Creep

I’ve been here for almost a week now, which is incredibly hard to believe. I feel like someone is going to pinch me and I’m going to wake up back in the humid swamp called Florida where mosquitos are trying maul my face off, but instead I wake up to perfect 60 degree weather with blue skies and a breeze. No mosquitos to be found. Here are some of the things I’ve noticed so far from my 6 days in California:

1. There is good music everywhere. There are tons of radio stations that I love here. Every other “seek” presents another gold nugget station. The grocery stores blast Black Keys, little mom and pop restaurants play Guster and there is a badass concert, like, every night. Seriously. I could blow all my savings right now just on concert tickets (I’m going to see Maps and Atlases tonight!). I have yet to walk into an establishment here and think “ugh, I hate this song.” And in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a bit of a music junkie.

2. Gas costs about as much per gallon as I used to make per hour. I’m only slightly exaggerating. This coast is serious about deterring people from driving around frivolously. I could probably buy a bike for as much as it costs to fill my tank a couple times. I might just do that actually. Any suggestions for good bikes? I’m a newb.

3. People think I’m crazy. Not like the dude who almost peed on me crazy, but the kind of crazy that drives all the way from Florida to California. “You drove?! Why??” It definitely makes for a good story though. I just let people think I’m far braver and free-spirited than I really am. The second thing people say is, “You must love the weather here then.” Why, yes, good sir. I certainly do.

4. Ziggy doesn’t like change. Homegirl refuses to embrace her new playmate, a rambunctious bulldog named Winston. When he comes near my room her lips curl up and she sounds like she’s fixin’ to rip his throat out. She also flips her shit if he comes near her when she’s playing with one of his toys. She’s a little princess.

5. Mary J is NBD. People just light up in public places on the reg. I saw a dude walk right past a police officer with a joint in his hand and neither of them even batted an eye. This pretty much blows my mind.

6. I can drink coffee! There is non-dairy creamer everywhere that there is coffee sold. It’s like a dream come true, but who am I kidding? Just about everything from this week has been a dream come true.

7. Liquor. Grocery and convenience stores sell liquor right next to beer and wine. In Florida (at least in Ocala and Gainesville), liquor has to be sold in a separate store (which stops selling at 11pm, here it’s 2am), so this was a big surprise for me. Also, you can get smashed on Sundays here! (As if the prohibition of liquor sales before 2pm on Sunday stopped anyone from doing that..)

8. Talking on the phone while driving is illegal. I didn’t realize that most of my talking on the phone occurred while I was driving until I was told I could get a ticket for it here.

9. Trails on trails on trails! There are all kinds of places to go hiking here and everything is dog-friendly. It’s kind of amazing.

10. Bring your own bags. Some grocery stores charge 10 cents per paper bag and others don’t have any at all. You are expected to bring your own, reusable bags unless you are a professional grocery holder and/or have five sets of hands. No more “Paper or plastic?” decisions to make.