This weekend we had to see the downsides of the beautiful, but sometimes also unpredictable weather in Southern California. We drove to San Bernardino to see the Red Bull X-Fighters, which is a Freestyle Motocross Event in the middle of nowhere. It takes place on a race track where professional riders show crazy stunts on their bikes. I am a huge FMX fan, so I was totally looking forward to see the show. But after the event got pushed back two hours it had to be cancelled, because the winds between the California mountains were too strong and made the whole event too risky. For all the fans sitting in the 90° full on sunshine those winds were actually the best thing, but for the riders they were nothing but dangerous.

People got actually pretty mad at Red Bull for cancelling the event, but we still managed to get out of the area pretty fast and without seeing any trouble caused by disappointed fans. And here is where the day actually still turned good. We drove to a small city called Claremont which is half way between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Our friend loves to go there, because they have one of his favorite restaurants. But the city actually has a little more to offer, which is a very pretty small town and also some very cute Vintage shops. So instead of watching Motocross Freestylers risking their lives, we just browsed some pretty stores and enjoyed a sunny day in Southern California.

As I told you before, life here has made me way more stress resistant. And therefore I took the disappointment of the cancelled event pretty chill and made the best of our day.

After a busy week full of work, we decided it was (once again) time for a little trip. Santa Barbara was our destination of choice and our friends actually had planned a trip up there as well. So on Saturday morning we picked them up and drove about 90 minutes to the beautful city of Santa Barbara. We have been here two or three times before and always enjoyed this beautiful little city. If you are looking for something close to Los Angeles, but still something that feels so different, Santa Barbara is the right choice for you.

We arrived in Downtown Santa Barbara at around lunch time, so we decided to have a quick lunch on State Street and browse the stores for a little bit. At about 3pm we headed to the Museum of Natural History. I found a recommendation for this small Museum on the Internet and decided it would be a nice thing to do – and it ended up being the right choice. The Museum isn’t the biggest, but it has a very interesting selection of Birds, Mammals, a Blue Whale Skeleton, changing exhibitions and a very cute garden. The museum is not very busy and is a nice little gem to visit with children. We stayed here for about 2 hours and really enjoyed ourselves.

After the Museum we drove down to the Marina and had dinner by the waterfront. We drove back home – and back to reality, in this case meaning LA traffic – at around 6.30pm. Overall it was a very welcomed and nice quick getaway. If you live in the LA area make sure to take a trip like this every once in a while. It cleans up your head, reminds you how beautiful California is, and how close so many pretty places are! Gotta love living in California.

This week Flo and I had our two year US anniversary. On the one hand I can’t believe we have already been here for two years. I still remember arriving at LAX with our six suitcases and a head full of dreams! I remember how we explored the town, ran into one million problems to solve and always had to fight about who had to talk to people or call someone on the phone first.

On the other hand I can’t believe it has only been two years. In only 24 months we achieved much more than I have ever dreamed of over here. We have an apartment that is full off our own stuff (none of which we shipped over from Germany), we already have a little pet and we feel so home in California.

I remember how I was wondering for how long we would stay over here when I was still in Germany. Wondering where we would end up, what our jobs would be like, what our daily lifes would be build upon and also if I would be happy. I have to admit that we had some rough patches in those two years. And that there were times where I was head over heels homesick. But I actually never once seriously questioned our decision to move over here. And more important, I could never imagine to move back to Germany – at least not at this point.

I don’t actually remember how I felt one year ago when we started our second year in the US. But I can honestly say: I am so looking forward to year number three. If nothing goes wrong, we will move to Huntington Beach soon (one more dream to check off the list) and start chasing the next dreams. I talked to a friend this week and after I gave him all the current updates on our lives, he looked at me and said: So, dreams do come true. And yes, he was absolutely right. If you don’t give up on them, dreams do come true.