Molly's Road Show

2012-01-29T23:10:00.000-06:00

Week #3: What can you learn through travel?

When I read this prompt, I first thought about a few of the skills I've learned through traveling: how to read maps surreptitiously so people won't know I'm a tourist, how to hide money and ID on my person (a tip I learned from LV: use an Altoids tin instead of a wallet), how to use the ticket machines at Grand Central and use the Metro Card on the bus, how to drive on the other side of the road in Australia (although some would say that is still a skill at which I am not yet proficient).

It's also fun to take classes while traveling.
I took a cooking class in Rome: we made fried artichokes, veal saltimbocca and tiramisu after going to the market at the Campo de Fiori and the bakery. No written recipes, just my frantically scribbled notes. Wonder where those are now?

I also took a cooking class in San Miguel de Allende: We helped make guacamole (with pomegranate seeds), mango salsa, and chile rellenos stuffed with goat cheese. No margaritas while cooking.

A great experience was the "Blend Your Own Wine" class at Wynns Coonawarra Estate winery in South Australia. We got to taste while creating the perfect blend, then took home our mixtures in a personalized wine bottle.

Then I thought of other skills I've picked up while traveling: I parked that houseboat!

I learned how to pack the back of the car for a cross-country road trip and keep everything organized along the way.

I learned that everyone needs down time and alone time on a trip, even while enjoying the group.

I think I'm still learning to be in the moment every moment while traveling.

What is an Indie Traveler?

2012-01-16T00:52:00.002-06:00

This week's topic from BootsnAll Indie Travel Guide : you can be an indie traveler without even leaving your hometown – as long as you’re challenging yourself and your assumptions about the world, learning about people or a place different than your own, and seeking out experiences that help you better understand the local culture.
What does indie travel mean to you?
I think I've always been an "indie traveler." I always want to see what's out there. My vacations are often jam-packed with sight-seeing and museum stops. In fact, there have been some people who hesitate to go places with me, as they know what the pace is going to be like and that museums are always going to be on the itinerary.

I'm not the best photographer, but I like attempting to record what I see. And what I will want to remember.

I loved seeing the ceramics factory outside of San Miguel de Allende. We toured the show rooms, but also parts of the manufacturing buildings. Each ceramics painter has a chair, a table for glazes and brushes, and an easel or stand to support the object currently being painted. Completed pieces are sent to the kilns for final firing.

I found the deep sea drilling museum in Galveston, TX interesting. Building those rigs is an amazing feat, let alone working on the platforms themselves and getting the oil and gas out from under the sea. We should all know more about how we get our energy.

Museums can be park-like and have little to do with art. I had no idea that Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were good friends and had winter homes in Ft. Myers, FL. Thomas Edison did research in Florida on plants that produce latex. You can tour laboratories and restored homes at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Fascinating.

"See if you have what it takes to join the ranks of noble knights."
I saw this poster advertising knight school in a bookstore in Brisbane, Australia.Really enjoyed taking a minute or two to wonder who would send their kids to knight school and if my son and/or daughter would have liked it.(They do take girls.) Used bookshops are a great way to soak up local culture.

I enjoy a sunset and a sunrise, too. Just kicking back by the water is a favorite pastime. Taking some time to just be in a place is important, too. I am trying to appreciate that aspect of indie travel more. Maybe giving up some of the "forced march" pace will be good for me.

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-06T10:57:00.000-06:00

In an effort to post more consistently, I'm signing up for the 2012 Indie Travel Challenge by BootsnAll Travel. They will post a prompt each week, and I'm going to respond. This week's prompt is to list my 2012 travel resolutions. They have a pretty good list on their blog.

What are my travel resolutions? I have some places I really want to see, but I don't know if 2012 will be the year for them: Antarctica, the Galapagos, Alaska's Inside Passage, Western Australia, New Zealand's North Island, Xian, China, are just the first few that roll right off my fingers. There are more.....

I don't have any of those big trips planned yet for this year. But I'm thinking of all the other short trips I make and don't even consider them to be "traveling."

Resolution #1: I resolve to appreciate that every night spent away from home (even if it's only 100 miles away) is traveling and to take advantage of it in the same way I would a more far-flung destination.
My short trips in the next 6 months that are already on the books: Houston for one night to attend a travel conference, Dallas for one or two nights for family business, Colorado for 3 nights with DH for a business meeting, a week of skiing in Taos with family, a trip to NY with DD to see family. See, that's a lot of travel already!


Hunziker Bowl, Taos Ski Valley, NM

Resolution #2: To put technology in its place while traveling.
I'm pretty well attached to my smartphone at this point. Love it. I have over 150 apps, with at least 50 related to travel, travel planning, and finding services while traveling like food, bathrooms, wifi, NPR stations, movie theaters, AAA discounts, etc. I need to learn to disconnect more from the ethernet and connect more with the real world. Ask someone for directions or recommendations? That would be a novelty for me. Come into a town without knowing where to eat? Frightening. I think I need to do that more!


I have app folders now

Resolution #3: I will never use the term "bucket list." Travel experiences can't be plucked out of a container.

So I guess that's my list for now. Wishing everyone safe and rewarding travel this year!

Essential Australia

2011-11-21T09:00:00.001-06:00

Author's note: I wrote this post about 2 weeks ago but due to a technical issue it didn't get published to the blog. More on the Australia trip is in the pipeline. Thanks for reading.

Waking up to the maniacal laughter of kookaburras in the trees reminds me that I’m in Australia. Opening my cabin shades to see kangaroos munching on the grass lets me know I’ve found the essential Australia.

I’m near the town of Hall’s Gap in the state of Victoria, surrounded by the Grampians National Park. We’re staying at the Hall’s Gap Valley Lodges, a moderately priced set of self catering cabins set along a tree-lined drive just off the main road going into town. Hall’s Gap is so named due to being in between the Grampians ranges and the Wonderlands mountains.

The mountains with jagged sandstone cliffs rise up in all directions, and deer, kangaroos, and rabbits roam across the green lawns. Sulphur crested cockatoos squawk loudly and perch on the cabin roofs, enjoying the attention of visiting photographers (us!).
Many other birds we can’t identify add to the background noise. This is a perfect base for exploring the mountains, the small towns and the Brambuk Aboriginal Culture Centre.

Hall’s Gap is under 3 hours west of Melbourne, and is a popular holiday destination in Victoria.
I’ve been on a 5 day tour from Adelaide, in the state of South Australia, to Melbourne, in the state of Victoria, courtesy of AATKings Tours, and the tourism boards of South Australia, the Great Southern Touring Route, Grampians, and Victoria.
We’ve been able to experience many of those essentially Australian activities, from “cuddling” a koala, becoming master wine makers by blending our own wine, learning of the Aboriginal heritage and history of this area, and seeing the sights, from city museums to natural wonders.

Now, some people think that essential Australia has to include visiting the Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef, but this trip has shown me there’s so much more to Australia, I can’t wait to see more.

Husband Takes Wife Fishing, Marriage Survives.

2011-08-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

It doesn’t get much better than a few days in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

The Road Show was in the beautiful Teton Mountains in Wyoming and Idaho for some R&R and a 2-day fishing trip. D. is now an avid fly fisherman, and thought I would enjoy the scenery and the adventure.

We spent the weekend in downtown Jackson Hole, WY where we enjoyed some great food at Rendezvous Bistro and Trio American Bistro, a few drinks at the famous Million Dollar Cowboy Bar and The Wort Hotel, visited the Saturday Farmer’s Market, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art. We also went to the rodeo at the Teton County Fair.

We rode the chair lift up Snow King Mountain (the in-town ski area)and hiked down.

We took a walk around Jenny Lake in the Grand Teton National Park.

We were having a good time, enjoying the summer ambience that is Jackson Hole in the summer.

And then came the fishing trip…I was a little nervous since I don’t really know how to fly fish. How much fun would it be to ride for 2 days in the boat with 2 guys who really like to fish?

We had booked with World Cast Anglers ,an Orvis-affiliated outfitter that has 3 different shops in the area. We drove over Teton Pass to Victor, Idaho, to meet out guide, Brian G. and get on the water. We would be fishing 26 miles of the South Fork River over 2 days, and camping out at the South Fork Hilton Camp at about the halfway point.

So the weather was pretty discouraging at first. I wore a rain jacket and waterproof pants. Brian G. had us do practice casting and hook setting in the parking lot. I threw it out there and hoped for the best.

We loaded up our gear and some food and drinks and got on the water. The current is strong, and the guide sits in the middle of the boat and rows to keep the boat in the right place and at the right angle to the bank so that maximum fishing ensues. One person sits/stands in the bow and one in the stern, so both can fish at the same time. Sometimes Brian G. would throw out the anchor on a gravel bar and we could get out of the boat and fish from the banks.

Luckily, Brian G. is an excellently patient and good humored guide. He worked with me to get my flies out there and I did have success pretty quickly. I caught a brown trout, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout in succession. If you can listen to your guide, and get the fly where he says to put it, follow the directions for setting the hook and reel in line properly, you, too, can catch fish. Not that hard…..

So I was happy, D. was happy, and Brian was happy. I could sit back and watch the scenery go by and fish if I felt like it. Brian could concentrate on getting more fish for D. D. could work on his casting and setting the hook to reel in the big ones. Of course, a large part of fly fishing for trout is getting the right flies on the line, and Brian was great at that, too. You really need to know too much about bugs for it to be very interesting to me, but I could see the results when the right match was made.

At one point it rained quite hard. I stayed dry, but felt clammy and my hands definitely did get cold.

The weather improved late in the day, and the fishing was pretty steady. We saw many bald eagles and hawks, and they watched us go by with interest. I’m sure they were wondering if we had any fish in the boat. Sorry, no-it’s all catch-and-release here.

We got to the South Fork Hilton Camp before dark and enjoyed a great dinner and time at the fire pit. They had hot water in basins for us as we got into camp, and the beer was iced and wine open. There was just one other couple in camp, the rain having scared away the others, so it was a quiet group. Steak and potatoes with salad and broccoli, homemade peach cobbler for dessert. Plenty of good food.

The platform tents were just ok. Nothing luxurious, but definitely adequate. Each tent is set back in the woods away from each other, but don’t forget earplugs if snoring bothers you…..Noises carry at night.

Up pretty early the next morning, and after a hot breakfast of eggs and meats, as well as yogurt and fresh fruit, we got in the boat again for the rest of the trip. I caught a few more fish, but mostly enjoyed eagle spotting and the scenery.

The weather held up and it was a great day. Once again, Brian G. helped us catch fish and made sure that he stopped the boat at the only official rest stop with toilets on the river. Now that’s a thoughtful guide…..We got to the boat ramp around 3 pm and were back in Jackson by 5 pm. I really enjoyed this trip immensely and would definitely do it again.

We stayed at 2 different hotels in Jackson, first the Ranch Inn, a motel property just 2 blocks from the town square, and then The Alpine House Inn., a gracious small inn with a homey Scandinavian feel. We would go back to The Alpine House Inn, for sure. It was only a few blocks from the Town Square, and on a quieter street. They had a hot cooked breakfast in the morning, and just nicer spaces and amenities. And for about the same price as the Ranch Inn.

Oh, and D. had plenty of photo ops with fish, too.

They may speak English, but

2010-10-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

Australia is different from the USA.

Here are a few of my observations; definitely not a definitive list.

It’s “G’day”, not “hello”
It’s “How’re you going?” not “How are you doing?”
It’s kookaburras maniacally cackling at 5 am outside the window.

It’s a lot of beautiful and unusual animals not seen anywhere else.

It’s driving on the left, so look right before crossing the streets.

Pedestrians don’t have the right of way. See above.
It’s muesli, not granola.
It’s meals served on planes as well as snacks for morning and afternoon tea times.

It’s a lot of weird meats.

It’s one and two dollar coins instead of bills.
It’s shopping malls that are pedestrian streets with shops.
It’s shopping centres that are enclosed shopping malls.
Roundabouts, lots of roundabouts.
More on the driving: highway exits are on the left, slow lane is to the left.
Coffee is long black, short black, or flat white.

More on the driving: the turn signal indicator is on the wrong side, so you keep turning on the windshield wipers to indicate a turn.

Woolworth’s is a large grocery store chain.

There’s a large indoor fresh food market in every city.

It’s very friendly and helpful people everywhere you go.

2010 Hill Country Yarn Crawl Haul

2010-10-10T17:07:00.001-05:00

Just got back from finishing up the 4th annual Hill Country Yarn Crawl. 323 miles on my car, plus about 60 miles on DH’s car when we did a shop together. I think this was the best yarn crawl so far, organized by 11 shops and supported by many more suppliers. I ended up going to 10 shops (sorry, Yarnorama, but you were just too far for me to go this time) and bought supplies at a few shops.

For $20 you get a logo tote bag- this time made out of nylon- and the information booklet with the passport page in the back. Each shop stamps the book and has a giveaway, usually a ball or skein of yarn and a pattern. The shops were supposed to give away something worth about $8.00 in retail value, but I think most shops gave away more than that. In addition to the yarn there was the creation and printing of patterns, booklets, putting together of kits, etc.

