Summer travel and friends

Here's how my summer "fun" shaped up"

- My brother and sister-in-law came to visit for 6 days. It was the first "adult" vacation that he and I have had without the rest of the family. It was VERY fun and much needed. I'll be heading up to their place for Christmas, since they should have a one-month old little girl by then!

- I headed out to San Jose and spent a few days with a friend from band camp. It was a fast and furious vacation but I got to see San Jose, Monterrey and Carmel. We watched the sunset at Pebble Beach and enjoy just relaxing. I DO want to go back and do some exploring of the area.

- I drove up to Band Camp with fellow campers from the Oakland area. Road trips are much more fun with friends. I was hoping to see more parts of their world, but he had some business meetings to attend and so it wasn't possible. Maybe next time, I'll head back down to their neck of the woods after camp and see them.

- After camp was over, I spent one night in northern California with former camp buddies. They've built a BEAUTIFUL home with a great view just north of Mt. Shasta. The visit was brief and left me wanting more time with them. I hope they felt the same.

- I did get to go rafting with a friend; a calm few hours on the water with no huge rapids made for nice visiting time. The only bummer was that I had to replace the tire on the rental car after an unfortunate incident with a curb. BUMMER!

- I spent 2 days just chilling with great friends in Medford. (Stray Dog and his wonderful wife) They were getting prepared to fly out to visit family and brand new grandson (#9 - born on July 1: GREAT day!) so I tagged along for errands and shopping but they did take me into Jacksonville. I had NO idea how close it was to Medford/Ashland and will definitely explore more there in the future. I also got to meet their pastor and his wife. We had some wonderful conversation.

- The highlight of the Summer Sofa Bed tour was visiting Electric Clown and his fabulous wife out in Bend. We did some hiking/geo-caching, went on their sailboat and generally acted pretty silly. I hope to do it again sometime, if they'll have me back!

I think I may be home for the rest of the summer. I returned to find that my tenants/dog sitters were moving out the next day. I have a short weekend to Dallas planned for August (AdvoCare Success School) and my sister and her boyfriend are heading to Florida right after that. She's planning on coming here for one day to see the house (post re-model) and the dogs, but they are going to spend the majority of their vacation in Orlando at his parents' time-share.

The Virginia people are still hoping I'll make a trip up there this summer (I mentioned it) but I'd have to road-trip WITH the dogs and time it around their "family cruise" (which always seems to involve only one branch of the family....hmmmmm). If I take the Pastelitos, it would give me something to do when the drama gets too intense.

Or I could save the time, money and energy and just spend the rest of the summer in my pool.