Friday
Day Two of the Great California Easter Vacation was every bit as good as Day One.

We went to Bodega Bay for an afternoon at the beach. And, for the second time in three years, I have touched the Pacific Ocean. It was windy and cool there, too. Windy enough that I could easily fly my kite. Cold enough that I was a bit chilly in a long-sleeved shirt. But it was fun. I even tossed the football around with the nephew-units. A little while later, part of the family-unit went walking farther up the beach… and found a dolphin carcass. It had apparently been shot, gutted and beheaded. I don’t think that I missed anything by not seeing that.

On the way back, we stopped at “Candy and Kites.” Appropriately enough, they had candy and kites there. Jess stocked us up with salt water taffy. We then went to the Bodega Bay Surf Shop. I don’t think that I’ve ever been in a non-wannabe surf shop before. We also stopped at one other place on the way home, but I don’t remember the name. *shrug* Something that I learned this afternoon, though: Bodega Bay is where Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds was filmed.

We came home for a birthday cookout for Jim’s birthday. The rest of the Sonoma/Santa Rosa-area contingent of the family came over, too. I haven’t seen them since the 2001 Disney trip, so it was good to see them. There was lots of food. Lots of free-flowing tasty beverages. Lots of people. Lots of fun.

After the party died out and everyone had left, Julie (one of Jess’ sisters) took Jess and me to downtown Santa Rosa to meet some of her friends for drinks at Third Street Aleworks. I “creatively acquired” pint glasses for Julie and me. On the way back to the car, I started singing Banana Boat (Day-O) in the parking garage. Loudly. I couldn’t help it: The acoustics were great. Julie, half-jokingly, suggested/dared that I sing Amazing Grace. I did. Also loudly. I don’t think that she expected me to do that.

Stray Toasters

  • I forgot to mention something last night: For the first time in two-and-a-half years, I got to sleep in MY bed.

    When Jess and I moved in together, we took the bed that I had bought after moving to Utah to her parents’ house for storage. So far, so good. When her parents moved a couple of years ago, the bed moved with them. We didn’t really think about/notice it until we were unpacking the moving van, but it was too late to do anything at that point. So… it has remained with them. And last night, I got to sleep on it. I found it amusing to have to wait so long to sleep on my own bed. But, it also made for a good way to claim bed-space here: “No, you can’t sleep there. That’s my bed.” And, I didn’t even have to use “Privilege of the First Born.” It just doesn’t get any better than that!

  • Congratulations to . He has been hired by Microsoft and will be leaving the inversion-prone Salt Lake Valley and relocating to Seattle. However, this is something of a mixed blessing as he will no longer be around for me to yell “Sulu!” at when he shows up for coffee.
  • I taught one of the nephew-units how to (properly) throw a football this morning. By this afternoon, his skill had greatly improved.
  • Kites GOOOD!!! *gesture*
  • Seagulls. In a non-land-locked state. Imagine that!

Now, it’s late-ish and I’m tired.

Namaste.