Half Moon Bay (11)

It has been a long and exhausting couple of weeks since Spring Break. Last weekend was the first time we were able to get out, and now is the first time since the weekend that I’ve had the potential mental energy to write it up. But I’m quickly losing information about which restaurants we ate at, so I’d better get it posted before it’s all lost to the winds of memory loss.

Beginning with the post break Lola project, Randy had Dory2 spiffed up and ready to bring over right after we got back. He brought Dory over himself and left after installing a new winch, taking Lola with him as part of the trade. That was a sight, having one Alto back out of the driveway, and then another winched right back up. Randy about gave me a heart attack when he used the Caravan Mover on Dory. I didn’t know he had the remote and thought she was rolling down the street. He’s funny that way. With the swap completed, now we really truly have the “Heir and a Spare” dream set up. Should anything ever happen to Dory2, Lola is now fully outfitted and could be ready to go with a lot less effort.

Given that the trade occurred on a Thursday evening, I didn’t have it in me to go out that weekend. I can’t remember where we were supposed to have gone, but we cancelled that one and did projects on the ADU instead. The next weekend we fully intended to go out, but construction literally got in our way. One of the final phases of getting the ADU move in ready was to lay a new sewer line. As is always the case in home construction, nothing goes according to plan. We ended up with giant piles of dirt on the driveway and enormous trenches all around the front and side of our house. The camping savvy among you might already have noticed that we now have a clean out at the top of the driveway. That is the only upside to the chaos involved in finding the line in not the place anyone thought it should be. I am just hoping Magnolia and Lace Leaf Maple survive the trenching. My hand laid (by ME, twenty years ago) flagstone pathways were not so fortunate.

It was also sad, because I had managed to snag a lakefront site at Scott’s Flat Lake, which is hard to book. They have a 14 day cancellation policy and I thought we would just be out the money. Luckily, Richard is good at this stuff and he was able to tell the person about our sewer woes. I think he even offered pictures. The guy told him he always likes a good sob story, so he issued a partial refund. Still, no lakeside site, no camping, no move in for our daughter. We were collectively bummed.

I think we’ve all been pretty good sports about the ADU project, none more so than our daughter. The delays have worn us all down to our cores, and I put in a 911 call to the main contractor on Monday, pleading with him to do whatever he could do to make the move in happen for the next weekend. He got it, saying, “You’re so over it?” OMG dude. So over it, yes. He and the guys made a big push, and did come through. Our daughter was finally finally able to move her things in after we departed on Friday and that was one joyous moment, I can tell you.

It is impossible to overstate how monumental an event this is for our family. We all needed this Big Time, and when it finally came to it, everything is now just perfect. Well, except later there was a shower leak that poured water onto the ground inside and outside, but that got fixed quickly, so it’s all ok now. And that doesn’t matter. All the time, pain, displacement, money, disappointment on timelines, lack of personal space, all of it. It is all worth it now, in retrospect. She has an absolutely beautiful home that she can call her own. She made all of the interior design decisions, and boy did she ever knock it out of the park. We have gone from one to three bathrooms and can now be comfortably out of each other’s hair. Literally. We could also all pee simultaneously if we wanted to. We are all breathing huge sighs of gratitude and relief.

Meanwhile, we celebrated by living it up in Half Moon Bay as our daughter placed new things into new cabinets. We ate out both nights and grabbed freshly made churros from Tres Amigos on our way back to the campground. We looked forward to the sweet, crunchy, warm and gooshy in the middle joy all week long. We were not disappointed. We tried a new to us place called Ciya that was highly rated. The food seems simple, but it is crazy delicious. I don’t know what they put in their seasonings, but it’s like a drug. It’s so good. The portions are not too big and the staff are very attentive and friendly. Thumbs up.

Saturday, Richard rode out to Pescadero and I met him at Arcangeli. I picked up a BBQ Brisket sandwich with three different deli salads, all fabulous. Afterwards, we went on a hike along the marshes near Pescadero Beach. I was familiar with the area due to fifth grade camp formerly being held there, but it was fun to walk around without having to supervise a bunch of pre-teens.

We headed back to Dory, stopping along the way for Richard to show me a pretty impressive super bloom on one of the little roads he biked on. I’m not sure what kinds of flowers these are. Photos tells me they are radishes, but…. really? They were beautiful and numerous, whatever they are, and the deer seem to like them.

We went out again for dinner Saturday night at Spice Me Thai. We got spring rolls, soup, and drunken noodles, and it was all delicious. We followed that with another stop for churros on the way to Dory. My LoseIt app said I was within my calorie budget given all the walking, but I don’t really believe it. I also don’t really care. It’s been rough, you guys. The fact that I haven’t been sipping Chardonnay through a straw 24/7 is a pretty big accomplishment as far as I’m concerned.

When we returned home on Sunday, I texted our daughter our ETA, as a joke. We always do that so she has a chance to mentally prepare. But this time, for the first time ever, it wouldn’t matter. She now has her own private space and can’t even tell whether we are home or not. She offered us a post move in tour, and expressed her heartfelt gratitude for making this happen. She also offered to break in her new kitchen by making us cupcakes as a thank you gift. She did, and they were perfect.

This was a mile marker event on a journey that started after Dory1 crashed back in November of 2020. From figuring out what we were going to do with her, to finding contractors willing to do it, to stalling for months waiting for permits, and then through all of the construction stress, it has been a big deal. The next phase begins the outside process where we can actually begin thinking about getting Dory1 home. But the addition of the ADU was the top of the list, and it has happened for real. That is a very good feeling. Though we are maybe not technically Empty Nesters, we are certainly Empty Adjacent. And trust me, no one is happier about that than our daughter. And we could not be more thrilled for her.

Total miles: 51.9, 17.5 mph, 2 hours 22 min. Site 49 hookups. Same as always with great service, good dump, lots of solar.