I have always hated my birthday. I cried all but one year from 1997 to 2003. And when I tried to have a gathering of some sort, I was so preoccupied with who didn't show up that I didn't fully appreciate the people who did. That wasn't fair. And a belated thank you to those who did show up. I wish it had meant as much to me then as it should have.
So starting in 2009, I have scheduled weekend trips for my birthday. That way, as long as one person was with me, I'd have fun. Plus, if I left town, I already knew who would show up and who wouldn't. And I had no hard feelings towards those who didn't because I couldn't and didn't expect everyone to drop their lives and spend money on wherever it was I wanted to go.
In 2009, 4 of us (Beth, Jen, Jen, & I) went to Las Vegas for my 29th birthday. I didn't even know one of the Jens and we had all a great time. Plus, 2 of my guy friends (Dino & K Rob) who lived in San Diego surprised me and showed up the first night. Awesome.
In 2010, 7 of us (Masters, Virus, Alicia, Lindsay, Reiko, Beth, & I) went to Louisville for my 30th birthday. The first night we went to Churchill Downs and the rest of the time we just bummed around Louisville. Lovely.
In 2011, 3 of us (Masters, Alicia, & I) went to Kalamazoo for a night then drove to Ann Arbor where I saw many friends pre- and post-football. I was surprised by what a good time Kalamazoo was.
In 2012, I drove up to LA, stayed with Shehrzad, whom I hadn't seen in years, and went out with her sister Sheila, whom I also hadn't seen in years, and some of their family and friends in Hollywood. I do not like Hollywood. I really like Sheila & Shehrzad. They were so sweet and fun.This year, one evening, I was wondering aloud where I might go this year. Dino said if my birthday were the same weekend as the Puerto Rico Tip Off, we should go cheer on Michigan there. So I looked it up. It was the same weekend. We did a bit of casual exploring to see if it could happen. Then we decided it could.
It ended up being Dino, K Rob, Sanjiv, Masters and me off to Puerto Rico for 5 days. We went to 3 Michigan games, Old San Juan, some forts, some restaurants, the beach, and Masters & I did some caving.
The stadium was strange. There weren't many people there for the first couple games. The Puerto Rican Michigan fans were fantastic. Especially the Banana. Plain clothes vendors sold beer and pina coladas. If you ordered a pina colada with rum, you drank a bit and they topped it off with rum from a clear, plastic bottle. There were fried balls and things to eat.
Old San Juan was beautiful. The forts had incredible views, and that part of the city is so colorful and with small, cobblestone streets reminiscent of some old European cities. We had a great meal there.
The beach and water were warm. The others spent a bit of time at the beach. I'm not a beach person so I put my feet in the water, soaked in a few minutes of sun, and then headed back to do homework on the porch.
The caving will have it's own post.
Driving was a disaster but that seems to be my only complaint.
Thank you to Dino, K Rob, Masters, & Sanjiv for being a part of my most adventurous birthday trip!
Coqui.
This is exactly how my big annual summer trips got started...I did not handle turning 3-0 well AT ALL, and decided leaving the country and pretending it didn't happen was a good idea. :) Glad you've had such a great experience celebrating the awesome person that you are! :)
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