Nico’s

I’ve been back from Lake Powell for almost a week, and it’s taken me a while to write about it because I find it hard to explain.
On Sunday morning, the houseboat was loaded and we departed from Whaweap Marina. The weather was excellent, and so was the forecast: blue skies, temperatures in the 90s.
After a couple of hours of cruising through the lake, we picked out a “shore”, and anchored the houseboat. Shortly after, it was play time! People set out to go fishing, hiking, swimming, jet-skiing, wakeboarding and tubing. And of course, there was plenty of time for relaxing, playing card games and reading… but most of my time was spent in the 1st group of activities, doing things!
I wakeboarded for my 1st time. On the first go, the force of the boat pulling me ripped the handle out of my hands before I could get up. On the second one, I held on to it a little bit tighter and was able to get up. What a rush! Turn to the left: check. Turn to the right: eehh… sorta. “I can do this”, I thought to myself, and I was mentally ready to start jumping across the wake. Of course I fell, but I was eventually able to land a couple of small jumps, which was absolutely thrilling.
Tubing was also a lot of fun. Dani’s dad, Rick, made the experience very unique, making scary sounds as he skillfully maneuvered the boat as to make waves. He particularly enjoyed making a left turn when I was on the right side, and having me experience at least 3Gs of centrifugal force while trying to hold on to an inflatable object. Sometimes I’d let go, and I would roll above the water at least twice, before sinking in. I was laughing pretty heartily once I came out.

It turns out a houseboat trip is a monumental planning effort, and Dani’s family have had some practice at it. There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, but it never got in the way of the vacation spirit. We had incredibly complex meals for a boat, but they all made it look easy. The planning for this must have been overwhelming, but it all paid off, because I think it was a fantastic trip.
Lake Powell is beautiful. At times, the wind dies down and once the lake settles down, it reflects like a mirror. Dani took a lot of pictures of this, and she’s putting together some landscape composite shots that are pretty incredible. Maybe I’ll get her to put them on the internets, and I’ll post a link.
While we were there, the water level was rising at an average of 9 inches a day, so the water only got a bit warmer. It was cold at times, but it was never too cold to enjoy.

To sum it up: I loved Lake Powell! I look forward to another opportunity to visit this land of canyons, scenery and dinosaurs.
Now, here’s a picture of Dani and I, with the anchored houseboat behind us.


A slideshow of all the pictures Dani and I took can be seen if you click here.

In a few hours, I will be heading out to Lake Powell (In the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area).
Dani has a family tradition of going there every summer, and I’m joining in for this one. She’s been talking about this trip for months, and I’m really looking forward to it. Awesome lake? Check. Weather forecast? Check! (Sunny every day, highs in the low 90s) Water sports? Check! We’ll be jet-skiing, tubing, wakeboarding, swimming, and fishing (not a sport!). On top of that, I’m looking forward to hiking around the cool rocks, taking lots of pictures, and getting to chill out for a whole week.
That’s right. I’m leaving today, and I’ll be back on Saturday the 21st. I’ll be totally disconnected from the web, my phone, and work.

It’s been a week since I’ve been living at a new place. I have decided to move to the Old Southwest of Reno, with my friends Cory Jones and Jason Wickum.

It should be a fun experience, sharing a house with people who are a bit closer to my age and I already know. There’s also a lot of common room that I can share, instead of just being able to access. For example, the living room, kitchen and living room: it’s quite bare, so we’ll all have to build up to furnish it, and I think a shared feeling of ownership will come from that, which will make each one of us feel at home.
One of the things I’ve “pitched in” is my basketball hoop. Stef had kept it at the house after the divorce, but I called her and pleasantly found out that she was more than willing to let me have it! :neckbeard: So, I recruited Dani and her trusty truck, and we moved the damn thing.
It was quite an effort, to get it to not fall, and after a long and slow drive, we got it home:

And now it sits on the driveway. I’m sure videos and pictures of the many upcoming tournaments will pop-up here, so stay tuned for that!

In a few hours, Dani and I will be on the road to Arco Arena, in Sacramento. We’re going to see the NBA basketball game between the Sacramento Kings and the Utah Jazz. Having lived for quite a few years in Utah, Dani is a fan of the Jazz, so we’re taking a little road trip to go see how they do.
It should be pretty exciting, so I’m looking forward to it. We might even get to sit pretty close to the court for a while, if things work out. More details to come in the after-trip report.

