California Adventures

I promised to write about and post the pictures I had taken of my California adventure last month. I apologize for taking so long to get it finished. But here it is and I hope you can feel the excitement as much as I did. I truly enjoyed myself, met so may wonderful people, had some of the best food I’ve ever put in my mouth and just simply enjoyed reconnecting on a deeper level with the Love of my Life.

I did not take pictures of all of the adventures out of respect for some of the people I met. And in reality, I was more focused on the man sitting beside me in OUR brand new Kia Telluride, that I really did lose track of things going on outside our bubble. But once again, it was exactly what we both needed and to be honest, neither one of us care if those around us can’t, don’t or won’t understand our connection. That connection was formed when we were 16 & 17 and has stood strong through everyFUCKINGthing we’ve gone through. And now?? Now it’s getting stronger still as every day goes by.

Let’s start with pictures of the Telluride that he picked me up in. He started looking at new cars because he knows I have trouble getting into and out of most sedans, they are just too low to the ground for me to get a good foundation to stand on my own two feet after driving for a few hours. My only request was that it be big enough to transport 6 of us at a time because his family is very important to him and they do a lot of activities together.

Before we got back together, he would ride along with his daughter in her car. Alas, it’s only big enough for 5 people, and now that I’m added in, we would need to take two vehicles, something I wasn’t willing to let them give up on because they all enjoy traveling together. Anyway, he looked at a few different vehicles that had third-row seating and room for at least 6.

While we were in Tucson, we went to the Kia dealership and looked at a 2025 Telluride with all the bells and whistles. My guy had prior credit authorization from his credit union and he knew exactly how much he wanted to spend. After talking to the salesman, my guy was a little shocked about the price. It was MUCH less than the one he had looked at in California to have an initial idea about what we were going to be looking at. My ONLY requests were that it had a backup camera, a navigation system and it had comfortable seating for five adults and a carseat, since his littlest grand is only two. This car hit ALL the marks from both of us and I was able to get in and out of it with absolutely NO problems.

After we talked between ourselves for a few minutes, it was decided he would go back to California, back to the dealership he had been to there, and see if they would meet or even beat the cost he had been given in Tucson. If they could, GREAT! If they couldn’t he would fly back to Tucson, buy the vehicle there and a then drive it back to California. Thankfully, the California dealership was able to make a deal with him and we are now the very proud owners of a 2025 Kia Telluride with ALL the bells and whistles.

After he picked me up from LAX we drove around for a bit, him showing me some of the places around the town he’s spent most of his life in. But, as promised he DID take me up to Mulholland Drive to see the lights of the city. Now, if you didn’t know before, I grew up in Tucson AZ and we have the infamous A Mountain. The “A” is for Arizona of course but also for the University of Arizona. Every year the “A” is painted in the school colors for Homecoming and then every year they do the 4th of July Fireworks from up there (well, at least they used to. I’m not sure about now). The most popular reason for A mountain was kinda a “Lover’s Leap” type setting. Every weekend y,ou could go up the mountain with your guy or gal and park looking out over the entire city of Tucson and watch those twinkling lights, if you weren’t otherwise occupied *wink, wink*!!

Anyway, the lights from Mulholland Drive clearly outshone the lights of Tucson as I remembered them. These pictures show just a limited view of the city lights, cause we were parked close to the edge and I was fearful of falling off the side of the mountain, LOL!!

Wednesday was spent driving around seeing the sights and doing a little shopping to add some things to his apartment so he could make sure I felt comfortable there. Wednesday evening he took me to Santa Monica with the plan to walk the pier and let me do a little ocean recharge. But, as luck would have it, I wasn’t able to do much walking after being so active for most of the day. Yes, I will reluctantly admit my right knee was giving me, fits, hurting like hell, and being a pain in my ass in general. *sigh*

We did have some great food at a little, almost hole-in-the-wall Italian place called Ouvo. The food was SO damn good, and my lasagna literally melted in my mouth. What I liked most about this little place was just that. It was small and intimate without being over crowded. It also made you feel welcome and the staff were on top of everything.

Thursday night it was the last football game for his teen granddaughter who is a cheerleader. That was intense!! There were TWO injuries on the field and one player was taken to the hospital via ambulance. Those California JV football players do NOT fool around! Luckily, our team won.

After the game, his daughter and her family, and his ex-wife and her guy joined us for dinner at a Chinese/Japanese fusion restaurant called Wokcano. This place was amazing! We ordered a few different appetizers to start with and then ordered multiple entrees that were large enough to serve around the table “farmstyle”. I enjoyed every minute of the love and laughter surrounding the table and I can’t wait to do it again. Sadly there are no pictures of this night, it was family time and I didn’t want to appear rude. Just know the food was some of the BEST I have ever had, yet again!

