Monday, January 12, 2009

When In Latin America Use Thumbs

All blog entries for the following two weeks will be painstakingly handcrafted with my thumbs. This is because I neglected to bring a laptop but Big Bro was kind enough to loan me his itouch. This has saved me because the place I'm at has three computers, one of which says no funciona which even I know to mean it's SOL. As time prgresses one of two things will happen. I will either get better with my thumbs like all those young people or a vast number of spelling errors will be published over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Oh and There WILL Be Doritos....

It has been many many years since all five members of my immediate family have been able to take a vacation together. But it appears that it is about to finally happen again. After much squabbling, we've decided to embark on a ROAD TRIP - up and down the Californian coast. Never mind that my family has lived in southern California since 1983. For whatever reason, although we regularly traverse snippets of the Pacific Coast Highway, we've never followed its path with much diligence.

Until tomorrow.

Before settling on this trip, we nominated various destinations, all of which seem to be semi-inappropriate given the season. Ironically, our backyard stares right into the Pacific Ocean and thus I imagine our view over the next three days will look much the same as what we see out the window at home. Nevertheless, while scouring the Internet for places to go, I came to realize that my parents (and at what time even I did) live in the American Mediterranean. For the next few days, we'll just be exploring its facets with more thoroughness.

I imagine that this trip will rival the road trip of my teenage years - the Grand Canyon Dorito Van Tour With Grandma. I recall mostly the hot blast of desert heat whenever the minivan door slid open, cramming something like six people into one motel room, and of course, the familial consumption of many many Doritos (although Grandma was personally inclined toward Sun Chips.) Along with Doritos were beef tendons and fried shrimp (still in their shells) - all par for the course, all "traditional" fare for a Madwoman Family car ride. This year's trip will not include the tendons and shrimp, but there will be the Inevitable Consumption Of Hundreds Of Doritos. No doubt.

I am bracing myself. So should you.