In the interest of doing activities that are free and close by, the kids and I went to check out Alpine Skate Park in Ventura. It’s all housed within one building. They have a very large area to skate, a concert area, a gaming room and a place where the other people can hang out with some pretty great murals throughout. They also have a beauty parlor and a smallish store, but they weren’t open. They have free wireless. The evenings get quite hoppin with the odd and punk people in the area. Sadly, I had left but Devon reported that I would have loved it.
Devon took us there in his Thing. I haven’t been in a convertible anything in quite a while and it was fun for a short trip. Of course, I wasn’t in the back.
We ate at a nearby bar and grill where a man got kicked out for being disorderly during Happy Hour and trying to pick a fight. We ate Gator Eggs and extremely hot Hell-O sauce. The water tasted slightly of Sprite, which is so irritating. I want it to be either Sprite or water, not a sad, weak combination of both. The ice was the really good kind, though.
Tony and Tyler are both battling a bad and snotty cold. Today, both of their throats are yucky and they are hacking at each other and filling the entire trash bin with used tissues. So far this week we’ve gone through 5 tissue boxes. I’m kind of glad we aren’t traveling since they would be hating it, which means I would be hating it. But I’m still looking for something for next week. Something local-er than Oregon and Utah. Maybe Santa Barbara or San Diego. Hopefully something inexpensive due to someone else canceling at the last minute due to unexpected hardship. Not that I’m wishing hardship on anyone, Strike that. Let’s say they have to change plans because they just won the lottery and have so much paperwork to sign, they can’t possibly get away. Our vacation budget is quite small this year. And when I say small, I mean tiny. And when I say tiny, I mean pretty much there isn’t one. I mean, if you think about it, we can’t afford to go anywhere or eat out. Or for that matter, eat in.
Everyone, stop eating.
Because our vacation plans have been cancelled and changed about 20 times over the past week, I refuse to plan anything else ever again. Ever. I am not just a semi-planner. I am a Planner. I use an itinerary complete with maps, directions, phone numbers, approximate costs, highlights of the activity, expected weather and a packing list. And that is just the first 20 pages. I number the pages and create a Travel Book. This is so beyond just making plans. This is deep in the sad OCD place that drives those around me crazy. And because of the depths I go to to create these Travel Books, it is not a simple thing to just change plans. This makes me a pain. And I am sorry.
My daughter is….my daughter. She likes my Travel Books. She likes to see what we will be doing and who we will be doing it with. She would even like it better if I had the hours written down, but I only use generalized parts of the day, like ‘early morning’ and ‘after dinner.’ She is my spawn. She is the one hollering at everyone to get in the shower, to get out of the shower, to shower faster, to leave the door open so she can do her hair while they shower and to shut the door because the Axe in the air is killing her. She doesn’t mean to be bossy. She just knows the right way to do things and wants to help you to achieve your personal best. Huh. That sounds so familiar……
If we survive these two weeks with each other with no concrete ‘Vacation, Summer 2006’ plans and no money to do anything or go anywhere, we might just be translated and go straight to the Celestial Kingdom. And then I’d miss out on more of Alex with her permit, driving our huge and very heavy van in the same area as other cars. That are moving. Towards us. But, it’s a free activity, which makes it at the top of the list of things to do. Hold me.
If you like camping, Thornhill Broome and Sycamore Cove are both cheap and nice and close, but at the beach. I don’t know how booked up they are, though.
That skate park looks great. except I still think I would feel old there.
Wow. I didn’t even know we HAD a skate park, other than the concrete graffiti-covered thing over at Westpark, by my house.
I have done both kinds of trips – the planny kind and the total ignorance kind. When I went to Kauai, I had memorized the guidebook. I had a book, a plan, a map, Panama. I was relatively thwarted by 3 days of rain, which kept making me reschedule my helicopter tour. I was still so determined to go to the Beautiful Spot from the guidebook that I almost killed myself hiking down a slick clay path about 3 minutes after it had stopped raining. I started sliding and could not stop. Then I lost both shoes in the mud.
When I went to Oaxaca, I made certain not to know ANYTHING about it before I went. It was kind of fun to discover it as I went along, to bumble around and ask locals. I am sure I insulted the guy I asked “So what’s Monte Alban?” when it is one of the largest and best-developed archeological sites in Mexico, which is saying a lot.
Now I go on Chowhound.com, look for good restaurants, and leave it at that. I had to try and break the icy grip of my obsessiveness somehow. Now I wait til I get to the location to begin obsessing.
Wow. I thought I was the only crazy OCD person. I just made an “Operation Move” book that has every detail from bills to moving, transient time and new “home” schedule, phone lists, party lists and business cards. My husband thinks it has taken his place as permanent partner in the house. If the Book could talk and wasn’t so bumpy in bed it might be true.
I agree about the eating thing. If we could just stop eating, we would have SO much more money. But, then what would we do when we are lonely, sad, excited, anxious, frustrated, bored, aggrivated, disappointed, ambivalent, congested, tired, and breathing???
Good luck on your “local” vacation. We’ve had several. We always put in a low-ball offer on Priceline.com and then go stay in a shiny hotel in our same county with a swimming pool and movies on demand. It’s not the Oregon coast, but there’s a free shower cap in the bathroom, and who doesn’t need a free shower cap?
Ice. I love ice. In fact, I craved it whilst prego. I know, “they” say that means “something could be wrong”. It wasn’t. I’ve just always loved ice.
When my sister got here this week and she got some ice from our fridge door, she said “I really like this ice.”
Ice is a very important factor when you’re out and about, it gives your mouth something to do besides talking too much. Not to say you talk too much, but I do. I know I talk to much. Really, I do.
Newish drivers, very scary. I am “mentally” holding you. Can you tell? Because I am. Really, I am.