The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

We returned from our brief trip to Los Angeles, and although I am glad to be home, I did discover that there are still some things I miss. Los Angeles is one of those places where people can go to reinvent themselves, hideout, wait to be discovered for a starring role in a blockbuster feature film, or like me; rediscover some of the things I miss. First on my list, of course, my friends, then sushi and outdoor tennis year-round, but I rediscovered other aspects of the city that I miss as well.

First and most surprisingly, I miss freeways, which are ugly, slightly claustrophobic with their unsightly brick sound walls, sporting spindly trees, and sad views of apartment houses and littered with strip malls lining every inch. However, in the current pandemic, they have become efficient since so many Angelinos are working from home. We were able to go from “the valley” to the city’s “west-side” for a late breakfast at a trendy restaurant. Then a quick ride downtown to check out what’s happening at Grand Central Market, stop for a cocktail at an outdoor restaurant and drive back to our hotel without sitting frustrated for hours in all-day rush hour traffic.

As efficient as Los Angeles freeways are, I do enjoy driving on roads through the wide-open wheat fields with the challenges of not hitting a deer in the fog or sliding on icy roads, all while seeing the stars at night, without the haze and blazing city lights to distract from the view.

Something else I rediscovered was that I miss the diversity of food. I was born and raised in New York, spent a few years in Tucson, and moved to Los Angeles. I consider myself lucky to have lived in two of the most diverse cities in our country, with access to a variety of cultures and food. I miss the choices of ethnic foods available in Los Angeles. Even though the restaurants are closed for dine-in service now, a robust variety of ethnic food is available to be delivered to your door (or hotel).

Of course, that doesn’t mean we took advantage of those; it’s just comforting to know they’re there. Maybe next trip we will have more time and energy to organize some better meals. We had two good meals. The rest were hotel bar (barf) food in our room, the hotel’s Starbucks, or airport food. My stomach is still trying to recover. Another discovery; the aging stomach makes “bar, airport and junk food” not the easiest to digest.

I recently overheard (nosy me) someone remark that he was happy to be home from a trip he had made and how good it was to sleep in his own bed. Contrary to his experience, Daniel and I made another important discovery that after three nights sleeping in the hotel’s roomy king size bed, we were hooked. We are now revamping our upstairs bedroom to change the bed from a queen to a king size. Of course, that means a new mattress, mattress pad, sheets, blankets, the works. And of course, what could be the irony of all of this, is that Mugsy will probably just find the center of the bed, stretch out horizontally between us, and we will both wake up clinging to opposite edges of the bed, just as we did in the queen size.

Discovery may be a double-edged sword. The warm weather in Los Angeles was enticing, but I came home to raking leaves, dodging deer, and cold, rainy weather. I discovered I like the latter better!