People who dress their dogs…

So I'm finally back from my vacation, and I'm sad to say that I'm finally back from my vacation. At least I am comforted by the fact that a day after I returned Vancouver weather turned cloudy, rainy, and cold. Just what you'd expect in the middle of July.

It's actually kind of funny. I planned a vacation to California for, among other reasons, to make sure that I got a solid amount of time in the sun this summer. I bought tickets in mid-june, and by late-july when I left, it had been warm and sunny here nearly every day for a month.

So I got to California, not really needing sun that much, which caused me to take it for granted…

...only to get back home and find it all dreary. Bummer. Not to worry though, the sun will be back here in no time and the summer sun-quota will be met to be sure.

The trip was fun. It was one of those "male-bonding" trips, which explains why most of the pictures are of me and my friends Luke (the beard) and Mike (the one that looks exactly like me). It also explains why I didn't go to my hometown or to Chico or to stop and see anyone who may or may not live less than an hour away from Fresno (we were only there for four hours, all of which involved Luke bonding with his 6-month old little Maia. Yay Maia!).

We were actually lucky that I was able to come down, and that Luke and Mike's wives let them go on a 5 day vacation even with little ones at home. Thanks girls; that meant the world.

I did the Northern California costal tour – San Francisco to San Luis Obispo to Auburn and back to San Francisco again. It involved a fair amount of shenanigans and a plentiful amount of Taco Bell and authentic Tex-Mex, which I needed badly.

We also got some spiritual food, reading Henry Nouwen's, Can You Drink this Cup. I highly recommend, if you're ready to completely change your perspective on, well, everything. I may write more on that later

Some other fun stuff, in bullet points:

• A woman on the plane who carried her dog, on the plane, in a purse. She got yelled at by the flight attendant to keep it under the seat. I can't even seriously believe they allow people to bring mini-dogs on planes.
  
• We learned that I am "Dan the re-do" guy. That describing an aspect of my buyer's remorse. Apparently I do that with everything, even ordering a milkshake. I don't mind, it's funny.
  
• The California air combined with a lack of any other exercise options inspired me to jog every day. I made it to 2.4 miles on my last day, the farthest I've jogged in years. I was helped by the new kicks that mike convinced me to buy at Ross for only $30.
  
• On a separate trip to another Ross (mike loves Ross) I found the big brother companion to my carry-on luggage. I was ecstatic. It's the coolest luggage ever because it has 4 wheels which means you can drag it or put it in front of you and push it. I don't know why this hasn't caught with other luggage brands.
  
• Mike and I look pretty similar in pictures (at least we used to). We've had some humorous debacles surrounding this over the years, like the time that Mike had a picture of him in his house that he thought was me, or the time his wife came up and gave me a hug while saying, "hey baby", and I screamed and ran away like a little girl. Anyway to have some more fun with that on this trip we switched driver's licences and tried to see how many Bars we could get into before we got caught. We got let into about 6 inside of 20 minutes and nobody even flinched an eyelash (we didn't do anything in the bars… we just got in and left for another one).
  
• We made a pact that when we're late-middle-aged men before we go out in public we will consult with college-aged people regarding our fashion. Don't ask me why.
  
• For reasons beyond comprehension, I flicked a container of ranch all over luke somehow (I think there's a picture of that in there somewhere). This resulted in Luke chasing me around the streets of SLO with a gob of ranch on his finger. I escaped him by hiding near the bubble gum wall!
  
• I found a tasty Blended chai drink that tastes like pumpkin pie.
  

Speaking of pictures, here are my faves, to keep with the 5 pics per post rule, I can only post 4 here, you can catch the rest on the picasa page, if you're into that sort of thing.

San Francisco. this guy came out of nowhere. He was friendly. And scary.

San Mateo. Meeting Addison Wilhelms for the first time. She was crazy chill, just like her dad.

I think this is the best pic of the trip. Maybe. I brought the camera, but Mike is the best photographer. By the way that's Maia. Yay! Maia!

speaking of good pics… I took this one.

Sometimes Mike gets confused about whether or not he's five.

Met up with my mom and Aunt Susie on the way back to Vancouver at the In and Out near the airport. Sweet.

Finally… I know, I'm over the limit…

four-wheel brother and sister luggage and a bear. What a score. I now love Ross too.

The rest are here.