As mentioned previously, I went down to southern California for M & M's wedding. It was great. Things I loved:
The whole transportation scene, from riding my bike to the airport to taking Metrolink. Turns out SoCal is a lot nicer when seen from the back side - train tracks, bus lines - than it is from the freeway. 100% would do again.
Ojai, which I had no clue about when I was living there. The warmth, the food and wine scenes. To be fair, it would be a lot less fun on a ramen budget.
Sampling infinite amounts of wine, the nonstop fusillade of wine and talk about wine. Good wine. Hearing the Wine Weirdos go on about wine. Having a picnic under an oak tree by the vineyard at Ampelos. Watching people licking wine off the sandstone poolside and talking about "minerality."
The beautiful wedding. Beautiful sets by Kiss Hello and Shannon Lay, quiet reverence and revelation. The sun going down slowly. Shannon's lovely LPs Geist and August are on sale at Sub Pop and I just grabbed them.
Baby L. 15 months old and curious about everything.
Walking in Oxnard. Palm trees against a radiant sunset, oranges casually smashed on the pavement, unfamiliar flowers, famliar eucalyptus smells, a handwritten street sign CUARTO DE RENTA PARA MUJER.
Walking at night through the park, dodging sprinklers. I spent $2.64 at W*lm*rt.
Ventura on a Sunday morning. The mission open wide and organ music wafting out. I walked as far up into the Botanical Garden hills as the paths would let me. The otherworldly scents from the Chilean plants heating up. Getting my feet wet in the ocean but not going too far - no room in my backpack for a towel or spare shorts.
Train to Burbank. Walking around by the airport. A decrepit former Fry's Electronics covered in weeds but still completely recognizable. A park, butterflies chasing each other, pickleball thwacks, a man sleeping in the back of his pickup in the shade.
Flying home and riding off into the last bit of Portland evening light, my legs somehow still working, my motor inside. Catching the train just as it pulled into Gateway TC and gratefully jumping on.
