A Drive in California By Jack Martin

Once Travis and I had a perfect day together. I picked him up at his Navy base in San Diego, California one morning when he had a day off. We rented a Mustang convertible and drove up the coast together to a beach town for lunch; it was classic Southern California weather. As we traveled we girl and car watched while taking in the beautiful day. He told me about his life in the navy, I told him about what was up in my life. While on the journey we came upon a farm and as we were both thirsty we ended up drinking warm orange juice and buying a bag of oranges. By the time we reached the beach it had been hours and we both were famished. We had discovered that things in California are much closer on the map than on the road. We ended up at a little restaurant whose name I do not remember and had lunch and got to the business of girl watching on the beach. We walked and talked while taking in the scenery. It was so easy it was to be with him. No pressure, no expectations just happy to be together and enjoying the day. We both got sunburns that day as we took turns driving. When we got back he showed me all of the navy ships docked around Coronado and told me stories about most of them. That night we went to dinner with a business associate of mine. After we dropped Travis back at the base she told me in the car he was the kindest most gentle man she had ever met and I should be very proud to have such a nephew. I told her I was. I told him at breakfast the following morning what she said about him, it embarrassed him. I told him it was a complement and he said, " She seemed pretty nice too."