[lateapex911]

Cool travelog!

So, slight tangent. I used to live in Newport Beach, and I've driven my 911 up to SF to visit friends a number of times. I also rode my Ninja up the PCH one day, a day that set heat records, unforgettable....buuuutttt....

So, the tangent: So Gabe, you just did what I didn't do enough of when I lived in LA. USE California. Now, I was rebooting my career...30 yrs old, getting into the automotive design and prototyping industry....it's an "art field" of sorts in that everyone thinks it's 'cool' and fun so jobs are a bit sketchy for a guy just getting started. I loved my job but the pay, and the sometimes long (100 hr weeks sometimes) sucked.

I wanted to do more "CA things" , but the normal evils of time and money conspired to put a damper on it. Then my mother, in CT, got elderly and sick and I had to move back to care for her, and got stuck..

I'm dying to move back, but it's NOT simple, nor easy.


Soooooo....

To those of you living in CA: I know it's expensive, and can be a crush of work and freeways, and it's easy to get consumed in the day to day as Gabe said....but the state is a treasure. Yosemite is a reasonable drive from LA, the coast is loaded with cool destinations, some off the beaten path, so MANY options. Do weekend trips. Take a Friday off or a Monday (or both!) and get out and enjoy the state. Be a tourist in your own backyard. It's one of my life's regrets that I didn't take advantage of what was so close.

And Gabe, thanks for chronicling the trip, WAY cool.