Beach #2!

Sunday was spent with Kim and her husband Jeff in Concord. We just fucked around Concord for a bit, went to the mall, got my See's candy, and then went back to their place. Nice relaxing day. Sunday night I drove to Pinole (near Berkeley) to stay with Andrea. She had just gotten back from a camping trip in Mammoth that day. She took Monday off so we could hang out a bit. We ended up taking Hwy 1 to Stinson Beach near Sausalido. I had never driven that part of 1 before and it was really curvy too (fun!!). Stinson beach was so clean and beautiful. The sand was much finer than Santa Cruz and the wet part of the shore was easy to walk on - almost like cement. When the water came in it didn't disturb the sand as much so the waves were really clear and clean. For a Monday it was slightly busy, but we got some great pictures. Again, the water was ice cold, so we just walked down the shore. You can see our two sets of footprints in this pic.

That night we went out to Thai food with Andrea's roommmate Brandi and then went to Foster's Freeze for dessert. I didn't even know Foster's Freeze was still around! Cool!

Monday I left early for the drive back to San Jose and got to the airport in plenty of time. I left Andrea's around 8:30 and really thought I'd be stuck in traffic for hours. But, I guess their rush hour ends early. In Austin it's rush hour till at least 10am. I'm not going back to CA this year, and I'm not sure when/if I'm going next year. I really want to go see Kris in England and maybe take a cruise. We'll see.

Another wedding

Saturday I drove from Gilroy (getting my In&Out fix for an early lunch!) to Stockton for Heidi's wedding. Heidi and I have known each other since first grade and although we weren't huge friends when we were young, we've become much closer the last few years. She and Bert are visiting me in December during their road-trip honeymoon.

The wedding was in a catholic church and was well organized. Amazing how all the prayers come back to you! The reception was in the hill town of Ione, about 40 minutes away. But, since I had talked to Heidi beforehand, I knew there'd be three hours between the wedding and the actual reception (time for pictures), so after the wedding I went to Panera and got my soup-in-a-bread-bowl fix. It all worked out that by the time I got to the reception they had just finished with pictures and were joining the reception. Heidi really lucked out with the weather. For mid-August it easily could've been in the 90s/100s, but instead was in the low 80s. It was so beautiful. I got a little pissed during the toasts though. It was open mike and several people were getting up and saying stuff. Everyone was talking about Bert! Even Heidi's dad told a story about him and Bert. Of course, everyone was mentioning Heidi, but no one was really focusing on her in their toasts. So, I got up and said a little something. I was really nervous, having never said a toast before and having nothing planned. I can't quite remember everything I said, but I got a couple laughs, so I guess it went over well. Her mom later thanked me for that, saying Bert's family are all passionate Portuguese and Heidi's family were 'quiet Norwegians'. Heh. Glad I could be of service. The reception started around 5:30 but by 8 they hadn't cut the cake or thrown the bouquet. I had to drive an hour and half to Concord to stay with Kim so I cut out early. When I left they were doing the money dance. I wanted to dance with Heidi like I did at Kim's wedding, but the line was really long and I had to get going.

Sleeping with the fishes (well, eating with them I guess)

ok, just wanted to use that title. To continue with my CA trip: Friday was Monterey. I wanted to get out there early since I had to be back in Gilroy by 5:30 to go to Bingo with my Aunt and Nana. They take their bingo seriously and since there's 14 games with $250 jackpots, it's always fun.

Oh, and yes, I did go slightly out of my way just so I could take Hecker Pass again. I could've just taken 101, but where's the fun in that? Once I got to Monterey I had to make a pitstop at the coffeeshop Plume for my sister. She used to live out there and I guess has been dreaming about their coffee for 10 years. So, I had to get a lb of 'Sweet Italian' for her. Whatever. At first she was like 'find a yellowpages' and I told her to get her ass on the internet and get me directions if she wants her damn coffee. Luckily it was on my way to the Aquarium. I really don't know when the last time I was at the Monterey Bay Aquarium was, but it is worth the $25 entrance fee. I got there at 10:30am and it wasn't too busy. Here are some pictures of jelly fish and other crazy stuff I saw.

After the aquarium I had lunch at a restaurant on the water and got to sit outside. I was above the water and a sea otter was playing underneath me. So cool. Then I drove along the coast for a little bit and got these pics. Traffic back was a bitch since it was Friday, but I got back in time. I think next time I'm out, I'm going to Monterey again. Their downtown/main street looked really cute and I didn't have time to do any exploring.

