Back in August of 2012, I went to Northern California with the man I’d been dating all that year. I never talked about him much here (except to announce that I saved his koi), but he was an Air Force officer who was originally from Monterey; the trip was to see his hometown and the greater Central Coast. I knew that he’d be moving for the Air Force when we started dating, and at vacation time the relationship was going well, there was a chance he’d be re-stationed in California, we stayed with his parents in Monterey, and the whole thing felt a lot like an audition for The Future.
Well, the audition was…not a success. Which is why I’m still here with my family and my mountains and he ended up in Virginia without leaving a forwarding address. (No wonder I only wrote about 50 words in my post about that vacation.)
I’ve always hated that some incredible scenery and cities got tainted with what turned out to be the beginning of a very prolonged end to that relationship, so I’m doing the trip over again soon, with a good friend. We’re spending two days in San Francisco and then making our way down to Big Sur, both things I wanted to see more of in 2012. We’ll be going to fabric stores and fancy stores and restaurants on a cliff and staying in what I’m pretty sure is California Hobbiton. I can’t wait–especially when I remember there is no snow there.
So that was the story. And this is the playlist I made for the trip. I’ll listen to it while I look at misty redwoods and sit on cold sand and let it “All Wash Out,” as track 8 suggests. Finally.
(You’ll need a [free] Spotify account to hear this, if you don’t have one.)