We continued exploring the Northern California coast with a family retreat in Manchester this week. Since our last stay was in a redwood grove, we chose this time a house on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We prepared for our trip with library books, activity kits, and a Lego 3-in-1 pirate ship set from last Christmas, then packed eggs, milk, snacks, and quick meals like frozen dumplings, jajangmyeon, and hot dogs into our cooler. We also ordered Tasty Kitchen take-out the day before, and stopped by Costco for a mac ‘n cheese tray on the drive up. On Sunday, our leisurely lunch of fried chicken, ribs, and shrimp-and-grits at Sweet T’s was all Southern comfort, but worsened my motion sickness on the windy 2-hour drive to the coast. The panoramic views of our AirBnb was refreshing, however, as we settled into the house, observed sea birds hovering outside, and prepared dinner and s’mores while watching the Pacific sunset. Our next few days followed a similar routine – watching Waffles & Mochi in the mornings, outdoor hikes in the afternoon, and Midnight Diner in the evenings. On Monday, we stopped by Pirate’s Cove in Point Arena for fish tacos, salad, and a vanilla milkshake on the way to Bowling Ball Beach, where Glenn snapped photos of a gopher and Melody discovered crabs and starfish while Westley was more excited about smashing shale rocks. A visit to the community private beach on Tuesday gave him a chance to chase ocean waves, explore driftwood huts, and drown his mom’s sand castle. We spent Wednesday afternoon at Point Arena-Stornetta, where we spied a seagull and buzzard sharing a fish carcass before we ventured down the cliffs to explore the tidepools. Back at the house, we made gummy insects and clay pinch pots and continued building the Lego ship while listening to BTS, BlackPink, and Chipmunks radio to drown out the roaring winds. On our last day, we stopped by the Sea Ranch Chapel, lunched at Spud Point Crab Co., and shopped at the Vacaville Costco before returning to Davis. Westley was excited to spend the long weekend at home completing his Lego pirate ship. We took breaks in between for some mini-golfing at Golfland Sunsplash and shopping for mattresses and outdoor kitchen stuff. Despite the relaxed schedule, our week-long break felt way too short. It was unclear if this was due to Westley’s constant energy or the sparse activities, but we may need to change things up a bit for our next vacation.

Our tax return was really jarring this year as we had to shell out an extra $60k in taxes owed and late payment penalties, which we attributed to more consulting gigs, new capital gains, and lower tax withholdings from our paychecks. Despite setting up a Solo 401k account and tax loss harvest, the unanticipated dent in our bank accounts added to the stress of my back-to-back NEI review meetings and Melody’s pre-clerkship course this month. To relax in the evenings, we started watching the meditative Midnight Diner drama series while trying out their simple recipes like yakisoba, pork miso soup, butter rice, ochazuke, and octopus wieners. I also found good tonkotsu ramen at Fukumi Ramen while helping to cover clinic in Roseville before the new retina faculty begins. Last weekend, we organized our first socially-distanced, in-person lab gathering for my post-doc Sook’s last week at work. We kept it simple with grilled wings and burgers from Costco, which also gave us an excuse to revisit Elk Grove for soup dumplings from Journey to the Dumpling and Ah-Boong from SomiSomi. At home, I installed new LED lights for the crown molding in our dining room to help brighten our days. With such taxing times, we are all looking forward to our next family retreat in Manchester.