My Vacation
What'd I do? Here's a recap:
- Started vacation two Fridays ago with the "Graduation Night" put on each year by the youth group at my church for graduating seniors and their parents. Back in my day, we did stuff like wear mu-mus, technology has advanced since then... this year, there was a rap song, a skit, a PG-13 slideshow for when the parents were still around, and a scraping-an-R-rating 30-minute movie clipped together from old home videos after the parents left. I'll spare you, dear reader, the details because I fear that you'd go mad just reading about them... just kidding. It was actually very funny and very well made... the home video camera must be a godsend for youngsters who want to have the chance to bust a gut laughing later in life. There was also some heartfelt sharing between parents and their kids, and then a marathon sharing session from counselors to seniors, then seniors to everyone, then everyone to individual seniors that lasted until 4 in the morning. It was encouraging to see the deep friendships that have developed over the past few years amongst these young men and women... now it'll be cool to see how they continue to grow in college.
- Sunday, headed off to Tahoe with my college buddies Danny and Cal... it actually took a fair amount of time to attach the bike rack to my trusty Volvo wagon, and on the way up to Richmond to pick the guys up I'd be looking in my rear-view mirror once every 5 seconds to make sure that the bikes were still there and hadn't fallen off, wreaking havoc all over the freeway. We stayed in a sweet suite (that's just fun to say!) just across the Nevada-California border in South Lake Tahoe... perhaps one of the most unsubtle sights you can see is driving down Lake Tahoe Blvd, hitting the border and being instantly greeted by 5 casinos. It almost feels like the casinos are like ravenous scavengers, ready to prey upon unsuspecting Californians who wander just a little too far over the border and get sucked in by these monuments to excess... I must, however, compliment the buffet at Caesar's of Tahoe, where we ate on our last night in the area - the quality was higher than I expected: prime rib was fresh out of the rotisserie oven, bbq spareribs were lathered in bbq sauce and slow-cooked so they remained tender (not unlike Everett and Jones!), and... that's all I can remember, really. Oh yeah, the crab legs were cut halfway open so you had easy access to the meat instead of having to crack the shell open. Impressive. Afterwards, Danny and Cal hit up the roulette tables for a bit, but the little marble ball didn't bounce their way this night. One thing that is kind of cool about the roulette tables is that when you watch the spinner, there must be an extremely low coefficient of friction between the marble and the strip where the dealer starts the ball spinning... it looks like they apply a minimal force to it and it still takes off at a very high speed. It'd be interesting to someday see what they make that marble-spinning strip out of... there're probably other uses for it, right?
Anyway, that was our last night there, so I'm getting ahead of myself... starting from the beginning, Sunday after arriving and unpacking, we hit up Chevy's for dinner, then went to Safeway to buy groceries for the duration of our stay (since our suite had a kitchen and a fridge, and it'd help to save money). It was kind of amusing having to consciously restrain our collegiate budget-conscious side - aka "Hey, this milk is buy one gallon get one free with my Safeway Club Card!" - and to remember that we were only there for a few days. Side note: mashed-up avocado makes for good sandwich spread.
Monday morning I played my first 18 holes of golf. Needless to say, I wasn't very good, but I had a good time - I can see how the game can become addicting for people, because it is extremely challenging, and unlike most other sports, competition is between you and the course, rather than you against another opponent. As D and C were saying, from a psychological point of view, one possible reason why sports and combat movies appeal to many men is because in any competition, you are looking to exert your will over another person or thing, either directly or indirectly. Boxing appeals to some because of its visceral nature - there is no go-between, like a ball, that acts as the "instrument of the exertion of will" - there is just one person against another person. In the case of golf, it is you exerting your will over the course. Sometimes, though, the course exerts its will over you. This latter statement happened to be the case for me. Ah well, I had fun. I'll probably play again with my family.
Tuesday we had planned to go kayaking, but unhappily, the winds were a bit too high and the lake a bit too unfriendly for enjoyable boating, so the kayak stores didn't rent out any kayaks. I was kind of looking forward to it, but I guess it's a good idea in these situations to bow to the opinion of the experts. Instead, we unpacked the bikes and biked around South Lake Tahoe, crossing the border a few times, finally ending up at a small beach where we parked, admired the scenery of the lake and the surrounding mountains, played some catch, debated whether certain activities could be considered "sports", and ran/timed 40-yard wind sprints.
We also spent a fair amount of time in the afternoons and evenings at the suite, watching and commenting on sports, hanging out on the balcony trading stories of our lives, some guitar, reading, journaling, and also some games. I played Scrabble for the first time in years - which was just a little intimidating because I was playing with a MENSA genius and a MENSA gifted person - and learned how to play dominoes. Well, sorta... I still don't know how to keep score.
Overall, a very relaxing, recreational time to chill in Tahoe... one thing that I like about places like Yosemite over Tahoe is that there are more sights to see, but I think we did most of what we wanted to do there... plus it was a good time to catch up with D & C (I'm starting to like that abbreviation) and see how God's working in their lives and at their workplaces (both are full-time youth workers with Christian organizations/shelters).
I'll write up another blog to detail the rest of my week, including Saturday afternoon which I spent in the company of two charming young ladies.
(Now if that doesn't get me some return readership, I don't know what will...)
