I recently had the privilege to make a one-week return to my beloved California home. It was an adventurous experience in so many ways that I thought it would be a good topic for some writing here.
Thursday -
It was, from the very onset, a somewhat ruckus and crazy endeavor as I made my way down to CA in the middle of a blasting, rainy storm of nearly biblical proportions... okay, maybe not like Noah biblical, more like Washingtonian proportions x 2. It was the worst rain/wind storm I have ever seen as far as I can recollect. I say that in total seriousness. I have never been in such heavy and enduring rain. I had to detour off of I-5 over to Hwy101 and it basically added eight or so hours to my trip down.
In all that time to think, going that slow pace with little to no traffic for a large part of the way, I reflected on many of my CA-based memories with fondness. I kind of felt like I was somehow saying good-bye already and I was not even there yet nor did I have plans that would be keeping me away. I may have shed a tear or two. I can't quite remember since I was pretty exhausted.
Friday -
I finally arrived at 11:30am-ish, barely in time to pick up Wyatt to go to a "Friends of Nora Hunter" lunch at Joe's Buffet at noon. Joe's Buffet is a good place to go if you wanted to go alone just for sandwiches... since it was intended as a social gathering which Nora organized it was ten, no, 11 times better an experience just for the people I was happy to see. Nora, Jeremy, Ryan & Nellie, Ken, Pres and Sister Siefke, Ken, MiLinnda, Wyatt, and Elder Davis(who will die from eating peanuts.) What a treat! Wyatt and Nora shared some friendly words, Jeremy wore his hat and sunglasses, Sister Siefke took pictures, Nellie shared news of a new arrival. And I had only been in town like an hour or something.
I met up with one of my clients and did some video editing work as soon as I got back to Jeremy's. We were pretty productive until I needed to meet up with another client to do some other computer work.
We were also pretty efficient and stayed pretty well on schedule so I could leave to head to the Fairfield Table Tennis Club at the Senior Center to meet up with my friends from the club there and play a little bit. Mike DeWynter, David, Alan, Nat, Tony, Alfredo, Mike Lewis, Mary, Ramon, and a few others all made it. I got to play with Mike DeWynter, who I enjoy playing more than almost anybody else, and was actually able to pull a match out. I had not played more than a couple times since I was last in town but had the advantage of my odd style being odd again since I had not played him in even longer. It was a bit weird not having Boyd there since he was my main practice partner for the last couple or so years.
Adam also showed up to hang out and he, Alfredo, and I headed out to Sacramento to meet up with Matt and a myspace friend Stacy. We got out of the club a bit later than planned so we missed the rollerskating portion of the evening but Matt organized a pretty cool group of people and we all headed over to the Denny's nearby for a bite and some socializing. It was good to meet Stacy as well as Matt's friends Cammy, Mike, and Mike. We all had a pretty lax time and seemed to enjoy each others company. I think Alfredo and Adam even enjoyed it regardless of me and Matt being the only people they new beforehand.
I stopped by with the guys to check out Matt's new place on the way home. A nice little pad.
Saturday -
I woke up early(early like 9am or something) to head to the club again before going to the Oakland Temple to take some pictures after Chad and Emerie's wedding. Got to play a little bit again then said my good-byes and headed out.
Since my timing got kind of messed up to get to the temple on time I decided to head to Red Robin for a meal and to see who I might recognize there. It was really good to see Sue, Ron, and Sonya, and I recognized a few more that I did not know very well. It was a busy Saturday as usual but I had a delightful Fajita Fiesta Pollo Salad in snappy quick fashion. That seems to be my favorite thing to get there nowadays.
I then headed to Concord to pick up a battery charger for my camera. On my way back from Concord I stopped by Alfredo's house to get my bass guitar. It was cool to see his little one, now over 7 months old(maybe older, I can't remember) for the first time. Cute little girl! Their house was pretty nice and back yard was huge.
I went back into town and met up with Cris at the library. It was really good to see his shrunken self for the first time after his return from his mission to the Phillipines. He lost like 60+ lbs over there... and I don't think he plans to look for them. We looked for some audio books at the library for a bit then headed to a late lunch at Hop Hing's. Man, if I could choose only three places to eat on my trip I had just accomplished that after my visit to Hop Hing's.
Cris and I parted when I had to do some more computer work before heading back to Jeremy's to get ready for the reception. Matt came over for a ride and Cris rejoined us as we got lost on our way to the reception. I got my country clubs mixed up but we got there in time for most of the fun stuff.
Tons of delightful faces to see! Lots of friends I did not expect too. Too many to list. I brought my camera along with the idea that I would enjoy taking a few pictures here and there but that idea was sufficiently stifled by the continuing opportunity to visit with old friends. No pictures - no big deal. I have my memories to keep me warm.
I had a few sweet good-byes there since I knew I would not be seeing some of them at church the next day and such. A positively emotional evening.
Sunday -
I got to church on time to give opening prayer but forgot to pick up Adam so went and got him right after the prayer. It was fast Sunday so we got back in the middle of "Fast and Testimony" meeting. It only took a few minutes for the Spirit to prompt me to share my own testimony. A very sweet experience, as was the rest of the meeting. I truly miss my friends there and their encouraging, positive influence on me.
