Thanksgiving Day

This Thanksgiving I invited Jesse, Jade, Pat, Kim, and Taylor over for Dinner. Overall the meal prep went ok, although again the mashed potatoes caused me to be a little rushed at the end, but oh well. The food was ok, but not outstanding. Everything turned out edible though, so I can’t complain. It was a very enjoyable meal and I was glad Taylor could make it. Pat and Kim brought over a new game called Rock Band that is like guitar hero, but you can do more than just play guitar. They had 1 guitar so we took turns playing and singing along to the song. Taylor plays music for real, so he did quite good with the singing part of it. I sang Roxanne for Jesse. :) Afterwards we played a couple of games of Scotland yard, which was also pretty fun. Tomorrow I believe might be a bit of a heroscape gathering with Joe, Max, and Dave at my place. Then Saturday I have the game day at Game Depot with my Descent game. That place is really a lot of fun to be at, I bought a couple of new games from them the other day (Prophecy and Race for the Galaxy). I also played a game of Twilight Imperium with the guys from work on Tuesday. That game rocks big time. I managed to pick it up locally from someone on BGG the day before. I love it when a plan comes together. heh heh.

My day off hike

I took the day off yesterday and went hiking at Superstition Wilderness. I drove to the Tortilla Trailhead, which is a few miles past Canyon Lake on Hwy 88. The lake had extremely low water levels as I drove past. I had originally planned to drive down the 4x4 road at the trail head and hike from there, but the road was more than my explorer could handle so I just walked along it. I did about a 5 mile road trip hike that was mostly level. The end of the trail had an old windmill and water tank next to a currently dry river. I sat there briefly in the shade of some trees growing along the bank. The sun made the hike fairly hot, but overall it was an enjoyable trip.

Heroscape and Hike

I hosted a Heroscape game day at my place on Saturday. I setup about 7 maps and we played from 1pm until about 10pm. Event was a good amount of fun and I actually was able to play with everyone who came. I’ll have to do more of those events in the future. Today I went hiking on a 9.2 mile loop at White Tank Mountains Park, AZ. Jesse, Jade, and I did the Ford Canyon trail, among others for the loop. The hike went really fast and we stayed together the whole time for the hike. They will be coming over for Thanksgiving and I’ll see if Pat and Kim are going to be in town and invite them over as well. I has occurred to me more than once that I get angry with things way too easily. A great deal of it comes from this immediate reaction I have to always think that whatever someone else does towards me is done with the worst intentions. Obviously this is not reality and even if it were, I should still be able to ignore many things and not get worked up over them. As I was driving the other day I thought back on how my father perceived the world’s treatment of him. Lets just say there are a number of parallels that I’m not sure if I fully connected before. I’ve struggled with this problem for .. longer than I can clearly remember a time when I did not. My next self improvement project needs to be focusing on spirituality, as I need to achieve an inner peace.

Late start to first game night in awhile

Went over to Gamemaster Games tonight. They had a Warhammer tournament that ran way over, so I did not start until about 8:30pm. Only 3 other people were there initially and we (Dean, Robert, Taylor and myself) played Axis and Allies War at Sea. Robert said he had been buying some heroscape lately to play with his 13 year old son. He also played a game of Twilight Imperium with Dean. Dean likes the heavy strategy war games from what I could tell. After we played that game, we got in a game of Winds of Plunder. I chatted with Taylor a bit before the start of the gaming and found out that he plays guitar and is over at Famous Sam’s in Chandler most Thursdays playing with Chuck-e-Baby. Pretty wild. He also grew up outside Chicago and went to school at University of Illinois. He said he might be coming by the Game Depot with a lady friend of his from New York for their board game day. Anyway, it was a decent night all and all.

Last Hike in California

It was here that I sat in wonder at what I had done. No longer free to wander I had given myself over to the man in the form of full time employment. Now 5 years later I sit in wonder that I should ever feel that way again. The valley below has not seemed to change so much. Lost for a way to describe how I feel now. I feel content but a hidden restlessness stirs within. Perhaps I seek ... I don't know.

The weather at Joseph Grant county park has been warm with a cooling breeze. I am at antler point yet again. Tonight I have to work at 11 pm. That work came up right before I left and screwed up my vacaction plans. At this point I feel like just going home. I will have a long drive tomorrow.