Sketch Friday #57 – Anniversary Vacation

My wife and I have realized that––to us––the most perfect place on the planet is the Eastern Sierra Nevada. One clue to this would be that this is where Long John takes place. A further clue (or clues) would be that we keep returning to the region between one to times a year for the last few years.

Originally, we tried to write-off the excursions as “research” for the comic, but that auspice quickly fell away (although every return trip proves to be more and more useful for the telling of Long John). We’ve been there while it’s dry and hot and we’ve been there while it’s been shrouded in snow and ice––we basically got cars with four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive for the express purpose of traveling out there (though we won’t admit it)––and no matter the season it has been a wonderful, trying, adventurous, and relaxing experience.

The Spring Break of my day job as a professor luckily always falls on our anniversary. So, since being hired at my current institution (or, at least, since becoming full-time at my institution) we have made a concerted effort to go somewhere for our anniversary/Spring Break every year.

Pictures from this year’s vacation to the Eastern Sierra Nevada.

This year, we decided to make an official anniversary trip to the Sierra Nevada, staying at a cabin on Convict Lake before spending some time outside of Genoa in Nevada.

As is the case with every trip we take, we––or Nicole, rather––makes big plans. The illustration above was the image I had in my head when the plans were made: chilling together (and, if possible, with our dog, Rusty) in a natural hot spring and relaxing. It didn’t go according to plan on this trip––hot springs are expensive, weather was tumultuous, the dog likes swimming more than just chilling––but the sentiment remained and, like always, we made our own fun.

This trip commemorates the eighteenth year Nicole and I have been together––eighteen years together, eight years married (we got married on our tenth anniversary as a gift to ourselves)––and I couldn’t imagine a better place to spend it and, of course, no better person to spend it with.