Home.

If the previous series of posts didn't make it abundantly clear, I didn't have the greatest time down in Southern California. Other than the El Dorado crit, it was a ball of tension created by traffic, crowds, noise, and large cartoon rodents. I think the kids had fun, so we'll call it a tie.
 
As soon as I hit the ground in Anchorage, I immediately relaxed. I was also immediately exhausted, as the accumulated stresses of the previous ten days piled up. I didn't have energy for anything but crawling in bed and falling asleep.
 
Eight hours later my old man bladder woke me up with messages of great urgency and discomfort. I stumbled around, not feeling rested but not tired enough to go back to sleep. A trip to the grocery store to restock the pantry pretty much solved that. I put the bike together for a ride, but didn't have required energy or give-a-shit. I plopped down in bed for another four hours, woke up for a late dinner, and then got another eight hours under my belt. I'm just starting to feel normal, whatever that is.
 
Vacations are a bitch..
 
Before I completely passed out, my wide started the sentence, "the next time we go to Disney, we'll..."
 
I stopped her right there.
 
I reminded her we could have gone to Virginia to visit my parents for a month with the same amount of money. Everyone has fun on those trips and relaxes. We could have gone to Hawaii. The two of us could have had the honeymoon we never took in Europe or someplace nice like that. We had nothing but options, but instead we went with to an extremely crowded and expensive place, and the fondest memories the kids will have of the experience will be of the pool at our rented house.
 
Nope, there is no "next time". The kids got their one. Like one Chuck E. Cheese's birthday party, there's limits.
 
When I got back to work, someone commented on how relaxed I was after my vacation. I agreed- after the vacation I could finally relax. It was a stark reminder of why I live here. I don't like people, especially large clusters of them and the resulting problems they create. Some people thrive on that stuff, but I'm not one of them.
 
There's no place like home.

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