Quite Possibly More Than You Want to Know

My brother's been trying to convince me to re-start blogging. Mainly it's due to my wit and sometimes creative writing style. Some of it is for my experiences. I blogged a bit when I moved out west a couple of years ago. Then I got settled in San Diego and didnt think there was much worth sharing with the world. Now that I have just returned from another little travel adventure I figure it's time to flatter you all with some of my stories. I'll try to keep them brief and humorous, and include all of the important people and places. Now, let's get started.

I left the east coast December 18th for San Diego, CA. I had a lovely stay on my friend Saul's couch. He lives in North Park, within walking distance to the buses I never rode the entire time I resided there. So I navigated the public transportation system- visited my old stomping ground of Ocean Beach, visited Old Town, even hopped The Coaster up to Carlsbad for lunch with an old surfing pal of mine Clarke. He's busy with his graphic design company,Clarke Design but took time to grab some food and sit in front of the ocean with me.

I saw a lot of people I left behind and it turned out to be the perfect start to a sick vacation.

From San Diego I flew to Portland, OR to stay with my brother. We had a mellow Christmas and a fantastic New Year. My brother hosted a New Years party which proved a success, as shown by him tucking Ben and Ziggy into the air mattresses set up in the basement. We tooled around the city stopping in bars, tea houses, breweries, and arcades. Matt and I hit the coast for a day as well. Pretty much the ideal trip for a late December day in the Pacific Northwest. This trip I had a waterproof jacket AND waterproof shoes. Way better than last time.


I left Portland January 3 to meet my old college friend/San Diego roommate/international and domestic traveling partner Amanda at the Denver airport. She arrived several hours before me from New York and we quickly picked up her sister-in-law's Corolla that was left for us that morning. We took off immediately to Park City, Utah...right back to where my connecting flight from Portland left from.

One night in Park City at my cousin's house and she pushed us out the door to Vegas as another snow storm was approaching. We'll see later why this was such a good idea...

We made good time, stopping for the usual reasons and for Amanda to take a run. She's training for a marathon which is great during road trips and when you're far from running condition. This day we stopped in Valley of Fire National Park, about an hour outside of Vegas. The sun was setting and a storm was rolling in during my walk so the pictures didnt turn out too good. It is an amazing place so I still wanted to share a little.


Our friend Susie flew out from San Diego to meet us in Las Vegas where two of my childhood friends live. We had surprisingly comfortable arrangements there (minus blankets), but the sofas and air mattress were pretty cozy. Mike, Jeff, and their roommate Jimmy did a hell of a job entertaining the three of us. Susie, a rookie at the blackjack table came out on top $230. Mike gambled her money well. I saw her doing well so joined the fun. After promptly losing $40 Susie was kind enough to lend me $25, which I thankfully won back, with an additional $75, taking away $35. And I stopped there.

The drive to San Diego the next day wasn't the most enjoyable 6 hours I ever spent in the car, but the memories are priceless.

San Diego round two: A little background info better served at the beginning of this entry is that the whole idea to vagabond around the west came after plane tickets to San Diego were purchased for me to see two doctors, compliments of workers comp. So this time 'round in San Diego is when I planned to see those two doctors. No such luck. Worker's comp blew it once again. They flew me across the country, but couldn't manage to have the ground transportation get me the last 22 miles to the appointment.

So appointment day was a bit stressful, but instead of spending all day with doctors I only spent half a day with them and the other half cruising around Ocean Beach and hanging out on the cliffs (shown below) with Amanda. AND eating a breakfast burrito minus the weird breakfast meats. Again, we met up with old friends and Amanda even had a friend from Martha's Vineyard, currently residing in Santa Barbara, come down and hang for the night. Ponch was gracious enough to let us three women show up late that night to crash at his place.


An early departure from San Diego took us straight through Vegas (minus the stopping at a sketchy casino for a cheap buffet) back to Park City. Amanda was looking forward to skiing fresh Utah powder and I was pretty pumped to sleep in a bed. Betsey and Bob greeted us with open arms and soup on the stove. Amanda got out to the Canyons the following day while my cousin Betsey and I went snowshoeing right by their house, and went into Salt Lake City to see Betsey's mom. A decent storm came in that night leaving many inches of fresh powder on the mountain. It also left a pretty hefty snow bank at the bottom of their driveway that I managed to get the Corolla wedged up against. Amanda thought she could maneuver the vehicle out of its precarious position, but it proved otherwise. The AAA fellow that came to help us looked at the car with a big grin on his face and told me he had a knack for dislodging cars from snowbanks. He was right and I have never seen a AAA employee look so proud. The three non-gimps in the house woke up early to take advantage of the fresh snow while I caught up on some sleeping, reading, and napping, as we decided the night before that the Corolla would remain in the garage until it was time to head back to Colorado.

Amanda drove out of Park City for good reasons. In fact, she drove the whole way back to Ft. Collins. Can't say I blame her. We made it with time to spare for the Patriots game. Amanda's sister-in-law Deb greeted us with a cheese plate, homemade mango salsa, and locally brewed beer. And she grilled. The next morning she made crab souffle...and then I had to leave. My next meal was consumed at the airport as my flight left about 4 hours late. Although the airport staff was a bit hostile, the bar patrons were quite friendly and I chatted for hours with some interesting characters.

Thanks to everyone who provided me with a couch, floor, or bed, a bathroom to use, food to eat, or a good laugh, as well as all the people I met along the way. It was an incredibly comfortable 3 1/2 weeks on the road. I couldn't possibly taint this posting with talk of school and interning so I'll share what's going on with that at a later date.