Since we’re driving all the way to California, on the way back we’re going to stop by Tahoe Donner XC. I’ll do some more training for the Great Ski Race, and Dani will give it a shot for the first time ever. I’m guessing she’s not going to have a hard time picking it up, since she’s skied many times before. I guess we’ll see!

Last Saturday we went to Homewood for some snowboarding. Dani happened to score some free tickets from some friends of her family that work as Ski Patrol, so all we had to do was head up the hill and not worry about too much.

The traffic on Route 89 southbound was backed up as soon as we got off I-80, so we spent about an hour sitting in a very slow traffic. But then we finally made it, and pulled into the small parking lot, got ready and hit the hill.

As soon as we got off the lift, and looked down the hill, we saw something like this (taken from here ):

What a pretty view! I had been on a few resorts around the lake, where you can see Lake Tahoe in the distance, but never right next to it. It was quite magnificent, I must say.
All in all, Homewood was a pretty nice place to go snowboarding. It’s quite small compared to some of the other resorts, with only a few lifts and the feeling that by the end of the day you’ve gone everywhere you can go. I would not go again if I had to pay the $53 lift ticket, which is only reasonable because of the gorgeous views.

So here I am, hours before my departure back to Reno. I sit in the living room of the house I grew up in, while my parents take their almost holy siesta.

It’s been a very long two weeks vacation. I’ve eaten as if there was no tomorrow, and I have not excercised at all. The chubby comments will now come from the people who see me come back to Reno. Oh well.
The break has been quite nice, since I’m absolutely stress-free, and it sure was nice to spend time with my family. In case you haven’t gotten the point yet, I’ve had a great time here, despite not having done a whole lot if you see a vacation as an opportunity to go to fancy places and try new things.

When I get back home, I’ll be spending a lot of time with Dani, whom I’ve missed a lot. I’m very excited to see her. I also hear that there’s a blizzard going through the area as of right now, which will not only make my landing quite adventurous, but should give me plenty of snow to get ready for the Great Ski Race.
Also, after my landing in Reno, I will post another blog with my New Year’s Resolution, since it seems to be the cool thing to do in the blogosphere nowadays. I would post it now, but it has to do with Dani, and I don’t want to her to find out through here, you know?

Just to continue the ongoing theme, I figured I´d post a happier update about my trip.
I´ve made it home safely, and I am right now sitting in the living room of the house I grew up in. It´s nice to be home!

I had a nice reception at the Mendoza airport. My mom was there, with my 2 brothers, my grandparents and aunt on my mom´s side, and my other grandma and my godmother-aunt from San Juan. The weather also welcomed me with a lovely 35 °C, which translates to around 95 °F.
We came to the house and had some lunch, and what better way to start than with some home made tartas, which would be something like a quiche; not to mention the dessert: ambrosia - a family recipe of a dessert that can cure cancer. That´s right, it´s that awesome.

Right now I´m about to go take a nap. A lot of sleeping for short periods of time and seating down was ok, but I long for a real bed and the lack of interruptions. Stay tuned for more, although the updates won´t be coming as often while I´m here having a good ole time.

