Any Simpsons fans out there?

(John McCain - Grandpa Simpson? You be the judge!)

No Rest for the Weary (part 3)

(Jaime, Bride Susan, Future Bride Jen)

So after sis dropped us off at Enterprise, we hopped in to the Volvo, put a call in to mom in law Judy and made our first trip of the morning over to World Market to pick up some lighting for the wedding reception. After that we headed over to Costco to look for some more lighting. And after leaving disappointed, we crossed the street to Home Depot and found what we were looking for - 16 LED work lights. Hey, they were battery powered and lit up well, who cares if they were bright red! We only had one final stop at another World Market that stocked the string lights we were looking for originally.

Finally, on the road! Except for the slushbox (that's an automatic transmission, folks!) the Volvo was a blast to drive. The 2.4 liter engine made fairly good power, and we were able to cruise on up to San Bernardino in no time! The seats were SUPER plush! The Swedes certainly know how to make a good seat, even for someone with my frame. Too bad I forgot my aux. cable for the iPod, oh well.

As we climbed out of San Bernardino, the real fun began - Highway 18 climbs 4,000 feet up out of San Bernardino over a distance of about 12 miles. These are some serious corners! With two hands on the wheel and my right foot on the throttle, we began our ascent. Signs everywhere warn of the maximum speeds in corners, and unlike most everywhere else, they mean it here! Occasional glances up the hillside offered views of the highway above, and glances over the side offered views of the fate that would happen anyone who missed a left turn! At one point we slowed and looked down the side of the mountain at a helicopter hovering below us! Again, the little Volvo did an admirable job, but would have benefited greatly from a turbocharger at that elevation (note: NOT ALTITUDE!)

With the aid of our trusty Garmin (there, I said it, it's trusty!) we arrived at the Lake Arrowhead resort and checked into our room. I kept asking them where our scooter was, as our room was about a 1/2 mile from the front desk out on the end of the hotel. Come on, we're at 5600 feet, I can't handle heat (it was 90 degrees), elevation, and walking!

(the Bachelor's last day)

After some relaxation and socializing, and the rehearsal of course, we headed down to Lake Arrowhead proper and the Waffle House for the rehearsal dinner. The Forbes, they throw a great party! Yeah, dinner was good, but it was the waffles for dessert that were awesome! After much socializing, we headed up to the local outdoor stage for some rock'n'roll, some beers (there may or may not have been a chugging contest), and some serious dancing(there may or may not have been some chicken dancing!) The night ended with a beer at the local Mexican restaurant (and there may or may not have been some margarita spillage - no comment, Meg?). We were exhausted, but reluctantly headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest!

(The Graves/Forbes/Franks/Bertoli/Mchale boys)

The rest of the pictures from the rehearsal can be found here...and yes, for the record, I WAS drinking Coors Light. Beer lovers everywhere die a little inside...

Seriously, I need some time off (part 2)

We left the service and headed to the airport for our flight to San Diego to visit Tina and Ryan, niece Isabel and nephew Peyton. At this point, we were totally exhausted. Our flight was due to leave at 8:15 - as we sat down in our seats, a businessman sat down next to us. He was clearly someone very important, because he felt obliged to share "the deal" he was making on the phone with us at quite a high decibel level, until we began taxiing and he finally turned his phone off. This was about the time a baby in the back began crying, and the people in the row behind us, who had apparently never seen a touch screen monitor (they're in the back of each seat on Virgin) began chuckling loudly and pounding on the monitors. Oh well, no nap on this flight.

Thank god as soon as we exited the gate area at the San Diego airport Ryan was waiting to meet us! We grabbed our bags and made the trip out to Rancho Bernardo. Apparently Isabel was going to try and wait up for us, but by 11:30 or so when we got in, she hadn't lasted. We had a drink and spent some time catching up before bed. Of course the next morning I was promptly awoken by Isabel and Peyton at about 7. "Uncle Geoff, it's time to get up!" Thanks, Sis!

