Ring of Fire

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Wednesday, the date was a pretty great success. I met up with… we’ll call her Zephyr, at Hiro’s Sushi in Kings Beach. Basically we had a great time chatting over sushi and Sapporo beer. Let’s see, what can I tell you without giving away too much? She’s a lawyer (aka sugar mama) who’s been in town about a year, extremely well traveled, brilliant, funny, very friendly & polite, beautiful blue eyes & great smile (you know I’m a sucker for that), voluptuous, obviously a bit shorter than me (like 99.999% of women out there, seriously, Google it) but yeah, just got a really good vibe from her… and it seems to reciprocate a bit. Obviously nothing too hot & passionate happened being a first date and all… but yeah, really looking forward to a follow-up. More on that later…

Thursday, my mom came into town… and I picked her & my aunt up at the Peppermill Casino in Reno, then we headed to Truckee Thursdays for a little food, music & merriment. We had a few beers & some of my coworkers had the pleasure of meeting my mom (though they all thought my aunt was my mom because she’s VERY tall and my mom… well, isn’t). Good times.

Friday, I went into work for a few hours, then we had lunch at Jax Diner, then headed to Kings Beach to take in the lake and some free funk music there, followed by Cash’d Out – A Johnny Cash tribute band at the Crystal Bay Casino. We had a few drinks (I was safe) and my middle aged cohorts sat back and judged those dancing… but I very much enjoyed the majority of the ladies on the dance floor. Some were hot messes… but great people watching. Here are some pictures…

Believe it or not, my mom's the one on the right

Saturday, we originally planned to do a boat tour, followed by the Wine Walk and maybe a Wynnona Judd concert (not my choice), but eventually… we instead decided to go for a hike to Emerald Bay & Vikingsholm (past entry about it), then venture over to the casinos of South Lake Tahoe, gamble a bit, then watch the Improv comedy show at Harvey’s with Bobby Slayton (one of my favorite X-rated comedians, trust me, you’ve seen him before). Good times, then we drove back amongst the stars. Here are some pictures…

Can you guess what I'm REALLY taking a picture of?

Hint: Look in the background

Sunday, we took the Tahoe Gal boat cruise from Tahoe City down to Emerald Bay (yes, again… and if you’ve been there, you know why) but we got a good overview of the entire lake as well during this three-hour tour (a threeee hour tooooour…) during beautiful sunny weather. Again, here are some pictures and a link to my first stay in Tahoe for your viewing pleasure…

The polite way of saying "Chicks only"

That evening, we drove along the Truckee River a bit then had dinner at the Pfeifer House, a European (mostly German but they did have Escargots) restaurant that I’ve driven by many times before… but they had very selective hours, so this was my first experience. I highly recommend the Jaegerschnitzel (veal cutlet with mushrooms). Anyway, more pictures…

Monday, I dropped my mom & aunt off at the airport before heading to work (busy times). I was really glad that they could come visit me for the weekend… and we had lots of fun. Oh yeah, about the date with Zephyr. Well, Friday night at the concert, I heard back from her about a follow-up date… and she basically said that she doesn’t think we’ll be able to meet up again… but she wishes me the best. Eh, her loss. At least I didn’t have to drive 100 miles each way or anything. I wish her the best too. On to the next one… Hope you enjoyed my weekend as much as I did. Have a great day everybody!!!

9 & 1/2 Days of Californication - Part 3

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Welcome to the grand finale of this trifecta of California goodness. Weird things have been happening since I came back…but more on that on a future installment. We now return…to San Diego…which as my friend Ron told me was discovered by the Germans in 1904…and in German it means a whale's vagina.

Day 7 - Sea World

So the first night in San Diego, we ate at Kansas City Barbecue, which may remember from last time as the place where they filmed the bar scenes of "Top Gun" back in the day. Now, it's just a barbecue pit in a great location across the street from Seaport Village. No pictures were taken this time around…but I will sing to you. "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss, your liiiiips…and there's NO tenderness like before in your fiiinger tiiiiips. You're trying hard not to show it…but BABY, BABY I KNOOOW IIIIIIT!!! You've lost…that loooovin' feeeeling. Wooooh that loooovin' feeeeeliiiing. Bring back that LOVIN' FEELING cuz it's gooone, gooone, gone. WoOooOoo… (Bump, bump bump, bump bump, bump bump bump) Baby baby, I'd get down on my kneeees for yoooou…" Okay, that's enough. After that, my mom & I went to the hot tub, had a few drinks and was eyeballed by jailbait once again…very well-developed jailbait.

San Diego Marina Marriott

The view from my room - City view with Full Moon

The next morning, we headed out to SeaWorld. Basically the main differences between this time & last time were the company (much slower this time around), the new Sesame Street area (was being built last year) and the Manatee Exhibit was open this time…which is great because Manatees are my mom's favorite. Other than that, here are the pictures…

Cookie Monster is my favorite

He's just passionate about cookies...but on this blog,

M is for Mookie...and that's good enough for me

SeaWorld is brought to you by Anheuser-Busch

Funnel Cake - Sweet, Delicious, no possible reason to complain...EVER!!!

Pictures of the group riding whales

Oh yeah, time for the Manatees

What do you get when you mix a Beluga...and a Fraggle?

