Escape to CA – Day 10!

As I started to write this post last night (Or rather, at 1am this morning) and decided to get some sleep first, it occurred to me why… this is the last day of the vacation, there’s only the traveling home after this entry, and then the vacation will well and truly be over. Sniff. And then? I STILL HAVE 2/3 OF A MONTH TO GO for nablopomo! The hell am I gonna write about NEXT? Maybe I should have stretched this a LEETLE farther… ha!

ANYWAY. Friday morning, I woke up to a cute little face peering at me and giggling as his daddy said “She’s not snoring anymore, we know she’s awake! RUN LIL DUDE RUN!” Like he’s one to talk – no one could POSSIBLY have heard me snore with the way that Clown saws logs! But well, clearly it was Time To Get Up according to the toddler, who wanted breakfast, and they were determined to make me wake up AND eat before noon.

I know!

So! Roxan had to do go to work for a bit, and the boys decided that we’d walk (…what the hell is with this family and WALKING? GOSH!) down to a little restaurant for breakfast. We made it there in one piece (a very redfaced and grumpy piece on my part. I didn’t even get a cup of COFFEE first… the HELL? – good thing the nephew and niece are cute…) and were led to a table where everyone else had breakfast, and I had lunch. Ok, so it was almost noon, and a pattymelt just sounded GOOD. So that’s what I had.

At one point, as we were waiting for our food, and Kevin was being cute…

…which he’s pretty darn good at, all told, I saw Cory set a stack of coins on the table. I caught Bubba’s eye and smirked, and we waited. Then Nancie wasn’t looking for half a second and PING! Cory flipped a penny into her bra. She was SO EMBARRASSED – probably because the three of us, Bubba, Cory and I cracked up. I assured her that this meant she was TRULY family, as all of us girls have been there, done that. If you wear a shirt that’s gonna show some cleavage, you’re gonna get something flipped into your bra. She was lucky it was money – they have a fondness for tossing ice at me. She was blushing, and then I remembered I had yet to tell bubba something!

Right before I left, I helped the Boy and Girl sign up for MySpace accounts – helped meaning I did it, and thus I have total access. I’m a bit of an overprotective freak like that and all. When The Boy saw Nancie’s pictures (We hadn’t seen her in person for a while) his comment was “….wow.” I swatted him and went “she’s RELATED!” to which he replied… “not by blood she ain’t!”

So I tell this to Bubba, so he has a reason to thump The Boy when he sees him next (not that he NEEDS a reason, but it’s more fun that way!) and while we were laughing, poor Nancie went from the blushing, to about 15 variations of red. I never knew there were so many embarrassed shades! It was priceless. She may never forgive me. (grin) In fact, as we walked back after breakfast, she was overheard bemoaning the whole conversation “Did we REALLY have to discuss my boobs?” Yes, honey, I’m afraid we did. In this family, if you stick em out, we WILL notice and point it out. *L*

So, back at the house, we tried to figure out what we were gonna do next. Kevin continued being cute, and making himself useful by sweeping, before he decided he had to check his email.

Nancie checked her myspace,

and sent an INSPIRED message to my son: “So, I hear you want a kissing cousin…” to complete the circle of embarrassed teens. And yes, she spoke on her cell phone AND checked her messages at the same time. Way to multitask!

Then Cory was getting restless, so I tossed them out, and kept the baby kisses for myself.

When Roxan returned home, she and I decided that I should see Redwoods, since I was there and all, and I’m always bemoaning our pitiful Alaskan trees. We wandered into the park,

where we got two of my favorite pictures of the day… then we moved on to the area where there’s something like a 2 mile hike to see the REALLY BIG ONES. Because naturally, the train wasn’t going that day. Me? i opted for the first big one, and told them to go on ahead, I’d commune with nature and wait (…where’s the gift shop…) *L* Behold, Trees That Make My Ass Look Small:

This one I laid down on the ground at the base, and took pictures upwards:

When I stood up, I had smutz all over my back, so Roxan was wiping it off and was all “HELLO! If I’m all patting your ass, you’d better wriggle it!” So I did, which caused her to comment “Damn, girl, you DO have a bedonkadonk ass…” and I’m all no… I have a bedonkadonkadonkadonkadonk ass! Size matters, after all! She laughed and I did that butt shimmy thing all the black girls do, and she was duly impressed. See, there’s a REASON I get hit on by BBMs! They like ’em THICK.

ANYWAY – proof that yes, indeed, the tree IS bigger then my ass – because I know you’re doubting it…:

And of course a cross-section of a felled tree:

So, the boys and Nancie were doing the walk, and Roxan, Kevin and I made our escape. She didn’t even make me walk all the way back to the car, but instead came and picked me up in the second (and closer) parking lot, much to the ire of the attendant. “We don’t DO pickups or drop offs!” she snorted and tried to make Roxan pay for a 30 second drive through the lot. My sister in law was all “My SIL in there HURT HER BACK, and we’re trying to get her out of here, but if you’d RATHER we go to the station and make a full injury report…” and thus, the pickup was made.
For free.
Don’t fuck with my SIL, man. Seriously. (grin)

The baby was pretty tired, so we headed home to put him down for a nap, and wait for the others to arrive. Then came the great dinner debate – is Lessa cooking, or we going out, or… which lasted so long that we decided to go out for mexican. There was this place, the name of which escapes me, which is like a fast food joint almost, but the quality of the food? Oh. My. God. They had a SALSA bar for heavens sake! The pup would have been in HEAVEN for she LOVES the Salsa! And I ordered fajitas, and the plate was HUGE – it’d fed my whole family, i think, there was so much on there! And gooood? Oh yes indeed!

It was also downtown, where there was a Halloween dance for the teens, judging by all the costumes we saw roaming around. Nancie was happy to find a store that had shoes she wanted for VERY cheap – though they were closing, so she was going to go back the next day. Happy Nancie! So, anyway, we headed back home, and at some point I left my camera unattended, something Roxan CAN’T RESIST, because when I came home I found these on there waiting for me:

 

Thanks, sis!

Bubba and Cory went out for a couple beers, and one by one, folks said our goodbyes and headed to bed. Roxan and I had to be up stupid early to get to the airport. Which of course means she went to sleep, and I stayed up most of the night, packing and chatting with a friend online while I tried to decide if I was going to bother trying to sleep for 2 hours or not. I stayed up at least until Bubba came home, so that I could ask him to take my suitcase down the stairs for me (Yes, I’m spoiled!) so that we didn’t do it and wake folks up at 4am. I set my alarm for said 4am, and finally fell into bed at about 2:30 am for a little (very little) bit of sleep before heading to the airport the next morning.

And thus ends day 10!

Tomorrow: Time Vortex, and spacious flying conditions…