We spent the morning by the pool relaxing, then cleaned up, piled in Ryan's truck (which held all six of us!) and headed off to the San Diego zoo, with a stopover at a local Mexican restaurant for lunch (SO GOOD!!! If only I hadn't forgotten the name) Let me just give a major shout-out to the San Diego zoo for having shade available everywhere! For those of us from the damp Northwest, this is an invaluable resource on a 90 degree day! After 4 hours, as it started to get dark, we piled back in the truck and headed back to the condo of Remick. After dinner Isabel and Peyton promptly passed out (though Jaime has informed me Isabel is QUITE social!) We chatted it up with Tina and Ryan some more, and headed off to bed. Saturday morning my sister dropped us off at the local Enterprise rent-a-car and we picked up our ride for the weekend up at Lake Arrowhead. Free upgrade coupon = Volvo S40! Nice!

We were very disappointed that we only got one day to spend with Tina and Ryan, especially when we found out that they are going to be moving to England for Ryan's work! But the circumstances were what they were, and we greatly valued the time we got to spend with them and the kids. Tina and Ryan, thank you SO SO much, we love you and we had so much fun!

Here's a link to the pictures from this portion of our trip. I'm also very proud of Jaime for going into the Insect House at the zoo! I'll finish the update tomorrow, we're exhausted (I haven't even gotten close to updating for THIS weekend!)

(no symbolism, I swear!)

Can I have a day off? (part 1)

Alright, finally, here's another one of those lump sum updates...
Jaime and I had a wonderful time in California. We left early last Wednesday and flew down to San Francisco. After a slight delay due to fog, we were off in our rental car - a Jeep Commander. Normally we don't rent anything near this size, but we needed to haul people and luggage. Our first stop after the rental car pick up? In and Out Burger, yeah! Double double animal style. Next stop? The Colma Rack, for some new shoes and new luggage (it was on deep discount, we couldn't pass it up!) We made it to Jaime's grandfather's house in the Sunset district and had some time to relax a bit before the wake for Jaime's grandmother. The wake was very nice and afterwards we spent some time at Vals, a restaurant that Jaime's grandmother frequented. When it quieted down there, we headed up to the Portals bar for some reflection and some imbibing.

The next morning we got up and headed for a walk down to the beach/coffee shop with the Forbes family. The funeral was later that afternoon. What more can you say? It was a beautiful service, and Jim made it through the Eulogy, which his siblings had entrusted him with. Afterwards we headed down to the Irish Cultural Center for the reception. It was certainly a proper send off...

We're home!!!

We've made it back from the craziness of California and I'll get everyone up to date shortly, including some hilarious (and sentimental) pictures!

Mariners Game Sunday

Jaime and I had the fortune of spending Sunday afternoon with Ryan and Michal at the Mariners game. We headed out on the Elliott Bay water taxi and had a great time enjoying the sunshine at the game. We were in the very first row in right field, about 20 feet from Ichiro. Great seats! Big thank you to Michal and Ryan for inviting us! Too bad beer is $8!!!!

Customer Service Still Exists - Sometimes

Geoff here - I'm going to have to redact most of this post, as Enterprise and Virgin both pretty much screwed us with prices for the changes we made. Enterprise wasn't willing to budge at all on their drop charge, not for a frequent renter, not given the situation. $100 bucks from San Diego to LA. And Virgin ended up charging us more than we were quoted over the phone...an extra $330

Alright, so its sort of been a crazy week for the Forbes. We were all planning on traveling to L.A. for my brothers wedding, YAY! Unfortunately our plans changed and we all are going to divert to San Francisco first for my Nana's funeral on Wednesday and Thursday. Needless to say the whole family had a lot of planning to do to make this work and its been a bit of a stressful week.

I'd like to give a little public THANK YOU to Virgin America Airlines, and Enterprise Rent-a-car.

Geoff and I had no trouble changing our reservations and they made the process as easy as possible. Sure we had to pay money to make some of the changes, but the charges were by no means excessive. The associates I spoke with were super nice and easy to work with, which was much needed in my emotional state.

I was planning on a huge fight with the airlines after hearing what my mom and sister had to go through with Continental. They are still dealing with the continental agents a full 24-hours after their initial phone call. They have spent a total of almost three hours on the phone with the agents who have been rude and un-helpful. They have spent hundreds of dollars to make a few changes. I'd also like to point out that my parents are frequent travelers and have some sort of crazy elite status with Continental, and it didn't make a shred of difference.

So, you my ask, why am I posting this? Because in a time when we are all watching our money fly out the door for fewer items and worse service, I wanted to give you the chance to make an informed decision before you book your next trip. You never know when you are going to need to make last minute changes.

Virgin America and Enterprise = two thumbs up!