Pictured here is a sign I saw as I took my first bike ride of the trip. 3205 miles is a long way to ride, so I think next time I will fly. A little web research found this information about this very long highway. It took me about eight hours to drive to Bishop, so I was ready for some exercise. Besides, there wasn't much to do in this town. After my ride, I ate dinner at Whisky Creak, a restaurant within walking distance of my hotel. They had a selection Mammoth Brewing Company beers, of which I tried and enjoyed all four, especailly the Double Nut Brown.The next day I headed north to Mammoth Lakes. Since this drive was so short, I took the long way there. I headed up Highway 6 to a town called Benton. From there I took a turn to the west where I saw a sign saying "No services next 47 miles". I looked at my gas gauge at it was close to empty! So a quick U-turn I made and filled my tank up with gas at $2.79/gal.
The drive across the mountains was very scenic. There was no one else on this road. I rolled down my widows so I could smell the clean, crisp mountain air. It didn't take long for me to reach the 395 and then Mammoth, where I arrived before hotel check-in time. My first destination was the Inyo Craters. I had been here once before during the winter, where my friend and I hike through the deep snow to get there. This time I was able to drive to the trailhead and take a short hike. I extended my hike as much as I could, walking around these interesting holes in the ground. From there I ended up driving to some lakes above Mammoth.
Pictured here is Lake Mary (I think). I took a short hike and snapped a few photos. I would have like to taken a longer hike, but since I was by myself and didn't have any maps and not enough food, I didn't walk far. I drove back down to Twin Lakes where I hiked by some campsites to the base of a waterfall. This looks like a great place to camp, despite the threat of bears. By now I could check in to my hotel. I got there by early afternoon and after a short break I hopped on my bike and went for a little ride. After about 45 minutes I was done. At 8000 ft., this was the highest elevation I had ever ridden. After another break, I ate a steak dinner a local restaurant and then turned in for the night.
The next morning I concluded my Mammoth stay with a trip to Devils Postpile. I took the shuttle as required and was lucky to have a bus drive that was very knowledgeable about the history of the national monument. She gave us a very interesting overview during the drive down into the valley. The hike from the ranger station to Devils Postpile was very short.
All of a sudden I was there! Because of the position of the sun, it was hard to find the best angle to take a good photo of this strange formation of rocks. After a short hike to the river below and then to the top of the Postpile, I headed on to Rainbow Falls. It always amazes me the number of people that are ill prepared for hiking. They have no water and are wearing sandals! I had two bottles of water and good hiking boots.The hike to Rainbow falls wasn't that difficult, but the sun was very intense, and the last 1/2 mile of the trail was an area devastated by a wildfire a few years ago, so there was no shade. Rainbow Falls was one of the best waterfalls I have ever seen. A steep hike to the base of the falls provided relief in the form of a heavy mist. A few photos and movies later, I began my trek back to the shuttle stop for the ride back to my car.
The drive to Lake Tahoe went by quickly.
I arrived at the house by 5 PM, before most of the others, who had driven up to participate in a softball tournament. I come just to watch, since I don't play softball. The weekend tournament started off with a loss, but after three wins, the team made to Sunday. The morning game didn't go so well, and after a valiant effort by the players, they lost their second and final game - time to party! After all, we are at Lake Tahoe. 
The rest of the week we did the usual: bike ride, hike and boat ride on the lake. The hike this year was a repeat of years before, but with more people. There was about 16 of us on the hike, kids and adults (I'm not sure which one I am). It was the children leading the group, anxious to reach our destination: Eagle Lake. Once there, we relaxed. The kids took off their shoes and waded in the water.
I walked around taking photos. Our bike ride was fun as usual, but with two flat tires and one wipe-out. The boat ride on the lake was enjoyable. I opted not to ride the inner-tube for fear of dislocating my shoulder like last years disaster. I did however swim to the island in Emerald Bay and jump off a rock with the kids. It was funny. After swimming back to the boat, the rock looked much smaller and shorter than it did when I was standing on the top about to jump in the cold waters.
