My Return Trip Home: Bowling With The High School Buddies

I’ve recently returned to the great state of California and am staying in my childhood bedroom in my parents’ old house. It’s so strange to think that I grew up in this town. Everything looks exactly the same, but because I’ve been away for so long, everything looks completely different. If you’ve ever seen the movie Garden State with Zach Braff and Natalie Portman, you know what I’m talking about.

The main reason I’ve returned to California is because tomorrow, my best friend from high school, Travis Miller, is getting married. But more on that later!

Tonight, instead of attending a rehearsal dinner or anything of that sort, I went bowling with a group of my friends from high school. My friends Kris, Adrienne, Leslie and Jason were all in attendance. As well as Adrienne’s good friend Laura.

Kris and Adrienne just bought their first house in Santa Paula, so we all met at their house first and they gave us a tour and served us some pizza. Then we all carpooled over the bowling alley where I vigorously competed against my high school peers in a good old game of 10 pin. Kris and Adrienne were my stiffest competition.

It’s strange seeing people you haven’t seen in a while. You expect them to be totally different than what you remember of them, but most of the time they seem to be exactly the same.

“Do I appear this way as well?” I wonder.

I feel like I’ve changed so much since graduating from high school. And I’ve accomplished so many things! It’s a strange feeling to return after a year or more away. It’s good to be back home, but despite the fact this is the place where I spent the first 22 years of my life, it doesn’t feel like home anymore… and I’m trying to figure out exactly what that means.

Eight Days In Aruba: My Cycling Adventure

Earlier this summer I traveled for eight days to the island of Aruba. My parents have a timeshare that they own and at the last minute they decided that they weren’t going to be able to use it. When they said I could use the timeshare to go wherever I wanted, I jumped at the opportunity. I did a lot of research and finally decided to travel to Aruba.

Before this trip I didn’t even know where Aruba was. I knew it was an island, but that was about all I knew.

In case you don’t know, Aruba is a small island about 25 miles north of Venezuela. It’s a part of the Dutch Caribbean and the people there speak four different languages: Dutch, Spanish, English, and the native language of Papiamento. In my entire time there, I failed to meet a single person that did not speak at least some English.

When I started my trip I flew out of Salt Lake City International and first went to Atlanta, Georgia before boarding the plane that would take me to Aruba. It was a long flight for what seemed like an island not that far away.

Because of the work I’ve been doing on my website at www.bicycletouringpro.com, I bought a Bike Friday folding bike and took it with me on the trip. The great thing about this bike is that it folds up and fits inside a standard suitcase. This is a huge benefit because you don’t have to pay any extra fees to fly with your bicycle. And now that airlines are charging for second bags and a whole host of otherwise normally free items, this will save me a huge amount of money in the future.

Anyway, once I arrived in Aruba I had to immediately put my bike together and ride to the hotel. I found a small island between to busy lanes of traffic and put my bike together here. It was so hot and humid that in just a few moments I was instantly covered in sweat. It was horrible.

Once I had the bike together I had to ride about 6 miles from the airport to the hotel. This sounded easy back home, but once I got out on the road, it was a complete nightmare. The roads in Aruba are crazy! There is no shoulder, there is glass in the road, and the drivers honk at you! To make it worse, I was pulling a trailer behind me and it was making my ride three times more difficult.

I did eventually get to the hotel, but by that time I was practically in a state of shock. I checked into my room and checked my email only to find that a guy I had been hoping to work with on a business deal had sent me a nasty email. Apparently he wasn’t much of a businessman because he misinterpreted an offer as some sort of threat. He thought I was trying to cheat him in some way, but I was actually trying to help him. He eventually realized his mistake and tried to make amends, but I was already over him. I didn’t want to work with such a jackass, so I just ignored him.

The first night in Aruba was not a good one. I was running on about an hour’s worth of sleep and I was depressed as hell. In fact, I wrote an article about the depression I was feeling and posted it on my bicycle touring site here.

The next morning I checked out of the hotel and rode with my bike and trailer down the California Lighthouse in the northeast side of the island. Once I got out of the touristy areas the ride became quite enjoyable. I spent the day looking for geocaches and riding in the dunes on the east side of the island.

Later that day I rode back to the main part of the island and checked into the timeshare resort.

The resort was located about a mile from the beach, but I found this to be a great benefit. It was away from most of the crowds and my room came with a balcony with an excellent view of the fancy resorts and casinos that line the northern coast.

Inside my room I had a bedroom, 2 bathrooms, a fully stocked kitchen, and a living room. It was more than I needed and it was my home away from home.

