Day 39. Love Your Honey!

Thursday February 16, 2023

(A couple more days with no cell service...apologies to all my fans! All six of you! : )

I have a day off! OK I'm retired so maybe everyday is off? Maybe it's more like today I'm not riding or traveling anywhere because I definitely have to get some items checked off my honey-do list. Except I made the list. Good practice though in case I ever get a honey right?

Because being single for awhile can really lead you to think that the only things I have to do - are the things 'I' have to do!

Even though I don't have a honey... I do love it with waffles. Even chicken fingers. If chicken's had fingers I guess. That's also kinda weird now that I think about it. A chickens fingers...

Yeah no not goin' there!

I brought some raw honey with me to make a PB and honey sandwich now and then. So good! I'm certain though that when I do get a honey I want her to be au natural though ya know? Geez not au natural like National Geographic natural relax! Like I definitely think raw honey is best. Organic, no additives and tended to by one of those peoples with bees literally all over them because they just love bees that much. Honey's are better when treated with love right? Stay with me. It's in the title lol. But how do they do that? I mean like how do you have hundreds of bees buzzing all over your arms and bodies and not panic? Wait! How do you even know you are able to do that? Like what's the test for this!? And what about the dude that finds out he's not able to do that! Yikes! Ouch I say!

Well anyway that's what I want my honey to be like too. I want a honey with no additives! Straight up, tell it like it is, natural beauty. Cuz additives are just fake and nobody wants honey with botox in it... : )

So for today a few chores and planning the remaining nights of the trip are what's on tap. I definitely want to do some research a bit on finishing out this trip in a righteous way.

My original thoughts were to finish this on the beach right? I started out at my hometown Atlantic Ocean beach in Westhampton NY so why not end up on a beach at the Pacific?

I actually started doing a little bit of this yesterday. A little poking around and I had come across Morro Strands Beach down near San Luis Obispo. Guess what? They have campsites at the beach! Oceana Dunes is another one. So I poke around the Cali Recreation website (I'm a local now, we say Cali) to try and reserve one at Morro. Strands. Looks like they are all taken : (

Of course! What would I expect two days out from a holiday weekend on the beach in California? The Oceana Dunes campground does actually show an available site but every time I try the reservation process the website gets caught up, then the campsite isn’t showing available...back n forth I go. Frustrating!

After a half hour of spinning in circles and not getting anywhere I caved and called the reservation number. An older, patient gentleman answers and he begins looking around to see what’s available. The Oceana dunes one, which I found out is actually putting your tent on the sand (so cool right?) is booked. Dang. He looks at the Morro Strand one and it's booked also. Double Dang. Morro Sands has the campsites just off the dunes on a paved area for campers and stuff. It's a little more user friendly and looks pretty sweet. The views look spectacular. Wy didn't I think of this sooner?

I kinda roll my eyes feeling super bummed as my heart sank a bit thinking I had found the perfect bookend to my trip only to have it slip away.

For some reason I stopped myself instantly though and said "God, I can’t control this and whatever is meant to be is meant to be. If this isn’t where I'm supposed to finish this trip show me where it is!"

I said it with a peaceful, knowing smile and there was a calm that came across me. It was so good to step out of the mind that was starting to get that frustrated dejected feeling ya know? Then literally, within like fifteen seconds, while I’m still on the phone with the gentleman, he says, “Hold on… apparently someone has cancelled a few sites at Morro Strands". Seriously not kidding. No Joke here. Not making this up. “Yup, looks like four or five sites have been cancelled...I'm not sure why I didn’t see them before unless some families just turned them in but they will become available first thing in the morning when the computers update.”

I'll have to wait til the morning but I’m like did that just happen? For real? God is good. Call it what you want but the timing was off the hook. The sweet release of any grasping to an outcome and this blessing poured in. I think there can be a whole blog on this lol.

So this morning I poked on the website around 7:45 to get a head start and I find myself in an endless circle of the typical: "You don’t have an account." "Create an account." "Your password needs to be reset." "Password can be broken by a first grader try again." When it said: "That's not really your mothers maiden name is it?" I threw in the towel.

