It’s been three heavenly years of nature with sprinkles of human happenings to kinda keep it from being perfect, because as my girlfriend told me many years ago…..nobody gets it all!

We did it, lived high up on a hill in a cute little condo, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

We……….

watched sunsets from our patio and whales as they passed by.

walked the water every day with our two pals, Mr Lincoln & LooLoo.

rode the train to San Diego, boated in the Bay and ate at some amazing restaurants.

walked up and down the streets of all the funky little towns in North County, shopped the unique boutiques and admired the local artwork.

climbed mountains and looked down on the vast Pacific.

watched dogs surf at Imperial Beach.

spent days at Venice Beach in awe of the weirdness.

meditated at Swami’s.

spent afternoons strolling Balboa Park.

got brave and drove as close to the border as we cared to get.

vacationed in Palm Springs.

enjoyed the beaches and towns up and down Orange County (but never saw a Kardashian!)

rode the ferry to Balboa Island.

played at Universal Studios

got a kick out of the California kids ice skating in a outside rink right next to the Pacific Ocean at the Hotel Del during Christmas time…..in shorts!

loved spending a day at the Sawdust Festival each year.

had fun on days we spent at the Safari Park.

reconnected with a high school boyfriend to one of us, and rival to the other and found a friendship of memories and laughter and shared lots of Friday nights with dinner and a movie.

and had the time of our lives playing and touring Los Angeles and celebrating the fourth of July with a Hollywood Bowl full of happy, mellow people.

I’ll miss……….

the cool ocean breeze that drifted through our patio door

the smell of the sea

the people on every corner dressed in flip flops and bikinis

the sidewalk surfers

barefoot surfers running with their boards under their arms

cars with surfboards on their roofs

the huge ocean waves, each one different than the one before

the joggers and the bicyclists

outside dining everywhere

the dog beach

the squawking sea gulls overhead

the beautiful prehistoric looking pelicans that fly in formations

the surfers who’ve figured out how to change clothes in plain sight with just a towel

the campfires in the sand

the kites flying in the soft Pacific breeze

the smell of breakfast cooking from the campgrounds

happy people everywhere

the Carlsbad Flower Fields that create a huge American flag that we enjoyed from our patio

the beauty of color and growth from trees and flowers all year round every direction we looked

the female news and weather women on every channel dressed as if they were getting ready for sexy night on the town

the same temperate weather all year round

and the laid-back San Diego lifestyle.

It’s been a fun thing to do…..chuck it all and go on a retirement binge for three years in San Diego but now we’re going home.

There’s no ocean where we’re going but something WAY more meaningful to both of us…..our girls and our 4 grandkids.

And so the two gypsies from Downriver who’ve enjoyed all the moves up and down California go home to roost.