Going the Distance

Lyle already had a gig up in San Francisco lined up before we met. It was a project management job for a large ad agency. So of course, I understood that he had to be on his way.

Regardless, I was pretty adamant that over time I wasn't going to be able to maintain a long distance relationship. Lyle agreed.

In the meantime, we flew. A lot!

Every 2-3 weeks one us would hop a plane to see the other (usually Virgin America with the super-cool starship trooper plastic white seat backs and happy rave interior lighting effects). Then we'd do a weekend in San Francisco or a weekend in Santa Monica. Then back to our respective residences to pine away some more.

Lyle's not a phone person. I'm used to that. I have certain family members, whose names I will not mention here (LOL!), who are also not "phone people."

However, thanks to fantastic new technology, we're both "iChat with video people."

Nightly iChatting with much gazing into computer screens...er...each others eyes. Walking tours of each others apartments through the convenience of portable laptops. And silently typing one another naughty iChat messages, while waiting to watch the other's hilarious reaction. Good times!

One of my favorite visits to Lyle in SF was the very first one. It included his homemade veggie curry. Lyle loves curry, and well...anything with coconut in it. Veggie curry is apparently his standby dish, and he does it well. Also, he (very romantically) had chocolate almond milk (my fave) waiting for me in the fridge. Yum!

We're both foodies, so San Francisco was a great place to frequent. Fabulous restaurants with good eatin'!

We also went hiking up in Sausalito, which was beautiful. Visted the Twin Peaks, Modern Art Museum, and strolled down by the SF Bay. We'd meet up with Lyle's various friends for dinners and gatherings at local pubs.

It was great to see Lyle so beloved by all his peeps.

Lyle's take on Chinatown is that it's mostly for tourists. Well I didn't care. I had never been, and I wanted to go. I was impertinent and insisted. What's the point in going to San Francisco, and not going to Chinatown?! That was my perspective.

Lyle obliged, and off we went. After peeking in and out of various shops, we went to a local acupuncturist for treatments and herbs. Lyle hadn't ever been to an acupuncturist from China, so it turned out to be a lot of fun. And then I spent the next few days cooking herbs and smelling up the kitchen. Chinese herbs can be very...em..."aromatic," so it took Lyle a bit of time to acclimate. ;)

In Santa Monica, we'd walk to the beach a lot. Or hike in a canyon. Stay at home and cook a bunch. Run around visiting friends.

Oh yeah, and in our first summer of love...Lyle and I also did a bunch of cuddling and hand-holding.

Good non-location-specific activities that travel well.

:)



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