
The Southern coast that is!....of California!
(The San Clemente pier, made indie through Hipsta-matic)
It was a fun weekend, I must admit. The best I've had in a while. I went with Sharayah to visit her fam bam for a few days. It was a relaxing trip.
We left around 5ish pm-ish on Friday and made our way to Ventura, a trip we didn't realize would take us over 100 miles out of the way. Oh well.
The point of our epic (pun intended, as you will soon learn) deviation was to visit our good friend Nick, who works at a venue in Ventura known as Epic. It's a ministry-based venue, similar to Fresno's Kuppajoe, that brings in all kinds of bands to perform. A very cool place, it's decorated in an 18th-19th century style reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean. Definitely a place to check out if you're in the area.
That night was a little strange because of an all-ages rave going on. The owners had their reasons for allowing the event, but it was still a little disheartening. Sharayah and I are venturing back to Ventura (ha) July 28th for a show. You should come along.
The next day we attempted to wake up at 7 (we got in around 4), but it didn't happen. Once we did wake up, we drove to Sharayah's cousin's to help out with some backyard renovations. I helped move rocks around. After about an hour, we headed out again to do some exploring. One thing I enjoy about San Clemente is the support of local restaurants and cafes. It sounds all "scene-kid" to say that, but it was nice to eat at places that I wasn't familiar with, and that can actually compete with the larger fast food chains. It's refreshing.

That night, after meeting up with her friends David and Serena and a delicious meal at the Cheesecake Factory with them and the fam bam, the four of us (Serena, David, Sharayah, and I) went galavanting around town (and the
beach, once again artsified by Hipstamatic). We saw a movie, got coffee, etc, etc.
It was the great way to end an eventful day.
The next day, we met up with them at church. Once that was over, we went our separate ways.
Then we had to decide on what to do.
After a long deliberation, and checking the price for Disneyland tickets several times, we decided to take a trip to San Juan Capistrano.
Now, I'm a pretty able man when it comes to directions, but I've got to tell you...I can't help but get lost in Orange County. It should be easy considering the Pacific is right there, but still... I hadn't realized we had visited the town the last time I came down with Sharayah. I was almost positive we had not. But we had. I guess I just wasn't paying attention the last time. It wasn't until we went into a nearby Starbucks, that I realized we had been here last time (which, I had assumed we were still in San Clemente). But I'm starting to better understand the area. It's a shame it's so darned expensive, because I can picture myself living there. Of course, a place that well kept has to be expensive.

While we were in Capistrano, we visited the mission. It was a beautiful landmark. I also finally got the joke in Dumb & Dumber about the "salmon of Capistrano." Hyuk, hyuk.
The rest of the day was spent doing some more exploring. We took a trip to the Dana Point harbor and got some ice cream. We walked around for a bit. I've decided that I want to take an ocean voyage sometime in my life. Like, I'd like to take a small yacht (maybe I'll have rich friends later on) and be out at sea for a week or two. Time will tell if that dream will come to fruition.
After we spent time in the harbor, we returned to San Clemente and went shopping at a gluten-free market. We got some beer and I'm curious as to how it tastes. A lot of the food that we tried was pretty good. Different, but good.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing.
We spent the next day getting ready to leave. We wanted to leave around noon so we could beat the traffic. Before that we visited Sharayah's grandpa. After that we did some laundry, packed up, and headed out...back home to Fresno. Sigh...