traveling pansies

The Dreadful Day - D-Day

2011-09-23T10:30:00.000-07:00

Our trip didn’t start off so good, but after being bumped from the first plane, having to argue with Hertz rental agency, having to get lost at least twice in Paris and once in Caen, the trip started to unfold. We are now staying in this adorable european hotel off the coast of France. Of course, after it takes you a bit back because it is nothing like US hotels, but once you get to know the people, the beautiful view and knowing you are sitting in France, it is not so bad.

We woke up from a very long slumber to an absolute gorgeous day to take a tour of D-Day. Our hotel was kind enough to help us make reservations and off to the Memorial Museum of D-Day. The museum is huge, but the feeling of comfort and gratitude from the french to the US is overwhelming. We took 1 1/2 hours to tour the museum and just dented. If you go, you must at least spend 5 hours to enjoy everything in there, it is just way too big. Then Gary and I, because of last minute reservations, were put in separate tour buses, which not that we were trying to ignore each other, but after the previous days traveling it was a welcome relief of just being separate for a little while.

The first beach, I first realized I was way over my head in exactly the little I knew of World War II and D-Day. The logistics what the US did along with Canada and the UK, was totally amazing.

Here is the beach where they brought in an immense amount of equipment to build up a bay for them to access in calm waters. The logistics I never knew and it was amazing.

The second beach we looked at the German complexity that I also didn’t realize, of how much they built up to fortify the beach, unbelievable

Here is the American Grave and Memorial and Omaha Beach. I thought I was the only one really moved by this, but so many other Americans had mentioned the same overwhelming feelings of knowing the sacrifice. This alone was well worth seeing.

Third Beach was also the Omaha Beach and the bloodiest beach. Maybe I was imagining things, but I realized that the sand had turned a coral versus the other beaches. As my husband asked, do you really think the blood of all those soldiers change the color of the sand. I would hope so for at least the sacrifice that all those young men made.

Here is one of the German's artillary holes. They made hundreds of these in the cliffs.

Yes, you could say, me tired, and cold!!!
The fourth Beach was where a multitude of rangers came scaling over the cliff to take it from the Germans. So many died.

Here is where the French left the land the way the US bombed it. Huge craters.

War & Peace

2011-09-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

We drove back from Normandy the next and finally got booked into our hotel. Of course where would an American stay, Holiday Inn, and then off to the Hotel de Invalides. OMG. The real definition in english is a hospital. It was the hospital that Napolean built for the sick, I am assuming veterans. After he died, he asked for his ashes to be thrown into the Seine, but they were buried somewhere else and then finally France created a memorial to him and placed his body in the red tomb. It still is a running hospital and you will paitents roaming the gardens in wheelchairs. It was fabulous. Because of only getting there 2 hours prior to closing we didn’t even see half of it, but the half we did see, was pretty amazing.

His tomb.

I liked this tomb, I am assuming it was the tomb of an unknown soldier, but I couldn't read french and so I will only assume.

The cross behind the tomb.

The chapel to the hospital.

Gary trying to be a solider, obviously a happy one.

Unbelievable

2011-09-23T09:11:00.001-07:00

Up bright and running, definitely not early, we are off to the Palace of Versailles. I first realized the monster I created by giving my husband the camera. Believe me I have cherished every picture that he took, but we got to the Palace, and it is so big, that I swear he was taking pictures of even the bolts holding up the gates. I am sure there is nothing in the US that is that big and grand. Just enjoy the ride while looking at the pictures because despite my husband’s best efforts he could not take the whole Palace, IT WAS TOO BIG.

The hall of mirrors. The ballroom. It was gorgeous.

Here is one of Marie Antoinette's Chateau, the other one was slightly shappier.

Coming back on the train, I told Gary that I wanted to stop at the Statue of Liberty, remember Paris gave our Statue of Liberty to us (much bigger), but Parisians don’t really get into their Statue, but it meant more to me to take the picture than it did for the Eiffel Tower, and so we did.

Then Gary and I took a very painful (I was not feeling very good, oh have you noticed the cane, yeap, Lyle is not up to running mode, oh well for Gary), walk along the Seine until we got to the Eiffel Tower. The thought of standing in line almost made me throw up. So we just admired and then took a lot of pictures. So what great picture did we take from the bottom, up the middle, and funny as it maybe our hotel had a blow up of the same picture. Amazing how artistic I am, especially in Paris.

A Humble Day

2011-09-23T09:03:00.001-07:00

The next day off to the races. I was bound and determined to see everything. I didn’t want to leave out anything. Gary absolutely hates it when I get this way. So first St. Chappell. I finally got an advantage (not like I didn’t need it) to have someone feel sorry for me with my cane. They allowed me to go beyond the line and walk right in. SCORE.

After really reading about St. Chappell, that was amazing, it was absolutely gorgeous. Gary took some blurred pictures but this was my favorite, am I not the angel of everyone’s life.

I got my wings that day. I think I deserve them.

Off with the Hutchback of Nortre Dam. I just sat there in the chapel while Gary ran around taking pictures. This big clap of thunder hit over the Chapel and I wasn’t sure if God was warning us both or just telling us “yeah I’m here and don’t forget it.” As we left the roads were all wet but skies were clear.

Off to the D’Orsay. Now my HR at work told me to have lunch there, believe me by the time I got through some of the museum, I was way happy for lunch, but yet again another line. I only wished we had taken pictures, because it was the absolute funniest salad I had ever had, but the absolute best.

Off a walk across the Seine with a few gypsies trying to trick us and of course we had to stop and hug each other on the bridge of love. The locks are individual’s luggage locks, locking their love to each other forever. I tried to get Gary to do that, but to no avail.

Off to the Louve. We were highly suggested to Napolean’s Apartments and I was so happy we did. Even though the Palace of Versailles was big, I believe these were way more ornate than that, I know it is hard to believe.

This was my favorite piece of the entire trip. The desk totally folds into one round table. I loved it.

This was my second favorite piece, it was made of crystals.

After that I said to Gary, “honey I saw what I came to see, let’s go.” He said I didn’t fly across the world not to see the Mona Lisa. I hope he was happy with her when he was done.

Monet All The Way

2011-09-23T08:57:00.000-07:00

The next day was off to the Rodine. I didn’t understand the Rodine until after I left, research really helps. I would have taken the tour book, but it was heavy, not extra space to spare.

Gary had to be in front of the "thinker," that's all he does.

The "Gates of Hell"

To what I really wanted to see was the l’Orangie, Monet was waiting for me. It was absolutely beautiful. Out of all of the museums, this one was my favorite.

If I put in all of the photos Gary took of the paintings, this would never end. Just take this one. The museum was absolutely wonderful.
The Tuilleries, I could see me stroll through there every day if I lived in Paris, but only one very long one for us, because I did not feel very good, it took all I had to just walk it once. But do I spy “Where’s Gary.”

Oh here he is, getting his wife a little ice cream.

Arch De Triumph

The most romantic couple in Paris.

Gary knew I was fading fast so off to the Seine for a boat trip. I got a little nap in, Gary got a lot of picture taking. It was perfect.

Turtles Everywhere

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

We got rerouted through Pittsburg, Detroit, and then LAX, where lucky enough my daughter lives there. So just as we got there, she was waiting for us. It was such a happy relief of seeing someone we know after all of that flying.

The next day we had a very liesurely breakfast and then off to Cal Tech to see the turtles. Gracie would love it.

France was a beautiful country, I would have wanted to spend more time outside of Paris. I am so glad that I saw Paris, but truly I am not sure if I had to chose one or the other, France countryside v. Paris, I think the countryside would win. oui’ oui’

Credits go out to our friends that did not make it, sad but true. Merci beaucoup

Journey to the East

2011-04-13T14:00:00.000-07:00

No we weren't going to Mecca or anything like that, we were traveling to Atlanta, Georgia and then off to our nation's capital. Our friends, Dennis and Connie met us in Atlanta to show us the town. First off to the famous Atlanta Aquarium. I had always heard about this Aquarium but until you are in it you just don't really appreciate the immensity of the whole thing. So view a few photos.

Then off to the famous Varsity. The Varsity is a hamburger and hot dog joint that has been in business for years.

After lunch we went to the Coca Cola Museum, did you know Coca Cola was founded in Atlanta. There is rumor it had cocaine in it originally, is that a myth or not? Here is Utah's Coke Bottle, in case you care! Then off to dinner at a really great place,"Pappadeux" What a really great day

Motorcycle riding without the Motor - Too Bad!!!

2011-04-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

We all have motorcycles and as we were driving through the hills of Georgia, we were all wishing we were on them enjoying the beautiful scenery, oh well, some other trip. We went past Lake Lanier... We passed through Dawsonville, the town of the world famous nascar driver "Bill Elliot"

Home of moonshine and fast cars

Cumming, GA - are we happy we got our chocolate, yes

Now Dennis thought we would just fly past the original CabbagePatch Doll Hospital without stopping or shopping, now get real!!! But when we got there, it was closed, looking sad, and it needed a doll to make it happy, it was being sold, oh well.

Off to the new and improved hospital - so of course I had to go in, and of course I had to get a brand new baby out of the delivery room, oh yeah.

