Two More Days

I have two more, very full busy days of work left before the school district goes on winter break. I have been running around nearly full time all day every day this week and am so ready for a break that I can't even begin to tell you.

Which is, of course, part of the reason why posting has been a little bit on the light side lately.

Too many tasks, not enough time makes Erik a rather frustrated boy. I better get some saddle time in this weekend or I might just go postal.

Summer Vacation

It occurred to me today while splashing around in the warming up and newly refilled hot tub, that my summer vacation has been really pretty wonderful in most respects. No big trips to exotic destinations, any trips I'd planned to head down to Big Sur have been scrapped as the area is still burning and not especially scenic right now unless you like lunar landscapes. Also, with gas costing so much even a trip up to San Francisco takes on a whole other level of expense (we're about 70 miles from SF, that's nearly three gallons of gas there and then three back for a minimum of $25 just to drive there).

But not every vacation requires a destination, sometimes a vacation just requires the right company, some nice weather and some fun stuff to do.

Like yesterday, I went swimming with the boys in our hot tub that's not back up to full temp again yet (I just refilled it the other day and it takes about 36 hours to heat back up). The water was around 85 degrees and just perfect for playing in. And boy did we play. We three splashed around for about an hour and a half and we all laughed so much that my neighbor commented on it from his room above our deck.

Sometimes a vacation is just spending smiling time with the ones you love. Not that I wouldn't complain if we were spending that time on a beach in Hawaii but I'm certainly not complaining about spending our time together here. I'm sure I'd feel a bit different if I didn't have access to so much cool stuff so close by.

A Long But Great Day Out

It is, as I write this, a quarter to six. I woke up this morning right around 4:30 and was unable to get back to bed. The sake and beers probably didn't help but either way, I've been up for more than 13 hours now and am wiped out.

Today was a good day though. Nice breakfast (corned beef hash and eggs!), an aborted trip to the Exploratorium (the line was over two hours long to get in because it was a free day), we ended up out at Chrissy Field for a little while and then drove down Highway 1 along the coast.

At Devil's Slide there were almost 20 kite surfers ripping it up and the weather was gorgeous. Only a couple of Sunday drivers who needed to be passed with extreme acceleration (have I mentioned how much I like

I've uploaded some of the trip pics already. And more to come as I work through them.

A great time was had by all and we're now prepped for longer trips out and about. I'd like to go camping in Big Sur but that's not going to be happening anytime soon with the fires and mandatory evacuations taking place. Maybe we'll go hit Henry Cowell first. I know I want Nande to come with us but am not sure how that'll fly.

Lifestyle Update

Now playing: Alice Cooper - School's Out
via FoxyTunes

That is all.

The Mexican Vacation

This is where we spent the last week, in a little town called Troncones outside of Zihuatanejo in the state of Guerrero. Our place had a three story villa, a private villa and a couple of other places too. It was spacious, beautiful and nicely maintained.

The two pools, one here and one over at the private villa, were the only things keeping us from bursting into flames during the heat of the day.

The ocean was quite refreshing and the surf was excellent fun to boogie board and play in. Also, just down the beach was a place called Present Moment (tell them the huge group from Casa de la Sirena sent you!), a yoga retreat, where we ended up eating numerous meals and getting to know the owners and staff. And they made a pretty good mojito too!

Mexico is Nice But American Toilet Paper is Nicer

Yesterday was a long day. We started in the high humidity and high heat of Troncones/Zihuatenejo and ended up inthe foggy cool darknessof Watsonville. The day of smooth travel was, sadly, not to be had by us.

Our flight out was late which made the chances of our making the connection slimmer and noner by the minute. A night in LA wouldn't have been the worst thing that could have happened (that would probably be a traffic accident in Zihua or having our passports lifted). But still, we wanted our beds in our home. Not another borrowed beds somewhere in a borrowed room.

It turns out that there are significant advantages to flying the same carrier and to having San Francisco as our final destination. The big one being that Alaska Airlines held our connection. Read that slowly again, if you need to. There were about 20 people on the flight from Zihua that were heading to SFO as a final stop.

