California Road Trip!

My mother arrived on a Sunday afternoon, after almost 2 days of traveling, at LAX airport. It was amazing to see her again after a year away from my family and home. We picked up a hire car from the airport and embarked on a Californian road trip. We had a hilarious time adjusting to driving in LA traffic (20 line highways and non-stop traffic 24/7) and not to mention driving on the right side of the road. Our first stop was Santa Barbara. We stayed in quaint little hotel, a stone's throw from the beach. We walked along the beach at sunset to the main street where we strolled the boutique shops and restaurants and retired early. Both mum was jet-lagged and I was emotionally and physically exhausted after a long season of work. Sleep came quite naturally on our first night.

We departed early, after an adventure at Wholefoods supermarket in the morning. Wholefoods is an enormous chain across the US that promotes entirely sustainable and/or organic products. It is one of the most mind-blowing shops you'll ever see, and of course mum was mind-blown too when she saw it and so a quick dash to the supermarket ended up in a 1.5 hour coffee, breakfast, exploration adventure. Who would have thought a supermarket would have been a tourist destination. Once we dragged ourselves away from the delicious raw chocolates, green smoothies and vegan burritos, our next stop was up the Pacific Coast Highway. Highway 1.

We arrived at my good friend Lloyd's property, Merlin's Perch, in Big Sur. Lloyd has a wwoofing farm and that is how I first met him if you recall back to a few blog posts ago. Lloyd had wwoofers from France, Iran and the Netherlands there at the time and we created a feast from home grown vegetables and authentic naans and the like. A few glasses of wine and a magic sunset through the fog overlooking the ocean, we were knocked out again!

Morning came, and we continued up Highway 1 to Monterey and enjoyed some of the renowned clam chowder and seafood. Our time in Monterey was relaxed and involved mainly walking on the beach and taking it easy.

Next stop: Where my US trip all started orginally, Berkeley! We basically drove around and I introduced my mum to Berkeley life and we explored Tilden Regional Park and went to my old house and caught up with my old housemates. It was so wonderful to be back in Berkeley and in typical Berkelyan fashion we dined at Cafe Gratitude (a Raw Food restaurant I've ranted and raved about for a long time now). Mum was introduced to the Biodisel petrol stations and homelessness that once fascinated me when I first arrived. We crossed the bridge and stayed in San Francisco for the night at a luxurious hotel nestled in typical San Fran architecture. I introduced mum to the life I used to live in the SF Bay and we met up with old colleagues for drinks at the local pub I occasioned after work. I later ditched the old lady (jokes, mum, I know you are reading this) and continued the night on with my friends and visited some iconic gay bars in the Castro district of San Fran (reference Harvey Milk). I woke up the next morning having not laughed so hard in months; my stomach muscles literally ached. I love those guys!

The next day was tourist time and we visited the DeYoung Art Museum, Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, rode the historic trams, etc, before later that night departing out of SFO airport to New York.

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After New York we arrived back in California in sunny San Diego. People always tell me that San Diego reminds them of Perth, and yes, I can definitely see the resemblence. After a choatic two weeks (well, primiarly after a chaotic extended weekend in New York)  mum and I were ex-haus-ted. Tired. Worn-out. So we stayed in a little hotel in La Jolla near Windandsea beach and CHILLAXED. We went to a nail salon and got pampered, we watched movies and I got a hair cut and we drank wine, ate cheese, grapes and nuts and did I mention relax? I also caught up with another old friend whom I haven't seen in four years and inspired me to consider doing an internship in Washington DC. Another thing to think about career wise. Oh, little Laura. Another amazing evening catching up with old friends. 

Our trip continued as we drove up to Long Beach and dropped off our hire car and jumped on a ferry and headed over to... The Island. Yes, Catalina Island. This was another great time for mum and I to bond and she was really happy to see where I live and meet some of my friends and colleagues. We didn't get too adventurous with hikes or anything like that, but we did some rock-climbing and archery and had some great conversations overlooking the ocean. I guess there are no words to describe how happy and refreshed I was (albeit exhausted) after my mum left. It was no nice to reconnect with family and the notion of home. I know she had an amazing time too, and I am looking forward to seeing all my friends and family back home over Christmas.