We all met on the same day – June 23, 1984. Judy, Doug and I (along with 9 other excited bicyclists) arrived in Portland, OR for the start of TransAm Eastbound 0624, a bike tour organized by Bikecentennial (now Adventure Cycling). Self-supported, we’d pedal our bikes across the country from Portland to Virginia Beach, carrying all our own gear on the bikes, for the next 90 days. You do get to know people pretty well by being together on the road, through super highs and lows, in that much time!
Along with our friend Gary (now deceased), the four of us shared much of our time on the road poking around together. Not feeling a need to be first to arrive at camp, we shared the desire to explore the country as we passed through it. We generally arrived last at camp. (This experience greatly influenced Doug’s and my current approach to RV travel, minus the sleeping on the ground part…)
We’ve stayed in touch with Judy since the bike ride. We tried and narrowly failed to connect with Judy, live and in person, on three occasions – once in PA a few decades ago, a second time when Doug and I were both in L.A. on separate business trips, and again last summer (planned for the day after we had to suddenly and unexpectedly head back east) – so it has been 41 years since we’ve seen each other! Happily, this time we finally made our way to Judy’s home in Rancho Palos Verdes (aka RPV), CA.
We immediately fell into the same types of easy, comfortable conversations we’d always had while traveling – thoughts and musings, observations and philosophy, stories from our life experiences, and sharing or comparing opinions on a wide variety of topics.
With a 5-year exception, Judy’s lived on the Ranch Palos Verdes peninsula since we last connected. She transitioned from her role managing PT practices to gardening. She’s now a Certified Master Gardener and a celebrated fruit tree expert in SoCal. She consults on building and improving large home gardening projects. Her own backyard is the prime example of feeding a family from a home garden. She’s also passionate about cooking and treated us to a fantastic homemade Indian dinner with ingredients from her garden.
Judy lives with her daughter, Jillian. They have developed hugging into an art form in which we were fortunate to participate. We hope and anticipate that they will soon be famous for their recommended minimum-5-second hugs. Jillian is an artist and budding thespian. She was deeply involved in drama and theatre while in high school, and she was recently selected for the lead role as Ariel in a production of The Little Mermaid for a town theatre company. She’s totally excited and determined to excel in her first starring role!
During our too-brief visit, Judy took us to a selection of her favorite places. The Korean Friendship Bell was a gift from the Korean government in celebration of the US bicentennial. Its position on a bluff over the Pacific Ocean provides a 330-degree view of the peninsula. Lunch was at Colossus, a favorite and mostly organic restaurant, followed by a long walk along the Main Channel of the Los Angeles Harbor. After a walk around the Point Vincente Lighthouse, we stopped in at Lunada Creamery, with healthy and tasty options for ice cream, including an incredible vegan vanilla (who’d’a thunk it?). An avid reader, Judy brought us on a tour of RPV’s library, an amazing resource for the community. RPV has no ‘downtown’ area. Instead there is a maze of funky stores and restaurants in a pedestrian-friendly setting in the middle of the peninsula.
Next, we headed back to the coast to walk along Redondo Beach as the sun was setting, before heading to Captain Kidd’s Fish Market & Restaurant, a deservedly famous seafood restaurant nearby.
We so enjoyed our time with Judy! Practically speaking, we likely don’t have another 40 years to wait to meet up again, so we’ll find a way get together again sooner rather than later.
For anyone who’s interested, more Rancho Palos Verdes pix…
