Boy and I traveled to the San Diego-ish area of California in order to visit my Uncle Rocky & Aunt Kathy.  I had been really really really really nervous about it, seeing as I can’t remember the last time I saw Rocky, but it was probably at a family party in NJ (where most of the family resides) in which we probably spoke two words to each other (not because we don’t like each other, more because the other cousins LOVE love LOVE Rocky, as he is generally known as the ‘cool uncle from california’ and they do not leave his side and he is forced to travel in a pack no matter where he goes and I tend to hang alone or with my brother at family functions).

So, we show up early (traveling long distances the day before Thanksgiving is very unpredictable it seems) and are welcomed by one of the coolest dogs in the universe, Harley, who immediately falls in love with Boy.  Kathy is there (I think I’ve met her once before that moment) and she is totally awesome and fun and relaxed and it’s clear that the holiday is going to be much more relaxed then I am used to it being.  When Rocky comes home, there’s that generally weird feeling that comes when you realize that you have relatives that you really don’t know at all.  But, we skip past that because Rocky has a whole bunch of stories to tell us and so we shut up and listen.  It reminded me of being a five year-old during story time at the local library, only the stories were much better (one story involved spear-hunting for hammerhead sharks). 

So, the rest of the long weekend was this – Turkey, LEGOLAND, shopping, touring the awesome town in which they live, San Diego Zoo, model railroad museum (and yeah, that place was one of the best museums I have ever ever been to), and finally – seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls at the History Museum.  Yeah, it was awesome awesome and then some more awesome.  Rocky and Kathy have reached new levels of coolness and I can see why the other cousins swarm them on their visits to NJ.