Potheads, Banana Slugs, and "Ghirardelli closes early"

As the picture would imply, my 16 year old brother, Lee, came out to visit me this weekend in Monterey. We had a blast, trying to do everything that we could in one weekend. We got a lot accomplished, and now that its over, I'm exhausted.

We went to go see "Bench Warmers" with a group of my friends on Friday. It was hilarious. My friends seemed to fall in love with Lee. Jenny at one point even said, "Lee, how about we keep you out here and send Mondo home." But the joke's on her. Eh, Eh, Eh.

We ate out for almost every meal to include: Carl's Jr., Chipotle, Outback Steakhouse, McDonalds, Boadie's American Grill, The Falafel House (my personal favorite), and The Paris Bakery. It killed my wallet, but it was totally worth it.

We spent most of the day Saturday up in Santa Cruz. It was fun, we bought some music and got hassled by some college kids cause we wouldn't give them money for pot. And yes, they specifically asked for money for pot. I asked Lee what he thought of SC. He said, "It's full of potheads, liberals, and homosexuals." Welcome to Santa Cruz, little guy.

On Easter, Heather and Jenny made lunch for all of us. It was incredible. We ate so much that we didn't eat dinner. And to thank them, we kicked their butts in a game of "Scene It." Seriously, though, thanks for lunch.

I hid plastic eggs for Lee at Heather's house. He found them all pretty quick. He's a lot better at it than he used to be.

Sunday, Lee and I took a hike through Big Sur state park. We didn't pay the fee to get in, and the Rangers got back at us by hosing the trail down so we had to tread through mud. It might have been the rain that stopped before we got there, but I'm pretty sure it was the Rangers. Quote of the day: "Do they have forest fires in California?" - Lee

Side note: I was somewhat miss-quoted in a so-so article in the Monterey County Herald about College-aged kids that go to church. It made the front page. All the credit for that goes to Heather Whipple, who got completely shafted by it while providing most of the information. Lee told me to my face, "it's not that big of a deal." Thanks a lot, Lee. Thanks a lot.

It was awesome having Lee out here. It was interesting having someone that is so close to "home" interacting with the people in this place that I'm starting to consider my home. He didn't hesitate to tell my friends embarrassing stories, or things that I wouldn't have told them myself. It's a crazy contrast that I've never really been exposed to. Either way, I'm going to miss the "little" guy. And I'm looking forward to the next time I can go visit him. Someday. . .