Yarnivore offered 2 different patterns: one for crochet, one for knit, that made the same basic wrist cuff with the same yarn. Very helpful.

The Tinsmith’s Wife is in a great old building with high ceilings and 2 large rooms. They have a huge selection of yarn and other fiber arts supplies. I picked up a ball of metallic (sparkly) sock yarn there.

Hill Country Weavers gave away yarn and a booklet with 9 patterns in it produced just for the yarn crawl.

Rosewood Yarns gave away a split ring with a mini-crochet hook, 2 darning needles and a stitch marker on it. Very cute and usable.

Gauge Knits gave away a coupon for 10% off your next visit (hope it will be good until next year?) in addition to a choice of free patterns and a skein of yarn. They also said there would be patterns on their Ravelry page soon.

Several shops ( The Knitting Nest, Stonehill Spinning, The Yarn Barn) gave away packaged kits with yarn and directions and any extras needed to make the project. The packaged kits are greatly appreciated.

New to me this year were Nan’s Needleworks and Old Oaks Ranch.

Old Oaks Ranch alpaca.

Each shop has a drawing for a prize selected from the names of people who actually purchase something from the shop.

If you get to at least 8 shops (with stamped passport) you can be entered into the prize drawings, of which there are a number.

If you get to all 11 shops, you can also be entered into the Grand Prize Drawing, which is a huge gift basket worth over $500.00.

The information booklet was well-designed, and the mini-maps for each shop were helpful. All shops agreed to have basically the same hours for all 4 days of the yarn crawl, making it easy to go from one to the other, especially on Sunday.

I don’t know what I’ll make first from my haul. Probably a set of fingerless mitts since I promised them to DD.

All-in-all, a great way to spend a beautiful fall weekend. Thanks to all the shops!

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

2010-09-08T17:07:00.001-05:00

My first full day in Brisbane was a lot of fun. We took the bus to town and it went straight to the Cultural Center on the South Bank of the Brisbane River. The major museums are conveniently located in this Cultural Precinct and within walking distance of one another. The weather was a perfect spring day, brilliantly sunny and warm.

Brisbane River

We started at the Queensland Museum which had these Lego-type people attached to various parts of the walls and roof of the building.

Lego people

Inside we saw an exhibit on recent archeological finds relating to the Australian explorers Burke and Wills who died in the Outback in the 1800s while pioneering a route from the south to the north of the country.

On to the Queensland Art Gallery, where we saw an exhibit of works of Hans Heysen, the foremost Australian landscape painter. He loved painting the outback and the huge gum trees.

Not a Hans Heysen work

I really liked the “For Kids” labels on many of the artworks. They are placed below the main label, at the right height for kids to read, and they speak directly to the child about the work of art.

For Kids label at lower left

Across the plaza, we ate lunch at the cafe at the Queensland State Library building and explored their bookstore.

After lunch, we headed over to the Gallery of Modern Art and saw a retrospective of haute couture by Valentino. Dresses worn by the rich and famous were on display, including Jackie Kennedy Onassis’ wedding dress, Cate Blanchett’s and Julia Roberts’ Oscar dresses, and many more from 5 decades of fashion. It cost $20 to get in, but if you love clothes, it’s worth it.

We walked over the river on the Kurilpa Bridge The name is the Australian Aboriginal word for the South Brisbane and West End area.

We continued on the north side of the river to the central business district (CBD) and over to the Queen St. Mall, the main shopping area of town. In Australia a “mall” is usually a pedestrian shopping area rather than an indoor mall, but those also exist. The way to tell the difference is if there is “Street” in the name.

We caught a bus back out to Indooroopilly (“IN-dra-pill-ee”), the close-in suburb where I’m staying with DD and DSIL. We ended the day with a delicious Asian-inspired meal at Bali Grill in Rosalie.

Pre-Travel Spending-It’s More Than I Thought

2010-09-04T14:52:00.001-05:00

So I’m getting ready to leave on a 3-week trip and I realized that I’m spending a lot of money just getting ready to go on the trip. We usually have a “travel budget” and we figure out transportation, hotel, car rental, food, activities, tour costs. But do we put into that budget what it takes for us to get ready to go on the trip?

My list of pre-travel purchases is below. Is it out of line for a long trip?

I headed to the grocery store to get a few boxes of granola bars and packed 4. I also got gum and chewy candies.

I bought some new clothes- a dress, pants, a jacket, shoes. Everything but the shoes needed alterations at the tailor shop.

I bought an international SIM Card for an old Nokia cell phone we had. But then I had to pay for the cell phone to be unlocked and for repairs to the charging port. I also bought a voucher for more talk time on the SIM card. I also bought the smallest international data roaming plan from AT&T, just in case I have to use my iPhone data. I already have international calling and roaming plans on my phone.

I bought a couple of books for my Kindle. I am not actually taking the Kindle reader this trip, but will be reading the books off of my iPhone.

I bought a new suitcase. 25 jn. Cloudstream by Eagle Creek. Lightweight but hopefully sturdy.

I bought a 10.1 “ netbook computer. And a case for it.

Of course, the last 2 will be used on many trips to come, but this particular trip was the impetus for the purchases.

I have read a lot of articles about vacation planning and budgeting , but never one about all the money we spend before we even get out of the driveway.

Carry-on contents-not including jacket

Keep watching this space for trip updates and product reviews!

Port #4-Cozumel, Mexico

2010-08-22T11:50:00.001-05:00

This is the final post in the Ports of the Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean Cruise series. We took this cruise is May, 2010, and Cozumel, Mexico is the 4th port on the seven-day cruise.

Party atmosphere in Cozumel!

This port is a mainstay of the Western Caribbean cruise itineraries. The ship’s excursions run the gamut from the full-day trip across to the mainland to see the Maya ruins at Tulum to shorter snorkeling trips and party catamarans. Royal Caribbean docks at the International Pier, while most of Carnival ships dock at Puerta Maya, about 2 miles south. Both terminals have large shopping areas, as well as bars and restaurants. The day we visited there were 3 cruise ships in port. In the winter months, there can be as many as 6 or 7 ships in port at a time.

We decided not to do a ship excursion, but take a taxi to Chankanaab Nature Park-about 6 miles south of the pier. This park is costly to get into-upwards of $20 per person, depending on your package. We got some coupons off the internet for a free drink, free t-shirt, and entrance to the shows for about $25 per person. We could have gone snorkeling, as the reef is right off the beach here. We could have gone swimming with the dolphins, as they have a section of the beach set up for this. The dolphins are in separate enclosures, and each small group of people gets its own dolphin with which to get up close and personal. Those activities cost more money. We did see the manatee and get a tour of the dolphin enclosure, and we saw the sea lion show. At the end of the show, each member of the audience can get a photo with a sea lion. Purchase available in the gift shop about 30 minutes after the show.

There is also a botanical garden with walkways through the jungle, a pretty lagoon, a nice beach area with shaded chairs, 2 restaurants and several bar areas. We walked the length of the park and had our free drinks at a bar. We did the show and the tour of the dolphin enclosures, perused the gift shop. We hadn’t brought our suits, or we would have sat on the beach and gone swimming. It was quite hot that day, so by the time we left the park and headed back to town, we just went back to the ship. The taxi to the beach was about $12.00 and the taxi to town would have been about $5 more.

I would recommend Chankanaab for a full day of activities all in one place.

Since Cozumel is such a popular cruise port for many cruise lines, what follows is more info about things to do in town.

The town of Cozumel has a main shopping strip along the water that goes for several miles. There are many many shops selling everything from cheap souvenirs to the expensive jewelry and watches.There are good restaurants just a few blocks off the main drag. One we liked is called La Choza Restaurant. There is also the Cozumel Museum which costs $3.00 entry fee and has art exhibits as well as 2 rooms devoted to the biology, history, and geology of Cozumel.

If you want to head to a beach, the taxi stand outside the port terminal has signs that tell you the cost to each beach. Several websites have info about all the beaches and offer coupons. One good one is www.cozumelinsider.com. Another one is www.cozumelmycozumel.com

The farthest beaches on the leeward side can cost about $25 one way. Most beaches have free entrance, and you buy food and drink there. Some beaches charge for chair rental, but most hope you’ll spend lots on food and drink. There are a few beaches that cost money and take reservations, notably one called Nachi Cocom. It is a nice, quiet beach, and the entrance fee comes with included food and drink. Here as well as at a lot of the beaches, you can rent snorkeling equipment or hire a boat for parasailing trips.

We ended our day in port with some shopping for souvenirs.

If you are heading out on a cruise, I highly recommend joining www.cruisecritic.com and browsing the pages for port and excursion information.

Port #3: Georgetown, Grand Cayman

2010-08-02T15:31:00.001-05:00

This is a tender port, and the cruise ships anchor or electronically hover very near the port terminal. The water is crystal clear and azure blue. The coral reefs are close to the shore. Grand Cayman is a low island, much drier and flatter than Haiti or Jamaica. We had a wait for the tender, but that’s a different topic for another post.

Tender boat leaving the ship

We had booked the RCCL Reef and Wreck Snorkel trip and were given the 11:00 tour. We chose this as it was the least expensive of the snorkeling excursions offered, and only lasted 2 hours. We finally got on a tender to the pier and landed at the port terminal area where there are a few shops and a patio bar. There was also a Carnival ship in port that day, so the area was crowded with people trying to find their excursions.

We finally got in the group for our tour and a guide led us out of the port terminal, across the parking lot, and onto the street. No bus was waiting for us. We walked down the street, around a corner and down another block to a different pier area and then onto our boat.

The lower level had a glass bottom with places to sit and watch the underwater sights. The middle deck had bins with the snorkeling equipment, and the upper deck was open to the sun. We got our gear, then went on top and claimed places on the side benches. Our captain talked to us about safety and what we’d be doing on this trip.

The boat moved away from the dock and slowly made its way across the harbor, past the tender pier, close to the shore until he dropped anchor within 200 yards of the tender pier. Underneath was the “wreck” portion of the excursion, a transport boat that had sunk in the harbor about 60 years ago. We got in the water and had about 30 minutes to cover the area.

We saw lots of fish, and the wreckage of the boat was interesting. Back on our boat, I realized that I still had on my pedometer. Oh dear. At least it died a scenic death.

We motored west for about 15 minutes, until we were between the cruise ship anchorages and the shore. This is the “reef” portion of the dive. We saw several barracuda and lots of colorful parrotfish, angel fish, and other species of reef fish. The reefs aren’t that pretty, but we saw brain coral and some tube coral.

When time was called, we all got back on the boat for the 20 minute ride past the tender pier to the other dock. Water and a fruit drink were provided, but that was it for the refreshments. The snorkeling equipment was in good shape. Definitely a bare bones operation, but fine for us.

We walked down the street from this dock to the Paradise Restaurant for lunch. A nice covered patio looking out over the water was appreciated. A rambling walk back to the port terminal, stopping in the fancy duty-free jewelry, perfume and art stores concluded our stay in Grand Cayman.

Port #2: Ocho Rios, Jamaica

2010-08-02T14:26:00.001-05:00

Again, the ship docks at a large pier and it’s not a long walk to the port terminal buildings. There is a building to the right where ship excursions meet but as we had booked ourselves with Peat Taylor Tours we followed a sign to the left that said “Pre-Booked Tours.” This led us to a parking lot with taxis but no other signs for our tour. Jamaicans eyed us but didn’t offer any information. We were definitely in the wrong place. We walked back to the terminal entrance and walked straight ahead to the main gates where we saw women with shirts that read “Dispatcher.” We asked them for Peat Taylor and they directed us to our bus. We met our driver who did have our name on his list. The bus held about 20 people and we got underway quickly.

We had signed up to climb Dunn’s River Falls, a long-time tourist attraction here. Peat Taylor Tours promises to get you up the falls before the crowds arrive and they lived up to that promise. We left the port area before many buses did, and were among the first to arrive at the waterfall park. We were quickly ushered into the park and got with our tour guides. We were the first group to go up the falls that day.

We walked down to the beach, probably 100 feet down. The Dunn’s River rushes to the ocean over hundreds of feet of rocky terraces and this is where you climb up 300 feet to the take-out platform. People scrub the rocks daily, so there is a minimum of slippage on the rocks. There is a guide in the front, the group holds hands for support, and the guide tells you where to place your feet as you climb up alongside the edges of the falls. There is also a videographer, who takes video of the tour. You can buy your tour’s video (with about 10 minutes of tourism commercial added) for about $40 at the end of the tour.

Don’t wear flip flops or crocs, but a water shoe with straps is fine. I wore Keens, with the toe protection, and they were great. You will get wet, and the guides love to get you under a rock with water rushing over it for photo ops. The guides will carry your camera for you and take appropriately scenic shots with you and without you in them.

It took about 45 minutes to climb up the falls, and by the time our group finished, there were lines of tourists going up the falls behind us.

