Yesterday’s Adventures

Sometimes you live somewhere for so long that you start to get comfortable with places and things you already know. For me, I am always going to the same places to eat, shop and also take pictures. It’s become such a routine that I just didn’t know there were plenty of interesting and beautiful places all around me.

I’ve grown up in Southern California my whole life so far, saying that I’m only 17, and I’ve seen so many beautiful places around here. Although recently, I’ve felt like I’ve been in such a rut. I always crave new adventure and new discoveries. I thought I would have to travel or move out of state to live the life I wanted to live. Everyone always says that California is such a great place to live but I never believed them. I knew that I could drive an hour in either direction and hit the desert, the beach, the mountains, or one of the country’s major cities, but I was too stubborn to accept the fact that I do live in an amazing place. Maybe I don’t live in the exact area I see myself continuing my life in, but it won’t take much to move somewhere different but still be close to my family.

Yesterday I took a little day trip with my mom to a familiar area that I had always been around growing up. My grandparents lived in Orange County so every Saturday we would go down there to visit. It’s only about a half hour drive from my house. Anyways, so after all those years of going down there every weekend, I never knew there was more to the area then what I perceived there to be.

First, we visited the Fullerton Arboretum for a couple of hours. I had brought my camera along with me, and I am so happy I did. Its fall time in SoCal, but all of the “nature” in my area is dead. But yesterday I saw the true beauty of fall. In the arboretum, I saw so many fall leaves and it made me smile from ear to ear. After all those years of driving past the Fullerton Arboretum, I never knew it had so much beauty within it.

The next place we visited was probably my favorite part of the day. We drove into Old Towne Orange and got to walk around the town. There were sooo many cute little places to eat and everything looked so different from the buildings I’m used to. All the buildings were made out of old red brick or old cement. Christmas decorations were set up all over the place and the circle was bustling with all kinds of people.

While in Old Towne Orange, we stopped and ate at an old diner. It was inside of an old drug store where they sold bottled coke and razzle’s. Of course they sold a variety of things but I thought it was cute. After we finished our lunch, we walked around and went into some pretty interesting antique/consignment stores. I saw a variety of different things and it made me realize how different our world is compared to life a few decades ago.

I can easily say that yesterday was definitely a refresher for me. It’s opened my eyes to all of the simple beauties that are around me. It made me want to keep exploring where I live because I now believe that there is so much more to see and find. I don’t want this blog to become all about me and how my day went, but I just felt the need to share how yesterday altered my mindset on where I grew up. No matter where you live, there is always more to find. Never stop exploring, because you will be surprised with what you can discover. I still want to venture out into the world, but in the meantime, I have a lot to see here in SoCal!