June 13: Pasadena, California

We woke up early the next morning to another delicious meal: homemade apricot and strawberry jam on sourdough toast, as well as cherry-banana smoothies made with cherries pitted by Will. With his swim meet starting in just an hour, he needed a healthy, filling breakfast so he could win.

We wished him luck and packed up the car. Emily tried to get out of the driveway as Bill and Peter watched, waiting to wave goodbye as we drove around the corner. Embarrassingly enough, it took her at least five minutes to get out, by which time Bill and Peter had already left to go back inside to get ready to cheer Will on.

On the road again, we quickly got to Monterey, where we walked down Cannery Row and ended up at the aquarium, where we watched the seals sun themselves on the rocks but didn’t go inside. We moved on to Carmel, where we walked along the beach and watched the dogs play with each other in the surf. We looked at the beautiful houses on our way back to the car, trying to figure out how we could arrange to live in them.

Next we headed inland, where we drove through the Salinas Valley and stared openmouthed at the acres and acres of crops growing there. We drove for a long time without seeing any spot to pull off and have lunch, though we did have a close call when we almost exited onto an army base, which didn’t look too inviting.

Instead, we got off in San Miguel, which had a mission, so we figured it must have some civilization. We sat on a bench on the main drag and made ourselves cucumber, spinach, and cheese sandwiches. We got some strange looks, both for speaking English and for our strange dining choices. At one point we heard a bell ringing and turned around to watch a man pushing an ice cream cart come out from behind a house. We were too stunned to buy any. Instead, we went inside the corner store and got some cold drinks before leaving San Miguel, realizing we didn’t fit in at all.

We finally made it back out to the coast, arriving in Pismo Beach where we caught a glimpse of the ocean and stopped immediately. At first we were a little put off by the long line at the bathroom, where we changed into our bath suits, and by the fact that the only people in the water were surfers in wet suits. However, as soon as we got into the water we realized that everyone else was just too used to the sun (the day was a little windier than normal, apparently, and not too much of a beach day for the locals). The water was wonderfully refreshing, and we could have stayed there all day if we didn’t have anywhere to be that night.

After a failed attempt in Santa Barbara to find frozen yogurt (which we were told we had to eat while in California), we made it too LA – and the sun immediately disappeared. LA and its surrounding communities seemed to be covered with one giant cloud, which apparently had been hanging around the whole month of June.

We found our way to Pasadena, where we went to our friend Jenny’s cousins’ house. Jenny is staying there while doing an internship, and her family had graciously allowed us to crash there for a night. We met her cousins and watched the Sex and the City movie while enjoying some delicious vegetarian chili Jenny’s uncle had made.