Running Out of Time

Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. Can you believe that? The other day someone mentioned that it was just like yesterday when we were all waiting for 2016 to be over. We lost a lot of popular celebrities, survived a cut throat presidential election and we had our share of tragedies of one sort or another. We celebrated the arrival of 2017 and now we are only fifty-one days away from 2018. I guess time really waits for no one and it seems like it’s in a hurry to leave us behind.

 The other day I mentioned that we have been very busy over the past few weeks but when I started thinking about it, we have been busy all year. For the last five months we have had a new home being built in Utah. Being out of the state has helped keep me less excited about it because I wasn’t around to watch it step by step. We’ve had people sending photos every week and we’ve been able to walk through it a handful of times as we’ve been in town but really, it’s all come together behind the scenes. Now we are a week away from closing and while I won’t be able to move in full time right away it does signify that our time in California is ending.

 Thinking about this, I realized that there are going to be places that I want to see in California that I won’t have time to see. Some locations are just too far away and others I’ll have to pick and choose what we decide is priority. Here are some of the places I think we’ll miss seeing that I wish we could.

Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge

I’m not sure why I think I need to visit a massive concrete structure full of dark, creepy cells with rusted iron bars for walls. But I do. The island has history as well as the former inhabitants of the prison. Like thousands of other people that make their way to the island each year, I have a morbid curiosity for how the most terrible criminals of the day lived. I find it curious because I could care less about how today’s criminals live. Why should I care about how they lived back then? Well…there is one more reason I want to visit. It’s haunted. Of course, if you’ve followed this blog for long you may have already guessed that the possibility of hanging out with ghosts would interest me. Hey, I mentioned a morbid curiosity, didn’t I?

I’ve been to the bay area once when I was eleven or so. My grandpa is a truck driver and I made a trip with him to San Francisco. But you don’t get to go site seeing when you’re working. The Golden Gate Bridge is an American icon. It’s instantly recognizable but I haven’t seen it in person. Someday, perhaps, I’ll get to it.

Redwood National Park

Trees don’t come any taller than they do at Redwood National Park. We were able to visit Sequoia National Park earlier this year and were enchanted by the size and beauty of the forests. I was hoping to get up to the redwoods because I’ve always wanted to see them. I respect something that can grow to over 350 ft tall. I don’t think a person can comprehend the reality of that without standing beside them.

Big Sur

 Here’s another location that is probably too far north for us. If I had the time I would choose to hop on the Pacific Coast Highway down at the southern tip and cruise my way north but it would be difficult to pull off at this time. This is a shame because from the areas we’ve seen along the PCH in SoCal have been awesome and from what I’ve heard the views only get better.

Big Bear

  I love the mountains and Big Bear has them. I’m no skier to I don’t have any interest in going up there in the winter. I’m more interested in doing the 4x4 trails the area has to offer. I’ve seen enough videos and read enough articles to let me know that I’m missing out on some fun trails and fine scenery. Unfortunately, I’m taking the Jeep back to Utah in the Spring for the Jeep Safari in Moab, so it won’t be here when the snow melts away and the trails clear.

On The Bubble

There are still a lot of things that I’m planning to see that I hope to get around to. These places are somewhat planned but I’m not sure if we’ll get them in. These places include: Channel Islands National Park, Death Valley, Joshua Tree. Easy to get to places like the Getty and the Griffith Observatory may be out of reach. Of course, I have a large list of places to see which is why these are on my maybe list.

These are just a few of the places that I will regret not seeing while we are living in California. I could keep going for hours. I’ll miss Hearst Castle and Monterey Bay Aquarium. I drive through Hollywood every day to get to work but I’ve never actually explored it and I won’t even get started about all the golf courses I’ve skipped out on. Ugh. I guess I’ll live. If there are places that you think are must see areas, feel free to leave us a note in the comments and we’ll see if we can hit them. I find the lesser known sites to be the most interesting and the only way to find them is to talk to the local so tell me all about them. Have a great weekend everyone.

Brandan