Remind me why I moved from CA

I can usually forget just how nice CA is. I mean, I'm from Stockton. Not the bay area. Stockton can get 105 degrees easy in the summer. I know the bay area is completely different. Well, I was reminded of that during my trip. As soon as I got off the plane, I could feel how cool the air was. I got in to San Jose Wednesday night and picked up my rental car. I only paid for an 'economy' but got a PT Cruiser. I was slightly excited about this since I really like the body styling but had never driven one. Ugh, what a crappy car. It only got 21 miles/gal, the inside was built for someone taller than me, and the stereo system sucked. I'd brought several mix CDs with me since I knew I'd be driving a lot and could really tell how crappy the stereo was. So, no PT Cruiser in the future for me! The drive from San Jose to my Nana's house in Gilroy was fine. For once, I didn't get lost in Gilroy.

On Thursday my nana let me sleep in till 10 which I really needed. By the time I got up and going to Santa Cruz it was 11. I told her I'd be meeting friends in Santa Cruz so she wouldn't worry about me traveling by myself. Heh. Bad granddaughter. I wanted to take the most scenic route possible, so I took Hecker Pass (152) to Hwy 1. Even though I've been to Gilroy countless times and have been on Hecker Pass, I've never DRIVEN Hecker Pass. Oh my god, it was so much fun. For 15 minutes straight it's one turn after another. As soon as you get out of one turn, you're going into the next, downhill and uphill. I almost turned around just so I could do it again! Luckily for a Thursday midmorning there weren't that many cars on the road and I didn't have to worry about getting stuck behind some asshole that didn't know how to drive mountain roads. Anyways, I made it to Santa Cruz with no incidents. And, I must say, I did not get lost at anytime during this trip even though everywhere I went I had not driven to before. Go me and my map-reading skills!!

Look how curvy it is!! I miss it already.

So I arrived at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk without incident. I hadn't been there since our Senior Ditch Day in '95. I was afraid it had become run-down or unsafe, but they've really taken care of it. I wandered the Boardwalk for a couple hours, played a couple of games (won a little crab for my nephew!) and rode the Giant Dipper and the Carousel. The Giant Dipper is a 1924 wooden roller coaster and damn, I'd forgotten how rough a ride that is! You can see the red and white coaster in this pic. Look how beautiful the sky is! Not a cloud in the sky. For a Thursday the Boardwalk wasn't too busy.

The Carousel is from 1911 and as cool as I remember.

Now you may be asking, what's so frickin cool about a carousel? Well, my friend, with this carousel you can grab metal rings and try to throw them into the clown's mouth! You can see in the picture the metal bar that comes out with the rings at the end. I was afraid they'd stopped doing it, cause c'mon, EVERYONE steals at least one ring (**cough**and sometimes gets in trouble with security for throwing them onto the roofs of buildings from the overhead sky glider. Andrea was a bad influence in '95!...and yes I still have one ring!**cough)

After fucking around on the boardwalk for a few hours I went back to my car and got my beach stuff. Since I was alone I asked a nice lady that was reading a book to watch my stuff while I went down to the water. Holy fuck, has the Pacific always been ice cold???? I frolicked on the shore for a couple hours and got a great tan. When I got back to my towel the people that had been in front of me left, and I started playing around with pictures. I thought this one was fun.

As far as amusement parks go, I really like Santa Cruz. It's free to get in so you can just have food or go to the beach without paying for the rides. If you do want to do rides you can either get a day pass or just pay for the individual rides you want. I really like that setup.

Pictures of rock climbing fools

Sorry it's a little late. Here are the pics from the lake.

Here's a picture that Mike took while he was rock climbing on the cliff face. That's me, Annette, and Matt in the water. I love those styrafoam noodle things. They're so handy and bouyant.



Here's Annette showing the climbing. I know it looks easy, but really, it isn't.


Here's Mike jumping off the second highest cliff of the day. He climbed to the top but didn't actually stand on the top before he jumped.



Here's the really big cliff that Mike and Matt jumped off of. You can see Mike in his red lifejacket. I guess after further review it was only about 30 feet...but isn't that like three stories high? Whatever it was, it was impressive! You can see the kayak floating in the water at the bottom to give you perspective.



Ok, after further review, I am not posting the picture of me climbing. Although it's an awesome picture, it's not a good picture of me, and since this is my blog, I get final edit!

Rock Climbing Fools

Friday night was Party Game Night for ANK and Mike hosted. He/Annette are doing Movie Night as usual, but also offered to do this month's Party Game, which was nice of them. I sent out an email to the group that I'd be having dinner at Domenick's and anyone was welcome to join me. Well, heh...it ended up being our 'usual' group. Gil and Mike/Annette met me for dinner and then Matt joined us later for the games. So, uh, yeah, it was like a normal gathering at Mike's. I guess people didn't want to drive all the way out to Cedar Park two Friday's in a row. Poor Mike! I've hosted 4 times and I usually get 13-16 people. Maybe they just like playing with my cats! Anyways, we ended up playing Wii for a couple hours - I LOVE Mortal Kombat! and then we watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Hadn't seen it in so many years, I'd forgotten most of it. It actually was still a cute movie. Party On Dude!

