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Bloviating Zeppelin: Got Them End-O-Vacation Blues

Bloviating Zeppelin

(in-ep-toc'-ra-cy) - a system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

Sunday, June 04, 2006

Got Them End-O-Vacation Blues

I'm back from vacation and sorry to see it end.

Time Passes Too Swiftly

The past three weeks seemed to pass as three seconds. I am told time perception is a matter of metabolism -- and I'm wishing I had my 10-year-old's metabolism back. That is to say, allegedly, when you're young your metabolism is running at fever pitch and time seems to drag and drag.

Now, at "over 50" shall we say, the days pass like lightning strikes.

Does it seem that way for you as well?

At this point it's Sunday afternoon, the wind is blowing outside my Sierra window and it's 78 degrees (whilst 90+ in Sacratomato, Fornicalia -- where I'll be reporting for work tomorrow -- heavy sigh). At least I had some time to decompress at home, unpack, do wash, clean the deck and enjoy the wafting pines. I came back to massive green deposits of new fir and pine pollen coating everything in sight -- as well as evidence it had rained in my absence; the green garden cart was full of water.

This has certainly been an interesting past year in terms of the weather. Last Saturday, May 27th, I got back briefly from Southern Fornicalia early in the morning to 32 degree temperatures and falling snowflakes! On May 27th I started a fire in my stove that night!

Where I Went And What I Did

Boring to some, sorry, but I at least have some recommendations for places to stay on the Fornicalia coast.

First, I went to Long Beach to watch my fiance graduate from the University of Fornicalia, Long Beach (UCLB), with her Masters Degree following two long and difficult years of taking extension courses in Sacratomato. We had one dinner in Buena Park at Medieval Times -- a hokey place but, actually, entertaining nevertheless. The show was interesting and the horsemanship was exquisite. We also spent the day at the Universal Studios park which was much more entertaining and engaging than I would have thought. Wish I'd had time to take the formal tour of the lot itself.

Last week I reserved a room at the Beachcomber Motel in Fort Bragg so we could take in the Fornicalia coast and, more specifically, Highway One. We had a huge second story room with a wonderful and complete view of the Pacific Ocean and a set of cypress trees adjacent the cliffs (ask for room 232!). I ordered the room with the fireplace, king bed, full sized hot tub (in the room) and private deck with its own stairs down to the trails leading to the beach. This was a wonderful motel, and the hot tub -- well, I don't have one at home so we used it a lot. The tub's jets were much quieter than I would have imagined.

I also got my honey a full 90-minute "Masters Graduation" massage at the Bamboo Garden Spa in Fort Bragg, after the Mendocino Massage spa in the town of Mendocino stood me up and decided not to return my call; I suppose they weren't interested in the $200+ I was willing to spend in their business. The Bamboo Garden Spa, however, was interested in making a couples deep-tissue massage arrangement and, I must admit, it was clearly the best massage I've had yet! Perhaps things happen for a reason! In the area? I would recommend it highly! And, I will be back!

Two places we stopped to visit on our journey -- and two places we'll be staying in the future?

One was the Timber Cove Inn near Jenner, Fornicalia -- also directly on the Pacific Ocean. This place had my attention from the moment we hit the parking lot. The huge fireplace in its grand room, the bar, the rooms -- one very nice man at the bar took quite some time to explain the inn to us and its benefits and attractions. The whole place is constructed from rough-hewn timbers and combines a rustic effect with massive amounts of class. The bartender spoke of the two kinds of return customers they encounter: those who come to watch the crashing 35-foot winter waves during the off-season, and those who take rooms to view the annual coastal whale migrations in February and March. This inn will be in my future late this year or early next.

The second place my honey and I will be staying is the North Cliff Hotel in Fort Bragg. Though the website isn't much to see, the motel and its rooms certainly are. When they say that "all rooms have a view" they aren't kidding. The concierge at the desk was kind enough to provide us with a key to an empty room (103, on one of the lowest levels) and said "Go look at a room. Take your time." That, in and of itself, was impressive enough. The room we saw was stunning and the attention to detail was evident. Soft fuzzy white robes hung in the closet; a Jacuzzi tub adjacent a picture window to the Pacific Ocean; a fireplace next to the tub; a private and segregated balcony unenterable from the next; microwave, coffeemaker, refrigerator, fully stocked bathroom, beautiful glass shower stall with multiple fixtures; provided hair dryers; continental breakfasts delivered to your bedside -- and for a price that I recently paid for the Beachcomber. This place is in my immediate future.

Thinking: I Am One Lucky Guy

That I am. Thankful for having a beautiful woman in my life, a mountain home, a consistent job with benefits, lead in my pencil, the ability to walk upright when I wish, the freedoms that living in America provides, the serendipity to take my woman, a car, and visit what I wish, when I wish, for whatever reason(s) I wish, at any time.

