Travelogue: 1.7.22

Last year, January 5th, 2021 was a fullblown family milestone, my Dad's 100th Birthday. Unfortunately due to Covid concerns we had to settle for a Facetime gathering to celebrate it. This January with the family fully vacinated, N95 masks in tow, Carol, myself, son Rob, daughter Kaci and her partner Travis carpooled down to Orange County to catch his 101st. We rented a small three bedroom house in Newport Beach about a mile from the iconic pier with plenty of quality chow on hand to minimize public contact. When outdoors, the constant onshore breeze gave us some added peace-of-mind and a little 'breathing room' for a birthday picnic with my Dad alongside a park by the harbor.

Both he and my wife Carol have plenty of Newport Beach roots. While a teen, his weekends were regularly spent at his parent's (my Grandparents) Balboa Island cottage. It was a modest place but in the 30s and 40s, a small house was actually affordable. He also worked part time at a metal-works factory in Newport and became emersed in sailing and fishing — which became lifelong passions. Carol, who grew up in neighboring Costa Mesa was born right up the road at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach as well. Carol and I also lived in Newport for the first two years of our marriage — thanks to a connection via a duplex owned by a friends father. Jumping into the 'wayback machine', Myself and some buds spent our Junior and High School years living in the city of Orange (some 20 miles inland from the beach) scheming non-stop how to hang at Newport during the summer weekends. Body surfing, girl watching and general bum'n around was always the plan. 35 cents a gallon gasoline back in the early 70s was our best friend!

Pre-covid, we visited the area fairly regularly connecting up with family and friends. This time around, Newport was cooler than normal (as was the entire US west coast) but with blue skies, plenty of sun and highs in the mid sixties, it felt balmy compared to the high 20/40ish temperatures we left behind in Sonoma County, CA. The winter/pandemic effect also substantially reduced the usual beach summer crush we're used to. The only folk we noticed in the water were wet-suited surfers. We all had a fun time, but it flew by with our five nights there slightly eroded only by the long two days of driving down and back up.

Travel Notes:

• The Interstate-5 Grapevine closure due to intermittent snow resulted in a 12 hour drive (normally 8-9 hrs) from Santa Rosa to Newport Beach, CA
• Newport's Fashion Island and its tired 70's architecture still attracts the world's top luxury brands
• OCMA (Orange County Museum of Art) remains on-tract for a 2022 opening at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in Irvine, CA. We did a quick drive-by and no doubt will be a cultural draw and easily the county's top example of contemporary architecture
• As of this writing, my Dad, Bob Wegner is doing (relatively speaking) better than great!