funWOW !!!!
What a weekend !!!! We had such an amazing time with Jen (tattooedjen )& Justin (intrepid28 ), our granddaughter Laura (lauralew ) and her friends.
We didn't get the early start that I would have liked ..... of course, I waited till the very last second to pack. Dave had come into our room checking on my progress when I asked him if he had remembered our air bed ..... he said no, but he was on his way to get in now .... and I said ok, I'll get the sheets. We loaded up our everything .... and headed down to Jen's favorite local store here .... Mean Gene's to fill up our gas tank before heading out. When jumping into the car at the house I plopped down on the car seat and it felt pretty damn cold .... like a cold wet spot and I was wondering wtf, then just forgot as we headed on our way. At the gas station I pumped while Dave went in and paid and I did notice my butt was quite cold .... but I was cold period .... so just dismissed it. Getting back into the vehicle and sitting down I again felt the cold wet feeling on my butt. That is when I first felt the seat ..... nothing ..... then my butt ..... I had literally blown the ass out of my jeans .... my left cheek just saying hello to the world .... oh yeah, I don't wear underwear .... so it was literally saying hello. Home we went so I could change my pants ..... and off we went.
Then about 1/2 way into the trip I realized I had forgotten the sheets, no problem, Jen had some .... they would be a bit large but they would work ..... "you got the bed in the car right?" ...... a slight turn of the head in my direction ..... "No." "And I'm not kidding." Wow .... we did good there .... so we crashed on the floor and we both slept really well both nights.
We had every kind of weather possible on the way over to the coast. Sunshine, rain, hail, snow ..... at one point we came across an accident ..... and knowing lauralew had set out that morning as well to drive over a panic set in. Three little cars ..... one covered with a tarp ..... two ambulances .... not in a hurry to go anywhere ..... the two remaining cars wrecked ..... bad. Dave and I both just looked at each other .... my eyes welled up with tears of panic immediately and I went for the cell phone. I didn't want her thinking we were all worried about her driving over so I attempted a casual text ..... "how is your drive going?" ..... and waited .... anxiously. She was quick to reply .... relief ..... "we just checked into our room." ****heavy sigh from two old worried people**** Whew .....
Was able to grab a couple of caches on the way over .... weather and all, but soon it was too cold, snowy and nasty to continue. And the camera died right after the first find .... this one .... thankfully I had brought the camera charger with us.
We got into Arcata and I texted Jen to let her know we had arrived .... she was still at work, but Justin was home so we headed on over to their place. As most of you know from posts by them both Jen & Justin live in an interesting neighborhood, which proved itself immediately upon our second to the last turn to their house. About five cop cars ..... lights blazing ..... a cranker looking chick picking up pieces of CD cases out of the road and the driveway of a home ..... a young man in handcuffs sitting on the porch .... and I thought to myself .... "we're here!". LOL
Upon arrival Justin met us at the door and greetings and hugs were exchanged. Justin has a beautiful smile ..... very friendly and welcoming ..... and it puts you immediately at comfort. And the chatting started ..... about ten minutes later .... Jen pulls up ..... I look out the window and excitedly wave ..... YAY! More hugs and greetings and more chatter ..... we laughed and talked and laughed some more. We did that for most of our stay ..... so much so that my smile muscles were getting sore ..... it was so good to visit ..... actually remembered to get camera on charger!
We headed out to dinner to a very good Mexican food place. I had had a few beers before we left but was by no means drunk. I talked Justin into doing a shot of tequila with me and it was a rather large shot, but we both smiled and decided to do 1/2 now and 1/2 later ..... yum, good tequila. I ordered a margarita as well and proceed to eat a very very good dinner. We headed home after dinner and more drinking (except Jen) and chatting and laughing until we just all gave up at once and decided it was bedtime.
A thoughtful Jen .....
Zinc ..... cool cool kitty.
Damien and me. What a lover!
But that first morning for me was not so good. Feeling like I had drank a bottle of tequila instead of a shot, my head pounding and my stomach feeling a bit on edge I decided to take a couple Bufferin ..... 10 minutes later the fun started. After many trips to the bathroom ..... throwing up my entire dinner from the night before ..... I started feeling human and was ready to go get cleaned up and get the day started with a great breakfast from Jen and Justin's favorite breakfast house. It was delicious ..... yum!
