Felix has decided that His Place To Relax is now on my desk, right next to my mousepad. These two sentences have taken me almost three full minutes to write, because Felix keeps rubbing his face against my hand, standing on my keyboard (he just opened 17 terminal windows) and showing me that either a) he loves me or b) he wants me to get away from my desk so he can go back to sleep.
I’m inclined to think it’s b).
So we’re back from vacation. 2200 miles of road trip, one book signing, several tourist traps, and not a single comfortable bed later, we’re home.
The trip was mostly wonderful. We drove all the way to Portland, with some stops along the way to visit family and friends . . . and The Oregon Vortex — the original Tourist Trap. It was silly, but fun.
Also on the way to Portland, we stopped in Brownsville, which is the town where I filmed Stand By Me in 1985. It was AMAZING! Hardly anything has changed in this tiny town, and the local historical society even has a map of “Stand By Me Locations” that we were able to visit. We had lunch in this rockin’ pizza cafe, and the owner told us that hundreds of tourists come there from all over the world to see our old locations. He said that busloads of Japanese kids come over and want to see the treehouse (which is gone, but the tree is still there.) I took lots of pictures, which I’ll add to the gallery once I get some time.
The day after we got to Portland, I had my reading and signing at Powells Technical Annex. It was also amazing (I’m going to need a thesaurus pretty soon, since most of this trip was . . . well, amazing.) There were about 150 people there, and they seemed to enjoy the selections I read. See, here’s the thing: I have read stuff from Dancing Barefoot so much, I know where the laughs are, I know where the slow parts that pay off later are, and I know how audiences generally react to it . . . but until Powells, I had only read one small bit to an audience, and that was at the Star Trek convention, which has a very unique crowd. So I was terrified that I was going to suck, or I would go on too long, or not long enough . . . basically, The Voice of Self Doubt was in full-effect.
Luckily, it went very well, and I had a lot of fun while I was there. Amber from Powells told me that the next time I go up there, she’s going to put me in the main store, because I keep drawing such huge crowds! So an epic Thank You to everyone who came to Portland (I know some of you drove from Eugene or Seattle to be there) and supported me. It wouldn’t matter how good I did if there wasn’t an audience, and I am really grateful to everyone who showed up.
After Powells, I was officially On Vacation for the next week. We went to Mount St. Helens and The Columbia River Gorge, and I spent lots of time each night playing Hold’Em with Nolan. He’s turning into an incredible Hold’Em player, because he combines incredible memory (“I threw that hand away because the last time you raised like that you had kings”) with his great math skills (“I couldn’t call because the pot odds weren’t correct.”) Keep in mind that he’s 13 on Thursday, and hasn’t ever cracked open a poker book. Everything he knows he’s learned from playing with me, and watching poker on TV. I made two TERRIBLE plays when I was on WPT, and I know he’s going to be severely disappointed in me when he sees them.
From Portland, we drove down to Southern Oregon and spent the night with Anne’s grandparents. Some readers may recall that Anne’s Grandmother is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and I guess it’s good to report that she was the same as when we visited them back in October of last year. Actually, both of them seemed happy and in good health (considering that they’re 1000 years old, of course) and I’m looking forward to visiting them again in Spring.
We took Interstate 5 up to Portland, so on the way back we crossed 80 through the North Bay and San Francisco, down through San Jose (with a stop at the Winchester Mystery House), and across the 17 to Santa Cruz. Anne and I had both been to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk when we were younger, and we were really excited to take the kids there . . . but it was very different than I remember it. I don’t know if I’ve gotten too suburban, or too old, or whatever, but the whole place felt so skanky, I couldn’t wait to leave. It was like a traveling carnival had set up on Venice beach. Anne and I were really bummed out. In an effort to find the half of the glass that was full, we rode The Giant Dipper (it’s been there for 80 years!) . . . and the whole thing was worth it. We had so much fun on that ride, screaming and laughing in equal parts terror and delight, all the skanky carnies and pan handlers didn’t matter. We also walked down the boardwalk to this big arcade that my parents wouldn’t let me go into when I was last there 18 years ago, and it was just as awesome as I’d imagined it would be: shooting gallery, lazer tag, all sorts of games of chance, and I got to play Robotron and Q*Bert!