What'd I do? Here's a recap:
- Started vacation two Fridays ago with the "Graduation Night" put on each year by the youth group at my church for graduating seniors and their parents. Back in my day, we did stuff like wear mu-mus, technology has advanced since then... this year, there was a rap song, a skit, a PG-13 slideshow for when the parents were still around, and a scraping-an-R-rating 30-minute movie clipped together from old home videos after the parents left. I'll spare you, dear reader, the details because I fear that you'd go mad just reading about them... just kidding. It was actually very funny and very well made... the home video camera must be a godsend for youngsters who want to have the chance to bust a gut laughing later in life. There was also some heartfelt sharing between parents and their kids, and then a marathon sharing session from counselors to seniors, then seniors to everyone, then everyone to individual seniors that lasted until 4 in the morning. It was encouraging to see the deep friendships that have developed over the past few years amongst these young men and women... now it'll be cool to see how they continue to grow in college.
- Sunday, headed off to Tahoe with my college buddies Danny and Cal... it actually took a fair amount of time to attach the bike rack to my trusty Volvo wagon, and on the way up to Richmond to pick the guys up I'd be looking in my rear-view mirror once every 5 seconds to make sure that the bikes were still there and hadn't fallen off, wreaking havoc all over the freeway. We stayed in a sweet suite (that's just fun to say!) just across the Nevada-California border in South Lake Tahoe... perhaps one of the most unsubtle sights you can see is driving down Lake Tahoe Blvd, hitting the border and being instantly greeted by 5 casinos. It almost feels like the casinos are like ravenous scavengers, ready to prey upon unsuspecting Californians who wander just a little too far over the border and get sucked in by these monuments to excess... I must, however, compliment the buffet at Caesar's of Tahoe, where we ate on our last night in the area - the quality was higher than I expected: prime rib was fresh out of the rotisserie oven, bbq spareribs were lathered in bbq sauce and slow-cooked so they remained tender (not unlike Everett and Jones!), and... that's all I can remember, really. Oh yeah, the crab legs were cut halfway open so you had easy access to the meat instead of having to crack the shell open. Impressive. Afterwards, Danny and Cal hit up the roulette tables for a bit, but the little marble ball didn't bounce their way this night. One thing that is kind of cool about the roulette tables is that when you watch the spinner, there must be an extremely low coefficient of friction between the marble and the strip where the dealer starts the ball spinning... it looks like they apply a minimal force to it and it still takes off at a very high speed. It'd be interesting to someday see what they make that marble-spinning strip out of... there're probably other uses for it, right?
Anyway, that was our last night there, so I'm getting ahead of myself... starting from the beginning, Sunday after arriving and unpacking, we hit up Chevy's for dinner, then went to Safeway to buy groceries for the duration of our stay (since our suite had a kitchen and a fridge, and it'd help to save money). It was kind of amusing having to consciously restrain our collegiate budget-conscious side - aka "Hey, this milk is buy one gallon get one free with my Safeway Club Card!" - and to remember that we were only there for a few days. Side note: mashed-up avocado makes for good sandwich spread.
Monday morning I played my first 18 holes of golf. Needless to say, I wasn't very good, but I had a good time - I can see how the game can become addicting for people, because it is extremely challenging, and unlike most other sports, competition is between you and the course, rather than you against another opponent. As D and C were saying, from a psychological point of view, one possible reason why sports and combat movies appeal to many men is because in any competition, you are looking to exert your will over another person or thing, either directly or indirectly. Boxing appeals to some because of its visceral nature - there is no go-between, like a ball, that acts as the "instrument of the exertion of will" - there is just one person against another person. In the case of golf, it is you exerting your will over the course. Sometimes, though, the course exerts its will over you. This latter statement happened to be the case for me. Ah well, I had fun. I'll probably play again with my family.
Tuesday we had planned to go kayaking, but unhappily, the winds were a bit too high and the lake a bit too unfriendly for enjoyable boating, so the kayak stores didn't rent out any kayaks. I was kind of looking forward to it, but I guess it's a good idea in these situations to bow to the opinion of the experts. Instead, we unpacked the bikes and biked around South Lake Tahoe, crossing the border a few times, finally ending up at a small beach where we parked, admired the scenery of the lake and the surrounding mountains, played some catch, debated whether certain activities could be considered "sports", and ran/timed 40-yard wind sprints.
We also spent a fair amount of time in the afternoons and evenings at the suite, watching and commenting on sports, hanging out on the balcony trading stories of our lives, some guitar, reading, journaling, and also some games. I played Scrabble for the first time in years - which was just a little intimidating because I was playing with a MENSA genius and a MENSA gifted person - and learned how to play dominoes. Well, sorta... I still don't know how to keep score.
Overall, a very relaxing, recreational time to chill in Tahoe... one thing that I like about places like Yosemite over Tahoe is that there are more sights to see, but I think we did most of what we wanted to do there... plus it was a good time to catch up with D & C (I'm starting to like that abbreviation) and see how God's working in their lives and at their workplaces (both are full-time youth workers with Christian organizations/shelters).
I'll write up another blog to detail the rest of my week, including Saturday afternoon which I spent in the company of two charming young ladies.
(Now if that doesn't get me some return readership, I don't know what will...)
posted by Bob at
1:04 AM
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