Ventura!

June 13, 2011

I’ve been instructed to finish writing about my roadtrip; apparently I have followers. I actually had no idea but thank you to all of you who have taken the time to read these ramblings. Except for Mom and Dad…. You have to because I’m your daughter and you love me.
Before I get into it, I just wanted to say that when I woke up yesterday morning, after a good night’s sleep, I had a new appreciation for the Joshua Trees, not Joshua Tree the place, but the Joshua trees. As I mentioned, there were a bunch right outside the hotel and when I took Gheera out to pee, I noticed that many of them looked like they were dancing or standing with their families and holding hands or gesturing to something. THAT was really cool. I’ll post some photos of those ones. Try and use your imagination…
I arrived in Ventura, safely obviously, yesterday. The drive from Yucca Valley seemed to take a lot longer (in some sense) than it actually was, but not long enough in other ways. I felt myself getting more and more nervous as I grew closer to my new home but also very excited. (Probably part of the reason I was nervous was because the wind was so strong the beginning of the drive (this is a place where they actually have a gazillion windmills to generate power I guess), that it made my car handle like the hovercraft in Diddy Kong Racing. There are probably only a couple of people who know what I’m talking about but it was like that, only more scary because I was actually in the vehicle. Made it through though. When I arrived, I immediately fell in love with this house, my new room, the yard, the short walk to the beach. Julie, Kevin and Julie’s parents (I know they’re stoked they came this particular week) stopped by to help me unload the car. I was really grateful because I had to load it myself when I was still in NC and that was not fun. A couple of hours later my new little family came home, Maddy (14), Alex (9) and their mom Cynthia. I’m in love. They are all so wonderful. Cynthia, Alex and I walked down to the beach to watch the sunset. Cynthia encouraged me to let Gheera off the leash and said that people are totally cool about that here. I was a little hesitant but once I gave her her freedom, I discovered she was made to be a beach dog (see the video posted above) just like her mama. So happy to be here!