It’s funny how new things could seem so old….I’m not necessarily talking about deja vu, I’m just saying how new experiences seem old…..I just got home from the 16 day trip I took with my father, trying desperately to get used to Eastern Standard Time again….This was the first father/son trip we have taken since Spring Training in 2002, right before I moved to Boston, right after I graduated from Temple University…and that was the first trip we took since 1997….
Our first destination was a flight to Las Vegas….because of my father’s travels to Atlantic City over the years, he accumulated enough points to earn him 3 free nights at Paris Casino/Resort….so, like the destination of three of our previous trips, Vegas it was…..It felt like old times walking through Vegas with my dad, but this would be the first in which father and son gambled together….the three previous times we were in Vegas together, I was 13, 16, and 17….
I wish I could say we came, saw and conquered….but that wasn’t the case….at one point I was down $400 (until my miraculous comeback the last night to get me within being $100 down)…and Lord only knows how much my old man lost….all I know is he stayed hours after I would throw in the towel and play….and he kept losing….hopefully he reaccumulated enough points to win us another trip for next year….haha…the highlight of Vegas besides chillin with my boy Eric, who lives out there, was when in the hotel lobby approaching the elevator, my father let out one of the loudest farts I have ever heard….we escaped from the public eye by hopping on the elevator…yes, he is most of the reason of why I am so demented…the poor souls that heard that thing, too!
The next stop was Arizona…….to visit my mother, whom I haven’t seen in over 7 months…by far the longest stretch I have ever gone without seeing my mom….this is always a good trip because I have an aunt, uncle and two cousins that live out there as well….Because it was my birthday the previous weekend, my mother decided to have the family over for dinner and let me invite some old PA friend and their families whom now live out in the dessert….I definitely had a lot of fun catching up with these two cats, Tony and Wes…we were so tight earlier in the decade, but somehow our lives went separate paths the last five years….we definitely shared some laughs and had lots of old stories to tell….I think my mom having a Spiderman table cloth, plates, and napkins made it even better! I taught her well at trying to embarrass people….lol…a chip off the old block….
Speaking of embarrassing, if I was one to get embarrassed easily, I would say me getting lost while going for a jog would have done the trick….Saturday around 1pm, it was about 102 degrees outside and I figured I’d go for a little run, ignoring my mom’s advice not to…I even managed to laugh at her advice of bringing a bottle of water and my cell phone….well, 45 minutes into running, I realized I was lost….this would have been no big deal if I knew her new address or even her phone number (who remembers numbers anymore with cell phones)…needless to say, I was walking around for an hour quite parched and getting sunburnt…I didn’t even put on sunblock, I was going to wait til I got back…I was supposed to chill with my lil cousin by the pool…but by the time I got home, I had enough of the sun and didn’t go swimming til much later….That was one of the few times in my life that I felt uncool….and of course hearing the “I told you so” from my mom didn’t help either….atleast I know how to laugh at myself…imagine wanting to ask directions of how to get a place that you don’t even know the address?
Monday, my father and I packed up and hit the road for Sunny California and the West Coast….the only part of the country to elude us during our many (seven) trips….losing $200 at some small AZ casino didn’t deter my excitement either! Anyways, we spent the next two nights in San Diego…one of those nights visiting a long lost cousin, whose back yard is one big train set…that’s right….kinda like the old Mr. Rogers set-up…this guy pulled out all kind of Collector Train Magazines that he has been in….and yes, I thought it was cool, I just wish I wasn’t too proud to take pics….lol…by the way, San Diego is a clean city that is sunny and 75 degrees 365 days a year….don’t be surprised if you hear of me moving out there anytime soon!!
I think the highlight of San Diego for my dad was the fact that there was a Sizzler there…that’s right East Coast readers!! Sizzler still exists!! Just when I thought they were all extinct…they aren’t…they are alive and kicking on the West Coast….They all got the same big-ass menu on the wall when you first walk it…you gotta wait in line, pick what you want, pay for the meal, get your number and tray then go sit down…order your drink and the hit the salad bar/buffett…whatever you want to call it, just like back in the day….and guess what?? The chicken wings are exactly the same! and so is the steak!!! Tastes exactly how I remember it!! My father has been talking about how much he misses Sizzler’s steaks for years now!! And he didn’t even finish his! hahaha…I still remember the last time I was at one…the summer of 1994….yes, I know I’m weird…anyways…the low light of this Sizzler….??