Really!? God you didn’t tease me like this right? It’s 8:15 and I'm totally feeling like I missed my window now so I bail on the website and figure I'll call again. A nice lady answers after a five minute hold and she types and pauses forever it seemed. After a few minutes of looking… and me holding my breath, she goes "Yup! One site left for Morro Strands!” WOW. Just blew my head off again crazy good. The last site!? I kept my fingers crossed while she collected all my information and payment. Sure enough I got the confirmation email and I’m in! Two nights on the beach in Southern California to end the cross country journey…perfect!

Next chore.

The last few days I've noticed that my oil will need to be changed here shortly, I've logged over six thousand miles this trip alone. I also need some laundry done and I thought either a massage or a yoga class would be great to kind of loosen up the muscles a bit.

After a little poking around and asking Christina (the owner of the Air Bnb I'm at) she suggests Leap Yoga and actually Syreeta confirmed that too! Using the MindBody app, I booked a noon class there. Perfect. Day is taking shape. I googled around for a Jiffy Lube and found one right across the street from the laundromat that was recommended too!

Sweet.

Walking into Leap Yoga I was welcomed like I had been going there for years but yet introduced to everything as a complete newbie which I told her I was. Super friendly! I changed and did an hour class with Melissa. The exact class I needed. Just challenging enough to feel worked and stretched out followed by a nice segway into Shivasana. Feeling relaxed and loosened for sure. So good thank you Melissa!

I quickly headed over to Jiffy Lube where Ronny actually was so on his game he came walking out to greet me practically before I even got out of the jeep. We had one of those weird connections where we instantly high-fived each other like we were buds that haven't seen each other in a while and started talking right away. So cool. Talked about trips like this and how he loved meeting peoples coming through his shop (it's your shop now Ronny lol!) with cool stories and he shared a few. So good. Such a great man - Jiffy Lube is lucky to have him!

I dropped the car off, headed across the street and within an hour I had both laundry and an oil change done. Timing was just impeccable because Syreeta took some time out of her day to connect up for a coffee at World Traveler Coffee house two blocks further down. Drove right there and we chatted for over an hour about nearly everything!

It's so good to just talk with people I not only really admire but that have something to say.

We both share the divorce journey, bringing kids up, air traffic talk and always the outdoor adventure stuff too - so its always refreshing to chill w/her. Again feeling so blessed to have people take time away from their daily routines to just kill an hour or so with me...thank you Syreeta!

She left to get back into mommy mode and I stayed bit longer to blog.

Before I left the coffee house I spoke with Liz a bit too...she was the barista that made our lattes. I wanted to make a connection and chat with her a bit. She had a smile a mile wide and in an instant she was sharing her dream with me of becoming a nurse. Plugging away in barista mode until that comes into fruition. I can see that she would carry her personality into a spectacular bedside manner along with a great smile that any patient would resonate with. The world could use your talents Liz! You'll be amazing at whatever you choose!

Pushing on near 6:00pm now so I 'm gonna head back to home' and grab some food and call it a night.

Which I did!

Inside

I just love the realization that we can't control everything and the moment we try to it just becomes all stressful and clingy to a specific outcome. So much better to have a plan yes, but to release the need for it to turn out the way I/we think it should. Most times the best version of whatever it is will be delivered to you anyway...sometimes even better than you could've imagined...if we just step out of the way...

Outside

I love a good Yoga class. To be able to drop into any town and have teachers such as Melissa is just so good.

Upside

Having everything I needed to get done all within a block of each other today and have it all flow together so smoothly! Wow! Jiffy Lube, Laundromat and Coffee meetup all so close and timing just perfect....

downside

Geez no cell/wifi for a couple of days and I feel so behind in blogs!

Every Which way but east

Hanging in Folsom one more day to do a ride with Syreeta's son Nate tomorrow! Then we'll head to the beach...

Made with a Latte love... thanks Liz!

So good to just chill for a bit and chat...I definitely needed it...grateful Syreeta!

This guy! So good! Thanks for the great service Ronny!

Barista Liz. Perhaps nurse Liz? Either way a title is just a title...but who you really are is a spectacular person!

I've mentioned it before in passing somewhat...but to receive messages back like this one is a beautiful testimony to the people that are in this world. This came in response to me taking myself out on a valentines date (BestDateEva! blog) and being OK with that! You know, not bemoaning the fact I was alone as all these incredible couples were walking past me holding hands and looking all lovey dovey lol. Well, I did have me, myself and I : )

Whether you've just read a post, liked a post, commented or gave a shoutout back - you are all just beautiful peoples...thank you for being in my life!