Our 25th Anniversary Trip to California

My husband and I didn’t have a honeymoon when we were married in 1991. After all, we only knew each other and dated for 4 months before getting married. There wasn’t time to plan and save for an elaborate trip like that. 

 

And then we separated 4 times in the first 2 years we were married. And then he went to college, and then we were blessed with 5 kids in 5 years after an Endometriosis diagnosis.

We were still on a whirlwind trip of our own called LIFE.

So, for our 10^th anniversary, we took a trip, just the two of us, to Orlando. We decided to drive because we thought it would be fun. A great friend volunteered to keep all 5 kids (who were 6, 5, 3 and the twins were 1)… She even potty-trained Caleb, who really hadn’t shown much interest at home.

 

We couldn’t get home fast enough from the trip. Maybe it was the season of life we were in, maybe it was because other things were going on. For whatever reason, we really don’t look back fondly at the trip, and that’s really too bad.

So, for our 25^th anniversary, we have been scheming and planning for several years. We had every intention of going to New York and the east coast. But I talked to one of my co-workers, and she told me about the trip they took to CA and driving the Pacific Coast Highway.

We changed our plans.

I had always wanted to visit California because I had never been there. Jim had actually lived in LA at one time, so CA wasn’t untapped territory for him. So CA it was!

And we had so much fun!

We decided to fly into San Diego and out of Sacramento. We would be gone for a week and would rent a car and drive up through the areas we wanted to see.

I can’t tell my whole story in just one blog post, but I will give a first day synopsis.

We got up at 4:00am, and our son drove us to the airport. It was strange leaving them this time, although they are considerably older than they were in 2001. 

We arrived in San Diego at 9:10am, retrieved our luggage, and proceeded to the Enterprise Rental Counter. Quite a few customers were ahead of us, and it wasn’t a big deal, but we were scheduled to meet some lovely friends for brunch. When we had waited just a little while, the rep said he didn’t have a full-size car we had reserved, but he could get one cleaned up for us. I said we had somewhere to be, and he offered a small SUV. However, we did not want an SUV because if anyone looked in, our luggage would be visible.

So, he pointed in the other direction and asked, “How about if I put you in a Challenger?”

Oh, yeah, my husband lit up. See, we were going to rent a convertible Mustang when we started planning this trip, but we decided it wasn’t worth it to spend double of the amount a full-size car was.

We picked the charcoal gray with metallic flecks, and we headed out onto the streets of San Diego. It was loud and cool and awesome! And maybe just a little scary, too.

We found the parking lot by the restaurant where we met our friends, Caroline’s Seaside Café. Right there on the Pacific Ocean. Right there! We parked in a space that wasn’t marked with any signs, the sign in the lot said free on weekends and holidays, we thought we were fine.

We have known these friends since 1998, so 18 years. They both went to our church as young people, and they are now almost 30. Unbelievable! We talked and talked and talked, and of course, it was like no time had passed since we saw each other. And they were celebrating their 10th anniversary that weekend!

 

After eating, we stood out on the walkway and watched the waves crash on the beach. It was a cloudy and cool day, and really, I can say it was so beautiful.

When we got back to the car, we were getting a ticket. The officer insisted there was a sign saying we had to pay, but we obviously didn’t see it. He was very gracious, though, when he asked if we were leaving, and we said yes, he gave us a warning instead. Whew!

We then headed to the Oceanside Marina Suites in Oceanside. It is really like a throwback from the 80s, no air-conditioning, old accommodations, and right on the marina. By the Pacific Ocean! Honestly, the weather was so perfect, and it didn’t seem to matter much about the comfort of the room.

 

 

 After checking in, we made a run to Walmart for our normal things: bottled water, snacks, ear plugs…

That night, we had dinner at Rockin’ Baja Lobster and met up with one of my good friends. We’ve been friends since 1978, and we hadn’t seen each other for years. We talked, we laughed, we had the greatest time! And the food was awesome! Though it did keep me up that night.

 

But the bed was comfy, and we did get a little sleep.

And it was just the beginning of a great trip!

If you are interested, I will be continuing to write about our adventures on our trip of a lifetime. Stay tuned!