SoCal June 2023: Part One

Although I’d been to the Disneyland Resort twice in the past year, which yes, is in Southern California, I hadn’t TRULY been to Southern California since July of 2021! So, it goes without saying, I was most definitely due for a visit and needless to say, I had THE BEST time seeing so many new and familiar places and faces and created a wealth of memories that’ll last me and my friends and family forever.

The first full day I had I went out to Mission Viejo with my friend, California Melissa, and we met my other friend, Amanda, at the Shops at Mission Viejo, the mall where Amanda and I worked together in Macy’s. After a lovely lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, we went and toured the Mission San Juan Capistrano, a place I’d never once been before, but am oh-so-thankful I went this time around! As you’ll soon see from the pictures below, it was absolutely outstanding and we had the best time! Even all the sinus pressure in the world couldn’t prevent me from having the best day – and believe me – it tried! Thank goodness for that petite Target’s pharmacy because I couldn’t pop some Sudafed fast enough! That June Gloom was getting me good! Oof!

So let me tell you what, we did not realize that the church (as seen in the last two photos) in the mission was still practicing and unfortunately for us, there was no signage notifying us of such until it was too late, so when we entered the church I was in the midst of telling a very animated story and was imitating some barking noises and immediately the dozen or so heads in there all popped right up and looked at us. I felt like an instant jackass, but we all wanted to howl with laughter. I knew I didn’t dare make eye contact with Amanda or California Melissa because it would sent me right over the edge and I would’ve interrupted their prayers a second time with what would’ve been uncontrollable laughter.

The three of us then met our other friends: Sepideh, Michael, Jenna, and Irma for dinner at this lovely Italian restaurant on the lake in Mission Viejo. Needless to say, we had the best time talking, laughing, and just catching up. We do this each and every single time I come back into town and each experience is even more incredible than the last. I’m so thankful for all the friendships Macy’s brought me.

The picture above of me and Sepideh makes me laugh so hard because I look like a giant in comparison to her, but that’s that forced perspective or whatever. Needless to say, I leaned the wrong way! This was too good to exclude, so it had to make the forty photo cut!

The next day I went down to Coronado Island, one of my absolute favorite places in the whole entire world where I met California Melissa again and my friend, Ricardo, or “Richie.” We had a terrific lunch at this seafood restaurant that was right next door to an Enterprise Rent-A-Car, which is notable for being the company Richie and I once worked for and where our friendship began. We toured this incredible art gallery that made me really wish I had a couple extra thousand dollars to spend before they went their separate ways and I enjoyed the amenities of the island in order to avoid heading back to Temecula in rush hour traffic. I sat out on the beach (where I later developed an intense sunburn and walked nearly the entire length of the island in order to capture some photos of the San Diego skyline, which you’ll see here shortly. You know me, gotta get my steps in! It was yet another perfect day in beautiful Southern California!

Well, there you have it, the first of what will be three parts showcasing my tremendous trip to SoCal! As always, thank you so much for viewing and please feel free to leave me a comment below as I love reading and responding to them! I’ll return soon with part two, so until then, I wish you all, all the best!

More from this trip:

SoCal June 2023: Part Two

SoCal June 2023: Part Three