Other things I learned on vacation.....

[pat]

When brian1789 retires, he has a second career waiting as a tour director. He did such a wonderful job of planning activities and driving times that at no time the whole six days did we have to make a stop solely for someone to go to the bathroom.

Jefferey Pines smell like butterscotch.

The surest way to get me to do something (in this case, drive the narrow twisty road from Baldwin Beach north on Lake Tahoe) is to question whether or not I am capable of doing it.

I am in better aerobic shape than I was two years ago. I walked up the steep trail to the top of Devil's Postpile and only had to stop once to catch my breath. And I was the first person up the trail to the viewing area at Bridalveil Falls.

There is no limit to people's cupidity. In the early 1900s, there was an plan to blow up Devil's Postpile, and use the resulting huge columnar rocks to damn the river around Rainbow Falls for mining purposes. Fortunately, the government official sent to survey the area before approval was given (the area is in a National Forest) decided the plan was nuts and managed to rally support for saving the Postpile and Falls. President Taft made it a National Monument.

It's not easy being a ranger sometimes -- a child made some comment about President Bush wanting to save the wilderness. The ranger, a young guy with a goatee and a ponytail, opened his mouth, took a deep breath, then closed it and nodded and smiled without saying anything.

Slot machines are addictive -- but at least I realize that and limit my playing time and money. (Thanks to brian1789, we came out a whole three dollars ahead after our forays into the casino.)

Circus Circus has a whole area devoted to carnival type games for families. As brian1789 astutely pointed out, with their bright lights, bells and whistles, and irregular payoffs, they are essentially slot machines for kids. A little creepy, when you think of it.

I like my kids a lot -- except when they are sharing a car seat and picking at each other.

I really really want to go back to Bodie State Historical Park.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Jefferey Pines smell like butterscotch.

Some say pineapple. For me, it's vanilla. :)

And I'm going to assume "damn the river" was intentional. It works that way. :)

[frankenboob.livejournal.com]

SOOOO glad you all had fun on your family vacation! :^) Makes me happy to think of you all having a good time together.

Bodie is the ghost town, isn't it? When I was pregnant w/Claire, George and I spent a week at a lake out there & took some great b/w shots of (I think) Bodie.

Hugs to you!

[bdot.livejournal.com]

i'm glad you guys had a fun time. i certainly enjoyed the periodic posts from brian! almost like a vicarious vacation!

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

"Damn the river"? Um, yeh, I meant to do that :>

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

Bodie is the ghost town, yes. We wandered around for a while, until the whining children got to be too much -- then discovered we had been there for two hours!

[vokzal.livejournal.com]

Circus Circus has a whole area devoted to carnival type games for families. As brian1789 astutely pointed out, with their bright lights, bells and whistles, and irregular payoffs, they are essentially slot machines for kids. A little creepy, when you think of it.

If that's the same one I went to (and they all begin to blur after a while... it was one of the Luxor chain), what disturbed me even more was that they seemed to "payout" more than actual casino games.

Although it meant that all of us "adults" spent our time in that casino in the kid's section!