Next was a show involving pets...

attended by petophiles...of which I am not

"Ooooh, dogs catching frisbees & cats climbing ropes. Awesome."

Yeah, this was the best part of the show...

And if you don't know, now you know...

Blowing glass with a lightsabre

I kid you not, we were at this pearl schucking stand for over an HOUR

Damned girls and their indecision over shiny things...

Day 8 - Old Town San Diego

The next morning, we woke up and decided to take the metro system to Old Town, which I had never been to. Basically it's a bunch of haciendas and faux adobe buildings built over the years turned into restaurants, gift shops and haberdasheries. I still liked it though. With the ladies distracted by shopping, I was free to wander about on my own and not listen to my aunt's voice…which even when calm & cordial, sounds like an albatross getting raped by a lawnmower…and she's rarely calm & cordial, usually complaining and irritated at life or something. Truly sad. Anyway, you don't care, here are the pictures…

"Mmm, sarsaparilla, cream soda and WHAT? You can say that?"

For miners who talk out of their ass?

Aloe Vera Graffitti - Absolutely gansta

The Adventures of THUNDER BUNNY!!!

That evening, we returned to the hotel for a quick nap and then took the water taxi across the marina to Coronado Island for dinner at Peohe's, an expensive restaurant…but with great food too. Since I was buying, we indulged. My mom & I got their signature drink, the Volcano (basically a bahama mama in a giant goblet with a sh*tload of ice and some dry ice for smoking effect), then I had the lobster bisque, surf & turf California rolls (lobster & filet mignon), crab stuffed tilapia and some lava cake for dessert. Delicious. Oh…and I had some of my mom's jerk chicken too. Then we wandered about the island before heading back to the hotel around sunset. Don't believe me? Here are the pictures…

Coronado Beach, big whoop...

The Volcano

Day 9 - The Journey Home

The next morning, we ate at Anthony's (morning stop each day in San Diego last year) and had some fried seafood, crab & mac salad…and I had a Corona…because I felt like I needed one, even that early in the morning. Then we drove back…and thank God, my aunt fell asleep about halfway through…because she just wouldn't stop talking. I actually played a game when we had lunch in Old Town the day before…where I was just counting the seconds between when she would talk (and nobody was talking to her) and I reached 12 seconds ONCE. It was usually between 5 & 8 seconds…and that's with nobody talking to her. It was quite hilarious in a way…and sad in another…but yeah, she slept until we hit up In-N-Out Burger.

So I ordered some Animal Style Fries…and kinda teased my cousin about it…because she was being a b**ch. Eventually, I eased up and said, "Okay, if you want to try some of these fries, next time you're at an In-N-Out Burger, you want to order Doggy Style Fries." "Doggy Style? What does that mean?" "Ask your mother. No wait…better yet, ask me when you're older. I know what I’m talking about. It's just what they call 'em…like Chili Fries or something like that. Now what do you ask for?" "Doggy Style." "There you go." The really funny thing is…that she'll absolutely remember that until the day she dies. She has this thing with food…and it has shown during our trips together. For example, during this trip, my aunt mentioned something about a trip to Miami that we took back when she was like FIVE. "Do you remember the hotel in Key Biscayne?" "Oh yeah, we had dinner at this place called Gino's where I had some spaghetti with chicken in it and a alfredo sauce…but the garlic bread was really dry…and the water tasted soapy…" It's a little creepy at times. Now I wonder if there really is a Doggy Style Fries at In-N-Out Burger. If so, my entire plan is ruined. If not, then I will imagine that day a few years from now when a teenage cousin asks for her fries Doggy Style…and after a snicker from the cashier, she gets fries with…I don't know, chili & gravy. Obviously not the can of dog food served on a lower back tattoo platter that I would imagine…but a man can dream, an mischievously evil man can dream.

Anyway, after hanging out at the airport with my aunt & cousin for a few hours (we got there really early) then I flew back to Denver. I actually got a really good seat on Southwest thanks to my frequency of travel and pure luck, so plenty of leg room…but then I started to wonder about the future a bit…and moving back to Slick City…and my last week at my job in Denver (and how I wanted to tell them all to go f**k themselves in French) and all this other stuff just rambling through my head, as it often does. Then it happened, we started to take off…and I saw this…

Los Angeles upon takeoff

The lights just seem to go on forever

…and I felt like, "You know, it's going to be okay. It's just another chapter…and frankly, my story's a little interesting…at least to me (and I assume anybody reading this) so yeah. I'm gonna be okay." Then a little later in the trip, I thought "Man, wouldn't it be cool if we flew over Vegas at night?" Lo & behold, my sexy sultry mistress glows in the dark…

Then we flew into Denver…and it was just awesome to see as well.

So yeah, then I drove home, slept, then started loading pictures Easter Morning. As for the rest of the past few days, you'll just have to wait…but believe me, it's worth it. I hope that you all enjoyed this latest adventure…and stay tuned for many more in the coming weeks as I move back to Utah…and there's also rumored future trips in June to anywhere from Portland to the Dirty South…and in the fall, the Wingmans & I are contemplating a trip to Northern Cali (Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, Monterey, Napa Valley, etc) so that sounds like fun. In the meantime, thank you all for reading…and have a great day everybody!!!