I have lived 31 years but have never given life to a blog. Partly because I’m just not that creative in writing, and mostly because I just didn’t care for it. These past couple days, however, are too wonderful and perfect to not immortalize in writing or in this case in blog. So here is my amateur attempt at blogging. My hope is that as I write more and more, the more fluid and captivating my blogs would become and the more cohesive and grammatically correct I sound not just a vomit of thoughts into words. Yikes, off to a bad start. Here we go…
The whole world is currently in a health crisis that restricts everyone to staying at home and to limit outside activities. Corona virus (interesting topic for a potential future blog) crept up out of nowhere and just kicked everybody’s ass. However, I had it set in my mind last week that I am tired of this shit and the next couple of days that I’m off from work I would go on a trip with my boys. Not my bois, but my two sons Eric and Gavin, although they are my bois. They are currently 7 and 4 years old respectively. I wasn’t really sure where I would go but I knew that I would like to go south along the coast. We usually gravitate going north so this time I intentionally plan on going south. I didn’t want to go too far down since I didn’t want to be in the car for too long.
As I was tracing my way down the coast on Google Maps, I came upon a marker that says, Salmon Creek Falls. A couple things piqued my interest. First, Salmon Creek. I love generally all things Salmon and even though I’m pretty sure it’s just named that and that there are no actual salmons in that creek, I am still interested and there could be some. Second, it’s a waterfall. The trail that we went on a few months ago on Cataract Falls made me realize how fun and amazing a waterfall trip is for us so maybe this could be another one of those times. I checked how far the drive would be and it was tolerable, around three hours. I felt pushy so I moved further down and then I saw the marker for Elephant Seal Vista Point. I clicked on the marker and when I saw the images I knew that’s where I’d like to take the boys. The beach was covered with hundreds of elephant seals and a four hour drive isn’t too bad. We could stop and “sightsee” along the way. It’s curious how sightseeing is a word but not sightsee. Well it is now, and making up words is fun, right? Anywho, I decided that that’s where I want to go, and maybe go to Salmon Creek Falls too. We could “wing it” the whole trip but the Elephant Seals was our summit.
Cinco de Mayo. We started off our day pretty usual. Gina got ready and left for work. I made breakfast for the boys. I packed an overnight bag because I know how much the boys love staying overnight at a new place and if we find a place at least we are prepared. As we headed out the door, I knew I wanted to take a picture of them, I just had a feeling that this trip was going to be one for the books, or the blog.
Off we go. Got my tunes going and their Nintendos charging. Thank god for technology. Long road trips are much more bearable now for both the kids and especially the parents. Of course I don’t want them to immediately go on their devices and just completely zombie out the whole trip but I was ready as soon as their butts become restless and tired of looking outside.
Most of the drive was pretty mundane. I mean the views were excellent, breathtaking at times, but most of it was what you would expect on a long drive. We stopped a few times just to stretch our legs and dust off some of the boredom that’s setting in.
Had to include this pic because moments before it was taken, for a good 30 seconds, this spot made for the best view for a toilet. I pissed in the wind overlooking the Pacific. 
Eric naturally developed this hands-on-hip stance. Gina said it’s a power stance and Eric is a natural leader hence the instinctive go-to pose for him. I’m gonna have to agree.
After a four hour drive, we finally got there. There wasn’t that many people, but there were that many elephant seals. They were all laid out across the beach. It’s molting season for them. We just missed the mating season where things apparently go wild. Battling for dominance and women is always a sight to see. But seeing them sprawled out and molting away is also interesting. The boys were instantly ecstatic. The mixed sounds of wind, wave, and wild animals is a fool-proof recipe for excitement. It was worth the drive. Seeing hundreds of these “blubberous” animals flipping sand on themselves while napping under the sun is something I’d recommend for ages 4 – 31. I busted out my phone and took a bunch of pictures like a proper parent. I’m not gonna post all of them but here are some that should be definitely shared and seen.
One side moment at this spot was when a couple were feeding peanuts to the ground squirrels. They asked the boys if they would like to feed the squirrels to which Eric responded in the most magnificent way, “The sign says Do Not Feed The Animals”.
The Perpetrators 
The Victim
After we’ve had our fill of the Seals, we said our goodbyes and headed back north. My plan for our next stop was the Salmon Creek Falls trail. On the way we stopped at this place called Ragged Point. It had a shop/store that was open and I also needed to go relieve myself. We looked around for possible souvenirs and a mother’s day gift for Gina but all they had was generic overpriced shit so I decided to move on. We were walking around their property and we came across a sign saying Shore Access, Go at your own risk. I looked at Eric to see if he would go and I was a proud dad when he said yes.
The trail down was rugged and narrow and too steep for a kid at times but we powered through it. I was carrying Gavin 95% of the way and I would let him walk on an easy stretch. We finally got to a clearing after about a 30 min. walk. Gavin had the audacity to say “Whew, that was hard.” We arrived at this magical, picturesque waterfall and it became the highlight of the trip for me. We didn’t plan on going for a dip but we knew we wanted to go in. So we took off our clothes and jumped right in. The water was cold but not freezing. The waterfall created a pool at the bottom and it streamed down to the ocean. Everything about it was perfect. This wasn’t the waterfall we planned on going to but this is the waterfalls we had to go to. I wish I could capture that entire time and experience in a bottle and just relive it over and over. I want to post all the pictures but a select few should be enough to capture our experience.
Alas, it was time to leave and the trek back up is just a bit more tiring just because of the up hill. Even though that hike up was a little bit tough, Eric did such a kick-ass job that I told him I’ll get him whatever he wants. He wanted headphones with a mic to play his games. Thank god he didn’t want a space ship or a smartphone. Extra harder on me because I also carried Gavin on the way up. My legs were shot by the time we got to the top.
The drive back up north seems faster. It always feels faster going back. I kept my eye out for a place to stay the night. After a couple of hours driving, we got to this town Carmel by-the-sea. This town is the cutest damn town I’ve been to in a while, more on that later. I wanted to stay overnight but I also didn’t want to pay an exorbitant price just for a bed for a few hours. I drove past Comfort Inn and long story short, the price was right and we’re staying the night.
For most of the day I didn’t have any reception so I wasn’t getting any calls. I didn’t mention it but I’ve been expecting a pretty important call that day. It was a call whether I got the promotion or not. When I finally did get reception, I checked my phone and there it was, a voicemail from Brian. I didn’t even listen to the voicemail. I just called him back immediately. I was nervous, excited, anxious, shitting myself, all at the same time. I got the job! I felt relieved and felt a lot of gratitude. I’ve been ready for this step and now it’s here. This news was the perfect ending to an already memorable and magical day.
I celebrated myself with some local beers – Mad Otter by Carmel Craft, which was fantastic by the way, and indulged on dinner from one of the few places that were open during the Corona crisis, Demetra Cafe, a spot recommended by a local. Guess what just happened to be their specialty, Lamb fucking Shank. One of my defining trait is my love for lamb and that just happened to be their dish. Like I said, this day was written up just for me.
I couldn’t have asked for a better day. I feel an overwhelming sense of happiness and content. More memories await the next day, Seis de Mayo the lesser celebrated day, but I think that can have its own blog post. For now, I think this day has more than enough to fill a blog.
For my first blog ever, I think I did pretty decent and I’m pretty proud of myself on how it turned out. I mean I could add graphics, background, nicer format, etc. but baby steps James, baby steps. I actually kind of like it, writing blogs. I can relive whatever is in my thoughts as I write. This is definitely going to be a thing for me now. Makes me regret a little bit for not starting earlier. Hasta mañana.
Anyways.
The Definition of Bliss 