Two-week vacation<br>featured highs, lows

The vacation. A chance to relax and get away from work for a few weeks. A chance to visit with family I only see a few times a year. A chance to spend more time with my son.

All of those things were true for myself over the past few weeks on a vacation to California. But it was nice to get back home to the job and our regular routine.

Fourteen days away from the house sounded great as we got up the morning of July 25 and headed west. No calls from tourists asking for directions to the elevator. No stories to write or pages to layout for a few editions.

The vacation was a lot of fun. At each stop, there were plenty of fun times. However, there were also some lows.

The first two days were at a resort on the Colorado River in Laughlin. It's a spot where I had been before and enjoyed because it features a child-care facility where Brandon can have some fun.

High: With a love for movies, I had a chance to take in two while in Laughlin. Brandon enjoyed Jurassic Park III. While he was having fun at Kid Kastle, I took in Pearl Harbor. We lost that battle again. We also went bowling, the first time I had tried the game in about in more than a year. On our second game, I rolled a 210, an all-time high for myself.

Low: After losing my limit of $100 on the first day, I came back on day two with winnings of $125. However, when I left the blackjack table and cashed chips, I had somehow lost $40. I don't know if someone at the table swiped it from me or if the dealer ripped me off. The pit boss told me I was out of luck, so I complained to the police officer in the casino. After a 30-minute wait, the pit boss came back and told me the "eye in the sky" revealed nothing. Then he got pushy about the whole ordeal and started treating me like a criminal. That's when I decided to take in the movie.

After leaving Laughlin, we headed to Lake Los Angeles to visit my parents. We went to Anaheim the following Monday so Brandon could go to Disney's California Adventure.

High: We had a fairly good time at the new Disney theme park. The best ride was one of those reality-type things where you feel like you're flying over California. We also saw some good shows.

Low: Brandon probably would have enjoyed Disneyland more. I believe there are more rides there for a 6-year-old. But he didn't know what he was missing.

A few days later, we headed down to San Diego to visit my brother, who lives at Mission Bay.

We went sailing on his boat, headed over to SeaWorld and even took in stock-car races at El Cajon.

High: The stock-car races were actually very enjoyable. Brandon, especially, had a great time. There was some exciting races and it ended with a pretty cool demolition derby. SeaWorld was also a lot of fun. Brandon's favorite activity was running around in this kid-friendly activity area that featured rope bridges, a boat and one of those giant ball pits.

Low: The entry price to SeaWorld was more than $70 for only me and the kid. We spent more money inside and probably cleared $100 for the day. It was fun, but expensive.

We left San Diego a day early so I wouldn't have to make the drive home in one stretch. We stayed overnight in Yuma, where it was blazing hot.

High: We had the pool all to ourselves and found a great deal on a nice room.

Low: I found out I had gained weight when I put on the swim trunks.

(Brad Fuqua is editor of the Grand Canyon News).