A visit to HB

Over winter break I decided to make my first (and definitely not last!) visit to Huntington Beach, CA! I had met the Brashears before but other than them, I had never met the people I was flying across the country to hang out with for a week.

This story begins with the longest it has ever taken me to get through airport security. Maybe next time I’ll listen to the suggestion to be there 2 hours prior to departure time. Oops. But it was all good because I was in my seat with minutes to spare before take-off.

When I landed in LAX, Brittany and Sage picked me up from the airport and of course we had to go eat. They took me to TK for a burger, crossing the first place off of the to-do list of places I had to eat at. After spending the afternoon at the Brashears Sage, Brittany and Cole took me to Ruby’s on the pier for dinner. Other places on the list were Taqueria, In-N-Out, and Harbor House. Yum! And of course I had to take a “first time at In-N-Out pic” when we finally ate there.

While on the topic of eating, Julie cooked us some great dinners and of course we devoured her famous bread and jam! And yes, I did do things other than eat while in Huntington.

We had a game night at the Brashears, where everyone was defeated by Tom at Fruit Ninja. We also played Scattergories, Catch Phrase, and the game where you put a famous person’s name on your forehead and you have to figure out who you are. There was lots of good natured arguing because it’s a particularly competitive group of people.

I spent the nights in Sage’s top bunk, sometimes sleeping but mostly talking about anything and everything. So many life-chats.

One of the days Mariah joined me for a dip in the ocean even though it was 52 degrees. I could pass up a swim in the Pacific Ocean! We had a lovely photo shoot with Brittany’s underwater camera. That night we returned to the beach for the sunset, which was beautiful and Catalina
was exceptionally clear that evening.

Going to Knott’s Berry Farm with Nicole, Sage, Mariah and Chelsea is another highlight of the trip. I definitely to freaked out about Xcelerator and Supreme Scream to everyone else’s amusement. Then I pulled myself together for the rest of the rides. Ghost Rider, the classic wooden roller coaster, was the best and last ride of the day! That was such a fun day of rides and plenty of time for story telling while waiting in line.

And, I spent the last day of my trip at Disney! A magical way to end an amazing trip. Found out just a couple days before that Anne, who was in NZ with me, and Andy, a kiwi visiting from NZ, were also planning to spend the day in Disney. It was really great to see them too and crazy that our plans worked out to meet up.

I felt so at home with a group of people I had just met. I love you all! I cannot thank you enough for how welcoming you were! Such an amazingly loving group of people!

Hey Austin, thanks for helping me meet such amazing folks and make a bunch of new friends!

Love Always,
Julia