We ended our day with dinner at some spiffy Italian restaurant in Downtown, and got up early the next day to drive to Monterey, which has always been one of my favorite cities in the world.
The Montery Bay Aquarium is known to lots of people at “That Place Where Mr Spock Did The Vulcan Mind Meld With The Whale In Star Trek VIV (I know Roman numerals, I swears it, precious!)” It’s best known to me as “That Place Where I Spent Most Of An Afternoon Watching An Octopus Swim Around And Change Colors When I Was 14.” Now, it’s “That Place I Want To Go Back And Visit Right Away.”
I’ve always loved the ocean, and I’ve always loved marine mammals. In fact, when I was a little kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up, so I could understand whales (especially Blue Whales) and somehow convince people to stop hunting them. So it’s like The Monterey Bay Aquarium was specially built just for me (okay, I know it wasn’t, but leave me with my dream, dammit!) Since I was last there, it’s been significantly expanded, and modernized . . . but it still feels like a small, private aquarium, run by volunteers who truly care about conservation and love the ocean as much as I do — probably because that’s exactly what it is.
We went to the Aquarium on the second-to-last day of our trip (I’d say “penultimate day,” but that probably sounds like I’m trying to impress you . . . did it work?) We were all tired, and starting to get on each other’s nerves a little bit, (which, I observed many times at many stops, is pretty common on long family vacations 😉 but the aquarium was so beautiful, and so soothing, we all relaxed and simply basked in the beauty and serenity of huge aquariums, filled with fish schooling and swimming. When we left, I vowed (as I always do) to one day have a salt water aquarium in my house so big it covers one full wall, and requires a full-time marine biologist to care for it. Take that, MTV Cribs!
Oh, and in one large exhibit, which featured fish you could expect to see in the deep water near the outer bay? I saw a turtle.
We drove home the next day, down highway 1. We did the 17-mile drive, then went all along California’s incredibly beautiful coastline through Big Sur and Morro Bay. At San Luis Obispo, we crossed onto the 101, and took it all the way home.
Overall, it was a great time. The kids are not quite at an age where they can appreciate just seeing cool stuff from the car, but they *did* appreciate the Jelly Belly factory tour, and Nolan *did* get excited about driving over the Golden Gate Bridge when it was covered in fog. To their credit, they didn’t do nearly as much “are we there yet?” as my brother and sister and I did when we were their ages, and when I really wanted to share something with them, like Brownsville, Oregon, they put down their books and turned off their music, and paid attention. If I had it all to do again, I’d shorten the trip by two days (one in each direction) and plan to spend less time on the road, and more time in the hotel swimming pool, so there was more of a balance . . . but that’s part of the on the job training that all parents go through, I guess.
I’m really happy to be back home. I missed my dogs a LOT, and I really missed sleeping in my own bed. I thought I wouldn’t miss my website, since I haven’t really taken a major vacation in years, but I did. I kept a hand-written journal while we were on the road, sort like a luddite blog, I guess. After years of putting most of my thoughts here for anyone to read, it was cool to have a place to record them without any intention of sharing them with anyone.
Anyway, I’m sure there’s stuff I’ve forgotten, but I’ve been here for a long time, and Felix is getting pissed.
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We were so excited to get to see you in Portland – it was a great and totally amazing experience to hear you read again, and thanks for signing our Stand by Me DVD. My husband can’t stop showing it to people!
Glad you had a good trip and nice to see you back on the web.
Welcome back. I visited Monterey a few times for science conferences but never made it to the aquarium. I think I could spend about four hours watching octopi changing colours, and highway 1, for an easterner is a crazy-beautiful-amazing thing.