Ernest was teaching Sunday school so I had to stick around for that before heading off to the Solano ward. Ernest has always been one of my favorite teachers and I am quite glad I stayed.
The Solano ward was quite a different experience than I remembered. Many of the old crew were still there but it had a different feeling to it. It was good to see so many of those old peeps too. Bishop Esplin was no longer the Bishop so I did not get to see him unfortunately. I'll have to catch him next time I go down.
I headed over to a friends house to visit for a bit before heading to "Break-the-Fast" at President Siefke's. We had a taco salad main course and tons of brownies for dessert. There were, of course, other things to eat but they are obviously less memorable. Ha. Lots of people showed up and it was good times just like I remembered. I did have the opportunity to get some pictures in this time... also, much like I remembered. We stayed good and long. Maybe a bit too long.
I was going to hang with Adam again but forgot to turn on my ringer in my phone so I missed his call. I went back to Jeremy's and hung with him the rest of the evening. We watched some t.v. and chatted the rest of the evening.
Monday -
I briefly stopped by at my friend house to help with computer issues still unresolved.
I was not aware of the demise of the "Friends of Elder Winnie" lunch so I tried to get the info out on one that I planned which met at Hop Hing's(I really love that place.) Jeremiah, Adam, and President Siefke were the only ones to make it but we had a good meal and a good time anyway. Adam is very apprised of the political scene and I found it inspiring to chat with him on the subject.
I met up with my video editing guy at Jeremy's again and we got to work for the afternoon again. We stayed pretty productive until I had to leave for F.H.E.
We had an excellent lesson on goals from Brother Mears. I am still inspired that I need to be more diligent about clearly defining and reviewing my own personal goals.
We then got letters back from ourselves that were written a year ago in F.H.E.! Awesome! Jimmy said "Hi." to me in my own letter to me. There were quite a few other things I am quite glad I was able to read at that time. What a blessing of timing to be able to have that activity on the only night that I would be in town. We then wrote more letters to ourselves for a year from now. It feels like I should make it a tradition.
A good size crew hung around to socialize for quite a while afterward. We didn't go anywhere for food or anything but had a good chat nonetheless. Once again, like old times.
Tuesday -
I went into work at the office of one of my clients for most of the day. I did not make as much progress as I was hoping. It was good to see the new office though. Things seem to be progressing.
I then headed over to help with some more computer stuff at a friends house. Also not quite as much progress as was hoped for but I am sure they have already gotten it taken care of.
I went home and hung with Jeremy again. Relaxing and slow-paced enjoyment.
Wednesday -
I met up with one of my web clients in the morning. Had a relatively good meeting then headed into my other clients office to check up on things before heading back to WA.
Things were still not in order so I ended up sticking around for a few extra hours trying, unsuccessfully, to get things squared up before I headed out. I might be heading back within the next couple weeks to continue that particular puzzle solving.
I ended up not having the time or availability to get my storage taken care of at all since the rain was already making a fairly sever comeback. I just paid my bill for another month, dropped off a couple things at a friends house, and headed on my way.
I checked the weather report for Shasta, which looked good, so decided to head up I-5 this time. Much to my dismay I was met with a complete mountain closure at the Siskiyou pass on the border, chains or not. Quite a bummer. I had to buy chains for my rental car back in Yreka and I ended up going back to Yreka to have some hot chocolate and a bagel at Denny's. I decided to go to sleep in my car in a hotel parking lot for a few hours then check the mountain report.
Thursday -
I woke up around 4am and headed back up to the pass. In almost comical fashion I was turned around at the top to go back to put my chains back on and as soon as I finished, and I mean within minutes of me finishing hooking the chains back onto the car, they lifted the chains requirement completely. I laughed pretty good at that little scene and am glad I was there to witness it... even though it was happening TO me anyway.
Onward I drove, heading back north to the land of rain and apples. My friend Kevin had some cd's for me at his house in Vancouver so I stopped by his house, just a little west of I-5, and was met by a completely unexpected flash hail storm as I walked from my car to his house. Hail was coming down everywhere and flooding gutters and streets within a minutes time or so. It all lasted about 5 minutes as I picked up the cd's and was basically done when I decided it would be best for me to head out. I didn't want to get caught in
another storm. I had enough of those at this point.
On my way out of town I was amazed to see all the hail covering the streets and everything. Probably half an inch or so.
I didn't end up having any more troubles all the way home. I was surprised to discover, though, when I walked into the house that I apparently was in Vancouver at the exact time that a tornado touched down. Even more surprised later when I found out it was only blocks away from where I was. Who knew? I didn't think to look around for that kind of thing so I didn't actually see it. But I guess I could have. Weird.
So... That is where I must bring things to a close. I did not expect to write so prolifically on this experience. My hamstring hurts so I rather expected this to be a shortened entry if anything. If you have actually gotten this far let me know and I'll reward you with something, really. I am not sure what yet. I'll try to make it good.
And this concludes my first trip report of '08. I loved it!
So... uh... go grab a snack or something. I am sure it has been a while since you have eaten.
No comments:
Post a Comment