Nick the Football Star

My brother is a rock star. If you know Nick, you already know what an awesome kid he is. If you don’t know my brother then I might sound like I’m bragging a bit, but I’ve got a lot to brag about.

Nick is such a light in my life. He is always making me laugh and makes me feel like he’s so glad to have me around. I never feel like the geeky, totally uncool older sister when I’m around him. Even if I have to ask him what his texts mean because I’m not down with the lingo.


Nick is thirteen years old which makes us fifteen years apart in age. Yes, do the math, I really am 28 years old. I left for college out of state when Nick was just two years old and since then I have lived here and there—sometimes near and sometimes far—but despite all of that I feel like I have a really special relationship with Nick. As I tell my mom, Nick has such a special place in my heart.

But mushy stuff aside, Nick is a total rock star. Not only is he taking karate, plays the trumpet, is in scouts and is working on his Eagle Scout, is a member of an organization at school that helps special needs kids, but Nick is also a key member of his football team. I'd like to tell you that Nick is the star of the team, but I know that would make him feel a little uncomfortable. Nick is a talented football player, but he is also humble and he is a great teamplayer.


One of my favorite games was a few weeks ago. It had been raining a lot so the field was covered in mud. It was a tough game, and his team fought so hard to pull ahead of their opponents. As you can see from the picture above (Nick is #27), my brother is one of the smaller players on the team, but he also plays the hardest. He had already scored the team one touchdown, but they needed one more to clench the win.

With just seconds left on the clock, Nick was given the ball to run down the field. The other team pulled Nick down and the whole stands groaned as it looked like Nick was going to be tackled, but he broke away from the hold and twisted and turned and ran down the field to score the last touchdown of the game.

And you can bet that I was yelling and screaming from the stands and Nick, covered in mud like Pigpen, made the touchdown that won the game.

Good luck tonight, Nick. I'll be the one in the stands stomping and screaming at the top of my lungs!

Love you,

An Exercise Challenge?? Who's Game?

I got the crazy idea this morning to do an online workout challenge. Some of you know I've been doing these challenges at work this year, and my last one ended on September 30th.

100 Mile Fitness Challenge. Please join me! Please spread the word!

South Dakota/Yellowstone August 2009

ROAD TRIP AUGUST 2009
South Dakota / Yellowstone, Wyoming

Scott and I have been talking about going to Yellowstone for several months, but I always figured it would be one of those things that we talked about but never did--kind of like Europe (hint hint). I also knew that I wanted to go to Mount Rushmore and The Badlands, but all of those things are so far away and not really on the way to anything.

It wasn't until I saw that Sturgis Bike Week was the first week of August that I really pushed for the trip. With a short window of time, we decided we'd head to South Dakota and then head over to Yellowstone. We basically planned our entire trip within a week's period of time!

We decided we'd leave on Friday night, but I had a party to attend, so we didn't end up leaving until 10:00 at night.










That first night we drove through Oklahoma and Kansas. We hit some really bad storms in Kansas (although I slept through most of it), but finally hit Topeka at dawn. The next day we drove through Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota.

Below: Nebraska










THE BADLANDS, SOUTH DAKOTA

It was a long day driving through South Dakota, but we finally got to The Badlands around 7:00. Knowing that we wouldn't have time to drop our stuff off at the hotel in Rapid City, we continued on the loop through the park. The scenery was absolutely amazing and it was especially nice driving through at dusk when the sun made the formations really red. We saw some Pronghorn and Prairie Dogs, which made me really excited to see even more wildlife.















Exhausted and stinky from being on the road for 23 hours, we hit the bed pretty quickly once we got to our hotel in Rapid City.

BLACK HILLS, SOUTH DAKOTA

The next morning we woke early to head out to Mount Rushmore since we had agreed to meet my friend Lisa and her family at 10:00. We were on the bike and the ride was a lot of fun, but I could already tell it was going to be much warmer than we anticipated!

We had an absolute blast driving through the Black Hills--the mountains (sorry, hills) are gorgeous and the weather couldn't have been better. Mount Rushmore was probably a little less impressive than I was expecting, but it was still really neat to see. What was more impressive was the Crazy Horse Memorial. It looks like they are making slow progress on the sculpting, but even what they have finished is really amazing.

I think our favorite thing about the entire day was driving through the hills with all of the other bikers. We stopped for lunch in Hill City and oogled all of the bikes. Even though we got some strange looks for our non-Harley ride, it was really cool to be amongst so many other people all doing the same thing. It was like the hills were made for bikes. We drove through Custer State Park before we realized the day had gotten away from us and we needed to be back in Rapid City for dinner with Lisa and her family.

Mount Rushmore

Crazy Horse Memorial

BLACK HILLS RALLY 2009

After wearing ourselves out the day before, we prepared ourselves for yet another busy day. We headed out early in the morning towards Deadwood, but we ran into some pretty nasty weather. Luckily by the time we got to Deadwood, the sun had come out and no more rain was in sight. Deadwood is home to Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane, so we went to a little museum (yes, I know...but what's a trip without at least one trip to the museum?) and afterwards grabbed some lunch. The streets and parking lots were full of bikes and we knew that this was just a little taste of what was ahead of us in Sturgis. We had an absolute blast and really enjoyed the hubbub.

Deadwood, South Dakota

We finally headed out to Sturgis from Deadwood. I can't even begin to describe just how many bikes were in this little podunk town. Hundreds of thousands, I would guess. None of these pictures do the mayhem any justice and Scott and I were both in complete awe. Honestly, though, we both preferred the atmosphere in Deadwood where everyone was joined to have a great time. Sturgis seemed really commercialized--miles of street front lined with tents selling t-shirts. We still had a good time, despite the heat, and found some ice cream (to make Trish happy), but a few hours was plenty of time for us both.

Sturgis, South Dakota

Hill City, South Dakota

We did manage, however, to ham it up a bit (like the true tourists we are). Below I'm handcuffed to the Police Truck and Scott is enjoying himself on an Indian. Dream on little boy!











ROAD TO YELLOWSTONE

And on the road again. On our way out of South Dakota and into Wyoming, we stopped at Devil's Tower, which is the first national monument. I'm a sucker for stuff like this, so of course I made Scott take the minor detour.


The trip to Yellowstone turned out to be quite a long one, but it was really gorgeous (mostly). Sorry for those of you in Wyoming--I don't think I can claim it as my favorite state. So much open space, and I'm a sucker for open space. We ran into some bad weather outside of Big Horn National Park, but once we made it into the mountains, the weather cleared up a lot. The drive through the mountains was mostly good until we ran into a bit of construction. As you can see from one of the pictures below, for a few miles there was no road at all! Just a dirt path. Yikes...

Most of the pictures below are taken in Big Horn National Park, Wyoming.














YELLOWSTONE

Why is it that we're always getting to the national parks just at dusk. On our last roadtrip out west, we ended up driving through Yosemite in complete darkness! But made it we did. The landscape right before Yellowstone, coming through Cody was phenomenal. It was amazing to me how each mile brought on different types of rock formations and mountains.


The following pictures are of our various campsites. We got to our first campsite in Grant Village about 10:00 pm. I learned how to set up the tent for the first time while Scott worked on building the campfire. It had been raining, again, but luckily it stopped just as we were setting up camp. Throughout our four-day stay in Yellowstone we camped at three different sites: Grant Village, Madison, and Bridge Bay (see tent picture below). I think of the three, Madison was my favorite. It is set in the mountains where as the others are closer to Lake Yellowstone. All were nicely wooded, though.





















