March 19 – 25, 2015 – we’re off to Los Angeles to spend time with my dad and for Dalton to attend his League of Legends weekend. Our journey begins with a ride on the Airport Express bus.
Arriving at SFO, we find we have some time to kill. We have our boarding passes, our luggage is checked – so we sit and eat some absurdly-overpriced airport food and wait to board our plane.
And so we arrive at LAX – about 4 1/2 hours from the time we left Petaluma (for a flight that is in the air for approx. 45 minutes). We retrieve our luggage, board the car rental shuttle, and are soon ready to drive our new Ford Escort to Hermosa Beach, California. We arrive just in time for dinner:
Scotty’s on the Strand, Hermosa Beach
(much better than airport food).
HERMOSA BEACH (Dad’s house)
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The next morning, we walk down to the beach and check out the Strand. We had lunch here: Patrick Molloy’s, Hermosa Beach, and basically had an easy, enjoyable day. For dinner we walked down to this place: El Gringo (Mexican food) and sat outside on the deck. It was beautiful and the food delicious.
On the beach at Hermosa: The beach is but a two-block short walk from where my dad and his wife live. We got lots of exercise walking back and forth and up and down the Strand. It was wonderful.
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On Saturday and Sunday mornings I drove Dalton to his event near Santa Monica. And, in fact, from this point on, I did a lot of driving. Half the time I had no idea where I was or how to get where I wanted to go, but somehow I managed. By the time we left, I was getting pretty darn good at driving all over this area – and good grief there are a LOT of people here! 
A lot of driving – In fact, I used up a whole tank of gas in these few days. When I went to return the car, I did not fill the tank because I was running late. They informed me, however, that the price they charge for gas is $9.75 a gallon! Needless to say, I left to find a gas station before turning in the car. Sheesh…
Saturday evening, while Dalton went out to dinner with friends after his event, I went to dinner with my dad and Nancy here: Charlie’s, Redondo Beach (Italian). This was a wonderful restaurant and I enjoyed my dinner, but I ended up having to leave to go retrieve my son, who was somewhere in Santa Monica – with a dead cell phone battery! I was not very pleased… (more driving without truly knowing what I was doing). But I found him eventually (after he managed to borrow a phone). We crawled back to Hermosa Beach. (With relief on my part!)
Then on Monday morning, Dalton learned that one of his friends was essentially stuck at the airport and unable to get on a plane until that evening. So I agreed to go pick her up and take the two of them down to the beach for the day (am I not the nicest mom?) I drove down to the Santa Monica Pier and found a parking spot (amazing). Then we walked along the beach to the Pier and I left them on their own with plans to hook up later.
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I soon had enough of the pier myself and wanted to find a place to sit down and have a cold beer. Plus, I needed to feed the parking meter. So I walked, and here is where I found to park my butt: Shutters on the Beach: Coast Cafe.
This place was truly lovely. I sat on a barstool and gazed out at the beach. After a while, I decided to eat dinner there. It was a bit pricey, but not too bad, and I rather enjoyed myself. I filled out the postcards I’d bought on the Pier, and just enjoyed being where I was. (The beer was good too). When it started to get dark, I texted Dalton and told him I wanted them to leave the Pier and walk down my way and then we’d go to the car. And, by the time that happened, there really wasn’t time to go do anything else, and Dalton decided he wanted to show his friend Hermosa Beach. OK, whatever; I’m just the taxi-driver…
After a quick walk along the beach at Hermosa, we had to jump back in the car and head to the airport. But hey – I’m getting to be a real pro at this.
The last day of vacation arrives. (Do we have to leave already?) My dad wants to take us to dinner; he wants to go to Scotty’s again, where we went the first night we were here. Nancy is driving. But I know enough of the area by now to realize we’re definitely not going to Scotty’s. So, I ask. She tells me they’d decided to take us to an Italian restaurant. Well, OK.
We arrive here: Coyote Cantina, Redondo Beach. Uh, Italian?? I think perhaps MEXICAN? Indeed. LOL
But it was very good! (After Dalton’s disappointment that he couldn’t get pizza.)
So here I am, last night at the beach. And an incredible sadness fills me. I walk alone down to the beach. There are some musicians playing on the Strand. People are sitting around or playing on the beach, drinking beer, having fun. I expect they are all locals. I want to be a part of it! I want to live at the beach, to be a part of a community like this. I need to be near the ocean, I ache to live a life like this… And why am I now feeling so depressed?
I took off my shoes and walked through the sand down to the shore. The sun was going down. It was stunningly awesome:
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And I think about the fact that I do live pretty near the ocean, after all. It is different up here in Northern Cal. But I do like it; in fact, I love it – I am very happy here. Los Angeles has way too many people and I could never learn to deal with that. (Even if I were to somehow, magically, find myself able to afford to live there!) And my sadness is not only that I have to go back home; it is also that I have to say goodbye to my dad and Nancy; and the obvious fact that they are getting old and it will not be forever that I will be able to come and see them. I am grateful for this time.
Wednesday. Time to start our journey back. A final drive to the airport, where I first need to return the car. Then it’s back to Petaluma and HOME.
And it’s always good to be home. The CATS are happy! My own bed feels wonderful. And we got pizza the first day after arriving home. Now Dalton’s happy.
Sonoma County Beaches
And… sometime soon, I will make myself drive over to the beach. It is only a few miles, after all.
