The Bay Area

6/12-6/14

I woke up in LA and made my first wild path change, deciding to take highway 1 up to my cousins house in Watsonville. I had never taken this route and I am so glad I did. While it added 2 hours to my journey it was entirely worth it. Sites like the historic Madonna Inn, a location that my good friend Michael Cavalier has shared many a story about, and Cambria were a stark change from the city existence that I’ve been tied to for so long. Following this was the drive through the Las Padres forest past big sur which was absolutely gorgeous. Living on the Southern California Coast, one can forget about how wooded California really is and this coastal paradise would just be the beginning as I traveled north.

I got to my Cousin Mike’s house in Watsonville a little later than expected, but the always laid back Mike was completely understanding. We hung out in his Garage drinking beer and chatting until the return of his wife Laura and their exuberant 7 year old Susana. I unfortunately would miss out on seeing their two boys, but it was wild hearing about how Simon their oldest, who was born while I was in college, had recently graduated high school and their middle son Elliot, now 15, was 6’4” and being hit on by older women at the Santa Cruz pier. God time flies and my body is feeling the age. We reminisced and talked about the family at large over a delicious steak dinner and I was so grateful to be welcomed.

The next morning I continued north (on the 5 this time) to Oakland. I met up with one of my oldest friends Ryan, who I’ve known since elementary school. This makes him my longest friendship by far and it is always pleasure to see him. I’ve often described our friendship as one where we can go years with out seeing or speaking to each other and when we do exchange words its as if we are in the middle of a conversation that had never ended. Ryan and his Partner Daniella took me out to a beautiful park in Freemont with some gorgeous views of the bay and then we enjoyed a delicious vegan burger. My hosts were gracious enough to allow me to indulge in a long nap before we had a wonderful dinner cooked by Ryan and continued our catch up until bedtime. I miss them already.

When I woke up I headed into “the city”, San Francisco for those unware of the bay area terms, and drove straight to Golden Gate Park. I love Golden Great Park. It’s varied landscapes and interesting people always make me happy. This trip I finally got to play on the disc golf course tucked into the trees on the edge of the park. I have tried to play this course on several occasions, but I’ve always either been with people who weren’t interested or it was closed. It was wonderful stroll and surprisingly difficult, but most importantly fun.

Next up was a walk along ocean beach and playing a little guitar. It’s interesting that thus far I have not been able to find a spot I was comfortable enough to busk at, but just playing in the open air is still enough for more. People were very kind, giving me smiles and friendly comments as they passed.

As I drove back through the city I began to realize how much I needed to get out of urban environments. Between their compact nature and the way that Covid has lessened the bustle that usually energizes me I just started feeling burned out.

I headed to an area called Dogpatch where my friend Lindsay had moved during the pandemic. We went to a cool pub called Connecticut Yankee which had a phenomenal burger that pushed me back into lazy mode. I felt bad that I didn’t want to go hit the town, but I was just too tired from all the driving and emotions about how the city wasn’t the same dragged me down. So we ordered some Chinese and I crashed out on her couch.

As this leg of the Journey concludes, two major thoughts come to mind:

1) I am blessed to have so many friend’s and family that are willing to open their doors to me as i travel around almost aimlessly. The fact that every person I’ve stayed with has said “feel free to stay as long as you want” has warmed my heart immensely.

2) As I look toward a vastly different landscape ahead of me, I have to wonder if I need to start avoiding big cities a bit more. They are something that I’ve always felt drawn to, but as I’ve aged I think I might be more require more natrul surroundings then I had previously thought.

I guess I’m going to find out as I head to the north.