[West Coast Road Trip] Day 2: Quintessential Cali

Today was a lovely, perfect California day: around 75 degrees all day with a nice little breeze and clear skies. We embraced this loveliness by spending the day outdoors in true Cali form...

We met up with our friends in Newport Beach after sleeping in (much needed), and rode our beach cruisers to a tiny surf cafe right on the beach. I had the most wonderful gardenburger, made only more delicious by the fact that we enjoyed our lunch with our feet buried in the sand beneath our picnic table.

After lunch, we spent a few hours sitting on the front porch, listening to music and playing Cornhole on the sidewalk. (I am unbelievably bad at this here game, and so I spent the majority of the afternoon fending off demands to drink and playing with Shadow, our friend's very sweet pup.)

At around 4pm we hit the Newport harbor and rented a Duffy for a few hours. This was such a nice change of venue for an already-relaxing day, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ease of renting a boat that was ready to go and simple to maneuver. Shadow decided to ride the first part of the trip on my lap, which was awesome. Except that she's a decent-sized dog, and I'm just a wee person. But I survived and got some puppy cuddles on the open water. Not too shabby.

Before dinner we hit up a cute local surf shop to find some threads for the evening since we hadn't brought a change of clothes to accommodate our spontaneity. (Note to self: this is why everyone in town wears bathing suits under their clothes on a regular basis.) We had a yummy dinner at a little sushi bar off the main strip that the boys frequent often. (We're talking hugs all around and free sake from the sushi chef.) After a quick score-settling game of billiards, Bobs and I came home to rest up for our last day of shenanigans together during this visit.

It seems that everywhere I go, people are trying to convince me to move to their town by showing me a wonderful time and sharing with me all that their haunts have to offer. And while my next move is already in the works, I do know that this will not be my last stay in SoCal. The past few days have been so wonderful and relaxing, and they've given me fresh eyes when looking at my native state.