Me .... the morning after ...... OUCH !
An anti-war protest on our way to the restaurant.
We then headed to Starbucks .... I was game because I had never had a Starbucks coffee ..... and they offered us one of these little goodies too, and I was quick to grab one ..... strawberry something ..... yum! Yum will be a word you will hear a lot in this post. LOL
Jen and Justin then set out to get dinner started so it could be cooking while we attended the evening show at the Juggle Fest. We were to meet lauralew there. We talked and visited more and Dave paid close attention to what the two of them were up to in the kitchen ..... taking mental notes ..... ready to bring some tasty recipes home ..... one of these tasty recipes was something that included beets. Now I have a serious dislike of beets. They truly truly gross me out. But I promised Jen and Dave both I would at least give this beet recipe a try.
We headed out to HSU for the Juggling show. Upon arrival I noticed that I had received a text from Laura that she was suffering from a nasty headache and had headed back to their motel. We made arrangements to get hold of each other and meet for breakfast the next day. I had to thank Jen for getting such awesome photos of the campus. I was on the phone texting the entire walk through and was in parking lot to leave before I realized I had missed everything. LOL We then headed out to a beautiful spot called Moonstone Beach for the sunset and a cool (literally) walk. What a great place this is. Just awesome. There was a cache hidden there too, but I had forgotten to bring the GPS ..... but that was ok .... the tide was starting to come in quickly and the cache would not be accessible too much longer.
Then a nice drive to see the Warfinger Building where Jen & Justin are getting married ..... what a place ..... what a setting .... the wedding will be beautiful. And then we saw the Carson mansion. This place was incredible .... amazing. Then back to their place. I quickly changed into my comfort clothes .... and Jen followed suit ..... we managed to get a couple games of cribbage in before dinner and I had asked to watch The Big Lebowski .... so it was decided that Italian beefs and a movie would be a great way to kick it for a bit. Ok .... now for the beets .... this is a one of a kind truly yummy yummy recipe ..... OMG ..... I would eat beets every damn day .... if they were this good ..... you MUST like garlic .... and I love garlic ..... OMG ..... can't even say it enough ..... O M G !!!!! Yummy !
After the movie and the dinner the day and the evening before caught up with me and it was time to crash ..... and sleep came quickly.
My phone went off early Sunday morning .... Laura and her friends were up and ready for breakfast ..... so I woke up Jen and Justin and we all hurried about getting showered, dressed and ready to roll. Then off to meet lauralew and her friends. We arrived first and of course I tend to just sit and worry while we wait their arrival. Then Jen says "there is a tall girl texting and looking this way." It was her!
It felt so good to see her .... her grandpa Dave and I were really looking forward to visiting with her ..... it had been awhile since we had actually spent anything called "time" together .... long overdue. For which I take full responsibility ..... personal and mental health issues kept me (us) from enjoying a major part of her growing up. And we could not be prouder. She is beautiful, smart, talented and grounded ..... and we both developed a new respect and love for her. She is amazing. We love you Laura ..... (((hugs))).
Juggling creamers at breakfast ..... lol.
After breakfast she gave us a juggling show in the parking lot of the restaurant. It was super cold and extremely windy so Jen suggested we go back to the house for more juggling, yoga and visiting ..... out of the cold and wind. We all agreed.
The show continued at the house. She has a ton of energy. She entertained us for a good long time and we loved it. Her personality and talent are one of a kind. After awhile both they and us needed to hit the road .... a seven hour drive for them ...... an four hour drive for us ..... it was hard to say goodbye. But we will stay in much better touch from here on out .... and it will nothing short of fun watching her grow into her adult self. We are so lucky.
Then gathered our stuff together ..... and it was time to say goodbye to Jen and Justin. Which was also hard. We honestly love these kids .... they are very special. Our time with them was incredible and I can't wait till the next visit. Hugs goodbye ..... thank yous all around ..... a quiet drive home full of reflection, with a comment now and then about something that tickled us from the weekend .... and soon we were home. Back to reality.
Thanks to both Jen and Justin over and over again. It was a wonderful visit. One that keeps me smiling to this very minute and I am sure for a long time to come.
Thanks to Laura .... for allowing us to share some of this weekend with her. Know I already said it but we love you and look forward to spending more time with you.
