I've been making trips here and there quite steadily since May. End of April I went down to LA to visit my sister and her husband. Good times were had. It was mostly a lot of Disneyland and a lot of good food, both things that I really enjoy. Also, spending time with my sister and Steve is never bad. We did two days in Disneyland, which made me happy, even though I got sunburned on the second day. My sister couldn't figure out why, as she distinctly remembered seeing me pull out the tube of sunscreen, but then I had to explain that I only bothered to apply that to my tattoos, and forgot about the rest. Woops. My bad.
As soon as I got back from LA, I had about a two day break to unpack, do laundry, and then repack to leave to go to a logistics conference in Keystone, CO. Boring boring boring, lots of blah blah blah, I was not too thrilled about going. Except that this year my supervisor and her husband went. We got condos slightly removed from where the conference center was, complete with kitchens and cable. Let's just say that while I thought I would be suffering through long sessions all day, we ended up getting a lot of use out of temporary homes by stocking the fridge and watching trashy tv. Hey, if it's my boss suggesting we blow off classes to fuck off, I'm alright with that.
For one of our FO days we decided to drive about an hour out of Keystone and go gambling. My boss is a seasoned gambler, but I had never been. I allotted myself a certain amount of money before going in, and did not let myself spend more than that. To sum up my experience: gambling is dumb. I lost my money, won it back, then lost it again. The ONLY perk was the free drinks, but seriously, it wasn't even worth that. I can think of way better things to spend my money on. I don't feel the need to ever gamble again.
Then June rolled around.... My boy's band had a couple shows on the road, one in Moscow, ID, the other at a festival at Lolo Hot Spring, MT. We decided since they were already going to be all the way over there, I should just come along for the shows, and when they were done we would roll down to Yellowstone for five days of camping. I was totally down.
First stop was Moscow at a bar called John's Alley, which I have heard many a tale of, but never experienced myself. A pretty sweet little spot, one of only two venues in the town that do live music. Shuffle board, ping pong, and--wait for it--you can still smoke in the bars in Idaho!!! Sweet Jesus, I have never been so excited about having a cigarette. I have mostly cut back to only smoking when I drink, but man it's a pain in the ass to have to get up and go outside to smoke. So, in spite of the fact that it was actually quite warm in the bar, and I would have probably enjoyed walking outside for some fresh air, I chose to stay inside and smoke because I can.
Second stop was the Love Your Mother Earth Festival in Montana. It was an awesome spot, but it was cold as balls, and I spent the two days there so bundled up I almost felt like it was January all over again. Lots of campfire smoke, lots of booze, lots of other illicit drugs, and a good time all around.
It was kind of doom and gloom on the way to Yellowstone. The forecast did not look promising, but we said fuck it, we were going to have fun anyway. We did get rained on every night we were there, but luckily we both got really effing good at setting up camp with tarps and trenches so as to keep our tent and ourselves completely dry. Heck yes for having camping skills.
I'd never been to Yellowstone, and he had only been once as a kid, so we were pretty stoked on getting to do this. Our goals for the week: see a bear, see a moose, see a buffalo.
Five minutes into the gates we saw a buffalo. I was stoked. And then we saw more. And more. And dammit, more buffalo. Turns out those fuckers are everywhere, and the novelty really wears off when every time you drive around a corner there are nine cars stopped in the road, everyone taking pictures out their windows of the herd eating/shitting in the field. I wanted to tell them to just keep driving, because they'd see another heard in about a mile and a half. By the time we left Yellowstone, I decided that the next buffalo I saw better be served well done on a plate in either steak or burger form. Buffalo are boring.
But we did see our moose and our bear, which was awesome.
After a few nights in Yellowstone we went south to spend a night in the Tetons. That was amazing. Of course I suck and have no pictures of it, but let me just say that if you have to choose one or the other, bypass Yellowstone and head straight to Grand Tetons. Yellowstone, while there is some cool stuff to see, is essentially Nature's Amusement Park. Everything is drivable, walkable, super easily accessible, which means large groups of tourists everywhere. By the time we left, Chris pretty much summed it up by saying "I"m so sick of fat groups of fat people...." Oh, and Old Faithful? Not that awesome. We were more excited about the coffee we were about to go buy than standing and watching the geyser. Sorry if I just crushed anyone's dreams....
Then this weekend I went home to the Valley for my friend Sarah's graduation party. There is something so calming and comforting for me about going home to sit by the pool and watch the sunset with my three girls. Chris had a show in Ashland on Thursday then headed down to McKinnleyville on Friday, so on their way back Saturday the band dropped him in Grants Pass and I snagged him and subjected him to the craziness of Sarah's friends, family, friends' families, and all the fun times that come along. He held his own, and even enjoyed himself. I think he gets what it is about going home that I love so much now....
Next up: I'm heading down to Arkansas the second week of July (I think) to help my friend and former co-worker move back to Oregon. She moved down there for a job a boy, neither of which was worth it, so she's heading back up here for a better job in a better state. We're going to drive across the south, then north through California, mostly because from LA on up we have people to stay with and it'll cut down on hotel costs. I'm not super jazzed about that many days of driving, but she's a fun girl and I have a feeling we're going to make this a fun trip.
So there you have it. My very long-winded update for my not-so-exciting life. But just in case anyone was wondering what the hell I've been up to, there you have it.
Maybe I'll try to find interesting pictures along the way from Arkansas to Oregon and post tidbits along the way.
Love you all.
always.....
