#4 Catch-up, Cali, Cottage, Reunion

#4
I have been a busy boy since writing last. I went out to San Francisco and saw that city for the first time which was quite enjoyable; I was hosted by Benny and Mark G, thanks guys (benny-good luck in vegas). Then I went and spent a week further north with my sister Beth. While in town I got to drive around her Boss's/Friend's electric car.
Then we headed up to a resort for a night where we went on a hike up to a waterfall before soaking in the natural baths that make your skin bubble and relax you; and the hot tub. We then spent a couple of days at the world music fest which is really a reggae fest. It was hosted in a small city that has a population of a couple thousand but the festival brought in around 10,000. It was great fun though and enlightening (we learned that if you take a green grape and eat it at the same time with a wheat thin it taste like a pop tart; truly, try it.) We also went to a swimming hole with a friend Danny and learned that if you eat a banana before going to sleep it helps you to remember dreams. We headed back to Ukiah (Haiku backwards) where beth lives to spend an evening at the concert in the park. I had a cozy bed in a cozy apartment that beth and her roomate Lily (alex) shared. In Ukiah it is legal to plant up to 25 plants of mary jane in your yard if you have a doctors note to do so, I don't know why I tell you this except it is interesting. We were then taken to dinner at the neighboring city by the mayor (Beth has come a long way in a short time) After a delicious meal I played pool against a kind man with no teeth and an albuquerque t-shirt; I pulled out a victory in the end. Then the Beth, the mayor and her friends and I stopped at a few local bars before heading back to Lily's house. It was a great trip to northern california.
I arrived home and spent a day relaxing before heading up to the Hess's cottage. The few days up there consisted of putting songs on a computer, shooting hoops, laying in the sun, eating, poker, profanities (all in good fun), watching adam make eyes with a youngin, golf ball hunting, and discussing the meaning of life. Footer and I remain undefeated in lawn botchie ball.
Back home for a few days before family started arriving in town. We headed to my cousin Erin's wedding where the family gathered to eat and dance the night away. The next day we drove up to the newest location of the Family reunion. There ended up being 11 of the 12 siblings in my mom's family and roughly 30 some cousins. We swam, ate, played volleyball, soccer, tennis, card games, went to the nearby lakes and got to spend quality time with family. One of the strangest games that was invented was pain ping pong. How this works is you play with shirts off and after each point the winner of the point gets to hit the ball as hard as they can at the other person's back on the other side of the table; this tends to leave a nice red welt mark. I went through 3 cousins before no not my back was too sore but my shoulder and arm were exhausted from swinging the paddle; I did have some awesome marks on my back though. We also took a trip floating down a river for a few hours one day. I am now back home for a day from my reunion with two weeks until I leave Detroit with two bags for 8-9 months. Until later