The Mountains to the Ocean

Hope you had a Happy 4th of July! Ours was marvelous! We finally bought a new couch to replace the two recliners in the family room. It is not only a couch but a reclining couch! Full size, it has two cushions, looks like a regular couch with gray tweed fabric and metal legs until one notices two tiny buttons on the side beneath the arms. Each section turns into its own recliner. Brilliant! Michael is so very happy. The bad news is that it is on back order and probably won't arrive for five weeks.

We enjoyed a fantastic lunch at Jack's, a beautiful setting and a great place for people watching. Half of my gyros and half of Michael's patty melt came home with us for dinner. We just can't eat like we used to! We hopped into our new/old car and took the long way home. We headed south, climbed a mountain then headed south on the ridge with the Bay on one side and the ocean on the other. We drove south to a tiny town high in the Santa Cruz Mountains and had to have some ice cream as it was the first time I had enjoyed sunshine in weeks!

Our little organic market in town has its headquarters in this little town, so we bought a small package of three ice cream cones there then chatted with the staff. Outside the store, there was a couple standing near their bikes, Michael asked if they wanted an ice cream cone and that began a conversation. So very interesting. They both had been through a lot, he was celebrating 28-years of sobriety and she was also proud to be clean and sober. They were living a healthy, happy life filled with quality food and exercise. We told them just a bit about my path, we embraced as we said our goodbyes, hopped back into the car for the next part of the trip.

It was a bit scary. This area was hit pretty hard last winter. Remnants of fallen trees were everywhere. The roads had taken a hit, too. To get to the coast, we needed to drive on a tiny road with edges that fell into deep canyons. One wrong move and we would have gone over the side. We connected with two other long roads that took us off the mountain to the ocean. The huge redwoods were stunning and the other plants and grasses were Spring green, so rare for this time of year. It was just beautiful. Breathtaking.

By the time we worked our way to the ocean and headed north to our home, it was 4:00 yet each beach we passed was still packed with people still enjoying the holiday. We wondered if there was going to be lots of traffic in our town as people began their way home but, nothing. We flew through town.

It had been so long since we had taken a backroad trip. Michael loves to drive, it was relaxing for him, we had music softly playing and had the time to talk. Often we sat in silence just looking at the gorgeous views. It was a lovely day and we both slept so well last night.