"GG" was born to Gracie Gillespie that day.

A drive through Helen, GA. I swear every state has a Swiss city somewhere, this one was pretty impressive and I would have liked to stay awhile.

Any Nascar fans in the area - supposedly this is one of the very first tracks

We found this old Texaco station which still had their antique pumps out in front, I won't tell you the city in case you get sticky fingers. We were pretty impressed.

Chateau Elan - Wine, Hotel, Golf Course, Spa. We got to taste the wine, well worth it.

A very long road trip, but so much to see and so little time.

On Top of the World

2011-04-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

If you really want to see Atlanta, you need to go to the top of the Westin Hotel, that red building reminds me of the building I work in, I wonder if it was the same architect, hmmmmmmmmmm Enough freeway lanes? Not enough when there is an accident especially in Atlanta,

The baseball park, this was double its size when the Olympics was going on, and then they tore half of it down. I wish we could have seen a game, another trip.

Olympic Park, the sole very green tree in the middle was where the bomb went off. Sad

CNN Building, didn't see anyone famous, it was a Sunday, there is obviously no news on Sunday.

Cherry Blossoms and Wooden Teeth

2011-04-13T13:30:00.000-07:00

Gary flew home and I flew up to D.C. to meet up with my friend Dana. The first day was the best choice of the week to see Mt. Vernon in the sun. We saw Ben hanging around. It's a beautiful setting with the Potomac right behind me. Here lies Mrs. and Pres. Washington. Honoring those slaves that Washington set free on his death. Slave quarters weren't lush, but they weren't as bad as some.

Flying Away Into the Night

2011-04-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

Dana said lets sleep in and then go to a late day because we were going to take a night tour of the monuments. So off we went to the Aerospace Museum. Here are a few pictures. Here is the Mercury (I could be wrong, but I believe it was the first manned ship.) Here is the Sputnik

Here is a replica of the first French balloon, of course the real one is a lot larger. I love balloons.

A replica of what the Wright Bros. would have flown.

Our Nation's Capital. It was cold and blistery that day.

Then off to the Hard Rock for some mighty good eating.

The night tour started at the capital . It would have been funnier I think to be inside.

World War II Monument. I wish my Dad could have seen that.

I guess this symbol was used all through the war, any one that had been in World War II would have known what it means.

Of course, one of our founding fathers - Thomas Jefferson

Abe Lincoln, so impressive.

Dana and I looking out from Lincoln to Washington Monument, plus the capital in the background.

The White House

The local protest transient for the last 25 years, I questioned, is she still alive? Getting closer to the tent, we soon realized she was still screaming better than ever.

Blair Hotel - Is the Israeli Prime Minster in town, hmmmmmmmmm?

Who Shot Pres. Lincoln

2011-04-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

I wanted to see Ford's Theatre and they had just renovated the museum, so our first stop was the dramatization of the day after Lincoln got shot. It was Ford and one of his actors that were being portrayed. I would definitely suggest anyone see this since it really puts it all in prospective. Of course no pictures were allowed during the portrayal. Then we went to the museum. Lincoln's Box Seats

After lunch, Dana and I went shopping, we just couldn't pick out which one we wanted. Of course we wouldn't have told our husband/boyfriend about the purchase until they got the Visa, oh well.

Hope Diamond

Getting Religious

2011-04-13T13:00:00.000-07:00

Wandering through Georgetown and on our way to the National Zoo, we came across the National Cathedral, what a find since I wanted to see it in the first place.

Helen Keller and her companion was int urned in the churches below. Cool

Too much information to explain any further, you will just have to take the tour yourself.

I wanted since I went to China to go to the National Zoo to see the pandas, since I didn't get to see them in China. So because we made the extra stop in the cathedral, we ran in, had lunch, and then ran to see these cute and cuddly creatures, of course they were having lunch as well. They are soooooo cute.

Tight Butts

2011-04-13T12:50:00.000-07:00

Husband you will notice I didn't take any pictures of tight butts, but basically Annapolis is considered the Naval Academy and yes there were a lot of Navy wandering around. But who knew unless you are from the D.C. area that Annapolis is considered also a shopping mecca. So we went shopping.

Who also knew that Annapolis is the home of the Maryland Governor, I think they planned that so he could be close to his yacht.

Who also knew that the Maryland State House is located in Annapolis.

And who knew the place to go for seafood was at Davis' Pub, we soon found out.

And who also knew that if you missed the Blossom Festival by one day in D.C. you could go to Annapolis and get these absolutely gorgeous trees through the city.

We did.

A perfect ending to a perfect trip

2011-04-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

On the very last day of my stay Tina wanted to show me Alexandria, it was a little cloudy and a little cold, plus it was a Sunday and some places were closed, but we made the most of it. She first took me to the George Washington Masonic Temple

Then we went to Christ Church where George Washington went to church at.

Then we headed for the Torpedo factory that is now an art studio through the old cobblestone roads of old town.

We had passed this cemetery in the last three days several times and Tina knew how I like cemeteries so we had to stop and roam around wondering what the stories were behind these headstones.

We went to have a hamburger and right across the street was the USPTO. Now anyone that has worked Intellectual Property in a law office knows what the USPTO is. The mass of amount of paper and money that goes into that place is extraordinary and so I had to take this picture for the ladies at work. They did appreciate it.

So I bid a fine farewell to my fine friends. With their patience of having to wait with me on standby with the airlines, to being my chauffeur, to playing with me, and definitely eating some mighty fine food. I love you all, thank you for your friendship.

A BEAUTIFUL RECEPTION

2010-10-07T09:44:00.001-07:00

Several of my friends have asked if I was going to post pictures of the reception. So here goes. Enjoy we did.

OUR FRIENDS WE CONSIDER FAMILY

Thanks to everyone that enjoyed it, and thanks to Randi and Brian for getting married. We love you, Mom and Gary.

IT SUCKS TO BE ANYONE ELSE OTHER THAN US

2010-09-30T16:24:00.000-07:00

Gary and I had taken a cruise with some good friends four years ago. Well since that time, we didn't lose track of each other, we just lost what was important, and that was enjoying each other's company again.

So we planned a trip to San Francisco, Dennis, Connie, Guy, Judy, Joe, Annette, Gary and I. Dennis and Connie had been there several times before so they were the tour guides. What great tour guides they were. They had the hotel, the transportation, the thought of where to eat, what to see and definitely what to drink.

I had been there 26 years before when I was pregnant with my last baby. Oh boy has it changed. The tourist traps have become plentiful; the restaurants, a million of them; and the skyscrapers not only grew up, but out. So off we go for our little three day tour.

The world is an amazing place and when I start traveling in it, I realize how small and minuet I am in this world. Just getting on the plane I was sitting next to a guy that was from Brooklyn, NY. He was about 35 years old, owned his own small shop in Brooklyn for most of his life and he said he was "home sick" because he was so use to buildings and people being in every square inch of his existence and now between NY and CA there was too much property it made him feel lost. I am sure I would have felt totally opposite. It's all in your eyes of the world.

When we got there we checked in, went for a quick lunch, and then the rest of them showed up. We headed for Fisherman'sWharf. It was fun walking down the wharf and it was funnier to see the sea lions out on the dock.

We then just walked and saw the trolley cars and the rest of the wharf. We finally left and headed for dinner at Spengers. Gary and I were dying for good seafood and that is what we got from a 120 year old establishment.

San Fran in a Whirlwind

2010-09-30T15:12:00.001-07:00

We headed again towards San Francisco and our first stop was Golden Gate Bridge. It was an absolute beautiful day with the water glistening and the bridge in clear view. Off to the redwoods, "Muir Woods." These redwoods were a lot smaller than I expected, but still pretty amazing.
Keep on trying honey you might gain your wings.

Sausalito for lunch, out on the patio, and boy were we hungry. The food, drink and dessert were amazing.

Lombard Street (Whindiest road in SF)

Trollies, trollies everywhere...
Coit Tower (a special tribute to our SF firemen)

Haight / Ashbury (the 70s keep on coming)

The painted ladies (the boys in the car, thought we were going to some ladies-of-the night museum, jk on them)

The old cliff house baths and the ocean, loving it.

We drove through China Town several times.
The Stinking Rose - the best food yet, a little too much garlic for Gary and I, but we still loved it.

Is the night over, we are all so tired.

The Sweetness of the Vine

2010-09-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I have always heard about Napa Valley, and I realized why the rich flock there, where there is limos everywhere and why I felt sort of out of my class. I can definitely hold my own, but you know you are with the rich and spoiled when their faces look like they come out of some plastic factory, even the men, and their clothes look like they come off of Rodeo drive, unlike mine. In spite of the rich, we had a great time.

We first stopped in at the High Flyer wine tasting building. The girl was sweet and we totally enjoyed the wine. She directed us to "Hurleys" for lunch. Very good.

We then drove up through the valley to Beringers Winery, that is where I fell in love with wine and chocolate. I told Gary I could totally turn into a lush from this combo.

Then off to dinner to the CIA, Culinary Institute of America. This school took over an old winery and put in its place a school, a very gourmet cooking equipment shop, and a restaurant. This would be our final dinner with the group and we totally enjoyed it.

Thanks to my friends for inviting us along. Let's not wait another four years.

