Solo CE Trip to Cali

Back in February, I attended a short term orthodontics course in Irvine, CA. It was my first solo trip with no husband or kids. We had just had a trip with the kids, and gotten very little sleep, as usual. I knew it would be a quick, busy weekend without much family time (though we had debated also going to Disneyland...) so we opted for me to just go. It was a lovely 5 hour drive. The first evening, I went to Laguna Beach with my old BYU roomate, Shannon, and her two young sons. 

It felt so great to dip my toes in the ocean after that long drive!! It had been ages since I had done so.

We ate these delectable crab nachos at The Cliffs restaraunt. We did the same thing about 17 years ago when I first came to the area to visit Shannon back in college. 

I spent two full days at the conference, and then met up with Nat and Ryan and their sweet boys in Laguna Beach again. The tide pools and sea life were astounding! We ate at some really good gourmet burger place- Mami Burgers or something?? Then we headed back to their apartment in South Pasadena. I went to a bit of church with them in the morning before heading back to St. George. It was a draining, whirlwind adventure, which I hope to do again before too long. I cannot believe we have lived so close to the ocean for this long without yet going as a family (though we lived equally close to the Gulf in Texas and only made it there twice in four years)!

Shannon and her boys