There was no Bacos!! I absolutely love going to salad bars and making myself a healthy salad overflowing the plate with everything and top it off with Shredded/Gratted American Cheese, French Dressing, and then Bacos!! Do they even make Bacos anymore??? Well, Sizzler didn’t have any! They didn’t even have French Dressing…I decided to do something different though…I used Thousand Island Dressing…the last time I had that was in elementary school….I used to get the hot lunches….and once in a while we’d get salad (if you could call it salad, there was usually just lettuce) in a little styrofoam cup…on lucky days there were gratted carrots in there….but anyways…these salads always had Thousand Island Dressing….that is the only time I ever had it myself!! Someone please feel me on this!! Tasting this Sizzler Salad in San Diego brought me right back to elementary school and the 80’s!!
Our next stop was in Los Angeles for a day/night…we hit up Hollywood, and wow! What a dump….yes, it is nothing but one big tourist trap…the walk of fame is a joke…what a dirty place!! Santa Monica was cool….although there are more bums than sea gulls at the beach….our Days Inn on Santa Monica Blvd was heavily over-priced, but yet, I was still digging the city….Unfortunately I forgot my camera when I met up with two more long lost friends….got together with a friend from Boston, whom I haven’t seen in about 5 years (Dave) and one of my old college roommates (Tom)that I haven’t seen in 6.5 years…definitely had a blast playing pool that night…even though I suck at pool….by the way, I was very disappointed on the so-called “California Girls.” I didn’t see any!! None that were remembering anyways…hmmm
I must admit that I was wrong about San Francisco….This is one city that really didn’t excite me…why? Well, the obvious reason…the stereotype….I mean, I’m no homophobe, but the thought of being around men that, well….are into men, isn’t really my idea of a good time….well, not only did I only see one pair of dudes kiss, but the city wasn’t half bad….take away that one site and the fact that it was under 60 degrees, and this was my favorite city….yes, we went from driving in 107 degree dessert to me having to buy a jacket when it was 57 degrees our first night, but the city was dope….It was a city that has an East Coast feel, yet was very West Coast….the Golden Gate Bridge was amazing, Fisherman’s Wharf was cool…and we saw a Giants game, which was at a dope stadium….
Unfortunately, San Diego, LA, and obviously San Fran wasn’t too hot…weather wise….and I actually lost my tan in Sunny California!!! Not that I am one to go tanning, but I have been laying out by the pool at my apartment complex and hitting the Jersey Shore and got my self a nice lil bit of color…well, after Cali, and the remaining cold states, it’s gone!!
California was crazy….we saw sand dunes, mountains, redwoods, beaches, etc….but by far the most beautiful state on our trip was Oregon….so what the cities are the size of towns back home, and so what that everyone drove 5 miles under the speed limit…there were some spectacular views along the coast on route 101….and well, I lost another $100 in some Oregon Casino and the locals hated me , but I still dug Oregon!
Washington was our next stop….and thank goodness I have family there, too…..why? you might ask….well, the excitement of the father/son trip was starting to wear off, and it is safe to say both my father and myself were starting to get on each other’s nerves….not bad though, we went about 10 days from what I remember before that happened….
We stayed in Washington the remaining 4 nights….2 of those with my Uncle Ralph and Aunt Maureen….my uncle, who is my godfather, is very much like my dad…when we are together, he is either the coolest guy in the world, or he gets on my nerves very easily….well, this trip he was good, and we had a blast….it was both fun and funny seeing him and my father bond the way they did….you see, not only is he my MOM’S brother, but he used to bash my father and talk a lot of crap about him to me at family functions…something from my childhood that I never understood, especially since the two didn’t really know each other….but any ways, that’s neither hear nor there….
