Shaver Lake Shenanigans (Happy 30th)

Every answer is Za.

30th birthdays are huge.  A lot of people put the emphasis on 25, but what's better than getting to a decade known as "dirty?"  Not much says I.  This past weekend, we had the opportunity to celebrate the entry to the 30 something club of none other than Za.  He's been crushing things lately.  Great job, sweet apartment location, getting more sturdy than me and probably, nay, definitely putting less stress on his heart and liver than I've been.

Looking for something that slept 10 people and was out of the reach of a big city, Za found a sweet cabin at Shaver Lake outside of Fresno.  Nestled in a small community amongst the woods, this cabin was more house, two floors, huge deck looking into the woods, hot tub and fireplace.  Seriously excellent.  After getting off work on Friday, I met up with Rya and Lina from the Carol to embark on the 3-4 hour drive up there.  We'll skip over details of the moment that fog on the mountain up almost crashed us off the road.

She's thrilled to be heading outdoors.

 When we arrived, the crew was hanging out, working on puzzles.  We had Lean, Marge, Bini, Xena JD, Za and the three from our car.  Looking to jumpstart some drinking late on a Friday evening, we had a Taps tutorial (see Instruction Manual: Taps post) and after a bit more drinking, most people were ready to call it a night.  Good thing too, because Saturday turned into a combination of two, maybe three days.

I got up around 8:30 and some folks already had breakfast on.  Marge admitted to dreaming about how to finish the puzzle she was working on.  What happens when I wake up that early on a Saturday?  Well, I end up with a cocktail sitting in the hot tub by 11, of course.  Then breakfast number 2 was served.  Seriously, two separate egg scrambles and bacon servings in the course of three hours separated only by cocktails.  Astounding.  While a few people had reading and studying to do, five of us set up outside in the crisp air and gorgeous sunshine to play dominoes.

Serious chefs at work.

thought we were done, went upstairs and we reverted to the double 6.  As bones ended, it was time to adventure into the great outdoors, which we did armed with frisbees.  Bini and I took on a challenging 12 hole course through the woods including a few requiring hammers.  Almost getting lost worked to our advantage as we returned home to refill our drinks only to find dinner #1 was ready.  Tri-tip, potatoes, salad and more cocktails.

After that, we needed a rest.  We adjourned to the TV for He's Just Not That Into You mixed with some Heisman awards where Manti T'eo got shafted.  Think about it...best defensive player in the country, on the best defense in the country, winner of 7 post-season awards, yet no Heisman.  I get that a Freshman is a great story and all, but really, show some guts and do something new.

Breakfast #2

Double 9 needs much counting.

Then came dinner number 2.  Lina ripped into the kitchen to show off her cookeration skills, making lamb and some awesome sauce that I was able to steal to put on my steaks.  She also made me like cauliflower, which, if you know me, is no easy task whatsoever.

Then it was time for Beirut.  JD and I re-formed our unholy alliance and proceeded to demolish anyone else who stepped on the table.    I'm talking to the tune of undefeated, including one shut out. There are evenings when you don't feel you can miss.  On this evening, I forgot what missing even felt like.  4 cups in a row?  No problem.  Two balls in the same cup?  Easy.  Hitting a final shot from 10 feet behind the actual shooting line?  Child's play.

So what do you do when it's almost midnight and you've done everything that we did in just one day?  You play Hot Tub Dominoes of course.  And yes, that's exactly what it sounds like.  I found a floaty device in the garage, pumped it up and all of a sudden we had a floating domino table in the middle of the hot tub.  I stole this idea from the game of floating Beirut we played in Mexico during the wedding festivities.

So there you have it.  1 day that basically lasted 60 hours.  The rule still applies: When you congregate to celebrate someone awesome, awesome things happen.  Za set up an amazing weekend, he made it all work, and the entire time, as I looked at a tree or saw a deer scamper by or landed a ridiculous hammer within 2 feet of the hole, I thought to myself, "Thank you buddy.  Can we do this again next weekend?"

Woodland Thuggery

Thank you domino panorama.