Year in Review: Q's Year in Review

As you read this (if you read it on the day I post it) I will be in the air, flying towards a fitting end of my 2008: New Years in New Orleans. I've discussed this at length in previous posts, but yeah, it should be amazing. However, this post is not about the future, or even the present, but about the past year that was.

2008 was amazing. I'll leave it that simply. 2008 was incredible. Last year I struggled to come up with 10 events to list in my year in review. This year, I'm going to have trouble paring the list down to only 10 events. Some things I'll combine into a single event, but yeah, a lotta cool things will be left out. It happens.

The events will be listed in reverse order of how awesome they were, and will start with the date of the event itself.

Amazing Personal Events of 2008:

First, the things that didn't make the list: Opening Night of this Sharks Season, Opening Night for the A's, Thanksgiving in Lancaster, my cousin's graduation in Lancaster, moving into my new apartment, the 4th of July BBQ/Pool Party, Bubba's Birthday Beach Blowout where we got kicked off the beach, my business trip to Washington, watching the amazing Super Bowl...yeah, I had an insane year if none of this is on the list.

10. Concerts: May 3: Michael Buble Concert – He was ok, but not great. It was still fun, though. May 9: ZZ Top Concert – They rocked the fucking house down! This was easily my favorite concert of the year. July 16: Lynyrd Skynyrd Concert: Pretty good. Played all their hits, even though the concert was a bit short. They're still fun, though. July 29: George Thorogood Concert: Buddy Guy opened and he was phenomenal. Seeing Buddy Guy really made this concert for me. Thorogood couldn’t compete.

10. (Yeah, I know, I couldn't get it in on a list of only 10...11 ain't bad, though). August 22-24: Abalone Feed, Ocean Cove. This trip was awesome as always. Shayleigh and Bubs came with, and my niece was adorable. It was her first camping trip! Ate deicious abalone, spent two nights on one of the most gorgeous coastlines in the world...could you ask for anything more?

9. May 11-16: Florida Business Trip. This has become an annual thing for me. Me and the boys go to Florida for a conference, and we drink and have fun and play golf. It's pretty awesome. I get paid to chill in Florida for a week and golf. It's always a blast, and this year was no exception.

8. May 23-26: Camping at Lake Tahoe. This was one of the coldest trips of my life. We were camping up at Lake Tahoe, and a late season storm came through. It didn't get above 40 or below 35 the entire time we were there. It spitted rain at us in the afternoons and evenings, but was not too bad in the mornings. We played lots of frisbee golf, threw an axe, made some fine camping cuisine, and drank. Loads of fun! Kids from Santa Clara came in on Saturday night had a flabongo. We drank all of their beer (since we were out) and we all had a good time. By that time, though, we had had enough of the cold, and went and spent the last night at the Mont'Bleu casino at southshore. Their hot tub was niiiiiiiice.

7. June 20-22: Disneyland weekend. Spent a weekend in Disneyland with Smiles and Bravo. As always, I had amazing time. I love this place. I can't get enough of it. I even got to see Nichole! I never get to see her. Just an all around good time in one of my favorite places.

6. October 3-5: Birthday Weekend in Las Vegas. Wow, a Vegas weekend as #6? Yes, that's correct. This is the first of three times Vegas will appear on this list. We met Criss Angel and Pete Rose. We gambled, drank, ate at Gallagher’s, and did Vegas the only way we know how. Lots of Bellagio fountain trips, lots of Aurora. I think we all had a pretty decent time. Although, I will say, it was pretty low key for one of our Vegas trips, though.

5. April 17, 25, and May 2: San Jose Sharks Playoff Games. I went to three through their playoff run last season. And, I mst say, playoff hockey is just something else, especially in San Jose. The first game I went to was Game 5 against Calgary. They won, it was fucking intense. So loud. Just loads of fun to be at. The second game was Game 1 against Dallas. It was a heartbreaker, but it was still fun to be at the playoffs. The last game I went to was incredible, game 5 against Dallas. The Sharks came back with 2 goals in the 3rd to tie and an OT goal to win. This place was even louder than it had been in the past, as we started to believe that we could actually come back from a 3-0 series deficit. We didn't, after losing in 4 OTs in game 6...but man, this was the best hockey game I've ever been to.

4. January 1: Last full day and night in Vegas for New Years. This evening was the most fun I've ever had in Vegas. You can read about it in a past blog, but lets just say it included a wedding reception, a Hooters model, and the conquering of Norway. It was just a badass way to ring in the new year.

3. July 11-13: Ventura Weekend. This was just a random weekend roadtrip of mine and Bubba's that turned into something epic. We went down to Ventura to see Jimmy B. As entertainment, we spent that Saturday in Los Angeles. We started in Hollywood, hunted down our favorite stars, saw some of the more famous theaters, and didn't see a single celebrity. I have the same size feet as Sean Connery, btw. Then we went to the world famous Pink's hot dog stand for lunch. The line was like an hour long, but it was well worth it! Delicious. We then spent the afternoon at the Getty, where we stood only inches from some priceless works of art (Van Gogh, Monet). It was some of the coolest things I've ever seen. We capped the night with some Gladstone's for Fish in Malibu, amazing. Sunday we drove home through Morro Bay. All in all, we had a great time.

2. November 14-16: Grand Canyon Weekend Road Trip. Keeping with the tradition of taking amazing weekend roadtrips, Bubba and I drove to the Grand Canyon and back in one weekend. Yes, we are insane! But, man, this was an incredible trip! Friday we left in the morning from Morgan Hill and drove to Vegas. This took us 9 hours, because there was some insane traffic. We got in around 4pm and immediately got into sportscoats and ate at Gallagher's. We wandered down to the Bellagio fountains, and then resisted some blonde and brunette temptations and got into the car to finish our trek. We spent 16 hours in total in transit, but 3 of those hours were in Vegas. Saturday we spent at the Canyon, and oh my god, this place is gorgeous! Totally worth the drive. Check out my pictures on the trip sometime, there's really no words I can use to tell you how breathtaking this place is. Just incredible.

1. July 17-25: Cozumel Vacation. This summer I went with Coach, Bubba, and Mikey to Cozumel, MX. And, yes, it was as awesome as it sounds. Our flights were pretty insane. Sacramento to Guadalajara to Mexico City to Cozumel. 12 hours of travel each way (and a 2 hour time change). The resort was gorgeous. We holed up at a pool right on the clear blue Caribbean with a bar, and made friends with our bartender. We'd usually drink from 9am to 7pm. Then dinner, chillin, and bed. That was how 5 of our days were spent. One of those days Tropical Storm Dolly went through, so that was somewhat interesting. One day there we took a ferry to the mainland (boats, ugh) and took a tour of the Mayan ruins at Tulum. Those were pretty awesome. Decently preserved too! The next day we went on a catamaran and did some snorkeling...although the spots they took us to weren't that good. The water was crystal clear (100 ft. visibility straight down), and super warm (85 degrees or so). It was just gorgeous. I had a phenomenal time in Cozumel, and I really hope to go back to the Caribbean someday.


So, as you can see, I had a pretty crazy year. And it's not over yet. My last day of 2008 will be spent in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Yes, I live an entertaining and interesting life. Hopefully 2009 can live up to the standard I've set this year in 2008. Have an amazing new year, everyone! Be safe and have fun tonight!