We did make it home after nearly 10 hours on the road. I was really tired when we arrived and forgot to let all of you adoring fans know that I had indeed avoided plunging over a ghastly edge on the way home and somehow Kerri missed her opportunity to create an alibi. So all is well here. My good followers can all turn their VW Buses around and go home, awaiting further instruction.
We haven’t been out to Terry and Nancy’s for a couple of years and it’s been three since we were here for Thanksgiving so we were really looking forward to making it up here. We left on Wednesday morning and while traffic was already starting to get thick where the 405 and I-5 meet, our path up the 14 FWY was light and easy.
We’ve seen weather all over the place, from below freezing mornings to afternoons that weren’t as warm as the morning before. We got a nice bit of snow Friday night and it hovered right around 32 degrees for most of the night and today.
The Thanksgiving meal was awesome as usual and the company was even better. We had our family with Kerri’s parents and the neighbors (John and Janet) with their daughter and son-in-law. I’ve written about John and Janet before: They constantly spoil our kids and John is always playing some sort of joke on me. I can’t imagine a trip out here without at least some time with those folks… it just wouldn’t be the same.
Newsflash Thanksgiving morning: Molly tells me that she and boyfriend Marty are getting married! Woohoo! Made the whole day just a little bit better.
Kerri, Nancy and neighbor Janet all went out to the Black Friday sales Friday morning but none of that 3am nonsense. They gathered at 7am-ish and made their way to the stores. Of course, none of the stuff they were interested in was still available but they did get some shopping done and besides, half the point of going was to witness a Black Friday sale in person. Apparently (and thankfully) things were pretty calm.
Watching the kids on Friday fell to me and Terry but we were up to the task. Why, those kids ate well, played well and started taking college courses online all while the ladies were out shopping. We’d take charge more often but the kids would be off to university in a month working on some sort of weaponry with a government grant that could ultimately be used in war and I just couldn’t live with that; Some kid raised by less talented parents would eventually sell the secret sauce to an enemy state and all hell could break loose!
In the afternoon we went to the movies and saw Planet 51. It was a clever but not my favorite of the recent animated movies. Then back home and then back out again to Johhny Rockets in Carson City. The meal was good but I really only bring it up because of the cool dancing the wait staff did during various songs. Perhaps they do that at all Johnny Rockets establishments but that’s the first time I had seen it. Some time between our arrival for dinner and our departure it had begun to snow. That continued until after we all went to bed. That may not seem bad (it’s not really) but since I smoke outside it was a little harsh for this tender SoCal boy.
We had initially planned on leaving this morning but with snow all about and more still reported in Mammoth (which is on my route home) we decided to wait an additional day since Sunday is *supposed* to be clear. I don’t trust those darn weather tards but I decided to roll the bones. We’ll see when I wake up. And since we had snow-where to go (get it? Hah!) we decided to get some snow time in. We build a snowman (two actually) and had a fairly brutal snowball fight. I’m sure you’re all remembering that I live in sunny SoCal and the kids rarely see the snow so I’m sure y’all are thinking, wow! that snow stuff must have been wicked-fun! That’s right people, it was fun. I said we built two snowmen because the first one committed suicide. A neighbor thought we didn’t balance the second and third tiers properly but I’m telling you, that snowman smirked at me and rolled his own mid-section and head straight off, just as we were gathering around to take a picture. We built the second with less emotional problems and it worked out fine.
At some points during this trip the kids watched Kung-Fu Panda. Ben and I have been doing the kung-fu thing every so often and usually unexpectedly at first. Thankfully I’m done having kids because one of his surprise attacks basically sealed that deal.
So now I’m gonna go crack a beer and relax so I’m in tip-top shape for driving home in the morning. If I don’t post again by 6pm PST on Sunday I’ve either been snowed in and all internet connectivity has been lost or I slid off the road somewhere near Mammoth and have been eaten by a bear.
I’ll post pics and videos once I get home.
Getting ready for neighborhood festivities. Darin’s blow up pub is transforming into a haunted house.
I had a few hundred megabytes of pics from the NASCAR race that I wanted to put up here but I decided to reduce the size of each photo so they’d be friendlier for internet. I’ve posted three groups, some are mine and others from Stevie and Darin. There’s a directory index of the folders here: Folder Index And the individual groups here: NASCAR 1 — NASCAR 2 — NASCAR 3
The photo album isn’t the prettiest and there is a bit of noise in there because I just uploaded everything from the cameras. But you might enjoy a few of the captured moments.
Last night was a bit wilder and much closer to what I thought the infield would be like. The row in front of us is all Marine Corps and other volunteers and those kids were a bloody hoot to play with. I vaguely remember being able to treat my liver the way they were last night; It was fun to live vicariously for a little while.