Glad you’re home safe. Thank you for Portland. You rock.
geoster
reading that made me want to visit lots of places…. by the time ive saved up enough to visit the states ill have like a thousand places to visit!!!! its great that you enjoyed the holiday though, and its great to see you back… you just need to head england bound now ya know… 😉
sara
Welcome back! Glad the book signing was a success! Sure sounds like you guys had mucho fun on your road trip. Looking forward to the pictures. Thanks for the descriptions of places! I travel vicariously throught others’ vacation pictures, tales, etc. since there isn’t much opportunity for me to actually leave this place.
P.S.
Tell Felix ‘thank you’ for letting you type your blog entry. :^)
Welcome home, Wil! You have been missed.
Er, before the hoarde of locusts decends upon you, it was in ST IV that Spock got in touch with Gracie the humpback. As I just got back from a 3500 mi. driving trip where only five people came out to hear me discuss my latest book, you still pwn me. (Granted, the five were university professors, and the book is a dissertation on thin-film magnetism. I also will get an ISBN, and I thought of you.) But I did see baleen whales on the On Vacation part of my trip, so that makes up for it.
Mmm, West Coast. wonder what that’s like.
— Draken
Welcome home! Sounds like a great trip.
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was skanky the whole time I lived there for college (96-2000). It’s too bad, too, because it could be so much better. The large rides are fine, but the atmosphere kinda sucks.
Welcome back Wil. Sounds like a kickass trip. Now, let’s play some hold ’em!
I share your fascination with octopi. I volunteer at the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre and in our wet lab we had a container in one of the touch pools that had baby octopi. Usually they would hide in shells but occationally they would take a little swim and it was so neat to see them change colour when they rubbed up against the rocks and shells. The babies are tiny and probably one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Wil,
It was such a pleasure to hear you read and meet you in person. Glad you’re back. 🙂
Welcome back
Star Trek IV, Wil. Not Star Trek V, Star Trek IV.
It’s not that I’m anal about little details like that, I just have never been the first guy to point out a Star Trek mistake to a Trek cast member before. What can I say, it brings a little joy to my day.
It sounds like you got exactly what you needed out of this vacation, that is awesome.. I am still stuck on the fact that you got to play Q*bert! I am so jealous 😛
Welcome back Wil 🙂
Next time you’re in this neck of the woods, you might want to check out the Oregon Coast Aquarium, it’s pretty cool, especially the behind the scenes tour.
The Hatfield Marine Science center is next door, and you can spend some quality time interacting directly with a GPO*.
If you want a fish-nerd as a guide, I’d be happy to volunteer, and I promise not to be a gushing fanbody. L.E. Modesitt and Joe Haldeman can vouch for me. 😉
Didn’t know you were going to Powells, that would have been worth the trip from Eugene.
*Giant Pacific Octopus, the fellow I met, liked to hold hands.
It was wonderful listening to you read, a bit mind-boggling to realize we’re the same age… and then I went home and actually read the book. Ended up crying some, it’s a timely sort of message for me.
And don’t worry… I won’t tell the Irish about the little name mix up, if you won’t 😉
Thanks for coming to Portland Wil! My wife and I really enjoyed the readings. I’m half way through JAG and loving it. I was proud to represent in my WWDN shirt. Posse on……..
Welcome back! Reading your account of San Francisco down to Big Sur really brought back memories … in June of 2001 my SO and I took an amazing 🙂 vacation and did exactly what you did, up to and including the Winchester Mystery House. We stayed in the redwoods near Santa Cruz in the Brookdale Lodge, which is supposedly haunted but sadly we never saw anything. And I want a Monterey Bay Aquarium in my house, too.
Welcome Back!
Oh, and one more thing. Daaaaaamn, your wife is Super Hot in person. And I mean that in a happily-married-guy-admiring-another-man’s-wife kind of way.
