California Daydreaming

It is Day One of my California vacation! This blog entry is all about it. It's a bit longer, but some of you are fans of my earlier "travel writing" style and will enjoy this. I understand if you quit reading now since most of you live where I do and may not want to hear about warmer temperatures. However, it’s not really a warm weather bragging piece. So, if you’re feeling risky keep reading.

I moved away from Southern California a little over two years ago. People always ask me if I miss anything about living in California. Or more often, they assume and ask WHAT I miss about California. My answer is always the same: the geography.

This morning, I flew into San Diego where I’ll be spending most of my time. But I wanted to make a quick trip to see some friends in LA, and to revisit some of my favorite spots. I am writing from one of those at this moment. More on that later. 

This was my first experience with Southwest to my knowledge. At least, it’s the first time I’ve picked it. I got my big suitcase checked for free and got in line for security. I watched enviously as some folks got sorted into the TSA pre-check line. Meanwhile, I was busy juggling things and trying to extricate my laptop from my carry-on without dropping my little clear baggie of liquid things. Another security woman had me shift into a line to my right and dang if I didn’t end up in the pre-check line after all! So now I was struggling to obey their regulations of leaving EVERYTHING in my bags and not removing my shoes. It was pretty nice and I felt very lucky no one pointed out that I didn’t belong there. 

On Southwest you have to pick your seat in a first come, first serve fashion. I was convinced I'd be stuck in the middle seat. Much to my delight, I got a window near the back. The flight attendants soon had everything sealed off back there and I stopped seeing my breath in front of me. The flight left on time. I was worried because of the extreme cold in Chicago, but there were no problems. With the airline-controlled areas, that is. There was a major problem in the seat in front of me: a toddler. By the end of the flight, I was blessing my parents for driving us everywhere when we were little. I resolved to do the same. No infant of mine will be disrupting the in-flight peace of an entire aircraft. I think my nanny experience is to blame for the overwhelming urge I felt to grab the child from its parents and sing it lullabies. Whether that would have worked, who knows? 

Once I landed, it was a little complicated getting a rental car because I procrastinated and didn’t reserve one ahead of time. I had in my head an image of rental counters within the airport where I could approach a few and get quotes. I think this comes from watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. Anyway, it’s fiction. At least at this airport. You have to go outside and choose a rental company shuttle. This was a complication. I had no idea what each place would charge for a car. How could I make such a commitment with no comparison? The mild weather (only mention, I promise) allowed me to keep the anxiety at bay and I  decided on Enterprise. I am familiar with them and figured that would be a safe bet. The driver put my bag on the shuttle and we were off. It was close to 30 minutes before we reached the rental location. This was okay because I was not in a hurry. Once at the rental counter, however, I was informed that they were sold out and had no cars for me. They all seemed very surprised that I had even been let on the shuttle without a reservation. Not that this helped my situation. I hopped back on with the same nice gentleman, who seemed even more surprised that there were no cars available. He got on the horn and wanted to know why no one had let him know about the lack of cars. When we got back to the airport, he was kind enough to ask a driver from Alamo if they had cars available. They did, and I was on my way again. An hour after I left the plane. I think I’ll end up paying more than I’d figured on, but I was in a tight spot. And I got a super pretty blue car to cruise around. 

It wasn’t long before I was headed north on the 5, windows down (okay, I lied) and music playing. I felt a rush looking around at the mountains and ocean. I missed this. The two hour drive went quickly with an unexpected lack of much traffic. I drove wistfully past Disneyland. That favorite will have to be another trip. I remembered other times I drove this path between San Diego and Los Angeles. I recalled the people involved in those trips. I kept an eye out for everything familiar. 

As I neared the city, the air quality shifted a little. I had forgotten about that. Still, I continued on to the 10W which would take me to my destination: Santa Monica. It didn’t take much deliberation to figure out my first stop. I headed for my old favorite coffee shop, Brew ‘n Beans. And that is where I am now. I used to come here every Saturday and do some writing. They have the absolute best iced vanilla latte in the world. And I ordered a bagel with cream cheese, basil, and tomato. So simple but so yummy. I thought it used to come with egg as well, but I was too hungry to look much further down the menu. I’ll be back in the morning before leaving for San Diego, so I’ll check then. 

The next stop will be Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. When I lived here, I took almost everyone who visited me to Monsoon for sushi and, on a good day, the musical stylings of a street performing genius. If he’s there tonight, I’ll freak out. Pretty sure it will be too late in the day for him, but a girl can dream. 

L.A. holds a lot of memories. It was super weird driving past a street a used to live down. It was crazy to move through Santa Monica. I grinned like an idiot walking into this coffee shop. The weirdness isn’t bad, but it is surprising how much floods back. At moments I feel sad that I’m only here tonight. But then I remind myself that this trip is about seeing new things. And then I can’t help but feel excited to get back to San Diego tomorrow.