Jabbering with pal John Keegan while listening to the generators all firing up for coffee, TV and all the other devices we need these days. Technology rules!
Our neighbors to the left (Craig and Tyse) have some pals over to help with towing the cars if needed. It’s pretty cool to have “insiders” here to know WTF is going on a little before everyone else. Anyways, one of their wives brought a friend from SLO (they both go to Cuesta, where Kerri started her college adventure) and she hooked up with one of the Marines across the way. Like I said, it’s fun watching the younger folks go through the same stuff (in a different way) that we all went through. She made a classic (classic!) quote this morning that I wanted to somehow work into this post in a tasteful manner but I just can’t get to that level of creativity (I’m not sure I can dig that deep at all). It was funny as all get-out but I just can’t republish it here and feel good about myself. And I know I’ll forget it in 20 minutes. Oh well… that’s life.
Oh yeah: So the Marines are packing up so they can work the rest of the day and then take off. They’re disciplined MoFos, for sure. I called across the fence at this one kat and offered to keep his beer cold while he was gone and he told me that he had to be done drinking for the weekend so I could have the rest of his 36-pack of Bud Light. There were 20 or so beers in there and it was just what we needed to get through the rest of the day. But then his pal asked if we drank Bacardi at all. Of course we do! So we got a half handle of Bacardi Gold too. Totally cool of them!
Need to charge this laptop up s’more. Will post in the afternoon if I’m not at the track. Peace!
Terry and I headed out to see the Nationwide race and being that it was Saturday we only needed our wristbands and could sit anywhere we pleased (unless someone else was already in a particular seat of course). We sat for about an hour but it was so loud and I was so hungry we decided to bolt and look for food and find the Fan View kit so we could see and hear from our own camp site.
I got back and decided a brief nap was in order and when I woke up Darin had returned from picking up his youngest, Matty, as the next participant at the race. It’s really nice having the young soul with us… something to keep us all on our toes and add some entertainment for the rest of the weekend. I really wish I would have brought Ben or Abby but I thought it was going to be too chaotic. Next year, for sure.
On our way back from the track I played with some of the employees who happened to be in a 6-seater golf cart and asked for a ride. Rather than make the 1000 yard walk we got a ride to within 100 feet of our campsite. Very cool of them. They’re local folks living just ten minutes away from the track. And again, very cool to give me and Terry a break from the walking.
Having a beer in near perfect weather (it might even be a bit cooler than I’d like!) and sitting around the camp with Darin, Kent and Terry. Things are pretty good right now. Oh, except AT&T’s SMS isn’t working, even though I have full signal. Been trying to reply to Kerri for a couple of hours but nothing will go out. 🙁 Gonna send her an email and then visit with the Navy guys for a bit.
We stayed up a bit later last night as compared to Thursday and I slept through the difference. It ended up being worth it because the market doesn’t open until 7am so getting up at 5am results in 2 hours of pain until coffee. Terry got up before me this time and grabbed some coffee but Steve (Kent’s brother) thwarted me and grabbed my cup before I got up. Truly a “snooze you lose” situation. It’s all good though… he brought a keg yesterday so if anyone is gonna tap my coffee it ought to be him. And when I grabbed some for myself I loaded up for Darin and Kent; Gotta protect the man with the spot and our chef.
I kept hearing stories of the insanity that goes on at night before I arrived. I’m not 19 anymore and therefore was not looking forward to seeing more than family fun. Thankfully our row of campers is very family oriented so we got to have the kind of fun I was looking for. I don’t think things got too crazy elsewhere either because I talked to the Navy guys across the way from us and they were all disappointed in what (didn’t) happen. I feel bad for them… if I were their age I’d want the mayhem. Neighbor Tom (not my mirror) is over so I’ll wrap up for now.
We had some flat tires to deal with on our bicycles so once we got through those I had to take them for a test run to know they’d work properly. I met another set of neighbors with kids just older than my own and they were as nice as could be. We tossed some football for a bit and they schooled me (more) in the ways of NASCAR.
Heck, I even learned to make a fire NASCAR-style: Put a bunch of wood in a pile, dump some gasoline on it and set a lighter to it. Works like a charm.
I wish Kerri and the kids were here but I had heard that this place goes off the hook at night and I don’t intend on exposing my kids to that any time soon. And while that may exist in some parts of the infield, where we are is subdued and family oriented. Next year for sure.
Oh! I keep forgetting that last night I met the mayor of “Twentynine Palms”. Normally I could give two shits about that but since we just finished Ross’ race out there last Sunday I thought the timing was rather coincidental. I got his card. And told him that we could have done without that last climb into the finish for next year. Not his decision to make but he must have some influence. He said that he had a deep respect for anyone who finished at all and was glad to know about Ross. Small world, eh?
tom is discussing.
That was too easy. Nice little app — Thanks Automattic!