While you were in Monterey, you should have taken a hike through Point Lobos State Park. It’s an incredibly beautiful place, on the coast just south of Carmel-By-The-Sea. A gorgeous redwood grove runs right up to the shoreline, where the Pacific crashes dramtically against the rocks.
It’s something for you to do next time you’re in town.
Welcome back, Wil! Glad you had a great time!
Wesley said to tell Felix “meow” for him! =^..^=
Ahh yes, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I think any Bay Area native can recall the excitement of going there and the disappointment of arriving. Yuck.
Sounds like you had a great time and came back rested up!I am looking forward to the pictures
I pass by the Winchester Mystery House almost every day, because I live about 2 miles away from it. And the Monterey Bay Aquarium has become one of my favorite places recently…I could just sit in front of the reef tank (where you probably saw the turtle) for hours. 🙂
Sadly, all of the comments regarding the Boardwalk are true. It’s like a permanent county fair atmosphere with creaky, unsafe rides and scary teeth-optional patrons. At least they still have a Sky Glider ride that enables you to literally and figuratively rise above the huddled masses and the wretched refuse.
It’s nice to have you back Wil.
I’m glad to hear the book signing went well! If you ever come out to the DC area, I trust you’ll let us know. I’ll be there!
Hi Will! Glad you made it back safe and sound. This is my first visit to your website since I first heard about it on Live Journal Syndicate. Anyway, funny thing about being your kids age, you don’t quite appreciate the good things in life until you are an adult. Same way how I feel when my father was stationed in England. We visited a lot of places including St. Pauls Cathedral in London (Where Prince Charles and Princess Diana were married). Oh man what I give to go back there and share the same experiences with my wife.
Some of the places I did visit which was mention in your journal was the Golden Gate Bridge. I dont’ know if you experienced this but if I can recall, the bridge on one end, ends in a tunnel and everytime we drove through there, I could not figure out why people would sound their horns, as if we were in New York. LOL! The drive down the 101 is breath taking. Much better drive then the I-5 where there is nothing but farmland. Just make sure you have cruise in your car when taking that route. 🙂
Anyway, glad you are back and I hope to read more of your many adventures.
Take care,
Dave
I wanted to move to San Jose a few years ago to become a tour guide at the Winchester Mystery House. I knew the history backwards and forwards, so it’s very cool to hear you guys stopped there. I hope you had fun!
Welcome home. We would have loved to see you in Portland, but we were there just a couple of weeks ago, and it’s an annoying drive from north of Seattle. Maybe next time….
Give Felix a rub and let him have his space. You can try again tomorrow! 🙂
The Jelly Belly factory is cool — it’s really eerie to see the Church to the Republican Icons it’s become. The large picture of Reagan made entirely out of jelly bellies is… amazing. Penultimate only to the massive collections of Elvis jelly belly portraits, of course.
Good to see you back — I’ve been clicking every day since the 10th in waitful anticipation (waitful — is that a word? I somehow doubt it). But it’s good that you got a chance to refill the well like that. Now you’ll have lots of new material for the blog.
BTW: Have you seen any advanced copies of Gurps 4th edition yet?
Author, actor, and screenwriter Pamela Ribon has a different take on the book reading/signing at her blog: http://pamie.com/blog/2004_08_15_archive.html#109261847618766013
Take note her response to the discussion in the post comments.
“Okay, everybody, calm down. I have nothing against Wil Wheaton. It was just funny that I was there when he was there, and I was signing copies of my book and he had just done a big ol’ reading. It was purely coincidental, and we were sitting next to each other and I thought it was funny that I knew who he was but he has probably never heard of me.”
Hi Wil,
My wife and I had a blast at your powell’s signing. There are a couple of pics from it on my wife’s blog (Wil speaking, and the super nifty Jane White postcart he autographed for us).
http://homepage.mac.com/jessicabeck/iblog/
We also wanted to thank your wife for taking a moment to talk to us after the reading.
You guys rock.
Oh and as we just moved to Portland from Santa Cruz, I completely understand about the boardwalk. It’s sad really.
