I can understand why people choose to live in California; the weather is beautiful and there are hardly any bugs. I always knew that mosquitos were a nuisance but I never realized how much better life could be without them. It is beautiful.

Let me explain…

You can have windows and doors open (without screens) with little fear of annoying insects entering your home. You can sit outside in the evening, or anytime really, without the incessant annoyance of biting flies or mosquitoes. When  I lived in Minnesota, it was just something we dealt with — the state bird, everyone jokes.

California might have cockroaches and large spiders but their flying, biting insect numbers are pretty low — at least in my experience. For the most part, the cockroaches and spiders and I live in separate areas. I can deal with them. After not having to deal with mosquitoes for the past few months (I have literally seen 3 total) I can honestly say I don’t want to deal with them ever again, if possible.

I realized just how wonderful it was over our past weekend. I spent the day on Saturday at the California Wolf Center where I helped with husbandry tasks and was awarded with a sighting of the seven recently-born Mexican gray wolf pups. They were playing with their dad and it was amazing to watch.

That night, Andy and I headed down to Pacific Beach where his uncle and family had rented a home for a few days.

It was a nice place with an AMAZING view.

The above picture does not do it justice. On the left is Mission Bay, where Andy and I go snorkeling, and on the right is the ocean. I could definitely live with a view like that!

We spent the evening visiting and eating some delicious food.

Most notably, we spent the evening outside. No closed doors, no bug spray.

It was a great night to just hang out and catch up. The weather was beautiful and the company was even better!

We were sad to say goodbye but so happy to see them.

On Sunday we spent a lazy day in bed and some much-needed FaceTime time with my parents.

Monday was another beautiful beach day. We went swimming in Oceanside after trying to unsuccessfully find a parking spot to go snorkeling in La Jolla (the downside of California). Then we had a tasty lunch with aunt Kris.

The only downside of our otherwise amazing weekend was Piper’s injury. After playing a lot of fetch in the yard, we noticed some streaks on the sidewalk.

Though she gave us no indication of pain, we realized that she was bleeding. She had ripped a couple of pads and wore her nails down to the quicks.

Using our pet first aid kit, I disinfected and bandaged her feet. We are happy to report that she is healing quickly and without any issues! We will just have to be more careful of playing with her on the concrete.

People constantly ask us if we will make SoCal our new home. Though I will be sad to leave our little slice of heaven, we both know that this cannot be our final resting place. The price of land and the number of people here are just not what we are looking for. The Wandering Dolphin will (eventually) continue its journey in search of its final resting place!