The week after the fam left I was supposed to be studying for my California State Fire/Casualty Broker Licensing exam. Instead I procrastinated, just like college all over again. On that Monday night, the 13th, I drove up to Santa Barbara. I stayed at a Motel6 and watched E! tv for 4 hours. It's crazy what people will do to avoid studying. Tuesday morning I had to work at a client in Santa Barbara and then drive back home in the evening. I couldn't tell you what I did the rest of the week, but it probably had to do with avoiding studying.
Friday after work I drove down to Huntington Beach. I strolled down Main Street, bought a pair of board shorts, and enjoyed the tourist watching. Friday night Dave, Bobby, and I drove to Phoenix. It was great to be back on the road again. In Phoenix we were staying at Dave's cousin Zach's place. Saturday we were to float down the Salt River (http://www.saltrivertubing.com/), and Sunday hang out before driving back. Keep in mind that I have a huge exam Monday. So out of character for me, but sometimes you just have to live in the moment. Here are some details on the Phoenix trip. sorry for the lack of pictures, but we didn't bring cameras out on the river.
The River: We arrived in Phoenix pretty late on Friday night/Saturday morning and headed to Zach's apartment to crash. Saturday morning we drove to Scottsdale to pick up Zach's friend Doye and go out to breakfast. We went to a diner called Coney Island where all the waitresses knew Zach and Doye. Zach was telling us that he can't leave this place without giving the waitress a hug. On the way out the cougar waitress made us all give her hugs. Bobby was able to escape, but not for long. We were halfway to the car in the parking lot when the waitress came running out the door yelling "hey green shorts, don't think you can get away from me!" She got him.
We took the drive through the desert to get to the tubing place. We filled up our faderades and rented some tubes. Next we loaded our tubes onto the bus and took the crazy busride up to the drop point. We tied our 5 tubes in a circle around our cooler and waded into the river. The next 5 hours were the greatest mix of insanity and relaxation I've ever experienced. We don't have any photographic evidence, but that would have been nice. Did I mention it was Mardi Gras theme weekend out on the river? Halfway through we hit some rapids and lost our cooler. Bobby the lifeguard was able to swim ahead and salvage some refreshments, but all was pretty much lost. Thankfully Zach loaded lunch into a backpack instead of the cooler. Soon after we stopped to eat. We climbed a 20 foot hill that overlooked the river, it was pretty sweet. It was also 110+ degrees out.
We jumped back into the lazy river and floated towards the finish. Just before the end there is a cliff that is perfect for cliff diving. The problem is you have to do a little bit of rock climbing to get to the cliff. Bobby and I headed up barefoot just for the extra challenge. We were followed by Zach and Doye while Dave sacrificed himself to watch the tubes. Doye, Zach, and Bobby all jumped. I was up next, can't wuss out now, time to live in the moment. The river was the highlight of my summer.
After the river we drove back into Phoenix, exhausted. We ate at a place called Philly's where Zach's roommate Annie works. The greasy food was a great pick-me-up. We drove back to the apartment to relax before having some of Zach's friends over. I slept very well that night. Sunday morning we woke up and drove to Chipotle for brunch. After Chipotle we relaxed by the pool where I started studying. Next we hit up 7-11 for slurpees before getting on the road. I studied for as long as I could in the car. We got back into Huntington around 10 and I had to drive back to LA. Of course there is traffic on the 405 at 10:30 at night, so I didn't get in and settled until after 11:30. Study or sleep? The age old question that every college student faces before every exam. At this point the sun had zapped my energy, I had been in a car 7+ hours, and I could barely keep my eyes open. Sleep won.
I woke up late the next morning, around 8:30. The exam was at 1, better start studying. I crammed for a few hours and drove to downtown LA. I took the test and was very nervous because the exam results come in very quick. If I fail this exam I don't know what will happen at work. I went to the waiting room, the lady came out moments later and called my name. She gave me my results, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and I passed! Gotta love living in the moment.
Let's keep this thing going...That Monday I went to a softball team tryout in West Hollywood. There were literally transvestites in the outfield. The worst part was that 30 guys showed up to try out for 2 roster spots. What a waste of time. Thankfully later that week 2 other teams called and asked me to join there teams. That Friday I went to play for one team and had a decent night going 3-5 at the plate with an RBI and 2 runs scored. In the field I had a few put outs with one error (I lost the ball in the lights).
The next week of work was pretty crazy. I won't go into details, but I do have some good stories if you're interested. Give me a call. This past Friday night I went to scrimmage number 2 for the Friday night team. I ended up 1-1 with 3 walks, an RBI, and 3 runs scored. In the field I did much better because I wore my glasses. Wow, I never wear my glasses, it's crazy, everything is in HD! I felt like a superhero with the power of 20-20 vision. I made all my catches in left field and even had an outfield assist, gunning a guy out at third. We ended up losing, but hey, it's just practice. First games of softball start this week. I play Thursdays and Friday nights.
Well, this takes us all the way to August 31st, so I will continue with September in my next post. Signing off- Dmatti.
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