It's finally October.

It's finally a month that begins with me in the same old place, but will end with me in a new home on the other side of the country. We might not have our furniture by October 31st, but if we don't, we'll have it the next day.

Hallelujah!

It's very strange to me. After all the years I dreamed of living in California, and after the decade (the '80s) that I spent working my way across the country to get here, it's puzzling that I find myself so desperate to leave -- and probably never return.

Of course, California is a very different place than it was when I arrived in 1990, not to mention the first time I visited in 1978 and of course not to mention the first six months of my life I spent here 60 years ago. Los Angeles, in particular. L.A. is becoming almost post-apocalyptic in its traffic and over-crowding, and even though we had a very mild summer this year, when the temperature hit 113 the other day, it seemed so typical.

The irony of it all is that in my quest to reach California, I never imagined myself living in L.A.

My goal was always to live in the Bay Area, and I came close twice. I was almost hired twice in 1988 by the <em>Marin Independent Journal</em> as a sportswriter and the job I accepted in Ontario in 1990 was an inferior position to the one I had in Reno. It's tough to say I regret the way things worked out. I certainly had some good years at the<em> Daily Bulletin</em>, and if I hadn't come south, I never would have met Nicole. But the final stop of my career -- the 18-year stop -- is a perfect example of how we have to take the bad along with the good.

There are definitely places in California I will miss.

[caption id="attachment_648" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Morro Bay -- America&#39;s Gibraltar"]<a href="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/states-2007.1191073980.morro-bay.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-648" title="states-2007.1191073980.morro-bay" src="http://mikerappaport.net/onevoice/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/states-2007.1191073980.morro-bay-300x224.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="224" /></a>[/caption]

I've written before about how much I love Huntington Beach, and my one trip to Yosemite five years ago was absolutely wonderful.

But one of my favorite places is a place I only knew because of a Beach Boys song ...

<em>"... have you ever been north of Morro Bay ..."</em>

Nicole and I spent a wonderful weekend at Morro Bay nearly five years back. I don't know if it was just the ambiance, or just that we had a very nice weekend together, but I absolutely loved Morro Bay.

It's four hours from here, and there is still a part of me that wants to drive up there some day in the next three weeks and just walk around one last time.

Maybe I'll do it.

Of course I love San Francisco too, and I will always treasure the hike to Kearsage Pass that Nicole, Virgile and I took over the July 4th weekend in 2006.

I will not, however, miss Los Angeles.

Not even a little.