This past week included a little time at home, a trip across the country for a mastermind meeting, and a weekend exploring Los Angeles with Holly.
It was a busy week with plenty of travel, but there were also some simple moments mixed in, including dinner on the ranch, walking around Los Angeles, and finding a few unexpected ideas for the future.
We picked up Chinese food, drove out to the property, and ate dinner on the tailgate of the truck while watching the sunset.
It was simple, but it was a lot of fun.
As we get closer to eventually building on the ranch, moments like that make it easier to imagine what life there might look like.
There was no big event or complicated plan. It was just dinner, a sunset, and some quiet time together.
Sometimes those end up being the best evenings.
On Wednesday, I flew to California for a mastermind group.
The meeting was in Dana Point in Orange County, south of Los Angeles.
I do not particularly enjoy long flights, especially once I start traveling much farther west than the Mississippi. There is only so much time I want to spend sitting on an airplane.
Since the meeting started at 9:00 Thursday morning, I needed to fly out the day before.
That gave me a chance Wednesday night to have dinner with a friend from another mastermind group who works in digital marketing.
We talked about his company, how business was going, and what was happening in his life.
One of the things I enjoy about these groups is that the conversations often continue outside the actual meetings.
The mastermind itself took place Thursday and Friday.
These meetings give me an opportunity to step away from the normal day-to-day work and focus on a few bigger questions about the business.
It is helpful to be around other business owners who are dealing with similar challenges.
Sometimes someone has already solved a problem I am working through. Other times, I may have experience with something another person is facing.
I came away from the meeting focused on a few things I want to work on in the business, which is always the goal.
I saw several dark-colored plants while I was in California that immediately caught my attention.
They made me think about creating some kind of darker or "midnight" garden on the property.
It could be an area filled with deeper-colored plants that feels a little different from the rest of the landscaping.
I also saw a tree near where the mastermind was being held that I thought looked incredible.
I have mostly seen trees like that out West, so I do not know whether something similar would work back home, but it definitely went onto the inspiration list.
The more places we visit, the more ideas we seem to collect.
The spouses were invited to join the group Friday evening, and then we planned to spend Saturday exploring Los Angeles together.
One of our first stops involved getting near the ocean.
We had been told the water was really warm.
Holly strongly disagreed.
She tested it herself and decided it could have been quite a bit warmer.
Still, it was nice getting some time by the water before heading into Los Angeles.
The hotel offered an allergy-friendly room.
I was not exactly sure what that meant, but I decided to give it a try.
The biggest difference seemed to be an air purifier running in the room.
Whatever they were doing, it actually seemed to help.
The room felt more comfortable than some hotel rooms I have stayed in, especially when traveling.
I may start looking for that option more often.
Sometimes you try something mostly out of curiosity and realize it might actually be worth doing again.
Naturally, that immediately became another idea for the ranch.
I have seen similar walls before, but seeing one in person made me think it could be an interesting feature somewhere in the house or on the property.
There is something about combining plants and architecture that makes a space feel completely different.
I am not sure where it would go yet, but it is another idea worth saving.
I had heard about them since I was a kid.
I remember reading about them in books about prehistoric animals, so I always imagined this enormous area filled with tar pits.
I was surprised by how small everything felt in person.
I also did not realize they were right in the middle of Los Angeles.
There are displays showing some of the animals associated with the site, including mammoths.
Holly remembered the tar pits from the movie Volcano, so we both had different reasons for wanting to see them.
It was still fun finally visiting a place I had read about years ago.
It was one of those places we came across without really planning to visit.
Apparently, it is also an extremely popular place for pictures.
There were probably 30 or 40 people around us taking photos while we were there.
It was interesting seeing how something as simple as a collection of streetlights could become such a recognizable attraction.
We spent a little time walking around and taking pictures before continuing through the city.
We found a vending machine filled with Pokémon cards.
I had never seen anything like it before.
Of course, with Holly and Sam both interested in Pokémon cards, we could not just walk past it.
We picked up a few packs for them.
Apparently, Pokémon cards are now available just about anywhere, including an airport vending machine.
Sunday was mostly spent traveling home.
We had to get to the airport sometime around 10:30 or 11:00 in the morning, and with the flight and time change, we did not get back to Georgia until around 7:00 or 7:30 that evening.
It felt like the entire day was spent on an airplane or in an airport.
West Coast travel also tends to throw off my sleep.
I still wake up early based on Georgia time, but when you are traveling with a group, everyone tends to stay up until 10:00 or 11:00 at night California time.
That means my body is basically operating on Georgia hours while my schedule is operating on California hours.
By the end of the trip, I was definitely feeling it.
While Holly and I were gone, Sam stayed home and took care of Luna.
That made traveling a little easier knowing someone was there keeping an eye on everything.
Luna probably enjoyed having him around too.
After several days away, though, it was nice to get back home and return to a normal schedule.
It started with Chinese food and a sunset on the ranch before turning into several days of business meetings and travel across the country.
The mastermind gave me time to focus on the business, while the weekend with Holly gave us a chance to explore Los Angeles, see the La Brea Tar Pits, collect more ideas for the ranch, and even find Pokémon cards in an airport vending machine.
By the time we returned home Sunday evening, I was tired from the travel and time change, but it was still a really good week.
I came home with a few new business ideas, a few more ranch ideas, and some good memories from the weekend with Holly.
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