A LOT OF RED FUN

2010-09-13T14:29:00.001-07:00

I can't think of anything cooler than a trip to Southern Utah, and Northern Arizona in the summer. I can't think of anybody that is cooler than our two sets of friends from Idaho and Canada that decided to join us in the summer.

I think there are certain things in this world that you should put on your bucket list and some of those are going to the national parks in Utah and Arizona. In planning this trip I realized, and shocked, that my husband, and my friends had never seen these parks. So we planned on meeting in SLC and heading out to St. George, Utah for a few days and then off to Zions, Grand Canyon, Page, AZ, and Bryce Canyon.

The next thing cooler was mine and my husband's Spyders. They are three wheel motorcycles. So we rode those along with our Tahoe to store the rest of the travelers away from the elements.

We couldn't have picked a more perfect week, the weather in St. George is usually in the 100s and it was in the upper 80s. Most of the trip was the same without any rain, we did have some major wind the first day but for most of the trip it was perfect weather.

The entire road trip down we shared in the driving of the motorcycles. Gary and I were a little worried about the rest of them since they had never owned a motorcycle nor really drove a motorcycle. But we soon realized they were doing great on them.

The first night after arriving in St. George we drove over to Springdale which is just outside of Zions to see a movie in the Imax theatre, "Zions Treasure of the Gods." It was a great movie and I highly recommend it to those that will never hike past their car in the park.

This was our first view of the red cliffs of Zions National Park.

A LOT OF MONKEY BUSINESS

2010-09-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Second day into the trip we were in St. George and I had scheduled a roaring game of golf at Sky Mountain Golf Course for the boys.

While the girls sort of slept in, I got up got ready to go see my Aunt that lives there. She is 85 and when I drove over on my motorcycle, being the nurse that she is, she had a few words for me, but I encouraged her to get on the motor to have a little spin around the neighborhood. She had a blast.
The boys came back and the girls headed for shopping. First stop was seeing the Mormon Temple of St. George, Wonda and I were waiting for the bolt of lightening, but funny it never came. Then we headed for a fine Mexican lunch. We shopped until we ran out of time and then quickly got cleaned up and headed to the open air stage "Tuachan."
I love Tuachan, with the red rock as being the background for the stage, and the stars shining down on you during the play, it was beautiful. The play we watched was "Tarzan." The singers were amazing, even though the play was a little immature it was still great.
Whose are those three monkies

We picked up some friends on the way out of the theatre.

NARROWS ARE CALLING US

2010-09-13T14:27:00.000-07:00

Third day out we headed for Zions. Zions is amazing. It is the thoroughfare between I-15 and HI 89. You could go around it, but why, it is just as nice to take in the scenery and enjoy the ride.

After doing a few little hikes (the Narrows, and Weeping Rock), we headed to the lodge for a quick bite and then off back to the motors and car to drive to Kanab, Utah.

I have never really gotten into Kanab. It seems like a medium size town in the middle of nowhere for the purpose of getting somewhere. If that even makes sense. But we rented a house right up against the cliffs of Kanab. It turned out to be a beautiful sanctuary to our very tired days.

IT COULDN'T HAVE BEEN ANYMORE GRANDER

2010-09-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

Fourth day was an adventurous day on the road to the Grand Canyon. We had a very lazy morning and headed out early afternoon so that the light on the canyon would be the best for picture taking. We had planned on a picnic and so we immediately headed for the North Rim Lodge patio. We confiscated most of the tables and chairs so we could look out over the canyon while eating our dinner. It was beautiful. I highly recommend it.

After dinner a few of us headed on a small hike over the top of a peninsula. I intentionally went ahead of Gary so he wouldn't try to scare me, once on the hike there were several spots where there was no railing and both sides of the trail had huge cliffs on both sides. Wonda and I were extremely scared, we knew the canyon was going to suck us in. Obviously we survived or I wouldn't be writing this, but it was pretty dang scary.

On the way home we had another scare of a different kind. Gary wanted to stop at a liquor store in Arizona so we could pick up the liquor for my daughter's wedding that we had in the near future. I argued no because we didn't have enough room in the vehicles to take it home. But we did stop at this place that looked like a rundown 7-11 store. When we entered, the stench was so strong I almost threw up and I can handle most smells so that was pretty bad. When I looked around I realized this was a hoarder's paradise. The dogs in the store weren't mean, but I could tell that the owner obviously had not cleaned up around them in a long while. My friend made note to me that the old lady in the corner looked a little dead herself. It took me less than a minute to realize this was a place out of some bad horror film and we should leave immediately, especially when I saw the Chucky in the window. Was I relieved when we all finally came out of the store and no one was following us with a shotgun. I could see Utah just down the street, and I knew we were so close to home and so far away in this place of horrors. I will say the next day I approached a lady at the gas station about referring to this place and she said "the lady is so nice, it is so sad she let the place go." That made me feel better there were no small children strung up somewhere. Thank goodness to leave Arizona. I chose not to take a picture of the store, because it wouldn't have done it justice.

Bye Arizona

POWERFUL BEAUTY

2010-09-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Fifth day was a trip to Glen Canyon Damn and Antelope Canyon. It was a beautiful day to take a trip on the motors through Southern Utah. Antelope Canyon is a slot canyon on the indian reservation. You must pay a tour guide to get into it. We had this funny little Native American woman that did this on the side when she isn't teaching troubled teens or disabled teens in High School. She sort of talked to us like we were disabled as well, but I am sure there are a lot of people that don't listen to her. She set up our cameras for the perfect shot. Enjoy the pictures as I hopefully give you somewhat of a view. Unfortunately we all had palsy that day because it was so dark in the canyon that most of the pictures came out blurry, so sorry, NONE OF US HAD A TRIPOD.

Then we went over to Glen Canyon Damn for their tour through the damn. It is so interesting and so powerful when you think about it.

After the long drive back, we decided to celebrate Bobby's birthday earlier than planned so off to the Three Bears for some mighty fine ice cream.
That night we planned a steak dinner with all the fixins, and of course ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday Bobby!!!!

HOODOO, NOT YOU DO

2010-09-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

We started the sixth day off on a somber note. A week before one of the county deputy sheriff's in Southern Utah had been shot to death. It was a very sad situation and in the line of duty. So from a little ways out of Kanab through about four cities they had flags on each side of the road for the funeral. All along the drive, about every 6 car was a normal car and the rest were police from all around the state coming to show respect to him and his family. It was so sad.
After that we headed back to SLC through Bryce National Park. When you take people through Southern Utah they get over saturated with the red rock, and so sometimes they aren't the most willing to explore other canyons thinking it is going to look just like the canyon they just went through. Everyone of the National parks are so different. Bryce Canyon was like God was playing around with mother earth one day and decided to play a joke on her. The red can't be any redder and the columns can't be any more interesting than in Bryces. It was gorgeous. Again enjoy the pictures it is well worth it.

Bryce Canyon Lodge, very small and quaint

Bye Bye Southern Utah

Yes we had plans of enjoying so many more things and we just didn't have the time. So goodbye to the Hoodoos, the Coral Sand Dunes, the Cheese Factory in Beaver and HI-12, we will have to catch you the next time through.

Baby Girl - Beautiful Bride

2010-08-10T11:54:00.000-07:00

I know this is a travel blog, but sometimes you have to break your own rules, maybe because you want to show off the ones you love.
Randi, my daughter and fiance, Brian decided to get married within a three week period. I knew I had to have faith that everything would work out and those things that didn't, we would just ignore.
Since I had never been to the place they wanted to get married at, Gig Harbor, Washington, I also wanted to enjoy the area and the place like all my travels take me to. So we planned on going in a few days early to hopefully help with the wedding.
WAITING AT THE AIRPORT: DO YOU THINK SHE IS NERVOUS

Randi wanted to have the wedding where Brian and his family was from, which meant in so many words, "she had no control of it." Since she had a few brief weeks with Brian's mom and I had never met her, we had to hopefully not expect the worst and hope for the best. Believe me, we couldn't have asked for much more than what they had done. With a few hiccups, the wedding went off beautifully. I will ease into the details later, but first about Gig Harbor.
I was corrected that Gig Harbor is not on an island but is on a peninsula in the narrows of Puget Sound. You get there either by ferry or by bridge. Since Brian had his ticket and Randi and I were flying stand bye, we weren't sure if we would be on the same flight as Brian. Luckily we did get on, and then when we arrived we waited for the shuttle that takes you right downtown Gig Harbor for $14/pers., where we picked up a car and headed off to the see the fam.
The Pacific Northwest is a very luscious area, with a lot of greenery and gorgeous flowers and the family's home was exactly that. I thought of Brian growing up in the woods around his family's house and thought this is why he is a hiking, wandering gypsy, his mom probably thought how safe for her children to play all day and enjoy nature.
When they say you don't just marry the man, but the family, the family was just as kind and sweet as Brian is. They made us both feel right at home.
NICE SURPRISES FROM THE FAMILY

We then headed over to Fox Island. Fox Island is an island, [not a peninsula, that definition was for us landlocked people to know,] that is attached to the peninsula by a bridge. Brian's grandmother lives there and has lived there for quite sometime. She and her husband, Bud, were as welcoming as the rest of the family. Driving over there, the area is absolutely gorgeous, especially from a person from Utah.
GORGEOUS

Randi had told me that the area was quite tiny and so small, what a surprise when I realized the traffic and the area was a lot larger than I expected. Brian had explained that until about 10 years ago they only had a two lane bridge coming from Tacoma and then they rebuilt the bridge to a six lane bridge which immediately enhanced the building and increased the property and taxes. Oh well, you build it, they will come.
THE DOCK WHERE THE HAPPY COUPLE ARE GETTING MARRIED ON

After checking out the area where the wedding was going to be at, Randi and I were tired and Brian wanted to play with his nieces and visit with his family so off we went to the house that I rented. The house was off of East Bay Drive and on Sullivan Road. It was an older home that they had renovated. It was perfect, right on the water with again with the word, "gorgeous" views.

