It’s always sunny in California

When the opportunity arose a few weeks ago to go to Los Angeles for a work-related event, at first I was quite grumbly about the prospect of getting on a plane and having to (wo)man a table all by myself to promote a book project I spent the whole of last year traveling to promote. But then I had the brilliant idea of turning the trip into a vacation, to take Rowan with me, have my mom meet us in LA, and then spend a few extra days on the Central Coast — where blessedly, it is SUNNY and WARM. In February.

So, that’s precisely what I am doing. Tomorrow Rowan and I are flying to LA, on Wednesday I will be stationed adjacent to the rooftop pool of a posh hotel in Beverly Hills where there is the (wee-small) chance of meeting (C-, B-, and maybe even A-list) celebs (it’s a style event in conjunction with the Academy Awards — I know, you don’t feel very sorry for me, but the event is 10 hours long, with no one to relieve my post, and it is forecast to be in the high 70s!), and on Thursday the three of us will head north to my hometown for a long weekend.

(Roth can’t get the time off, so he’ll be home in Seattle, probably playing video games in his underwear and eating meat on bones.)

It’s been awhile since I’ve been home. We didn’t visit my mom’s at all last year, a direct correlation with having to buy a seat for Rowan on flights when the year prior, he was still considered a lap infant. (We saw my mom quite a bit, as she came up our way a few times.) It’s always a weird feeling to return to my hometown after so many years of not living there. Some things are the same, but a lot has changed in almost seven years, and I always worry I won’t recognize the place I called home for 25 years.

Thankfully, we’ve got plenty of time to soak it all in. I get to see my college roommate Shauna, and our boys (her son Henry is 4) will get to play garbage trucks together. We’ve got a lunch date scheduled with my grandma, who I haven’t seen in about a year and a half. And on the way back, when we fly home from San Jose, we get to visit with my cousin’s wife Shannon and her two boys, Henry and Kaelan. In between, I hope we can eat at some of my favorite restaurants and sink our toes in the sand.

And speaking of soaking it all in, I checked the weather in LA and San Luis Obispo, and I about wept tears of joy when I saw this.

Yes, this trip will do a Seattleite good.

Posted on February 20, 2012 | Category: Uncategorized | 4 Comments