Slacking in the Summer

From Mike:

Well, it’s been a month since our last blog. I should have updated this thing two weeks ago, but for some reason I just haven’t gotten around to it. So you’re in for a long one…lucky you! Where do I start? Ah yes, July…

The weekend after I arrived back from DC, we drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park with a group of friends and went camping. It was a great time of fun and relaxation as Kelly, Beth, Carter, Amy, Jamila, James, James’ brother Tyler, and I sat around the campfire drinking beer, roasting marshmallows, telling scary stories, playing Catch Phrase, and trying not to laugh so loud as to draw attention from the campsite warden. The next morning we went for a short hike up to one of the many subalpine lakes in the park and made our way home afterward.

The following Wednesday was our third kickball game of the season. This is our second year being captains of our team, Just for Kicks. This year I got a bunch of co-workers to join and, despite our lack of skill, we have a great time getting outside and playing this underappreciated elementary school pastime. Thursday we drove up to Adam and Carolyn’s house to celebrate Brianna’s 2nd birthday. It’s amazing to realize she’s that old already! Kelly and I have loved watching her grow and develop her adorable personality. As Kelly constantly reminds me, she’s not a baby anymore…she’s a little girl!

The next day we flew to California for Ben and Nicole’s wedding. We flew into San Francisco, rented a car, and drove south to our hotel in San Jose. Kelly, Nathan and I awoke the next day ready to do a little wine-tasting. So we mapped out a few vineyards and were off. Our first stop, J Lohr, wasn’t actually a vineyard but they had a tasting room full of their wines, and that’s all we really cared about. They suggested a few other vineyards so we forwent our itinerary and decided to wing it. Our next stop took us up a winding road to Ridge Vineyards. This scenic winery sits atop one of the many hills in area and had incredible views of the valley to the east. Our third stop was to Cooper-Garrod Vineyards. This tasting room was on a large estate among several horse stables. Among the fields of grape vines were tables of people picnicking and fenced yards for horseback riding. On our way back to the car, Kelly got a chance to pet one of the horses who happened to be getting a bath. Our fourth and final vineyard was the Chateau Masson Mountain Winery. We were actually struggling to find the Cinnabar Winery when we stumbled upon this one. This winery is equipped with an outdoor amphitheater and also had great views of the valley to the east. Unfortunately their wine tasting was not free, so we didn’t spend much time here. We drove back into town, grabbed a late lunch at In-n-Out, and went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was at a vineyard in San Martin called Clos LaChance, (pronounced Kloe Luh-Shawnce for all you non-French-speaking readers) and was the most picturesque wedding we had ever been to! The ceremony was held outside on the grass facing blue sky, rolling hills, and grapevines as far as the eye could see…gorgeous! There was a 90-minute cocktail hour immediately after the ceremony in the Mulberry grove adjacent to the lawn. We sipped sangria and sampled fancy hors d’ oeuvres while chatting with the other guests and waiting for the newlyweds to finish their picture-taking session. Afterwards we all moved up to the winery’s large, ornately-decorated, stone patio for a delicious lamb dinner. (Kelly had the halibut) Of course, no wedding is complete without a little dancing, and apparently no wedding I go to is complete without me doing the Thriller dance, so I graciously stepped up and performed my rendition of MJ’s classic at the behest of the bride. This time was a little different though, because the DJs brought a full Michael Jackson costume! Although after closer examination of the nappy wig, I only had the courage to wear the sequined jacket. Overall it was a great night and we had a great time celebrating with the bride and groom.

The following day we drove back up to San Francisco to visit Tony and his sister Jamie. We arrived in town and Kelly directed me to Lombard Street, aka the most crooked street in the world. We then drove to Tony’s apartment in The Haight, met his charming girlfriend, Linda, and then drove to a nearby park for a free concert put on by the San Francisco Orchestra. That evening we picked up Jamie and Linda and went to Nettie’s Crab Shack for dinner were I enjoyed my very first whole-crab dinner! At first I was a little creeped out when they brought my crab and in its claw was the hammer I would be using to crack its body into little pieces. But I got over it and before long was happily devouring his innards with butter and a side of corn. Tony had to work the next day so Kelly and I went to Pier 39, saw the sea lions, ate clam chowder at a seaside restaurant, took a boat tour under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz, bought some chocolate at Ghirardelli Square, gaped at the crazy people swimming in the freezing bay waters, and laughed at all the tourists wearing sweatshirts that were obviously purchased at a local souvenir shop. For those of you who haven’t been yet, San Francisco is deceivingly cold so bundle up! That evening we went to one of Tony’s favorite restaurants for dinner called Magnolia and spent the rest of the evening playing guitar hero. The next morning we ate a delectable breakfast at Mama’s on Washington Square - one of the city’s most popular brunch restaurants. Then, we rushed to the airport and hopped on our plane back home.

We went camping with Beth, Tyler, James and Jamila the following Friday. This time we were in Peaceful Valley at Camp Dick. As usual, we enjoyed our time around the campfire eating gooey s’mores and answering get-to-know-you questions that Kelly had brought. The next morning we all went for a hike. After awhile Beth, Tyler, James and Jamila had to get home so Kelly and I went on ahead in search of an elusive reservoir that we saw on the trailhead map when we set out. After walking for two hours with no reservoir in sight, we turned around and came back to the campsite, utterly defeated. By that time it had started to sprinkle, so we ate a quick lunch and took a nap in the tent and waited for the rain to pass. Unfortunately the rain did not stop, so Kelly and I decided to come home a day early and went to a new BBQ place by our house. That Sunday we had dinner with Jeff and Renae Ramsey, one of the families we support through the Campus Crusade for Christ Ministry. We had never met them before, so it was great to meet them and get to know them better.

The following Wednesday Kelly, Beth, Carter and I went to the Counting Crows concert at Red Rocks. Although it was raining pretty much the entire time, it was a great show. They played with Augustana and instead of the usual format of having an opener and then the headliner, they played several songs together the whole time. Unfortunately, the ride home was not much fun. We ran out of gas on the exit ramp from eastbound I-70 onto southbound I-25 and were stuck in a precarious, and very dangerous spot in the road. After several calls to the police, the insurance company, and a tow company, we safely got the car to a gas station and all was well. However we didn’t get home that night until after 1am and were a bit tired the next day.

Last Saturday the non-profit organization I am involved with, Built on the Rock Education, had a meet-and-greet BBQ where we got a chance to introduce ourselves to the community, our friends, and our family and tell them about our vision for the organization. It was a great time of eating and playing games and although it wasn’t an official fundraiser, we got a lot of financial support to help us get going and brings us closer to our goal of building a school in Kenya. Praise God!

This week Kelly is in DC for a training class, so I have temporarily reverted to bachelorhood. She seems to be having a great time there visiting friends and getting pampered with a myriad of nice dinners and hotel amenities. Despite the amount of video-game playing I’m getting in, I’m excited for her to come home tomorrow.

Whew, you made it! It was a long journey, but it’s over now. Until next time!