Just updated with my Monterey pics from christmas eve. Ciao

Finally posted my pictures of my trip to Monterey to Picasa.

Well it's now 1:30 in the morning and Marc and I are on the beach. This is the coolest actually being on the beach with the sounds of the coast and nothing else. There are no traffic sounds. There are no sounds of people. Just my thoughts and the waves. It's almost a surreal feeling. It feels as though I'm alone with God. It really is an amazing feeling. Well I'm going to go now and enjoy the rest of my trip. Ciao

Well it's 11 PM and Marc smith and I are on our way to Monterey. I should have some pictures tomorrow so take a look at my Picasa within the next day or so. Until later, ciao.

Yeah

So there I am at work minding my own business when the thought came to me like a brick heading towards me at 100 mph. Today is my last day of my twenties. No longer can I say that I am 2_. After today I'll have to say that i am 3_. This isn't as depressing as I thought it would be, at least not yet. I'm looking forward to this next milestone. Just thought I'd share that quick thought with you. Ciao.

San Diego

Quick post. I had a great time in San Diego all the pics are posted. I have them cut up into several parts starting with Santa Monica pier. Hope you like the pics. Please comment either here or on my Picasa link to let me know what you think. I'll explain more about my trip later. Until next time, ciao.

Watch out San Diego here I come

Tomorrow morning I leave for the weekend to SoCal. I can't believe the time has past by so quickly. I will be posting all my pics the same day I've taken them, so keep an eye on my Picasa page for updates. I hope to have a great time. Until the next update, ciao.

Monterey bus trip

Well today about 50 people from the church went on a bus trip to Monterey. We left the church at around 6 in the morning and got back by 7. I had a great time in Monterey, as usual. I hung out with Mitch and Marc. We started with some bowls of incredible clam chowder at Crabby Jims. Then we went on a great glass bottom bottom boat ride. We then walked to Cannery Row to check out the shops and to get get these killer sundaes at Ghirardelli chocolate shop. We then got to check out the Greek festival that they had in Monterey this weekend. All of the pics I took, using my iPhone 4 and nikon are already uploaded to my Picasa page. The pics haven't really been sorted out yet to have the bad pics taken out, but that will soon be done. Well until my next trip, which is to the mirimar airshow on Oct 1st, ciao.

New pics

Just posted new pics from our work day at donkey rock. There are three new folders. The first is at Rock Creek and they were taken on the way up to Donkey Rock. The other two are from the ride on the way home. These pics were taken at Soda Springs. The last album was taken at the center of California in North Fork. You can view all of these pics on my Picasa page. Just clink on the Picasa link on this page. Hope you enjoy. As always let me know what you think of them. Ciao

My decision-so far

Thank you everyone for your opinions. My decision, based on comments on this blog and from talking to others is to just go with my original plan. I'm just going to go to New York and D.C.. I have recieved a lot of good advice on this and I am going to take it. Thanks Marc and Kathy for your opinions. They were greatly appreciated. I have mor to blog about, but it's going to have to wait until later. I have to go back to work. Ciao

Opinions please

As some of you know I am planning next years trip. I thought I knew where I wanted to go, but now i am not so sure. I had planned on going to New York and D.C. for a week each. Then I got to thinking if this was the best way to spend my vacation. This is where all your comments and opinions are needed. I still want to go to New York and D.C., but i thought about cutting the time I would spend there and going to four places instead of two. So I've already decided on New York and D.C., what would you think of possibly Boston and Pennslyvania? Or are there other places in the East I shoud go? Please help me out in deciding where to go? Ciao

Well

As the title of this blog says, well. As in " well that didn't go as I imagined. Well not most of it anyways. I made it to church, that was planned. the fact that I barely made it there is where the plan stopped. As some of you know, my alternator decided to die as I pulled into the church. I went to the Antioch church, which was to me, a very beautiful building. I was blessed to have known Mario and Teresa Luka. They helped me tremendously in a difficult time. Mario helped me get a tow back to his house and find the mechanic that did the work on my truck. Him and his wife then fed me, then lent me there car so that I could get to my hotel. The hotel being in Oakland. Which was 45 mins away. I didn't leave their house until about 11. P.M. There were also 3 of the youth that stayed behind my truck with their blinkers on while we waited for the tow truck. The next day I talked to the mechanic, who not only replaced my alternator, but also replaced my main belt. And no I'm not referring to the one that I wear. All this and labor set me back $260. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. No the way I envisioned this trip to be. Mario got me in touch with the boys that stayed behind my truck for about 30 to 45 mins, and I picked them up and took them to lunch at Zacharys in San Ramon. Now fir those of you who don't know about Zacharys, may think so what. But for those of you who do know about Zacharys, you're thinking about the little "slice" of heaven that I brought to these boys. All of whom had never been to this place before, and they live less than an half hour away. When I ordered a large pizza for the four of us, they looked at me like I was crazy to think that a large pizza was going to fill the four hungry guys that were there. After the first slice, these same boys looked at was left of the pizza and seriously debated writer to have a second slice or not. They all did and hey all regretted it. To sum all of this up, I had a great time of fun and fellowship So while I didn have the trip inwas hopeingto have, I did meet some great people and in the process have a great time.