For the most part the weather was really nice during our stay. The first day was gorgeous and actually a little on the hot side. We had some rain the last two days, but what can you do? At night it slipped down to the 30s, but it really only felt cold our last night since it had been raining in the evening and the sun didn't have a chance to warm us up. My toes nearly froze off that night, but we managed OK. We cooked most of our meals on our little camp stove, which was a life saver. No more campfire dinners, which are such a pain!

Trish and Scott, Yellowstone

On our first day we saw all of the geysers and hot springs in the Lower Basin. The steam from the geysers and hot springs was really hot, but it was amazing to look at all of the different natural formations.

Old Faithful

One of the most exciting things for me, at first, was seeing the wildlife. I kind of whined to Scott about not seeing anything, but once we saw one we saw hundreds. There were more Bison than we could count, which often caused traffic jams on the roads, and we also saw numerous Elk and Muledeer.










One of my favorite things about Yellowstone was The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and seeing the falls. Unfortunately we ran into some bad weather that afternoon and had to head to the Canyon Lodge (for some ice cream), but seeing the canyons was just another example at how vastly different the scenery is in Yellowstone.













On our last day we headed up to the Mammoth Hot Springs on the very northern edge of Yellowstone. We quickly drove into Montana, just so we could say we were there, and then headed to the hot springs themselves. The northern part of Yellowstone is much more mountainous than the lower half, but the hot springs stuck out in the landscape where the hills were barren of any trees.










I really wish that Yellowstone were closer to Texas, because I would head back in a heartbeat. We only had three full days, and we were originally only supposed to have two days but knew we couldn't see it all in such a short period of time.

After our last [freezing] night, we woke early early in the morning and headed home. We stopped the night in Pueblo, Colorado and it was wonderful to sleep in a real bed versus an air mattress. Although it was a great trip, we were both glad to be back home in the end.

ROAD TRIP BY THE NUMBERS
3115 miles in the truck
400 miles on the bike
60 hours driving (not including within the parks)
10 states
9 days/nights
4 nights tent/4 nights Marriott/1 night driving
6 state parks/national parks/national forests
100s of wildlife
100,000s of motorcycles
7 ice cream treats
2 s'mores
1 tent

I've been busy domesticating myself

Remember that quilt I talked about a few months ago? The top is now finished--just need to add one more strip for length and then it's on to the scary task of quilting, which I've never done by machine before. This is only my third quilt and the past two I've hand-tied. Other than being petrified of machine quilting this, I am in love with the colors and design. Is it bad to say I'm pretty darn proud of myself? :P

Even Maggie likes the quilt

The [mostly] finished top:

In addition to quilting, I've been taking a cake decorating class at the local community college. It's kind of a pain because I have to bake and ice the cake ahead of time, which is part of the reason why my evenings have been full--very time consuming until I get the hang of it.

My first decorated cake:

Isn't he cute?

And just because, a Maggie picture--she loves laying in the sun. Usually she crawls behind the blinds and sits on the sill.

[Cross-posted at Trish's Reading Nook]

Summer Hair

Why, oh why do I let myself go so long without getting a hair cut? Oh, I know! I think I might be able to have those long gorgeous flowing tresses that are so popular right now.

And then I realize--my hair is too thick and I don't have a personal stylist. The saddest part about the new do is that all my blonde is finally gone. Makes me sad, but not sad enough to pay the $100+ dollars every couple of months for upkeep. Yuck!

Hello Summer Hair!

Sweet Yummy Goodness!

I got the baking bug. I've been in the mood for something sweet and it has been years since I baked (my baking powder apparently expired in 2001 and I had to run to the store at 9:30 to get some more...there's no way the baking powder was that old since I was in college and have moved six times since 2001, but still!) Not sure where the recipe originally came from, but hope you enjoy!

Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups flour
5 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ cup coconut
2 cups oatmeal

Optional Ingredients:
1 cup chocolate chips OR
½ cup raisins (yummy!!) OR
½ cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350º.

Cream together eggs, sugar, shortening, vanilla, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

Once egg and sugar mixture is smooth, slowly add in the flour mixture until well mixed.

Add coconut and oatmeal, and any other optional additions (raisins!!), until mixed thoroughly.

Using a teaspoon (small cereal spoon), spoon mixture into small balls onto a cookie sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Yields 4 dozen cookies.

Birthday Boys, a Stache, and a Quilt

Happy Birthday Scott and Nick!

Scott and Nick share the same birthday (June 6), so we went out to breakfast to celebrate. Scott turned 29 and Nick 13.

Also, for funsies Scott shaved his goatee and is now left with a moustache. I laughed so hard, but by the end of the night I was kind of used to it. He could be a policeman or something with that stache--especially with that straight face. It took several shots to finally get a serious one. I don't think he's keeping it...

And finally, my friend Lisa and I are making disappearing nine-patch quilts. She lives in South Dakota, so we're not really quilting together, but it's fun motivation. Especially as she's much more experienced than I am--this is only my third quilt. I have all my squares sewn, so now I just have to arrange and sew together my top. I'm addicted to this sewing business.

The World's Cutest Toes

Brooke is apprehensive about Baby Emma being plastered all over the Internet, which is her prerogative. So instead, check out these beautiful little toes. Don't you just want to eat them? I love little Emma so much--she is perfectly in absolutely every way.

Oh fine--a few more. I won't tell if you won't!

Hawaii - March 2009

HAWAII - Oahu

Scott and I had been tinkering with the idea of another vacation lately--debating the merits of heading toward a resort in Hawaii or opting for another cruise (we love cruising). When Scott emailed me one afternoon at work and said, Let's go to Hawaii, I said YES and the trip was booked that night.

We visited the island of Oahu for a week and had an amazing time. I do have to admit that the weather was very disappointing, but as you can see from the pictures we still did a plethora of activities. The blue sky in the pictures is deceiving--we probably had sunshine 15% of the trip. I usually do a fair amount of typing about our trips, but this time I'm going to let the pictures mostly speak for themselves in a kind of Trish and Scott's Top 10 of our Hawaiian Vacation.

1. Driving around the island in search of sun (finally putting the top down on the jeep after rain all day--as soon as we got back in the car the rain started again, but not for long)

2. Snorkeling in Hanauma Bay where we saw tons of fish and even a giant sea turtle (picture on regular old film...not developed yet) The brown you see in the picture is the reef--yes, that close to the shore!

3. Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. A very sobering must see--did you know that gallons of oil still seep from the ship all these years later? The water is covered in oily film!

4. Windsurfing OK, so no picture, because I didn't want to take the camera to the beach or in the water. But just imagine! It was actually around 25 mph wind when we attempted windsurfing, so we didn't do as well as we hoped. But we sure had fun!

5. Dole Pineapple Plantation and World's Largest Maze (which we didn't finish). I didn't know that pineapple grew out of the ground! Definitely not what I expected.

6. Hiking up Diamondhead (second picture is view of Waikiki Beach where we stayed). See what I mean about the clouds? As soon as we got down the crater back to the car, it started pouring. :)

7. Hiking to the Manoa Falls (the Hawaii as we truly imagined--although these pictures look awfully similar to our hiking trip at Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska!!)

8. Peace and Quiet at Byodo-In Temple - Valley of the Temples on windward side of the island.

9. Spending quality time with husband (picture taken at sunrise the first day--that 4 hour time difference was a beating!)

