2021 | Jay & Rikki | CA+
Santa Monica
After our road trip down the PCH from Seattle to Los Angeles (post), we finally settled into our Santa Monica apartment. Rikki’s first travel nurse assignment was at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica; 28 blocks from the beach, which let us split the difference in picking an apartment, landing us 14 blocks from the beach.
Biking and running along the beach path, hiking and surfing in nearby Malibu, and mountain biking were soon our favorite LA activities.
Of course the beaches, sunshine, and activities kept us busy, but we didn’t forget to take advantage of the LA food scene. From street tacos, beachside sushi in Malibu, or exploring some other areas in DTLA, the LA food scene did not disappoint.
With the ever-changing nature of the travel nurse market and the subsiding Covid-19 peak in LA County, we started looking at extending Rikki’s contract soon after arriving. While our original plan was to be in LA for 6 months, with so many nurses flocking to SoCal in January to help with the crisis conditions, there were next to no contracts within a 50 mile radius of LA County that Rikki could find to extend our stay. We decided to call an audible on the grand plan, and Rikki booked a contract in San Francisco starting in April. We ended up being in Santa Monica for about 10 weeks, and had 2 weeks before the April contract started in San Francisco. With our AirBnB in Santa Monica up, and 10 days to burn, we decided to pack the car, leave it at the airport, and jet down to Costa Rica!
Costa Rica
We flew into Liberia, CR and drove about an hour to the coastal town of Tamarindo. Tamarindo is a well-known and often visited small town for young travelers. It has a really lively nightlife scene, plenty of restaurants, great surf, and a mile of beachside cantinas. We spent our first few days in Tamarindo at a cute little hostel owned and operated by the nicest Norwegian couple. I worked from the poolside palapa for two days while Rikki went full-relaxation mode.
Again, I was able to work full days in Costa Rica while Rikki attended yoga classes, laid poolside, and caught up on reading. My daily routine included waking up, walking two blocks to the beach for a 90-minute surf session, and being online for work before 9am.
After 3 days in Tamarindo, we drove 2.5 hours south to Nosara for the rest of our stay. While Tamarindo was lively, plenty of visitors, and tailored towards younger travelers on a budget, Nosara was a bit more comfortable. There’s 2 miles of completely undeveloped beach, some of the best surfing in Central America, and fantastic eating and drinking.
Rikki booked a sport fishing day in a nearby town, just south of Nosara. We hooked 5 yellowfin tuna, totaling over 50 lbs, a swordfish, and a monster blue marlin which bit the line after only a 3 minute battle with our guide. With us leaving in only 2 days, we opted to give half of our filleted tuna to our guides, and traded the rest with a local restaurant in exchange for them cooking us a meal with our haul.
San Francisco
Rikki’s SF assignment was at Kaiser Permanente on Geary St. We opted to live in The Haight neighborhood. While Haight-Ashbury is famous for being the center of the counterculture movement of the 60s, and being home to musicians like the Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix, it’s also only a few blocks away from San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. GG Park provided a 3.5 mile, direct park path from our apartment to the beach, and miles of running and biking trails.
With the typical “cold” and blustery San Francisco summers, we frequently would leave the city on the weekends for sun, heat, and some exercise. Marin County to the north, Oakland and other small towns in East Bay, San Jose to the south, or even the 4 hour drive to Lake Tahoe.
We also had some visitors in SF. My buddy Drew came down from Reno for a weekend, and my parents visited for a long weekend, doing all sorts of sightseeing and exploring San Francisco.
Back on the road
Rikki’s contract in SF ended in early July, and before road-tripping to Wisconsin, we drove back to Southern California for a wedding in Laguna Beach, about an hour south of LA.
After the wedding, we spent a week in Hermosa Beach, which is one of the three beach towns in LA County’s South Bay. Our AirBnB was 25 steps to the beach, which made for great morning runs and sunset beach walks.
Our time in CA had come to a close, and the next week’s objective was to road trip from LA to Wisconsin. Along the way, we stayed in Las Vegas for a night with my Aunt Kim and Uncle Norm, explored the parks and beauty of southern Utah, then pit-stopping in Aspen, CO for 3 days to visit friends Travis and Liv.
After a few days in Aspen, we had stopped in Denver for a night to again visit with friends. On day 5 of our drive, we had a lovely night walking around and dining in downtown Omaha, NE before the final push to Chicago, where we stayed with Rikki’s best friend Carley. After a few days in Chicago, we stayed with my buddy Max in Milwaukee for a few days, and then finally to Madison and Stratford.
While our plan was for Rikki to find a nursing contract in NYC, we were in a bit of a holding pattern until she was able to get her New York state nursing license approved. Fortunately, we were able to take advantage of the time at home, staying with our parents, and spending a lot of time with Sully and Sawyer, our twin niece and nephew.
Next up: Mexico City