After a few nights of beer drinking and poker games, I needed to drive home a day early so I could attend the Comic-Com (see posts below). The drive took eleven hours, and due to lack of sleep, I was lucky I didn't close my eyes and drive off the road! The desert was extremely hot, but my car's A/C saved me. Once again, another fun trip to Lake Tahoe.
Only 1500 of these figures were made and they had been on sale for over a day, so I was afraid they would be sold out. Luckily, there were stacks of them left so I bought one. The DST booth also announced autograph signing by various actors, including 
The second piece of art I had framed was a water color painting by my Mom. She had several water color paintings - this was the largest one. Once again, the frame and matting look very nice. Both of these pictures are now hanging on my bedroom walls.
I got a surprise in the mailbox today - Chosen Spike. This figure was sent by Diamond Select Toys because I am a member, or Radical, as they call it. Basically a free gift. When I signed up as a Radical last year I was promised a special gift which was at the time a World Tour Willow figure. I never received that figure, so I was happy to see this gift. Chosen Spike came wrapped in a bag inside a small box. This allows me to open the bag and remove the figure, which I don't do for my other figures. Spike is obviously colored yellow/orange for some reason. It is hard to tell from the photo I took, but his mouth is open like he is about to bite someone. I will place Spike next to my Pre-production White Witch Willow where he'll look down upon me as I surf the internet.
This was a very different Easter. It was my first Easter ever without my Dad. Since my brother and his wife just flew to Germany, that left my sister and I to find a place to eat. We ended up at the Princess Pub & Grille in Little Italy, where we drank beer and ate fish and chips plus a tasty salmon quesadilla. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Then I came home and took a long nap. Guess I'll be up for a while.
We decided to stay an extra day so we could take a break from baseball and go see the Florida Everglades. We were all moving slow from the night before, especially me. The closest park was Everglades Holiday Park. We would have gotten there quicker, but when we stopped for gas in Weston, FL, we couldn't find a gas station. This was some kind of resort town, where all the roads were lined with perfectly groomed, evenly spaced trees. No buildings of any kind were visible from the roads.
Every time we asked someone for directions, they told us to go the opposite direction than we were heading. Finally we found a station and headed to the park. There was about a 30 minutes wait for a boat, and luckily it wasn't very full. The tour was one hour long and narrated by the captain. Our guide had been working there for 20 years and knew where to find the alligators. The first alligator we saw was named Hansom, because for being an old alligator, he had only a few cuts. 
This gator didn't mind the boat and sat there for our picture taking. The guide explained the history of the Everglades, how the wildlife survive and what all the plants were. We saw about six alligators, including males, females and a two year old. The female was the most threatening one. She looked like she was ready to jump in the boat, but she didn't. The boat ride itself was half the fun. The guide got the boat going full speed and navigated the canals like a pro. The water was perfectly flat, so the ride was very smooth. 
Back at the dock, Steve and I headed to the second half of the show, where we saw some scary looking, pirate-like man wrestle an alligator. The gator didn't put up much of a fight. In fact, is was kind of sad. This show lasted only 10 minutes and I took no photos.
This park was the least noteworthly one on the trip, however, we did have excellent seats behind homeplate. Nobody really cares about these two team, including us, so after a few beers and a sausage, we went to the hotel. For dinner we ate at Hooters, where the service was bad but the food was good. Steve asked the concierge where to go for a wild Spring Break experience and he directed us to the Baja Club downtown. We took a taxi there where we had a very interesting conversation with the Jamaican driver about American politics. The deal at the Baja club was with the $15 admission you get to drink for free all night. When we walked in there were only a handful of people there. However, it was only ten. We got our first free drink, a rum and coke, and found a place to eat. The main events for this night was foam dancing and a wet tee shirt contest. We came looking for decadence and debauchery and weren't leaving until we saw it. As the night went on the club got really crowded. It took awhile before people started to dance in the foam that was falling from above, but finally some brave party-goers jumped in. After watching them dance in the foam for about an hour, I had just enough to drink to jump in myself. I hadn't intended to do this, and was not dressed appropriately, but there I was, dancing in the foam. 
