Mark Halfmoon and I have been on the road for 15 days now, having just left Los Angeles last night. We spent four days interviewing people and documenting the Los Angeles experience. In some ways this is where it all began for me, many years ago when I first moved to California and lived just north of Los Angeles. I instantly knew that California was where I wanted to be. It took me 20 years and many visits to finally move here and little did I know that I would end up in Santa Cruz, now my home for the last seven years. There were less people then and there were more prune and citrus fields, now replaced by housing complexes, but the spirit of California is very much alive. We have interviewed over 50 people since leaving Santa Cruz including Santa Cruz’s SoWatTVs Jeff Dinnell who just moved to Los Angeles. In every case their enthusiasm and love for California was contagious. In many cases the people couldn’t figure out why we would even ask the question, and they said, “doesn’t everyone love California?” Everywhere we have gone, the people are enthusiastically engaged in the state, whether its in surfing, cycling, hiking, wine tasting or just driving their car, there seems to be an ongoing dialogue with the land and the resources of California.
One of the highlights of our trip so far was Ron James from Salem, South Carolina who we met camping at Point Mugu State Park just North of Malibu. Ron was on a 6,000 mile trip around the United States on his Harley in honor of his friend who passed away several years ago who was meant to be on this trip with him. James, who is a retired Arabian horse trainer, buyer and seller summed it up best when we asked him what inspired him about California. He chuckled and said “It’s California, everyone wants to be in California.”
What inspires you about California? See you on the road.
