As the New Year begins and our time off comes to a close with Twiddle's tour starting in just two weeks, I am reminded of this story from November. I always look forward to Ryan ending his tour and having some time off to just relax and hang around Burlington. When I got the call from him two days before the Twiddle fall tour was set to end telling me he wasn’t coming home I was SO MAD! But the next sentence of the conversation ... the one where he said “Mihali and I are going to play with Midnight North and members of the Grateful Dead” ... kind of erased that! I immediately looked at flights and tried to figure out a way to be there for such a special moment in my husband’s career and life. I even went so far as to apply to new jobs so I could quit my old one and have the week off (it was a long time coming and it actually worked!).
I flew out that Friday morning for the show that night at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and am so glad that I did. Not only did I get to meet one of the coolest chicks ever, the lovely bride of Grahame Lesh from Midnight North, Claire Lesh (who will be guest posting on the blog soon!), but I also got to witness a dream come true for people I care about so much. I vividly remember Bob Weir looking over at Ryan with a huge grin while he soloed during Franklin’s Tower - SO SURREAL! The whole night was beyond magical and I wasn’t willing to end it there.
I convinced Ryan to stay in California for an extra week and go visit some of my closest friends and afterwards explore the coast. The morning after the show we decided to visit my oldest friend and her family in the suburbs just outside of the city. I’ve known this girl since we were five years old and she is truly one of the best! We had some wonderful conversation and vegan enchilada soup and hit the road to drive down to Los Angeles. Two of my hometown friends recently moved out there and GOT MARRIED! so we couldn’t go out west without seeing them. We hit up the Fairfax Flea Market, thrift stores, Jim Morrison’s house and SUR. Ryan even had a bit of a photo shoot with Jon, who is the celebrity photographer for Buzzfeed. But again it was time to hit the road.
We were heading to Big Sur, and because of the recent mudslides had to take a detour. Well let me tell you ... make sure you do your research before you decide to take a detour!!!! No joke I’ve never been so terrified in my entire life as I was on the road waze took us on. Not only was it one of the windiest roads I’ve ever been on but there were ZERO guardrails. At a certain point on the 20 mile drive I kind of lost it and just stopped and parked in the middle of the road. I begged Ryan to drive and basically erupted into tears. Guys, I’ve never been so overwhelmed with fear. Maybe it was because we were in a rental convertible or maybe it was because I just got new glasses and finally had depth perception? But I really couldn’t handle it. Luckily we were close to Highway 1 and it was over and we were back to the land where people care about your life and put a freakin guardrail up on the side of the road!!!!!
Anyways ... we hit up a few cool spots on the way to where we were staying, which was right in the heart of Big Sur and truly could not have been better. Check out some of the awesome photos in the gallery below - I highly recommend visiting each and every one of these sights and staying at the Big Sur Campground and Cabins. Not only were the people who work there incredibly kind but the lodging was so unique and something we both will never forget! Some of the most special places we made it to were McWay Falls, the Henry Miller Library, Nepenthe, Pfeiffer Beach, and Partington Cove (but there are many more pictured!).
We checked out of Big Sur Wednesday morning and headed north to catch our red-eye from San Francisco. But if you know me you know we obviously did a ton more sight-seeing! We drove over the epic Bixby Bridge, watched sea lions at Point Lobos, stopped in Carmel-by-the-Sea for a delicious Italian lunch and took the 17-mile drive to Monterey where we stopped at their famous aquarium.
Basically what I’m trying to say here is ... when life gives you lemons, take a flight to watch your husband play with members of the Grateful Dead and make a “long strange trip” out of it!
xoxo. Alexandra
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