Weekend in Agoura Hills

Had a great time up at the Lancaster Home.

We meant to wake up and leave at like 8am but we got up around 7:45 and didn't end up leaving until closer to 9:00am. I had rented out a white 2006 Volvo S40 with like 234 miles on her from Enterprise. I requested a full size or premium since they had this weekend rate of like $29.99 a day for a premium and $24.99 for full size. When they told me they had a Volvo for me, I was pretty concerned. I remember them being boxy and uncomfortable. Well, they've changed.

The seats were leather (or faux leather I'm sure) and padded pretty well. Each seat had a heater in it, there were track and volume controls on the steering wheel, all sorts of various settings for the A/C and heater PLUS 6-disc CD changer and AM/FM stereo. OH and I forgot my favorite piece...the sunroof. I know it's so stupid but that just made me feel a little more wealthy than perhaps I should have.

SO anyways we drive up there with very little traffic in our way and arrive about 11:30 (we stopped off for gas and batteries. Fuel for the car and the camera. We got there and headed out to a chinese place they like in Westlake. NICE. The food was pretty good and fairly cheap. When we got back we tried to think of what to do. So we decided Charlotte (their toy poodle) needed a walk so we headed to Malibu Creek State Park for a short hike.

Well I said short and I mean short. We walked across the lot, down a short flight of stairs (the drop from one stair to the other was a bit more than I'm comfortable with) and maybe a quarter mile onto the trail when a Ranger came by sporting a bald head, a goatee and a bad attitude. "You can't have that dog in here. No dogs allowed on the trail." Jen protested, "We didn't see a sign when we came in and the ranger at the gate didn't tell us anything." "Well," said Ranger Bumblenuts "that's a pretty easy dog to miss and the sign is right there at the head of the trail. So you need to get that dog off the trail and get the hell out of the park NOW." WO...a bit aggressive are we over a 2 yr old toy poodle?

So Jen said, "Alright well if we'd known we would have brought her in, we'll go then." Then she started to walk back the other direction. "Pick the dog up and carry her! She can't be on the trail!" OK now this Ranger's pissing me off. Apparently he's gotten under Jen's skin a bit too as she retorts "You could be a little more polite about it. We're doing what you asked. Calm Down."

Then she backs away from the truck a bit and the Ranger apparently thought we were just going to keep walking down the trail because we quickly got a "IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!" "Well I'm just getting out of your way so you don't spray us with dirt and rocks when you pull away..." "Just get going" The Ranger retorts sounding out of breath and just tired of trying to talk sense into us. So we pick up the dog and start heading back to the car. We got our refund at the gate and complained about the man's attitude. You give a redneck a badge and an SUV and a little uniform and he thinks he's equal to the police. Field General Ranger Roy. I've always pictured park rangers as being helpful and polite little tree huggin types. Apparently not.

SO we instead head to Valley Oaks Park to shoot some bows and arrows. Drew a nice picture of the lovely ranger on a target and Alex and Victoria shot him up good. We had a great time doing that. Jen hurt her back while we were there and so I spent a lot of my time between shooting arrows being concerned for her and so we shot 4 rounds and headed back so she could get some ice on it. By Sunday the pain had subsided some so she wasn't too worried.

Saturday night we went to a Ranch House BBQ place. The food was amazing! They serve little garlic rolls which are great. drenched in butter and covered in garlic...ooooh yum! Then I had the tri tip with mashed potatoes and baked beans while Victoria and Jen opted for the Tri Tip Sandwich and Alex got BBQ Half Chicken. There was a bit of a wait (come early Saturday nights...like opening-5 instead of 5-closing) but the prices were good for a steakhouse with most of it being under $20 an entree. It all reheated really well the next day too. Mashed potatoes tend to get grainy and meat tends to get tough...this didn't at all.

We went home and Jen and Alex showed us a video on the Rave scene and DJs in general that a film student they know put together. He interviewed Alex who has DJed for over a decade..almost two I think. Anyways, we really liked it. Weird thing was that every time I started thinking of a question I wanted to ask Alex, there he'd be in a few seconds answering my question on the video. REAL strange.

Anyways us old folks went to bed early (Like 10pm or so), though Victoria and I stayed up for a bit. She read and wrote while I studied math a bit. I have a test next Monday and I want to ace this thing. It's the first test I've taken since finals in High School back in June 1996.

Sunday morning we got up around 8am and had breakfast. We had a great conversation about religion, school, jobs, and a few other things. We sat and loafed a bit in front of the TV, played some rummy, and then headed home around 4pm. Hated to leave but we'll be seeing them again soon. Jen should be due in like August I think...so we'll get to see the new baby then. I'll take lots of pictures. Took a few this weekend and I'll get those up on my flickr site when I can.

Anyways, returning the car last night was officially saying goodbye to the weekend. Loved that car...though I still think I'll go with a Honda Civic when we get a new car. Possibly a Toyota Prius if they're more readily available.