Randi and I settled in and died of exhaustion for a nap. After we had to find food. One thing about renting a house, you must supply it for all of those hungry stomachs that are going to show up sooner or later. So we used Randi's GPS to find historic Gig Harbor. We stopped at Anthony's for dinner and devoured everything put in front of us. It was fun just sitting out on the dock and watch the yachts come in and go out.

Then off to the grocery store for food. It was a very fun, but exhausting day.

How Fun Is Kayaking???

2010-08-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

The next day I woke up to animals making funny noises outside in the bay, now how can anyone on vacation not wake up to enjoy that. I saw this seal come up while it was eating and a family of 6 otters swimming bye, so of course I had to go down to the beach to check everything out.
After a brief breakfast we all left to pick up things for the wedding, first stop to Connie and Joe's (Brian's Aunt and Uncle) winery. Again gorgeous flowers everywhere and the winery was just recently built. It was fun to enjoy the tasting and the beautiful place. Very gracious people.

Then the three of us went off for errand shopping and then back to the house. I let them continue with their errands and I just totally relaxed at the house. Later that afternoon, they came back and I think Brian felt like he was neglecting me so we went kayaking. I had never gone kayaking and thank goodness the water was extremely calm and warm. We floated around for awhile, played with the jelly fish and came back. You will just have to take my word on me actually being in the kayak since I was holding more on for dear life instead of a camera.
Again they left me to relax and went off on their errands. It was truly a delightful sunny day.

Here Comes The Mist

2010-08-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

I woke up again with my neighborhood seal jumping in the water. It was fun for someone that has never been around the ocean too much. This maybe the last time, but my baby came crawling into my bed for a back scratch. That is one thing that was always precious between Randi and I from birth on, she loved crawling in bed with her mom. I will surely miss that. We talked and finally got out of bed to walk the rocky beach to find places for her bridals to be taken later on that afternoon.
Now we don't know who owns this house, but it was two lots down from our rental, so if anyone knows this house don't tell the owners we used their yard and house for the backdrop to Randi's bridals. We tried to get permission, but oh well. The guard house in front was bigger than my garage.

We got word that Gary and Ammie/Baby Gracie had problems getting on the plane to get here. We tried to take it in stride because we knew we were all flying standbye. The day was gloomy and misty, the typical Seattle weather, so Brian stoked up a fire and we laid around reading and watching t.v. This would be the last he would see his bride until the "I dos." We finally got in the car and took off to go grocery shopping for the Bridal party that night. The boys were suppose to go out to dinner.
Going standbye means a lot of praying, especially if you have a deadline to meet. And you always think it is a miracle when something happens extraordinary to allow you to board when there was no hope. I believe it really is the expertise of the airline staff. The fourth plane out, sat on the tarmat for a little while and then returned back to the gate for some unknown reason. A large group of Koreans got off and in turn Gary and Ammie were able to get on. A MIRACLE. Gary and Ammie were suppose to arrive around 10:30 a.m. and at noon they were just getting onto a plane. Our friend the photographer was suppose to arrive around noon, and when I called to see where they were, they were 30 minutes outside of Seattle, so I thought if they stay there waiting an extra hour they could pick up Gary. I took so much for granted because by the time everything happened, her bridal pictures were pushed back 3 hours. Here comes Momzilla out. Between Brian expecting Randi to be somewhere and Randi expecting her bridals to be taken and everyone is still on some freeway, I got or felt a lot of pressure. But my saying for this wedding is "we punt." So we rescheduled a few things and everything turned out just great.
GRANDMA JOY'S REHEARSAL

Everyone arrived safely and Randi had her bridals, we had a really great party with her new in-laws and we were in bed by 10:00. I was happy.
RANDI WHERE ARE YOU GOING THE PARTY JUST STARTED

BRIDALS

Going To The Dock, Going To Get Married...

2010-08-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Wedding Day is here. Overcast and more than the Seattle Drizzle, but it is Randi's Wedding day and it is going to be wonderful no matter what the weather. I had made arrangements for pedicures for Me, Ammie, Val (photographer & friend), Becky (Mom-in-law to be), Brandi (Sister-in-law to be) and Heather (Sister-in-law to be). Randi was going to have the whole thing, massage, pedicure, manicure, and hairdo.

We got out of the day spa a little early so we had plenty of time to get home and put on makeup, take a few pictures and head over to Grandma Joy's. By the time Randi stood in that dress while Brian was running, trying to do things, she was about to loose either her cookies or mind.
One last toast to the bride from all the women in the room and down the aisle or the dock as the Fox Island people would like to say.

A fabulous seafood reception after the ceremony.

The wedding was beautiful and the couple seemed so happy. Tired Mom, but so well worth it all. Congrats to them, Gary and I love you.

Strangley, Funky, Wonderful Wedding

2010-08-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

In spite of the weather, the spider crawling up the Judge during the wedding, the wedding party almost sliding into the bay, the next door neighbors "Bad Girls Weekend" singing "Going to the Chapel," these were all the added memories that they will have for a life time.

How do you say thank you to a wonderful family, Brian's (Robert) family for the hospitality, their generosity and encouragement with my daughter and definitely sharing their son? How do you say thank to my wonderful friend, Val for all the picture taking and her husband for his support? And how do you say thank you to my daughter and my own family for being patient during the Momzilla moments? You don't you just love them even more. Thanks again everyone. See you September 17.

Secret Hideway - Idaho

2010-08-09T15:04:00.001-07:00

Gary and our friends.

I truly hate to blog this for fear of the secret hideout of Idaho will be revealed. My husband and I have gone to Idaho several times and every time I go, I tell everyone at work that we are going there to see friends. They all sigh and say "why would you go to Idaho, there is nothing there." Now if we really want to point out the over publisized "Sun Valley," "Gateway to Yellowstone" and of course "McCall," Idaho is pretty flat and ugly. But sometimes you have to go where the party is and that is where our friends are. They live at the top part of Idaho, and believe me it is totally under estimated, and overly gorgeous.
Again I say we have been there several times and every time we go we see a new beauty of Idaho. This last visit was on a scare tactic to my husband. My husband was born in the mountains. His parents took him camping all the time because that was what they could afford. I think that put a bad impression in his head and he swore when he could afford a hotel, he would never camp in the dirt ever again. We call him Mr. Sheraton. But the last time we were in Idaho, our friends told me that they would teach me how to fly fish, which in their mind meant camping as well. So for months I told Gary that we were going to Idaho to go camping, he was not happy. Just shy of us going up there, our friends said that without electricity to the camper, we wouldn't be able to camp. I waited until we got there to tell him the bad new for me, good news for him.
I usually don't blog these trips to Idaho just because they are usually laid back and not a lot going on, but this time with us fishing, the rivers were so beautiful, I just had to share it.

Kenny works at a fish hatchery up there which releases not just a few thousand, but hundreds of thousands of salmon every year. We were just lucky enough to be there when the small little salmon, about 3" long, were being tagged. Just a few years ago this was done by hand by women that would go from hatchery to hatchery, now it is done by machine. Follow along with me and I will try to explain, it was quite interesting.

The men along the side of the machine wait for the fish to be sorted by weight and length. Each fish has it's picture taken and it goes through these machines to have a tag put along the side of its eye, which registers them from this hatchery and the date it was tagged. It also has one of its fin's sniped.
The ladies in the back take care of the fish that slip through the machinery and they hand tag them. This trailer moves from hatchery to hatchery with these same individuals through the whole summer.

They initially dump the fish in this bottom container and its sucks the fish through the machinery. The hose resembles them going upstream like salmon have an instinct of doing.

You can't tell, but these monitors show the fish being photographed as they go through the machinery.

Here is the machinery that tags the fish and clips their one fin.

Here are the little clippings from their fins.
The whole process of tagging the fish was pretty amazing and to think women did these thousands by hand a couple of years ago.
We then went up river to find a place that Kenny liked for us to fish in. After being on this trip, I believe that all fly fisherman must have a little ADD in their system, let me explain that as well.
As we were driving Wonda would look out the side window and scream "too steep, too steep." I thought this was a little odd, until Kenny had had enough and just pulled over and said this is where we are fishing. Once I got out of the car, and looked down the dirt/tree/rock cliff I was suppose to crawl down, that is when I realized what "too steep" meant. Scary!!!!! But I did get down and here are a few pictures from our first day fly fishing.