Most days in Aruba I woke up late, checked my email, and then went on a bike ride for a couple hours during the day. Then at night I would return home, take a shower and walk down to the tourist area to get some dinner (usually just French fries). Then I would talk back to the resort, watch some TV and eat my dinner, and then go down to the pool, check my email again, and write some articles for my bicycle touring website.

 

As I think back on it now, these were perfect days. I was doing everything that I like to do! I could sleep in late, go on a bike ride, eat my dinner in peace, and hang out on the Internet. If I could work my life out so I could do this every single day, I’d be a very happy person.

I could go into great detail and tell you every little thing that happened to me out there, but I’d rather not. Instead, I’ll share some photos with you and that will be it.

To wrap things up I’d simply like to state that when I first got to Aruba I nearly had a panic attack and wanted to leave immediately. But once I got settled in I really began to enjoy myself and didn’t want to leave. I could have easily stayed there for another few weeks. I really liked it… and I’m sure glad I went.

To learn more about my trip to Aruba… and to learn how I used my Bike Friday folding bike while on this short excursion, I have created a bunch of material which you can purchase for a small fee. This material is called “Traveling With A Folding Bike - Cycling In Aruba” and is available online at my website at BicycleTouringPro.com. 

A Quick Account Of My Trip To Atlanta, Georgia

My father is a Chiropractor in the State of California and he recently decided to attend a seminar in Atlanta, Georgia. I’ve been wanting to visit Georgia for quite some time, so my mother decided it would be a good idea if the entire family were to follow my father and all go to Atlanta at the same time.

My father (Dr. Steve Alff, D.C.) with Robin Leach (The Host of “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”)

I was hesitant to go, though… and for a number of reasons.

First of all, I kind of drive myself crazy when I am with my family. I’m so used to be alone and traveling by myself that I can’t stand moving at their incredibly slow pace. Looking like a tourist and not knowing what I am doing is something I try to avoid at all costs when I am traveling by myself. But when I am with my family there is no avoiding the fact that we look like a family on vacation.

Secondly, I really wanted to go to Georgia, but I had little or no interest in seeing the city of Atlanta. I am much more interested in the small country roads and lush, green mountains. So I was afraid that if I went on this trip I might never want to come back to Georgia and see the areas I truly wanted to see. I know this sounds a bit bizarre, but this is how I think!

In the end, I did decide to go. I flew from Salt Lake City to Denver and then continued my flight into Atlanta. My parents, however, flew from LAX and went straight to the Atlanta Airport. I met them in baggage claim.

From the airport we took the MARTA, which is Atlanta’s public train system, to our hotel – The Westin.

The hotel room was small, but the view was incredible! We could see practically everything in the city. It was great. I had fun staying up at night and just staring out the window, watching the cars below. What a view!

We didn’t do much our first day in Atlanta. We just walked around a little and explored the area. Not more than half a mile from our hotel was a big park where people were gathering to watch an outdoor movie on a giant portable movie screen. It was pretty cool. More cities should do this!

The day after arriving in Atlanta my sister and mother and I went to the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. In case you don’t know, Margaret Mitchell was the woman who wrote the book, “Gone With The Wind.” Visiting this place was my mother’s idea, but I ended up really enjoying myself. The museum and house were not all that interesting, but I thought Margaret Mitchell herself was a very interesting person.

The next day we went to the Coca-Cola Museum. Apparently, Coca-Cola was developed in Atlanta… and they now have a huge building dedicated to brainwashing tourists into drinking Coke! The whole museum really was an exercise in brainwashing… but it was neat to see all the years of Coca-Cola merchandise and advertising. Because I’m interested in marketing, I found their ads and slogans extremely interesting.

At the end of the Coca-Cola Museum tour there was a large tasting room where you could sample all the Coca-Cola products from around the world. I don’t normally drink soda at all, so after about six different samples from places such as Africa, Asia, South America, and Europe, I was about to vomit. I don’t know why people like that stuff so much. It just made me feel sick.

We then went to an art museum on the far side of the city. It was neat, but we had to rush through it because we were so late. They had some great artwork there, but I can’t show you much of it because they restricted us from taking photos. We snuck a few photos in anyway though.

On our third day in Atlanta we went to a history museum. There was a big exhibit on the Civil War, the Atlanta Olympics, Southern Folk Art, and more.

My sister (Marissa) and I in the Atlanta History Center. Racing eachother on an Olympic exhibit.

We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets and I ordered french fries. They served them with a smiley face made from ketchup!

