Sunday, June 27, 2010

San Francisco Pride



This was my first time going to San Francisco Pride. Joe flew in from Boise and I picked him up at the San Francisco airport. We saw some amazing sights in the city, and had some really good times. We saw a fire downtown and watched the firemen respond. We hit up some clubs and went dancing.

On Saturday we drove my motorcycle to the city and met up with Ian and Shawny. We went to the events in Civic Park. Sunday we watched the parade; Sonoma State University had a float in the parade, their first one. It was awesome seeing my school have their float in the parade. I couldn't believe how looooong the parade was. We watched it for over three hours before we gave up and went to the events center. I think we'd only seen about half of the parade!

That afternoon in Civic Center the Backstreet Boys performed a couple of songs. By that point Des had met up with Joe and me. (See picture above) It was a great event, everyone was having a wonderful time. Joe seems convinced to move to SF. I'm glad he liked it so much.

It's definitely an event I'd like to be at next year!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Cozumel Mexico

(Wes, Andrej, Francisco, Ashley, Ross)

This year for our annual Mexico vacation we decided on an all inclusive resort on the Cozumel island. Ashley flew to San Francisco from Boise and I met up with her there. We then took a cab to get sushi nearby and met the nicest couple who owned the place. They had friends back in Boise, what a small world! Then we took a cab back to the airport and after small trouble "scanning" the passports, were were set for our flight to Cozumel via Houston.

The flight left San Francisco after midnight and then arrived in Houston early that morning. Then we had some down time before we headed for Cozumel. It was wonderful finally landing and getting to our hotel where we met up with Wes and Andrej. At check-in we were upgraded to the members only area of the restort- SCORE! The room was very nice and overlooked the member's pool and then beyond that was the ocean.

I'd worried about the rain; there was only one day where Ashley and me were heading to dinner at Roberto's (a reservations only italian restaurant with amazing food) that it started to rain. I remember asking Ashley "I have an umbrella, should I get it" and she'd said, "no, we'll make it there". Sure enough, it absolutely dumped buckets on us and we were drenched for dinner. With that one exception, the weather was amazing the whole week.

One of the days the four of us took a small boat out onto the water and Andrej expertly navigated us around the bay (not! lol, but it was fun regardless). Once we almost left Ahsley out in the ocean when the wind picked up and the boat started to leave her behind! Several times we barely escaped with our heads as the boom swung about the boat. It was a lot of fun; pushing people in, steering around the water, jumping in here and there. When we decided to go back in, Wes and Ashley ended up having to push the boat with their expert swimming skills as the wind just wasn't in our favor. The only downside was this was the first technical glitch for Andrej on the trip; his iPhone had been in one of the bags we took along and sadly it didn't survive all the water.

I'd never had a massage or pedicure before, so I went along with Ashley to see what all the hubub was about. Oh my gosh! The full body massage was amazingly relaxing as I drifted off and relaxed. Then we had herbal tea and relaxed in the hot tub after the massage but before our pedicure. Then we got to sit and chat, dream of our future plans while our feet were cleaned up and massaged. WOW! I'm telling you, if you ever get a chance, have a massage and pedicure. It's defintely on my list of things to do again!

Most nights we ate dinner at Roberto's. And most nights I didn't remember leaving the restaurant. I mean, a full course italian dinner with all the wine you can drink; that's just trouble! There were so many funny incidences; like the congo lines around the bar and pouring tequilla in people's mouths. One of the funniest drunken evenings was when Ashley and I had been jumping off the end of a pier with some guys (whom I ended up wearing his "favorite Golds" shirt somehow pictured here) and we told everyone "See you at the bar!" and we went back to get ready but ended up falling asleep. Then Ashley woke up about 10pm and couldn't get room service (cause we'd missed dinner) and I awoke to the sound of the most forlorn voice yelling "ROSS!!! THEY WON'T FEED US!" amongst other comments I think she also said "We're going to starve!". Still intoxicated but now also hungry, I somehow managed to get a hamburger for Ashley and Fajitas for me ordered up to the room. Yes! It was a great save. And hillarious to think back on.

Senor Frogs

Two nights we went downtown Cozumel to Senor Frogs. That place was a blast! They had great DJ'ing and on one of the nights excellent dancing. There were a lot of other tourists of course, and we all had a great time. I do remember on the way home on the first night Wes taking a speed bump WAY to fast and it scared the crap outta the rest of us. But it was good fun to look back on. haha!

I did spend a lot of time on the beach, playing my music or reading Eclipse (I finished the whole book in two days- in anticipation of the movie coming out later this month) So many fun stories... mostly I enjoyed the time with my friends and I cannot wait to go again. We're thinking we may need to go this winter. I'm totally in. Ashley, Andrej, Wes- thank you so very, very much for the most awesome vacation!