10. The drop-dead gorgeous scenery

*If case you're wondering--Trish, how did you get all of those pictures of you and Scott in those remote places? ALL of the pictures of us except the one on top Diamondhead were taken with the help of my gorillapod. The greatest, handiest traveling devise ever. See example below.

New England - October 2008

I've always wanted to take a trip to New England in the fall, mostly to see the foliage, but also because I have idealistic vision of that part of the country. Half of me would love to live there, but the other half knows that I couldn't live in a small idyllic town (um, tried that in Coleman).

So when Scott and my schedule aligned at the beginning of October, I jumped on the chance for a quick getaway--Trish and Scott style (aka road trip!). Of course, also in Trish and Scott style a million things went wrong before things finally started going right.

Our flight left at 5:45 in the morning out of DFW, so we headed to the airport early. Getting to the airport around 4:30, we hopped on the remote bus and the suitcase handle broke. Then we couldn't find the Delta check in desk and ran around the different entrances trying to find the one Delta desk. Finally checked in, hurried to the gate and got onto the plane without any further troubles.

Until we got to Atlanta. Apparently there was some sort of problem with landing timing, so we circled above Atlanta for 45 minutes. As soon as we landed, I had Scott check our connecting time and we had five minutes to get to our Manchester, New Hamphire flight. We ran off the plane (of course we were in the last row), and checked the departure screen. Manchester--DEPARTED. Without us. Infinite sad face.

I fought sooooooo hard to hold back my tears. Especially when we got our next flight to Manchester, which was the next day. How do you not start crying? Luckily, we were able to get a flight into Boston, but we lost our entire day (the original plan was to fly to Manchester, drive through NH to Maine and spend the night in Portland then spend the next two days in Mass).

Once we got to Boston, we got our rental car, uploaded our Street and Road Trip Planner and headed to Gloucester for dinner:

GLOUCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

I had been to Gloucester once before, but I thought Scott would get a kick out of the city because of the movie, A Perfect Storm. We got to the town just as the sun was setting, which provided the perfect golden tint to the sleepy fishing town. We walked around along the water for a bit and headed to dinner. Actually, a couple asked us where Captain Carlo's Restaurant was--because it wasn't apparent from our self-timed picture taking that we were tourists, so we followed them and ate a lovely meal on the patio. Scott had delicious seared tuna and I had baked scallops--oh, and we shared an incredibly rich and delicious bowl (read: vat) of clam chowder. Yummmmmy!!

Since it was getting dark and a little chilly, we headed back to the rental after dinner, made a quick stop to the Fishermen's Memorial (see picture below) and hit the road to Maine. Because we lost time on the flight(s), we decided to spend the night in Portland as originally planned and then make the drive through the rest of Maine and New Hampshire the next day.

Trish and Scott - Gloucester, Massachusetts

Gloucester, Massachusetts

Scott looking over water / Scott at Fisherman Memorial

MAINE

When planning the trip, I was paranoid--to the point of anxiety--that the leaves wouldn't be what I expected them to be. I linked to several foliage reports online, did numerous research, bugged others, and still feared that the leaves would either not be changed or all fallen. Since we drove through the rest of Mass and into Maine in the evening, I had no idea what to expect. And I feared that because we were heading further north, the leaves would have already fallen and another day would be gone.

There is nothing...Nothing that I can say that will do what we saw justice. The leaves were Gorgeous. The brilliant reds, bright oranges, blinding yellows--we don't have much color in Texas, so to say that every expectation was met would be an understatement. The day that we spent driving through Maine and New Hampshire is a trip that I will never forget. Absolutely breathtaking. And my camera sucks.

From Portland, we headed up highway 26 to Bethel. Several times I made Scott pull over the car so that we could take pictures of the scenery (and use my Awesome gorillapod to take timed pictures of us).

Along the road, we saw an Elk farm (probably not what it was called), and we hopped out and took picture with the Elk. Unfortunately the picture the kind gentleman took of Scott and I is blurry--so here is the Vampire Smile Trish picture. (The weather was perfect--high 60s and not a cloud in the sky).

When we got to Bethel, we stopped at a little restaurant, S S Milton, for lunch. Scott was convinced that we were going to have seafood for every meal, so he ordered the Lobster Roll and I ordered the Crab Cake Sandwich and we switched halves. Ohmygoodness was the food good!

Back on the road and into New Hampshire.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Shortly after we left Bethel, we entered New Hampshire and the White Mountains on highway 16. We drove for about three of four hours through the mountains (or according to Scott, a very very long time), stopping a few times again to take some shots. The leaves in Maine were mainly yellow and red, but in New Hamsphire we saw a lot more orange and yellows.

Day-use Park in White Mountains, New Hampshire

Trish - White Mountains, New Hampshire

Gorgeous New England Fall Foliage

One of the things that Scott really wanted to do on the trip was drive down the Atlantic coast. From Rochester, NH we headed to Portsmouth to drive down Highway 1A along the coast. I was desperately trying to secure plans for a hotel for the night and entertainment in Salem, so I didn't enjoy the scenery as much as I did earlier in the day, but from what I did see, the coast was stunning. We stopped for a little bit to take a few pictures. Scott says that driving along the coast was "awesome, delightful, scenic, it was water. I saw water." Thanks Scott for the commentary.

Atlantic Coast - Portsmouth, New Hampshire

SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS

Unfortunately we didn't get to Salem until after dark, so we didn't see much of the city, but we arrive just in time to take a really fun walking tour of the Salem Witch Trials. It being a few weekends before Halloween, the town was packed full of fun-goers for the different Halloween festivals and nighttime walking tours. I would highly recommend going to Salem, but especially during this time of year.

Salem cemetary where Simon Bradstreet and John Hathorne, among others, are buried. The headstones are incredibly weathered, and it was a little freaky walking among them during the evening, but what history! After our walking tour, we did head over to The House of the Seven Gables, but it was way too dark to get any pictures. Next time.

Scott in the stocks--can I get one of those for the house??

BOSTON

We had planned on spending much more time in Boston, but we only had enough time to take a walking tour of the Freedom Trail, eat some Boston Cream Cake (how could I deny my little lovey his favorite dessert), chow on some street hot dogs on the Boston Common, and race back to Manchester to make our flight back home (even though our flight came into Boston, we still had our departing flight out of NH).

If you are going to Boston, I would recommend the Freedom Trail tour to anyone. This was my second tour and I will gladly and happily take it again and again. Things we saw on the tour: Boston Common, Granary Burial Ground, King's Chapel, Old South Meeting Hall, Boston Massacre Site, Old State House, and ending at Faneuil Hall (the freedom trail continues from there but the tour ends at Faneuil Hall).

Granary Burial Ground (Paul Revere's tomb to right)

I love the picture to the right that shows how the city has grown around the historical sites. This is also where the Boston Massacre occured.

Scott and Trish on tour (guy with funny hat in background is our guide)












Scott eating his first street hot dog (actually a brats) / Boston Common

The leaves hadn't really changed yet in Boston, so this orange tree really stood out in Boston Common.

The trip, although short, was amazing. I was afraid that it would bore Scott, especially since my main purpose was leaf peeping, but he mentioned that he wants to go back every year and make it an annual trip. It is certainly one I would love to take again. And the road trip? My favorite kind of trip.

