With all the snow that fell on Christmas Eve, we all had a bit of concern about how the roads would be for the trip. Fortunately, things were pretty well cleared up by the time that we left. Somehow, on the morning of departure, I didn't get my alarm properly set, so I didn't wake up at all until Mom called to say they were on the way to get me. I hurriedly worked to be ready, but Mom and Dad did have to wait a few minutes until I was ready to go. That ended up not being too big a deal since we all had to wait significantly longer for Paul and Marinda. When they were finally ready, it was time to hit the road.
It was my first time travelling through St. George, so that was interesting. We got off the interstate long enough to drive around the temple. I would like to get a chance to do a session there at some point, especially because it is a pretty significant temple historically. There was still some snow that far south, surprisingly. Though most Utahns have driven the southern route through Vegas to California many times, it was a first for me, so the scenery was pretty interesting.
Las Vegas was the main stop of the day. I've never really spent any time there, so there was a certain interest in the place. I don't think we made it to the Strip itself, but we did drive along some road near there, at any rate. There were a number of casinos whose names I recognized in that section, though I couldn't tell you what they were now. The main objective in stopping in Vegas was to eat. I'd done some research on the drive and discovered that Sam's Town seemed to be the casino with the best combo of the two food factors we cared about, quality and price. We were eating at a casino as they are known for serving cheap, high quality buffets to draw people in with hopes of snaring them in gambling in the process.
Sam's Town was definitely set up that way. We had to walk past a lot of gambling floor to get to the buffet area to begin with. When we got there, we discovered it wouldn't open for dinner for another hour or so. We also learned that to get the cheaper price, you had to get a casino card. Fortunately, there was a free one we took advantage of. That, however, did come with an offer of a bit of complimentary credit for gambling. Plus, we had to walk past a lot more gambling floor to get to the office that distributed those cards. The hostess was pretty surprised when we refused the free gaming credits!
Apparently, while Paul was waiting for Marinda to come out of the bathroom, he was asked by a security guard to step out of the gaming area he happened to be standing in. Paul apologized, not certain what the issue was, explaining that he was just waiting for his wife in the bathroom. The security guard was surprised at the mention of his wife and asked how old Paul was. He was quite embarrassed when he learned that Paul was 22, and apologized, explaining that he though Paul was a minor (around 16), and minors aren't permitted in gambling areas.
Because we had a bit of time before we could eat, Mom, Paul, Marinda, and I took the opportunity to explore a bit while Dad waited in line. Mostly, the place was obviously a gambling floor, which we, of course, had little interest in. Truth be told, those areas reeked of despair. I couldn't help but sense it as we crossed that floor multiple time. The endless slot machines, many occupied by forlorn-looking individuals, were a sad testament to the all-consuming power Satan can wield. I won't dwell upon it, but it definitely was enough of a taste to convince me that gambling is just a terrible idea.
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| The central park area of Sam's Town. The fountain/waterfall area was all in the rock section in the background. |
The food was, indeed, very good. It was by far the best buffet I've been to, and the price was comparable to standard buffets. There were a lot of stations for different types of food like Mexican, Italian, and Asian. While that alone isn't terribly unusual, the difference was the variety of offerings of each and more importantly, the quality of the food available. There was even a very tasty dessert bar including a lot of options like a full ice cream bar with many flavors available. I was very satisfied by the meal, as was everyone else, to my knowledge.
We'd chosen a table near a window that looked into the central park area, so when the fountain show started towards the end of our meal, we could see it from inside the buffet area. It was kind of corny, but some of the laser, fountain, and animatronic effects were interesting. The whole stop took us over 2 hours, but it was interesting in its way, so I was okay with it.
We got in to San Clemente late that night and dropped Paul and Marinda off at a member's house where they were going to stay while the rest of us headed to a hotel near the beach. The next day, we went to church at one of the wards Paul served in. The people were quite excited to see Paul again, and one older couple even invited us all to an early dinner with them that evening. After church, Paul wanted to take Marinda to visit various people, so they dropped Mom, Dad, and I off at our hotel while they took the car.
I don't really remember what we did while waiting. It must not have been all that notable. After awhile, Paul and Marinda came back and we all went to a local park overlooking the ocean before heading to dinner. The couple we ate with was very nice. They lived in a beautiful house on the hill, and we all had a lovely time helping them prepare and eat the food.
