The vacation so far (like, two-thirds of the way through).

Random note: most of this has been sitting in a Word document on my toolbar for about four days. Hooray motivation. Thanks to this there may also be typos I missed over the past days, so forgive me. Also, this is quite long; just a warning.

Lots of stuff has happened since I last gathered up the motivation to write on here (just had to quickly go check to see what the date was for the last post). So yeah, as likely discerned from the title of this, I am no longer in the bowels of the Midwest, if only for a little while. After saving up mucho dinero this summer I was able to spend it on a few flights and have enough left over for the usual shopping and gift buying one feels almost obligated to do while away to somewhere. One thing I fortunately do not have to worry about is hotels, thanks to having some connections out here in the Golden State.

Side note: While my job was by no means terrible and I was very thankful to be able to get it, what with the terrible market and all, I think this song very accurately describes my feelings for it. Despite it being about cubicle work and my being at a Subway. Moving on.

First stop on the trip o’ fun was a night stay in Las Vegas. I can hear it now: “Oh, Sin City. Play any slots, get wasted, grab any ladies of the night, reenact the comedy classic ‘The Hangover’?” As a matter of fact, no to all four: grandparents living in Vegas meant a free bed, happy grandparents who haven’t really seen me in a two years, and none of that old Vegas fun.

Then it was time to arrive in Stockton, CA. It was pretty dang boring, but luckily I spent a grand total of ten minutes there. Ashley and Troy (aka sister and brother-in-law) picked me up can brought me back to Natomas, a suburb of Sacramento. There I got to enjoy the best fast-food burger ever: In-N-Out. I have not enjoyed this succulent meal in two years, and it was well worth the wait. I will be said once I am unable to have this on my beck and call again. After lunch it was time for hanging out and relaxing for a few hours, and then heading down to Oakland.

Oakland was good stuff. It has been a very long time since I was in a city of any sort for a extended period of time, and so walking around and enjoying the sights and sounds was definitely one of the highlights. The first day down there involved walking around the area of Berkeley and wandering into a variety of shops, from which I acquired some sweet gifts and an awesome MCS shirt. The others days down there included a nice day of relaxation, seeing Inception again (in Imax quality sound and picture - good stuff), and of course swinging by the City, aka San Francisco. Overall a fun time, and a good way to see my old friend Rachel and her fiancé Katie.

Leaving is it own fun little story. I had to get outta the apartment early because the two had work/classes, so I was walking down to the nice part of Oakland by 8 AM. My sister was not going to be able to pick me up until 2 PM though, leaving me a ton of time. After hitting up a café for an awesome omelet and scone for a fair price, I walked down the street toward Berkeley for about and hour and a half. With my music playing, my suitcase behind me, and my messenger bag firmly over my shoulders, it was a nice time to relax and think while enjoying the morning. I finally reached the coffee house that I had been told had free internet, and proceeded to goof around online and play my DS until my sister arrived.

Since getting up here to Natomas I have had a fantastic time also. Ashley and Troy are big into TV (opposite of me) and movies, so they have been catching me up on things they like. I will admit, I have liked the sitcoms they have shown me, so I may have to try and watch these during the school year if possible. Other than that we have been trying to keep busy with things we all enjoy; one day we went to an old fort and wandered downtown Sacramento some before going bike shopping for them. It was on this trip we found a fantastic little hole-in-the-wall place that had good plentiful food for cheap prices. Definitely was worth the chance of trying, and they agreed they would hit it up whenever they were in the area. We also went and wandered downtown Davis for an afternoon, which allowed for much fun in wandering into shops and searching for things. Also, we saw Dinner for Schmucks, and I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would. Definitely a rental, or Palace movie if you’re a Springfieldian reading. Aside from this and grabbing a new DS game I can’t say there has been a lot of note, just hanging out and enjoying my vacation. Tomorrow is Ashley’s birthday, so we will be going up to Lake Tahoe; I have never been, but I have heard that it is beautiful, so I am excited.