Vacation!

Vacation!
All I ever wanted
Vacation!
Had to get away
Vacation!
Meant to be spent alone
--"Vacation," The GoGo's

Now I'm quoting the GoGo's. Its come to that. Darrell, LeeAnn and I saw the GoGo's in 1984, the peak of GoGo Mania. We were on the front row. I shook hands with Kathy Valentine, Austinite and the only true punk rock chick in the group (the rest were sissies). Darrell always laughed that goofy laugh of his when the Vacation video came on MTV and the drummer winked when the airplane took off. Good times...good times.

Anyway, moving back to this century, its vacation time again and you know what that means. Time to put on the baby blue sweater/jacket, special socks and aviator shades, rent a car I normally wouldn't be caught dead driving, and head out on the highway, rebel style (stopping for diet cokes and delicious yet sensible meals along the way). For you three regular readers, it means you get to read a bunch of weird, angry, spaced out blog entries that start off describing things I'm doing on vacation and quickly descend into rants about really important stuff. Like people going to SuperCuts or eating at Olive Garden or wearing items of leopard pring clothing, with an abundance of Top Gun, Dirty Dancing, Grease, and Godfather references. Usually I don't explain the Vietnam War or solve the energy crisis in vacation-era postings.

For you readers, its not so much about anything I say in these posts, its more about having fun watching what happens the longer I'm removed from daily human contact. The mind is a terrible thing to waste. But one of the six requirements for a perfect vacation is that I'm removed from the necessity of most human interaction thereby giving me an opportunity to "notice" things about people that normally elude me, and of course comment on them here. Hey, the GoGo's were right--vacation is meant to be spent alone. It also makes me kind of loopy after a bit though. Which is of course impossible to tell. [The other five criteria? 1. Has to be a cool weather venue. 2. Lots of "doing" things-no sitting on a beach. 3. Plenty of opportunities to wear the totally cool clothes I don't normally get to wear, like my 20 year old jeans with motor oil stains and my vintage Bad Company t-shirt (what? they're cool) 4. Total absence of soccer moms and mini vans. 5. time zone difference, making it difficult if not impossible for work to communicate with me].

Vacation begins September 5th this year, and I'm staying domestic after having gone to Argentina last year (next year, God willing, it will be Italy). First stop, fly into Oakland on the Southwest Screaming Baby/Cattle Car Express, and spending the night at Chez Ligocki. I love seeing my best friends Kimberly and Terry, and by that I mean, she promised to cook for me this time. Kimberly has mastered three difficult arts: religion writing, knitting, and cooking. Basically she's Yoda, Madame DuFarge, and Emeril in one person. I mean that as a compliment.

Second stop, drive in a rented convertible (which will probably wind up being some dreadful substitute that the rental car company will pawn off on me) to Lake Tahoe. Incline Village, Nevada, to be exact, where I've rented a small condo about two blocks from the lake. As usual, I have no idea what I'll do once I get there, although I aspire to spend every day hiking or kayaking or some other sort of solitary recreation, and every night recovering while eating and watching TV or blogging.

Five days or so later, I'll spend two days driving to Redwoods National Park, on the coast and near the Oregon border. This isn't the only place to find redwoods, but its one of the best. I'm staying at the Requa Inn, near Klamath, California. Again, lots of hiking among the redwoods and along the coast during the day, crashing at the hotel and stuffing myself at night. By this point I hope to be sick of the cold.

If I don't turn into some granola-chewing, water hoarding Northern California freak of nature, I'll then head down the coast, like Benjamin Braddock in the Graduate (except without Katherine Ross at the end of the road) barrelling down the 101, to Point Reyes National Seashore. The Ligockis introduced me to the beautiful Point Reyes peninsula. Scenically it reminds one of Ireland (or at least photos I've seen of Ireland), and while its nominally a national park, it retains the working towns founded before the park. One can find phenomenal dairies, wineries, shops and other great establishments all through the area. Cowgirl Creamery...the Olema Inn...aaaaahhhhhhhh....I'll be staying in the Point Reyes Seashore Lodge, and planning on, you guessed it, doing a lot of hiking.

Then I'll drive back to Pinole and the Ligocki residence, passing by San Quentin, and through lovely Richmond (the Pasadena, Texas of Northern California) along the way. Then after spending another night, hopefully taking a turn in the new jacuzzi tub (I like their collection of floatie toys), its back to God's Own Country and back to...ugh...work.

Any input or recommendations on specific things to do would be most welcome. Specifically, if anyone knows of any excellent hikes or drives in these areas, please be sure to comment or otherwise get in touch.

As for blogging during the trip, that's iffy. Certainly I'll post pictures every day to flickr (see link on the right). But as I won't spend much time around people, I won't have lots to say about their wacky foibles. As I've observed in the past, its difficult to go on at length about how pretty a mountain or a tree is. "Boy, the view was great. Really, really, great. It was like...totally...great." So there may not be blog entries every day like in past years. Unless something odd happens.

So check in early and often starting next week!

Next--Daily Affirmations Turns Two