Our California Trip

Taylor and I decided to take a trip to California for Spring Break this year. We had all kinds of ideas, but we slowly whittled it down to a trip to Sequoia National Park, Monterey, and San Luis Obispo. It’s been awhile since just the two of us have taken a trip some where, and we wanted to celebrate that my comprehensive exams were over.

Day 1

We left the house this morning at 6am. Just kidding! We planned to leave the house at 6am. But we didn’t actually leave until about 7am. That’s how we roll.

We made great time to our first destination, which was a Chik-fil-a in Walnut, CA, right off the highway. I know – I’m so weird. But I get so sick of the same road trip food, so fast food that I actually like was a welcome respite. The weather was in the mid-60s and humid. And SMOGGY! We tried to believe it was just cloudy, but being so close to LA, we couldn't stay in denial for too long.

Costs are high in California. We expected it, but it’s still pretty wild. At home, we can get gas for $3.25, on the low end. At the last exit in Arizona, in the "beautiful" town of Quartzsite (yes, I spelled that correctly), we filled up for $3.59/gallon. We then filled the Caramel Rocket for $3.81/gallon, and we were pretty happy about that price. Our meals at Chik-fil-a cost about $7.50 each.

Sadness: the Caramel Rocket’s windshield got hit by a pretty large rock and put a lovely flower-shaped hole in the middle of it. Glad we have AAA; maybe they will finally replace the windshield instead of just filling the holes. (Side note: if you want to know why the Camry is being referred to as the Caramel Rocket, you’ll have to ask my sister. I truly don’t know where the nickname came from!)

Tonight we are staying about 5 miles from Sequoia National Park, which is about 12 hours from Tucson. We arrived in the area near our hotel about an hour before sunset. It was a beautiful area full of fruit trees, and it reminded us of a sunny, more vegetated Ireland. It was gorgeous.

The highlight of today was a farmstand. We spoke with a very kind worker for about 20 minutes, and he offered us various tastes for free. I wish you could taste what we tasted. Pure avocados, just harvested. Pomelos (Chinese grapefruit), the size of three grapefruits. The sweetest navel oranges you’ve ever tasted. Orange blossom, pomegranate, and sage honeys. And a clementine, I kid you not, that just melted in your mouth. Literally no chewing required. We bought several different fruits and thanked the man for his kindness. Eating that produce will make it hard to buy citrus fruits from a grocery store.