AMERICANA

I took this picture in a gas station just north of Redding, CA. And for some reason I really love it. It really gives an idea of the blue sky that we have found so far. And the gas station itself is really the symbol of the road trip. And the size of the gas station is something is giving an idea of the immense spaces that you can find here in the West. And of course our little yellow yellow truck to complete this Americana ...

NORTHERNMOST IN-N-OUT

We are in Redding, CA and after 560 miles on the road we are less than half of our way to Seattle. But it is dark and we are really tired of driving. Looking at the map, north of us there is really nothing that looks like a city so and we have decided to stop, get something to eat and a bed to sleep. And there the nicest surprise. In little Redding, CA there is the northern most IN-N-OUT of the World! Ehehehe. The fact that IN-N-OUT is only in California, Nevada and Arizona doesn't really diminish our feelings. We really feel we are in a special place. And we are craving for IN-N-OUT burgers. So we park our truck & trolley and we go to enjoy not one, not two, but three double double! This may be be the last IN-N-OUT burger we will have in a long time. This driving is really a funny adventure. A pity that we are so loaded and that we can't take side streets and we can't go and visit the National Parks that are on the way between LA ans Seattle. We will have to do it an other time. For now we just enjoy our double doubles ...

SHADOWS to SEATTLE

We are still driving on the I-5. Still in California. We just passed the intersection to San Francisco. The sun is setting. LA is our happy past and Seattle is hopefully equally happy future. We would like to look forward, but we continue think about the past. And in the middle of the drive, we notice our shadow. A wonderful California sunset shadow ...

GAAAAAAAS ... :P

There is no such a thing as a free meal, right? And there is no such a thing like a road trip with a truck without gas stops! And believe me this fully loaded PENSKE truck, pulling a trailer is really crazy about gas. This is one of the multiple stops we had today ...

SNOOOOW ... :D

The driving trip has finally started. We are driving northbound on the I-5 and now LA is finally behind us. And few hours into the trip we have the first surprise. Apparently it did snow here in the last days. Very nice landscape. Here are some pictures that I like to share with you ...... but hopefully we won't find a snowy path all the way to Seattle. It won't be too much fun to drive this truck pulling the car in the snow ...

BYE BYE LA ...

And this is the time to attach the trailer with the car to the yellow yellow truck and leave the so well know LA freeways. It is nice to leave LA driving out ...

THE REAL FAREWELL

This is it. This is the time to leave. The time when my room is completely empty. The time when I have to leave my keys to someone else. The time when I have to close the door behind me. I lived here more than 4 years now. I still remember when I came here for the first time to see a "room for rent with shared bathroom". It was October 2003, and Jake was waiting for me. And after few months Leif came. And Jake left. And Leif left as well. Today Aaron is not even here to say goodbye. Jason is here. He didn't go to the gym, just to give me the final hug. It is time to leave. But I am not sad. I am actually happy for the wonderful time that I have spent here. I have learn a lot in these years. And I have shared a lot of love with these places and my friends. And I just hope that I will be able to be as happy as this also in Seattle ...

A YELLOW YELLOW TRUCK

At the end it had to happen and it did happen. The I-5 did reopen. And now we don't have an excuse anymore. We really have to leave California, LA, Hermosa, the surf, the pier, the beach and all our friends. The boxes have been ready from a while now. And after 1 week that PENSKE kept on hold our truck, now we really have to go and pick it up. A new adventure is starting. We are moving to Seattle! And we have decided to rent this bright yellow yellow truck. We parked in front the "244 Monterey Blvd Surf Club" and we started loading it ...and after 3 hours we were done. All our was in that truck, but the cloths for the 2 - 3 days trip that is awaiting us and for the gifts that Nene has prepared for our friends ...... the room is now empty and this will be our last night here in Hermosa. We will sleep on the couch.

THEY DID IT AGAIN

Our friends did it again. They organized an other farewell party for us. This was the 4th farewell party. And this time it was at Loy's place. A pizza party. And probably it will be the last one. Sad, to think that we have to leave. But tonight we have really enjoyed the friends that we have here in LA. And those are some of the pictures that we took that night. Lovely memories. Amazing friends. I love them ... nothing less and nothing more ...

AND NOW BABY SHOWER

I think we will never be able to leave LA. An other party and here it is, an other party. This is the baby shower for Sheila, Nene's sister. First time for me in a baby shower. It is a funny concept of party. More like a 5th grade party. Of course no alcohol and no lsmoke and no oud music is allowed. And there are those funny games all about how life will be once the baby will pop out. But I really liked it. it was fun. And here a picture of how the baby will most likely look like ... eheheh ...

99CENTS? IMPOSSIBLE!!!

