Perfect Day

Jake and I started dating over nine years ago.

At the time, we were both in college and had a lot of free time. We started dating during final exams. Instead of studying, we pulled all-nighters getting to know each other. Sharing stories from our childhood. Laughing. Those days we spent together are some of my fondest memories.

Over the next nine years, we’ve had many ups and downs. Periods of great communication and periods of frustration with work, life, and other obstacles getting in the way. In the last four months, Jake and I quit our lives and started over. We spent morning, noon and night together for three months, in a car, tent or hotel room. We saw some of the most beautiful sites of the United States and we made amazing memories.

All of that was nothing compared to this weekend.

After two weeks of working, I asked Jake if he’d be okay driving to Joshua Tree National Park for the day, on Saturday. The park is approximately a three hour drive from San Diego. We got up, ran some errands, and got on the road at 10:30. We had conveniently forgotten our California map at home so we took what looked like a quicker road on the U.S. map. The fast route turned out to be windy and very scenic.

By the time we got to the park, it was well past 1pm and we were both famished. It turns out the park has no food so we had to drive back out to get some snacks and finally got to drive into the park close to 2. We took a walk through the cacti garden and climbed the huge boulder-like rocks. When we got to Key Point, we got out of the car and took in the hazy, but nonetheless jaw-dropping view. I had wanted to sit and read at the park so we grabbed our books and sat on the bench overlooking Los Angeles.

We started talking. For no specific reason. We talked about my new job. About Jake’s company. About being in California. About us. About the future. About nothing specific and about everything. We got back in the car so we could get on the way home before it got dark. We kept talking. We talked and talked. As if we met for the first time. With the same level of excitement. But a lot more honesty.

We put the windows down and sang at the top of our lungs along with the radio. We laughed.

One of the best days of my life.