I decided it would be fun to take a vacation this fall with just my husband—something we hadn’t done in 20 years. We tend to vacation with other people or head down to our second home in Florida. I have visited every state except Alaska so we thought a cruise would be perfect. While it might sound rather geriatric, we called our friend Melissa who is a travel agent, and she found the perfect one for us. It departed in Alaska and returned to Vancouver, which was great. Both Carey and I visited Vancouver about 35 years ago and loved it, so we could add on to the end of the trip.
Well, that would have worked if we had not let our passports expire. Seriously. Little Miss On-Top-of-Everything somehow managed to not renew our passports. At first, I blamed the United States government. Shouldn’t they send out a postcard or something? But then I realized I barely look at the mail so really it was my own fault. Our cruise was off, and I am still one state short of the magic 50! (I’ve been to Puerto Rico. I know it is just a territory, but I’ve hit 50 places under the U.S. domain … that has to count for something!)
Then I had a better idea: driving up the Pacific Coast Highway from Long Beach to Carmel-By-The-Sea. Now, if you are a faithful reader, this idea should cause you to ask, “Is she nuts?” Just a few months ago I wrote 600 words about how much I hated the way my husband drives, and now, I wanted to plan a vacation that involved driving on a twisty, curvy and (sometimes) scary highway? Yes, that is what I proposed, and that is what we did. The good news is we are still married. I said not one word about his driving during our vacation. and being together has not led either of us to an attorney’s office. (I’m speaking for myself here, but hey, if anyone has seen my husband heading into one, a quick email would be appreciated.)
Before we left, Carey and I chatted about his driving. Carey has driven on the PCH a time or two so he is familiar with all the twists and turns, but he assured me he would take it slow and easy. A few of our friends and family even talked to him about the drive, and it worked. I never once tried to put on the brake on my side of the car, no F-words were said, and no harm came to either of us. We were overwhelmed by the beauty of what we saw, the Pacific Ocean on one side and cliffs and hillsides on the other. It was beautiful.
We stayed in six cities: Long Beach, Malibu, Santa Barbara, Cambria, Big Sur and Carmel-by-the-Sea. As we left each one, it became our favorite. In Big Sur, this ‘not really into nature’ person spent two days in a treehouse surrounded by huge redwoods. There was a certain smell that I can’t describe, but luckily the gift shop had a bottle of the scent for me to buy.
So, this going away together by ourselves is going to be a regular thing. Next year, Australia! G’day my Peeps!