You can't tell very well, but there is a fish hanging from my line next to my pants. That is one of the two fish I caught this weekend.

Later we went down stream a little ways and set up camp for dinner. We played in this stream that entered the main river. Wonda made this very delicious hobo dinner, even though we had to wait a little while, waiting always makes the food taste even better.

From crawling around on the rocks, I slipped a few times, but never felt like I hurt, but by the time I sat in the car for an hour to go home, my ankle must of relaxed enough and I hyper extended my ankle. The leg started swelling and by the time I went to bed I was in so much pain I wondered how far was it to the nearest hospital. Lucky for me by the morning it was just a little bit swollen and I was ready to go with horse ace bandage on me. Giddy-up.

The next day we headed out and Kenny wanted to show us the waterfalls. Now like most photos you don't get the true perspective. The amount of water and the force in which the water falling around these rocks were quite amazing. When you looked at the sides of the river you could see how high where the spring run off would have been, amazing, at least 40 feet up.

We then headed farther up stream to the very last camp ground and decided to set up camp for the day. The water was absolutely beautiful and the temperature was so hot I was so tempted to jump in the river and take a swim. The waterfall below reminded me of why I didn't want to do that.
We played in the water, fished a little and totally enjoyed the day. I made up some Hungarian Golash in the dutch oven and we thoroughly just had a wonderful camping out for the day.

Relaxing in the shade.

HAVE TO HAVE THOSE ROASTED MARSHMELLOWS

Next day was lay around and do absolutely, or almost nothing. We watched shows, played on the computer, but finally got it together and went out to dinner. When you drive through these small towns there are a lot of little shops and restaurants that from the outside I am not sure in a regular city I would step into, and so goes the steak house we went into outside of their small town. The ribs, and fries were fabulous. Sometimes the best things are the unexpected ones.

In checking on the flight schedule for standbye seats we realized we were going to have problems getting out of Idaho. But our friends told us that they would be happy to drive us 3 hours to Spokane, that is called a true friend. But we didn't have to, we just had to wait for the next flight and so we hung around with our friends going to a movie, shopping, eating pie, and just enjoying the day while waiting for that flight home.

"No please don't make me go."

Thanks guys it was a memory not easily forgotten

Competitive Camping

2010-07-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

THE PANSIE GIRLS ARE IN TOWN...

I usually don't put on simple family or friend weekend outings, but because this was such a fun weekend I thought I would blog about it in case anyone was really looking at this blog.

Three of my good friends and I decided to go camping for the weekend. It first started out to be just Saturday and Sunday, and ended up leaving on Thursday night to hopefully get a really good camping spot and stay until Sunday. The alternate spot was better than the really good camping spot I had previously picked out. There was plenty of space between spots, with quite a bit of woods and creeks between each spot.

I had taken my motorcycle, so my friend Opal decided to ride along the back of it. We soon lost my other friends in their motorhome. But they were smart and parked along the road for us to find them in the semi-dark. We got parked, a few things out, and off to playing pinochle.

The giggles started flying when we realized how close everyone was going to be in sleeping arrangements, at least we weren't cold.

The next morning it was my turn to make the breakfast, so I made some really good stuffed french toast with homemade berry syrup. It was real good.

I took off the next morning for a ride up to some upper lakes and just enjoy the ride by myself. After that the rain started to come in and we were back into the motorhome for some more pinochle.

We enjoyed lunch from Opal of chicken salad, and dinner was prepared by Pam of some fajitas and margaritas. It was good. Back to playing pinochle.

That night the rain came in, so we were very thankful we had a motorhome.

The next day it was a quick trip with Pam on the back down to see some lakes and quickly back to check on my breakfast scrabble which was perfect.

This day was a beautiful day, so again back on the bike with Opal for a 50 mile drive to find some toilet paper.

I got back just in time for lunch which consisted of pigging out on potato chips, vegies, and the like. We all sat around or took mini walks, just enjoyed the brilliant sun in that beautifully wooded area.

Now it was time to start the fire and enjoy some more pinochle. Are you getting that we intentionally went up there to play pinochle? Sheryl started a perfectly grilled steak dinner, with potatoes and corn. We had smores over the fire and then went into the motorhome when the mosquitoes got too much for us to handle. More games were played and then banana splits were passed out.

The entire weekend was great. Unfortunately we woke to rain and clouds. We took the first opportunity to get the heck out of dodge and I quickly got home on my motorcycle, cold and wet.

It was a great weekend. I initially realized that I was enjoying the weekend way too much because I felt it was about "me". No husband, no kids, no grandkids, just about me and my happiness, and then afterwards I realized that it wasn't just about me, it was about my friendship with three very special people in my life. You don't ever want to live without your husband and your family, but your friendships are just as important. Thank you girls. Hope to see you on some other highway in some other campground. To new experiences!!!!!!

Vertical Fam Tour

2010-06-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Everything about this trip was Vertical. Vertical flights, vertical trees, vertical waterfalls, and definitely vertical mountains. It gave you a new impression of looking up.

My husband had started working for Delta Airlines so of course we had to take the first standbye trip as a family. Of course Gary, my husband, chose to stay home. So off with my adult children, Ammie, Nicholas, Randi, and of course baby Gracie had to come along just because she had to.

I was excited about the trip but I also knew I was anticipating coming home a lot. I love home, and knowing that I am excited about seeing new places, every trip makes me realize how much I love my home.

It was also my birthday, June 24, I was excited about having my children to myself for my birthday. So we headed out on a 10:00 a.m. flight. Had plenty of room on the flight and lucky enough didn't get bumped off. Getting somewhere by plane is somewhat of a hassle than just packing the car and driving. As soon as we landed we had to find the rental car, find a hotel, get some munchies, etc. etc. so by the time we headed for Kings Canyon and the Sequoia National Forest it was early afternoon.

After a somewhat long drive to the Canyons we arrived at the main area, we checked out the lodge, visitor center, store, and definitely the restrooms. The visitor center directed us to a grove of sequoias. The kids were amazed, they loved it.

Then we headed for another grove of trees along a 26 mile whindy road, bad idea! We got about 20 miles into the drive, the kids kept getting car sick from the road and I kept getting sick from thinking I was going to go over the edge of thousands of feet down. Headed back to the hotel.

The kids got PF Chang take out for my birthday and we quickly hit the hay.

Grand Yosemite

2010-06-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

Me playing with Gracie in the bed, waiting for all the sleepy heads to get up.

For some dumb reason I thought this park was going to be like so many other parks where you cruised in an hour, checked out things from your car for about an hour, and then continued to leave within an hour which meant a 3 hour tour. Stupid me Yosemite is huge, not just huge, but huge huge. As we came in I quickly asked the ranger at the ticket booth what was the best to see in a couple of hours, he first was going to tell me to go to the Mariposa Grove which he quickly retracted, did I catch hold of that retraction, no. So we headed towards the _______ lodge, that had a living museum where supposedly people were suppose to be wandering in period clothing through these very old buildings in this village. The only thing that was really open was a horseshoeing stall. We wandered there for about 30 minutes and then we decided we were going to take the shuttle to the Mariposa Grove. I was apprehensive about this since I wasn't sure the kids would enjoy a audio tour through another set of trees. It was so informative that the kids really liked it. It was about 1 1/2 hours long so with drive time to the grove and the tour, we have now wasted a good 3 to 4 hours. I don't believe it was all waste, but I just assumed everything else was relatively close, no.

Thank goodness someone didn't convince me to take a hike through the woods instead of the tour or we would have only see the trees for that day.

The tour takes you into the trees and explains how big they get, why they are so big, how the park service takes care of the trees with controlled burns, the pine cones, almost anything you really want to know about a sequoia but were to afraid to ask. It was great.

Then we headed off to the waterfalls. Somewhere in listening I thought someone said to go to Glacier Point. Half way up to Glacier Point I realized I didn't have the time I needed to get to the real place I wanted to be at which was in the Yosemite Valley. So when we go to the first main stop along Glacier Point I went to turn around and I told the kids were going to just look out of the car and see what there was, thank goodness we did.

We turned the car around and screamed down this canyon to get onto the right road into Yosemite Valley. Once you are into the valley you soon realize how large everything is. The waterfalls, the lodging, the river, the valley. It was amazing.

It is now 6:30 and in spite of Ammie's wishes of wanting to go into Yosemite Lodge and Museum, I realized I feared for my life and the children's lives of trying to go back along a very long, narrow, two lane, windy road with a shear cliff of thousands feet down on my side, plus dodge the wildlife along the way, before dark. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to go along this road and just as we got to the end of the road 8 buck deer jumped out in front of my car. Lucky enough I had enough braking time to stop and let them go bye.

I was so tired by the time we got to dinner, all I wanted was the hotel room. It didn't take long by the time we got home around 9:30 for me to snoring the kids out of the room.

