Dinner with Bruce & Stacy

Last week, after work, Pat and I drove down to Oceanside (about 90 minutes or so south of Long Beach) to meet up with his college roommate Bruce. Bruce, as many of you may remember, was the best man at our wedding. Over the years, we've managed to meet up with Bruce a bit more than some other far-flung friends, and we always enjoy getting together with him. This time, we were excited to finally meet his 16 month-old son and catch up with his wife, Stacy, as well.

I couldn't resist posting a picture of Pat and Bruce back in their glory days at UGA. Pat is in the front row, second from the right. And, Bruce is the last on the right in the second row. Wow--they look so young! Babies...

And, here they are today!

Okay, back to the story:

After an uneventful (which is pretty much an event in itself here in Southern Cal) drive down to Oceanside, we arrived at Breakwater Brewing just in time to meet up with them. We then proceeded to chat, chat, chat for several hours. And their son was super cute and did a great job of amusing himself without many props. The visit was far too brief but we always appreciate friends making an effort to see us (some of you could take a lesson from Bruce and Stacy--you know who you are)!

After dinner, of course, we had to take some pictures. Apparently, Bruce and Stacy's last visit was right before I started this blog. So, Bruce, you finally made the blog. Congrats!

Mojave Misadventures

Pat and I like to kick off the camping season around Easter by heading somewhere new for our first trip of the year. This year, we decided on the Mojave Desert, a sprawling National Preserve about 200 miles northeast of Long Beach. The trip was highly anticipated after weeks of dreary weather and even more dreary work hours.

Our Friday afternoon departure was a lame attempt to avoid the holiday Friday rush hour traffic but we must have done something right: we only sat in traffic for about an hour (in Greater LA, that is pretty good). After a long and somewhat monotonous drive, we arrived in the Mojave just in time to see the sun set).

If you have AWD, you can camp back any number of gravel roads in the park without a fee or permit so that is what we did. Our camp had a nice vantage point and lots of big rocks (good for sitting on, cooking on and as a wind break).

Pat set up the tent while I cooked dinner (the "kitchen" is in the background of this photo with the lantern). It was pretty chilly but we sat up awhile looking at the stars and trying to spot satellites (a popular camp time activity for us).

Here is the campsite in the morning light. This may be the last picture taken of our tent. We bought it right after our honeymoon with some of our wedding $$. Our "new" tent (funny, we still think of it that way) is now almost ten years old and is ready for retirement. We hope to have a new one before our trip to Montana in July.

Our goal was to spent the day hiking but, as you can see, we weren't in a big hurry.

For breakfast, I made a delicious but not necessarily nutritious meal of bagels pan-fried with butter, sugar and cinnamon. Yummy! After breakfast, we donned our hiking clothes, jumped in the car and...

It wouldn't start! So, there were were, miles from the nearest paved road, with nothing more than a very loud "Click" when I tried to start to start the car. I had been having some similar issues at home but thought they had been previously resolved by the purchase of a new battery. In the past, the car would eventually start after several tries. Nope, not this time. Instead, each time I cranked the key, just that infuriating "click." So, of course, we decided to play mechanic (never a good sign for us). After about an hour or so of fiddling around and talking a lot about what makes an engine start, I finally turned the key and voila, the car roared to life. And then we drove straight home without turning off the car (and, yes, you CAN get gas while the engine is still running). So, as far as a camping trip: not very fulfilling. But, we felt thankful that the car started at all (Note: since we have been home, the car has started perfectly every time).

Breakin' the Law (AKA Hiking with Rose)

Last Saturday, Rose and I headed up to the Angeles National Forest for a little spring hiking. When we arrived at our decided upon trail head, Chantry Flats, we were chagrined to find literally hundreds of other hikers choking the parking lots, roads and every tiny little bit of available free space. We looked at one another, shook our heads and said "no way." After a brief consultation with our forest service map, we decided to head 15 miles east to avoid the crowds.

We arrived at our new trail head and were ecstatic to find only a few other cars there. I had to take a picture of Rose with the outhouse.

The "trail" actually turned out to be a paved road leading eight miles back to a reservoir. But, we didn't mind--the day was perfect, and it was very beautiful.

We could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance.

And there was a wonderful babbling brook--water is a real rarity in Southern California, and I miss it when I am hiking here.

After hiking for about two miles, we encountered this truck coming from the other direction. It was a ranger who very sternly informed us that we were hiking in a closed area, and that he could fine us up to $5000 dollars. Wow! Luckily, he just gave us a warning after we very convincingly (and truthfully) told him we hadn't seen the sign. Well, actually, Rose hadn't seen the sign. I had seen this one...

but I just thought it meant we shouldn't leave the road.


However, this sign was a little less ambiguous, and I really didn't see it. Rose kept claiming that it had been erected after we hiked in but I think we just weren't paying attention.

So, we turned around. On our way back, we stopped and ate lunch right beside the nice little waterfall.

Welcome to Puerto Rico (Part I)

Pat and I spent Christmas in Puerto Rico with Pat's four aunts, parents. siblings, cousins and nephews: 16 people in all.

