Monday, June 8, 2009
Not me! Monday: Tahoe Edition
Hello, everyone!
Thank you all for your well-wishes, etc. I did not have a great trip and definitely did not come home totally exhausted but completely motivated. Which, I guess, was not the whole point.
(I was at a conference called Classified Leadership Institute. In a nutshell, I am a Classified
Classified Leadership Insitute is a leadership conference for Classified employees of community colleges throughout the state. There were speakers and workshops and networking opportunities and all sorts of activities that justified a three-day trip to Lake Tahoe during the work week.)
It was so not great.
Candace and I did not drive the 8+ hours from SoCal, and we certainly didn't leave work early partly so we could have an extra night and get some decent sleep. It was only because the conference started at 11am on Thursday morning. And who wants to leave at 2am anyway?
We did not stay at a hotel/casino on the Nevada side on Wednesday night and we didn't play video poker after a yummy dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. And I most definitely did not lose all of my budgeted five bucks within five minutes of sitting down at the video poker machine. And Candace did not double her money in the same amount of time!
Thursday morning we did not take off for North Lake Tahoe and back to the California side. I did not make Candace stop the car twice along the way, and it was absolutely not so that I could take a whole bunch of photos:
And this is not my favorite picture from the entire trip:
I did not make snarky remarks throughout the keynote speaker's address because it was not all about environmentalism. I also did not mark down the speaker on my evaluation form and I really didn't leave a comment asking them to book someone to speak on topic for next year. I mean, I love nature. Why would I do something like that?
After the keynote address and the first round of workshops, Candace and I did not skip out on the 60's/hippy dinner and dance to go to Reno. We are joiners, after all, so we wouldn't miss out on hanging out with a group of total strangers. Not us!
We did not drive an hour to Reno, only to be severely disappointed when we got there.
Reno was not full of abandoned buildings and the streets were not severely lacking in pedestrians and cars. We did not drive around town approximately four times, and even if we had, we definitely did not get a little more dismayed on each loop. We did not decide after ten minutes to stop and pick up a couple of DVDs and a pizza and go back to our hotel in Tahoe City. It was a two-hour round trip. Why would we do such a thing?
(For the record, I'm sure there are parts of Reno that are nice. We just didn't find those parts.)On Friday I did not learn a ton during the workshops, and I did not talk to some awesome people about things that are happening at other campuses. I did not walk away with some great ideas that I'm excited to start putting to use as soon as I get back to work. And Candace and I did not decide to go to the Awards banquet that night. And Candace did not starve during dinner because the meal did not include servings of steak that were approximately 2 bites each. So we did not go to McDonald's afterwards and it was not already closed at 8:30pm on a Friday night. And Taco Bell was not already closed at 9:05. And Candace did not end up eating dinner from 7-11. She wouldn't do that because we had just been to a banquet. And you eat at banquets. And I did not get ice cream that night, because it was only 40 degrees out. Way too cold for ice cream!
We did not learn some more good information at the closing session on Saturday morning, and I did not feel a little bit more nervous about budget problems after listening to the speaker talk about programs that might get cut. I was also not disappointed that I didn't win the raffle. Raffles are about raising funds, not about winning, after all.
Candace and I did not leave at noon that day and drive all the way home in one stretch. We did not stop for a yummy lunch at Olive Garden on the way out, and I did not get home at 11pm that night. Oh, and I definitely wasn't asleep within five minutes of walking in the door.
Overall, it was not an awesome trip. Candace and I did not have a great time, and I really hope I don't get to go back next year!
**Not me! Mondays is a blog carnival that was created by MckMama! Visit her site and participate--or not!**
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Obviously, you haven't been to Wendover. Wendover makes Reno look like Paris.
ReplyDeleteOh no. I've been to Wendover. When I was there, there weren't run down and abandoned buildings. We actually had fun in Wendover! Wendover is all kinds of awesome compared to the craphole that is Reno. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do NOT love your favorite picture...but I am NOT a sucker for trees! It is NOT gorgeous! ;)
ReplyDeleteI used to work at a community college campus too! Its amazing how many organizations and conferences exist in the CCC arena, isn't it? Not that I ever got to travel to any. Boo.
ReplyDeleteYou play fun games on your blog. I love it here!
ReplyDeletePlaying along: I did not enjoy reading about your trip. I hope there are no other similar accounts of trips in the future.
I actually have fond memories of Reno- first time I ever went to an In & Out Burger!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWell that does NOT sound like you have a FABULOUS time!
ReplyDelete...and what's up with skipping the hippy dinner., hmmmmmmmmmmmm?
*tapping barefoot wearing tie dye as I type
lol'
funny stuff Karen!
Sounds like a fun trip, K-Lo!
ReplyDeleteFunny! Am I supposed to Not like the pictures? Kidding. ;)
ReplyDeleteKaren thanks for stopping by ! Hope the graduation went well and now the fun begins (for your brother) ! Best of luck to him ! I added you to my blog....hope you do the same.
ReplyDeleteMona
So let me get this straight. You won the raffle?
ReplyDeleteSo sorry to hear that you did not have a great time. Better luck next time you don't go.:)
I do not think that picture of me is wretched and should be burned!
ReplyDeleteGina: I know, I totally do NOT love trees, too! (Although I really do prefer the PALM variety...)
ReplyDeleteKris: It's true, there are a lot and it's great that we are this totally connected community. Sorry you never got to go to any! Ours was partly by luck.
Nikol: Thanks! I definitely will NOT share more of my travel adventures soon!
Kelli: Like I said, I'm sure parts of it are ok. We just didn't go to those parts and were pretty much over the city in about five minutes. And I might or might not ever go back.
Michelle: I'm sure it was more fun than Reno! I know where we SHOULD have been on Thursday night!
Em: It was so much fun! Er...work...it was all work.
Lyn: I know. They are NOT great pictures, eh? ;-)
Healing Touch: Thank you for visiting. I'll definitely be stopping by again!
Cindy: I guess that was confusing. Nope. Didn't win. For reals. I never win raffles. Oh well!
Candace: That picture is great! At least I didn't post the other one that you completely hated. :-)
I've never been to Reno and now I guess I'm thankful...doesn't seem like I'm missing much??
ReplyDeleteI love Tahoe...glad you had a great time!!
BTW, I'm curious to hear the ending you made up for with Rachel Getting Married. I just saw it through Netflix and it was a lot darker (more serious) than I expected. The ending kind of left me thinking "um....what?"