Saturday, January 3, 2009

New Year's Day Road Trip


On New Year's morning we packed up the van with our niece & nephew, and Ben (son of Kim and me...JihadGene). Woo-Hoo! ROAD TRIP! It be on like Donky-Kong!
Here... in sort of a chronological order is our Monterey/Big Sur adventure:
0520- JihadGene wakes up after a full 4 hours of sleep. He does the mandatory three S's ( two are shower and shave...you figure out the other "S").
o600- Wake up all other Infidels in household. This consists of wife (Kim), son (Ben), and spies from South Korea (niece & nephew)... the lovely Jina... and not-so-lovely Jae.
0600-0700 JihadGene loads van with necessary items, consisting of the following...

#1 Kim-bop
No self-respecting Korean would ever go on a road trip or picnic without this!

#2 A gang 'O other shit!
* Note-If I learned one thing in the US Army, I learned this..."Better to have and need-not, than to need and not have"... besides, you can always pretend you are a worthless US Navy sailor and throw all that unnecessary shit overboard, then play like you didn't know what happened to it!

0700- Check engine fluid levels, tires, etc. It's a Toyota and not a POS like my Dodge truck...
...all is a Go!
o705- Load van with heathens/family.
0710- Stop at our Mom & Pop store for Jina who needs some Uggs boots. While Jina and Kim are in store JihadGene (known as driver), Ben (known as Son), and Jae (known as Nephew) go to nearby gas station for fuel, cola, and Snickers Bars.
0720- On the road to beautiful Monterey Bay...home of John Steinbeck's "Cannery Row".
The weather was overcast (a kind of a high fog) in the Central Valley.
1015- Arrive alive at Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey! Woo-Hoo!!!
I didn't crash the van or nothing! The fog has burned off. Monterey is blue skies and beautiful ocean! Unload/unass van. Go to eat.
1020- Eat at Fisherman's Wharf. Talk staff into cooking lunch although they are still serving breakfast. They do it for us...more Woo-Hoos...here! All things fried...snapper, squid, sand dabs, shrimp...big portions...great food...good price...seating at window with a million $ view of the harbor...BEAUTIFUL!
1100- Finish meal. Leave nice tip for good people. Go for walk along beautiful pathway. Monterey is DA BOMB, looong time!
1150- Buy whale watching tour boat tickets. Great deal...only $25 per person (for a full 2 hours) at Chris' Fishing & Boat Tours!
1230- Boat leaves. All family on board. We lucky. Sit outside on front of boat. Sunshine and cold but we are dressed for it. We see sea lions, whale, otters, seals, and a big pod of maybe 75 dolphins...it is a blessing! A Happy New Year it certainly is! Jae (nephew age 23) and Jina (niece age 25) yell with delight as the boat's nose dips up and down...we all do...WE LOVE IT!!! No one seasick...all is good. People laugh at Jae in good spirit because he is so very into the boat ride and yelling with pure abandon and delight! Man, are we happy!!! Jae and Jina have never done this sort of thing even though their home (Korea) is on a peninsula, this makes it all the more worthwhile. Jae has only recently finished his "mandatory" (draft) 2 years of service in the ROK Army and it is his very first time in the United States. It's a special time, indeed!
1430 (2:30 PM)- Return to dock. Get land-legs back. Bathroom break.
1500-1700 (3-5PM) Load up and drive down the most beautiful highway in the world (Hwy 1) south from Monterey to Big Sur and Cambria. Stop for many photos. Jina very happy!
1800 (6PM) Stop in Atascadero for In-n-Out Burgers. JihadGene very happy!
2030 (8:30PM) Arrive home after a wonderful 450 miles.
Well...It was a very special day. I won't forget this one, I assure you. I hope all of you have a wonderful 2009. If you had a New Year's day even 1/10th as good as ours...you had a great day.

Our best to you all in 2009,
Great Reader/JihadGene... and family!
**About the picture- This is Jina at a stop along Hwy 1 near Big Sur.






12 comments:

Tammi said...

What a wonderful trip!

Oh, and an In 'n Out burger is at the top of my "to do" list when I get there......I'm salivating already!

pamibe said...

What a great way to start the new year! Beautiful place to do it, too!

Anonymous said...

Awesome. Lucky man. Lucky family.

Perfect days like that are gold. Treasure them.

Happy New Year! (as if you need that wish.)

DeltaBravo

Evil Transport Lady said...

What a great day!!!!!!!You are a very lucky man!!

Richmond said...

Whoohoo! Road trip! :)

Anonymous said...

... Happy New Year to you and yours, sir.... sounds like you started it off right!...

Eric

H2o said...

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a blast.

Now about that Sailor remark....

bx19 said...

What a great start to the New year!

Long may the Sun shine on you and yours.

Happy New Year to you all.

JihadGene said...

Dear Readers-
Yep, it was wonderfulll looong time!

Navy CPO-
Sorry for the Sailor remark there CPO but I still haven't recovered from the Navy slaughters Army game. ;) JG

Teresa said...

Sounds absolutely wonderful... love it when a plan comes together!

D. Skippy said...

"Wake up all other Infidels in household. This consists of wife (Kim)..."

Well if she was still sleeping, then it might not be the first 'S' that came to my mind.