Europe Baby!

10 of us tagged along with a hockey team in San Diego to play in two tournaments in Europe. The 20 of us made a few other stops along the way :)

As with all of my trips of late, it was unusually cold. We got snow of sleet every day while in the Netherlands.

First stop, Amsterdam. We stayed in a NH hotel in Zoetermeer, about 30 miles south of Amsterdam. It was nice and only a 300' walk to the train. We didn't actually do much in Zoetermeer. Cat and I did take a walk to an old windmill that has been converted into a bakery of sorts.

Amsterdam is as crazy and fun as you've heard. It seems like there is a coffeeshop or sex museum on every street corner. Ther Red Light District is almost comical. A window, 3 red lights, and a girl just sitting in the window waiting for someone to walk in. Next door, a church. It's a fun place but I think one and two day excursions will do.

We did stop in the Haag one day for lunch a tiny bit of site seeing. I loved the feel and want to get back to soak up more of this city.

Oh yea, the hockey team went undefeated in this tournament.

From Zoetermeer, we took a chartered by to Enchede ... more soon

Camping at Lake Hemet

I took Cody and Kayla to Lake Hemet to show that camping can be much more fun. It's just our luck that it was unseasonably cold again. We were better prepared and unseasonably cold was just temps down in the 40s.

We had a lot of fun.

3 Day Baja Cruise

Gene, Chris S, Chris K, Walter, and I took a 3 day cruise from Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico. Drinking is the only way to describe the events. It was a boys weekend and that's enough said.

Camping on Mount Laguna

Cody, Kayla, Laura, Paul, and I headed up to Mount Laguna for a weekend camping trip. Unexpected low temperatures add to the experience. I hope Cody and Kayla will go again. We weren't very well prepared.

Laura and Paul didn't get to the campsite until Cody and Kayla were already asleep in the tents. We huddled around the fire and had a little fun.

On Saturday, after breakfast, we took a nice hike around the lake. Kayla would tell you that it was a very long hike.

Saturday night was very cold. We spent the evening around the fire trying to convince the kids that it wasn't so bad. It got down to 18 during the night. We woke to find everything frozen solid.

Christmas Season

The Christmas Season is always busy but it was much busier this year.

Pre-Christmas in Arizona at Mom's.
It has become a tradition that we meet the weekend before Christmas at Mom's. It is much easier so Cody and Kayla can experience Christmas morning at home. Everyone had a good time.

Office Christmas Party.
The office party is always held at a nice location. LaCosta Resort and Spa was the spot of choice for 2007. I stayed two nights to enjoy the accommodations more thoroughly. I held a post party (as if we needed more to drink) in my room. About 25 people joined in the fun. Stephanie ordered room service since a few guests were in the mood for a snack. A few minutes later 20 large pizza were delivered. Needless to say, there was a little pizza left over = 17 pizzas? Room service, 20 large pizzas, ouch on the tab.

Christmas
Chris was home for Christmas this year. I don't suspect I'll be lucky enough to get many more of those. He does have his own life now ... Christmas Eve and Christmas morning were pretty typical. The day however was, different. I took Chris off-roading to a fun spot in Anza Borrego. We made a run up Lower Coyote Canyon. It's fun because you get a good taste of everything. We ran though desert, a reed-lined channel, and up a fun rocky wash. As Chris put it, "It's stupid, but some stupid things are still fun!" We had a good time.

Post-Christmas in Louisiana at Dad's.
Susan, Cody, and Kayla made the trip to Dad's this year. It made the event even more special. As usual each person made sure everyone had a good Christmas. Eventually it's got too slow down. We have everything we could want.

The highlight of the trip was Cody and Kayla learning to play in a slightly more rural environment. The open ditch evolved from a river to a lake after Chris and I constructed a cool little dam.

Halloween in Hawaii

It may sound like a strange reason to finally find myself in Hawaii, but Halloween in Lahaina is a blast! Jimbo, Cat, Kelly, and myself joined about 5,000 others for a little Halloween fun.

We rented a two bedroom condo about 500' from the beach. It was perfect. Jim and Cat make this trip often and have a few friends in town.

Apart from Halloween, we did find several opportunities to do some snorkeling and site seeing.

I'll be back!

Mojave Road

Gene and I got to Avi Casino around 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday. By 5:30 we had lost enough money to end our gambling for the day. I made up for a little of the losses at the buffet dinner. It was great, crab legs, shrimp, etc.

We met the other 25 vehicles at the casino at 8:00 on Saturday morning. We were on the trail by 8:40, only 10 minutes behind schedule. That is a real feat with 26 rigs.

Saturday was a little slow but the scenery was great. I got a little fed up with antenna problems on one or two of the rigs, but I always seem to let one thing bother me a little more than it should. Today it was the antennas.

Camping was great on Saturday night. We had a perfect spot at an elevation of 3750 feet. That means it was cool at night. I was sure it was going to be miserable. It is nice to be wrong sometimes.

Sunday was a fun day of driving. We saw a couple of sites, crossed a dry lake bed at 50 mph, raced through a few dunes, and explored some very interesting areas.
The picture may lead you to believe the trip was much different than it actually was ... that was the only water.

See Adventure 4x4 for more news on this trip!