Having a weekend away with “the girls” can be a very eye opening experience. Yes, it’s a given there’ll be chatty conversations, wine tasting (depending on your locale), and even a nostalgic trip down memory lane reminiscent of the 20 year-old-version of ourselves…

But of more importance for me this time, in this short window of opportunity, was an open door to the world and a chance to really take some “me time” and make it count – not just in furthering friendships that have endured for what has felt like a lifetime – but in re-affirming another relationship which I have had for much, much longer – that being the connection I have with ME.

Recently my ‘little sister’ gave me a real gift – it was an invite to drive north 3 ½ hours, spend some time with several friends at a halfway point where she could drive down the same 3 ½ hours – leave our husbands, our kids and our cares at home, while blocking our minds to the outer world to be in the moment and just enjoy.

Yes, sometimes a girl’s gotta do, what a girl’s gotta do….and taking a day on the road on my own was the best way to get it all started.

So here’s what I learned:

1. Driving 200+ miles with just me, didn’t feel like 2,000
2. Taking the coastal route replenishes your soul – no matter how many more miles you tack on
3. Singing out loud to oldie tunes in a Jeep equates to singing in the shower
4. Re-incarnation comes in many forms – but the best one I found, after a very long time away, was finally seeing and believing in “me”
5. A photo may be worth a thousand words, but those waiting for you to take it tend to talk in even longer sentences

6. The road less traveled is definitely the better choice
7. After 30 years, the difference between ‘left’ and ‘right’ doesn’t really matter
8. Everybody has a “story” – and no stories should ever be judged
9. Sometimes you don’t really need to tell your story, in order to be heard
10. “Frog Balls” are certainly not what they seem – and definitely worth trying
11. As a well-defined ‘J’ girl all my life, I really do love the Christmas season – and the admission fee for the Cambria Xmas Extravaganza may well have been the best $5 I’ve spent in a very long time

12. Every day we make very important decisions – and they all begin with a conscious choice to have a good day
13. Just as George Bailey realized, I may be ‘worth more dead than alive‘ — but days like the ones here in Cambria give me an awful lot to put in the bank
14. I’m thankful to William Randolf Hearst, not just for his profound inspiration for journalism — but for bringing his “zoo” onto California soil so Zebras can now run free

15. Hashtags are key to life’s little pleasures, ie, #bestgirlsgetaway; #cantwaittoseetheocean; #centralcoast; #leftorright; #lovemymorningwalks
16. As much as I love cars, I’m way more enamored with the places my feet go
17. A near six-mile walk roundtrip for a pizza sets a whole new goal for MapMyWalk  http://mapmywalk.com/workout/813293395

18. To me, the moon is the brightest star in the whole sky

19.  I miss the days my son let me refer to the moon as ‘luna’ – now I just remain ‘over the moon’ for him
20.  Good friends really do know you inside and out
21.  And it’s a really good friend that understands your joys and sorrows without any words being said
22. Even after all these years, nice is still only a two
23. A really good chuckle, which becomes a laugh that just can’t cease, is certainly well worth it — even if it’s at my own expense!
24.  A good vineyard, like a good friend, can often help you find your true identity
25. Sometimes we have more in common with pets than one might think…

26.  It’s so much easier to befriend a stranger, when we’re far from home
27.  Travel inspires me to live adventurously and intentionally
28. Thanks to yoga, I’m inclined to “breathe, dream and go.”

29.  Sometimes it’s really just a matter of pondering… 
30. I think the rush of the waves may just be the very best sound of all
31.  It’s the power of the ocean in which I find the greatest peace

32. The very best walks will always be on the morning after the rain
33.  Purple and green may very well be my favorite colors
34. Photography is in the eye of the beholder

35. Just because you wiped the mud on the running board, doesn’t mean you left the car clean
36.  A good friend overlooks the ‘mud thing’

37. Its more than fine to go wine tasting on your own, especially when passing through a town like Los Olivos

 
38.  Big tip – get to know the “wine club members” and you too can purchase the “special” pinot noir!
39.  Just because we want to get “out of LA” doesn’t mean others aren’t dying to get in…

40.  It’s definitely all about the journey

41. No matter how long it takes to get there, it’s that first peek of the sea and the burst of fresh tides rolling in, that make the miles all worthwhile

42.  Time doesn’t heal all wounds, it just makes it a bit easier to still remember
43.  Time does however make it a whole lot easier to smile
44.  I’ve decided to add becoming a bartender to my bucket list
45.  The best things in life really are free
46.  Forget the diet, I’d rather drink wine
47. All it took was a clipboard to make me feel 19 again
48. That, and being with friends I knew when I was 19…

49.  Helen Keller certainly had it right — “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

50.  I could watch elephant seals forever — they touch another’s life in a more profound way than we can ever outwardly express

51. My sister truly is my forever friend…

52. “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”