For those curious about how I figured out where we would go--all completely random. I knew the main places I wanted to go--Maine, New Hampshire, Boston, Salem, Gloucester. But in terms of where in Maine and New Hampshire? We got lucky. I looked at a map and decided we would go as far north as Bethel and then drive through the White Mountains. We drove about 500 miles in 2 and a half days, but the loop we made was perfect and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Toronto - August 2008

It has been four years since we made our last family trek up to Toronto, so I was thrilled when Dad and Beth mentioned last Christmas that they wanted to take us up there. I was thrilled because I love visiting my grandparents--especially in Toronto where I grew up, but also because Scott has never traveled up that way and I really wanted him to see the city.

NIAGARA!!!

A trip to Toronto would be incomplete without a side excursion to Niagara. Niagara is about a two hour drive from the city, but the scenery is gorgeous and well worth the drive. We stopped for lunch and a little window shopping at the beautiful town of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The flowers never cease to amaze me--our climate is way too hot in Dallas to have such lovely blooms, and this was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me.

Scott and Trish: Niagara-on-the-Lake

Scott, Trish, Dad, Katie, Kim, Grandpa, Beth: Niagara-on-the-Lake

Canadian Niagara Falls

Scott, Trish, Katie, Kim, Dad, Beth: US Niagara Falls

We didn't spend a whole lot of time at the falls--it was hotter than hades and we were tired from the shopping. So Grandpa watched the car and we ran out to take our pictures and ran back to the car. Once you've seen the falls, there really isn't much else to experience. But if you haven't gone--definitely go!!


TORONTO!!!

Our next excursion was, of course, downtown Toronto. We parked just outside of the city so that we could take the subway in. If you can believe it, it was Scott's first subway trip! Once we got to the city, we headed down to the harbor for a cruise around the islands and a little pizza lunch (wish I could remember the name of the cafe--it has really nice outdoor dining and delicious food--we ate there last time we went as well).

Toronto Skyline (taken from Island Cruise)

CN Tower / Trish and Scott: Harbourfront Centre

Katie, Kim, Trish, Scott, Dad in front of Lake Ontario

Left: Dad, Katie, Kim, Beth on Island Cruise Right: Scott on Subway

Trish, Kim, Katie, Scott, Dad: Island Cruise

After the cruise and lunch, we walked around the city and headed toward St. Lawrence Market (below right) where an outdoor festival was going on. We also stopped in by the Hockey Hall of Fame (no we didn't go in, but we did take enough time for a great picture! Click on the picture to enlarge--Scott, Trish, Kim, and Katie from L-R). Our final retreat was to the Eaton Centre, a ginormous mall with 10 million shops. I headed straight for the bookstore (shocker!), while the rest shopped. It was a great day in the city, but I think everyone was worn out by the end of the day!

MARKHAM/UNIONVILLE!!!

Since Katie was leaving us early for school, we front-loaded the vacation. On our third day, we drove out to Markham, the town where we lived and saw the houses, the school, and of course the field where I had to walk uphill both ways in the snow to school every day. Picture A Christmas Story with the little kid who can't put his arms down when wearing his snow suit. :)

After driving around Markham, we headed out to Main Street Unionville where there is a cute little downtown with shops and restaurants. Again, the flowers are so gorgeous!! We did a little shopping and then ate some fish and chips (again, can't find the name of the restaurant).

Trish, Scott, Dad, Kim, Beth, Katie

Main Street Unionville

GRANDMA AND GRANDPA'S!!!

We always have such a blast at Grandma's and Grandpa's. They live on a secluded farm in New Market, about 30 miles from downtown Toronto. Grandpa used to be a landscaper (my uncles have since taken over the business--Walter's Landscaping--head over to the website to see a really cute picture of my Grandpa when he was younger), but the grounds are still so beautiful with Grandpa's perennials. In addition to the beautiful setting, Grandma always cooks the best meals--usually fresh from their garden. We were able to spend a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa this trip, and we had fun playing cards and sharing so many stories.










Scott on paddle boat going around in circles / Trish and Scott in the Gator

Trish, Scott, Kim, Katie playing around on the Gator

Scott and Trish / Kim in front of flowerbed

Kim on big girl bike / Trish on little girl bike

(Our cousins brought over some of their bikes for us to ride around the property. Kim was much braver than I was--I got on the little bike and didn't know how to stop it! Finally I ran it into the side of the house--very scary!!)

Scott on little boy bike (same one Trish is on above)

Trish and Scott

Kim, Trish, Scott, Beth, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad

Buenos Aires Day 4 - Palermo and Home

ADIOS BUENOS AIRES!!!

Since we had to leave for the airport in the early afternoon, our last day in Buenos Aires wasn't quite as full as the others. We had to pick up Kim's friend's luggage to take back to the States, so we went to her flat in Palermo. While in Palermo (seems far from where our apartment was, but Kim insists it is the same barrio), we walked around a street market and ate at a Milanesa. Milanesa is basically thinly pounded meat, breaded, fried, and topped with goodies. Like Chicken Fried Steak upgraded. We had tomato and cheese on top of ours and it was gooooood! It was the perfect last meal in Buenos Aires.

View from apartment

Building Art outside of Kim's Hostel in Palermo

Kim and Trish outside of El Club de la Milanesa

Overall it was an amazing trip. It was so much fun with just the girls and I wish that Brooke had been able to go with us. We had a lot of laughs and made great memories (and ate tons of fabulous food). Buenos Aires is an enchanting city that rivals any other cosmopolitan city I've visited.

Buenos Aires Day 3 - Florida, Plaza de Mayo, La Boca, Tango!

The Day When We Tour the City as Only a Tourist Can (on a bus)

I have to admit. I was a big fat grump at the beginning of Day 3. A late start again. And I'm starving. Not a good combination for me. I didn't want to take any pictures until I got some food in my tummy--but of course we had to stop at every freakin' statue and building along the way. :) At least I look happy...OK--so you can't really tell because we look like ants in this picture. I couldn't even tell you what/who the status is representing. Yes, very unusual for Trish. It looks pretty, though!

And more walking. Can't a girl eat? Finally we land on Florida Street, a famous pedestrian avenue with once again shops and cafes. We parked it at a lovely cafe and order another delicious meal. We had a lot of fun with our waiter who was practicing his English on us and enjoyed the people watching of the busy street.

Calle Florida / Oblelisk

After resting and enjoying, we headed to our bus tour of Buenos Aires. Yes, that sounds incredibly cheesy, but some of the best city tours I've taken have been on some type of vehicle (some of the most memorable as well). And let's face--your dogs would be barkin (i.e. your feet would hurt) if your sister made you walk 10 million miles the day before!!

See how happy we are on the bus:

First stop: Plaza de Mayo. Cristina, the President of Argentina, works in the Casa Rosada pictured below. The Casa Rosada is gated off as there are a number of protesters in the Plaza de Mayo every day. Sure enough we saw a number of banners and picketers (more on that below).

Next Stop: La Boca. We were able to get off the bus at La Boca, a small neighborhood of Italian origin. La Boca began as a very poor immigrant section of Argentina and has since become a colorful tourist town. We did pass some very real shanties on the way back to the city, though and at night children come out into the city streets to collect stuff to cart away (called Cartoneros). It's enough to break your heart.

While La Boca, we stopped at the Boca football stadium. Above is a picture of Mom and Kim in front of a statue of Diego Maradona "The Hand of God."










Colorful buildings, street vendors, tango dancers--La Boca is a must see when traveling to Buenos Aires. It s a short bus ride from the city but it is definitely worth the trip.

