5/25/2011 - other people's vacations. . .

I would be somewhat remiss if I didn't spend the first post after going MIA for two days explaining why.  And taking into consideration how people absolutely love to hear about other people's vacations (or not), I will keep this (mostly) short and to the point, going into detail on just the high points of what was, in every way, exactly the kind of getaway I wanted. 

I'll even bullet point the list for you: 

• Sitting in the passenger seat of Sam's car with the radio playing some pop ditty, a bag of snacks on the floor, and pastoral field after pastoral field rolling by our window on I-5, each mile brought us closer to our destination.  We often sang along together ("Taaaake me, t-t-take me. . ."), and I was never more glad to have him as my travel companion.
• Within minutes of arriving at the Holiday Inn in Cathedral City for our first night's stay, we jumped in the pool and floated about with the late afternoon sun on our lily-white shoulders.
• For dinner on Saturday night, we headed to a shopping center in the ritzy city of Rancho Mirage not knowing that it was the destination for the local high school's prom attendees.  Seeing all of those kids out in their best formalwear waiting for a table at P.F. Chang's brought me right back to my own prom some 13 years ago, the nearby Olive Garden and the excitement of sliding into a limo for the first time.
• Our second hotel was a beautiful Westin resort in Rancho Mirage with sprawling golf courses, outdoor bars, and numerous pools scattered throughout the property, all of which we got for $65 a night on Priceline.  Where did we spend the most time?  In the "family" room playing free games of Galaga and 9-ball, where Sam proceeded to demolish me in five consecutive games.
• On our final morning, we attended a 90-minute timeshare-like sort of presentation.  I managed to say no, even after finding out how affordable it was, how tempting the offer, and especially after Sam showed weakness and the salespeople pounced on us like lions to an injured gazelle.
• In the two full days we had in the Palm Springs area, we managed to hit up all five of the local Indian casinos, receiving a total of $70 each in free slot play after signing up for their respective loyalty programs.  I walked out with about $200 of actual money, even after leveling out some of Sam's actual losses.
• The aforementioned Showtune Saturday, as well as Musical Monday at a different little hole-in-the-wall gay bar in downtown Palm Springs.  Though I could have stayed much longer, I already had a mish-mash of showtunes ringing in my head, and Sam probably could not have handled much more vibrato for one evening.
• Not purely because I was hypnotized by showtunes, though it certainly played a part, I loved the area so much.  I have always found San Francisco, as much as it is my home, to be too big for me, the community too sprawling, the people too fast.  With the quaintness, the mid-century/modernness, the pace of Palm Springs and the adjacent desert cities, I now feel more out of place in the City than ever.
• Two blogless days.  The freedom of it.
• A lengthy but enjoyable drive home, made sweeter by Lady Gaga's new album.  "Born This Way" and "Judas" are not the album's high points, of which there are many.

And finally, probably the best of all--coming back to work today with an Outlook free of meetings, just empty space and time to settle in, to reacquaint myself with my computer, my cubicle, and my lunch hour, where I was able to relive the entire trip, if only for 40 minutes, if only on paper and only in my head.