The scenery is dense tropical forest, and you can’t see the top of the falls. It is beautiful, but hard to stop and enjoy since the group is moving up the rocks so quickly.

We had ample time to get changed and get a drink at the food stall area of the park. The Peat Taylor guides had warned us about the aggressive shop keepers and to be prepared to bargain and purchase if you stopped to handle merchandise or strike up a conversation with sellers. We walked through the outdoor shopping area quickly, with polite “no thanks” when we were approached.

We did give a couple of dollars to the man with the donkey who let us take his picture.

Back on the bus, O’Neal, Peat Taylor’s son led us on a tour of the city of Ocho Rios, up the mountain via the rainforest road called Fern Gully, over the mountain ridge to a lookout spot, then down to town. We saw Ian Fleming’s house, and the area where some of the Rolling Stones’ band had homes. A few of us wanted to go to a beach, so the bus dropped us at Mahogany Beach, a small cove with palapas, food stalls and shops. We spend a couple of hours relaxing and then our driver was there to collect us and take us back to town.

Near the port terminal are several shopping areas, so we checked out a few. We felt very safe walking in these well-trafficked areas. We enjoyed our tour. and would recommend Peat Taylor Tours.

Western Caribbean Ports

2010-07-29T11:32:00.000-05:00

Freedom of the Seas Ports Reviews

In Four Parts

Port #1 Labadee, Haiti

Labadee is a private port of call owned by Royal Caribbean, so its other ships (Celebrity) stop there as well. In some of the company literature it’s called a private “island” but it’s actually a small peninsula on the northern coast of

Haiti

. There is a large wall and gate at the eastern end of the property that seals it off from the rest of the area. This part of

Haiti

was substantially unaffected by last year’s hurricane. Royal Caribbean offered cargo space for relief supplies on all its ships, and we saw pallets marked “Haiti Relief” on the pier.

There is a large pier and not too long of a walk to the entrance to the park. Labadee consists of several beach areas (an ocean side and a bay side) and lots of bars and plazas. There are 2 main shopping areas and a smaller shed with some artisan stalls inside. There’s a private beachfront area for suite and Concierge level guests, complete with its own bar and patio area. Bands play in various locations and there are 3 places to get food during the lunch buffet hours, so lines aren’t long. There is a trolley that will take people from one section to another; I think it took us about 20 minutes to walk around the whole property.

There is also a spa on top of a hill that seemed an ideal setting to get some pampering.

Art for Sale

There are several walking paths up hills with interesting overlooks. One highlight is the “Dragon’s Breath”- a natural phenomenon caused by holes in the rocks near the shore that whoosh with sounds when waves rush under the rocks.

There are activities to do which cost money and are booked like shore excursions. You can book ahead, or go to the shop on the plaza and sign up there. There’s a huge zip line that goes from the crest of a hill above the beach down over the water to the edge of the beach. You can rent jet skis and kayaks. You can do snorkeling trips as well. There is a cove for families and kids with lots of climbing structures and a special swimming area with floats and bouncy things.

We found a quite place on the bay side of the area and could choose hammocks or beach lounges. We swam a bit and just relaxed. The lunch buffet was jerk chicken, fried fish, salads, vegetables and fruits. There were cookies for dessert. The food is only out for a couple of hours.

I liked this port more than I thought I would. It’s larger than I expected, so the people from the ship are spread out and we never felt crowded. We enjoyed relaxing on the beach and chose not to do much shopping or sign up for any activities. Next time I think I’d opt for the 2 hour kayak tour to learn more about the area and to see

the village that is nearby.

Labadee

Haiti Relief Supplies

Freedom of the Seas

2010-05-17T11:43:00.000-05:00

DH and I had the opportunity to cruise on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas on a 7-day Western Caribbean itinerary. We were part of the OSSN (Outside Sales Support Network) Seminar at Sea program.
In this post I'll talk about the ship and our experiences. In subsequent posts, I'll talk about the ports we visited and activities.

The Freedom is a huge ship, carrying about 3600 people at max capacity. It's 1100 feet long and 158,000 tons. It was one of the largest cruise ships until Royal Caribbean introduced the Oasis of the Seas last year. It was launched in 2006, so it is a fairly new ship. It has similar features to the Navigator of the Seas (earlier post), including the Rock Climbing Wall and ice skating rink, similar food offerings and on board activities. This ship has extra stabilizers because of its size, and the ride was extremely smooth. We did have extraordinarily calm seas this week, so that really helped.

Being a larger ship, Freedom has the Flowrider, a boogie-boarding/surfing wave pool, a large basketball/volleyball court, and 2 specialty restaurants. We tried Portofino, a $20 pp upcharge, but enjoyed a cozy table by the window, excellent service and a dinner similar to an expensive night out at home. The other specialty restaurant, Chops Grille, focuses on meats and is a $25 pp upcharge.

Shadows of people on deck for sail away from Port Canaveral.

We also enjoyed the ice show, called Freedom On Ice, and I thought this was a better show than the one on the Navigator.

We saw the "Headliner" show with the magician Drew Thomas. You may remember him from "You've Got Talent" . I thought it was more show than magic, but the illusions were interesting.

The funniest show is called "The Quest." It's held on the last night and attracts more of the 20s -40s crowd. They put a wooden floor over the ice rink and the theater is standing room only. The audience is divided into teams and each team has 2 representatives that have to complete each "quest" or challenge with help from their team in the shortest time possible. Near chaos reigns as the quests get more and more, shall we say, interesting. Only attend this show if you have a sense of humor, and you don't have to participate. Observers have fun, too!

We had an inside cabin for this trip (read: special price for the seminar group) but we were on Deck 10, the highest of the cabin decks. The Freedom has 15 decks, more than 20 stories high. The buffet is on Deck 11, but the dining rooms are on decks 3, 4 and 5, so we did a lot of walking. The elevators are all glass walled in the middle decks, but I always walk the stairs. The stair wells all have interesting art work, so that is a plus. Our cabin steward, Orlando, was excellent, and we really got used to twice daily cleaning service and the cute towel animals. The halls were always really quiet all the time.

The Royal Promenade has shops, bars, and eateries galore, even a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream shop. Two different cafes serve free food all day, changing menus according to the time: muffins in the am, sandwiches in the afternoon, salads and tapas in the evening. Also pizza almost 24 hrs a day. On the pool deck there is a self-serve soft ice cream machine open most of the day and into the night.

On the last sea day, I saw the kids all dressed up and having a circus themed activity. I don't think there were hundreds of kids on board, due to the time of year, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun.

With such a large ship, you would think there would be long lines and no free deck chairs, and people everywhere. We didn't find that to be the case. The adults only Solarium pool area was usually full, but many other chairs were always available on several decks. We also found a very quiet place on deck where we liked to go for the sail away from each port. It's on Deck 4, at the aft of the ship, either port or starboard side (on this ship the starboard side was the smoking side).

We had to try some of the specialty drinks, here are 2 frozen lemonades with lemon flavored vodka. The Schooner Bar is a quiet place and the spot to go for the trivia contests.

There were a lot of places we never went to: The Crypt disco for one. And we bypassed the art auction this time. I think there were 3 different auctions on this 7-day cruise. I made use of the fitness center and the spa, especially when it was too windy or hot to walk the outside track. This ship is so large that the track says 4.5 laps is one mile.

I was pleasantly surprised by the amenities and service on this ship. They were excellent.
Next post: The ports of call.

Cruise Ship Review

2010-03-10T13:03:00.000-06:00

What follows is my review of a recent 4-night cruise to Cozumel on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. This is one of the line's Voyager Class of ships.
This was my first time on a RCCL ship, so I spent a lot of time walking around and thinking about how this ship compares to the Carnival cruises I've done before.

First of all, this is a big ship, carrying 3100 passengers. It is 1020 feet long and weighs 138,000 tons. It has 14 decks. Think 10 football fields long. The largest ship I'd been on before was the Carnival Pride, which only carries 2124 people and is 88,000 tons.
We are dwarfed by the ship.

My main rule on cruise ships is to never take the elevators, so I certainly got exercise going from the dining room on Deck 4 to my cabin on Deck 7, up to the jogging track on Deck 13, to the Ice Rink on Deck 3, from fore to aft and back again, etc. Ok, I took an elevator a few times, but not more than a few!

The Navigator was launched in 2002, and it seemed to me that it is showing some signs of wear and tear. The upholstery looked very worn and dated in some of the lounges, and the carpet in the stateroom halls looked faded.
Glitzy Atrium with glass elevators

I was continually surprised at the range of decor throughout the ship.
The casino has a Mardi Gras theme, the dining rooms have ballet themes, the casual dining spaces have an Asian theme in front ("Jade") and Polynesian theme in the back ("Windjammer"). The stateroom halls have pale pink walls with green leaf-print carpeting.

There are several themed bars, which are repeated on many RCCL ships: Schooner Bar, with nautical decor, Boleros, the Latin-themed lounge, Vintages Wine Bar, looking like a wine cellar, an Irish pub with dark paneled walls and small tables on the Promenade in front of it. Many of the Carnival ships have one theme that is repeated throughout the ship. For example, the Carnival Ecstasy has a theme of "Great Cities of the World" and it's lounges and bars and stairwells reflect that theme. Every space on the Navigator has a different theme and decor and I'm sure people like that.

The Navigator has a great adult space in the aft called the Solarium, with nice lounge chairs, a pool, hot tubs, and partial roofing, making it a good place to relax out of the sun and out of the crowds of the main pools.

The jogging track is long, only 5 laps to a mile, but it winds around and between many lounge chairs on the deck. It's hard to concentrate on exercise when the track is also the main walkway around that deck, (people are in the way of the joggers) and one of the main lounge chair areas (not too relaxing to sit there when people are huffing and puffing past you, flinging sweat). A dedicated jogging track would be much appreciated. This trip I didn't use the exercise equipment, but the Navigator has a large space with lots of machines and weights. They also have spinning classes (which I didn't try).
RoyalCaribbean is also known for the rock climbing walls. Next trip, I'm definitely doing this!

I did go to the spa for a massage, and that was great. It's operated by the same spa company as the Carnival ships I've been on.

The ice rink at open skate time

I went to the Ice Show, a feature only on RCCL ships (and only the larger ships). The ice rink is open for anyone to skate at certain times, as well.

I went to one of the big production shows featuring rock music, and lasted about 10 minutes at one of the comedy shows. I would say the productions weren't any better than I've experienced on Carnival. The Love and Marriage Show is a hoot (on both lines)-think Newlywed Game with 3 couples who have been married for short, medium and long times. Also, the karaoke shows are really interesting and fun. They usually have several sessions, winnow down participants and have a sing-off on the last day of the cruise. The final participants are really good.

Another staple of cruise activities is the art auction. I like the fact that they give out free champagne, and you can get a free print for showing up. The print I got this time wasn't to my liking but that's the fun of it: you might get something you like. The art auctioneers give out raffle prizes, so it's also fun to stick around to see if I'd win anything.

People go there looking for a bargain, but there really aren't any out there. I asked about a print I liked and they told me if I would agree to "start the bidding" for it at a certain amount, and no one bid against me, I could buy it for that special price. Interesting way to run an auction. They advertise a 30 minute preview period, but it usually lasts closer to 1 hour, as they are trying to get people to agree to "start the bidding" on pieces. I must confess that I never stay for the whole auction, as the auctioneers drag it out as long as possible....I think when lots of people start to leave they know to wrap it up.

We also joined in the Afternoon Trivia contest. Teams compete on a 20 question trivia test. I'm happy to say my team tied for the win!
Abundant food is the hallmark of a good cruise! Our waiters in the dining room were very friendly and accommodating, bringing extra desserts-count the 9 desserts on the table-and meeting special requests for food not on the menu. Food quality is very good, about the same as Carnival. We never felt rushed to finish quickly, even as the dining room emptied out and the staff started to clean. On two of the nights the staff paraded through the dining room to music. On the 4-night Carnival cruise, I think the dining room staff had a performance each night, with more dancing and singing. But Carnival bills itself as "The Fun Ships" and the staff work hard to create that sense of fun.

Our cabin was roomy enough, and we enjoyed the balcony with the sliding glass door. The beds were rather short and had a temporary feel, rather than a comfortable hotel bed feel. Not any better than Carnival. The Navigator does have curved panels around the shower, which makes for a nicer configuration in the bathroom. No samples of shampoo, conditioner, etc. that Carnival has. Also our category of cabin did not come with bathrobes.

Aside from the dining room service, I found other attendants and waiters varied in the quality of service received. On the short 4-night cruises there's not a lot of time to get to know the staff, and the same for them getting to know the passengers. We never had poor service, but didn't feel wowed except for our dining room waiters. The Head Waiter also made an effort to stop by our table and talk with us each night.

I was pleasantly surprised by the ship and the range of activities. For such a large ship, we didn't wait in lines for food or shows-except for the ice show. Line up 30 min. before the doors open because the good seats fill up fast. The atmosphere on board ship was nice, different from Carnival's, but not too sedate.

