Santa Cruz with Eileen, Victor and Linzy and... home again

After a drive up California, passing many farms which posted bills complaining of Congressional stipulations which restricted their water usage, we made it to Santa Cruz.  Eileen served us warm Green tea, I saw Victor for the first time since he was 3 years old, and met Eileen's wonderful husband Linzy.  We felt like we were home away from home, relaxing over conversation and learning all about Victor's advanced studies in mathematics, his skills in reeded instruments, and drumline!  We fell asleep after watching an old movie.

We woke early, to get Victor to school and to get on to Santa Clara.  Eileen prepared a lovely breakfast and coffee.  Kiril dropped me off at San Jose airport, and we parted after a very lengthy goodbye.  What a surprise that there would be such a flux of allergens that time, as both of our eyes were watering beyond control.  So many hugs and talks of visits and convincing arguments to move to the west coast.

West Coast! Newport Beach and Malibu with Dave and Uncle Steve

We touched the Pacific!  Dave walked us to Alta coffee for some tasty breakfast morsels and coffee, where we talked about the risks of small business endeavors, living the life in Newport Beach, and managing money when you start your first job.  We walked over to the beach and marveled at pelicans, giggled at bars opening at 6am (the Beach Ball!) and carried the weight of the world on our shoulders.

We gave hugs and headed out to Malibu for lunch with Uncle Steve at Cholada Thai.  We chatted over the finer points of comedy, working east coast hours on the west coast, and caught up on family gossip.

We left Malibu and headed for Santa Cruz to see Eileen, Linzy, and Victor.

Hoover Dam and Newport Beach with Dave & Will

We said our goodbyes to Arizona and the Reese's, who were also busy in a flurry of packing themselves to hop on a redeye out of Vegas for a wedding back in Virginia.  We were so thankful to have them as hosts and it was hard to leave.  Jennifer is one of my best friends.  We used to see each other nearly every day when we both lived in Virginia.  I never feel like we have enough time together.  Jenn and Craig did so much to make sure that all of us had a good time.  You guys are the best.

We headed to the Hoover Dam and stopped for some epic pictures.  They say if you rub the toes of the Angels, it brings good luck.

We made it to Newport Beach in time for dinner with Dave and Will.  They took us by boat to Sol Cocina for Taco Tuesday!  Kiril piloted the Duffy boat most of the way :)

The view from Dave and Will's place is awesome!

Day of Rest at Lake Havasu with Jennifer, Craig, and Jacob

After the evening shenanigans, folks were slow to rise in the Reese household.  Jacob and I were first up, but I wouldn't say I was actually awake.  As Craig says, I am a "rank amateur" when it comes to parties.  We hunted for coffee or other hangover curing agents.  Our shuffling woke up Flash, the resident Whippet, and Lakota, the resident 14-yr old greyhound.  Jennifer put a pot of coffee on with one eye open, and went back to snooze while Craig, Jacob and I recounted the evening and made plans for the day out on the back patio in the cool morning breeze.  

Not too long after, Jennifer and Kiril joined us.  Jennifer and Craig put together a fabulous breakfast of chorizo, pepper-jack scramble, toast, hash brown, and bacon.  We had a variety of spicy accoutrement for the eggs and some prickly-pear jam for the toast.  We felt human again.

From late morning to early afternoon, we hopped around to various spots for libations at the Reese's local favorite watering holes.  We also gawked at the California transplants who were on the lake for spring break in bikinis and on expensive boats with obnoxious sound systems.  We tried to head to Fox's, a floating bar, but our relative patience for traffic was trumped by our desire for fun.  We headed to the Naked Turtle instead, which took us over the London Bridge and on to the "island" in the lake.  

We were all piled up in Craig's F350 diesel.  He was sweet enough to be our designated driver for our day out.  Thanks, Dirtbike Dad!

The view from the Turtle is beautiful.  There are slips for boaters to dock for lunch, and also a beach for party goers.  While gawking and the tourists, we were entertained regularly. The gem for the day was from one of the college kids who held up his arms and announced that he planned to get "spreading jealousy" tattooed on his "guns", spoken in true Jersey Shore form.

We had a great view of the lake and enjoyed a few drinks while basking in the sun.