New trip

Well I'm going on another small trip this time just an overnighter to the bay area. There were going to be people that were going with me, but for one reason or another were unable to go. So once again I must go alone, something everyone knows I don't mind to do. I first plan on going to the church in Bay Point. Then monday I plan to kick around the bay area. Possible go to pier 39, the golden gate bridge and other bay area sights. This is kind of a last minute trip with not much planning, not that a trip alone needs much planning. I'll probably do what I did when I first went to Monterey alone and just learn about the area and find out new stuff that I might like to do next time. I'll always be looking for good photo opportunities. I'll let you all know when I get back how my trip went. Until then, ciao

Update pics

I've update my Monterey pics that I took with my Nikon camera. Take a look and let me know what you think. Ciao

Post Monterey

Post Monterey. Sounds kind of depressing. It kind of is. Well I just want to tell you about the awesome time I had in Monterey. I received a lot of opinions about my going alone. I really appreciate all the people who gave me their thoughts on the subject. I am surprised however to the opposition to my going alone. I really did have a great time. I stayed in a really nice hotel that was within 5 mins of the wharf, walking, and about 25 mins away from cannery row, also walking distance. Saturday morning I left the hotel at about 10:30 or so. I headed first to my favorite spot, 17 mile drive. I like 17 mile drive so much because of how beautiful and diverse it is. There is of course the beach and the water, of which I got some amazing pictures of. There is a lot of trees and rocky terrain. There are also some of the most gorgeous homes that I have ever seen. I visited two of my frequent spots, Spanish Bay and the Lone Cypress Tree. I also stopped in a place in between those spots. I don't really know if that part of 17 Mile Drive had a name, but it did have a lot of gorgeous scenery. I got a lot of amazing shots from this part of the beach. I also tried some road shots while I was driving through. After I left 17 Mile Drive, I had lunch at Paradiso. I then went over to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is a place I have been to in about 15 to 20 years. I seen a lot of really cool and exotic exhibits. There was a new area that had a lot of different sea horses. When I think of sea horses I think of the sea horses everyone sees in the books and stuff. MBA had a lot of exotic looking sea horses. I took a few pictures of the more exotic ones. After I left there I had to make my traditional stop at the Ghirardelli store for a hot fudge and banana sundae. After all that food and walking around the aquarium, I was ready for a short nap before dinner, which I didn't have until about 10 pm. I had dinner at Bubba Gumps. I got back home at around 3ish. I had a great time on my trip and I am anxiously waiting for my next trip to the coast. Most of the pictures I took are posted on my Picasa page. Your all welcome to click on the picas link to check out most of the pictures I took. I would appreciate all of your comments to this post and also to the pictures I took. Until next time. Ciao

Monterey day one

Well here I am, finally, in the great Monterey. I am in a place that serves the best clam chowder on the bay. I have a window seat with a great view of the bay at night. My hotel is within walking distance of the wharf. All I had to do was cross one street. It took less than five mins. of walking. It's raining here. Well, currently just a drizzle. The weather report is predicting 4" in the next three days. I am looking forward to having a great time here in Monterey. Tomorrow I plan on going to seventeen mile drive, maybe going to the aquarium, and if weather permits, I want to go on a whale watching tour. I'm staying at the Marriot. I am staying in a really nice room. Well until next time. Ciao

Happy Thanksgiving

Wow. Here we are at thanksgiving time already. Every year I like to to take a little extra time to be thankful, but this year I have a lot more to be thankful for than normal. Maybe it has turning another year older has made me more conscious of the blessings all around me. I think I've become more thoughtful, more thankful for everything I have. A lot has happened this year to me this year that causes me to be thankful. A successful surgery for my mother is on thing. A steady job is another. There's the great church I go to that I'm immensely grateful to go to. There's my family. I'm really thankful for the friends I have. I'm thankful for the new friends, the old friends, and the renewed friends. I'm thankful for so much. This post would be one very long post if I wrote everything that has happened to me. I'm most thankful for the God who loved me and saved me. I'm thankful for what God is going to do in my life in the future. I'm also thankful for you my readers. Have a Happy, Great, Wonderful, and Blessed Thanksgiving. May God continue to shower his blessings on you. Until next time. Ciao

My next trip- hopefully

Ive been thinking about my next trip lately. Last year, in July, I did a solo trip to Monterey, CA for three days. I had an incredible time. Usually I like to take trips with other people, but I wanted to see how it would be just going by myself. I had three days to think and enjoy the solitude that I needed at that point in my life. Everything had gotten so cluttered because of how busy I had gotten. It was nice to slow down and get everything back into perspective. I was able to get away and just enjoy life with no pressures. Well I've decided that it's time to do so again. So in the middle of December I'm going to make my way to the coast. I know there are some people that disagree with me, but I think its good to take at least one trip by ones self. Please comment and share your opinions with me. I really would like to know everyones position on this subject

Day three

Well I just got home from having a great lunch with friends after this mornings preaching. This mornings services were great. Both Bro. Booker and Bro Hyler preach awesome msgs. Afterword I went to lunch with some friends that I only get to see once or twice a year. I had a great time of food and fellowship. Its always great to fellowship with God's people. Anyways it's already 4 pm and I've got to leave again for tonights service. Until later. Ciao

Day 2 of WCC

Well I'm into the middle of day 2 of WCC. I'm at the church waiting for some of the food to come out of the oven so that we can take it downtown. We've been down here at the church since about 10 this morning. We'll probably get home somewhere around two or three tomorrow morning. We all have a crazy night ahead of us, but I hunk I'm ready for it. We had an excellent lunch from Dog House Grill today. Of course they always have great food there. Well until my next post. Ciao