Underground Italy

2010-06-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

We had been scheduled to go out on the 1:00 flight but I had learned it was totally booked, but I thought at least I could try to get Nick on without us girls. I dropped Nick off at the airport and the girls and I drove around downtown Fresno to see what there was to see. Someone said that Fresno reminded them of an old immigrant farm town, with fruit orchards and vineyards everywhere, but not much else. So totally true. Fresno is very Hispanic, in fact so Hispanic we weren't sure we even saw a African American even in the town little alone a white person. Someone also mentioned there was a outside mall. The outside mall consisted of course Hispanic stores of all sorts, with covered bars on the windows and doors. I kept on driving in hopes the girls would ignore the outside mall, but they kept on requesting me to stop and do some shopping. The people in the store were very nice, but you could tell once you noticed there was three white people with a white baby in their store, that we were definitely the gossip session of the day.

Lucky enough for me my son called to tell me that he didn't make it on the plane and so we left and picked him up, checked into the hotel and then had to decide what to do for the rest of the day. Again in spite of Ammie's pleas to go back to Yosemite, (all I could see was us going off that windy road and dying), I said no, but we found out from several people that there was the "Underground Gardens." http://www.undergroundgardens.com/

In a nutshell, the underground gardens were started by an Italian man that left Italy in 1906 and once he got to Fresno bought a large piece of property to start a citrus orchard in. When he started digging in it he realized the dirt was made out of pan dirt which is dirt that has hardened into rock. He didn't know what to do and since he was hot in Fresno weather he decided to build his house underground. Then he thought maybe he could make some money off of a resort area if he dug out enough places for people to stay in. After approximately 50 years and 50 acres from a lot of digging out dirt with a pick, shovel and wheelbarrow, he died from pneumonia due to complications from a hernia (the irony). Even though most of the acres and over 50 rooms were sold off to developers, they did keep his main house intact. It was quite amazing.

After that we headed for the hotel to rest and get bored from wanting to be home. The next morning we headed for the airport at 5:00 a.m. to hit a 6:30 flight which was totally sold out. We then waited for the 10:00 flight which I barely shoved Nick onto the plane. The girls and I waited for the 1:00 flight, I then shoved Ammie, Gracie and Randi on to the plane and then at the very last minute I was able to get on. I had already surveyed all of the rental car agencies to rent a car to drive home. I couldn't take another night in Fresno. It was either that or drive to a bigger airport to head home.

All in all it turned out to be memories that will last for a long time. I love my children and I really had fun with them all. Now we need to plan the next holiday.

The Eye of Val's Camera

2010-02-23T08:58:00.001-08:00

Where is SLC?

Do you believe Lyle?
I believe!!!!!

Thanks Val, I won't ever complain again about how long it takes for you to take one picture, as long as I get these great photos - NOT! But truly without our friends this experience wouldn't have been great.

GO FOR THE GOLD

2010-02-22T10:30:00.000-08:00

One final word of thanks to our friends that so graciously took care of us in every possible way. The food was great, the shuttling us from place to place, enjoying the activities and games and especially for your immense friendship.

We will have some great memories and hopefully we can go to another Olympics with you.

One final word, the Canadians come across extremely friendly. When a good friend of ours said a wolf in sheep's clothing, I don't think she was talking about the USA. Americans proudly proclaim their arrogance, but in that, the Americans can be extremely gracious and kind. The Canadians on the other hand proclaim they are extremely nice and humble, but when it comes down to game time, they are more competitive than anyone I know, they are ruthless. So don't let their fine kindness fool you. They want the Gold as much or more than us Americans.

So to our fine neighbors, a beer to you. Thanks for the moment.

A Final Ending to a Pleasant Experience

2010-02-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

Our very last day we went to another hockey game. Latjia v. Czech. Prior to going to the hockey game we walked around the waterfront and tried to get into the Coca Cola house but the line was so long it was unreal. So we went to the International Center. If you want really good food from all around the world that was the place to go and way cheap.

The hockey game was a lot of fun.

We flew out of the hockey game and headed to the medal ceremony which was in the building next to the hockey arena, which thank goodness you didn't have to go through security again.

We walked around the bay again and came across the Russia house which I had been wanting to get into and it was closed for private parties. As we were leaving we had to cross a street where a bus pulled up with Russians in it. I didn't really take too much notice because you've seen one Russian, you've seen them all. But Bobby was caught short of not knowing who they were, and continued to complain about it for about two hours. It was the Russian Hocky Team.

After we went back to see the Caldron one last time and it was nice to say goodbye knowing in another week it wouldn't be lit. We tried to get to the fireworks and soon realized that after we got off the sky train it was better to get back on the sky train and go home. The masses of people, partying, drinking people, was so overwhelming. I think we made the right decision.

Bye Bye Vancouver and the 2010 Olympic Games

Go Holland

2010-02-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

We had a day off to play and so off we went to the Ozone. The Ozone is a small Olympic Park in a suburb of Vancouver, called Richmond. We had gone there earlier in the week, but nothing was really open. Everyone had been talking about the Holland House and how cool it was. They had interactive games you could get on, but you kind of feel guilty being a grown adult and there are million little kids that want to play it. So we didn't get on them. So of course we had to go where the Heinken Beer was pouring and the food was cooking. As we were eating the speed skating was going on and of course the Dutch are very famous for their speed skating, well the house was a rocking in front of the big screens.

Then off to other things in the park. Food, Games, Exhibits, Lights, Gold Medalist Speech, Cranberries. It was a lot of fun, but after 5 or 6 hours, time to go home.

Going Way TOO Fast

2010-02-18T11:07:00.000-08:00

Every down minute we are sitting in front of the t.v. watching all of the events. So of course we watched the womens downhill. GO VONN GO, GO MANCUSO GO, GO USA TEAM GO.

After that Gary and I had short track tickets while John, Val and Bobby and their friends went to the hockey game. It was a nice pleasant afternoon. Gary and I took it real nice and casual. We went to a very expensive italian restaurant for lunch and then headed up to the Coliseum. It was a beautiful day.

I have to tell you that my daughter told my grandson Wyatt that Grammy and Grandpa were at the Olympics. He got all excited and said "which team are they on." We had to quickly inform him that we are on the geriatrics course. But I am sure we are going to get the "GOLD"

Bad Habits Never Die

2010-02-18T10:47:00.000-08:00

John and Val tried to do something beyond sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves so we headed downtown to sell our curling tickets. We obviously over bought on some tickets and didn't buy enough in other areas and then definitely bought and were cancelled on.

So we just got off the bus and here we met up with our friend Nancy Kerrigan. It was great to see her.

Then the boys had to have a Japadog. I don't know if I explained to you about these japadogs. Several famous people have mentioned how good they are on their t.v. programs, so the boys had to do it again. We got there for an hour wait and that was mild, we have seen it longer. Val and I sat in a warm bar watching the first Vancouver hockey game.

After the game we had to hit the sixth ROOTS store in the area. Val was on a mission and was not going to give up until we accomplished it. Even if I wanted to refuse.

We walked around town and then it got way too cold and we headed home.

Total Disappointment

2010-02-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

We flew home from the ice skating and threw food together to put in our backpacks for the next day's event. The Mens Combined at Whistler. We got to bed around 11:00 and had to be back up around 3:30 to get to a 5:00 bus trip. We trudged through the torrential rain, barely got onto the bus and they canceled the event. Back to bed we go to find out later that it was rescheduled for the Sunday after we leave to go home. Back to the scalpers. I am sad.

Chinese Reign

2010-02-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

Val and I had tickets for the pairs ice skating medal round at the Collesium. You would think a couple of hour event would take just a couple of hours. We left at 1:00 and didn't get home until 10:00. It was a long day, but so well worth it.

30 min drive, 1 hour shopping, 10 min snarfing down a quick sandwich and 1 hour walk to the Collesium, 4 hour event, and where are we, in the rain coming home.

Beyond the three top pairs I thought the french and the american team were the best. You can really tell the difference when you watch them in person, one right after the other, of how technical some of them get.

Caydee Denny & Jeremy Barrett, US Team
Jeremy Barrett (guy in the short white sleeve shirt) after their presentation. His family was sitting right next to us.
The U.S. Coach giving me suggestions of how to skate better. Not really, he was talking to Access Hollywood for the US team to be on the show.
Scott Hamilton and me are buds now.

Celebrating every kind of Holiday

2010-02-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

I woke up to Gary wishing me a Happy Valentines. He totally surprised me with a gift he has never given me "jewelry". I was in shock to see a small bag with Zales all over it Now I know why women love getting jewelry it is such a wonderfullyluxurious surprise. It was great wearing them all day.

Since I had gone to China and the Chinese are almost half the population of Vancouver, I knew it would be a great Chinese New Year parade to go to. So off Val, John, Gary and I left for downtown to Chinatown. First we had to go to the world famous "New Town Bakery". It was sooooooooooo good. I am not even going to describe it, because it doesn't do it justice.

The parade was great.

Then we met up with a good friend of ours Aaron and had lunch. Then Vancouver was totally invaded. I have never seen so many people in one place. It was a beautifully sunny day and everyone wanted to be out in it. It was wall to wall people. Unbelieveable.

Making History

2010-02-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Our first event that we had tickets for was the Canada v. Slovakia female hockey game. Now truly do you really think there was going to be anyone else in the arena other than us Americans and a few Slovakians. After Canada's 10 points it was very evident the Slovakian team was totally incapable of getting one point against the very strong Canadians. We started rooting for the underdog which obviously irritated the Canadians surrounding us. The Canadians eventually figured out that they were a lot nicer than us Americans and had to at least encourage the Slovakians, but they were to out skilled. The score 18 to 0. There has never been a game that was so one sided in the Olympics.

