Exactly two years ago to the day, I wrote a little ditty about the mosquito.

We had just returned from a camping trip to Sly Park and had been completely devoured by these prehistoric blood suckers. As you recently read, we just got back from another camping trip, this one up in Napa Valley. And once again, I am still discovering mosquito bites all over my body.

Coincidentally, I was looking through the archives and discovered this post, so here I present the deliciously updated version.

I’d like to start off with telling you how much I hate the mosquito - they are unspeakably wicked.

I hate the sound they make when they are near my ear - that high pitched, whining, buzzing, irritating noise that says, “I’m getting close to your ear lobe, and when I get there, boy am I going to have a feast!” (and yes, I am one of the lucky people over the age of 21 who can still hear this super-ultra-hyper-sonic sound)

I hate the pain caused when they puncture my skin. Usually they have already flown away, full of my rum-filled-blood, by the time I realize they were there so it’s rare that I am able to murder one and prevent future bites, but I do try.

I hate the red bumpy lump that swells up post-puncture. I swell like I’ve had an allergic reaction. It’s like every blood cell in my body rushes to the point of puncture giving me a second head on my neck or a second arm coming out of one of my others…it’s crazy wild swelling.

I hate the itch. You may not know, but in the animal kingdom the sensation of itch is so difficult to withstand that animals will scratch themselves until they bleed, because pain is preferable to the itch. Who knew? Me.

So…exactly two years ago today, David, Scott, Roque, and I went to Sly Park for a camping getaway. We’ve done this several times before, and always enjoy a relaxing weekend amongst the trees and the water. Our last trip to Sly Park was actually in the midst of huge fires in the Sierra’s, and the entire place was covered in smoke, until the rain came, and completely washed it away (including us). Packing up in the rain, $2.00…having lunch at Mel’s Diner, while still dripping wet…priceless.

This time, however, there was no rain. We had grand weather all weekend, especially for our hike back to a beautiful waterfall created by a drainage system owned by the US Bureau of Water Reclamation. The weather stayed within the 80’s during the day, and in the 50’s at night…thankfully we have a large tent that provided adequate protection from the elements. Unfortunately not from the crazy people driving around blasting their stereo systems…and it wasn’t even good music!

Anyhoo…mosquitos. They were out in FORCE this weekend. Despite three citronella spirals burning, a raging fire producing anti-mosquito smoke, and a recently purchased insect repellent spray…we were attacked mercilessly. I think we determined that the spray actually attracted the insects instead of sending them flying away…however, it did have a nice scent and had aloe to moisturize our recently swollen skin.

All in all, a wonderful time of hiking, rafting, and drinking was had by all. If you are in the greater-Sacramento area, Sly Park is just a quick 45 minute drive up into the foothills, and despite the mosquito infestation, is a nice relaxing place to spend a weekend.

* Mosquito image from Wikimedia CC license.

This past weekend David and I, and several other friends, went camping. It was our first camping trip of the year, which is in and of itself rather tragic.

Usually we’ve been camping a number of times by June, but for some reason we just haven’t gotten into the groove in 2008.

Scott found a campground about 2 hours away, right in the midst of Napa Valley, that offered a refreshing and relaxing venue for camping. The place was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, and offered a creek-fed swimming pool, hottub, full showers/bathroom facilities, and meals. Aside from that you were pretty much on your own to provide entertainment.

We spent a lot of the time playing Catch Phrase, which is a very addictive electronic game where you try to get people to guess the word on the screen without saying any parts of the word. But back to camping…

Here are some photos of the place so you can see the layout and just how much nature we experienced, including an incredibly terrifying snake, and about a hundred million really cool lizards.

It is worth noting that I almost stepped directly onto the snake before I happened to look down at my feet and screamed. David actually had the nerve to touch the snake, at which point it curled up and slapped its tail against the ground over and over again - I’m thinking it was pretending to be a rattlesnake. Had we been on the islands, it might have been a Leopard Snake, which pretends to be a rattler to get away from prey.

The little lizard was more tame and actually let me get just a few inches away from it before scampering off into the brush. Very interesting markings on it too…nature can be pretty cool when it’s not deadly :-).

Finally we end with an allergic reaction, which you will not see a photograph of. When we got home, my right earlobe swelled to about 4 or 5 times the size of normal. The right side of my face was flaming hot, and the swelling lasted for over 6 hours, despite my intake of loratadine and application of topical benadryl to my ear. It was pretty freaky and I did not take a picture of it.

And now it’s back to the grind of work. I am, however, looking forward to the next camping trip, which will likely be up to Sly Park where we usually go. Have a great day everyone!

Once again, I’m off in an exotic location - Oregon. As I discovered last week while in Arizona, I like the show called Bones. It’s a forensic show about analyzing bones and bone fragments to figure out crimes.

