Where’s Nico?

Okay… I’m taking a one-post Talking Heads hiatus, but I thought this Ella Fitzgerald/Count Basie classic would be the perfect title for this post, aside from two minor facts: first off, we didn’t get to our most recent destination until May first, so we didn’t exactly get there in April, and second of all… well, where’s Nico?

Lake Perris, California!

So maybe it’s not the City of Light, but Perris is pronounced the same way, and we had some fun adventures there!

As I mentioned, on May 1st, we left Joshua Tree and headed a fairly short distance west to Lake Perris Campgrounds. The campgrounds were nice and virtually empty during the week – although on the weekend, the place was completely packed! It seemed like folks who came in for the weekend were having a lot of fun there, and I’m all for folks having fun, but we definitely prefer our camping to be a bit more secluded.

We didn’t stay at Perris Lake for the campground – we went there because it was a good place to do day trips to see some friends and family in Southern California.

The first day, we headed down to San Diego to see my oldest, August. It was a short visit, but it was great to get together – I hadn’t seen August since he moved to San Diego after graduating college.

While we were in San Diego, we did get to check out a section of Coronado Beach that allowed off leash dogs, and a nice short hike in Balboa Park. Also, August recommended we head out to Sunset Cliffs to watch, well, the sunset!

The next day, we decided to explore the Perris Lake area. It was very pretty, and there were a bunch of wildflowers in bloom. We found a nice five mile hike that went up a mountain that promised a very nice view of the lake, but about a mile or so in, an extremely convincing (and extremely agitated) diamondback rattlesnake talked us into cutting the hike short and heading back. I couldn’t see his whole body, as he was in a bush right by our fairly narrow trail, but I saw his side as he was coiling up and I’d guess it was about the circumference of a tennis ball. I’ve encountered several rattlesnakes in my life, but in the Midwest and East, where they grow to be maybe two to three feet long. Apparently, western diamondbacks can get to seven feet long.

Rattlesnakes are of course poisonous, but the truth is, people rarely die from a rattlesnake bite. It wouldn’t be fun, but it would be survived. Chihuahuas on the other hand, would not last long at all. The three of us tend to hike on narrow trails in single file order, with me up front, Nico having me to follow, and Kristen holding Nico’s leash and making sure he isn’t drifting off into something dangerous. The rattler didn’t react as I walked by but immediately got his rattle going in overdrive as soon as he saw Nico. Kristen pulled the leash immediately, holding Nico a safe distance back. I backtracked on the far side of the narrow trail to give as much space as I could to the snake, and we decided it may be a lot more fun to head to the lake and go kayaking instead of heading down to the ER.

And kayaking was fun! Nico had never been on a lake before, and he rolled with it pretty well!

The next day, we went down to Brea, CA to visit my cousin Marilyn. I have a really fun relationship with Marilyn. Most of it involves me calling her when it’s about 2am her time, just to say hi (when I say we have a fun relationship, I mean it’s at least fun for me… not sure if the feeling is fully reciprocated). I like to always be the first person to wish her a happy birthday, but also, when the opportunity presents itself throughout the year, it’s just fun to check in with her and let her know I’m thinking of her, even if no one else is at 3:15am her time. The amazing thing is, when I call her in the middle of the night, she always answers. Once when I was in Hawaii, she called me in what would be the middle of the night there. Of course, my phone was on silent mode and it went straight to voicemail. The next morning, I woke up and heard a message of her laughing at me because she thought she had gotten me back by calling at such an early hour where I was. Of course, that prank is a bit less effective when the call just goes to voicemail.

In any case, it was a lot of fun to get together with Marilyn. She hadn’t met Kristen or Nico in person before, so at least she was excited to see the two of them, if not all three of us. Also, another cousin, Linda, happened to be there, and I hadn’t seen her since I was fairly young. It was a fun day with a lot of laughter.

The next day, we headed down to Anaheim to see two really good friends of mine, Jay and Evan. I’ve known the two of them for years, and although we live a half a country apart, both of them are friends who, the moment we’re together, it’s like we hadn’t been apart. I feel lucky to have friends like that. Anyway, we had a chance to hit a couple of different breweries in the area and a killer taco place, and then headed back to Jay’s for a few more beers and to visit a bit longer.

I realize that some of the trips in Arizona and California have been quite a bit different from the other adventures we’ve had on this trip, where it’s mainly been about getting out on beautiful trails and just catching amazing views – but I’m excited that this trip has been giving us a chance to see a lot of friends and family that we don’t get to see anywhere near as often as we’d like.

Not to give away future ‘where’s Nico’ hints, but now we’ll be heading back inland a bit, where we’ll be getting back to the trails, but I’m glad we had a chance to take a few days off to visit folks we love!

– Ken 5/5/2024