And the ability to realize just what a wonderful nation it is that I inhabit.

And why, precisely because of that, this nation deserves to survive, thrive and defend itself.

God bless America.

BZ

____________________________

P.S.
I took close to a thousand photographs of my recent trips, archived on Sony Memory Sticks. Yes, I can be a bit overwhelming with my interest in photography. It was a massive undertaking just to whittle down my photos to the one you see here. It drove me nuts to limit my vacation photos but -- there you have it. I had to GTFOI.

Except that Blogger won't let me publish a photo now. Guess I'll have to try to attach a photo later -- dammit, Jim!

5 Comments:

Blogger Rivka said...

Not boring, just picturing it! ONe of these days my husband and I will do something like that!

Ready for our boring update??

Right now, we are busting our rears as we begin to fund 2 of our 4 kiddo's in a private school where the curriculum is 3 grade levels higher than public, and their students always smoke the public school kids in science and math competitions. Since they won't approve vouchers, and never will, we have to fund public as well.
We didn't like some of the liberal things our son was saying when he got home from school.. AND now a days they don't give grades, they just give plus' and minus' if your kid gets a plus that means he did 80% or above on that subject. SCREW THAT self-esteem liberal crap. I want to know exactly how he is doing. I want him to strive for excellence.
It is worth taking on a second job.

The diversion is over, sorry..Now, back to YOU.. Congrats to the fiance' for getting her masters! What did she get a masters in? Those places you stayed at and will stay at seem like a dream.. Shoot, i would like to go there with hubby to watch the whales! Shoot, we need to get away even without the whales!

Thanks for the update and let us know when you will be getting married!!

I am dying to know: IS YOUR FIANCE' A CONSERVATIVE????? ;-)

Mon Jun 05, 05:06:00 AM PDT  
Blogger A Jacksonian said...

Mr. Z - Thank you for the travelogue! The lack of photos is no worry as I have similar memories driving along the CA coast north of SF and south of same along the skyline drive (or whatever that highway in the clouds is called). Not exactly the same, but fond memories...

Rebecca - Wonderful to hear from you in any venue! And very happy for your children as they will now get the recognition of their capabilities that are truly deserved. Live life to the best you are able and that is its own, just reward.

As for me, I never bothered much with pictures as I knew that such would not matter. Either I would live until my entire mind could move to a new substrate and thus share directly, or I would not, in which case it is of no matter. Although gratitude goes to those uploading their family/travel/site shots to georeferenced picture collections. That is a gift to all humanity so we can see how things change at various places over time.

Mon Jun 05, 06:36:00 AM PDT  
Blogger Bloviating Zeppelin said...

Rebecca: Congrats on making the right decisions with the education of your children. It'll be tough now but neither you nor they will regret it later! She got her masters in Emergency Management -- kinda timely with all this FEMA and DHS stuff going on. And is she a conservative? Hmm. Initially, pretty much totally apolitical with, I sensed, a little Left leaning. Maybe I was wrong on that -- but in any event, she's finding my politics are kinda hard to ignore and, zounds, she revealed she reads my blog when she can. I'm finding she's a bit more Right than even she realizes. When the marriage? We're thinking maybe February or March of next year.

AJ: If you drove on Highway 1 north of San Francisco, you know what a great feast for the eyes it truly is. And I was just frustrated that I couldn't get Blogger to do WHAT I wanted WHEN I wanted.

BZ

Mon Jun 05, 04:03:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Rivka said...

a Jacksonian,
Great to hear from you as well!
;-) yes, we are going to give our one with autism a go at the private school. Academically he is smarter than 80% of his classmates, and needs more of an academic challenge, however his way and timing of intaking and learning is different than the typical child which may be a challenge for the private school. But if we work with them we think it won't be a problem. Our son has surprised us many times over.
Our eldest, with aspergers is sharp and has overcome most of the things that trip him up. He will do fine.

Great hearing from you and that you are still around in the sphere. That made my day!

BZ: Great to hear about your fiance's degree, how exciting! You are right, she couldn't have picked a better time. She sounds like a great match for you. being right and not even realizing it is a huge step forward. That usually means it is 'real' in her and not forged in order to win your affection.
Sounds like you made a wise choice with her.. Congrats again!

Gotta go, the lights keep flickering on and off for some reason.. hmm..
Oh well.. maybe it is the storm that is coming our way.. I better get off now.

Mon Jun 05, 07:22:00 PM PDT  
Blogger Dionne said...

Sounds like a great time!! Blogger has been ticking me off lately by being very difficult about posting pictures. Ugh......

Mon Jun 05, 09:17:00 PM PDT  

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