After dinner, Paul and Marinda dropped us off at the hotel again so they could go off to the house of the next member they were staying with. Mom and I went for a walk along a beach trail that started about a mile down from our hotel. I'm always excited to try new walking trails, and this one was very nice. It went right along the beach and provided a lot of nice views. There was also a lot of interesting local flora along the trail and we even saw some fun sea birds and such. We were racing against the sun, but when we saw the San Clemente pier just a bit in the distance, we wanted to get that far before turning around. By the time we actually got there, the sun had actually set and there was just some light from the horizon.
It was pretty dark as we made our way back, which was a little creepy. I would have been pretty freaked out if I was alone, but I usually don't worry too much when I'm with someone else. That's a function of my mission, no doubt. Plus, there were still a few other exercisers on the trail, so I imagine it was safe enough.
The next morning, I decided that I wanted to go for a run along the trail while we were waiting on various things before leaving. It was a really pleasant morning run. I went down the full length of the trail along the beach, which was very beautiful, then went the opposite direction after completing the section Mom and I walked along the night before. The northern section was quite different. It wasn't right on the beach, but rather went along a series of elevated boardwalks on a large sand dune that looked out over the ocean. Overall, I preferred being right along the beach, but the raised up section did provide a good view across a longer stretch of ocean. I even got the chance to watch two dolphins cavorting around from up there. Obviously, they were reasonably far from me, so I couldn't see them super clearly, but I was close enough to identify them and view what they were doing.
I got to be out exercising for about two hours before I headed back to the hotel. It was a truly delightful opportunity. Running is one of the things that brings me a great sense of clarity and all-around well-being. Getting to enjoy those time-tested benefits in a beautiful new setting only enhanced the overall delight it gave me. It may not make sense to others, but for me, it was one of the highlights of the trip.
We later left San Clemente and headed down to see Merina and Steve's family in Las Palmas. We got to their house a bit before dinner and had a good time catching up with them while we helped prepare and eat the meal. Jesse and Nathaniel's family were still there visiting for Christmas plus Christian still lives with his parents, so we got to see a good proportion of their family. I was especially glad to see Jesse, as I haven't gotten to see him for quite a few years. He's always been the most quiet of the Smith family, so he often gets overlooked by me along with everyone else, but I was happy to understand his depths better this visit as he was much more voluble than I really ever remember before.
After dinner, we played a game Merina and Steve had gotten for Christmas called Snake Oil that was really fun. It's a lot like Apples to Apples in mechanics. There is always one judge the others are trying to convince to choose their offering. In this game, however, the judge is given some sort of specific identification, like pirate, teenager, etc. The judge then makes their choice based on this assumed persona. Everyone else has a hand of cards containing both adjectives and nouns. Each player combines two of his or her cards to create a product designed to appeal to the judge. When all have submitted, each player takes a turn making a sales pitch to the judge to convince him or her that that player's product is the best. This leads to some really entertaining pitches and such. Just hearing what people come up with is the best part. The game was more fun with the Smith's playing, as they are all very clever and made some really entertaining pitches. It's a game I thought was quite fun, more fun in many ways, than Apples to Apples, and gives you a chance to get a much better sense of each player based on what they say.
There was also plenty of political talk with the Smith clan that night, of course. That's pretty much a staple of any of these gatherings. We're all on a similar page politically on most things, though there are areas where various people have dissenting opinions. All of us similarly disdain Trump and there was quite a bit of discussion on how he can be stopped. We touched on other topics like criminal justice reform along with related social issues like poverty and education as well. Jesse is a social worker, so he had some really interesting thoughts and experiences to share that definitely enriched the conversation. Nathaniel had plenty to say, as always, but everyone got in some ideas, which doesn't always necessarily happen.
There was a big discussion about honesty, as Nathaniel believes it is never justified, while the rest of us suggested that it is morally correct to lie to the Nazi officers who ask if you are harboring Jews when you know that you are. In everyone else's mind, making the decision to lie in this scenario is clearly the moral thing to do, but of course Nathaniel remains unconvinced. That's OK though, because the main point of these conversations isn't to convince each other, though that might be nice, but rather to expose the weaknesses in positions, refine ideas, and gain some new perspective. This kind of dialogue is well-known and understood to those of us who are used to the Larsen/Smith clan, as something of this nature always happens at yearly reunions, but it was Paul's first exposure to it, and he had to be initiated a bit. He had the impression that people were really in danger of getting upset about it. Truth be told, people very rarely get bruised in these exchanges as we all understand that everyone has mutual respect for each other, and that it is ideas that are under attack, if you will, not the individuals themselves.
