Cocktail Confessions

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front the last few days, and probably will be again for at least a few more, so apologies for that upfront.

The last few days of work have been mind-numbing and soul-sucking to say the least, so the fact I have a very good friend flying in this afternoon from Idaho to stay with me the next few days is a very welcome distraction and the timing could not have been better.

He’s my friend Brett Lotero, whom I met in the mid 90′s through some mutual friends.  As these things tend to work out neither one of us see or talk so much to the mutual friends who once introduced us, but Brett and I have maintained a pretty solid friendship over the years even though we now live close to 950 miles apart.

I pick him up today at the airport at just after noon, and for the next few days we will be having great food, great drinks, and hopefully great memories.  For example, he can’t get ‘In-N-Out’ burgers being out in Idaho, so first up on our docket today is to rectify that with a good ‘ole Double-Double.  We’ll probably head out to Cook’s Corner as well for a few drinks, and maybe BevMo to pick up some nice beers and a good bottle of whisky (for me) and rum (for him).  Dinner is up in the air right now, but I have some ideas.

Thursday should bring us down to San Clemente for a good breakfast, some sight seeing along the coast, and perhaps a drive out to Hells Kitchen off the Ortega Highway, and maybe a stop off at Big Helens on the way back.  But we’re totally playing it by ear, and we may do something completely different.  I hope to record a raw podcast with him maybe this day for future postings.  He’s got a few good stories in him.

Friday brings us to his last full day here.  Not exactly sure what we’ll do yet during the day, but we are planning to have a BBQ that night with some old chums.  I think Cuban burgers are on the menu, so I know we’ll hit the store sometime that day.  We’ll also hit up Daily’s Sports Bar at least once to see if he can run into some of his old co-workers.  Brett finally goes back Saturday afternoon which will give me some time to do laundry myself and other stuff to finish out the weekend.

I’m sure I’ll be giving my Droid’s ‘Four Square’, ‘Gowalla’, and ‘Trip Journal’ applications a workout the next few days, so batteries are fully charged as well as the portable power cables.  Oh, and I also got my new Kodak Playsport yesterday in the mail as well, and that’s fully charged now so I’ll be taking some video’s as well.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to share some of these pics and vids with you over the next few days, or at least this weekend after the festivities.  I’ll also share my recipe for Cuban burgers, and I may even try doing that by video.  Look for a few cocktail recipes, some establishment (read: saloon) reviews, and perhaps a long awaited new podcast.

Cheers!

I’m very excited to be going on a three day out of towner with my wife, Monica, and my friend Albert and his wife, Lisa to Palm Springs tomorrow.  I seriously need a few days aways from work, the neighbors, my house, etc.  This past week I’ve been working like a Hebrew slave due to being short handed on our regular staff and the usual non communicative chaos which is the status quo at my place of employment.

The idea of hanging out at the pool with a few cold beers, eating at new restaurants, and doing some sight seeing has me all fired up.  I went out yesterday and bought myself some new swim trunks, flip flops, and hat.  I had my SUV tuned up last week and cleaned and am borrowing a neighbors Garmin GPS unit.

A few highlights we’re going to ‘try’ and do is visit the Living Desert Zoo and see their ‘G’ scale LGB minitature train exhibit.    Supposedly there is over 3000 feet of laid track here at the zoo and I get a chance to test out my new Canon digital camera in the field.

We may even use the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway to go to the top of San Jacinto for a little hike and maybe a drink or two or three at their lounge high in the sky.  I was there a few years ago and it was pretty cool, if not a little scary in places as the tram dipped here and there after passing the major pylons.

But the real thing I’m looking forward to is hanging out at The Orbit Inn.  This refurbished swanky motel has a total of 9 themed rooms that surround a small little pool and really neat wine and sake bar outside.  Each room is themed slightly differently in tribute to the Rat Pack era (50′s – 60′s).  The furnishings, while somewhat modern, are a clear throwback to all things of the nuclear age.  Monica and I stayed there about 5 years ago and stayed in the Frank Sinatra room and it was awesome.  They have gourmet coffee and bagels every morning and a killer sake/wine happy hour at their outdoor bar/lounge with plenty of misters.  I plan on taking plenty of pictures.

We also plan on hitting up this great little BBQ joint on the way out there tomorrow as well.  Looking forward to that.  Be back next Monday!