Peace. J.
What a weekend !!!! We had such an amazing time with Jen (tattooedjen )& Justin (intrepid28 ), our granddaughter Laura (lauralew ) and her friends.
We didn't get the early start that I would have liked ..... of course, I waited till the very last second to pack. Dave had come into our room checking on my progress when I asked him if he had remembered our air bed ..... he said no, but he was on his way to get in now .... and I said ok, I'll get the sheets. We loaded up our everything .... and headed down to Jen's favorite local store here .... Mean Gene's to fill up our gas tank before heading out. When jumping into the car at the house I plopped down on the car seat and it felt pretty damn cold .... like a cold wet spot and I was wondering wtf, then just forgot as we headed on our way. At the gas station I pumped while Dave went in and paid and I did notice my butt was quite cold .... but I was cold period .... so just dismissed it. Getting back into the vehicle and sitting down I again felt the cold wet feeling on my butt. That is when I first felt the seat ..... nothing ..... then my butt ..... I had literally blown the ass out of my jeans .... my left cheek just saying hello to the world .... oh yeah, I don't wear underwear .... so it was literally saying hello. Home we went so I could change my pants ..... and off we went.
Then about 1/2 way into the trip I realized I had forgotten the sheets, no problem, Jen had some .... they would be a bit large but they would work ..... "you got the bed in the car right?" ...... a slight turn of the head in my direction ..... "No." "And I'm not kidding." Wow .... we did good there .... so we crashed on the floor and we both slept really well both nights.
We had every kind of weather possible on the way over to the coast. Sunshine, rain, hail, snow ..... at one point we came across an accident ..... and knowing lauralew had set out that morning as well to drive over a panic set in. Three little cars ..... one covered with a tarp ..... two ambulances .... not in a hurry to go anywhere ..... the two remaining cars wrecked ..... bad. Dave and I both just looked at each other .... my eyes welled up with tears of panic immediately and I went for the cell phone. I didn't want her thinking we were all worried about her driving over so I attempted a casual text ..... "how is your drive going?" ..... and waited .... anxiously. She was quick to reply .... relief ..... "we just checked into our room." ****heavy sigh from two old worried people**** Whew .....
Was able to grab a couple of caches on the way over .... weather and all, but soon it was too cold, snowy and nasty to continue. And the camera died right after the first find .... this one .... thankfully I had brought the camera charger with us.
We got into Arcata and I texted Jen to let her know we had arrived .... she was still at work, but Justin was home so we headed on over to their place. As most of you know from posts by them both Jen & Justin live in an interesting neighborhood, which proved itself immediately upon our second to the last turn to their house. About five cop cars ..... lights blazing ..... a cranker looking chick picking up pieces of CD cases out of the road and the driveway of a home ..... a young man in handcuffs sitting on the porch .... and I thought to myself .... "we're here!". LOL
Upon arrival Justin met us at the door and greetings and hugs were exchanged. Justin has a beautiful smile ..... very friendly and welcoming ..... and it puts you immediately at comfort. And the chatting started ..... about ten minutes later .... Jen pulls up ..... I look out the window and excitedly wave ..... YAY! More hugs and greetings and more chatter ..... we laughed and talked and laughed some more. We did that for most of our stay ..... so much so that my smile muscles were getting sore ..... it was so good to visit ..... actually remembered to get camera on charger!
We headed out to dinner to a very good Mexican food place. I had had a few beers before we left but was by no means drunk. I talked Justin into doing a shot of tequila with me and it was a rather large shot, but we both smiled and decided to do 1/2 now and 1/2 later ..... yum, good tequila. I ordered a margarita as well and proceed to eat a very very good dinner. We headed home after dinner and more drinking (except Jen) and chatting and laughing until we just all gave up at once and decided it was bedtime.
A thoughtful Jen .....
Zinc ..... cool cool kitty.
Damien and me. What a lover!
But that first morning for me was not so good. Feeling like I had drank a bottle of tequila instead of a shot, my head pounding and my stomach feeling a bit on edge I decided to take a couple Bufferin ..... 10 minutes later the fun started. After many trips to the bathroom ..... throwing up my entire dinner from the night before ..... I started feeling human and was ready to go get cleaned up and get the day started with a great breakfast from Jen and Justin's favorite breakfast house. It was delicious ..... yum!
