Five Years Later

I couldn't sleep anymore that Monday morning.  The sun hadn't come up yet but I was too excited to dose off again.  I packed up my Camelbak & hopped in the Ford Escape, I was gonna take a walk somewhere.

I drove east on the 94 as the sun began to rise through the windshield.  I thought about how we were out of sourdough bread, how I'd purchased the perfect amount the week before & how we told our friend, Ben from L.A. that Mad munch would be closed all this week.

"We're going to Topsail Island," Kate told him at Belching Beaver on Saturday.  We hadn't seen Ben in nearly five years, the last time at Outside Lands in San Francisco.  Our first trip out of San Diego together.  "It's close to Wilmington.  We're meeting a bunch of my college friends there."  

I smiled about the ring that I bought from the pawn shop in Clairemont.  I knew the ring size was way too small & I didn't know Kate's ring size (she didn't wear rings) but the diamond was big & it was too nice to pass up.

"Once you give it to her, bring it back & we can get it sized for you," the lady at the pawn shop said.  It was in a small box tucked away in my rolly suitcase, waiting for that east coast beach stroll.       

I drove to the small village of Lake Morena & decided to hike a portion of the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail).  I took a side loop trail from there up & over Morena Butte.  From the top there was an impressive view of the lake & ithe county park where Kate & I almost camped for our friend Jax's birthday, until she vetoed it & left for somewhere we could make some noise out in the woods.  That was our first camping trip together.

After the hike, I stopped off at El Paso Taco Shop in Cameron Corners.  There's not a lot of places to eat out in that area & the last time I ate there it was great.  I ordered a burrito & a glass bottle of Mexican Coke.  The sun had warmed up nicely, so I sat under the the giant sombrero of a patio & took down my lunch.  I couldn't put it down once I started eating & finished it right there.  They still had it.

When I got home later, Kate showed me a Facebook memory on her phone.  It was of El Paso Taco Shop.  We had eaten there five years ago, to the day.  

The planets were lining up.  We went down to the beach at the end of our street & had a few drinks before sunset.  Kate checked in for our flight the next day.  Our flight to Richmond had a hour twenty layover in Atlanta, where Kate was born.