After the game not only were the Canadians easy to have sportsmanship in applauding for the Slovakians, but the Slovakians were extremely gracious in applauding back, it was a real tear jerky moment.

We walked around the Canadian and Aborigine houses and ended up at CBC news station where there was a sidewalk cafe. Gary and I sat outside waiting for our friends looking into the cafe while everyone was watching the mogel female competition. At one point we were clapping for the American and then the Canadian got in front and then all of a sudden the last competitor was an American and she swept to the Gold. It was slightly awkward when there was two Americans amongst 100 Canadians screaming. The entire inside of the cafe staring out at us. It was okay I knew they could only kill me but it was well worth watching the Americans win.

Celebrating the World

2010-02-14T20:45:00.000-08:00

Yes the world definitely came to Vancouver, but Gary and I laid low. It was time to rest up for the big celebration. So Gary and I stayed home and watched the world come to us. Unfortunately half way through the day there was "BREAKING NEWS" and the sad news of a luger died on the track. What even brought it more into reality was the film of the fatal crash. It was horrendous. It was a sad beginning.

Then our friends came home and we made dinner and celebrated in style in front of the t.v. Hopefully all of you watched along with us. Val our friend had been to the dress rehearsal and so as we watched the Opening Ceremony she put it into 3D. She threw confiscated snow confetti on us from the rehearsal at the appropriate times and leaf confetti on the other more appropriate times. We totally enjoyed it and of course the pride on Val's face when they lit the caldron was well worth being here. It reminded us of the SLC Winter Games. HOORAY, LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!!!

Happy Death March

2010-02-12T11:36:00.001-08:00

After taking 8 sky tram rides, two buses, two car rides, walking who knows how much and one reported bomb scare that shut down the water taxi at rush hour, by midnight I was exhausted. But we had fun and saw so much. Thank goodness for good friends that knew where they were going. I forgot to input a few pictures so don't get confused by the count down clock, we are definitely closer today than we were yesterday to the big moment.
Val gave us our memorabilia of the coveted mittens
Today was the day of country hospitality. We tried to hit those country houses that were opened early. Here is the Russia house.

We tried to get in the house, but security stopped us there as well. It is the Olympians' housing.
The french were extremely friendly.
Not so friendly were the Coca Cola House.
The Irish were way partying and friendly.

Well we totally enjoyed shopping and drinking a few to the Olympians.

Eight Years In The Making

2010-02-10T23:14:00.000-08:00

Since the SLC 2002 Winter Olympics us and our friends have been planning going to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics before they even got the bid. I can't even imagine being an Olympian, the work, the wait, the energy and the mental effort to get to the games every four years. I can only imagine the excitement that we have been feeling as a spectator. We have planned and worked just getting tickets that so many Canadians weren't privileged in getting. We are sorry about that, but our excitement of being able to go is beyond.

We left four days prior to the opening so that we would have time to see things and be part of the anticipation. We sat at the airport for almost four hours and our first experience with the Olympics was with the British athletes sitting next to us. We restrained ourselves in not interrupting their pre-Olympic talk, but soon thereafter we met up with a friend from home that told us his son left a few days before to be in the ski jump. It was fun having our own pre-Olympic talk.

It seems like a two and half hour flight wouldn't be that eventful, but as we came in around midnight I swear the landing gears went down with a flat tire, it was quite a rocky landing. As we entered customs, I had a bag of popcorn that was barely hanging on my luggage and it tipped over and spread popcorn all over the carpet. "Embarrassing" Gary picked up our luggage and the handle was broke off. Our friends were so excited that they decided to drive around for an hour in the dark showing venues which we could barely see. Val kept saying that it was the warmest weather ever and here we are freezing thinking "are you sure you know what warm is."

But here we are and in spite of a rocky start we are determined to enjoy the games.

First Day:

Before we left our friend from Washington State, Jeff, showed up and Val had to work, so it was me against three guys for the day. So off we went on the sky train into downtown Vancouver.

We had to pick up tickets for some of the events and ended up harrassing our new friends in line and bought more tickets.
Lunch on the street at the famous Anthony Bourdain's favorite JAPADOG
Shopping at the Olympic store at the Bay.

I was embarrassed the guys totally out shop me, are we talking "GAY BAY GUYS"
OZONE, lights and atheletic glowing animals.

van COEVORDEN aka VANCOUVER, BC

2009-06-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

TRAVELING DAHLIAS

Okay for the sake of the men in my life, for this portion of my blog I changed the title to "Traveling Dahlias." My husband and my male friends would kill me to call them pansies, so here goes the "Traveling Dahlias."

I usually wouldn't mention just a fam vacation just any where, but I have been going to Vancouver for many years and everyone asks where did you go and what did you do. So here goes. Plus I wanted to highlight my good friends and tour guides, John, Val & Bobby. They love Vancouver as much as we do and they know it like the back of their hands so they treated our friends Kenny and Wonda for their first time and us to a little mini tour of Vancouver and Vancouver Island.

Since I have never been to NYC, but I have been to Philly and LA, I liken Vancouver to a large town with a small town hospitality. It is large in so many ways, but still very accessible and fun without too much hassel. But we didn't start in Vancouver, so follow with me on our trip through Canuckville - eh.

P.S. A little history trivia: Vancouver is named after Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer. The name Vancouver itself originates from the Dutch "van Coevorden", denoting somebody from (in Dutch: "van") Coevorden, an old city in The Netherlands. I knew you wanted to know that.

BIG DAD'S DAY

2009-06-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

The beginning of our tour was to go see our friend Jeff that lives up in the Northwest. He had decided to plan a big "asian and wild game feed." I wasn't sure what that meant until I saw an onslaught of men coming over with huge coolers. Out came the most magnificent meal that I think men had ever made for me. Duck, geese, pheasant, elk and much much more and that actually tasted good, really good. The surprise of the night was that Jeff had invited our friends Kathy, Ian and Michael their son. It was great seeing them after so many years. Unfortunately for you and I, I forgot to take any pictures of this event.

The next day was father's day. So since Jeff got his two very cute daughters, we headed out to Deception Pass which is the bridge that joins the mainland of Washington to Whidbey Island. We first stopped off for breakfast at the best Bakery. Bakeries will definitely be a theme in this trip.

Afterwards our friends, Kenny and Wonda met up with us and off to Vancouver to meet up with Val, John and Bobby.

FLOWERS, FLOWERS EVERYWHERE

2009-06-19T11:16:00.000-07:00

Up bright and early, definitely early, the alarm clock got unplugged and I was up at 5:00 a.m. We ran off to the ferry and just barely missed it. Thank goodness the ferries come every hour just enough time to do some shopping and not enough time to be bored.

Vancouver ferries are almost like cruise ships, I can definitely tell you the scenery is as good as a cruise ship, they are huge and so it was fun to watch the islands go by and check out something to eat.

BUTCHART GARDENS:
I love going to Butchart Gardens, it is absolutely beautiful.

VICTORIA:
From the beginning of this trip all Val could talk about was wanting to stop at the bakery in Victoria, well when we got there it wasn't open on Monday, so low and behold there was another bakery right next door, so of course we had to buy.

We walked past the harbor up through the Empress, down through the shops and off to dinner we go.

SALTS SPRINGS:
We intentionally decided to stay in the islands for a few days. Gary and I had been married in the San Juan Islands which are connected to the Gulf Islands and so we decided to take the Canadian point of view.

WISTERIA B&B
Shabby chic is what I call it. It is furnished in '60s décor. Not exactly my taste, but I got use to the comfort of it by the time we left. I definitely got use to the gourmet chef/owner of the inn. Her name is Bev and her husband is Lynn. She was a New York chef and he runs New York and Florida Hotels. We had the privilege of meeting him since he usually is not in the area more than 10 months of the year. The food was fabulous.

Val was dying to see the Bachelorette on the t.v., why you might ask, because she had actually met the Bachelorette in person and had been following the program. So after checking in, the girls crowded around the t.v. while the boys made fun of us.

THE ARTIST DENS

2009-06-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Our first breakfast at our shabby chic b&b was a fruit dish with a variety of berries. The second course was a cheese omelet, using the local cheeses, grilled asparagus and tomatoes. Juice and coffee. My dear husband had to be corrected from the chef standing over his shoulder that it is rude to salt and pepper food until you have tasted it first because a good chef would have appropriately seasoned the dish where you wouldn't have to season it yourself. It was perfectly seasoned.
Book:
The night before while sitting around watching t.v. Val handed me a book for my birthday "The Griffin". The author was "Nick Bantock." To find out he was a local author that lived on the island. She thought it would be better to read the book prior to meeting him since our first stop was to his art studio. I absolutely loved his art. Even though it seemed so graphic you could see the imagination that he had. It was great talking to him.

Salts Springs is made up of artists from food to weaving. They provide a road map that shows art studios and what they make. Our full day on the island was running from studio to studio. It was fun. Here are some of the photos from our drive. To say the least we didn't get out of there without spending money.

