Adventure

There’s been a lull. A dissonance, of sorts. It’s bound to happen, I suppose, when you’ve experienced everything Nate and I have been through. Loss and life and people, like dominos. We push up against them, fighting to right it all. My brain scans memories like so many slides in a stuttering show, attempting to pinpoint the exact moment when I lost myself. Working mom guilt is nothing new or unusual – I’m sure many of you experience the same. My story and my family’s story are unique in their own ways, but not that different from others. We share space. It causes friction. That’s the human condition.

Back when we lived in LA, Nate and I would take weekend trips around Southern California. I distinctly remember telling him about this little gem of a town called Temecula. People raved about Temecula sightseeing, particularly their annual balloon and wine festival.

Summer is quickly slipping away. The season of blustery leaves and mucky mud is upon us. Here in drought-stricken Southern California, the experts say we’re in for a whopping "monster" El Niño this fall. As for the Day family, we’re taking advantage of this climate change by planning fun activities, both inside and outside!

Have you ever started planning a trip and wound up feeling totally overwhelmed? It’s easy to get sucked into recommendations and photos, contemplating a jillion different options. There are so many cool places, and not enough time to experience them all! In the Day family, we like to narrow our focus with a few travel questions before getting knee-deep into restaurant reviews and hotel reservations.

The boys have been obsessing over The Peanuts Movie lately, as I’m sure many children have after its recent release. Here in California we’re lucky enough to actually hang out with Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the whole gang over at Knott’s Berry Farm.

San Diego is a lovely place to live and play. It has mostly moderate weather and a number of things you can do around the county. I can’t help myself. Every single time I say "County of San Diego," I’m somehow driven to follow up with the fact that San Diego County is the size of Connecticut.

As a boy, we never really went on vacation. We traveled from one point to the next. We spent holidays with family, but never found ourselves setting off to stay at some remote retreat. We would drive from southern Washington to Oklahoma to spend Christmas with my grandparents. I would draw small pictures of really memorable places as they made an impact on me during our travels. A canyon. I great plain with some vast expanse. A lone tree.

Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Speak softly and carry a big stick." A famous line by a guy who wrote a naval battle history book by the time he was 23 years old. When I was 23 I was still just working on finishing up at UCLA, and barely managing that. I had chosen to major in Political Science with an emphasis in international relations…so I was all about the big sticks.