cash and his early career. I also appreciated that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon did their own vocals for the movie. It added a more real element to the film. Much better than seeing them lip sync.
Rainy LA and the Crazy ChickenI arrived in LA and got a rental car. I had been so busy before leaving that I didn't even have time to get a car reserved. Luckily, when I got to O'Hare, I got on my computer and reserved one. The prices were no different than the few days earlier. I was so happy to be reserving only mere hours before picking it up.
Once I got in the car, I just started driving in to town. I didn't look at any maps. I didn't feel like it. It was raining pretty hard and I was learning how to drive alongside the crazy LA drivers and just follow the road. I started getting hungry, and knew I needed to get something kind of quick, so I started looking for a fast food joint. I didn't want to eat somewhere I always could (say at Taco Bell or .. Heaven forbid -McDonald's) so I found an
El Pollo Loco YES!
Fresh salsa, red, green, picante, fire, fresh tacos, yum deluxe.
The only downside was getting begged for money from a scary individual who was wondering the inside of the restaurant. I felt compassion for him, and gave him a few bucks. He said he was hungry and was hoping for a bite to eat there. After he walked away, I watched him go up to the front, wonder around and then walk out of the joint. I was so disappointed! Why is it when people beg for money, they never show you that they will take care of themselves. The only guaranteed way to help out a hungry person is to go buy food for them and hand it to them.
After the meal, I got into the car and decided to bring up a map. I was so glad I bought a program called "Streets and Trips" for my computer. It was so much better than hauling an atlas around. I found where I was and had the program map me to find DMH. After all of that driving, I had stopped to eat only about 5 miles away from his place. Pretty cool for only knowing that he lived somewhere in LA. I was thankful for not having to drive two hours to get there.
To Be Continued...
