Captain's Log: Week 01, 2025
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Remind me when travelling with a lot of luggage, never to book the indirect flight. Stranded after a missed connection to LA, I found myself in Austin, Texas, on New Year’s Eve. A few years ago, I would have dropped my bags and headed out to explore—especially since I had never been here before. But this wasn’t just normal luggage; I was transporting a family heirloom for Laura, which had seemed like a good idea at the time. I had broken the journey into more manageable ‘miles of a marathon’ in my mind, but like any marathon, you’re definitely struggling by mile 22. The added onset of jet lag turned what was meant to be a quick ‘put my head down for 10 minutes’, to ‘in for the night.’ I watched the impressive display of fireworks taking over the entire city skyline from the comfort of my room at the Hampton Inn & Suites.
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Staying in Marina del Rey for the first time, there’s nothing like a run to shake out the legs after travelling and exploring the area. Landing bright and early on New Year’s Day, this time I did dump the bags and go. Running up to the North Jetty, along the coastline towards Venice, then back along the Ballona Lagoon before winding around the Marina to soak up the calm of the waterfront, only accompanied by the chorus of seals. I finished with coffee at Sam’s in the Courtyard Marriott Marina del Rey. Then it was time for Champagne and a classic British menu to start Laura’s 40th Birthday celebrations at Ye Olde King’s Head in Santa Monica. We’d been planning on afternoon tea, which was sadly off the menu that day, but the food from the main menu was excellent, perfectly complemented by rhubarb crumble and sticky toffee pudding for dessert. Delicious!
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What I love about California is its diversity of landscapes. From a morning stroll along the beach to reaching the mountains in just a couple of hours, it truly offers a little bit of everything. We headed to Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernadino Mountains for a wonderful mountain retreat filled with food, wine and festivities with family and friends. The celebration began sitting down for dinner with Christmas Salmon accompanied by Baked Minty Rice with Feta and Pomegranate Relish. Who knew you could bake rice? But it worked beautifully. We introduced the locals to Yorkshire Puddings with a traditional British roast dinner on our final evening, explored Lake Arrowhead Village, enjoyed morning Mountain Coffee, and immersed ourselves in an afternoon of creativity, crafting 2025 vision boards with inspiring words and images that reflected dreams and aspirations for the year. I guilted Laura into driving me 50 minutes down the mountain at 6:30am on Saturday to check out the new Parkrun in Riverside. Parkrun has been a massive source of consistency for me since starting CAPE, though the 7:30am start was a little less welcome compared to the usual 9 o’clock in the UK. Thankfully, the stunning view of the sun rising above the candy-floss-like clouds as we rounded the mountain softened the early wake-up call— the pictures don’t do it justice. And I snuck out for a glimpse of the mountain trails on the final morning, paths I could have spent a week or more exploring if time had allowed. It was a fabulous gathering of family and friends, a group spanning music, film and gaming professions, and covering all ages—from adolescence to the third age. The AirBnB itself was perfect for the occasion: a house full of intricate decoration, a pantry stocked to the brim, a big dining table for breaking bread, cozy beds to sink into, and a balcony for lying back and staring at the stars. Epic!