Saturday my dad took the family out to lunch and I was over there for a few hours. I had mentioned on Friday maybe going to see Stardust at the theater, but just wasn't in the mood to go out. Maybe I'll catch it in CA this week.

On Sunday Mike/Annette and Matt invited me to go swimming with them at Lake Travis. There are some coves where people go rock climbing up the cliff and then jump into the water. I really had no idea what to expect. I thought maybe there'd be a ledge or something to leave our stuff or to sit on, but nope. Mike brought one of his kayaks and two inner tubes to hold water and other stuff. Then, basically we were in the water for three hours straight. It was fun watching them climb out of the water and then fall/jump back in. They're all pretty experienced and they got really high! On one wall I think they got up 30 feet. I tried it on one wall and damn, rock climbing is hard! I couldn't find a foothold in the water to stand on or push myself up. I just had on my cheap pool shoes (you know the kind with mesh on top and hard soles) and I kept slipping on the algae on the rocks. Mike lent me his rock-climbing shoes and that was quite a difference! I was able to get myself completely out of the water and held myself up while Mike took a picture with his awesome waterproof camera (same one he took to Italy). I'll post pictures later. I tried going higher but just couldn't find foot holds, and then I fell back into the water. That was enough for me. It was really hard to find good handholds that my fingers wouldn't slip off of. The pads of my fingers are scraped raw from slipping. Later Mike and Matt found a way to climb up a 50 ft (estimate) cliff and then they jumped from the top into the water. Annette and I cheered them on from the safety of the lake. It was a pretty long jump!

Inevitably, I got really sunburned. Being in the water the whole time, I didn't have an opportunity to reapply the sunscreen. Luckily I wore an old baseball hat so my face just got a little tanned but not burned. I don't think my arms will peel. Hopefully it'll fade to a tan in time for Heidi's wedding on Saturday. I plan on going to Santa Cruz and Monterey while I'm out there, so I'll probably get tanner (more tan?) out there too.

Yes, I'm going to bed now. I'll hopefully get the pics from Mike tomorrow. I bought a nifty 4GB flash drive so I can just copy the pictures to that and not waste a CD.

Where's my wave, bi***!

In general, I do not get road rage. But, there are two things that push my buttons.

1 - people that don't know how to drive on mountain roads or curves. Take your foot off the gas before you hit the brake! You do NOT have to ride the frickin brake down the whole time! I can't deal with that. Luckily, Austin roads are fairly straight and you don't encounter those idiots till you go out to the hill country (like the idiot we were stuck behind going out to the orchard.....aaarrrgghhh).

2 - People that don't wave at you when you let them cut in front of you. Now I'm not talking about general merging. I don't believe a wave is expected or warranted in that situation. I'm talking about bumper-to-bumper traffic and you don't move forward in order to allow someone with a blinker on to move into your lane. In that situation, I'd better get a frickin thank you wave. I strongly believe that if the wave is not offered, I should be able to lightly hit their bumper as a you're welcome, assshole kind of message. I am a very nice driver. I always allow people in if they have their blinker on. I'm never in such a rush that I can't take five seconds to let someone in. Same goes for if I'm at a red light and someone is trying to get out of a parking lot driveway. I usually let at least one car go in front of me. I feel it's building car karma. And hey, that came in handy when I did a 180 turn on the freeway and didn't get hit. It all makes sense now, doesn't it! And when I say 'wave' all I'm looking for is a raise of the arm. There need not be any side to side motion. Come on, is that too much to ask?

Road trip!....for pie?

Texas is a frickin huge state! It's like an all-day drive just to get out of here! Last year Judy had mentioned Love Orchards in Medina which she had seen on the Food Network. It's that place that does 4lb apple pies. A couple weekends ago we had a sunny Sunday in the midst of all this rain so we decided to do a road trip for apple pie. Jeff/Judy, Gil, and I drove 2 1/2 hours to Medina for apple pie. The drive was so beautiful. It's the middle of summer but all this rain we've been having for the past three months makes everything look like springtime. We were worried about running into roads that had been washed out, but everything was ok. We did see some side roads that were blocked for flooding. We drove Gil's Prius and that has a reliable navigation system. We felt better knowing that if we did run into some blocked roads we'd be able to find our way around. His Prius got 45 m/gal on the trip! Pretty cool.

Love Orchard was fun. We had lunch there and then went shopping in the country store. They even had apple ice cream! It was REALLY yummy. Jeff and Judy bought a pie to bring back with us. I had a piece at their house and decided we should've bought more. I don't usually even like apple pie, but these were well done. The apple turnovers were good too. Outside the cafe they had little apple trees and other native trees that you could buy for your yard.

On the way back we stopped at a wildflower nursery that we've all passed several times and had wanted to go there. Look at how beautiful the sky is! It's been awhile since we've seen blue skies here.

Other than this field they also had a huge nursery of all different flowers. There were a ton of butterflies winging about. They really liked these plants and some landed long enough for me to get this picture.