Part 5 - Pacific Coast Highway

Aaron:

Waking up in a tent is always an interesting experience. For a few seconds I had to remember where I was. It was so peaceful and just starting to get light. Jed was still asleep, so I decided to quietly unzip the tent door and go for a walk, so I could see were we were. Arriving in the dark last night, I had no idea of my surroundings.

It was beautiful—the dark green of the tall trees and the golden brown of the fallen needles as the morning sun hit them. The air was so fresh, with the sweet smell of the pine all around me. There was not a soul to be seen anywhere in my sight. We had been alone with nature all night.

After I had explored the area and made myself hungry for breakfast, I sneaked back into the tent and dozed while I waited for Jed to wake up. I left the tent door open so I could watch the sun rise and enjoy the forest air.

Jed

I woke up that morning filled with happiness as I turned over and there was a cute boy sitting there taking pictures of the sunrise. It was great to have this time alone to really get to know each other.

Both now hungry for breakfast, we packed up camp and drove on to a town called Truckee and stopped for breakfast. The town is set on the main railroad that continues to San Francisco, a great historic mountain town and always a good stop off when traveling back and forth from California.

Aaron

I had arranged with my Aunty in Yuba City to stay with them for a few days as we passed through. It was really lovely to see them all and introduce Jed for the first time as my boyfriend. Everyone got along really well and we had a great few days together.

One of the days was spent in Sacramento. We walked around the old part of the city with the raised wooden walkways and wild west style buildings. Then, from the old to the new side of the city, we walked up to the state capitol building and had fun taking pictures in lots of confetti left behind from a parade that had gone by a few hours earlier.

This was also a great opportunity to reunite myself with my lost luggage. It was finally re-directed to Sacramento airport, so I could pick it up as we passed. I had been wearing Jed’s clothes for the last few days, which was a lovely way to bond.

Jed

Leaving Yuba City behind, we headed south for the Pacific Coast Highway. This was a classic journey for a road trip—it had great views from the road and lots of opportunities to take pictures and enjoy the surroundings.

This was the first time I had driven down the Pacific coast highway. I was hoping to find a place to camp on one of the beachside campsites. Nothing was available as we continued to travel along the winding road. The terrain was also a lot different than I imagined, full of mountainous areas and cliffs into the ocean. Even with the surprises that come with visiting a new place, the whole journey had amazing views of the ocean and impressive bridges along the way.

After mostly cloud cover for the entire journey down the coast, the sun appeared out of the clouds for a few brief moments before it set, giving us an opportunity to see a California sunset. I quickly pulled off the road and we enjoyed the moment together.

Through this journey together I realized that Aaron was even more passive than I was. He seemed very happy to go along with what I had planned with no objection. I couldn’t quite work out if he was really wanting to camp along the way or if he had other plans in his head. We found a hotel in the end in a place called Sam Simeron. There were some beaches near by for a walk in the morning.

Aaron

Rising early for a long day of travelling ahead, we drove a little further down the road. We noticed a track that lead to the coast, so we stopped and parked, then took the sandy overgrown path to a very secluded beach. It was a lovely area and you could tell not many people came down to this part of the beach.

There was something about myself that I wanted to share with Jed. I felt so comfortable with him that I felt like I could tell him anything. I wanted to tell him something about me that not many people knew.

When the opportunity presents itself and it is appropriate, I love to go skinny dipping. This is a hobby of mine that I don’t get to do very often, as swimming alone can be dangerous and this is not an activity that everyone would be comfortable with. This has never been a sexual thing for me, it is all about the feeling of freedom and connection to the nature around me.

There is something wonderful about being in the great outdoors feeling all the elements in contact with you without restriction. It has always been a re-charging experience for my mind and soul. It gives me energy and my body feels more alive and healthy because of it. I shared this with Jed and he seemed to be ok with me going ahead.

I ran across the beach with the rough sand touching my feet, the warm wind racing past me as I got closer to the tide. As I jumped and dodged rocks and large strands of seaweed, the amazing view filled my whole horizon. I felt the cold impact of the Pacific Ocean as I threw myself in with nothing touching my body apart from the salty water that surrounded me, using all my senses to live in the moment.

Jed

Well, I was quite surprised when we got down to the ocean. It had been a chilly overcast day in the Pacific Northwest and Aaron actually wanted to get into that freezing cold water! Something about it being “bracing” —that must be British for freezing cold. He also wanted to do so without clothing—which I didn’t mind in the least. I felt pretty sure we were completely alone on this beach.

The next leg of the journey would take us back up through Nevada and into Utah, home to Salt Lake City. There is one very famous city that we pass right through on the way—Las Vegas. We have both been to the city before with our families. It was a place we both knew well, but we had not been there together. So we stopped for a few hours and had a caesar salad and lemonade at Caesars Palace hotel.

I wanted to take Aaron into the Bellagio to see the indoor gardens. They are always well worth a visit, even if you have been to Las Vegas before. The gardens are changed with the seasons—unfortunately, it just happened to be when they were in the middle of changing over. I was a bit disappointed but then Aaron seemed to be even more excited to see the behind the scenes and mechanics of it all. I had forgotten he was a florist and that this was basically just the largest flower arrangement of all time.

Arriving back home late that night, I realized a whole week had passed. We had spent seven full days together and we were very happy and getting along so well. The next step was to introduce Aaron to the family.

Aaron

It was good to have a few days of spending time at Jed’s house and getting to know the local area. Jed has a train station very close to his house. I love trains and wanted to take a ride into the city. To my amazement, Jed had never travelled on what I now know to be the UTA Trax. Coming from the UK, we have trains going everywhere and taking the train is very convenient and I enjoy the experience. But Jed loves to drive and Utah is set up for driving not for taking public transport.

Being in tourist mode we took the trax line to Central in the middle of Salt Lake City. We had a lovely day there going to all the major sights, starting with the City Creek Mall. I have visited the city a few times before, but a lot had changed since then and again it was lovely to make new memories of the city with Jed. We walked through the beautiful Temple Square, enjoying the well kept gardens and roof garden of the church’s conference centre.

Picking up two large slices of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory, we walked from the centre of the city to the top of Ensign Peak. This peak is to the north of the city and you get wonderful views of the whole Salt Lake Valley to the left and the vast Great Salt Lake and Antelope Island to the right.

We sat together on a rock near the top, with unobstructed views as the sun set and the sky was lit up with beautiful colour. There could not have been a better way to end the first half of our Utah adventure.

It was a Saturday and tomorrow I was going to the weekly family dinner for the very first time. I would meet all of Jed’s immediate family. I was worried that my arrival had made Jed come out to his whole family in a very short space of time— I hoped this would not affect the important first impression tomorrow. I was feeling all sorts of emotions. This would be a big step for Jed and I.