I Saw a Monkey
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds, Bob and I took a special drive all the way to Palm Springs to meet up with a monkey on Monday, February 12. That morning we left Las Vegas after a hearty breakfast buffet at the hotel and headed back to his place in San Bernardino. On the way, we made a pit stop at Hadley’s, where he bought me my first date shake. It was much, much tastier than it sounds. After another brief stop at his house, and then running a red light and nearly getting creamed by a passing car, we headed to Palm Springs to see a monkey. Read the rest of this entry »
For some strange reason, I was hesitant to advance to a full week outdoors at Camp Woodland Altars after my years in the Junior Lodge were done. In 1984, I actually attended the junior high lodge camp…and was one of only three boys. In 1985, I found a great compromise. Eco Adventures was a camp that was based out of the new Sugar Grove Lodge, but centered around activities outdoors (ie. hiking, streaming, climbing, and caving). So this was where I went to camp from July 14-20, 1985. 
I guess if you had asked me yesterday if I had ever rode atop an elephant, I probably would have told you no – but here is the incontrovertible evidence that I did once sit astride one of our large, gray pachyderm friends. And this was just one of the fun distractions to be found in this magical land called “Busch Gardens” located in sunny Tampa, Florida. We apparently visited it during our Siesta Key stay in June of 1980. 
Wednesday, March 21st was a special day for us in Myrtle Beach. It was Ashleigh’s 17th birthday. I still am in shock that I now have a daughter old enough to legally get into rated R movies! I had purchased a Funfetti cake at the store and my Mom baked it that morning. Then after eating lunch in the condo and snapping our family photos in front of the pond, we headed out for a day of fun and frolicking in the sunny city. 
This was my fourth time seeing Penn and Teller live, my second at the Rio in Las Vegas. I’m pretty sure no one was all that excited to see them again except for me. I’ve loved Penn and Teller since the mid-1980’s, so it is always a huge pleasure to see them perform live…even if their routines seem to seldom change. We had purchased discount tickets earlier in the day, and everyone decided to come along even though I would have understood if they didn’t want to. Our seats were up in the balcony and they were not all together – so Jimmy and I sat apart from Bob and Jimmy’s parents.