Skating in the Fog

Friday, March 15^th (San Diego)

Mission Beach in San Diego

     I am slow and awkward at this but I do it anyway. I rent skates and roll along the Mission Beach boardwalk. I am not good at stopping (story of my life): little children and dogs skedaddle out my path. They are wise. The fog has a hangover that won’t lift off the beach. I am determined to press my face into the clean air. My mind is still muddled with work although it is now spring break. It will take some days before it burns off. Most of the past week was not good news so I make a decision to run along the beach after my skate. I need the run. I am recovering from a reinjured calf strain and make it 15 minutes along the water’s edge before I walk back. If I run, will the clouds dissipate? It is late in the evening and I pack to rendezvous with my family in Vegas: the van, the kids and the mountain bikes. I have been away at a conference for six days and have missed them. Boot camp #2 officially begins tomorrow. 
By Mom.

My favorite thing to do?

Friday, March 15, 2013
My favourite thing to do? Get woken up in the morning at about 7:00 am and have to be on the road by 8:30 am. I’d like to thank my Dad for that, and then he even made it even better by letting my brother drive for most of the day. I told my Mom if I didn’t see her again I’d like it to be written on my tombstone, “He did protest.” I also didn’t want him to drive because he had expressed a hankering to go to San Diego so he could drive my Mom’s rented car.

Before we hit the road I somehow managed to intercept my mother’s text messages to my older brother and discovered my mother was somehow intercepting my messages with a friend of my mine (I'm not saying if it was a girl or anything). My mom even texted her a comment which I would have preferred to have been able to remove. Needless to say the conversation I had with my mom when I met up with her was interesting. The rest of the day was rather uneventful other than my brothers and I went to a really fascinating canyon with caves and crevices. My mother turned green with envy and red with anger when she found out what we did while she was in San Diego. We drove for a long time and finished up in Las Vegas.
By Ethan.

Red Rock Canyon instead of Vegas

Saturday, March 16^th (Vegas)

Red Rock State Park

I unintentionally wake at 3:30 am. I cannot talk my mind into going back to sleep. At 9:30 am I catch the plane to Vegas where the children await me. Hugs. Child #2 (and co-author of this blog) asks my husband not to make a scene at the airport. I say, “He’s allowed to--we are married.” We load the van and bypass all of Vegas so we can go straight to Red Rock Canyon State Park. This is boulder-climbing time: skinny cracks, humongous rocks and hidden crevasses. I like it as much as the children. We hike till exhaustion overtakes us. As the afternoon wanes, the 17 year old drives us through desert country to Lake Havasu. 
By Mom.

Boring...

Saturday, March 16th (Vegas)
We didn’t do a lot today. In the morning we went to pick up mom at the airport. For some absurd and illogical reason, however, neither of my parents would let us celebrate in the usual manner that the citizens and tourists of the region we were visiting do. It still puzzles me. After, we went to this place somewhere and did some things. It was rather boring and long, however, after that we did something much better--go to Lake Havasu, our first real destination. We finally arrived at our hotel after my brother got us lost. *mumbles something unintelligible* After we were settled my older brother went goofing off, biking with my mom. I had to stay behind because we hadn't gotten the keys for our room yet. Someone had to safeguard the digital devices. 
By Ethan.

A Smouldering Heat Wave

Sunday, March 17^th (Lake Havasu)

The oldest and his mom mountain-biking in the desert dusk

The sun smoulders intensely; apparently we have landed in a blistering heat wave-- 93 degrees. It will be hard to have a proper boot camp in this heat. Who wants to move? I languish by the pool. Children splash in the water. They do not need anything else. At 6 pm it is still 91 degrees but we head to the park for a ride. I had forgotten the full body intensity of mountain biking. I chase after the 17 and 9 year old. On the way back the 9 year old, hot and thirsty, opts to stay at the van. I repeat the loop wanting to ride and roll through the rock-rutted dips. I aim for more riding, less walking, less pushing the bike up the inclines. I gun it and chase the 17 year old back to the van. We ride 49 minutes intensely and then I drop the bike and helmet and opt for a 15-minute run in the dusk. We make it part way down a trail but hikers coming up warn us of a rattlesnake in the gulch ahead. We backtrack and I finish my short jog on the asphalt. I am not a friend of snakes.

By Mom.

More goofing off.

Sunday, March 17th (Lake Havasu)
The next day was a LOT better. In the morning, after everyone was awake my dad baked pancakes with berry sauce and syrup. Unfortunately, someone forgot the whipped cream. My mom forced us down to the pool and even worse into the pool. Horrifying, isn’t it? I’m not even going to talk about my dad and the bottle of suntan lotion. After I swam in the pool I changed and sat next to the pool in the shade (so to avoid my father’s wrath) and read. Not much happened for the rest of the day, other than my family ditched me and went out for a bike ride without me, leaving me behind to watch the hotel room. This is a true sign of love; I stay behind while they goof off. 
By Ethan.