After dinner, my guy, his daughter and I did some last minute shopping to complete a couple of the costumes they would be wearing for the next night … Halloween! I mostly sat in our car and enjoyed the sound system so I could conserve my legs for the next day and night, because I KNEW I would be doing a ton of walking and I didn’t want to miss anything!!

We didn’t go Trick or Treating with the little ones, but we DID spend most of Halloween night at his daughter’s in-laws house. When I tell you that they go ALL out for Halloween, decorating and opening up their yard for THOUSANDS of people to walk through, I am NOT exaggerating!! Their last name is Coffin, their front door is an actual coffin you walk through to get inside and P & L were some of the most gracious and welcoming people I have ever met. Even though they were extremely busy at their front door giving out enough candy to fill a grocery aisle!!

Saturday, we hit the road early and went to Paso Robles so I could meet my guy’s son, daughter-in-law, and grandsons. We met up at the soccer game his oldest grandson was playing in and his son was coaching/refereeing. I’m not sure which team actually “won” because, to my understanding, a 5-year-old’s game doesn’t keep a real score going. It seems it’s mostly to help teach them about the game, give them some social time while at the same time teaching them team-like behavior. It didn’t matter to us though because we cheered just like we were at a grown-up game and it was awesome!

After the game we went to lunch and once again the food was some of the best! Even the simple cheeseburger and fries I ordered was cooked perfectly and was so huge I ended up taking half of it back to our hotel room.

And let’s talk about our room for the night. Yes, my guy could have tried to impress me with one of the bigger resort-style hotels in the area, but he knows that’s just not me. Yes, I DO like the finer things sometimes, but if you have them as a constant in your life, you don’t appreciate them any longer. So, our little “roadside motor inn” was exactly perfect for this trip. It was very quaint, very clean, and spacious. It might have been considered “old” by other people’s standards, but for us “old timers” it was heavenly.

We decided to order dinner in for the night, and after he got back from picking it up, we spread it out on the king-sized bed and had a picnic. He had grilled swordfish steak with pineapple salsa, and I had grilled filet of sole with rice and vegetables for each of us. Again with the food on this trip!! And yes, it was sooooo good!!

Sunday morning we had brunch with his son and family, including his wife’s parents we had met the day before and had lunch with too. Once again the food was so so good! I’m not usually a breakfast person, but this cute little place called Spring Side cafe had some of the best breakfast foods! I had what they called a scrambler with eggs, sausage and cheese, avocado, homestyle potatoes and sour dough toast. Fresh-squeezed orange juice rounded out my breakfast. I don’t know what’s up with the food places we went to, but the portions are gigantic and I was disappointed to not be able to take home what I couldn’t eat for breakfast. But, knowing we were going to be on the road for 4 hours, I left just about half of my food once again …. *sigh*

Sunday night after we got back to LA from Paso Robles, we caught up with B & B and their family (my guy’s daughter and family) and headed out to have Mexican food for dinner. We met up with one of his friends he used to work with on the movies and TV shows as a set medic before he retired. She still works as a set medic and I loved listening to them talk about work! It just seemed so interesting to me, even if it might have been mundane to them. Holy Shit! Huge bowls of guacamole! Fresh chips and salsa, and my choice was Tacos al Carbon. The closest thing to street tacos!! It came with spanish rice and refreid beans. This time I was able to take home what I couldn’t eat! LOL!! And I ate them for late breakfast Monday morning before we left the apartment.

Monday we didn’t want to do anything except spend time together, but there were still things that had to be done so off we went. Monday night, my final night in LA we met up with his good friends C & F at Wood Ranch. My guy ordered a half order of onion strings that would have been a full order any place else I’ve been to. We snacked on them while waiting for C & F to arrive and then fully enjoyed great food and amazing company. My choice for dinner this night was roasted medium tri-tip with mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli. Yes, it was awesome and yes, I took half of it home.

Tuesday morning it was back to LAX so I could catch my flight back to Houston. No, I did NOT want to leave my guy. Yes, it was hard to do so. The only thing that made it bearable is knowing he will be here in SE Texas with me on Friday the 14th and we’ll be staying in Beaumont. He’s coming to see me, but to also meet my son and two granddaughters living here in Silsbee with me. He says’s he’s bringing a surprise for me and no matter how I ask, he won’t break.

That’s all for this time, my Darling Chaos Gremlins. I hope you could feel my excitement and weren’t too bored. I’m going to leave you with this thought: Never EVER give up on your dreams, your brass ring is just waiting for you to reach out and grab it. And when you have it in your hand hold on tight and never let go!