I don't feel I've had enough experience to really compare the cruise lines, so that means a few more trips. Don't know when I'll actually become an expert....but I'll have fun working on it!

Freestyle Moguls and Snowboard Cross

2010-02-15T19:12:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, we had tickets for Men's Freestyle Moguls. This is the men's version of the same event won by American Hannah Kearney on Saturday night. We had to get to Capilano University to get an Olympic Bus System Bus to the venue: Cypress Mountain Ski Area, about 30 min. north of Vancouver. We were able to drive to the U, and park for free. But it was over a half-mile walk up hill to the bus circle. Then we got on the bus (had to buy a special bus ticket for each event) and rode up the mountain. The bus let us off and we walked another half-mile up to the security tents. The venue grandstands were about a 10 min. walk beyond that. This reinforces my earlier observation that spectators have to be pretty fit to make it to their seats.
Street performers lightened the mood at the Cypress Mountain venue.

We also passed by a huge crane helicopter close to the ski area. If you read about how the Olympic organizers have had to truck in and fly in snow to create the venues, this is one of the vehicles that can carry a 10-ton load each trip. We heard that 300 truck loads of snow were brought in from as far as three hours away.

A bouncing ball kept the crowd entertained during the break between qualifying and finals events

The Cypress Mountain venue has 2 major areas for events: moguls and aerials on one side, and snowboard cross and halfpipe on the other side. Sunday we were on the moguls side. Each competitor got a qualifying run and the top 20 got into the finals. These photos are dark, but the sun was actually out for much of the day. We came prepared for rain with umbrellas and ponchos, as well as wearing our ski clothes and heavy boots. Luckily, we didn't have rain.
Doing a back flip after the main mogul run.

There were extremely long lines for food and washrooms, so that was a bummer. We bought as much food as we thought we'd need for the 8 hours we would be there. I made one bottle of water last all day....
It was dark when the last run took place and the Canadian, Alexandre Bilobeau, got the gold medal, the first gold medal for a Canadian on home soil. This was an important milestone for Canadians, as this is the third Olympics Canada has hosted and they'd not won a gold medal
"at home" to this point.

We hoofed it to the bus line to avoid the long waits for buses back down the mountain. We stopped for take-out Chinese food on the way back to the condo and again watched fireworks from our windows as we enjoyed dinner.

Monday saw DH and I go back to Capilano U. to take the bus back to Cypress Mountain for the Snowboard Cross event. Paul and Jen decided to sell their tickets as Jen needed to be in touch with her office for the morning. We repeated yesterday's trek and bus and trek to the venue on the other side of Cypress Mountain.

This venue had the added bonus of 200 + steps up from ground level to the grandstands. It's hard to see in the photo, but that nice wall with the Olympic design is the back of the stands, and there is a staircase going up and up and up.
The snowboard cross has snowboarders going down a course that has jumps and tight turns. In the finals, 4 boarders go at once, racing each other to the finish. It is exciting to watch. Unfortunately, each boarder gets 2 qualifying runs on the course single, and there were 35 boarders in the competition. The first qualifying run took over an hour. And that isn't so exciting to watch, after you see the first 20 or so.....

As this is our last day, we decided to leave before the finals so we could do more shopping and sightseeing in town. So we didn't get to see American Seth Westcott win, although we did see his qualifying run.

We took the bus back to North Vancouver and got on the Seabus across the bay to downtown Vancouver. We shopped again at The Bay (official Olympic Superstore headquarters), although the line to get in was long. We walked to the waterfront to see the Olympic torch. This is PW's photo. You will see an empty plaza around the torch. There is a 8 ft. high chain link fence around the plaza, some say due to fears of vandalism. (There was some vandalism to downtown stores on Saturday by masked "protesters".) I don't know the real reason, but it is too bad that people can't enjoy the sight/site freely.

Each day the pedestrian plazas are more crowded and there are long lines to enter the pavilions set up by corporations and different countries. It seems that the city is embracing the spirit of the games!

Short Track (and more shopping)

2010-02-14T09:56:00.001-06:00

First of all, I forgot to include Friday's step count: 13, 383.
Saturday was cooler and cloudier and a light rain fell most of the day. We weren't in such a hurry to get out there, but we really should have, as we got caught by the crowds that hampered our ability to get around quickly.

We took the Aquabus from David Lam Park on the north side of False Creek, about a 10 minute walk from our condo. It was $5.00 for a return ticket to Granville Island, just across the Creek. The ferries have plastic windows, so we stayed dry. After the quick trip down the creek and under the bridge, we landed at the Granville Island docks. We walked up the ramps to the Public Market.
There is a huge set of buildings with food shops and restaurant stalls of all kinds. We walked around overwhelmed by the beautiful displays. We weren't hungry yet, so we left the food market and walked across the street to the shopping area. More Olympic merchandise, as well as local art, crafts, and souvenirs.

We came back to the food hall to get lunch, but by then the crowds had arrived and we couldn't find a table. Since it was raining, everyone wanted to eat lunch inside.... We walked around for a while and finally decided to eat standing up. We all got something different (hot dog! lasagna! dumplings! fish and chips!) and were able to watch the crowds while holding up a wall. I tried the grape bread from Terra Breads. Interestingly sweet and savory at the same time.

Back across the creek via Aquabus and time to get ready for the next event.

We drove to East Vancouver and the Pacific Coliseum, home to the short track skating events. But there was no parking. Anywhere. We had been led to believe that people in the neighborhoods near the coliseum would be selling parking in their driveways, but this was not the case. Public parking lots were for permitted cars only, and there were multiple spaces in them, but we couldn't get in.
After about 30 minutes of driving around, we happened on a Holiday Inn Express that had a sign out that said $20 Event Parking. Bingo! And only a 15 min. walk to the venue. Of course, once in the gates, there was the security line, but as we were entering right as the event started, the lines were short. My gum was confiscated (no outside food allowed), but they didn't find my other pack of gum or my Kashi bar. Or Doug's trail mix. Then another 10 minute walk to the doors of the coliseum. Getting to the venues requires one to be in shape! Or have an access pass.

Short Track Speed Skating is an exciting event to watch. They run the races in heats, with four to seven racers in each heat. The track is a short oval, so laps add up quickly. We saw qualifying heats for Women's 3000M relay, Women's 500M Individual, and Qualifying and Finals for Men's 1500M. (1500 M is 14.5 laps).
The racers change position quickly and it can be dangerous. Several people were wiped out in different heats. The best Canadian racer, Charles Hamelin, was upended in his semifinal heat and was forced to race in the consolation final round, not in medal contention.

The best part is the 1500M is Apolo Anton Ohno's first race, so we were thrilled to be in the audience with the other Americans rooting for him and the rest of the team. The final heat was very exciting, with him being forced to the front and then being boxed out by three Koreans.

Two Koreans bumped into each other just before the finish line and fell down, so Ohno and the other American, Celski got silver and bronze, the remaining Korean getting gold.

The next 2 photos are copyrighted by PW, so please don't copy without credit.Apolo in the lead; Flower Ceremony

They have a "Flower Ceremony" to acknowledge the winners at the venues, but medals are awarded in downtown "Medal Ceremonies", which are in a large arena and a ticketed event.

After hitting up some more souvenir shops at the venue, we joined the crowd for the long walk back to the car.
Finding dinner was another adventure, as the perfect storm of Saturday night, Chinese New Year, and Olympic crowds made all the restaurants we tried full to overflowing. We finally ended up at a street tent near our condo and got hamburgers and hot dogs to go. Back in the condo we ate al fresco (always wanted to say that!) and watched reruns of the day's events. We got to see the nightly fireworks show on False Creek from our windows.

Step count: 11, 475. Not sure if the ped. was counting the whole time, as I noticed it hanging from my belt several times, due to jostling under several layers of clothes.
Hoping for better weather!

Opening Ceremony (and Shopping)

2010-02-13T11:23:00.001-06:00

Out and about in Vancouver on Friday. Lots of street art and decorated buildings. There are numerous pedestrian plazas and people are starting to gather and take photos of each other as they cavort in the streets. We see many brightly colored jackets from different teams. There are large men walking around wearing signs hanging from their necks that say "Tickets Wanted-Buy or Sell". Not sure I'd want to deal with them, as they look scary.

Lantern Forest-paper lanterns decorated by children and lit up at night. Hudson's Bay Co. store in background to the right.
Canadian spirit is everywhere!

We walked up to the Hudson's Bay Company store where the Official Olympic Superstore has taken over about half of the first floor. We had to wait in line to get in, and once in, my goodness, so much to buy....A logo can be put on just about anything!
This is not my bag!

The hot item at this Olympics are the red mittens, worn by the torch bearers. In Salt Lake, the USA beret was the hot item. People were scooping up mass quantities of the mittens. We left the store after trying to see everything and figuring out which was the shortest checkout line. The person ahead of me spent $1941.00, so the lines were quite lengthy.

We were hungry after shopping and ended up at George/Brix Restaurant. On the Hamilton St. level, the lounge is George, but on the Mainland St. level the restaurant is Brix. Same kitchen. Excellent crab cakes there. I had the Caesar Salad with chicken (no dressing).
Later in the afternoon, we watched the Olympic torch finish it's run through the city. We were able to stand on the street in front of our condo building, so that was easy.
The Opening Ceremony was at BC Place, an indoor arena. We had seats in the balcony at the far end of the stage. Everyone got a box shaped like a drum with items in it for the audience participation segments. We got trained in using the flashlights and electric candles and we had to wear a paper poncho so that the lighting effects could be seen. If you watched the ceremony on TV and saw that the different flags were arrayed over the audience, that was the lighting effect. We used the box like a drum when the athletes paraded into the arena. During the k.d.lang song the electric candles were supposed to light up row-by-row from the bottom to the top, but people didn't follow directions very well.
Team Macedonia, one of the teams with very few members.
We really enjoyed the special effects, although I'm sure some of them looked better on TV. IT was a very long show, but the musical numbers really got the crowd going. There was a nice tribute to the luger that was killed in a training run. The athlete's parade is the best.

Team USA entering the arena.
It was an amazing experience to be in the audience for an event that I've watched so many times on TV. Afterwards, we walked to a nice fusion-type restaurant called Regional Tasting Lounge (rtl) for dinner, but it was very late and we probably weren't in the mood for such fancy/different food. It was also raining pretty hard after the event, so we did get quite wet walking to dinner.
We all received a card for this digital souvenir project, so I'm sharing it with you.

Thanks for all the comments! And more photos on Flickr soon!

Hello Seattle! Hello Vancouver!

2010-02-12T00:46:00.001-06:00

The Road Show gets to go to the Olympics! This has been in the works since we went to the 2006 Olympics in Salt Lake City and had a blast. The planning started with entering the 2010 event ticket lottery in the summer of 09. We submitted requests for events we wanted and had to be willing to tie up that amount of money for the duration. We weren't that lucky on our allotment, but our intrepid traveling companions, Paul and Jen, were able to score big. DH and I are staying for 4 days of events and competition, while they are in for the whole 2 weeks.

So travel day, Feb. 11, was uneventful. A lot of rain and snow, but not the paralyzing kind. We were met by P&J in Seattle and spent a few hours touring this maritime city. We walked along the waterfront, went to Pike Place Market (where they throw the fish, but we didn't see any in the air), and then to Olympic Park Sculpture Garden. The weather alternated with light rain to just cloudy, but it wasn't cold. We ate lunch at Lowell's Restaurant in the Public Market. Great cod rolls and fish and chips.
Car ferries go back and forth from the many island communities to the big city.
Typewriter eraser by Claes Oldenburg.
The original Starbucks, near Pike Place Market. We also went to a Top Pot Doughnut shop, as I had seen the show on the best doughnuts in America and that is one of the places. The doughnuts were good, as was the coffee. Note happy customer:

We then got in the silver Suburban and headed north to the border. It was rainy and there was a lot of traffic at times, but we made it across the border in no time.

We drove into Vancouver and arranged to pick up our landlord so he could check us in to our condo. We're on the 25th floor with great views to the south, west and north.
We are in the neighborhood called Yaletown, so we are close to many pedestrian-only areas and the free events centers. We headed downtown to see the Olympic torch run by. Lots of crowds, but I did see the flame being held up by an arm. Didn't try to get a photo.
Went to dinner at Rodney's Oyster and Raw Bar and had excellent halibut. The waiters were amazed to see so many people walking the streets. And the festivities are just beginning....

Taking a page from my friend Trailerfulloftpix, I'm wearing my pedometer.
I walked 10, 335 steps; not bad for spending 5 hours on a plane and nearly 4 hours in a car.

I'm hoping to post more photos on Flickr, so follow the link.

Winter Travel

2010-02-03T14:45:00.000-06:00

We spent a very chilly weekend in the Texas Hill Country in January. We're talking 10 degrees F. in the mornings and not getting much above freezing during the day. There was ice in the birdbath and small potholes along the river, and thin ice along the banks of the river.
Frozen grasses encased in ice in the small ponds.
We enjoyed the sun, and the thinner ice did melt during the day.
The air was crisp and fresh. It was very different from a spring or summertime visit to this area. We usually can sit by the river in the warm sun, wade and swim in the pleasant water, and look for shade in the afternoon! But not this time!