After drifting in and out of shops all day, we had planned on going through the wineries, picking up some bread, and of course we had pastries in the car from another bakery in town (mind you third bakery on this trip), and head up to the top of the highest mountain overlooking the ocean and enjoy ourselves. First I have a fedious, that is cemeteries, so we had to stop at this very famous church with adjoining cemetery.

Salts Springs Hotel: I had convinced everyone to walk down to the hotel for dinner. It was slightly overcast, but I thought we could get there without a drop on us. It was fun to sander with our friends and enjoy a very good meal.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME ...

2009-06-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

I woke up to another beautifully made breakfast and happy birthday wishes from my husband and friends. Breakfast started with rice pudding topped with fruit chutney (I LOVE RICE PUDDING), second course loks and begals. Thanks to everyone my birthday seemed really special.

We said goodbye to our shabby chic b&b owners and off for another day on Salt Springs.

We couldn't get enough of Salts Springs so off again through the rain we went to shop in more studios and then head off to the ferry. One thing about island living is you must gear down and not be in a rush. It is either you or the ferry that is late and so you must stand around and either enjoy a good book or a little shopping while waiting for the next one.

By the time we got back to Delta it was late in the day and time to relax.

RAINY DAY

2009-06-16T15:06:00.000-07:00

Val had asked me what I wanted to do at the beginning of planning this trip. I told her I wanted to go to Whistler Ski Resort. Even though we were going to head up there for the Olympics I wanted to see it in the summer. Well when I got up that morning there was a note in our bathroom saying Whistler cancelled due to rain, so I crawled back into bed.

CAPILANO
Since Wonda and Kenny had never seen Vancouver it was totally suggested that we go to Capilano suspension bridge. Who knew half of our party was scared of heights. But we all bucked up and went across it and many more bridges in the park.

LUNCH
Val always seems to find the funniest but fabulous places to have meals at. I have learned that Vancouver is a city of a million little shops and restaurants. They can only hold about 50 people at the most in them and so you must have a million shops to facilitate all of those people. This was a bakery with great breads, sandwiches and soups.

LONSDALE QUAY
In planning this trip the other thing on the list was having Pavlova in Lonsdale Quay. Pavlova is a dish made out of meringue, berries and whipping cream. I love it and so we had to stop and enjoy our dessert while shopping through the stores for kitchen ware and other souvenir items.

SEA BUS
The sea bus is a catamaran that ferries over people from Lonsdale Quay Public Market in North Vancouver to Vancouver. Since Wonda and Kenny had never taken a sea bus it is always fun the first time, and every time thereafter.

VANCOUVER
I think Kenny and Wonda were surprised of how large Vancouver is. It was nice that John knew where he was going and we didn’t have to figure it out.

GRANVILLE ISLAND
Granville Island is a shopping mecca on an island adjacent to Vancouver. Lucky for us we didn't wander to far because you could get lost in all of the buildings and shops for hours. By this point all of us were pretty tired and willing to shop for a very limited time, have a smoothy, and back home.

DINNER
John and Val had dinner planned for us. A ton of grilled vegetables and meats. It was so delicious and the best part of it was Val's mom coming over with homemade apple pie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO VAL, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO VAL...

2009-06-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

Do you know how to drive a 14 year old boy crazy. You first tell him that you are going to take him on an all day trip with six very grown adults in one van, then you tell him that 6 hours of that all day trip is totally in the car, then you tell him you have a device that will give him 40 full length shows in his hands, but you are only kidding, then you give the machine to a friend after he gets discouraged and falls asleep, okay, okay, okay, I couldn't handle his whining so I finally gave the machine to him, he was happy for the rest of the day.

WHISTLER HERE WE COME
First we stopped at the nearest bakery (I believe this is 5th bakery, but I lost count a few back) to have a quick pastry. Then off for a four hour drive to Whistler. Lucky for us it really is a two hour drive, with several stops on the way. The drive was absolutely gorgeous. It flows along the coast and so the mountains and the ocean are a beautiful combination.

FIRST STOP – SHANNON FALLS
You can't see these falls very well from the highway, but as soon as you take this quick walk you find yourself at the base of beautiful waterfalls. It gave us some walking time and just strolling along the river. They were beautiful.

SECOND STOP – BRANDYWINE FALLS
Very deceiving. You start off on a hike along the trees thinking these falls are just up ahead and will look like the Shannon Falls. I immediately noticed chain link along the right side of the trail. I thought how tacky for them to use this chain link on such a beautiful walk. We came to train tracks which I thought was even more odd. Crossed them and continued along our path. Here in front of us was an overhang lookout point and below was a sheer cliff overlooking a river that dropped into waterfalls. It was gorgeous. That tacky thing may have saved some one's life in not getting into the river that would soon fall to their death.

WHISTLER
Whistler the venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Whistler doesn't really seem too big. It situated right on the highway, where I thought it would be situated more off the highway and up through the mountains. You can see a lot of building going on and several large chateaus and condo units have been built. It is a beautiful setting.

We first sat down for a nice homegrown picnic that Val made for us.

We noticed a massive amount of bikers coming off the hill and getting back onto the gondola and chairs. I asked if there was a competition going on, the host said no that this what it is like from Friday through Sunday with bikers coming to the largest bike terrain in North America. That in itself was amazing.

Bobby and John voted to go on the zipline. I thought it was odd for Bobby to do this when he complained about him being scared of heights at the Capaliano Suspension Bridge. As long as he is having fun, that's what counts. Val wanted to take pictures of the boys while they were on their ride, I think she was apprehensive in allowing her boys to go when she found out they were being bused to where the ride was and she couldn't go. Momma bear looking over her cubs.
The rest of us took the safer route and wanted the gondola ride. The pass was around $42.00 CD. The gondola ride consisted of one long gondola up the Whistler slope to almost the top. There was another gondola or ski chair up to the very top, but it had been closed until the next Sunday so we didn't get to do that one. Then the next gondola was from Whistler Peak to Blackcomb's Peak. Then you could either come back the way you went or you could take two ski chairs down the Blackcomb's slope to the parking lot. The peak to peak gondola looked like a two man gondola from the parking lot that is how far up you were. All of us were a little apprehensive in taking that one. So off we went.

Wonda was quite scared of heights but once inside the gondola she was okay and felt comfortable until the guys started scaring her.

Once to the top of Whistler's slope there was a large restaurant and bar, so we took our time to relax and have a beer, take a few pictures of birds and things and then off to the peak-to-peak gondola.

Wonda was extremely scared, but all the gondolas seemed so sturdy. Until I got home and found out that the December before the tower broke on the first gondola, not the peak-to-peak and everyone had to be evacuated off. I can't even imagine being evacuated from something a few feet off of the ground little alone being in the middle of that thing.

Anyone reading this blog, be assured we totally enjoyed ourselves it just wasn't our time to go down.

Instead of going back the way we went, we took the Blackcomb chairs down. It was very cold and I had no socks, but lucky for us I always made it on a chair that had a shield cover. The trip was totally enjoyable.

On our way home, we noticed glaciers that we hadn't noticed going up and realized the back of the mountain was towards us and we didn't see them. It was absolutely gorgeous.

After a lot of back and forth, Val finally made a decision of where we could eat on our way back to Vancouver, "Trolls."

Trolls is a seafood house at the ferry docks. Even though we had a ton of food through the week everyone wanted fish and chips. It was really good and I think Val had a good birthday.

While we were gone Val's mom, Micky, had brought over butter tarts for us. A bakery that delivers. They were wonderful.

NAME THAT TUNE?

2009-06-12T16:04:00.000-07:00

We slowly got out of bed the next day, Val said we were going to have a light breakfast and she ended up making an entire full on the table breakfast. It wasn't like we didn't appreciate it, but it was more the fact that we had ate and ate and ate all week and so we felt like she didn't need to. I think she was using us as her garbage can and cleaning out her fridge was her mission. However, it was exceptionally delicious.

Unfortunately a couple of hours later on our way to Stanley Park I said let's get cake so we can walk it off at the park. The only other thing on my list of wants was to go to True Confections for a piece of cake. The cakes are so big and of course I want a bite of every kind so Gary got chocolate cake with Frangelico in it and I got Lemon. Well when they brought it, mine was laying on a bed of lemon curd. OH MY GOSH, it was so good.

We were so full, we said after this trip we are never going to see another bakery for months. We had had so much good food it was killing us.

Stanley Park is a Mecca of everything, from playing cricket, to rose garden, to totem poles, to watching someone get arrested. No truly it is a very family oriented park and has lots of things going on all of the time. It's also a beautiful park so a stop in Vancouver without going to Stanley Park is a wasted trip.

We headed home just in time to get cleaned up and head out for a night of dinner and dance. Val had wanted to go down to the Flying Beaver, a bar right on the water where they were having a music trivia contest. We initially met a group that turned out to be the nicest people. We never learned their full names, but maybe when we go back to Vancouver we might run into them at the Flying Beaver. We didn't win, but we sure had a lot of fun. We had so much fun I had to censor some of the photos.

PASTRY BITES

2009-06-10T11:16:00.000-07:00

Just a few photos for your viewing pleasure

Sorry Val I didn't get the flower pictures in, but just so you know they are great. Thanks to everyone for a great trip.