That sums up the first few days of the trip. I will cover the rest in subsequent posts as this is already sufficiently long. Until then!
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| Taken on the San Clemente pier |
It was pretty dark as we made our way back, which was a little creepy. I would have been pretty freaked out if I was alone, but I usually don't worry too much when I'm with someone else. That's a function of my mission, no doubt. Plus, there were still a few other exercisers on the trail, so I imagine it was safe enough.
The next morning, I decided that I wanted to go for a run along the trail while we were waiting on various things before leaving. It was a really pleasant morning run. I went down the full length of the trail along the beach, which was very beautiful, then went the opposite direction after completing the section Mom and I walked along the night before. The northern section was quite different. It wasn't right on the beach, but rather went along a series of elevated boardwalks on a large sand dune that looked out over the ocean. Overall, I preferred being right along the beach, but the raised up section did provide a good view across a longer stretch of ocean. I even got the chance to watch two dolphins cavorting around from up there. Obviously, they were reasonably far from me, so I couldn't see them super clearly, but I was close enough to identify them and view what they were doing.
I got to be out exercising for about two hours before I headed back to the hotel. It was a truly delightful opportunity. Running is one of the things that brings me a great sense of clarity and all-around well-being. Getting to enjoy those time-tested benefits in a beautiful new setting only enhanced the overall delight it gave me. It may not make sense to others, but for me, it was one of the highlights of the trip.
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| Here's a sample of what the beach section of the trail looked like. It was quite beautiful. |
After dinner, we played a game Merina and Steve had gotten for Christmas called Snake Oil that was really fun. It's a lot like Apples to Apples in mechanics. There is always one judge the others are trying to convince to choose their offering. In this game, however, the judge is given some sort of specific identification, like pirate, teenager, etc. The judge then makes their choice based on this assumed persona. Everyone else has a hand of cards containing both adjectives and nouns. Each player combines two of his or her cards to create a product designed to appeal to the judge. When all have submitted, each player takes a turn making a sales pitch to the judge to convince him or her that that player's product is the best. This leads to some really entertaining pitches and such. Just hearing what people come up with is the best part. The game was more fun with the Smith's playing, as they are all very clever and made some really entertaining pitches. It's a game I thought was quite fun, more fun in many ways, than Apples to Apples, and gives you a chance to get a much better sense of each player based on what they say.
There was also plenty of political talk with the Smith clan that night, of course. That's pretty much a staple of any of these gatherings. We're all on a similar page politically on most things, though there are areas where various people have dissenting opinions. All of us similarly disdain Trump and there was quite a bit of discussion on how he can be stopped. We touched on other topics like criminal justice reform along with related social issues like poverty and education as well. Jesse is a social worker, so he had some really interesting thoughts and experiences to share that definitely enriched the conversation. Nathaniel had plenty to say, as always, but everyone got in some ideas, which doesn't always necessarily happen.
There was a big discussion about honesty, as Nathaniel believes it is never justified, while the rest of us suggested that it is morally correct to lie to the Nazi officers who ask if you are harboring Jews when you know that you are. In everyone else's mind, making the decision to lie in this scenario is clearly the moral thing to do, but of course Nathaniel remains unconvinced. That's OK though, because the main point of these conversations isn't to convince each other, though that might be nice, but rather to expose the weaknesses in positions, refine ideas, and gain some new perspective. This kind of dialogue is well-known and understood to those of us who are used to the Larsen/Smith clan, as something of this nature always happens at yearly reunions, but it was Paul's first exposure to it, and he had to be initiated a bit. He had the impression that people were really in danger of getting upset about it. Truth be told, people very rarely get bruised in these exchanges as we all understand that everyone has mutual respect for each other, and that it is ideas that are under attack, if you will, not the individuals themselves.
That sums up the first few days of the trip. I will cover the rest in subsequent posts as this is already sufficiently long. Until then!
We drove through a lot of Las Vegas when we stopped at a playground on the way home from Disneyland, and it was really sad how much of the city (at least the part we were in) was devoted to gambling, alcohol, and other vices. There's some people in our ward who loooove Hash House a Go Go in Vegas. Not a buffet, but enormous portions, and you don't have to walk through gambling. Snake Oil sounds like a fun game!
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