The landscape is very different in the winter. The live oaks still have leaves, but they are a dull green. The rest of the trees have lost their leaves, and their branches really stand out against the landscape. You can see the bunches of mistletoe growing in the high branches of various trees quite clearly. The fields are different shades of browns and dijon-mustard yellows.

People who travel to this area for hunting season are familiar with the more barren landscape, but others who just come for the wildflowers in the spring or to enjoy the lakes and rivers in the summer see something completely different.

The bald eagles return to their nests along the rivers and they are easily seen perched in the bare branches of the tallest trees. They can see potential prey much more easily in this season. By April, they'll be gone. We've seen them flying over the rivers, hunting for fish.

We're lucky if we get to see the same place at different times of the year. That's something to think about when making travel plans. Most of the time it seems we want to get to that next new place on the list. If you can return to a place in a different season, it may give you a whole new experience and a new appreciation of a familiar place.

Cruise to Cozumel (and back)

2009-12-13T13:24:00.001-06:00

Aboard the Carnival Ecstasy!

The Road Show went on a working vacation in October. As part of a new venture, a friend and I put together a group cruise with a twist. We booked cabins on the Carnival Ecstasy sailing from Galveston and brought along a Maya archeologist/anthropologist to help us learn about the ancient Maya civilization.

While on board the ship, our expert, Dr. Jennifer Mathews, (Associate Professor of Anthropology at Trinity University, San Antonio) provided us with an overview of the Maya civilization. We arranged for a private meeting room (the Chinatown Lounge) and screen and projector set-up. Everyone enjoyed the presentation and looked forward to the day in Cozumel.

Our port day came on Saturday, and we were met by our Yaxkin tour guide Miguel and driver Antonio. (We booked this tour through the Cozumel Insider website and were very happy with the service and prices!)

Our group had a beautiful 30 passenger bus, and we were off to the Maya ruins at San Gervasio. Miguel and Dr. Mathews led us around the partially restored site with several small temples and buildings. The site is believed to have been a pilgrimage stop, with buildings dedicated to the goddess Ix Chel.

After the ruins, Miguel took us on a tour of Cozumel’s eastern shore, with stops at the rocky beaches, the Tequila Factory and the tiny town of El Cedral. We ate lunch on the waterfront in downtown Cozumel, at the Tikky Tok restaurant. Good regional food.

Some people had time to shop at the Puerta Maya Pier where the Carnival ships dock.

On the last sea day, we again convened in the Chinatown Lounge for Dr. Mathews’ second presentation on her book, “Chicle: The Chewing Gum of the Americas from the Ancient Maya to William Wrigley.” We all enjoyed learning the history of the chicleros and the story of the Wrigley family fortune, not to mention tasting the samples of natural chicle gum by the Glee Gum company.

Acting as escort to a tour group has been fun! It certainly kept me busy! I did take about 15 minutes to sit on a deck chair and contemplate the ocean, I was able to get a great massage at the spa, and even had time for the slot machine tournament. but after each fun activity for myself it was back to making sure things were going well for the group. Of course, any time you can look out your window at calm seas, beautiful clouds, and have room service, life is pretty good!

My new Merrell shoes.

Will definitely do this again! Thanks to everyone who helped the dream become a reality! You know who you are!

If you want to read another account of this trip, go to my friend’s blog: Sanchez Travels.

Activities in Central Mexico!

2009-09-10T08:42:00.001-05:00

One thing I've really enjoyed in San Miguel is the interesting door knockers and door pulls. I will post more photos on Flickr and hope to do some prints or note cards.
One day we hired Rafael Tovar, of Rafa Tours to take us on a full-day tour of the colonial city of Guanajuato. This is one of 3 gilded altars at the Valenciana Church in Guanajuato.
Guanajuato was developed by the Spanish during colonial times because of the rich veins of silver and gold in the area. The wealth was lavished on the many churches in the region. This church, completed in 1788, is the most elaborate, with a highly decorated Baroque facade. It commands a view of the entire area, standing high on a mountain overlooking the valley.
Another highlight of our tour of Guanajuato included the Callejon del Beso, or Alley of the Kiss. The houses are so close together here that two lovers could reach across the alley from their balconies and make plans for their future. Unfortunately, the girl's father didn't approve of this match, and stabbed his daughter on the balcony. The young man was only able to kiss his dying love's hand before she passed away. Legend has it that couples coming here have to stand on the steps and kiss so that they continue their good relationship. Of course, all the couples in the group had to do this, while we snapped photos of each other! (Not for publication...)
The largest monument in Guanajuato is El Pipila, the statue comemmorating one of the first battles of the Mexican Revolution in 1810. It is visible from many places in the city and is simply huge. Pipila is the nickname of a simple miner from San Miguel who strapped a huge flagstone block on his back as a shield so that he could crawl to the door of the Corn Exchange to set it on fire. Inside the Corn Exchange were the governor and soldiers preparing for battle against the revolutionaries, as well as supplies, weapons and silver ingots that the rebels wanted. The rebels were able to take the building after a bloody (and fiery) battle, thanks to the bravery of Pipila and others. This gave the rebels a tremendous advantage at the start of the revolution. Independence from Spain wasn't won until 1821.
As September 15 (Mexican Independence Day) was drawing near, patriotic banners and flags were being put up all over the towns. We saw many stalls and vendors with lots of patriotic gear for sale. In addition, buildings and roads are being spruced up and improved. With the bicentennial of Mexican Independence in 2010 approaching, this area will be very busy in the next year!
We also visited the Diego Rivera House and Museum, several other churches, the Teatro Juarez, the Plaza Principal, the University of Guanajuato. It was a long day, and Rafael made it fun and interesting! He also took us underground, where the city has a network of tunnels, originally built for flood control, now developed for traffic control, to protect the inner part of the city. That is very interesting.

Back in San Miguel, we took a "Mexican Fusion"cooking class led by San Miguel restaurant owner Kris Rudolph (see her site). We made guacamole with pomegranate seeds, chili rellenos with goat cheese and vegetable filling, mango/chipotle salsa, and had a nice meal with margaritas. That was fun and a good time. Kris is a good teacher and has lots of interesting techniques.

On another day, we took a taxi about 30 minutes outside of town (the guidebooks said it was about 15 minutes outside of town, but the traffic is terrible and the roads are under construction) to the thermal springs called "La Gruta." There are beautiful landscaped grounds and a series of pools with warmer or cooler temperatures. This photo is of the wamer pool, and there is a tunnel that leads to a brick-ceilinged grotto where the really warm water soothes the joints. Think steam room and hot tub in a large darkened space. We lounged in the water for a good long while, then had margaritas and guacamole on the patio. A relaxing way to spend half a day.

San Miguel is a great place to spend some time. The weather when we went was warm in the day, cool in the evening, with a shower almost every afternoon! We definitely want to go back!

Hola San Miguel de Allende!

2009-09-05T17:22:00.001-05:00

We're enjoying a week in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, staying at a beautiful house that we won in a charity silent auction. We're with two other couples so we're able to share expenses. San Miguel is known for its artists and artisans in a beautiful Spanish colonial town. The weather is mild, due to the location: southwest of Mexico City in the central highlands. This time of the year it's warm in the day, cool at night, with chance of daily showers. We've been lucky not to get rained on so far.
One of the main sites is the parish church, La Parroquia de San Miguel de Allende. It has amazing spires and lots of baroque details. It is in the center of town, in El Jardin, the garden square. Great for people watching. At night on Friday, many mariachi bands stroll the park, anxious to play for the tourists. Cafes and stores surround the garden, as well as government offices (there's even a discreet Starbucks), so there's always a lot of action here. Since it's near Mexican Independence Day (Sept. 16), the buildings and streets are getting decorated with special banners and medallions in red, white and green, the colors of the Mexican flag.
We went to the covered market and down a street with many artisans working in their stalls to produce silver jewelry or painted pots or sculptures. There were also fresh fruits and vegetables, herbs, grilled corn on the cob, women making tortillas and sweet breads.
We stopped in at the Biblioteca Publica and had a coffee at the outdoor cafe. The library is the center of the American community and, since it was Saturday, we saw many kids taking classes in reading, music, and art, spread throughout the buildings.
The streets of San Miguel are cobblestoned, with high narrow sidewalks and mucho traffic. Every street is more picturesque than the last, with colorful buildings, interesting doors and windows, and a view of a church steeple or valley. It's also very hilly, and it seems we're always walking uphill. We rented an ATV to zip around the streets and that was fun, but a little scary -- those things can go pretty fast.

We enjoyed a delicious roof-top dinner at La Posadita and lunch at Torta Mundo.
We arranged with Rafa Tours (scroll down)for transportation to and from the airport and to take us on a day trip to Guanajuato later in the week.

Stay tuned for possible updates! Thanks!

Down Under this Summer/Winter!

2009-08-18T17:28:00.000-05:00

Visiting DD and DSIL thanks to a great fare sale on VAustralia. The prolific Virgin group has started routes from the West Coast to the 3 major Aussie cities. Fare wars!

Flew from LAX to BNE (Brisbane) in 12.5 hrs. 4 movies, 2 meals and you’re there…..Had to give up my raw almonds at Customs, but roasted almonds would have been ok to bring in the country. Will remember that next time….. Just remember to declare on the form whatever you're bringing in so the Customs people will be nice to you.

Winter in Brisbane is 70-75 degrees during the day, 50s at night. One could get used to that!

Happened to arrive during the Ekka-the Exposition or the Royal Queensland Show. Think State Fair! We took the train right to the show grounds on Thursday, and joined the crowds going from pavilion to show barn. It is much like the livestock and agriculture shows in the States, with lots of food booths (similar food-mostly bad for you) and demos of all kinds. There is also judging of animals, skills, products, displays, etc. The main differences I found were the Showbag Hall, and the sheer number of entries displayed in arts, crafts, and food skills.

Showbags are promotional souvenir gift bags. They come in many sizes from $1 to $35, with corresponding quantities of items in them. Candy showbags are very popular, as are kids’ TV shows and pop culture icons. Perfume, makeup, and other companies also sold gift packs of products, at the higher dollar values….The majority of the Ekka daily newspaper is given over to listing the items in each show bag, and the Showbag hall is the biggest pavilion there. It was fascinating!

The weekend found us heading north to explore Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. The beaches are beautiful here, about 3.5 hours north of Brisbane. This is a national park and one needs permits for camping.

Driving is permitted on the beach, and there was a lot of traffic while we were there, especially on the southern end, close to the ferry barges.

We took a 4WD tour and spent the day zooming along sandy roads and beaches seeing a shipwreck, coloured sands, inland sub-tropical rainforests, and beautiful freshwater lakes.

We stayed in the small town of Rainbow Beach and had a good meal at the Rainbow Beach Hotel Restaurant. Upscale food ordered and picked up at the counter is an interesting restaurant concept. No tipping necessary!

Our stay at the Plantation Resort was very nice: we had a 2-bedroom apt. with balcony and rooftop terrace.

On the way back to Brisbane we stopped in at the Ginger Factory to see how ginger is grown and brought to market, and the Nut Factory-all about macadamias-the only naturally-occuring food in Australia that is commercially grown. This is where Hawaii got all its macademia plants.... Stay tuned for more adventures during my winter stay in Brisbane!

Alaska, Part 2

2009-08-10T23:06:00.000-05:00

I know this is long in being posted, but wanted to get photos up with this post.

Our second week in Alaska was even more amazing than the first week! And we thought we had done a lot already! We drove up to Fairbanks and then went east to the end of the Chena Hot Springs Road. We stayed at the Chena Hot Springs Resort and went from cold (20 degrees in the Ice Museum) to hot (100 + degrees in the hot springs pool) in a day! The resort uses its geothermal springs to power the buildings, so that is very interesting. DH got in some fishing and moose sightings.

After a nice weekend (but rather quiet as our traveling companions had to head home slightly early due to a bad tooth), we headed back to Fairbanks to do some sightseeing: The Museum of the North at UAF, art galleries, and the headquarters for the Yukon Quest dog sled race. We also took the Riverboat Discovery paddle wheel cruise..... This is very touristy, but one gets to see a bush plane take off and land on the river, a dog-sled demonstration, and tour a replica of an Indian Village.
We also found a great B&B: the All Seasons Inn.

The next stop was 2 days at Denali National Park, where we kept hoping for a peek at the big peak: Denali, or Mt. McKinley, as it is called on the maps. We took the bus ride into the park that goes to mile 53: about an 8 hr round trip. We saw lots of wildlife, notably a wolf, several grizzlies, caribou, Dall sheep; some saw a lynx, but I missed that one.

We also watched the dog sled demo-those dogs love to run!

Stayed at the Denali Lakeview Inn in Healy, just north of the park. Comfortable rooms and great views of Lake Otto! Very restful with a lazy boy chair right in front of the window.

