Notes on this weekend
What a wonderful weekend! Fine company, great food, nice area, and lots of fun. My heartfelt thanks to Schizo_Wolf and TazzieTiger!
Friday: Drove down after work. Not a bad drive, and went quicker than I expected. Explored a new route that shaved 13 miles off the trip. Also drove through Santa Barbara and reminisced about coming down to visit friends going to UCSB. Dorms, giant LAN parties, and taking advantage of the university's high-speed Internet connection. Ahh, the memories... I felt sad about those lost days driving down there to visit friends, until I remembered that I was right then driving down there to visit friends. Yeah, I'm kinda dumb. :)
Saturday: Excellent crepes made by Schizo for breakfast. Explored a mall, and downtown Ventura and its many fine stores. Looked at guns in a military surplus store, got some blue cream soda at Rocket Fizz and went through a farmer's market. Afterwards had a delicious vegetable stir fry for lunch, then went back to their place. After lounging and hanging around we got to talking to games, and I mentioned Small World. We went out to procure said game at a local comics shop with a friendly owner. I bought Magic cards that I hope to use (if I ever find the rest of my cards... argh!), and we got pizza on the way back to eat while watching Animaniacs. Unlike other childhood shows I've tried to re-watch, that one held up pretty well.
Small World was played, fun was had and even though I was the only one of us that had played before Schizo handed my well-spanked butt to me on a platter. Tazzie's brother and GF showed up and played against them in 2 vs. 2 beer pong while I observed, and we tried a quick D&D board game made much quicker by our immediately being raped. I sat on a fun-sized Snickers and it melted, fortunately inside the wrapper. After that we went to bed.
Sunday: More crepes for breakfast. Why was I never told how amazing these are before, and why have I ever eaten anything else? With fresh strawberries and something called cookie butter they're divine. Learned another new way coffee can be brewed. Went on a disappointing trip to Costco, did some other shopping, and had a delicious lunch at a Thai place. I need to have Thai food more often. Mental note: Schizo cooks scrumptious things and Tazzie knows amazing restaurants; dieting will be temporarily suspended when visiting them. Returned to their place and chatted awhile before I went on my way.
The drive back was hazy but pretty. More memories of previous drives home on the same road after other weekend trips visiting friends long ago. I made good time despite a long stop at Chipotle for dinner, made long because I was in line behind a busload of army guys on their way somewhere. Despite a large soda I didn't have to stop for a bathroom on the way home, how I managed that is a mystery. Fortunately Raz_Raccoon called and the miles just swept by while we talked. He's a really nice guy and I can't wait to meet him at Califur in two and a half weeks! (And I won't dump ice in his crotch or leave him in a Compton gutter unless he really deserves it. ;) Got home and found my brand new Portal gun waiting for me!
All in all a fantastic weekend, and I want to have more like it! It really was the perfect blend of doing things and relaxing; I never felt rushed or bored, it was just right. Thank you so much Tazzie and Schizo! You're good hosts and friends, and I definitely want to come visit again. :) (With my Magic cards, dammit!) And thank you Raz for making the most boring part of my drive home fly by, I really enjoyed talking to you and can't wait to meet you. :)
Friday: Drove down after work. Not a bad drive, and went quicker than I expected. Explored a new route that shaved 13 miles off the trip. Also drove through Santa Barbara and reminisced about coming down to visit friends going to UCSB. Dorms, giant LAN parties, and taking advantage of the university's high-speed Internet connection. Ahh, the memories... I felt sad about those lost days driving down there to visit friends, until I remembered that I was right then driving down there to visit friends. Yeah, I'm kinda dumb. :)
Saturday: Excellent crepes made by Schizo for breakfast. Explored a mall, and downtown Ventura and its many fine stores. Looked at guns in a military surplus store, got some blue cream soda at Rocket Fizz and went through a farmer's market. Afterwards had a delicious vegetable stir fry for lunch, then went back to their place. After lounging and hanging around we got to talking to games, and I mentioned Small World. We went out to procure said game at a local comics shop with a friendly owner. I bought Magic cards that I hope to use (if I ever find the rest of my cards... argh!), and we got pizza on the way back to eat while watching Animaniacs. Unlike other childhood shows I've tried to re-watch, that one held up pretty well.
Small World was played, fun was had and even though I was the only one of us that had played before Schizo handed my well-spanked butt to me on a platter. Tazzie's brother and GF showed up and played against them in 2 vs. 2 beer pong while I observed, and we tried a quick D&D board game made much quicker by our immediately being raped. I sat on a fun-sized Snickers and it melted, fortunately inside the wrapper. After that we went to bed.
Sunday: More crepes for breakfast. Why was I never told how amazing these are before, and why have I ever eaten anything else? With fresh strawberries and something called cookie butter they're divine. Learned another new way coffee can be brewed. Went on a disappointing trip to Costco, did some other shopping, and had a delicious lunch at a Thai place. I need to have Thai food more often. Mental note: Schizo cooks scrumptious things and Tazzie knows amazing restaurants; dieting will be temporarily suspended when visiting them. Returned to their place and chatted awhile before I went on my way.
The drive back was hazy but pretty. More memories of previous drives home on the same road after other weekend trips visiting friends long ago. I made good time despite a long stop at Chipotle for dinner, made long because I was in line behind a busload of army guys on their way somewhere. Despite a large soda I didn't have to stop for a bathroom on the way home, how I managed that is a mystery. Fortunately Raz_Raccoon called and the miles just swept by while we talked. He's a really nice guy and I can't wait to meet him at Califur in two and a half weeks! (And I won't dump ice in his crotch or leave him in a Compton gutter unless he really deserves it. ;) Got home and found my brand new Portal gun waiting for me!
All in all a fantastic weekend, and I want to have more like it! It really was the perfect blend of doing things and relaxing; I never felt rushed or bored, it was just right. Thank you so much Tazzie and Schizo! You're good hosts and friends, and I definitely want to come visit again. :) (With my Magic cards, dammit!) And thank you Raz for making the most boring part of my drive home fly by, I really enjoyed talking to you and can't wait to meet you. :)