Once our tour concluded, we made our way back to the apartment, but first we stopped at the Cafe Tortoni, one of the first cafes in Buenos Aires.










After more delicious cafe con leche (serious cannot drink enough of that stuff!!) and pastries, we headed toward the government buildings. To the left below is the Obelisk, to the right is the government building with the protesters camped out front. There was a concert going on when we walked down there. But there was some smelly smoke in the air (you know it!!) and a lot of Communist flags being waved, so we bypassed the party and went back to the apartment.









That night we went to a Tango Club. By then I was pooped and couldn't walk another foot, so I plopped down at the club and enjoyed the dancing. We were under the impression that there was going to be a show, but at 2 am we realized The Band was the show, so we headed home. The Tango is such a beautiful dance and even though I was bone tired I enjoyed watching the couples move around the floor.

Kim and Trish striking some Tango Attitude

Buenos Aires Day 2 - Recoleta, Santa Fe, Puerto Madero

Don't Cry For Me Argentina!!

Since Kim is nocturnal and we didn't get to bed until late the night before, we had kind of late start to our second day in Buenos Aires (chill out Trish!!). Our day began, of course, with food. Jessica met the three of us at a little pizza restaurant around the corner from our apartment and we quickly devoured two pizzas--one with pineapple and ham (yes, we Americans call that Hawaiian) and the other with mushrooms, basil, and tomato. Seriously good pizza!

After lunch we meandered through the neighborhood of Palermo to La Recoleta. Along the way I had to take pictures of the indoor car dealership for Scott. Do they have those in big cities in the states? I guess maybe so, but too cool!

We also stopped to take a picture by this giant mechanical flower sculpture. Kim's not sure what it is for, but Mom kept asking us about it every time we passed it like she had never seen it before, so we had to stop and take a picture. At night it closes up and it is quite beautiful when lit.

Kim, Trish, and Mom on a bridge in front of the Law School

Jessica, Kim, and Trish on the path toward La Recoleta

La Recoleta is a giant above ground cemetery for the Argentine well-to-do. I've never been to a cemetery before that has mausoleums, but I was amazed at this tiny city of tombs. Some are quite strange as you can look in the windows and see the caskets stacked upon each other. We came to La Recoleta, of course, to see Evita's mausoleum.

If you go to La Recoleta, make sure to grab a map because it is incredibly easy to get lost among the different walkways and paths. Luckily everyone else was also looking for Evita's grave, so we all banded together in search. :) Finally we found it, took our pictures, and began to see the songs from the musical. Unfortunately we would be singing these songs for the rest of the day trip.

The highlight of my visit was not seeing Evita's grave, but rather the kitties!! La Recoleta is full of cats and they are so sweet and I wanted to play with them and hold them but Mom scolded me. Look how cute they are, though, chowing down on the food that some kind soul brought for them.

Trish, Kim, and Mom resting at La Recoleta ("Don't cry for me Argentina, the truth is I never left you...")

Evita's tomb / Trish and Kim (not sure why I'm making a grumpy face)

After leaving La Recoleta, we headed out for Santa Fe--a major street with fabulous shops and cafes. What Kim failed to mention, however, was that Santa Fe was 10 million miles away. 10 million. I don't think I've ever walked so far in my entire life. :)

But all was good once we reached our destination of El Ateneo: The most beautiful bookstore in the entire world. The bookstore was once a theater, and now the stage is a coffee shop/bakery. So, we marched right up the aisles, order our cafe con leches and meat tray (I don't know what this was really called, but it had cold cuts, cheese, bread, and fruit!) and rested our aching feet while taking in the ambiance of the gorgeous bookstore.

You're jealous. I know you are. :)

After gathering our strength, we headed out into the brisk evening for our next destination. Since we were close to the Casa Rosada (the Argentine equivalent of the White House), we spent a few minutes in Plaza de Mayo (pronounced Maisho). I'll post pictures of the Plaza in Day 3. From Plaza de Mayo, we walked down to Puerto Madero. Puerto Madero is the new trendy spot of Buenos Aires with posh restaurants, hotels, lofts, and clubs. On a Monday night, however, it was quite dead. :)

The picture to the left is the skyline of Puerto Madero. To the right, Kim and me on the bridge leading to the Puerto Madero. Since the district was pretty quiet and we weren't very hungry for dinner, we once again headed to our new favorite haunt: Freddo. So good! Hailed a cab home and the end of Day 2.

Buenos Aires Day 1 - San Telmo and Palermo

BIENVENIDOS!!

When Mom told me she was going to visit Kim in Argentina, I said in my most whiny voice "I wanna go!!" She said, "Well come with me." I didn't think I was going to be able to get the time off work, but I mustered up the courage and things were set into place. There was no way I could pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity--even if it meant I would have to go sans Lovey (aka Scott).

Mom and I left Saturday night with suitcases packed full of winter coats and sweaters despite the 90+ degree weather in Dallas and arrived at 8:30 in the morning, Buenos Aires time. Kim, in true form, was 2 hours late picking us up from the airport, which was very scary since neither Mom nor I speak Spanish. After being on the plane for 10 hours and riding on little sleep we were both exhausted and not very excited about standing around in a foreign country with no way to get ahold of Kim, but when she arrived it was hugs and kisses all around and we embarked into the big city with wide eyes.

We started our adventure by dropping our bags off at Kim's hostel and enjoying a quiet brunch at a neighborhood cafe. After eating our sandwiches and drinking our cafe con leche we were in love with the food of Buenos Aires (of course it doesn't take a lot to please the Kuettel appetite--I'll be talking about food a lot in these posts).

Above: Kim and I on the balcony of our apartment for the week. The apartment is in Palermo, one of the bigger and busier neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. Despite the winter weather there was still a lot of green in the park across the way.

After settling into our apartment, we headed out to San Telmo for the Sunday market. We picked up Kim's friends Jessica (from Austin) and Tibault (from France) at the hostel Kim works at before exploring the goodies at the market. See our coats and scarfs--it was quite chilly, especially compared to Dallas.

The crowded street market street / Me and Kim dancing the Tango.

Street performers--very Bohemian (I can see why Kim loves it here)

While browsing through the goodies it began to rain, so we sought refuge in the best place we could find: Freddo. Freddo, I suppose, is equivalent to a Marble Slab or Cold Stone--but it is the creamiest, most delicious ice cream I've had (yes, it rivals Italian gelatto).

Once it dried out and our tummies were full of yummy goodness, we hailed a cab and headed back to the apartment for a little rest before dinner. Dinner is traditionally served much later in Buenos Aires, so we didn't head back out for dinner until 9:00 pm (which Kim insisted was early!). Kim made reservations at La Cabrera, a fancy Parrilla (pronounced Parrisha--Argentines pronounce the "ll" as an "sh" sound).

Apparently these parrillas are very popular in Argentina, and I can see why. Who doesn't love a giant steak, various tapas, and mouthwatering Malbec wine? Stuffed to the brim, once again with yummy goodness, our first night in Buenos Aires ended and we headed back to the apartment for some much needed sleep.

South Padre Island, Texas - New Years 2007

LETS GO FLY A KITE!!

Since Scott is from Harlingen in the Rio Grande Valley, we head down south thataway about once a year. Since New Years was going to fall on a long weekend, we decided to spend the weekend on South Padre Island with Adam and Bekah. While the weather in Dallas wasn't too cold, we couldn't have asked for a more pleasant stay on the island.