Next stop was the Javalina for prickly pear margaritas.  We also munched on guacamole while we enjoyed the view of the canal.  It was there that the inspiration for the rest of the day was borne.  We were going to hot-dog it on jet skis.

We headed to the ER Lounge to visit with bartender Dave before heading out to the lake.  Jacob thought the logo looked a lot like Jessica Rabbit.  Kiril had not been on jet skis before and was asking us a lot of questions about it.  So, Craig called the local shop he's rented from before and they had skis available.  

We put our suits on, picked up some single-use 35mm film waterproof housed cameras from Bashas, and headed over to the Wet Monkey to rent two skis.  Jacob started on one, and I operated the other with Kiril as my passenger so he could get the feel for the ride and the controls.  Once we exited the no wake zone, I    looked back to Kiril and said, "give me a bear hug and hold on tight!"  Jacob and I gunned it and high-tailed around the island.  We found a cove where there were some party goers, but it was a meatmarket, so the boys wanted to try another spot.  We cruised to a nearby beach to take a quick break, and I switched up with Kiril so he could drive.  Timid at first, I gave him some brief instruction, showed him a few easy tricks, and most importantly, what to look out for on the lake.  He had the hang of it in no time.  To give him a break from Miss Bossypants Backseat Driver, I hopped on to the other ski with Jacob so Kiril could tear it up.  Our once timid, reserved soul was careening across the lake grinning and hollering while pumping his fist in the air.   For a moment, I thought I saw a glimmer of evil when I hopped on the ski with Jacob.  For 45 min, he did his best to buck me off the back of the ski into the lake.  45 min was all it took!  

Once back at the Reese's, we enjoyed resting and chatting about our adventures and jetski purchasing missions over more barley sodas.  Jen and Craig had gone to their favorite Carnacia and picked up pollo and carne asada to grill for dinner.  We ate and chilled by the firepit.  We planned our next visits, lamenting our departure.  We gave hugs.  Jacob headed back to Tucson after dinner and Kiril stayed up until the wee hours chatting with Craig.  It just goes to show you that there is nothing better than good friends.  

Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon

Kiril and I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and left our lovely Albuquerque hotel room for a new adventure in our nation's national park system.  First we stopped for lunch in Flagstaff, AZ at Macy's European Coffee House Bakery & Vegetarian Restaurant.  It was a popular place close to Northern Arizona University, with a lot of environmentally conscious folks and a street musician tooting her horn for some local children.  We had a cafe mocha and people watched while we waited for our lunch.  The chef yells your name as he brings the food out into the rustic restaurant.  Kiril enjoyed a BLT sandwich, which had some curiously smoky tasting tofubacon.  I munched on a mozzarella basil half sandwich and the most tasty tortilla soup with so many rich flavors it is like a lime-y mexicali party on your tongue.

After our lovely rest in Flagstaff and some enjoyable people-watching, we headed north to the Grand Canyon.  No picture can do this beautiful place justice.  You have to see it for yourself.

This is as precarious a spot as it looks.

In the picture below, Kiril is in the very center of the photo waving to the camera.

We stopped at each of the overlooks along the 15 mile route at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.  At one of the overlooks, there was an immediate dropoff that we took photos sitting at the edge.  One of the fellow visitors told us we were scaring him, so we had him take our photo a little closer to the parking area.

After we filled our canteens with fresh spring water from the Canyon, we got back on the road and talked all about our next visit.  What better way to really see the canyon that to hike it.  That will be next.  We fed the gerbils powering the Corolla, waved to our Pod trailer as we drove south to Lake Havasu City, AZ to stay with the Reese's.

We arrived in Havasu around 6pm pst, after a long day of driving and sight-seeing.  Jennifer and Craig greeted us at the door with barley sodas and open-faced turkey sandwiches.  They say southern hospitality is the best, but there is nothing like seeing good friends again.  Jacob arrived not long after us.  We drank outside around a fire pit, and indoctrinated Kiril and Jacob into the group.  This includes, but is not limited  to, inebriated MadLibs, embarrassing stories, and some unique forms of flattery via verbal assault.  Tomorrow we have no driving scheduled, just visiting the local spots in Havasu and spending some time on the lake.