Vaycay! The final post :/

Last time I'll have to do this! Go catch up -- with parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

We woke up at our B&B on Friday and had some kind of stuffed french toast for brekkie. And fruit and roasted grapefruit, yummm. The food was pretty good, overall. (Sidenote: I want to be an innkeeper! Making breakfast and Jimmy could do the cleaning? Perf!)

Before anyone thinks that's a dig at G, he loves cleaning, no joke. He stands over me while I eat and waits for me to take the final bite so he can wash the plate by hand. I used to find it strange. But I think it's quite nice/endearing lately. What a pumpkin!

ANYWAY.

We hit the pavement pretty fast Friday -- first visiting Luffenholtz Beach, and then we were off to Patrick's Point (another state park), where we spent maybe five-ish hours? Agate Beach was SUPER picturesque. And then we just started hitting trails and scaling different rock formations until we had basically seen the whole place! James could do this ALL DAY. Truth be told, I loved it, but my knee gets shitty after a few hours. All the lowering down, then climbing up and side-to-side movements start to hurt my ACL region. Womp womppp.

Blue skies, blue water.

Side story here: Something we learned this trip was how to avoid the tide. Several times, we'd be like, messing around on the rocks, then the tide would rush in really fast and we'd be all, "runnnnnnnn!" And we'd hop, skip and jump to safety. Mostly meaning to dry or higher land.

Anyway, at Patrick's Point, we did several risky climbs down by the water. No one else was out there, not a soul. So if I re-tore an ACL, I'd have like, 99 problems. A CHP helicopter might be one.

The chronicles of this red sweatshirt.

So, James was out on this huge rock, and he wanted me to join. I was hanging back a bit -- we had been out there ALL day and my knee was sore -- but he swore he could see sea lions on the other side of the rock and they were SO close! K, so I couldn't say no to super up-close sea lion friends. I started making my way, rock by rock ... you kind of have to test each one to make sure it's stable before you use it. I had a decent pace going on and I was almost there(!) when ... I bit it HARD.

For a second, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I thought I was going to get swept away in the ocean and it was so scary. 

I mean, not really. But I'm known to jump a few steps ahead when it comes to FEAR.

So, I was probably four or five massive rocks from G, and the water was pretty deep (well, just a few feet, but comparatively speaking, deep. Certainly not a puddle. And I wasn't trying to get my leg soaked). The rocks were wet from the tide rushing over them, and I had to do a little jump to attempt this rock. My mentality the whole time was just like, "if he can do it, so can I! I'm just as athletic."

But boom, down I went. I lost my footing and kind of grabbed at the rock, but my leg went ankle-deep and I cut up my hands a bit on the catch.

We were laughing later, I actually yelled, "Noooooooo!" Like, not trying to be dramz -- that's just what my reaction to the whole thing really was. 

... And then the tide came in and James had to rush back, too. That was certainly enough adventure for one day.

My favorite guy.

For dinner, we drove to Larrupin -- which came highly recommended by all the locals. We actually made a reservation the night before, so we were pumped.

We dressed up a bit, planned to watch some of the MSU-Oklahoma game at the bar, and that was that.

... Except: not only was there not really a bar area -- there were no TVs at all. And no cell reception! So we decided we'd eat, then catch the second half of the game after dinnz.

Maybe we got carried away, we were having SUCH a good meal and enjoying each other's company. But the next thing I knew, we were signing the check, walking out to the parking lot and MSU had just won! James said that was the fastest game of all time. Although I'm sure it didn't feel that way to the people watching -- sounded like a nail-biter! I felt like the worst Sparty fan, but the happiest, too. Getting an alert saying they won with 0 stress involved? Whatever!

We stopped back at the house for a sec to drop off our leftovers, then went in search of this casino we'd heard was only a mile or 2 away. I was determined to see game highlights.

And let me just say ... for there being like, two people in the entire town of Trinidad, the casino was popping! We saw highlights. We (I) danced around to this '90s band. We downed some Fireball. James probably gambled a bit, I did not. And we had the best time, considering it was a scummy casino in the middle of nowhere.

We crashed in bed LATE, slept really well, and woke up the next morning to smoothies, more fruit and some kind of frittata/egg dish. Again, it was pretty delish. I wasn't that hungry -- still full from brisket, oysters, potatoes, creme brulee, Fireball and Miller Lites the night before. But I forced down some bites for effort.

But yeah, the next morning came with a little sadness! It was Saturday, but it was also the day we were set to start heading home.

Something we climbed. Who wants to leave this place? Not us.

  
The original plan was to head even FARTHER north (just like, a half-hour) and go on this really elaborate hike. It's like, you head to this state office, pick up the gate code, drive an hour, then 10 miles down this rural road and go on one of the hardest hikes of your life.

The views were supposed to be incred though. It was through a redwood grove right along the coast.

So, we got on the road by 11 or so, and started the drive north ... and just kind of felt underwhelmed. (And I was tired!) Then James was feeling carsick on the windy road, and 10 miles past Trinidad, we were just like, do you want to go back?

Yep yep and yep.

So, that we did. We actually went back to the beach near the Trinidad Head hike and brought our towels, just lounging in the sunshine. It was cold, but the sun made it feel nice. (Cold = like, 50s or 60s).*

Don't laugh at me, Michigan friends.

There was a fair amount of wind, too, which contributed to the chilliness. OK, I'm soft now. I'll admit.

Anyway, we lounged. We started the drive back maybe an hour later, and stopped at a beach or two along the way, just to take in the ocean a few more times.

We took a twisty highway for about 100 miles, which was hard, until we hit I-5, in the Redding area. That was a relief! I was starting to feel carsick again, but just wanted to get it over with, and was resisting Dramamine.

G got to stock up on his all-time fav beef jerky (I know, this makes us sound white trashy, right?) and then I threw out a bold idea: What if we detoured to Chico?

Chico wasn't really on the way home, but it wasn't NOT on the way either, you feel? Before James could even question, he was like, "we're doing it!"

We've often discussed coming up to Chico State together. It's kind of a party school, but I went with Robby and Chelsea once, and it was really fun. It reminds me of East Lansing in just the tiniest of ways.

So, we grabbed Bloody Marys at this random college bar. Then we switched bars and went across the street. Had a snack. Watched Kentucky-Notre Dame. Then drove to the original Sierra Nevada Brewing Company for dinner! Lovvvved it.

I was going to suggest staying overnight, because I was so tired! But G insisted he could make the drive, and it only ended up being an hour or so. Maybe a little quicker? I slept the whole time, so if you ask me, it went by in a second!

I hopped directly in bed without even brushing my teeth and crashed for like, 12 hours.

James is responsible, so he unpacked the entire SUV and possibly even started laundry before getting in bed.

I was supposed to work Sunday (the next day), but my boss Shawn offered a swap! Long story, but he had money on MSU, MSU had been winning with me out of the newsroom, so he wanted to keep me out of the newsroom. We're both very superstitious about sports, so I completely understood. Plus, one more day to unwind and watch the Louisville game in the peace of my own home? SOLD. I agreed to the swap, James and I sweat our way through that Elite Eight game, then celebrated at The Glass Turtle with some more Miller Lites.

The verdict on the trip? I'm sure you can't tell based on the seven-part write-up.

Best. Vaycay. EVZ.