Rather than issue a crapload of expensive vouchers (since it was an Alaska Airlines plane that was late to get us there) they held the flight for us to clear customs, recheck bags, pass through security and then run to another plane.

Customs going both ways was, surprisingly, easy. Our bags were quick searched and we were greenlighted (literally in Zihua). The US customs in LAX (love that> irony) was huge and cool and fast, the Alaska Airlines baggage delivery was very slow (again, not passenger error or tardiness).

Through all of it both Grady and Sully were troopers of the highest and best order. Not perfect, at all, but they put up with a long day of movement, restriction, not enough food and repeated awakenings and awkward sleepings. Not to mention, idiot teens who think kids have "mute" or "off" buttons, not one but two broken baggage carousels, an excrement scented elevator, a 12:30 am stop at In'n'Out Burger for some road food home and a final arrival at home at just before 2 in the morning after starting the day in Zihua at about 6, the final drive home was very hard because of the deep weariness in us all but we did, finally, eventually and gratefully, get home.

And Grady was up at 6, which is why I am here, typing out a post at 7 am. Shouldn't 3 and a half hours of sleep be enough for a poppa? Apparently.

Alaska Airlines gets big props for stepping up after they dropped the ball on the first flight, also for having spunky stewardesses, good communication AND baby changing tables in the bathrooms (taking notes, US Airways?).

But I do like having my house around me again, I think I'm going to make some pancakes forme and the boys. Sully will be up before too long, I'm sure.

Getting Out of Dodge (or Troncones)

In baseball terms, its called the Getaway day. In vacation terms, its called Heading for Home. Either way, tomorrow is our last here in sunny, hot, humid and beautiful Troncones.

We fly out tomorrow afternoon, although in retrospect I'd wished we'd gotten an earlier flight to avoid the peak heat during the middle of the day. But that's alright, we'll be the last to leave.

I'll write up alot more of the trip once we're home and I've got broadband connectivity again. And I'll post some photos as well.

I am hoping the lightning storms come back tonight so I can try to catch some long exposure shots over the ocean. Last night was the first night without them.

We have had a good time but I'll be looking forward to getting back to a place without 190% humidity. Seriously, you wake up sweating here, it is somewhat insane.

Also, I invented a new word last night.
Mojita - a virgin mojito, a play off senorita and somewhat of an inside joke.

Wish us happy travels, easy customs and soft landings. I can't wait to see my hound on Sunday morning! Plus we fly Alaska Airlines out so that'll be a nice twist and should be a marked improvement over the corner cutter bottorom feeder airline that is US Airways.

Life in Zihua (or close to it)

I've always wanted to come here, well, not specifically to Troncones but to Zihuatejeno. Ever since I saw the Shawshank Redemption. This was where Andy Dufrane went after escaping the prison. And I understand why.

It is beautiful here, the water is warm, the weather is hot and the cervezas are cold.

If I weren't poking along on my old warhorse Pismo powerbook I'd upload some photos (taken with the new XTi, which utterly rocks!). I need a telephoto lens soon but it really does take an amazing photo, some of the shots I"ve gotten of Grady have been really excellent.

Last night we had dinner at a yoga retreat up the beach. Yes, we were able to walk along the beach to go to dinner. And it was fantastic. The children, all six of them, danced and played on the wooden yoga platform, a couple of Rhodesian Ridgebacks wandered around looking for scraps and pets and everyone enjoyed cocktails as the sun went down. It was pretty darned nice.

I will have to write up our experiences at the airport in Phoenix when I can, it was INSANE!

But that's behind us now, we're on manana time and really loving every minute of it here. I will say that, without the pool to cool off in, things wouldn't be quite so rosy!

On the Road Again

We're heading back out on the road again. Posting will be sparse (well sparser than it has been already) but maybe I'll have some to finish a posts that have been sitting as drafts for weeks or longer.

Have a great weekend and week, everyone. I expect we definitely will and I'll have pictures to prove it!