We also went to a big mansion. No one famous lived there really. It was just the home of some wealthy southerners in the early 1900’s. I didn’t think the house was very impressive, but the grounds were fantastic.

The highlight of the trip for me was the trip to Margaret Mitchell’s house. I thought she was pretty interesting.

The worst part of the trip was being in a big city and going at my family’s incredibly slow pace. We often times took the train to get from place to place, but if I had been in Atlanta on my own, I likely would have just walked to most of the places we went. They weren’t that far away.

In the end, I’d give downtown Atlanta an 8 out of 10. It was a fun little getaway, but I really want to go back to Georgia now and see what life is like outside the big city.

Climbing Paper Mountains

You know that paperwork you’re supposed to keep, file away somewhere, and save for a rainy day?

My paper mountain has been piling up… and it’s only getting taller.

The hard part about climbing paper mountains is that the taller they get, the more difficult they become to climb.

Follow Me With Twitter

If you’re a web savy computer junkie, or simply someone who’s taken note of the Web 2.0 movement, then you’ve likely heard about “Twitter.”

If you are unfamiliar with Twitter, watch the short 2 minute video below. The video explains it a lot better than I ever could.

The best way to start learning about Twitter is to sign up for an account right now and start following some people.

If you’d like to follow me and find out what I’m doing, all you have to do is go here: http://twitter.com/bicycletouring and start following me.

See you on Twitter!

Turn Up The Volume… PLEASE!

For the past six months I’ve been unable to change the volume on my television with the remote control. At first I could only turn the volume down, but as time went on, I slowly lost the ability to change the volume in any way.

Most of the time I don’t mind getting up out of my chair, walking to the television set, and then adjusting the volume. But when it’s late at night and I just want to lay down and watch a movie before I go off to sleep, the last thing I want to have to do is to jump up and down very three seconds as the volume changes and I try to keep me neighbors from calling the cops on me for the excessive noise blasting from my television set at three o’ clock in the morning.

But luckily for me (and my neighbors), my volume problems have now been solved!

Today I was strolling the isles at the local Wal-Mart when I came across a “universal remote control.” (Oooooooohhhhhh. Aaaahhhhhhhh). For less than $10.00, I snatched that baby up and brought her home with me.

Three minutes later, I had programmed my TV, VCR, and DVD player onto the single remote control. Even better was the fact that I could now adjust the volume from across the room.

Ah, the simple pleasures of the modern world!

But what in the world am I supposed to do with all these extra remote controls now?

Will You Be My Facebook/MySpace Friend?

For years my friends have been using MySpace and Facebook to stay in touch with one another and chat back and forth. And for years I’ve been hesitant about creating an account and joining the MySpace/Facebook crowd (I’m hesitant about joining any group of people). But after a recent conversation with a friend/business associate of mine, I finally decided that I should set up an account.

So I’ve done just that! And I’m writing this post because I want you to be my friend!

One of the things I like so much about the Internet is the fact that I get to interact with people of all ages, from all over the world, from many different walks of life.

Just a few years ago, talking to someone in Arizona was like talking to someone on the moon. But now I can call up my friends in Germany, England, and Brazil… and talk on the phone, instant message back and forth, and generally keep in touch! It really is amazing.

So if you have a MySpace or Facebook account and you’d like to be my friend, here is my information:

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/darrenalff/

Facebook: I am registered as “Darren Alff” Just do a quick search and you should be able to find me.

Send me a short little message and let me know you read this blog post and I’ll add you as my friend.

That’s all for now! See you on MySpace… or Facebook… or both!

The Importance Of Quitting While You’re Ahead

The other night I took a stroll along the beach here in Aruba and wandered inside the Riu Palace and Casino (A monstrous white building on the island’s northwest shore). 

I had a couple bucks in my pocket, so I wandered into a small room filled with slot machines and card tables.

I’ve never gambled before, so I thought I ought to start small.

I found a nickel slot decorated with the Munsters TV show theme, so I sat down and pulled out a crisp one-dollar bill.

It took me a couple spins before I figured out what I was actually doing, but before I knew it, I was up to $6.00 and feeling good.

I cashed out, thinking I would walk away with a $5.00 profit and feel good about myself for the rest of the day. But as I stood to leave the room I spotted the twenty-five cent slots.

“If I won $6.00 on nickel slots, I wonder what I could win on the quarter slots,” I thought to myself?

So I sat down at a machine and subsequently lost my six-dollar winnings.

Sometimes it’s difficult to quit when you’re ahead.

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