We did the usual stuff: stayed up way too late, drank too many mimosas, played Scene-It (during which I kicked serious butt!!), talked and talked and talked, and of course ate food that was way too bad for us. :) Since moving from Lubbock we hadn't spent a whole lot of time with Adam and Bekah, so it was great to have a weekend where we could just chill together.

On New Years Eve we got out of bed late, went to Tom and Jerry's to eat some excellent hamburgers, and then bought a kite. Ok, Scott bought a kite. I thought, really--how much fun is flying a kite? There's probably a reason why adults aren't rushing to their local kite shop to purchase a brand new kite. And this is where I remove my foot from my mouth. I sat on the balcony of Adam's family's condo and watched Scott and Adam flying the kite. They were having so much fun that I ran down there to play.

I never imagined flying a kite would be so exciting!! It is extremely difficult, but once we got the hang of it we were maneuvering the kite every which way--making it dive to the ground and swoop back up. We both decided it would be a great toy to have for our next camping trip.

The Kite Flying was definitely one of the highlights of the trip--but it was also fantastic to be out in the sun in the gorgeous weather. Mac and Alli came down for the night and we had a great time at Amberjacks and later back at the condo, but I was feeling a little under the weather (read: too much greasy food in the tummy=not happy Trish). It was a perfect New Years Eve and a great trip. Too bad we have a 10 drive back to Dallas!!

Camping Wrap Up - Day 3

PACKING UP, BOATING, GOING HOME

The camping trip is over, but it went by so quickly. It is agreed that we all desperately need a shower, but we all had such a great time! We cooked one last breakfast on the fire and packed up the tents. I was sad that the camping portion of our trip was over, but we still had a few hours to kill...so we headed to the marina and rented a pontoon boat to cruise around Lake Texoma.

Again, we were blessed with a gorgeous day, and even though it was a little chilly on the boat, we enjoyed the November sunshine. We were only on the boat for about an hour, but we were able to see a lot of the Texas and Oklahoma shoreline. I've camped on the Oklahoma side of Texoma before, but both sides proved to be very beautiful. I had my qualms about heading an hour away from home, but I would come back to Eisenhower Park in a heartbeat. The campsites were clean and spacious (we actually had two sites next to each other since we had 3 tents).

The boat ride was a blast; Chaz drove most of the time while the rest of us hung out. We had a few issues with going too close to the shore and dragging up the lake bottom and Chaz spraying everyone with water, but mostly the trip was scenic and relaxing. After leaving Texoma, we went to quickly see the dam, which was pretty impressive although I don't have pictures. On the way home we stopped at Carls Jr for one last meal (yes, we love our food!) and called it a trip. We all had such a great time and can't wait for our next camping trip! Texas is so varied that there are a number of options. Hopefully the winter will be short so we can take our next weekend camping trip soon!

Eisenhower State Park Day 2

CAMPING DAY 2: Eating, Hiking, Napping, Eating!!!


Scott, Chaz, and I were the first ones up in the morning, so we started cooking breakfast. Truthfully it took a little while for Chaz and Scott to get the fire started (weren't you guys in boy scouts??), but soon we were on our way! We cooked eggs, pancakes, bacon, and sausage. It was a little tough to get everything organized and cooking the way we wanted it, but it turned out to be a delicious breakfast!

After waking up the troops (JOE MARKS UP, EVERYONE UP!) and finishing breakfast, we headed off on a hike. We couldn't have asked for better weather. The Texas climate is pretty sketchy, so who would have thought that we would an 80 degree day? Eisenhower park is on the edge of Lake Texoma which straddles between Texas and Oklahoma. The shores are relatively rocky, but with the leaves all different colors the hike was beautiful.

We walked through a little bit of forest, through some grassy fields, and down the rocks to the beach. Being the daredevils that they are, Chaz, Scott, and Nick climbed down the rocks to look over into the lake. We hiked for about 2 hours until we were pooped and ready for an afternoon nap. But before that, you know we did our fair share of singing obnoxiously while walking back to the campsite. Some things don't change. :)

While Mom, Brooke, and I relaxed a little, Chaz, Scott, and Nick went on a hunt for some firewood and a deck of cards. The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxing--as the girls read and napped and the boys played with the fire. So typical!

After being well-rested, it was time to eat (again!). I pre-cooked chili for taco salad for an easy dinner, so the pot went onto the fire and the cooking began! The taco salad was delicious (if I say so myself), and for dessert we had S'Mores. We talked and told stories and joked around by the campfire, but the evening wouldn't have been complete without a little experimentation.

I think I can say with some certainty that one of the highlights of the evening was cooking Nick's Halloween popcorn on the fire. It took a little while to figure out the best way to cook it, but once we figured it out we ate some of the best popcorn ever!

Camping? You mean, in a tent?

EISENHOWER STATE PARK, TEXAS (DAY 1)

We've talked about taking a family camping trip for years, but since we Kuettel girls have never truly experienced camping--yes, camping in a tent, all we've done is talk. Finally, we picked a date, Chaz recommended Eisenhower State Park on Lake Texoma (Texas side), and off we were!

Scott and I both worked on Friday, so we met everyone around 8:00. Eisenhower SP is about a hour north of McKinney, so the drive wasn't bad at all. Why didn't we do this sooner? When we got to the park it was already dark, so I naturally hung out with the others while Scott put up the tent (and Nick helped). What good boys.

The rest of the night we hung around the campfire. Scott and I had already eaten dinner, but everyone else cooked hotdogs and hamburgers (and ghost peeps left over from Halloween). The weather was a little chilly, but the sky was clear and the fire kept us all warm. We made the obligatory trip to the restroom (right behind our campsite)--ducking under the spiderwebs--and then went to bed. Early to bed, early to rise! Already the camping trip is a big success!

Sleeping in a tent was quite the experience, but the sleeping bag was warm and the air mattress (um...what did you expect??) was pretty comfortable. I kept hearing drops on the tent during the night, so I was afraid that it was raining and everything would be wet in the morning, but it was just the leaves dropping on the tent. We picked the perfect weekend to go camping with all of the leaves changing colors and the weather not too hot or too cold.

Home Again Home Again

HOME!!

Today we landed back in Seattle. While it was an awesome trip, Scott and I were both glad to be making our way back to Dallas. See how tired we look? Well, Scott looks a little doped up, but I think that's cuz he's tired. :) See, that's why writing the blog is so great. I can say what I want!!


When I asked Scott if he had anything to add to the blog, he said, "It was good." Again, that's why I'm writing this.

Alaska was amazing. Why Alaska? Scott and I both discussed a trip we would like to take before we have kids. Not that we won't travel when we do have kids, but things that we wanted to do on our own first. Scott said he wanted to go to Alaska; I said Europe. The Alaska trip just sort of fell into our laps (like any great trip does). I am thrilled that we went, but some things that we learned:

September is the end of the season. It rains a lot more, the wildlife is beginning to hide, and the weather is a lot cooler.

Princess Cruises (at least this one) are meant for older people. While we had fun, the activities were focused on an older crowd (bridge, shuffleboard, bingo). During the day on ship, there really wasn't a whole lot for us to do.

Would I recommend a cruise to Alaska? Certainly! Scott would disagree, but I think it is the best way to see the towns that we did. Unless we decided to fish or do some of the more adventurous excursions, the time that we spent in each town (except Victoria) was enough for us. Next time, though, I think we will go more to the mainland of Alaska, which will be a totally different experience. BUT, that's why I love traveling. Each experience is unique and totally our own.

