It’s definitely been a year like none before. I had only two meets (not including the husband, of course) the entire year–one in January and one in February. The prospect of COVID was so scary to me that I actually hid my Recon profile back in June, and to this day, I haven’t shown it. It has been deleted… I’m guessing one day I’ll return for meets. But not anytime soon.
While I do certainly miss it, it hasn’t been the end of the world for me. I still very much enjoy my husband and his company. And while we didn’t get to travel like we usually do, we did manage (many months ago, well before California’s Stay at Home order) to take a road trip up the coast on PCH.
We spent two days in the San Francisco area, but because of Covid, we actually largely avoided the city and instead spent much of our time hiking in the Sausalito area, Golden Gate Park, and Muir Woods (which at the time was only open by reservation only, making the crowds very sparse). As as Covid was still a thing, we didn’t meet up with anyone for scenes, or even socially–we kept more to ourselves.
Japanese Garden in Golden Gate Park 
Strawberry Hill at Golden Gate Park 
Hawk Hill in Saulsalito 
Muir Woods 
I had also never taken the very scenic Pacific Coast Highway all the way from LA to SF before. It adds a lot of your time to the drive (going up a more direct, but fairly boring landscape would be a 5-6 hour drive; PCH is 8-10 hours), and in some places it’s quite narrow and winding, with a few spots having a very shear drop off right off the road, so it can be unnerving in places. And while it doesn’t all stay right on the coast, a good portion of it does, and it’s very memorable. Half the fun is just stopping at a random place and exploring… nearly every turn off is stunning.
I did do a bit of research and we discovered the charming Partington Cove… something that I highly recommend, it was one of the absolute favorite parts of my trip. Also, the restaurant Nepenthe in Big Sur is incredible, and one of the best steaks I’ve had in a while–not to mention a spectacular view. We ate there on both the way up and the way back! Fair warning: if you do this drive, cell phone and internet reception are pretty non-existent, so better to rely on old fashioned paper maps and lots of planning if there’s particular sights you want to see.
Seal lions in San Simion 
Nepenthe in Big Sur 
The view while at Nepenthe! That’s the ocean out there. 
Partington Cove, complete with a tunnel 
The cove when you emerge from the tunnel 
Another view from Partington Cove 
Panorama of the famous Bixby Bridge
While that trip was great, hopefully 2021 will bring even more adventure. In Los Angeles, there is a surprising amount of hiking and many nice drives that we can still do (at least, so far). And we are both fortunate that my husband and I both are still employed, so working took up a lot of our time. It could’ve been worse, and my heart goes out to those who have gone through more.
It’ll still be a while before I get to do any outside meets, but while there have been some decided downsides, I tend to be a positive person, and I’m cautiously optimistic about the future (getting out Trump certainly helps). One day I’ll get to unhide that Recon profile again.