Before I got back to the hotel after dinner, I stopped by Albertsons and picked up some ice cream, Bacardi Silver pomegranate mojito, and sundries. I was expecting that So You Think You Can Dance would be on, but I was wrong. Instead, it was Bones, which I can deal with. But little did I know what I was in for.

Bones is dealing with a guy who was killed while at a fetish retreat…for people who like to pretend they are horses. That’s right, horses. Like wearing a bit, eating from a trough, and all that stuff. This is a fetish I have NEVER heard of before, but they went there.

So I’m sitting here eating Ben & Jerry’s Mint Chocolate Chunk, learning about this fetish, and trying to solve the mystery of the death of Mr. Ed. Wish me luck.

If you’d like to learn more about this fetish, here’s a site: The Human Equine

Ok, so this is the couch I have to deal with (again). I will admit that yes, I did lay on it last night while watching Bones, and Law and Order. I have never watched either show before, but when you’re sitting in a hotel room after drinking a really large margarita…whatcha gonna do?

Anyway, it was actually relatively sort of a comfortable sofa/couch.

Now, I don’t mean comfortable like “Oh I’m going to go out and buy one of these really quickly because OMG it’s comfortable.” Yeah, not like that. At all. No.

But…it’s ok, especially since this suite is only $68/night (price went up from last time). Yay for corporate discounts. So let’s take a closer look at the pattern.

WTF.

It’s red, it’s black, it’s white. It’s a mess. It’s so absolutely busy that I almost can’t look at it without having a seizure. It’s like one of those first person shooter games that flashes images at you so fast that you need to shove a spoon between your teeth so you don’t chew your tongue off.

So let’s get a lot closer and see what’s going on.

That’s right.

A whole lot of busy patterns that sort of look rather native american.

Now I am very fond of native american art, but I’m not sure if this qualifies. To me, this look like an american version of native american artwork.

I can back this up, however, because all of the artwork in the entire room is native american-esque.

Example, this is the art above my head when I sleep at night. It’s some sort of native american pueblo or something, with water bearers wandering around.

I really have no idea what it is, I’m making this stuff up, but hey, they put it in my room so I have to do something with it (again).

Anyway - I have to be up at 4:30am to get to the airport and on a plane at the crack of dawn. Not looking forward to that…

I shall now spend the rest of the evening watching So You Think You Can Dance. Because that’s what on TV.

(If this post looks familiar, it’s because I’m back in the same hotel and pretty much the same room as before…)

Smoking Loon 2006 California Syrah is an excellent wine to drink in a hotel room that is chilled to a comfortable 65 degrees.

I’m just saying…

After my recent trip to Arizona, I obviously had to fly home…here is a little photo montage I’m calling, The View from the Wing.

Here’s the first shot of the gorgeous cloud formations that littered the morning sky. And when I say morning, I mean way too early to be awake morning.

Next up - right off the wing tips and into the fluffy clouds.

Silicon Valley is a mass of humanity. It’s hard to believe that none of this was here just a couple hundred years ago.

Are we really such boring people that we have to build every house to look exactly the same?

The fog/haze was very thick as we landed in San Jose.

On our way to Sacramento - more of the same….clouds everywhere.

But as we came into the Sacramento area, I did notice a pretty nice house out in the middle of nowhere.

Landing was boring, so I didn’t bother with any pictures. Thankfully, I’m now home and can relax after a very stressful week…I need a vacation.

Ok, so this is the couch I have to deal with. I will admit that yes, I did lay on it last night while watching MythBusters.

It was actually relatively sort of comfortable.

Now, I don’t mean comfortable like “Oh I’m going to go out and buy one of these really quickly because OMG it’s comfortable.” Yeah, not like that.

But…it’s ok, especially since this suite is only $60/night. Yay for corporate discounts. So let’s take a look at the pattern.

WTF.

It’s red, it’s black, it’s white. It’s a mess. It’s so absolutely busy that I almost can’t look at it without having a seizure. It’s like one of those first person shooter games that flashes images at you so fast that you need to shove a spoon between your teeth so you don’t chew your tongue off.

So let’s get a little closer and see what’s going on.

That’s right.

A whole lot of busy patterns that sort of look rather native american.

Now I am very fond of native american art, but I’m not sure if this qualifies. To me, this look like an american version of native american artwork.

I can back this up, however, because all of the artwork in the entire room is native american-esque.

Example, this is the art above my head when I sleep at night. It’s some sort of native american pueblo or something, with water bearers wandering around.

I really have no idea what it is, I’m making this stuff up, but hey, they put it in my room so I have to do something with it.

Anyway - I have to be up at 4:30am to get to the airport and on a plane at the crack of dawn. Not looking forward to that…

I shall now spend the rest of the evening watching Kathy Griffin, and Queer Eye. Because that’s what on TV. I would watch Borat which is on free HBO, but the guide won’t tell me what channel is HBO…and I’m really tired of flipping through 70+ channels of nothing.