Snoozing Mavericks

During a BART ride on my way home from a long day at work, I was daydreaming for excuses where I could take some down time and escape from all the daily stress in my life. Away from all the stressful projects at work, away from these errands I have to do around the house, and most of all away from these minute things that I know I have to do but totally don’t want to. I wanted a quick break for myself before the holiday season arrives to steal the rest of the year away.

Then something dawned on me, something so ridiculously nerdy that it’s almost perfect. I’m going to start planning for an annual retreat based on the location named for each OS X release. First up: Mavericks, California.

I am fortunate enough to live in California with some of the most beautiful places located right around me, yet I never visit any of these places because I’m either too busy (like everyone else), or they’re places I never think of visiting.

One of the things I really miss from my college days is the yearly retreat hosted by The Women Center. It’s a weekend of relaxation but also it’s an incredible opportunity to reflect on where you are and where you want to be. Setting time aside away from everyday life to reflect and set goals is important and frankly, I haven’t done that in a while.

And that’s exactly how I spent the past weekend in Mavericks, CA (or specifically, El Granada, CA as Mavericks is a surfing spot). I arrived at my Airbnb home with a laundry list of things I wanted to accomplish during the next few days — both for leisure as well as for things I wanted to work on.

The weather was a bit dreary on Saturday morning so I spent most of the morning hours writing, but when the sky finally began to open up, so did my weekend. I walked down to where all the restaurants are and slowly made my way to Mavericks.

Here are some of my favorite photos from my weekend in Mavericks. As a sidenote, it’s astounding to see the quality of these photos coming from my iPhone 6. The quality is getting close to something I’d normally get from a digital SLR.

All in all it was a great trip. I was able to take some time off and just soak in the coast and the smell of the Pacific Ocean. I was able to get away from my hectic life for a minute to reflect the things I’ve done and plan for the things I want to do in 2015. I feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the year — and more importantly — plan for my next OS X trip to Yosemite, CA!

You can check out all these photos at full size on my Flickr album page.

Love wins