Good restaurants: The Perch, The Overlook.
Ok, but I wouldn't have to go back there: Panorama Pizza Pub
(I got carded here. I didn't find it flattering, just annoying. Pizza was pretty good, however.)

One night in Talkeetna-our last night in the Far North. Talkeetna was the model for the town in the show "Northern Exposure"-or so the story goes.
I had fun seeing the mix of shops and people. While I shopped, DH took a jet boat upriver to fish. He had fun catching salmon with a fly rod.

We went with Talkeetna Air Taxi on a flightseeing adventure.

We hoped to see the peak and land on a glacier. They even gave us glacier boots. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so we had to fly below the clouds-too low to see the top of the mountain. It peeked out for just a second, but not really long enough to get a good photo.... And the clouds were covering our landing area, so we couldn't set feet on the glacier, either.

We used our last day to drive to Anchorage and see the Anchorage Museum of Art. It has a wonderful floor that tells the history of Alaska in life-sized dioramas and lots of photos and artifacts. The Alaska artists gallery was great, too.

One great tip: We bought an Alaska Tour Saver book for $99. We saved over $350 in tours and entry fees with the 2-for-1 coupons. Would definitely do that again.

Thanks soooooo much to Roberta and Don for helping us realize our Alaskan ambitions and thanks to new friend Hank for kind hospitality and travel tips. Also, to Trudy and Bob for going out of your way to help us out!

Hello From Alaska!

2009-07-19T20:42:00.000-05:00

Hello from the Far North!

The Road Show has taken off for the 49^th state! Alaska is huge and wonderful! We started out in Anchorage, where we enjoyed some of the downtown area –especially Humpy’s for lunch and Artique for art-and stayed with a new friend who lives in the hills east of the city. The views are spectacular-far off and close up!

I saw a moose on my morning walk, which was quite exciting. She was checking me out, so I moved on rather quickly!

We then drove down the Seward Highway stopping at Girdwood (The Bake Shop and the Double Musky are must do’s here) and ended up in Miller’s Landing, a small community with a boat ramp, camping areas, and several B&B’s and homes, just south of the town of Seward on Resurrection Bay. Bald eagles are easily spotted, and we saw sea otters playing in the water just off the beach.

We stayed at our friend’s cabin on the bay, and once again my Camp Northland years stood me in good stead –the outhouse was just down the path through the trees….This cabin was really lovely!

Although with 19+hours of daylight, we didn’t need a flashlight in the wee hours (hah.)…..

Seward is the farthest north ice-free port in the US, so it was very important during WWII and for shipping. You can see the remnants of the army fortifications in various places around town and in the bay. Now it is a recreational area and cruise ship port, and a site for a maximum security prison if you don’t behave….It is also the terminus for the Alaska Railroad and the traditional start for the famous Iditarod sled dog race. It has a nice main street area and a slightly more commercial port area.

We ate at Thorn’s Showcase Lounge (go for the fried halibut chunks and bar ambience), The Breeze Restaurant for breakfast, got coffee at the Resurrect Art Gallery and Coffee House. Outside of town, on the road to Exit Glacier, we stopped in at The Salmon Bake (“Cheap food and lousy beer”) for halibut, salmon, and Alaska microbrews. It’s in a log cabin building and has some rustic atmosphere.

We took a boat ride through Kenai Fjords National Park, looking at the sea lions, humpback whales, puffins, even an orca who killed a porpoise just off the stern of our boat. We also saw Holgate Glacier from the water, and watched huge chunks calve into the sea.

DH and I took the Exit Glacier hike-through the pine and cottonwood forests up to the edge of the glacier. They won’t let people actually go up to the glacier and touch it any more, as someone did that and was killed when a piece fell off and hit her. The husband was telling her to “back up a little more” so he could get a better picture. Hmm.The winds coming off the glacier were quite strong and very cold. They are called “catabatic” winds.

We had to say goodbye to the cabin and head back to Anchorage.

We stayed one night and got on the road for Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs. It was a long drive (400 mi.) through beautiful scenery: Mountains, forests, marshy bogs, farm land. We stopped at the Musk Ox farm to see those woolly creatures. We looked for Mt. McKinley, but it was hidden in the clouds. Only 30 % of people who come get to see it. We hope we beat the odds. Saw 2 moose on the roadways; We drove by Denali National Park and plan to go back there next week.

Made it through Fairbanks and on to Chena Hot Springs. The springs were discovered in 1905 and there have been camps here ever since. It is now a year-round full-service resort with lots of activities, and of course, the hot springs.

It has an ice museum that is very interesting-and cold! We're here another night and then on to Fairbanks, Denali, and Talkeetna before heading back to Anchorage and home. Hope to get some photos on Flikr soon.

Kayaking and Family Reunion

2009-07-12T07:42:00.000-05:00

We've stayed pretty close to home lately, except for the Family Reunion, which is a little later in the post. We did our annual kayak race with our good friends early in June. This time we traveled west to Junction (where West Texas begins) to conquer the South Llano River. We stayed at a lovely purpose-built B&B called the South Llano River Lodge. They cater to those come to the area to enjoy the river-either fishing or kayaking. Our hosts, Walter and Susan, were quite welcoming and friendly, and we enjoyed the ranch setting.

We did about 5 miles on the river-we drove up to a park and put in the boats and floated down past our B&B to the first bridge. Along the way we saw a few tubers, and a couple of horses cooling off in the water.

Cows expecting lunch.

The water had a good current and few rapids. Some of us went back for more the next day, and some got to enjoy the fishing. We had dinner at the County Grill and Isaak's Restaurant. Both are BYOB and serve hearty portions. The County Grill had amazing chicken fried steak (according to those who ate it-I'm passing along their recs).
Isaak's had a mounted jackalope-always sad to see that another wild animal has become someone's trophy on a wall.
The weather was great and we had a lot of fun!

Then we traveled to the Windy City and points north for our first formal family reunion. I saw cousins I hadn't seen in many many years! (Let's just say the cousins are grown up and have kids that are older than they were when I last saw them!) I got to see college friends and go to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, which are amazing. It's a huge place, and each section flows to the next with carefully planned walkways and sightlines.

The rest of the weekend was spent at Geneva Lake, WI. We stayed at the George Williams College Campus, in Williams Bay, which is on the west end of the lake. It is a great place for a conference or reunion, as they have many housing options and meal plans. We had a private dining room for each of the 2 nights and even the cafeteria had excellent breakfast food! I heartily recommend this place! We took a boat ride on the lake and our driver/guide pointed out the beautiful summer homes of the rich and (sometimes) famous. We loved the s'mores around the campfire and the egg toss competition! The camaraderie was great and everyone got along-it was just so great to see the patriarchs and their families together again!This is not supposed to be a hyperlink to anything, and I dont know why it's writing it like this.
Geneva Lake is not that far from Chicago (about 60 miles) but it can take hours in the rush hour traffic-everyone rushing to their weekend places! We drove through farm land, horse country, small towns and lakeside communities with boats in every yard. We stopped at a Brat Stop, all things meaty and tubular. And lots of cheese, too.
DH and DS got caught up in stormy weather and almost didn't make the reunion. But hours on the phone with American Airlines got them 2 seats the next day and they made it in time for most of the fun.
We spent our last night back in the Chicago 'burb where I grew up, and had dinner with long-time friends and family. We drove past my elementary school and my old house. The house looked bigger and the yard looked smaller than I remembered. I remember being able to walk "uptown" and go to 31 Flavors (Baskin-Robbins) and get an ice cream cone for 12 cents. (2 scoops: 25 cents with tax). I didn't even recognize uptown any more. Ok. Enough of the geezer talk....
Safe travels to everyone this summer!
More from the Road Show later this month!

Calling all Camp Northland Girls!

2009-06-03T08:25:00.001-05:00

Well, school's about over and summer's on the way!
To recapture your youth, you might want to check out the photos from the CN Reunion 07
and join the Yahoo group to reconnect with long-time friends! (Please note I didn't say "old" friends!)
Discussions are underway for a CN Reunion '10! More will be posted on the Yahoo site later in the summer-when it's good and hot and we're thinking of those Northland breezes!
Now where is my camp trunk and the laundry box??

Choo choo!

2009-06-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

Ok that was a lame title, but it's before coffee, so it is what it is....
The Road Show has been sticking pretty close to home these days, enjoying trips to the Hill Country as often as possible.

Thanks to another silent auction, we got certificates to take a ride on the Hill Country Flyer. It's billed as the Austin Steam Train, but the steam engine is undergoing refurbishment, so there's only diesel-a 1960 Alco, for you train buffs. The engine pulls several different passenger cars from different eras, and the more you pay for your ticket, the higher the level of service and amenities.

We had the cheapest ticket, so we rode in the 1940's era parlor car with windows that opened and no AC. There was another excursion car with seats from the '50s or '60s (with AC) and lounge cars with AC and tables and snacks. There is a snack car on the train with sodas for a dollar and candy bars, etc.

We took the short ride, (3 hour tour) traveling from the depot in Cedar Park (just NW of Austin) to Bertram, home of the Oatmeal Festival, where there is a restored train station building but not much else. This trip is really called the Bertram Flyer.
The train stops long enough for people to have a quick look around, (and use the portapotty if necessary) and then it's back on the train to wait for the engine to detach from the front at reattach at the back.
The longer trip-the Hill Country Flyer-goes to the town of Burnet and takes about 5 hours. The train stops there long enough for people to have lunch on the square.

Luckily it was a beautiful day and not too hot. I was reminded of train trips to Grandma's house way back when. If you like trains and train rides, this is a fun day out. We'll go back when the steam engine is back on the rails!

Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding!

2009-05-20T18:51:00.000-05:00

Below is the recipe for Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding all the way from Tasmania! As promised!
It is simply delicious and worth a go! Thanks, Elaine!

2 cups chopped pitted dates
1 ¾ c. water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 heaped teaspoon powdered ginger
90 grams butter(6 TB.)
1 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves.
Preheat oven to 180C (=350 F)
Grease base of 23 cm cake pan.( 23 cm = 9.1 in)

1. Put dates in a pan with 1 3/4 cup of water, bring to the boil then remove from the heat.
2. Add the baking soda and ginger and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Coarsely mash with potato masher.
3. Cream together the butter, sugar and eggs, one at a time.
4. Fold in sifted flour and spice, add date mixture and stir until well combined. 5. Pour into cake pan and bake for 55 - 60 min. Cake will pull away from the edges of the pan and have a shiny appearance on top when done.
6. Cut into squares and serve with Caramel Sauce. (May need some vanilla ice cream as well on the side as this is quite rich!).

Caramel Sauce
150 grams butter (10 TB.)
1 cup soft brown sugar
1/3 cup of golden syrup (you can try substituting it with 2 parts light corn syrup and 1 part molasses if you can’t find this, but a lot of markets have it)
3/4 cup of cream
Put all the ingredients in a pan and stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Simmer uncovered, for three minutes. Serve caramel sauce warmed with pudding.

Back from the Outback

2009-03-18T16:27:00.000-05:00

Ok-it's been over 2 weeks since our great Oz trip ended and no updates. Sorry about that. It was such a great trip and we covered so much territory! The jet lag took about a week to get over: one day to recover for each time zone crossed. We took 10 flights in 27 days and logged over 12, 000 miles. Qantas was a great airline to fly: on time, serving food on every flight (!), efficient and relatively comfortable.

Some interesting things about Australia that we experienced:
1. Taxis:in the big cities, one person getting into a taxi will get in the front seat with the driver.
2. Paying by credit card: Every cashier will look at the signature on the back of the credit card as it is signed. Each cashier will also ask how it is to be debited: debit or credit; signature or PIN. They are much more careful about checking signatures than in the states.
3. Coffee: Long Black, Short Black, Flat White. I never really got the hang of this. Short Black is espresso, served in the small cup; long black is espresson with water added, served in a larger cup. Flat White is milk added to coffee, as opposed to cappucino, which has the foamed milk added. (Correct me if I'm wrong, all the Aussie readers out there!)
4. Driving on the "wrong" side of the road is hard to get used to, especially if one is a passenger in the front seat.
5. Restaurants again: "entrees" are smaller portions than "mains", and if your table has a number on it, chances are you pay at the counter, telling the cashier your table number.
6.People are generally friendly in Australia, but I didn't find them more or less friendly than in most places in the United States.
If I think of more things, I'll add to the list.

Uluru at sunset

We loved all the variety in the climate and geography; also the habitats and ecology are extremely interesting.
The desert of Central Australia, the tropical rainforest of Northern Queensland, and the temperate rainforests of Tasmania are all
great places to go!

We got excited about seeing wildlife-Tasmania had the most variety of animals that we saw outside of zoos or animal parks.

Echidna-small anteater that looks like a porcupine

Bennett's Wallaby

The next post will have the delicious recipe for Elaine's Sticky Date Pudding with Caramel-Toffee Sauce!
Stay tuned!

Good-bye to Australia

2009-02-26T16:19:00.000-06:00

Wearing the bugnet hat at Kata Tjuta/Uluru!