Victoria, British Columbia

VICTORIA!!

After being on ship most of the day, we docked in Victoria around 6:30 pm. I was so excited for this port because I've never been to the Western part of Canada and it was Scott's first time to Canada (well, except our Skagway/Yukon trip). When we docked, we hurried off ship since the sun was setting and took a bus ($6 roundtrip per person) to the downtown area. Driving through the parks with all of the gorgeous flowers made me really homesick for Toronto. I must have told Scott a million times, "I really really want us to go to Toronto soon."

As soon as we got off the bus, (which let us off right in front of the beautiful Royal Empress Hotel--which Scott is standing in front of above), we took some quick pictures of the hotel and government buildings and began looking for a place for fish and chips. A very kind lady saw me furiously flipping through my guidebook and Scott looking lost and clueless with his silly little chest strapped backpack and gave us a suggestion for the Blackfish Cafe on the harbor. We walked there and had delicious fish and chips.










After leaving the cafe, we weren't really sure what to do and the sun was already rapidly setting. I had reviewed my guidebook and had a general idea of where to go, but to be completely honest there were some people on the streets that made me a little nervous about pulling out my book to get a better idea of where to go next.

So, we continued to walk, went into a outfitter store, and made our way safely back to Government Street. There were several really cute shops and stores, but the best part was seeing this spectacular street band. I found the below clip on Youtube to give you an idea of what it was like (yes, this is the same band we saw at the same place in Victoria). Everyone was dancing and having such a great time. After that I picked up my smarties (my favorite childhood candy)and made our way back to the bus. I wish we had more daylight time in Victoria.


Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures of Victoria--none of Scott and I together and none of me at all. As you can tell from the pictures, I have about a million of Scott and a handful of the two of us and maybe a fraction of a fraction of just me. :) I think this picture below, though, was Scott's favorite part of being in Canada:

I love my great big kid of a husband. Note the chest strap. :)

Ketchikan, Alaska

KETCHIKAN!!

Unfortunately we only spent a few hours in Ketchikan, but once again the town is pretty compact so we made our way around on foot. We were warned that it would rain in Ketchikan, so we were prepared with rainsuits. When we got off the ship, though, it wasn't raining!! It was overcast outside...which we were growing pretty accustomed to, but yeah!! No Rain!!

The first place we headed for in Ketchikan was Creek Street. Ketchikan was sort of the entry point for travelers to Alaska - whether they were prospectors headed for the Yukon or just settlers or hunters. Ketchikan is known mostly for its logging industry. Anyway, Creek Street was the part of town where gentlemen of a certain nature could go to whet his whistle among other things. Many of the bordellos and saloons are now converted into cute little shops.

After we saw Creek Street, there really wasn't a whole lot to do, so we went to the Ketchikan museum. After paying our $2.00 entry, we saw some great artifacts from the early days in Ketchikan. That's pretty much all there is to say about Ketchikan! We headed back to the cruise ship and strolled through some shops along the way. If we had more time, I would have really liked to have gone to Saxman Village a few miles out where the Tlingit natives have a tribe house and totem poles. We did see many totems in the town, but they were all reproductions. I also really wanted to see the lumberjack show because it sounded like they were having a lot of fun in the arena, but oh well! I think out of the towns we have visited so far, Ketchikan is the most picturesque--set into the mountains with beautiful trees--and the flowers everywhere! I can't wait for Victoria tomorrow.

Tracy Arm, Alaska; Scenic Cruising

Tracy Arm!!

Today we were at sea, but in the morning we sailed into Tracy Arm where the Sawyer Glaciers are.

We overslept a little (which is weird because every other morning we've been up at 6:00 am), but I think we got up in time to see the best part. The picture to the left is a peek at one of the glaciers. We were able to cruise fairly close, but because we were on one big honkin' ship, we weren't able to go as close we I would have liked. The scenery was breathtaking, though. The day was a little overcast and the clouds were low in the mountain, but the water was glassy and calm.

Because Tracy Arm is an inlet, we were right in between the mountains. When we first walked out onto the deck in the morning, the rightside picture was our view. We didn't see any wildlife while we were there--as you can see the mountains are pretty barren. All of these mountains were carved by these glaciers at one point. Once the glacier has retreated or made its way down the mountain, vegetation cannot grow on the rocks for quite some time. Finally a moss will grow on the rocks and then smaller shrubs and plants and finally larger Sitka Spruce trees.

Anyway, so during the morning we hung out on the decks taking a million pictures (apparently Scott was fascinated by the ice because I had to sort through about a hundred pictures of blue ice (no, I'm not joking). Because the ice breaks off of the glaciers, though, it is a brillant blue color.

After enjoying the scenery, we grabbed a little breakfast and then spent most of the day playing cards or reading. We did play trivia with a bunch of older people. We faired pretty well, but the group whose card we were checking cheated and won. I was really mad about it, but I guess if that makes them feel better about themselves...whatever. :)

That night we went to our dinner at Satorini's instead of the other dining room. The boat was rocking so badly that while we were getting reading in the room something was banging around in the room next to us/above us. I was feeling pretty shaky at dinner--plus I had developed a sore throat from being out in the cold in Skagway and Tracy Arm. Dinner was fabulous, though. It was about 16 courses of Italian food. I can't believe all of the food they brought out to us.

I can't believe our trip is half over!

Skagway, Alaska; Yukon, Canada

SKAGWAY!!

Today was the day of our first and only "real" excursion. We decided to take a bus tour up the Yukon Highway to...Yukon, Canada. The weather was rainy and crappy - a real disappointment after having such a gorgeous day in Juneau, but what can you do?

The tour started with downtown Skagway, which is tiny. The tour guide (who rocked!!) explained that about 700 people actually live in Skagway. During the summer the population inflates a little, but otherwise its just a small small town. The main reason why there is even a town Skagway is because of the gold rush in 1898. Millions of people came to this town hoping to make it up to the Yukon to strike it rich.

So, after driving through the town, we made our way up into the mountains. At times it was so foggy it was difficult to see the scenery, but from what we did see it was starkly different from Juneau. Juneau is lush and green, but the route we took through British Columbia to the Yukon was completely different. It is Taiga biome, which is next to Tundra in terms of...well, whatever it is that I learned back in 6th grade. The trees are a lot scrubbier and it was definitely a lot colder than in Juneau.

Once we got to Yukon, we stopped at a little tourist pit (Caribou Crossing) where we had a hot lunch and roamed the museum. I got my bell and Scott got mad at me when I asked the cashier what the exchange rate was and when she told me it was even and I proclaimed, "That Sucks!" Well, it does! :) There was a little museum on site with a bunch of stuffed animals native to the region and outside the museum if one was so inclined he could ride on a dogsled (sans snow). There was also a petting zoo (which we got enough of in Gouldbusk on the ranch), but there was a horse who would not leave Scott alone. He kept nudging up to Scott trying to finagle some food out of him. Kind of sad, but made a great picture!

On the way home, we stopped in Carcross, Yukon and found Scott's retirement home (yes, that is it in the picture--and if you look closely enough you will see that the straps of his backpack are snapped across his chest--my sexy man!). And then in Fraser, BC, we hopped on the White Pass and Yukon Rail back to Skagway. The train was pretty darn cool, but again the fog kept us from really enjoying the scenery. There was one point, though, where we could see the gold rush trail ("Trail of '98") worn into the side of the mountain. It is amazing what the prospectors dealt with in order to reach the gold, but most times they didn't even make it back with anything.