I’m so glad you had a good time on your vacation, we all missed you…
Glad to hear that the trip went well. Exstatic that your back writing. I was feeling silly visiting the site every day, only to be greated by the talking Moose.
Give Felix and extra scratch behind the ears for me.
save the whales baby!!
Glad you are back…can’t wait until the 21st.
Wil, Welcome back!
I have to admit I was “jonsing” to read your stuff again… and was happy to see the bloglines notification of your newest entry (even if I am new to your stuff… it is addicting).
Glad you got the chance to take a break.. now never do it again!
😉
My family and I just went to Jelly Belly yesterday! My daughter(7) loved the jelly bean paintings and jelly bean duck and my son(2 1/2) couldn’t get enough of the robot arms in the warehouse! He didn’t want to continue with the rest of the tour. And then there were the free jelly beans… Can’t beat that. Family trips, they’re either the best or the worst!
Glad to see you back Wil. I hadn’t realized that I’d gotten so addicted to your site until you weren’t posting for this vacation. 🙂
Pictures I took from said event for Wil and Anne are at .
Wil, you should have visited both the Oregon Vortex and the Santa Cruz Mystery Spot in one trip, and then compared them objectively!
Now I understand why there’s a preview button.
The pictures of Wil’s signing at Powell’s (with pictures of Anne and me as well) are at http://www.stonehenge.com/merlyn/Pictures/Friends/04-08-Wil-At-Powells/.
Ah, the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk… my Dad used to hang out there when he was a kid, so did I. My 13 year old son LOVES the season pass we gave him in June when he graduated middle school.
Some of the rides are fun, some of it is really disgusting. The best, hands down, is the Giant Dipper. The hover bumper cars are a blast too.
In the Boardwalk’s defense, think of all the seaside amusement parks that no longer exist. And although the Boardwalk owns most of the land around their site, they haven’t been allowed to develop any of it by the city. Reading in the local rags, the Boardwalk wants to modernize and expand, but they can’t get approval to tear out the Beach Flats shacks around the area.
Great trip Wil, welcome home!
p.s. – a little traveling tip -it might make a difference. We each take our top pillow to sleep on; it makes the difference between a horrible night’s sleep, and one that’s merely “not quite home”. Yeah, it takes up a little room, but it’s worth it. That’s the time to put the zebra stripe pillow cases on; so you won’t leave your precious personal pillow behind when you leave the hotel.
It’s great to have you back!
We had a great time having you for your reading/signing at the Borders in Hollywood on Sunday! It was a great success!
Speaking of your trip, my husband and I actually just moved down to LA from Santa Cruz about a year ago, and I actually used to work at the Monterey Bay Aquarium! It was really the coolest place ever to work, I can’t wait to visit again.
The boardwalk, however, unless visited on Mondays and Tuesdays during the summer (rides and certain concessions are only 60 cents) is really disappointing….
Hey Wil,
I wholeheartedly echo your sentiments regarding the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I’ve been visiting it regularly (every year or so) since my elementary school days, and it just never gets old, partly because they update their exhibits so often, and partly because there really is no other place like the Monterey Bay, and the Aquarium captures the spirit of the Bay as well as it captures its wildlife. The Outer Bay exhibit, in particular, leaves me utterly speechless every time I see it- a million gallon tank stocked with rarely-seen open-ocean species, including those turtles you liked. 😉
-Peter
I’m sure your Italian dinner in Santa Cruz was awesome (esp. if it was at Zoccoli’s), but you truly missed out on the finest of SC’s culinary prowess by not having a Mike’s Mess scramble at Zachary’s on Pacific Ave (Downtown SC). next time you go through there, if you ever go back (heh), you positively must try it.
regardless … welcome back! missed ya!
Welcome back. I’m glad it went well, and looking forward to the pictures!
Hi wil.I only found this web site when i decided to look you up on the net a few days ago.I really loved reading some of the things you wrote and well done with what you have achieved.I look forward to reading more about you.