Memories

The one reason why I like Facebook is that they do an 'on this day,' and a memory from 2016 came across the screen.

One thing to note, my family is very spontaneous, completely opposite of me. I like having plans and an itinerary, but you really don't know what's up with my family! On my way can mean 'they just woke up, I'm five minutes away can be 1 hour away. It's kinda a funny joke we have because we know how everyone is! So one day, my Tia messages me and asks if I can take some days off from work:

"Sure, what for?"

"We want to do a girls' trip!"

"Okay, sounds fun! Where to?"

"Where ever the road takes us!"

"Haha, okay"

And that was it. I was a little nervous because I thought to myself, 'how is there no plan.' For once in my life, I told myself to shut up and let it be. During this time, I had gone through a rough emotional "relationship" with a guy I was seeing. What I needed most at that time was going away and spending time with my family members. I was also going through a 70s biker babe wannabe and was adamant about living life on the road a la Ride by Lana Del Rey.

So the weekend came, and my Tia picked me up to go to my Abuelas job in Carpenteria. She took care of a couple and house for many years, and this house-nay was a mansion an absolute dream. I have so many memories of the place, and I can only wish to see it again one last time. So it was my two Tias, my Abuela, my Abeulas friend, and my cousin. We woke up before the sun rose, and it was perfect because I love seeing sunrises. I had Tequila Sunrise by the Eagles playing, and we drove up the coast. One thing that was funny from the entire trip was that my Abuela had no idea where we were going. She said we would reach San Francisco-no we wouldn't, and we just went North. Honestly, we never really explored much of NorCal when I was younger. Maybe some trip to SF but like that was it, and it was just on the 5. We never did anything outside of the 5 freeway until this trip.

Our first stop was at Madonna Inn. At the time, I had no idea what this place was, but I noticed why it was so special when we stepped in. It was decked out in beautiful pink, red and twinkle lights. We had breakfast at the cafe, and it was one of the best memories of my trip. We also roamed around a little to see more of the place. We even snuck into the men's bathroom to see the infamous waterfall urinal. Since then, any time I drive in that direction, I will always stop for food there; it's now a tradition.

From there on, we went to Paso Robles. We mostly went because my Abeulas maiden name is Robles, and she called it "her town" and wanted to get to know it. It was a lovely little town. Funny enough, Kevin and I would later so a small winter getaway to this area and had the most relaxing time!

At this point, I was anxious about getting to SF on time in the daytime. We finally had made it to the destination Carmel By The Sea. A small little town by the coast. We stayed in a delightful cottage that I can only dream of going to again. For the most part, we only stayed one night! So we made the most of it, and enjoyed a nice dinner, and watched the sunset. It was wonderful. The next day we drove up to Monterey quickly to take a nice look at everything, and it was super cute. Since we didn't have much time, we started driving down soon after. I think I asked if we could take the 1hwy on the way back down, and no one had any objections! This was something I was so happy I was able to do, and it was extremely special. We took a little stop on Bixby bridge to take a look and have some pics! Remember how I said I wanted to be a biker babe, there was a Harley, and I wanted to take a picture with the dude. So I did, much to my Abuelas surprise. It was really funny but also relaxed. Afterward, we continued to drive on down; the only downside was the sun was going down faster than we were moving. But, it made for a beautiful sunset, right before we are far from the coast, the sun was setting perfectly. We stopped, and I swear it's something everyone should experience once in their life. Funny enough, in that same year, I went up to SF with my mom and dad on separate trips and showed them this route, and it was extremely special. 

It was funny how this trip came into play: no plan, no destination, just vibes. For once, I didn't have to worry about anything or anyone. I was just vibing with my family, and something I miss a lot. My Tia said we would do it more often, alas we never did. I started doing it more with Kevin mostly, and that was more than enough. At the moment I miss my family a lot. I've never been so far from them ever, but having memories like these can always make me feel a little bit better. Plus, being stuck inside all the time besides work is draining me. Still, patience is key, and things will be better soon-hopefully pandemic-wise.

In the meantime, I tell Kevin of all the things I want to do when things open up again, and rest assure I'll be writing about it.