Hunger is a Sign of Weakness

It's been 16 days since I first stepped foot in the sunny state of California and true to that old saying, "all good things must come to an end". On Wednesday, I will head to San Jose to hop on a plane that will take me to Seattle, Washington, then on to Bellingham, were my Cousin Liz (with little Evan in tow, I hope) will be anxiously awaiting my arrival.

You might be wondering what I've been up to for the past week. I traded in my long nights of fast living in Southern California for a more subdued Northern California lifestyle. My friend Sheri and her two year old, Kylin, and I had a wonderful, relaxing, and sometimes too exciting time. I got to treat myself to a pedicure and a wonderful massage while in their company and worked in the long awaited "Sex in the City" movie. It was nice to slow down for awhile. And, I think I might have made a lasting impression on Kylin as she's still talking about me choking. Just suffice it to say that if you ever need to know the secret to getting red wine out of white carpet, Sheri and I know the trick.

After that, I was on to my Cousin Holly's house where I perfected my video gaming skills, made friends with Stella, a very pretty and lovey, although highly independent black cat, and schooled Holly, Chad, and Alex on the fine art of rafting.

On Saturday, eighteen of us went down the American River near Sacramento with the following gear: two rafts, four paddles, eight bright orange life jackets, three coolers of various size (containing tasty beverages), and three very large water guns. It was similar to floating down the Illinois River (for those of you from Oklahoma) but with much colder water. Chad was convinced he wasn't going to even get wet and tried to wear a pair of "regular" shorts before Holly told him he was going to wear his swimsuit. It didn't take me long to call him out on it when I saw him floating in the water courtesy of his orange life preserver. I think he may have had more fun than all of us.

The bus ride home was also one of those things to write home about...an entire bus load of people singing Journey's "Can't Stop Believing" and a solo performance of Vanilla's Ice's "Ice Ice Baby" by one of our groupies made for a memorable experience. If you're not smiling right now, I suppose you just had to be there.

Currently, I am in Seaside, California, which is right next to Monterey. It's a lot cooler here...highs in the 80's compared to 100 plus in Sacramento. My Uncle Lee keeps saying "Isn't there anything that you want to do while you're here?" Although I really did put them on my list because I just really enjoy spending time with them, we have fit in a lot of fun in two and half days. Yesterday, we rode bikes down to the wharf and continued on around the bay. The weather has been perfect and getting out and about was refreshing.

As we were heading out this morning to go kayaking in Elkhorn Slough, Lee was chastising Minerva and me for wanting to stop to buy some snacks. I've been out in a kayak before with no food. It's not fun. Lee's idea of a snack? Two suckers with bubblegum centers. According to him, hunger is a sign of weakness. Well, I'm as weak as they get I suppose 'cause I'm not skipping a meal for any reason. Minerva is kind though and she did share her twinkie...twinkies contain lots of protein I've been told. I inhaled my twix and a granola bar before we even headed out. What was anyone to expect? It was lunchtime.

After donning our wetsuits and life jackets that we were told to not take off under any circumstances, I finally got to see my mom's favorite animal, otters, up close and personal. (And no, I didn't get within 50 feet, just in case some federal agent is reading this thing...'cause it's illegal...and I never break the law.) We saw lots of wildlife that you don't normally see in Oklahoma, unless you're at the zoo. Besides otters, we saw harbor seals, pelicans, egrets, Great Blue Herons, Surf Scoter, Redbreasted Merganser, Bufflehead, Widgeon, Gadwall, and Shoveler ducks. Okay, maybe I didn't see all of them but the brochure I picked up said you could see them. :o)

There is one part of the brochure I found quite amusing, especially since I did make it back to dry land. It was the section on "Wind". Unlike, all the other sections, this one is, in its entirety, in bold. "Strong afternoon wind, typically out of the north-west at 10 - 20 knots, will blow up the slough and can be difficult to paddle against. Plan your trip to take advantage of wind and currents." They weren't lying. If you stopped for even a little sip of non-salted water, you were going to do the old one step forward, two steps back routine. We looked at it as great exercise and Lee decided that his sore arms and abs would go along well with his bottom that is already sore from biking the other day.

We finished our day with a wonderful meal at Phil's Fish Market and Restaurant which is located near the docks. Talk about yummy...fire roasted artichoke, hot crab with butter...I was in heaven. So, now, even though it's only 7:00 in the evening, I'm going to pretend I'm on Oklahoma time and turn in for the night. We have a Vietnamese market trip scheduled for the morning then it's back to the airport.