Comfest, ESMZ, Rhinegeist, Boating, Big Bang & Yellow Springs - June 27 - July 5

My Reality - June 27 - July 5

Saturday, June 27th - Comfest & Rain

Went to Comfest with Mindy and Glenn. Cloudy, rainy day in the low/mid 70's. Seems like it rains on Comfest most  years. Spent an hour or so at the Freshwater House across from the park with family and friends. Mindy bought a vase and dress at the festival. We each enjoyed a beer from Comfest and then some of the electric lemonade put together by Freshwater guys (vodka, lemonade, and beer). Stopped at Chipotle on the way home to pick-up food for kids.

Sunday, June 28th

Mindy and I headed to Cincy for the ESMZ concert. Left town near noon Sunday. Glenn agreed to watch the kids overnight. As forecasted, the skies cleared the closer we got to Cincy. By the time we arrived there were nothing but blue skies. Yeah!

Had reservation at Hampton Inn & Suites Downtown. Unfortunately, we had navigation guide to the wrong Hampton Inn. They quickly set us straight and gave us rough instructions on how to get there. Just a few miles down the road in the heart of downtown Over the Rhine. Old Cincy Enquirer member. Gorgeous and newly renovated. Nice!

Checked in near 3pm and after brief rest in the room, we took off on foot for the Rhinegeist brewery in the old Over the Rhine neighborhood. Best guess, about a two mile walk, and through a very scary part of town. Had I known it was that run down I would've called for an Uber ride. We made it safely and without incident.

Cool, unique brewery. Old Morelein bottling plant and over 100 years old. We enjoyed just one beer and a pretzel. Bought t-shirts and a pint glass too. Opted to Uber back to hotel. Only $5 and much safer. :)

Spent little time in the room before heading off to dinner at an Nicholson's Pub, just one block over to the east. Very cool atmosphere, lots of microbrews, and decent food. Shared crab cakes and a salad. Back to the room after dinner but only long enough to get organized for the EZMZ concert. Grabbed camp chairs from car, too. Called Uber for a ride. About $5 again. 4 blocks up and 4 blocks east.

Horseshoe Casino lawn show. Once inside, we quickly happened upon Hayden working the Love Hope & Strength booth. Mindy completed paperwork to donate bone marrow. I'm too old (55>). Enjoyed a few canned Rhinegeist Truth IPAs. Two opening acts, the first being a subset of ESMZ. Looking back, that was actually foreshadowing what was to come. The 2nd act, Bright Lights Social Hour from Austin, TX, they were really tight.

ESMZ didn't come on until just after 10pm. Alex Ebert promptly shared that he was battling laryngitis. Great music, bad show. He talked through most tunes, played only 7 songs and abbreviated all of them. Mumbled and fumbled his way through the entire show. Sounded stoned out of his mind to me. Felt ripped off. Show ended promptly at 11pm, deflecting the blame to Cincy noise ordinance. Yeah, right!

We opted to walk back to hotel. By then I was starving but little was open just after 11pm in the middle of downtown on a Sunday night. Ate an apple that I brought from home before going to sleep.

Monday, June 29th

Woke at 7am to cloudy skies and heavy rain. Ugh! Quickly out of bed an into my running clothes. Needed to be back to the room and ready for training by 830am. Rain in the downpour in lower downtown and then around Great American Ballpark. Nice run despite the rain. Soaked to the bone. Before heading back to the room, poured two cups of coffee.

Had time before class. Hurried through a shower before setting up for training. At first break I headed down for the complimentary breakfast. First eggs since late April, early May. Good! Continued with work training until 11am, or checkout time. Still pouring rain.

Rained so hard at times on our drive home that we considered pulling over. Never did. Dark gray clouds as far as the eye could see. Rain, rain, rain. Arrived home around 1pm or about an hour ahead of our stated ETA. Glenn was there prepping for his flight home. I agreed to drive him to the airport. Wanted to depart the house near 330pm. Forgot to share that brother Bob called my cell phone at 355am while in Cincy from Dad's home phone. Freaked me out seeing an incoming call from Dad! Missed first call. Picked up 2nd attempt. Worse yet, he sounded like dad a little too. I was double freaked! Turned out, he had his wires crossed with Glenn. Thought he was to pick him up at 4am for airport ride. Wow!

Poured rain all afternoon. Left for the airport near 330pm. Drop went smoothly. Glenn was in town one day short of 4 weeks - his longest stay since moving out of town summer 1985.

Mindy made dinner, though can't recall just what. Somber mood throughout the house, getting back to normalcy after a whirlwind 6 weeks - dad ill, dying, Glenn, David and Anita visiting, Ashley's wedding. 

Tuesday, June 30th

Back to a somewhat normal routine. Worked across town. Chip in my windshield on drive home.

Wednesday, July 1

Last of 13 straight work days of training. Land Grant for date night. Extremely tired - mentally exhasuted.

Thursday, July 2

Worked from home. Picked the boat up Thursday mid-afternoon after first paying a visit to the credit union where I picked up a check which I promptly deposited at my bank. Took an hour or so after normal working hours to prep the boat for the lake on Friday.

Mindy, the kids and I went to Rooster's for dinner. First time dining there in many, many months. Good eats! Hit the spot. Enjoyed two Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ales. Jacob and I shared 20 wings hot.

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Friday, July 3

Alum Creek boating day - first of the season.

Jacob & Bella each invited a friend. Jacob invited Joel (good kid), and Bella invited Elaina (good kid, too). We headed up around 1130am. Neighbor Kenny and family went along too with their new boat. We convoyed up and went into the camp ground boat launch, citing brother Bob's campsite - F7. No problems.

Out on the water by 1215pm. Boat ran almost flawlessly. Very happy about that. They sky was overcast but the threat of rain almost nil. We met up with Bob and family in the route 36/37 swim cover. Don't think the temp made it to 80 degrees, and the water was outright cold. According to Bob, only 74 degrees. After an hour or two of boating fun, it rained, and at times pretty hard. Figures! We still had a grand time. All the kids had a ball.

A second round of tubing took place from 430-630pm. Mindy got in some skiing too. Of note, Bella & Elaina might've pulled off the most incredible tube ride ever. Elaina launched high above the tube topping out near 8-10' in the air after hitting an enormous wave. Bella, meanwhile, launched frontwards into a front flip just seconds later. Thankfully, both were A-OK and laughed uncontrollably.

Pulled out and headed home near 7pm. Once the kids' friend were picked up by their parents, Mindy & I set out for Sideswipe brewing. Sadly, though, they were closed as of 7pm for Red, White and Boom. We opted instead for Barley's where we enjoyed some hummus, wings and beer. Headed home after watching the fireworks on the big screen TV.

Saturday, July 4th

Celebrating with Kent & Kurt and then the Cubra's. First time making it to Kent & Kurt's 4th of July party. Beautiful home, Great beer, good people. Hung out for a couple hours. Left for Picktown near 630pm. Picked up a few complimentary Domino's pizza's from Tom's new Picktown store on our way. We left a hefty tip. Great food, friends at the Cubra's. The fireworks were incredible and fun. Ask Bob C. about his homemade cannons. Awesome!

Drive home afterwards was a beast. Traffic snarls everywhere. Took more than an hour to get home - about 75 minutes.

Sunday, July 5th

Mindy and I headed to Yellow Springs for the first time this year. Great hike in Glen Helen. Took a different trail out (east of the river). Had lunch at Peaches for the first time. Good beer. Decent food. Stopped at Young's Dairy for ice cream on the way home. Delicious but practically put me in a comma.