I made many trips to the dance floor, slowing getting my cloths very wet, including my only pair of shoes. Around 2:30 AM they began the wet tee shirt contest. I won't go into detail, since this is a family-friendly blog, plus my memory of this night is slightly blurry (darn free drinks!), but this was the decadence we were looking for. So after the contest, we caught a cab back to the hotel and next thing I knew it was morning and boy did my head hurt. Day 5 had no baseball, just alligators.
Using our trusty map, we decided to take the Florida Turnpike. Somehow, we missed our turn and ended up having to drive the I95 South. Steve and I saw a small sign that read "Florida Turnpike", but it didn't say anything like, "Next Exit" or "3 Miles". Luckily, the I95 was not too busy. We had to go straight to the ballpark. Arriving after the first pitch, we found our seats, which were lawn seats. The park was packed, so we sat down in a semi-obstructed area. I managed to buy a Dodger Dog, my first one, and it was quite good. After two innings, we moved to the standing-room area behind home plate, where the view was much better. Even though this was the Dodger's stadium, most fans were cheering for the Red Sox. Way to jump on the bad wagon. 
As usual, we left before the end of the game and went to find our hotel. This hotel had just reopened after being repaired from the hurricane damage. There was evidence of hurricane throughout Florida, mostly damaged billboards and fallen trees. For dinner we ate a sports bar called Duffy's. We went back there for late-night happy hour but went to bed early since there was nothing to do in this town. There was a very spectacular lightening storm that night and lots of rain. The worst of the storm hit while were lost trying to find the restaurant. So much for Vero Beach. Day 4 begins our Ft. Lauderdale experience.
Game 2 was easier to find. The St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves played at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex, not too far from our hotel. We didn't get lost finding this place, for once. Getting lost and taking wrong turns was the theme of our trip. We ended up exploring parts of Florida that we would not have normally seen had we turned right instead of left. 
Anyways, as you might expect, this park was the nicest of all the parks, since it was owned by Disney, a multi-billion dollar company. We had great seats right behind home plate in the fourth row. The day was much warmer that the previous day and the sun was shining brightly. We watched the game, ate some food and left after the 8th inning. This ballpark definitely had a Disney family-friendly feel. Between each inning, a very peppy woman brought some fan out, usually a kid, on top of the dug-outs and gave them a chance to win a prize, which they all did. 
Back at the hotel we took a short break and went to the free happy-hour that Embassy Suits offers. We had no plans for the night, so we decided to go back to Downtown Disney for dinner and more Pleasure Island. We ate at the House of Blues. Jon and I both got the jambalaya, which was very, very, very hot! It was way more food than I could eat, so I ate all the good stuff and left the rice. Jon took his leftovers in a doggy bag. Steve and Mark both had ribs which were also more than they could eat. With our passes from PI the night before, we got tickets for $5. It was raining so the crowds were much smaller. We went to some of the same clubs, but with the rain and small crowds, it just wasn't too fun. The band in the Beach Club was really bad. So we went back to the hotel since Mark had to fly home early in the morning. Day 3 takes us to the next city - Vero Beach.
After sleeping for four hours and getting Mark (who flew the red-eye via Chicago) at the airport, we headed to our first baseball game - the Toronto Blue Jays @ Houston Astros in Kissimmee. Using the map provided by the rental car agency, we attempted to find Kissimee, Fl. What should have taken us 45 minutes took almost two hours thanks to wrong turns and general confusion on all our parts. However, we still made it to the park with time to spare. The park was nice but the game itself was uneventful. We left after the 7th inning so we could go back to the hotel and take a power-nap in anticipation for tonight fun.
The big event of the night was 
I just got home from my Spring training/Spring break vacation in Florida. This trip was six fun filled days long, and I have fantastic pictures to show and riveting stories to tell. For now I'll start you off with this photo of Steve, Jon and I at 