I have been living here for 5 years, and I always managed to miss all the 99cents stores that are spotting every single community in LA. I am not sure why I missed them. I guess I just thought I didn't need anything over there. And I guess, I was wrong. Today Nene bring me to one of them and there, I realize what I have missed ...... funny picture. It is really amazing how things can be cheap here ... everything 99cents. Anything you can think about that could cost between $1 and $20 in a normal store is here for just 99cents! Anything! Totally amazing! If you will go to LA, don't do my mistake ... before anything else ... go shopping in one of the 99cents store .. :)

WE DID IT AGAIN

The I-5 is still flooded. And the sun is still warm here in LA. Why should we leave? No reason. Especially when you have lined up an other party with your friends. Today is the time to go to visit Christina in her bar. Drinking a beer at the Redondo Beach pier with your friends. Nothing more perfect than this. This time are Christina, Justin, Dan, Emily, Mae and Jill ... and those are some of the pictures that we took ...

THE SECOND FAREWELL PARTY

So here we are. Still in California. We were supposed to leave 2 days ago, but the flood of the Interstate 5 just south of Seattle, didn't help us our plans. We should drive 300miles more through a wingding mountain road in order to get to Seattle. And we don't like that. So we decided to wait here until the I-5 will re-open. And because we have wonderful friends, they decided to continue to celebrate us. One farewell party per day, until we will leave. So this is still our California. And this is an other farewell party. At Mae's place with Jill, Geline, Mae, Christina, Emily and Dan ...And those are Emily and Dan playing with Tina's glasses ...
... nice memories our friends. We will miss them!

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE ...

It has been a while since I wrote in the blog. Not because nothing happened. Actually a lot of things did happen. Even if I didn't write about it. But not everything is lost. I still remember most of it, and I have also some pictures. So, I have decided to make a fast replay of those beautiful months. I hope you will enjoy the ride ...

CALIFORNIA WINTER STORM

The storm that has created so many problems and floods in the NorthWest (and that floodedthe I-5 to Seattle) has found his way here to Southern California ... no rain at all here, but 8+ feet waves for the few dudes who dared to go out there to surf. Wonderful day on the beach for my last surfing memories in Southern California ...

MOTHER NATURE

This is the way the interstate 5 looks like. Totally flooded. The segment between Portland, OR and Seattle, WA is closed! Why do I care? Because tomorrow I am supposed to drive there on my way to Seattle ...I am not exactly sure what I will do. Most likely we will have to postpone our trip of 1 day. They say that at the earliest it should re-open on Thursday. But nobody knows if it is really going to happen. What can I say? Mother nature wants me to stay some more hours in Southern California. I will have to spend an other day in sunny Southern California ... :D

The LAST HERMOSA SURFING

For a long time I tried to imagine how the last surfing here in Hermosa was going to be. I thought it was going to be sad. But actually it didn't come out sad at all. It was a perfect weekday morning surf. Not a lot of people around. Not big waves, but who really cared about that?!? The most important thing is that I was in the water with one of my best friends here in LA, Oliver. Surfing is really about getting out there and relaxing. And this last surfing ere in Hermosa has been exactly about like that. The perfect surfing day. I will miss surfing here in Hermosa with my friends. But hopefully, once I will be in Seattle, I will make some trip down to Hawaii. And there I won't even need the wetsuit anymore... :) ...

... and here the last picture ... when we came out of the water we met Kerry and Yama who were coming down for a late morning surf ... and I love this picture ... the icing on the cake ...

SOUTH PARK

Those are some pictures that I found in my camera the day after the California Farewell Party. Don't ask me what they were doing in the South Park. I just found them really funny ... so here they are ... Jason, Justin, Mae, Amy and NeNe at their very best ... life in Hermosa is really a lot of fun ... I will miss it ...

CALIFORNIA FAREWELL PARTY

It is all for real. We are really ready to leave California. We are a little bit sad. This is the place where I lived in last 4 years. This is the place that I loved. This is where I lived with wonderful roommatess. This is where I met a lot of friends. This is where I learned to surf. This is where I dared to dream more. This is my California. Sad, yes I am sad. But I am also happy, because in Seattle I won't go alone, I will go with my soulmate Nene. And this makes my happy. So, for our farewell we decided to organize a big party. Nothing crazy, but big enough to invite all our friens. Fifty of our best friends came to my place to celebrate (or maybe to make sure that we will really leave), and those are some of the pictures that I took. Wonderful memories of a special nite ...And this is Jason in front of the fridge with the "244 Monterey Blvd surf Club" hall of fame. Now Jason is the president. In that piece of paper there are a lot of wonderful memories. Every name has a special story. Most of them will be friends forever. Other completely disappeared from my life. I miss all of them, but it is OK. I am happy about the real friends that were here with me to celebrate. And of course in the party we have also some babies. Here are Rene, Hana and Zoe ...