Aside from the bonding we had in Washington and going to the Mariners/Red Sox game (I bought my dad and uncle tickets for father’s day), the highlight of Washington was me seeing my first ever Bald-headed Eagle….for whatever reason, my father is into Birds of Prey…and like most little boys, I tended to get into whatever my father was into…..women, baseball, gambling, The Three Stooges, farting, and….Birds of Prey…When I was about nine years old or so and when gas was cheap, my father and I would go “riding around” Pennsylvania and New Jersey looking for yard sales (to find baseball cards) and look for Hawks, Eagles, etc. Obviously, we did this in the woodsy/farmland areas of these two states, not the burs or cities….Well, we have driven in 40 + states with our eyes to the skies looking for a bald-headed or American Eagles as some people refer to them as, but we never found one….just the mystique of seeing one, made this bird of prey my favorite animal….I remember in tenth grade, probably 1995ish, in English, we had to write a paper on, “What Would Break Us Into Blossom.” I wrote about two pages worth of why seeing an eagle would break me into blossom…everyone else wrote about half-a-page’s worth….they all got A’s because they added pictures….I got a B because I didn’t….but anyways….
We had nothing to do on Tuesday, so, my uncle suggested we rent a boat and sail around the Puget Sound…at first I was cool with it, then I realized that there would be no woman around, and it would be only us three in a boat in the middle of the cold water….I tried sneakingly getting my uncle to change his mind (especially since my dad secretly told me he really didn’t want to do it), but I couldn’t break my uncle’s heart, because since he moved out there last November, he has been wanting to do it….Well, an hour into the trip, Steve Miller’s “Fly like an Eagle,” came on the radio…I just knew we were about to see an eagle….we didn’t….not until two songs later…..and you know what?? That made the trip out to the middle of the Sound worth it….that and the male bonding as well….words can’t describe how cool it was seeing my dad chilling with my mom’s side of the family….anyways, we spent 45 minutes staring at this bird…I was driving the boat at this point when I first spotted the thing…I panicked and had my uncle take over as I couldn’t get my eyes off it…I had to get a better look, I was breaking into blossom (as corny as that sounds)…and what a show he put on for us….and all he did was move his head, ocassionally…lol…we took about 2o pictures….needless to say we went over our 2 hour limit….good thing the Coast Guard pulled us over…that gave us a copp out for being late….anyways…just seeing that bird for me, made that 2 hour cold sailing trip worth it…..just when it couldn’t get better, as we were headed back to the dock in the sky there appeared like 6 more flying above us…I even witnessed one dive in the water only to come up empty handed….but as he missed his fish, he stopped in mid-air, hovered alittle bit, and started to fly backwards debating on whether to go back for a second crack at it…..he didn’t but the sight was still amazing….So, amazing, my describing it isn’t giving the sight justice….I’m loss for words about it…
After 16 days, I was ready to come home, but both my father and I agree, it was the most amazing trip we ever took…..there were some bad times….the gambling losses, the cold weather, the aggravating debates between me and my dad, the forgetting of my camera when I was with my friends….but there were also many good times…the bonding, the catching up with old friends and family, the scenery, and the eagle….but the most amazing part of the trip…and by far my favorite was in Arizona…
My dad and I spent 3 nights with my mom….I was hoping to go out those nights with my cousins or friends and check out the night life, but that never happened….what did happen though, was I spent 3 night watching television with my parents for the first time in my life….my parents got divorced when I was 2 and a half, so obviously it has happened before, but this was the first time that I could remember….my dad was laying on the love seat, me on one end of the couch and my mom on the other….it was a stand still moment for me…I can’t even remember what movies we watched or what was on TV, I was too caught up in the moment…..I have been asked a lot how my parents divorce has affected me…and I don’t know…I was very young…and honestly I wouldn’t change how I grew up for anything in the world….but at the same time, there was nothing like watching TV with the two people I love more than anything in this world…..that made the whole half-a-month trip worth it…
Life isn’t about money, material things, sex, clothes, music, power, respect….it’s about memories….and family….I always knew this and tried to live by this, but for the first time in my life, I experienced what that really meant…..that picture of the three of us will be instilled in my head forever…and I didn’t even need my camera for it!!!