By the time we got back to Skagway we were exhausted so we headed to the ship without going back to town. So...I don't have any pictures of the town. But, on the side of the mountain by the ship docks were hundreds of paintings from different ships. Apparently it is tradition to register the ship at first entry on the side of the mountain. This picture is not to register a ship but to commemorate the Skagway legend Soapy Smith (bad boy who met his rightful end after being shot).

Our nights on ship since the show night have been pretty slow. The time change is really difficult during the evenings when we are eating at 8 and the shows don't start until 10:30 (11 and 1:30 Dallas time). Next time we won't make plans to eat dinner so late in the evening!

Juneau, Alaska; Mendenhall Glacier

JUNEAU!!

Today we hit our first port in Alaska - Juneau. Some things about this beautiful city: it is the capital of Alaska; it is only accessible by sea/air; the population is 50,000. The city is nestled in between huge mountains and sits right on the water.

The weather was gorgeous (high 50s, low 60s?), so we decided to make our way to Mendenhall Glacier about 10 miles outside of town. We took a bus out there ($12 roundtrip per person) and along the way we saw our first bald eagle. They are such beautiful birds and it seems unfathomable to this Texas girl that you can see them all over the place. Once we got to the glacier, we walked along the park stream hoping to see some bears. We didn't see any, but apparently in the afternoon the park had to shut down the trail because there were too many bears. We did see some beautiful salmon, though, in the stream.

The glacier itself is amazing. My poor camera does not do Alaska justice at all (even though I love my camera). We were not able to go up close to the glacier, but Scott and I decided to take a hike up the mountain to get a better peek. I'm not sure quite how far we hiked, but it took about 2 and a half hours round trip. It was quite the workout, but definitely one of the highlights of the entire trip (for me anyway).

Everything in the forest was incredibly lush and green, just gorgeous. Everything seemed to be covered with a think green moss; I don't think I've ever seen a forest like this. At one point we saw a sign for a waterfall, so we veered off the path to see what we could find. Sure enough, there was a beautiful waterfall, so we climbed up the rocks to relax a little before continuing on the hike. This picture was taken right before the waterfall. I sure do love my timer!!

Upon returning to Juneau from the glacier, we walked around town a little before hopping back on the cruise ship. The downtown area of Juneau is very compact, which is great because our feet were very sore from hiking (or as I like to say, My dogs were barking!).

We walked up the strip of shops, got a drink at the Red Dog Saloon (where we left impatiently before the show ended. Bah!), and made our way to the government buildings on the hill. The capital building was not very spectacular (which is the nicest way I can put it), but we saw some awesome totem poles, an old church (which was originally built in Russia and shipped over), and quaint little houses snuggled up to the mountain slope.

Definitely a great day in Juneau.

Cruising Day 1 - Alaska Here We Come

Today was our first day cruising. I was a little nervous because I was so stinkin' sick on our Caribbean cruise and really didn't want to spend all of our on-ship time in the room. I did very well, though, so I'm thinking I was only sick then because of my horrible sunburn (when, oh when will I learn!!).

After missing dinner in the dining room last night, I was determined not to miss breakfast. With the time change, this wasn't a problem and no buffet food for us! After a lovely, quiet breakfast Scott and I went...where? To the Casino! Of course he lost all of his money, but I walked away with $10 more, so I was pretty proud. Its not every day that you can go gamble at 9:00 in the morning!

After hitting the slots, we made our way to dance lessons where we learned out to Merengue. So, we were a little late and had to dance in between the theatre seats because there was no room on stage, but I like to think that this is now what we look like: (that's right, you've got to be the tiger)

OK, so Scott did make fun of my dancing skills the rest of the day, but it was still fun, and I was thrilled that he actually danced with me in public!

The rest of the day was pretty quiet. We played a few rounds of BINGO and lost every single one to the blue-haired ladies aboard. I think we probably ate pizza again, but we finally made it to dinner.

Coincidentally, the people we dined with were from Plano which I thought was incredibly random (Plano is the town where I grew up). They were nice enough; they were two couples traveling together and one of the wives kept trash talking the other husband (not hers). It was very strange and often awkward. Oh well.

Afterward we went to our first production - a medoly of musical numbers. Like I've mentioned a million times, there was a huge generation gap between us and the majority of the cruisers, so many of the songs were from plays produced many moons ago. They did sing a few from Les Mes (my favorite), but other than that it was a little lame. Scott fell asleep.

Tomorrow is Juneau!!

Leaving on a Jet Plane - Alaska 2007

Alaska here we come!! The morning came very early today as we woke up around 4:30 to catch our 7:30 flight out of Love for Seattle, Washington. I kept asking Scott on the way to the airport if he was excited and all I got was a tiny whooo. By the time we got to the airport, though, he was feeling much more in the spirit and barely even rolled his eyes when I asked the very nice security guy to take a picture of us.The flight went with relative ease; I was able to finish my book (Big Fish) and beat Scott in a round of Back Alley Bridge as well! The highlight of the trip was being able to see Mount Rainier from the window. Of course I had to push Scott out of the way because his little head blocked the entire window, but finally I was able to see and get some pictures as well.

After landing in Seattle, which was wonderful and fresh after being in hot muggy Dallas, we hopped in the cab and made our merry way to the Cruise Ship (for $30 bucks). This was our first time on Princess, and there were definitely some differences between this cruise line and Royal Caribbean. The first thing I noticed was that most of the crowd was elderly (no, I'm not talkin' mom's age...more like grandma's). While we always managed to find people our age on the ship, we were certainly some of the youngest aboard. What can you do? I'm not sure that Alaska screams party like Caribbean cruises do.

So, we explored on board. Immediately found our favorite watering hole, checked out the buffet (which we would very rarely visit afterward), and made our way to the tiny room. Of course we had muster as well: (Yes, Scotty is making that little light on his chest beam by using his spit. It is such a relief to know that his great talents could possibly save us if overboard).

After muster, we went to eat pizza (as a snack, because apparently when you are on a cruise ship it doesn't matter how much you eat or when you eat). I didn't want pizza because I knew it would upset dinner. Well, I guess I didn't have to worry about that because we slept through dinner and went to the midnight buffet. Ahhh, the life on a cruise ship. Let the fun begin!

In the beginning

Scott and Trish - Taos, NM August 2007

More like in medias res. I am notoriously bad about journaling--apparently except when it comes to books. Every trip that Scott and I have taken, I've attempted to journal (the old-fashioned way with a pen and paper), but every time it just doesn't work. We've taken some pretty amazing trips: Tahoe and San Francisco; Caribbean Cruise; Texas Hill Country--yayaya; our western excursion through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona; and our latest trip to Taos for the S. family reunion.

As we are getting ready to embark on our trip to Alaska on Saturday, I wanted to get this set up. It will be a real feat if I can keep it going. But most importantly, we have so many things to laugh at and remember about our vacations that I don't want them to be lost. Scott has a much much better memory than I do. And I could go ahead and journal about our Valentine's trip to Taos three years ago when we got food poisoning from the restaurant where Juan Extraordinare was entertaining us, or of Lucillo on the cruise saying "Peppertime," or of driving through the entire Yosemite park AFTER the sun set. But I want the memories to be fresh. Oh whatever, I may post some about our January trip and our Taos trip. But then again, given my proclivity for procrastination, probably not.

Either way, here's to many happy travels.