I found the car, found the directions and backed out of the parking space. I made my way out of the parking lot, turned left on Broad in search of Tank Farm Road, interesting name for a road as well as an interesting road; a few farms, a trailer park, a few warehouses, the north side of the airport. At the next intersection was a strip mall, Starbucks and Trader Joes…a taste of home. I pulled in, went into both and felt a bit of relief. Back in the car and on my way in search of Hwy 101, the only 4 lane highway in the area.
I passed a few more farm areas, saw some cows on the hillside and chuckled as I thought about the Happy Cow commercials on TV. Highway 101 did not seem any different than the highways running through Wisconsin. This was much hillier than Wisconsin but they both had cows on the side of the road.
The road began to curve a bit, around a slight bend and there it was, breathtaking, the Pacific Ocean. There is magnificence about the west coast, the ruggedness of the rocks meeting the tranquility of the water. It was hard to keep my eyes on the road, this was beauty and I couldn’t get enough of it.
I found the exit, pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, throw my things in the room and walked to the water. The hotel sat well above the beach and the view both north and south was picturesque. I watch what I thought were the largest birds I had ever seen swimming away from the shore. Maybe they were pelicans I thought to myself, until one stood up on the surf board. The shore was lined with a small group of surfers. There was a man with waiters on fly fishing near shore and the sun was beginning to set. I found myself not only speechless but having difficulty processing all of this.
Jeff arrived shortly after. He had been traveling a lot and we had only spent 1 day together in the last 2 and a half weeks. Besides being glad to see each other we were in this beautiful place yet neither of us were sure if we could really live here.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s small,” I said.
“I know. I told you it was rural”
“I didn’t think it was this rural, but it’s magnificent.” I replied
“Yes it is.”