We went on the O’Neil Catamaran in Santa Cruz with Mayfield and it was a really nice time. We saw harbor seals on our way out of the harbor, then otters around the kelp beds. We made our way over to the Santa Cruz pier, and it was of course covered with Sea Lions. We then headed out to deeper water, and saw a number of humpbacks. They were very pretty. We had a pretty relaxing time, and it was nice to talk to Mark, Hai, KJ, and Michael.
Steph and I went to Lindsay and Kevin’s place to join them for the newlywed’s game. Jamie and Leyan, Andrew and Debby, as well as Alana and Haru joined. Stephanie and I were doing really well, but the others were able to catch up, and we went into overtime. Haru and Alana, Kevin and Lindsay, vs Steph and I. In overtime Steph and I got eliminated early, then the other two couples had a lot of tied rounds. I don’t recall the final winner, but everyone was having a good time. Debby and Andrew were surprisingly bad at it this time, especially considering they won the previous time we did this.
I’m leaving all the work stuff out as usual, but there was plenty of fun that didn’t involve work. Some of us hit up the hot tub before going out for the evening. After getting out a lot of us were just hanging out and drinking near one of the craps tables that the others were playing at. It was a lot of fun, especially with the faux bachelor party bets that Cory and I were making. I bought a tiara that said “Birthday Girl” on it and whoever lost a given bet had to wear it. The bets ranged from who would do something first, to hi/lo, to even/odd, to challenges. I think we ended up with Cory having a slight lead, despite him ending the night with the tiara.
Stephanie got there Friday evening and we relaxed in the room for a bit before joining the others at dinner. It was a nice event, and brunch the next day was also pretty good. We went to see one of the most amazing shows I’ve ever been to, O. The whole thing was in a giant tank of water, and they used it to full effect.
We flew back on Sunday and didn’t do anything for the rest of the day.
Tina, Adam, George, Steph and I played a game called Battlestations. It is a turn based space RPG. I was a flying spaghetti monster engineer and died almost immediately. We ended up completing the scenario, but just barely. George made a masterful roll that kept us from blowing up, but we really should have all died instead of just me. The good side of me dying is that my clone now outranks all of them.
Steph and I had an amazing dinner at the Plumed Horse in Saratoga for her birthday.
We got the amazing tasting menu with the wine pairing. Not only was the meal fantastic, but the conversation was very substantive. I think this birthday dinner brought us together in many ways.
Steph and I joined Jeremy, Lindsay, Kevin, Adam, George, Andrew, and Debby at the Ren Fair near Casa De Fruita. It was a pretty good time with lots of weapon throwing and food. Kevin and I did really well in the javelin toss, with most of the others not being able to make it stick consistently. On the axe throw I was brazenly overconfident, thinking I could get 8/20 but only got 2. I’d be up for going back and renting a nice costume for the occasion. Adam got a pretty epic beard braid and ribbon. George rocked at the throwing stars.
Steph and I went to Kim’s wedding, and it was lovely. I got to see relatives that I hadn’t seen in a long time. Most people look like they are doing well, but age is really showing for most of them. It was amazing to see my mom all done up, and Kim looked really good in her dress. I ate too much because the food was delicious, and I drank too much because they didn’t have anything caffeinated, just alcoholic. We got there 6:30 Saturday and left 7:30 Sunday. I enjoyed it and am really thankful for Jeff putting us up and driving us, as well as for Steph being willing to go, despite it being a terrible style of travel for her.
Steph and I met up with Andrew, Debby, Lindsay, and Kevin in Big Basin for a great weekend of camping. The first night we played some mtg, and had smores around the fire. The next day we started with a short hike to the park center, and did the loop around the biggest trees. We had a lunch at the trading post. After that Andrew and Kevin went back to the camp site, and the rest of us went on a longer hike. We planned to go to Berry Falls, and then take the mountain trail back. We ended up hiking too far past the falls and missing the trail back, this led to a hike about 4 miles further than was planned. Lindsay and Debby were having trouble with the hike, but we made it back just about 30 minutes after we had planned. We had a nice relaxing night with more smores, and headed out the next day. Steph’s car had a flat so we had to replace it with the spare and then drive out through the crazy narrow windy road.
Stephanie and I had a great time at the next survival class, Traps and Snares. Kaijen joined us and it turned out to just be the three of us in the class. This is our second class with the company and it was great. We might go back and do class 1 again, and bring along some of our friends. I’m really looking forward to the stone tools workshop, as that will be a skill that I could use while camping and it would be really fun. Stephanie had a little trouble with the first traps, but she rocked out the more complicated ones, especially the snare. I was able to get the traps set up, but mine weren’t very sensitive. I can certainly understand what the teacher was saying about having to make a ton of these traps before you can be reliably able to catch things with them.
It's an Exciting World 