Califor-NI-A
I've never been to California!! Okay, well I have now... But I had never been to California.
So what had happened was, Mom called me last November and said, I'm going to do a 70.3. I giggled and shrugged, okay mom, let's do it. I knew she could, I wanted her to, but I didn't think she was being serious. Not until I get a text that says, "shit, I'm in." Bad ass, I take it I'm Coaching you?
"You Coach, I'll fly you out."
I'M IN TOO!! (as in, in for the trip, not in the race).
singing~ I'm gonna out to Cali to Cali to Cali. I'm gonna out to Cali to Cali to Cali ~singing
What ever happened to LL Cool J anyway!?
Fast forward.... Mom and I traveled (separately) to Ohio for GOBA.
Fast forward again, Jake and I drove the RV up, he went to summer camp (1 week), then we drove to Kansas. Heartbreakingly for me, lucky for Phil, Jake couldn't come with me so he's staying with his daddy in Kansas. I flew out on Monday.
I took 3 days completely and totally to myself ~a secret side trip. Oooh, mysterious!!
And then Thursday we (mom & Bob) piled in the car and headed north.
Side note, mom told me that it was a 5 hour drive. LIE! It was a 12 hour + drive!!
Side note 2, I get crazy car sick! Ugh, thanks a lot mom!
But now I'm glad because I got to see the California countryside and pass through all the fun places that Mom and I will be traveling and stopping on our way back down.
Here's a short list with photos...
Buses full of Mexican workers. At a gas station stop, one actually gave us a HoneyDew ~probably just picked! Sweet, thank you kind soul! You want to know why more isn't done about illegal immigration? Because they do what we don't want to do!! Do you want to spend 14 hour days picking produce from a field? Didn't think so.
Mountains. Real life beautiful mountains and mountains. Yes I've seen mountains before, it's just exciting because it's California! Tan ones, green ones, gray ones...so many mountains! I loved looking at my lil map and discovering what mountains or wilderness park we were passing. <--- I'm such a map nerd!
Are you grasping the SIZE of that rock ^ Look again. WHOA!
Trucks full of tomatoes, garlic, unknown crates, animals, and who knows what. I've never seen fresh produce being delivered like this! So many tomatoes!! How do the bottom ones not get squished!? Mom says the bottom ones are for ketchup. Ha ha ha ha ha!!
Fields full of pecans, oranges, and grapes (vineyards). Just lovely. Oh and Eucalyptus trees.
Oh, and RedWoods too (but that was at Korbel Winery). SO COOL! I'm impressed and can't wait to explore deeper.
I saw a cow farm like I've never seen before. Not just a few dozen cows chilling in a pasture, but THOUSANDS and THOUSANDS of cows (nearly piled on top of each other). HOLY COW!!
I felt like I was in a foreign land ~well, I kind of was... And besides the fact that we were stuck in the car for two days, being able to see such a different part of the world was magical!!
We stayed Thursday night in Pasadena. Quick stay. We headed onward Friday morning and so many long hours later (and most and more of the above) we made it to Windsor, CA. Our first and most immediate stop, WINE TASTING!! We had a little bit of time before we could get in the house (got a house with the group instead of a hotel) so it all felt right. We took a quick flight (wine sampling tour) of 5 different local Pinot Noir's. Yum yum and more YUM.
Friday ended with mom and Bob's friends (Laura, Lisa N and Bob, Lisa T and Steve, and Jim and Jen) and a very unhealthy dinner.
Saturday morning we were up early for an open water swim in the Russian River, athlete check in, a quick tour of Korbel Winery, fish tacos, and dinner at a very modern tasting retro diner. Those pictures are coming in the next blog post...
California, I'm kind of in love...
"Let's find some beautiful place to get lost."