Packed up all the souvenirs and my suitcase still closes! Big question is the weight. Airlines are so picky these days.... We'll see what happens at the counter. I'm hoping for the best!
It's been a great trip! Have spent the last 3 days in the city of Brisbane (or "Brisvegas" as it's commonly referred to here). It's a relatively small central business district ("CBD") on a peninsula of the winding Brisbane River, surrounded by many small suburbs in the hills and valleys. The coast is about 5 miles away, and north and south of Brisbane are numerous beach communities: South is known as the Gold Coast (lots of high rise condos) and North is known as the Sunshine Coast- more rural and laid back.
We toured sites in the CBD, notably the Commisariat Stores Building, the only remaining convict-built building in Brisbane (built on the shore of the river in 1829), the Treasury Building (now housing the Treasury Casino, where I won $44), the Southbank cultural precinct. We rode the Brisbane Wheel, similar to the London Eye, but not as tall. We took the city ferry to sites along the river bank.
We spent a day at the Australia Zoo, made famous by the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. I got to feed an elephant (but didn't buy the photo), and we saw cassowaries, koalas, and the infamous saltwater crocs.
Will post more photos from home and add a few final thoughts!
Thanks so much to all our Australian hosts and new friends!

Looking forward to the flight home!

Into the Outback!

2009-02-22T16:11:00.000-06:00

DD and I have had a wonderful trip to the Outback. We spent 2 days in Alice Springs (remember "A Town Like Alice"? book by Nevil Shute and then the miniseries? It doesn't look like that anymore!) The Alice is a bustling town of about 27,000 people spread in the valley between the MacDonnell Ranges. The Todd River runs through the town, but the river is usually dry. This is desert country, but was really greener and had lots more vegetation than I thought. We walked the Todd Mall (pedestrian shopping area) and climbed Anzac Hill-got a good lookout over the city and the red rocks. I bought some art by an Aboriginal artist. This is the place to learn about Aboriginal culture, as the further north you go, the more Aboriginal settlements there seem to be. Alice Springs is in the Northern Territory, which isn't a state of Australia, but a territory. It was a 3 hour plane ride from Melbourne and really in the middle of nowhere. A lot of tourists use this town as the waypoint on Outback adventures. Also, the famous train, the Ghan, stops here.

We were picked up by luxury motor coach on the third day for the 5 hour drive to Ayers Rock Resort and the famous Ayers Rock (now called Uluru). Talk about the middle of nowhere!~ We road for many miles without seeing a single sign of human habitation. Uluru the rock is visible from 40 miles away. It is a sandstone monolith, the largest in the world. We had a sunset tour of the rock, where we saw several geologic and sacred Aboriginal sites and then watched the sunlight change the colors of the rock as the sun set. We had an Aussie BBQ dinner where we sat out under the Southern Cross and ate kanagaroo, among other delicacies.

At 5 am the next day we were back on our coach with Tina, our local driver-guide for the sunrise tour and short walks. The climbing route on Uluru was closed, as the temps have been 100 degrees or higher every day. We saw more Aboriginal sites-ceremonial and dwelling- and got close to the huge walls of Uluru. Truly an amazing site.

Pictures will follow, but internet connection is pay-per-minute here. I also promise to expand on our experiences-Oz is a fascinating place!

One thing we haven't seen much of is wildlife-I expected to see some kangaroos while we were driving, but didn't. We did see a fascinating lizard called a thorny devil-spikier than a horned toad. And the bugs and FLIES are too numerous to mention. Most of the tourists wear fly nets as soon as the sun gets warm until dark. I'm so happy I bought my L.L.Bean Allagash hat with fly net attached.

On to Melbourne for a one-night layover as my trip was supposed to be ending here. I added on Brisbane at the last minute and couldn't change flights without huge penalties, so we will be in Brisbane next.

Have one min. left on my pay-per-play, so signing off!

Down Under-Week 2

2009-02-17T00:57:00.000-06:00

We are now in Melbourne (Feb.17) and enjoying this cosmopolitan city. Today we went to Federation Square and the Australian Museum of the Moving Image, the Eureka Skydeck (observation tower 89 floors above the city), Old Melbourne Gaol and the Watch Tower Experience, and the Melbourne Museum. Whew! The weather is warm, but not horribly hot. We could see hazy smoke from the brushfires you've heard about when we were up on the observation deck.
Doug learns to play the digeridoo.

We spent 5 days in Cairns and Far North Queensland. Cairns is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, and we had a wonderful day on a snorkel trip to some amazing coral reefs. We drove north to Cape Tribulation, as far as you can go on paved road before the tropical rainforest takes over. The area is beautifully lush and green, with great mountains and lots of sugar cane farms. We are here in the heat of summer, which is the low season for the far north. Very hot and humid, and not a lot of air conditioning. We stayed at a wonderful B&B in Holloway's Beach, a truly beach-y community just north of Cairns proper. Away from the hustle and bustle of touristy Cairns, it was a nice retreat.They have IGA's here!
At this time of the year swimming isn't advised because of the deadly jellyfish (large and small) and the salt-water crocs. Towns have special netted areas for swimming, but even that can't keep all the bad creatures out.A Rainforest walk.

We have another day here in Melbourne and then some of us head home and some of us head for the outback!

Having a wonderful time!
More soon!

Hello from Tasmania!

2009-02-10T03:02:00.000-06:00

We've spent a lovely 6 days in Tasmania, the southernmost state of Australia that's also an island! It's about the size of W. Virginia, with about 500, 000 people. Tasmania was one of early British convict prison centers, and we've seen a few of those ruins and historical sites.

We've been based in the capital city of Hobart, on a lovely harbor on the southeast coast. We saw the Australian Wooden Boat Festival and went to the weekly market. We drove to the top of Mt. Wellington for the most amazing views!
We've enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Beecheys! And had fabulous food, including homemade Sticky Date Pudding that was the BEST!

We also went to the wilderness of northwest Tas. to see Cradle Mountain National Park. The countryside is truly amazing, changing from farms and fields, sheep and cows, to mountains and temperate rainforests. Huge trees, ferns, moss and beautiful rivers and waterfalls. We've seen lots of Aussie wildlife including wombats, echidnas, wallabies, pademelons, even a Tasmanian Devil. I did a Tasmanian wine and cheese tasting and went to the Tasman Wool Centre.

We have one more day here and plan to see some more wildlife at the Bonorong Wildlife Park and perhaps a winery. (of course we've been enjoying Tasmanian and Aussie wines!).

Have posted a few photos on my Flickr page, which you can click through to on this blog. Will try to post more photos in a day or so. There are a lot!
Enjoying all the comments and emails, even if it's a few days before I can respond!

Hello from Down Under!

2009-02-04T06:21:00.000-06:00

After 29 hours of travel, we made it to the other side of the world! The 14 hour flight from LA to Sydney wasn't too bad, despite cozy seats and airline food. I watched 4 movies-well, started watching each movie, but fell asleep before the end of each one. Advice we received was to stay awake for the first half of the trip, and then take a sleeping aid and sleep as much as possible on the second half of the trip. It worked pretty well!
Sydney has been great-very warm and slightly humid, but ocean breezes are welcome! We took a tour of the Sydney Opera House today. It's one of the most recognizable buildings in the world, but I didn't know it was really 2 large buildings, holding 5 separate venues: 3 smaller theaters for drama, a large concert hall and the opera hall. The facility holds 2500 events every year, so it's a busy place. We were able to see the symphony orchestra rehearsing for a performance in the concert hall and then watch the stage hands prepare the opera stage for the evening performance of Madama Butterfly. We also took a ferry to Manly Beach, got a look at the Pacific Ocean and watched surfers, went to a small aquarium and watched divers feeding sharks. We got to pet a baby saltwater croc! We've explored several neighborhoods and harbor areas, seen all kinds of boats.

Have to say thanks to DB#3 and family for helping us spend our long layover in LA. They took us to Redondo Beach to a great surfside restaurant, then on a tour of some of the beach towns and piers. Interesting real estate and and a view into the California lifestyle. We were really grateful for the break, especially when we had to spend time in the LAX International terminal at peak travel time (nighttime) with few services past security.

Of course, we've loved seeing our DD and her DH! Looking forward to seeing more family and more of Oz!
Will post photos in the next few days! On a pay-for-internet service here, so have to keep this brief!
Jet lag is taking over, so will close for now!

Pre-Flights Check-In

2009-02-01T00:03:00.000-06:00

So, it was a long day getting everything ready to leave for Australia (or Oz, as some people call it!). I was pretty much packed by 7:00 pm. DH didn't start packing until 10pm.
No comment there...

Many odds and ends to tie up: bills to pay, fridge to empty, papers to organize, and pack, pack, pack! I'm worried our suitcases are overweight; we shifted some things around. I took out a big bag of Jolly Ranchers for DD-don't worry, I left one bag in...and a couple of shirts.
Am bringing some small gifts to our Aussie in-laws in Tasmania, couldn't leave those out!

Packing clothing for cool weather and hot weather, mostly casual. Thanks to my fashion advisors (you know who you are) for help with the shoe dilemma. Keeping it down to 3 packed, one wearing, although I will miss my Merrells for the duration.

I'm using packing cubes, which helps keep stuff organized. DH won't use them, he thinks they just take up more room. I would much rather have TSA handling the packing cubes than lots of individual garments, if you get my drift.... My new Eagle Creek Tarmac has compartments on the lid which will hold packing cubes or odds and ends. I think those will be very helpful.

In the photo you can see the compartments on the left with the zip covers rolled back. The right is the deep part of the suitcase with my cubes and toilet kit.

I'm also taking a shoulder bag and tote bag (both from ebags.com). Sorry, no pics on them as yet.
For reading material I'm going electronic: I downloaded 2 audiobooks to DH's Nano (Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri and Inkheart by Cornelia Funke) and am taking the Amazon Kindle onto which I've downloaded an audiobook (The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly) and an electronic book (The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult). These last 2 are for the Last Tuesday Book Club. We'll see how they work.....

I did make the rubber band clothesline suggested by my buddy TFOP! http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Rubber-Band-Travel-Clothesline-for-Less-T/
I will post a photo when/if it gets used! My rubber bands are pretty small. It may not hold much!

Hope to post more photos and updates early next week. This time tomorrow, we'll be over the Pacific!

Inaugural trip for the Eagle Creek Tarmac!

2009-01-24T17:44:00.000-06:00

The Road Show is enjoying a few days of R&R at Keystone, Colorado this weekend. DH is attending a conference and making a presentation, so we have some fun socializing as well! The weather is snowy but not too cold, which is nice.

Anyway, it is a good chance to try out the new luggage! I bought the Eagle Creek Tarmac 28 after a lot of research online and shopping in stores. It is easy to pack and holds a lot! Of course, it gets heavy when it is full! It pulls very easily and the inner pockets hold items well. Of course, I use the packing cubes (from Rick Steves and Eagle Creek) and this bag is designed for them.
It seemed to weather the first airplane flight and bus trip well, so I'm encouraged!

More updates on packing for Australia to come soon!

Going Down Under

2009-01-19T10:22:00.000-06:00

We're very excited about the upcoming Australian Adventure Tour! Have been planning this for almost 6 months and now it's less than 2 weeks away! It's going to be a 19 day trip for DH and a 27 day trip for me.
Cities on the itinerary: Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne, Cairns, Alice Springs/Ayers Rock, Brisbane.
Australia is the size of the continental US and has the population of Texas.
A lot of open space!

I've been reading up in preparation. And watching movies!

Here is what I've read so far:

Fiction:(although a few are somewhat based on true events)
English Passengers by Matthew Kneale
Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
In the middle of: The Sound of One Hand Clapping by Richard Flanagan

Non-Fiction:
The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
The Devil in Tim by Tim Bowden
In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson
The Floating Brothel by Sian Rees

I also have a Fodor's Exploring Australia and a AAA Essential Australia that I'm still skimming and will take with me.

One book that I read a long time ago is The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes.

I've also watched several movies about Australia or set in Australia:
The Dish
Strictly Ballroom
The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant
Australia (the new one)
Muriel's Wedding
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Ned Kelly (with Heath Ledger)

Whew!
I'll post packing photos next week when I get that sorted out! What would you take for a 3+week trip?????? Feel free to send suggestions! Remember, 1 suitcase per person!

We used a travel company (About Australia) to help us plan and book this trip, and they've been very helpful. For such a long trip with so many stops, it seemed daunting to do it all ourselves. Of course, after this trip, we'll be experts!

More soon!

The Hill Country

2008-12-20T07:48:00.001-06:00

The Road Show has been keeping pretty close to home lately, but still has found a few weekends for some of our favorite drives.

One thing I noticed is that many towns are sprucing up and hoping to capture an influx of tourists and 2nd-homers. In Llano, the Super S Foods has had a major makeover, with newly painted walls and rearranged cold cases.
The animal mounts are fewer and more tastefully displayed.

