It’s official! We’ve set off on our nomadic journey and we couldn’t be more excited. We didn’t really have a plan to get out of our immediate area right away (and Lupi had a couple things to wait on before we left the central coast), but we still managed to explore a bit of some places we had our eyes on.

Our first few days were spent close to “home” so to speak while we gathered our bearings and ran a few errands at the start of the new year. However, we did manage to make a short trip out of town to do our first PIZZA ROAD adventure.

For years now, Lupi and I have always gotten take-out pizza every Friday as a way to celebrate the end of the work week. We get so hyped about it, we even made our own little song that we loudly sing together on the day of. If I get some time, I’ll record it one day and share it with you guys. Guaranteed to be a number 1 platinum release.

PIZZA ROAD is an idea we had to extend our Pizza Friday tradition in which we try a new pizza place in whatever city or region we happen to be in that week. Think of it like a food review, but without the elitism, serious culinary critiques, or any real profound takeaways. It’s just us, eating pizza, and spouting some nonsense every week.

First stop on PIZZA ROAD: J.J’s Pizza, a small pizza shop in a sleepy central coast town. They also serve burgers, but this is a PIZZA ROAD article, so we pretend they don’t exist for now.

We arrived just in time to avoid the rain expected to come later that evening and locked our bikes up to the railing outside on their patio. Across the street was a steep forested hill, atop which sat an old chapel and a small cemetery that had an excellent view of the surrounding area. The rainstorms we’ve had in the area for the past few weeks have made every hill and valley lush with verdant life. It was a beautiful way to start our first PIZZA ROAD expedition.

The pizza was great and we actually managed to finish it all – something we’re not always capable of doing. During our meal, a group of deer sauntered down the hill across the street and stared deeply into our souls while we chowed down. I pointed them out to Lupi, and she put her glasses on to view their majesty in high definition. We only managed to enjoy this for a few seconds as the party next to our table then also noticed the deer and wowed in amazement loudly. They were good folks though, explaining their reaction to the deer with, “sorry, we’re from LA”. We shared a laugh and a few comments before going back to our plates. People are great.

After the zaa, we headed up that hill across the street to check out the chapel and the cemetery. I happen to enjoy visiting cemeteries for their serene peace and the opportunity to see people show love to those who are no longer with us. Cemeteries are a wonderful place, full of love and stories, despite what the movies may portray.

The group of deer from earlier had made their way up the hill, so we ran back into them once we summited the hill. They seemed quite comfortable around us as we explored the 120+ year old plots and read about some of the folks who were here before us.

After that, we hiked back down the hill and hopped on our bikes to hit up the local bar in town. We spent the next couple of hours getting a few drinks and chatting about our upcoming adventures while that rainstorm I mentioned early reared it’s beautiful face outside. We decided we might as well get a bit tipsy if we were going to be riding in the rain, and ordered another drink.

The night came swiftly and the rain continued all along our short bike ride back to the van. I recently biked nearly 35 miles with my brother in the rain, which was a thrilling experience and made this wet, tipsy bike ride feel like a piece of cake by comparison. We entered our home, turned on the heater, and nestled in for a cozy night by the coast. Life is good, and I am just so glad I found someone to share experiences like this with.

That’s it for this one, hope you guys enjoyed. See ya next week.