Zags of 96 Party Like It Was the Summer of 69

For those looking for an adventure racing-related blog, I will tell you that I hit HART practice last Tuesday and it was one of the toughest ones in a while for me due to the humidity and on Wednesday I went over to Terry Hershey to vet the Bike Orienteering course Aaron and I were putting together. This is gonna be a real fun course--we never have any real bike orienteering practice, so I figured this would be a good opportunity for HART. OK, now, those who aren't interested in college reunions should read no further.

I knew you couldn't resist...Man, it seemed like I just got off of a plane from the GC trip and here I was again, flying up north for the Gonzaga reunion. This time it would be farther north, back to Spokecompton...where it all happens. There were be no ardurous hike for water, no deperate search for shelter, or long shuttle drives the other side of a big hole. Just a lot of walking around and many visits to Jack and Dan's.

So Mo and I flew out of Bush Intercontinental on Thursday. She warned me that she had the fear of flying, which I could kind of understand since she was both was scared of heights and claustrophobic. Not the best combo for getting on a plane. I didn't realize how bad she had it until we started moving. First we had to negotiate seats with another person since we didn't have seats together. I knew she was NOT gonna fly next to complete strangers. Well, I thought it would be relatively easy, but the NICE woman that I wanted to switch with already had negotiated a switch with one other fussy woman so that she could sit with her husband. When I say fussy, I mean FUSSY. I tried to explain to her that our seat was in the row just in front of us, but she didn't want to have anything with it. The deal was off with the nice lady and the nice lady had to come back up and, thankfully, agreed to sit in our other original seat. I couldn't believe this fussy woman! I guess fussy also wanted an aisle seat, not a window. We felt bad so we tried to negotiate a switch with a nice guy's aisle seat. It looked like it was working, but fussy was at it again and saw that the man next to her was a bit plump. She said, for real, in his face, that he was too big and didn't want to switch at all now. Unbelievable. I wanted to plant a knife in her pocket and rat her out.

So with that not so nice start to the trip, Mo had a death grip on my hand...I thought I was gonna lose a couple of my fingers by the trip's end. Every noise alarmed her...she was going at about a 1 gasp/minute pace. Nice. How long was this flight again? I was hoping, praying for clear skies for her sake...and the sake of my phalanges. I almost cried during takeoff as she squeezed and squeezed and squeezed. Oh man, thank goodness that was over. So I thought we would be doing fine until landing, and we were. We were joking around, reading, eating snacks, and having a couple drinks to calm the nerves, but all the sudden she had that worried look on her face again. I asked her what was wrong and she told me she needed a motion sickness bag. Nice. There were none in our seat pockets so we quickly flagged down a flight attendant. He finally came back with one, not too soon. She unloaded. For real. I looked away for a second and then looked back and the bag was already half full! OMG! I was frantically looking for the flight attendant thinking we would need another one. But she did stop eventually. Mmmm, bag o vomit. Tasty. The flight attendant came back with ginger ale and started to joke with her. She was a good sport. Good times, good times.

Her nausea cleared, but now it was time for TD. Thankfully, no real problems. We had a massive 5hr layover in Salt Lake, so I figured that would give her good time to settle before the next flight. Plus, this one would be a bigger plane. We had to fenagle the same musical seat rotation as before, but this time it was pretty smooth--when we told them she threw up on the previous flight they quickly understood. Everyone around us seemed to be aware of her situation and were on puke watch. The guy next to us joked with her, possibly trying to calm her nerves--he urged her that if she did have to lose her cookies she should turn her head my way. Thanks, guy. Anyway, it was an eventless flight and we made it to the Spoke. Woods was there to pick us up...of course he had already hit Jack and Dan's (Jack Stockton, John Stockton's dad) and that was where we were headed after we got settled in the hotel.

Jack and Dan's was expanded into the drugstore that used to be there at the corner. It was so much bigger, that it was almost unrecognizable. Plus, they served hard alcohol now! Wow. How things change...and how things stay the same. We quickly secured one of the old booths and just talked. We saw Seth, who was now down in Corpus Christi for a short time, but for the most part, our "crew" wasn't in yet. Tomorrow night would be a different story for sure. We hung out for a few beers and slowly people trickled out, trying to conserve strength for the for sure long weekend it was going to be. We would not be disappointed.

Next morn we got up and enjoyed the nice Fairfied breakfast. On our way out we witnessed a four alarm fire going on in the toaster. Apparently someone must have put a cinnamon bun in there when the sign strictly stated to do otherwise...the desk clerk's eyes grew wide and he hurredly told the attendant who ran in there, putting on gloves as if she had seen this before. We fled the scene. We then drove to, of course, Starbucks for our morning fill. Plus, Theresa Timms of University Relations invited me there for coffee. Very nice of her. We just chatted about general improvements to campus and the reunion. She then took us over to the new McCarthey Center. I had already seen a game there, but she brought us through the "back door" and onto the floor. It is a sweet facility indeed. Theresa had to get back to work so we parted ways at the COG, since Tim had to get his spend on at the bookstore.

By the time we were done droppin coin, we decided to walk campus for a bit and visit Alumni House. On the way we stopped by Crosby (named after Bing Crosby), which was a lot different too. First of all, they no longer had the polar bear, but it was oddly enough replaced by a Grizzly bear with a Zags jersey on. So odd, I had to take a pic with it. After quickly chatting with Bob Bartlett along the way about Humidtown we made it to Alumni house and talked with Kara...we found out she was Miss Montana one year! She tried to deny it, but there were photos on her bookshelf to confirm the rumor. They also happened to have the class yearbooks handy and we quickly skimmed through them to see our house photos, which Mo really enjoyed. Craziness.