One might think that you can get from LAX to anywhere in the world, which is absolutely true, but our journey to PR was an epic one: from Orange County to San Francisco, across the country to D.C. and from there on to PR. We arrived 16 hours after we started, a little rumpled but in good spirits. Our good spirits improved even more when the front desk handed us glasses of the Island's traditional Christmas libation (yum, rum). This picture is us upon arrival in the hotel room.

About an hour later, they brought us popcorn and beer. We both decided we could get accustomed to this life pretty quickly.

Our room at the Sheridan overlooked the cruise ships docks which provided many opportunities for people watching.

We also spent a lot of time watching the big ships come and go.

Later, in the hotel lobby, we ran into Pat's sister Kerrie. She had been to Senor Frogs, the restaurant next door, where apparently they pour sangria down your throat and force you to wear a silly balloon on your head. I warned Kerrie she was about to make the blog...

I didn't get any pictures at dinner the first night but I did take this shot of Pat and our nephew with the sign advertising $2 tequila shots. Yeah, I am pretty sure we are bad influences...

Beaches and Pools (PR Part II)

I've never considered myself much a very "beachy" person but PR tried hard to make a believer out of me, and it pretty much worked. We spent many lazy days around the pool or on the beach, doing a little light reading and catching up with one another.

The Hilton Caribe, where Pat's sister Colleen and her family were staying, had a stunning facility. And they had a swim up bar! Of course, we had to give that a try.

We spent something like $80 on drinks and charged it to Colleen's room. She wasn't even there. Don't worry--we gave her some money later (actually, I think maybe only Kerrie gave her money-we are such deadbeats!)


Later, we took a little walk.

And found a grove of trees with hammocks!

And then we came to the beach.


On the way back, we watched tropical fish from this platform.

A few days later, we went to check out the pool at the Marriot, where Pat's parents were staying. Beautiful!

And, here is Pat with his dad relaxing by that pool.

Christmas Dinner (PR Part III)

Here is our official Christmas picture-taken in our hotel lobby. For those of you who receive our annual Christmas card, you know this picture won't make the cut. Nice, none the less...

Then we headed to the Marriot where we had a private room reserved for dinner. Before dinner, we, of course, took a ton of pictures. Here is one of the whole gang.

Then it was time for what has (like many traditions, I don't know quite how this one evolved) become a Christmas tradition: exchanging instant lottery cards. Everyone brings lottery cards from their home state, and we all spend a few minutes thinking we are about to be $20,000 richer. Unfortunately, nobody has ever won more than a few bucks which is paid out on the spot by the people who brought the ticket.

Aunt Ellen had brought an Etch A Sketch to occupy Timmy during dinner but it was Kerrie who entertained us all by producing very detailed drawings. If the whole education field doesn't work out for her, I am pretty sure she could make a few bucks...

It was a long night, and the excitment was too much for Jacob.

After a superb meal, we headed to the lobby bar to fortify ourselves before heading to the tables for a little holiday Roulette action (no luck there).

Puerto Rico Adventures (PR Part IV)

While in Puerto Rico we had the chance to get out a bit to explore the surrounding landscape.

One day we went to one of PR's National Parks, El Yunque, a very beautiful rainforest about two hours outside of San Juan.

The familiar US National Park signs made me feel at home. I don't care what anyone says--the National Park system is one of the greatest gifts our government has given us.

We make great tourists, don't we?

This is our guide, Roberto. He reminded me of a PR Indiana Jones with that hat.

We climbed up, up and around inside this tower.


Pat and Kerrie outside the tower.

We also did an awesome night kayaking trip to an area where microorganisms in the water (not unlike fireflies) light up the water on moonless nights. First, of course, we had to don life vests. No drowning allowed.


Then we jumped into kayaks.

And headed through the mangroves. It was very, very dark and a little spooky.

We insisted on taking pictures although it wasn't easy. Unfortunately, the glowing water didn't really take to photos, but, you have my word, it was really cool. It was also very tiring--we didn't get back to our hotels until after midnight.


And we got a fun group shot with our guide.

The Tourist Trail (Puerto Rico, Part V)

In addition to hanging around the beach and casinos, we did squeeze some in some of the standard tourist sites as well.

Well, the first one isn't really standard: we took a tour of the US Coast Guard base. The daughter of Pat's parent's friend is stationed on the base right by our hotel so she met us for a tour.

Here is Mary Dwyer with Pat's parents. She was a great host, and it was interesting to get a glimpse into military life.

After our tour of the base, we walked up to Fort San Cristobal to poke around.

It was very pretty and green.

One day, we went to Puerto Rico's premier tourist attraction: The Bacardi Rum Factory.

The grounds were immaculate.

We took a little tram over to the tour.

Outside, we were given two tickets to try daquaries, mojitos, and Cuba libres, Bacardi's three most famous drinks. I drank a lot of mojitos in PR. Done right, they are fantastic.

We hung out for a long time afterwards.

On the way back, there wasn't room for all of us in one taxi so the cabbie just threw a lawn chair in back for me--it was funny.

After everyone else had flown home, Pat and I went to El Morro, the oldest and biggest of the San Juan Forts. It was impressive.



Here it is from afar.

And near.



Here is Pat.

We also went to the San Juan Cathedral. It was stunning.

And Ponce De Leon is buried there!