Galina YoungIt is 8.23.2020 as I am writing this. Working full time while running a family on the cross country trip sure is pretty time consuming and exhausting. I promised myself, however, that I will keep up with the blog because we will need it at some point in out lives either as a lessons learned or precautionary tale…. judgement is still out on which one.
It turns out possible seconds happen when we are driving for long stretches on a weekend and I have my laptop parked on my knees.
There were not any long stretches of driving in the past two weeks because we dropped an anchor on Sol’s aunt’s driveway and had a great visit with family. We are, however, back on the road and I type away as girls are signing to ‘Ground control to Major Tom’ on the back seat.
We rolled into town of Cambria in the early evening of Aug 10th to be greeted by Nana, Pappy, Aunt Sally, cousins Leo and Merit. To girls’ delight a pair of their little cousins was also there, visiting with Aunt Sally and they are just a few years older. This is the first time girls are meeting their cousins and it takes the 4 of them about 4 seconds to warm up to each other.
We have a dinner al-fresco that night. Kids done their masks on and play and play and play well into the dark. It is a rare treat these days to get to play with other kids… especially cool older cousins!
Darwin meets his cousin dogs too. He is not sure how to feel because the mass of them combined is still below his weight. He gallops among them like an amused pony. However, Bailey, the 13 year old Basset Hound, projects so much authority despite being low to the ground that Darwin falls in line immediately. Generally, after living with two cats, he knows that no good can come from small things… so he is cautious.
The two weeks are filled with California beach adventures with Sir Dad-s-a-lot in charge (I join when I am not working). Girls are delighted to stick their fingers into sea anemones in many tide pools by the beach or catch hermit crabs and watch them ‘walk’ across their hands.
They try their hand at boogie boarding at The Cove and are surprised by sneaky waives while exploring coastal wild life. We try to catch as many ocean sunsets as we can.
Each week day girls take turns to go to work with Nana in Nana’s and Pappy’s art gallery in town. They learn the ropes and chat up the customers.
They are also quite prolific artists themselves and sell their art to every passerby. And there are some takers. Sasha, who sold one of her drawings for $11(!), likes to spend her earnings in the candy shop next door but Toma saves hers for future potential reptile acquisitions.
By the end of the second week she amasses north of $50 and proudly carrying the sum with her everywhere she goes. Girls also acquire some art from the gallery at a deep deep family discount. They are loving the process and we each get about 4 presents when it is time to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.
Our 13th wedding anniversary is lovely. We get to take out 5 ocean kayaks in Moro Bay with all the fam. We leisurely paddle along watching sunset from the water. A group of sea otters is playing with their young offspring’s alongside our boats. It is evening feeding time and the bay is alive. There are ducks and seagulls and pelicans diving for fish, otters are playing in the sunset and sea lions are fighting for a spot on an old raft. It is a lovely warm evening and Toma even feels compelled to go for a swim which renders her frozen for the rest of the outing.
The peacefulness and ease of the evening is lost on Sol who is sharing his boat with Darwin. Darwin loves to swim and is great at it. Not so much with kayaks. Hilarity ensues when he is dressed in the canine life vest and asked to jump on the boat. He is not amused and almost topples the kayak over with Sol in it.
Once in the boat he stands proudly on the top of the kayak trying to jump after the seagulls that have a gull to fly by. About halfway into an outing he gets his way and proudly swims back to the pier dragging Sol and a double kayak behind. Pup sleeps really well for the next day or two.
The days in Cambria are easy and filled with fun staff. I stay on the east coast schedule and work early hours to join family for beach outings and hikes or walks around the neighborhood in the afternoons. Every night we cook dinner together and talk late into the night. Girls really enjoy their universe expanded with accepting adults and are basking on love of their West Coast grandparents.
We enjoy a few chilly days and even a rain after the desert heat but then the heat catches up with us. About a week into the visit a magnificent lightning storm descends onto northern California setting thousands of acres of land ablaze. Wild fires are not very close but the smoke reaches us. For a couple of days we exist in eerie and pink daylight with sun hanging in the sky like a small orange providing very little light but a lot of heat.
No sun rises over the coastal mountain range in the mornings or sets over the ocean in the evenings. You cannot see beyond immediate surroundings. We are staying indoors a lot with fans and air purifiers running as the air quality is very poor. We are lucky and things clear out some for Cambria in couple of days. Town is full with ‘migrants’ from inland who are escaping the smoke and fires.