Me .... the morning after ...... OUCH !
An anti-war protest on our way to the restaurant.
We then headed to Starbucks .... I was game because I had never had a Starbucks coffee ..... and they offered us one of these little goodies too, and I was quick to grab one ..... strawberry something ..... yum! Yum will be a word you will hear a lot in this post. LOL
Jen and Justin then set out to get dinner started so it could be cooking while we attended the evening show at the Juggle Fest. We were to meet lauralew there. We talked and visited more and Dave paid close attention to what the two of them were up to in the kitchen ..... taking mental notes ..... ready to bring some tasty recipes home ..... one of these tasty recipes was something that included beets. Now I have a serious dislike of beets. They truly truly gross me out. But I promised Jen and Dave both I would at least give this beet recipe a try.
We headed out to HSU for the Juggling show. Upon arrival I noticed that I had received a text from Laura that she was suffering from a nasty headache and had headed back to their motel. We made arrangements to get hold of each other and meet for breakfast the next day. I had to thank Jen for getting such awesome photos of the campus. I was on the phone texting the entire walk through and was in parking lot to leave before I realized I had missed everything. LOL We then headed out to a beautiful spot called Moonstone Beach for the sunset and a cool (literally) walk. What a great place this is. Just awesome. There was a cache hidden there too, but I had forgotten to bring the GPS ..... but that was ok .... the tide was starting to come in quickly and the cache would not be accessible too much longer.
Then a nice drive to see the Warfinger Building where Jen & Justin are getting married ..... what a place ..... what a setting .... the wedding will be beautiful. And then we saw the Carson mansion. This place was incredible .... amazing. Then back to their place. I quickly changed into my comfort clothes .... and Jen followed suit ..... we managed to get a couple games of cribbage in before dinner and I had asked to watch The Big Lebowski .... so it was decided that Italian beefs and a movie would be a great way to kick it for a bit. Ok .... now for the beets .... this is a one of a kind truly yummy yummy recipe ..... OMG ..... I would eat beets every damn day .... if they were this good ..... you MUST like garlic .... and I love garlic ..... OMG ..... can't even say it enough ..... O M G !!!!! Yummy !
After the movie and the dinner the day and the evening before caught up with me and it was time to crash ..... and sleep came quickly.
My phone went off early Sunday morning .... Laura and her friends were up and ready for breakfast ..... so I woke up Jen and Justin and we all hurried about getting showered, dressed and ready to roll. Then off to meet lauralew and her friends. We arrived first and of course I tend to just sit and worry while we wait their arrival. Then Jen says "there is a tall girl texting and looking this way." It was her!
It felt so good to see her .... her grandpa Dave and I were really looking forward to visiting with her ..... it had been awhile since we had actually spent anything called "time" together .... long overdue. For which I take full responsibility ..... personal and mental health issues kept me (us) from enjoying a major part of her growing up. And we could not be prouder. She is beautiful, smart, talented and grounded ..... and we both developed a new respect and love for her. She is amazing. We love you Laura ..... (((hugs))).
Juggling creamers at breakfast ..... lol.
After breakfast she gave us a juggling show in the parking lot of the restaurant. It was super cold and extremely windy so Jen suggested we go back to the house for more juggling, yoga and visiting ..... out of the cold and wind. We all agreed.
The show continued at the house. She has a ton of energy. She entertained us for a good long time and we loved it. Her personality and talent are one of a kind. After awhile both they and us needed to hit the road .... a seven hour drive for them ...... an four hour drive for us ..... it was hard to say goodbye. But we will stay in much better touch from here on out .... and it will nothing short of fun watching her grow into her adult self. We are so lucky.
Then gathered our stuff together ..... and it was time to say goodbye to Jen and Justin. Which was also hard. We honestly love these kids .... they are very special. Our time with them was incredible and I can't wait till the next visit. Hugs goodbye ..... thank yous all around ..... a quiet drive home full of reflection, with a comment now and then about something that tickled us from the weekend .... and soon we were home. Back to reality.
Thanks to both Jen and Justin over and over again. It was a wonderful visit. One that keeps me smiling to this very minute and I am sure for a long time to come.
Thanks to Laura .... for allowing us to share some of this weekend with her. Know I already said it but we love you and look forward to spending more time with you.
Peace. J.
