Visiting friends & family in Cali

Jonathan & Mack were once again gracious hosts for us as we re-entered the U.S. There's always a bit of culture shock when crossing borders, but going from the Baja to Orange County... yikes! We had a lovely visit with them.

Luckily, we also got to meet up with our Baja traveling pals Elke and Chris. They told us all about their travels in the U.S. while we were still down in Mexico. We look forward to traveling again with them, perhaps across Europe soon.

We left Irvine and went to Pismo Beach, chasing the wind. However, we found little of it there. What we did find was that our trailer for the motorcycle had pretty much breathed its last breath. After the long haul across the southwest and then a mere 2000 mile jaunt up and down the incredibly lumpy Mex 1, our hitch was sagging like a baby's full diaper! It was time to make a change. We put a for sale sign on the bike at the beach and waited for wind or a sale! Neither occurred. Karen--who has issues with letting things go she's been told--had a think-outside-of-the-box moment. Before you know it, we're ripping out the bench seating in the camper (that Karen had fantasized about turning into a captain's swivel chair--you know like Captain Kirk!) so that the motorcycle would fit INSIDE the camper! It sure made for an obstacle course to the potty. Because the length of the "hallway" was almost exactly the length of the bike, we had to pop a wheelie on the couch to get it in and turned down the main path. And of course, camper doors are NOT very wide, so we had to do some fancy moves just to get the handle bar through.

Not knowing if this crazy plan would even work, we turned the camper's entrance away from the fancy three-axled humongous trailers that families of wealth brought in (from neighboring vineyards off in the hills) in order to ride their horses at the beach. Yes, we've become the Beverly Hillbillies, and we're not ashamed of it. Hell, after all the basically homeless people we've met in the Walmart parking lots, we know we are rich: we have a full fridge (that we keep cool with ice b/c it's broken), a full gas tank, and 6 functioning tires. More than anything, we count ourselves quite fortunate because we have friends and family who we could call for help if we were stuck, and whose company is invaluable.


Speaking of which, after loading up the bike, we headed north for a visit with my brother and his four boys. I can't believe how big they are getting! We camped for the weekend and got to see two of Matt's baseball games as well. The boys are really cool kids. We enjoyed them very much. Fortunately, upon our return from camping, we were able to sell the motorcycle. We even got the hitch torched off the back. El Dorado feels like she just got an ass-lift! We don't cringe anymore when going in and out of parking lots. We're feeling foot loose and fancy free!

So, it's off to the giant Redwoods for us. We can't wait! If southern Cal is a consumer's oasis, then northern Cal is treehugger heaven!