By the time we finished the tour of Alumni House (and were given numerous Zag trinkets) it was noon and we hooked up with the Murphy's who had just got into town. We had lunch at the High Nooner. I couldn't believe I've never been to this place--it was actually pretty good. Hey, if you have "nooner" in your name, how can it not be good? Next was heading over to the house to say hi to the family. My mom, sis, brother in law, and nephew were there. I missed my brother by one week--he should be there this week for Hoopfest. As usual, my mother and sister and brother cooked way too much for us and we hardly made a dent in the food...and my mom even forgot to cook my favorite dish, lumpia! Wow, we were stuffed. We hung out for a bit and then we had to head out for the reception. I think it went really well.

We met with Tim and the rest of the crew who finally arrived at Cyrus O'Leary's where they were having dinner. Apparently they were at C.I. Shenanigan's right before that boozin it up. Hilarious--it was like an Irish weekend extravaganza! Tim left for the airport to pick up Chantal while we finished up at Cyrus O. We then met up with them at the Fairfield to get ready for the reception.

Reception was in the Spokane room of the COG (Center Of Gonzaga). It was great to finally see everyone. Everyone from Nora/Superior houses were there: Joker, Gavin, Jim, Tim, and I. After taking advantage of the free beer and wine, we of course headed back over to Jack and Dan's. The place was really packed now...hardly any room to move. Rains, Stoneback, Spink--the list goes on! It was great to see these guys again. As the night before, we didn't stay for too long since we still had the boat cruise the next night. We left at about 1230 and Timmer and Chantal got back at a little later.

Saturday morning started up about the same. Breakfast at Fairfield and then we drove over to GU for another campus tour right before the picnic around noon. Of course, Mo and I had to make a Starbucks run. We hit the AD building this time, where they were doing a lot of renovations. One of the differences is that the student chapel actually had pews now--we used to have just plain old chairs. Man, I remember being a eucharistic minister. I miss that. Over to Herak then Jepson, where they had built around it, ND stadium-like--you could still see the old exterior brick! Back to Crosby and then the picnic started.

This was more of a family-oriented event, so many more kids running around this time around. PG-13. Spike was there entertaining kids and adults alike. Food was a little disappointing--it definitely looked like the burgers and hot dogs from the old cafeteria at the COG. Nice. COG log coming up. After the class picture, which I missed as usual, we headed over to the Martin Center, site of the old "Kennel". Man, the athletic facilities for mere mortal students were improved dramatically! I'm so jealous--I could have been HUGE if these apparati were here during my tenure! We then headed back to MaCarthey for those who hadn't seen it yet.

Done with campus, we decided to drive over to Nora house. What a hole. Man, so many memories at that place--I couldn't stop laughing, remembering all the stories. We walked around to check out the "improvements" to the house, then we headed over to O'Doherty's for dinner. Timmer and I had to get the green drink for some reason. We didn't stay too long because we had to get changed for the cruise.

Back to the hotel to get ready for the booze, er, boat cruise on Lake Couer d' Alene. We loaded up on the bus at the AD building minutes later and we were headed east to Idaho. The weather was great all weekend long and it was certainly highlighted during the cruise. There was some kind of car show going on so we had to load up using the back door, but no real problems. We were all on in and moving in no time. Of course, without delay, I had to take the helm of the boat. Nice. Everyone said they could notice something erratic about the steering!

It was perfect. We had more time to talk with everyone in a more relaxed, roomy environment. I finally had time to talk to Maddog--she was pitching the move to Portland again...someday! Everyone was looking great. Later in the cruise we took the house photo--no one would be naked this time. Next thing you know, the cruise was over. The weekend was now accelerating--it was almost over.

Back to the bus and we were back to Spokane and Jack and Dan's...for most people. We decided to change venue and show the Bulldog some love. I think the dramamine was getting to Mo because she had to head back home. The best part of the Bulldog, which is somewhat sad, is the free popcorn. In true form, Chaela went straight to Goldslager shots. Tim and I joined her. Good times. We took the booth in the back and just chatted and joked around while trying to get popcorn in each other's beer. How old are we again? Eventually everyone dispersed and we headed home with Danny in his new Prius. This was pretty much it. The reunion was over...so quick. I really enjoyed it, as much as I knew I would.

Next morning, Fairfield breakfast. Tim and Chantal visited Riverfront Park while Mo and I went up the South Hill. We hit the highlights: High Drive, Moran Prarie, Ferris HS, Lincoln Heights, and finally Manito Park and the rose garden. It was as beautiful as I remembered it. Thankfully, the flowers were in bloom. After walking around for a bit we headed back to see Mom and the rest of the fam for one last time. Thankfully we ate breakfast already or they would have stuffed us again! We hung out as long as we could, but then had to head back out to catch our plane. It was a perfect visit.

Tim and Chantal brought us to the airport and said our goodbyes. Back on the plane...hopefully no upchucking this time. Flight to Phoenix was alright--the lady next to us was a bit annoying, but no real problems. Another long layover, ONLY 4hrs this time. Flight to Htown was good up until we got into Houston--there were thunderstorms steaming through the area and we were stuck in a holding pattern for over an hour waiting for it to leave. Lightning shows are not as beautiful looking at them from a plane. Finally, we got the green and we had to fly through some turbulence (I almost lost my fingers again), but no problems. We were down on terra firma.

It was 230am...yes, we rode the red eye. I just wanted to get home and get some resemblance of sleep before work. Ugh. Man that was a rough day. Anyway, that was it. No workouts even though we had a college-level track athlete (Jeffro) and a triathlete (Woods) in the group. I think we just wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible...and we did. We vowed to revive the annual reunion for the core group. Hopefully it happens. Timmer, you need to get married next year to start it off nicely--Denver here we come!