Days 4-7 (Monday - Thursday 27th-30th Dec 04’):
Nicky, her boyfriend (Parthiv) and I set out at 6 am to go to the airport. SJ was kind of cold, so the walk to the VTA was more like a run to it. We took the VTA to the airport, where we picked up our rental car from a rather soft-spoken and prejudiced gentleman (He actually had the audacity of saying to me, in return for a rather genuine question I posed to him, "Are'nt New Yorkers 30 years behind Californians?") Not exactly my favourite way of starting a day, as I wondered to myself, "How not-Californian can that get, a person talking to you so rudely?" As long as I lived in California, I had always maintained that Californians are like their weather; warm and sunny, even to strangers. I remember missing the fact that strangers smile at each other in this state, when I moved to New York, where people barely manage to say "Excuse me" if they are in a rush. And here comes this random car-rental guy, who decides to screw up that whole image. Thankfully, for every rude bloke, there's an entire state full of sunny people, that I've encountered.
We took our car and came back to Nicky's place to pick up our luggage. Parthiv had accompanied us all this while, so that in the drive back from the airport to Nicky's place, he could familiarise her with the car's controls and make her comfortable for the long drive ahead. With our luggage in the boot, we were all set to drive off to what would become a 12 hour journey to Southern California, in a thunderstorm. The plan was to drive on Route 1, a.k.a the Pacific Coast Highway (which runs parallel to the Pacific Ocean), from North to South California. Driving down the length of California, on the PCH is one of those must-do's in the US, so today was our turn to do it!
To synopsize the 12 hr journey, I will just say it was packed with some very good driving/ navigating skills (on both Nicky's and my part) that took us through the rain and storm, some heavenly views of the pacific ocean, the rocky landscapes, the deep blue skies, the thick forests with varying degrees of green and beautiful roads that wound in and out but stayed faithful to the ocean all the time! After having driven for a while on the Route 1 (around 7 hours, to be precise), we decided that the view was getting monotonous and the weather, nasty. So we diverged inwards to join the 101 S Highway, at San Luis Obispo, hoping to reach our destiantion faster. What would now have been about a 3-4 hr journey took us almost an hour longer, thanks to the LA traffic. Driving through LA, made me nostalgic, especially as I navigated Nicky through LA quite comfortably, as though I still lived there.
After some excellent 'against-the-storm' driving on Nicky's behalf we finally reached San Diego (Nicky's sister's place at Del Mar Heights) at 10 pm. Sveta and Prayag, (Nicky's sis and brother-in-law) had just become proud parents of a little baby girl, Radhika. It was good to meet the Patel's (all three generations of them) after so long. We had dinner at their place while waiting for Raga to come pick me up. Raga came with Shruti and her fiance Malhar, a while later and after some post-dinner conversation, we left to go to Raga's place, my pad for the next 4 days in San Diego.
Malhar, Shruti's fiance was also visiting her from TX, that week, which meant we had each other's company for the time when Raga and Shruti would be at work. The POA for the next four days, was to visit some friends in LA, catch up with some in SD and then drive back (this time along I-5) to San Jose, with Nicky on Thursday, the 30th of December. New Year's Eve was to be spent with Raj's family and friends' partying in the San Jose Convention Center.
Turns out California decides to see it's worst-in-a-long-time weather just that week and ruin my plans. My faithful-to-the-West-Coast friends, absolute lovers of the beautiful Californian weather, decided that I had brought the depressing, cold, wet rains with me from the East Coast, to ruin their week. So plans to go to LA next day were cancelled and I spent all my time with my SD friends - not one bit regretting it though:)
I must add here, that San Diego is my different kind of a "home" in the US. Not that I have ever lived there, it's home because that's where I get pampered, spoilt, taken care of, cooked for, loved, shopped for, taken out to restaurants....and all that can be categorised as what Mom does for you, at home!!! It used to my first retreat from LA, when I lived there.
I often wish I have a SD close to me here in NYC...
......which is as close as a 2 hour bus-ride away,
......where I can always be assured of good times, good laughs,
......where I have a friend (almost my twin) who has known me for 26 years,
......another who has been there for me, through my initial unsettling days in this country
......and most importantly, a place where I am always welcome!
In the days that followed, I enjoyed myself thoroughly, catching up with friends, old and new and visiting various places in SD where Raga and I would hang out when I lived in LA. I even managed to have an old friend, Sachin, who lives in Huntington Beach, come to SD for dinner, because I couldnt go to LA and was really thrilled when he obliged.
On Thursday, Nicky and I left SD early in the morning at 6 am, to get to San Jose well before dark. The drive back was really short (6 hours), with several stops en route. The weather was beautiful and we had five rainbows alongside while driving for most part of the journey. As we reached North Cal in the afternoon, we decided to take a detour towards Fremont, to meet a friend of mine, Janvi, from architecture undergrad. Turns out, Janvi is spending her Christmas break with some family friends, who are Nicky's distant relatives. My eyes rolled, like there was no tomorrow (I have always teased Nicky at the profundity and omnipresence of her clan in the US and did not know that I was soon to see a classic example of it, myself). Having caught up with Janvi after ages, we left to resume our journey back to SJ. We must have been in the heart of Silicon Valley, as I noticed the PeopleSoft Office in Pleasanton.
Finally in the evening, after reaching Nicky's place and picking up Parthiv, three of us left to go to Rajs'. We met his family, played with his nephew Arav for a bit and then went for dinner to a 'Yan Can Cook' close by.
After dinner, we finally called it a night at Nicky's place.
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