My snister, Ella, and I spent Thursday through Sunday in California! I’d normally do my regular weekend recap style to share it, but there is just too much to talk about, so let’s do actual paragraphs!

We planned this trip in late August. I had it on my radar to maybe go to CatCon, and decided to ask Christina if she and Ella wanted to come, and we had our tickets booked by the end of the day we started discussing it! CatCon was in Pasadena, but we decided to stay in Santa Monica to be close to the ocean. (I googled “nicest beach in Los Angeles and Santa Monica was listed #1 so that’s how we ended up there!)

I was very paranoid this trip would get canceled, because of my bad luck with trips this year. I even made sure most of our reservations (except the flight) were cancellable. Then I had my issues with blood clots and was worried I really would not be able to travel and was so upset whenever I let my brain go there! But I asked the doctors/pharmacists several times and they said I was safe to travel, just to wear my compression socks and get up a lot to move around. Which I did! And I made it there and back alive! Woo hoo!

On to Day 1, Thursday!

I woke up at 2:30 am so excited for our trip. Note, my flight was not until 10:15 and I did not need to leave the house until after 7:00. I was just so excited, and had felt that way since Christina and Ella said they could come.

Christina and Ella got on a plane in Waterloo, Iowa that connected in Chicago, then we flew from Chicago to Los Angeles together. Her flight was a bit late because they had to get frost off the wings, but she made it in plenty of time for the flight to Los Angeles.

Our flight was somewhat uneventful – there was a call for a medical professional a little over halfway through the flight (a medical professional was on the plane and volunteered to help). A passenger several rows ahead of us was having a medical issue, and Christina saw them get the defibrillator out. But it seemed like everything turned out okay!

During the flight we chatted, snacked on yummy treats Christina brought from Moo’s Bakery, and used our 20 minute sessions of free internet. I also painted a rock. Our flight landed earlier than it was supposed to, and actually had a gate to go to, which was nice.

We rented a car for the weekend, and I was excited when I found out I could pick out any car in a certain row, even the cars larger than what I had booked. I’d booked a mid-sized sedan but prefer an SUV (but $$$). So I picked out a Jeep and was glad to be driving at that height all weekend. I also pre-paid for gas, which I never do at a rental place, but it was more than a dollar under the gas prices were were seeing (it was around $7.00 a gallon there).

Our first stop was Thai Vegan – a vegan Thai place in Santa Monica. We got pan-fried potstickers, a noodle dish, and a rice dish. All delicious but the noodle dish was the best!

We walked around and stopped at the beach to take a peek, then went to the hotel and checked in. We stayed at the Hilton Santa Monica, which was three blocks from the beach and a block away from the downtown area. I was really pleased with our hotel. It met all my main criteria – safe, quiet, and comfy (and room for the car – valet parking). And the staff there were so nice. And we liked the decor. And it had some amenities (laundry, fitness, pool). And we were very amused by a random fork in the hallway that didn’t get picked up for several days. Ha.

After we checked in we walked down to the Santa Monica Pier. We walked the whole pier, rode the Ferris Wheel, got matching shirts, and walked down to the beach (you can see a bit of video of it here). We saw a beautiful sunset and enjoyed watching all the activities on the pier. It was almost surreal to be so close to the ocean, with such warm weather, in late September (we arrived at the end of a heat wave). I felt so happy to be there with Christina and Ella! Even with all the chaos of the pier, it still felt calming to be by the ocean.

After the pier we went to Monty’s Good Burger for dinner. Monty’s is also all vegan. We got a chicken sandwich, fries, tots, and shakes. They were all delicious but the tots were especially amazing.

That was one of the most exciting things about going to this area of California – having so many vegan options to choose from! I get a bit overwhelmed when I can pick off of the whole menu, but I enjoyed it.

We got back to the hotel and chilled a bit before calling it a night. Despite getting up so early and feeling like I was on central time, I wasn’t dragging! But I did fall asleep pretty quickly!