Here I am at the Los Angeles Airport, also known as LAX. It’s 10am, and I’ve been here for 2 hours… and I still have over 4 hours before I board the plane that takes me to Santiago of Chile (where in turn, I’ll take a plane to Mendoza).
This has to be one of my worst traveling experiences, or at least when it comes to an airport.
The flight from Reno was pretty scary. 5 minutes after take off, I went through the most intense turbulence I’ve ever experienced. A couple of bumps made me dizzy and lightheaded like usual, and I put my magazine down because I was obviously not able to read… and then we hit an air pocket that literally lifted me from my seat and shook me up. I was scared. Luckily, that was the very last bump on that flight, and I think it’s already apparent that I did no die on it. The best part of this turbulence came from a little girl sitting 2 rows in front of me. She was having a great time with the turbulence, and her innocent and hearty laugh lightened the situation in a very juxtapositional way.
I flew into LAX, and came in through gate 37. I had to go find my gate for my flight to Chile, but nowhere in sight could I find where I was supposed to head. Since I had about 7 hours to kill, I didn’t mind wandering, but what if I had been in a rush? Some people surely don’t have that luxury.
My itinerary said that my flight to Santiago (SCL) was with American Airlines, so I went to the first desk that I found, and asked them where I should go. The guy had no idea, so he referred me to a desk across the aisle, where a lady was helping people out.
I asked her where I needed to go, after explaining where I’m going, and she told me that I needed to get to the international terminal, which is a whole separate building. She gave me some vague directions on how to get there, and off I went. I had gone out of the security zone, which meant I was going to eventually have to go through the security dance again, with the x-rays and whatnot. Might as well give me a rusty nail to poke my eye with, too, no?
Anyway, I walked to another terminal, where I saw a big sign that said “INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL”, but with an arrow pointing outside. Confused, I asked a lady with an airport uniform. She said “oh yes, you’re here darlin’. Just get in that line over there”, pointing to a group of people lined up for one of the crowded check-in line at one of the American Airline counters.
My turn finally came, and it turns out that my flight is not with American Airlines, but with LAN Chile. I found this out because another lady came from behind the counter to see what was going on with me, and she directed me to the terminal across the street. That’s right, I had to go outside, in the cold rainy LA morning, and into the International Terminal. Again, I personally don’t have a problem with that, but what if I was in a big rush, or I was disabled, old or traveling with children? That’s right, it’d be a huge pain in the ass.
I finally found the right place to check-in and went through security, and I’ve been sitting at my gate, waiting patiently and watching videos on the MacBook ( that I’m smuggling ), like MythBusters. You’d think I’m content, but this terminal is so fucking loud! Announcements are being made every 10 minutes at a level so loud that he speakers are about to blow out. Top that with the cleaning lady that walks around every 30 minutes sweeping every single seat, despite me being the only one here and not sitting naked on every single seat masturbating with mustard. Seriously lady, I know you want to keep your job, but everything is just as clean as it was the last time you cleaned them!

At any rate, I’m seriously not that annoyed. I just have a considerable amount of time to kill, and I figured I’d rant about all the little things that could annoy someone having a bad day. Everything has gone well enough so far on my trip: I’m on schedule and the weather is looking nice. I was dropped off at the Reno airport by my girlfriend Dani, with a ziplock baggie full of chocolate chip cookies and a mysterious Christmas present that I haven’t opened.
I’m not complaining here, I’m just sitting here at the airport, looking important while I type away and people walk around from gate to gate, trying to get to their destinations. I’ll be getting to mine in 24 hours, as it’s 10:45 right now.
Well, wait, I lie. Factor in time zones and all that fun stuff, and it’ll be 19 hours. Yay!

This post does not exist.

Anyway, an old friend from High School in Argentina contacted me a while back to see if I could get him a MacBook laptop. Apparently, back there, after taxes, importation fees and a lot of bullshit, they end up costing about $3000, as opposed to the $1400 that they cost here. So, we talked about it for a bit, and we devised a plan.

Using Moneygram, he wired me the $1400 needed. I picked them up, which was pretty straight-forward and easy, and with fourteen Benjamin Franklins (or, one hundred and forty :tenbux: ) I headed down to the nearest Apple store, which happens to be in the Summit Sierra, the mall way South of Reno.
The purchase was very easy, and five minutes later, I had a fancy box with a brand new shiny laptop.

I’ve been using the MacBook, as agreed with my friend. I’ve loaded pictures, movies, games and applications. I’m going to make it look like I use it all the time… so that when I go through customs, I can write it off as it being mine, and not as something I’m importing. That way, I’m saving him a lot of money, and I’m sticking it to the man.

I hope I don’t go to jail!

I can’t believe I forgot to post the news! I’m going home for the holidays!

Home, just in case you didn’t pick up on it, is Mendoza. I haven’t been there in a couple of years, so it’ll be nice to be back home. I’ll be there from the 20th of December to the 3rd, so I’ll get to spend Christmas and New Years there.

One small detail: it’ll be summer! Oh yes, long days, warm nights, fun times. Although I don’t have too many plans other than hanging out with the family, I’m sure I’ll be enjoying being outside, checking out some wineries and the outdoors. There are quite a few things to do in Mendoza, and it’s always refreshing to go home and see things from an outsider’s point of view for the first couple of days.  Not to mention that now that I’m picking up my photography hobby, it’ll definitely be a cool subject to explore!