Unfortunately, some of our favorite small restaurants have closed, due to high gas prices over the summer and now the economy problems. (At least one place closed more because of the food than the gas prices, we think...) Anyway, if you know and like restaurants in the Hill Country, make the effort to patronize them! The owners will certainly appreciate it!

One new place we found is the Alamo Springs Cafe, outside of Fredericksburg. Huge burgers and a jalapeno-cheddar bun that is fab. I didn't eat the whole thing!

Enchanted Rock is also a great diversion. We felt the need for some exercise, so made the trip recently.

The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States. It also goes up the 425 feet in about a half-mile. We got up pretty quickly and then had an adventure (at least for me) walking down the back side which was pretty steep.

Another fun thing to do during the holiday season is look at the Christmas lights. Most of the Hill Country towns decorate their court houses and have lighted walk-through displays. We saw the ones in Marble Falls and Llano. The invention of those lights in tubes has been great for these shaped displays.

We also made a run up to San Saba- The Pecan Capital of the World- and went to several pecan distributors. The best thing is tasting the varieties before buying! We always end up with 10+ pounds of nuts and freeze them until we use them.

Llano River. Late Afternoon. Fall 2008.

Signs of the Times

2008-10-30T23:49:00.000-05:00

The first photo was taken in July.
The second photo was taken in October.
Things are crazy out there people!

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

2008-10-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

Hill Country Yarn Crawl

I decided to participate in the 2nd Annual Hill Country Yarn Crawl, but not in any organized way. My knitting group (the Knit Knackers) didn’t have a plan to do it and I had a commitment on Saturday that precluded going with others (see below). So I wasn't sure if I could visit enough stores to compete for the Grand Prize but I tried anyway.

The Yarn Crawl is when yarn shops cooperate to offer discounts, freebies, drawings for gift certificates and a chance to win a $250 Grand Prize basket of goodies. This year there were 10 shops participating in 5 different towns around San Antonio and Austin. The event began on Thursday and ended on Sunday. For $10 I got a booklet with maps to all of the shops and a tote bag. To get in the drawing for the Grand Prize, you had to visit 7 of the 10 shops by Sunday.
At each shop I had to get a stamp on the back page of the booklet which I turned in at the last shop to be eligible for the grand prize.
Also each shop devised a “scavenger hunt” consisting of several questions specific to that shop. People who completed the scavenger hunt could then be entered into the prize drawing for the individual store ($25 gift certificate).
Here is the run-down of the shops I visited and the freebies I got at each:

San Antonio:
Yarnivore: Samples of scented fiber soaking soap.
The Yarn Barn: A ball of ribbon yarn and a pattern to make a sachet.

Boerne:
Ewe and Eye: A ball of Idena Kos yarn; very thin and sort of shiny. Made of viscose and polyester.
Rosewood Yarns: 3 small stitch markers made with glass beads.

Austin:

The Knitting Nest: Yarn and pattern for the Black Widow Headband, complete with a plastic spider. This is a newer shop on the south end of Austin.
Hill Country Weavers: A ball of organic cotton yarn and a pattern booklet of washcloths. This shop is the grandmother of all knitting shops-see below.
Gauge Knits: A coupon for one free open class. This is another new shop in Northwest Austin.

Fredericksburg:
Stonehill Spinning: A pack of safety pins

I did the San Antonio shops on Thursday, the Boerne shops on Friday, the Austin shops on Saturday (thanks to Maggie Magellan) and the Fredericksburg shop on Sunday. It would have been possible to do them in 2 days, I think, but it would have been a LOT of driving. I didn’t get to the 4th shop north west of Austin (but I’d been there before) and one in the town of Paige, abut 50 miles east of Austin (never been there, but it would be a fun trip, I think.)

More about Hill Country Weavers: It is in the hip part of Austin called SoCo, named for South Congress Ave. The next time TFOT visits, we’ll definitely go there. The shop is in an old Victorian house that is a rabbit warren of rooms, each one packed to the ceiling with yarns, threads, notions, books, you name it. I don’t know how they can keep track of their inventory. They’ve also taken over the house next door and opened a knitting room and a small café. I had a nice conversation with Trish, a yarn spinner and knitter from Oregon visiting Austin and conducting spinning workshops. She had beautiful yarns, inspired by the colors of the Pacific Northwest. I wanted to buy some of her yarn, but it was way out of my price range…..
The cupcake trailer, “Hey Cupcake”, was right across the street. This place has been featured on TV as one of the quirky food businesses and I would have succumbed and gotten a snack for the road, but they weren’t open yet- I was about 20 minutes too early.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on how you look at it. I decided I was lucky they weren’t open yet. Especially since I had stopped for lunch AND dessert at the Bear Moon Bakery in Boerne on Friday.

Saturday my time was limited as I had to be in Llano at 2:00 for the annual neighborhood homeowners association meeting, so I skipped the 4th shop in the suburbs north of Austin and made my way west. Made it just in time for the meeting. Drove about 175 miles in all.

In Llano, I enjoyed seeing a bald eagle flying over the river and the wild goats out for exercise.

Headed back south on Sunday, stopping in Fredericksburg at Stonehill Spinning. It’s a smallish shop but has lots of fiber arts and crafts. All in all, a great yarn crawl!

Electronics Woes 3

2008-09-20T16:50:00.001-05:00

Well, another of my electronic accessories has gone missing. Actually, I've lost 2 bluetooth ear pieces-I'm sure they're in the car somewhere or lost in the black hole that is the house, but the latest device I've lost is my Creative Zen Microphoto. I believe I left it at the Mayan Princess in a cute little leather bag with my name on it.

By the time I'd looked everywhere for it, and called my friend and asked her to check her car, I knew it had been left in the condo. I finally got around to calling the condo-and anyway, shouldn't they have called me when they found the blue bag????

I talked to a girl at the front desk and described the bag to her. It was in their Lost and Found. I didn't ask her to look inside and see if my Creative Zen MicroPhoto and ear phones (with the neat earphone cord holder that trailerfulloftunes had given me), but I assumed if they had the bag, they had the Creative Zen Microphoto as well.

The girl at the front desk told me how to get in touch with Lonestar Overnight Delivery service and arrange for a pick-up. I had the package the next day! But no Creative Zen Microphoto inside nor headphones or cord holder. There was a small battery-operated fan in the bag, which I had also left in the condo. hmmm.

I'm glad to have my personalized leather bag back, but I'm going to miss my Creative Zen Microphoto. I had downloaded the first "Master and Commander" book and DH and I had been listening to it on our car trips. I also had a few nice playlists and about 400 songs. Not a lot in this iPod world, but I was content with my content.

This has not been a good year for me and my electronics.

Lake Powell 2.0

2008-09-13T06:52:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed another great week on the Star Chaser Houseboat on Lake Powell. The water was up about 25 feet from 2006 and we enjoyed new views and different campsites. We flew to Phoenix and picked up friends and a rental mini van for the drive to Page, AZ. On the US Airways plane (where even coffee costs $1 now) I read about breakfast places in Phoenix, so when the question of food came up, I suggested The Original Pancake House in Scottsdale. It took a while to find it, mostly because we didn't have a very good map or sense of direction, but finally found it. This is part of a chain, but a quirky one. Authentic pancake house, everything from scratch. Blueberry pancakes were outstanding, as were the egg dishes. At this location, they don't take credit cards, so be prepared with cash.

Anyway, we made our way up state to Page and met the rest of our group at the Antelope Point Marina, run jointly by the US National Park Service and the Navajo Nation. Great kids driving golf carts with trailers take your stuff from the parking lots to the docks. We planned to spend Friday night on the boat in the marina and take off up river on Saturday.

Friday night found DH and myself at the Page Walmart picking up last-minute items for the group, mostly alcoholic....The Page Walmart sells liquor, as do the other grocery stores. Very convenient!

We went into town and found the R.D. Drive In (Page's original drive-in). Definitely a local hang-out, with video games in the back and the older people sitting at the patio tables outside. We had pretty good burgers and fries, and a milk shake for dessert. Finally got to the boat with all the supplies and helped getting things shipshape for departure.

Saturday am was bright and clear and we set off after being checked out by the marina master.
We were planning to get about 40 miles up the lake and camp in Oak Canyon Bay.
This photo shows the digging of the anchor holes so that the boat doesn't float away.

We stayed 2 nights in Oak Canyon, and visited Rainbow Bridge again. The water was much further up the canyon, so the walk in was a lot shorter.
We went about 20 miles further up and stayed in Cottonwood Canyon, behind Register Rocks (our 2006 campsite) for 3 nights. We took boat rides and explored slot canyons on the jet skis.

We also revisited Forbidding Canyon and the Anasazi Ruins called Defiance House. Again, the water level made the walk in about half as far.
This canyon is known for the wall paintings.

The last 2 nights we spent in Padre Bay under the Cookie Jar Butte.
We had great food, thanks to the wonderful cooks, good weather, except for one rainstorm that turned the canyon walls shiny and covered with water falls, and a very relaxing week!
Lake Powell is always interesting!

But, at the end of the week, we had to come into the marina, unload the boat, pack up the cars and head south. We stopped in Flagstaff at the cafe at the Little America Hotel and did some shopping and sightseeing in Sedona. Stayed in Phoenix and went home on Sunday. Hope we can do that trip again before too long. Thanks to PW and JJ and the rest of the group!

Beach Getaway

2008-08-26T07:50:00.000-05:00

Time for the annual trip to Port Aransas, Texas! Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate, so we didn't have that much time on the beach. We did get to go kayaking around Shamrock Island, and made friends with some pelicans.

Usually the water is clear and marine life is easily seen. Due to recent rains, the water was stirred up and we didn't see too much....

We stayed at the Mayan Princess, a venerable place about 10 miles from town. The place is showing her age (lots of rust on the stairs), although our condo had been reasonably updated. Definitely stay in #305 if you want a HUGE master and a TINY second bedroom! And bunk beds! If you like to sleep in bunks, then this unit is for you! We liked the wraparound sectional with the recliner chair and the lift-up coffee table. They have a nice swimming pool complex and lots of chairs. A DVD player would have been nice.

2 places to eat: The Pelican Club in Port A for the atmosphere. If the weather is tolerable, they have a great deck overlooking the harbor;

The Bakery Cafe (take the car ferry to Aransas Pass; turn left at the corner by the HEB). Great cafe food and homemade pies. It's been spruced up but not changed. It's usually packed on the weekends!

Saturday night we played a few games of pool at Shorty's (the oldest bar on the island!). Loads of beachy atmosphere. Band on the porch. Ceiling covered with caps. Too dark for photos....

We played Monopoly while it rained, and that was fun. No tears! We're all getting more mature!

Next year, we hope to sit on the beach under our tent for a longer time!

Weekend in the Hill Country

2008-08-08T17:01:00.001-05:00

As often as we can, we try to spend time in the Texas Hill Country. We sit on the porch and look at the water, fish a little, shop a little, really trying to do as little as possible. Recently, we tried 3 restaurants for the first time. (Not all in the same weekend).

In Fredericksburg, we ate at Rebecca's Table, owned by chef Rebecca Rather. (She has a great bakery in Fredericksburg and several cookbooks.) We really enjoyed the ambience and the food was very good. DH had to send back a steak because it was too rare (really raw in the middle), which seems to be happening to us a lot lately. But I think we'd go back there for sure.

The other place we've been in Fredericksburg is August E's. Very nice with a medium-sized dining room and very comfortable chairs. Modern and chic decor. There is a sushi bar, but we didn't try any sushi. We had steak. Excellently prepared and delicious. Also, one of the best creme brulees I've tasted. They got the sugar crust right!

The 3rd new place we tried was in Marble Falls, a longtime favorite of locals and travelers, The Bluebonnet Cafe.
This is a piece of coconut meringue pie. They have 14 pies on the menu every day. This is solid cafe food, and in the RoadFood books. Also very busy, especially on the weekends. We hit it on a Saturday night sort of late, and the place was filled with families having picked up their children from area summer camps. We noticed several tables with pre-teens and young teens ordering coffee-do they drink that at camp??
And, yes, I ate the whole piece, except the crust. Everyone knows most of the calories in pie are in the crust.... DH ordered apple pie, which was also good.

We also went to the National Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg. If you want to know all about how the U.S. fought the Japanese in WWII, this is the place for you. There are dioramas with some animatronic people and planes, and a large building devoted to all the battles in the Pacific, with maps and artifacts. You can also tour Admiral Chester Nimitz's family home, which was the first building in the museum complex. For all the times we've been to Fred. this was our first time in the museum.

The plane pictured is the same model (B-25) flown by the Dolittle Raiders.
This group led the first U.S. air attack on the Japanese in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. The prop works and there are sound effects.

One of my favorite stops is the Super S Food Store in Llano. They have great mounted animals on the walls! Llano is big with hunters! Sometimes they have special displays, like the Dale Earnhardt, Jr. one. I hope he caught that javalina!
Happy roadtripping!

Dali, Waterfalls and Stone Barns

2008-07-21T16:02:00.000-05:00

The Road Show has been in New York for the past week! I went to the Museum of Modern Art
to see an interesting exhibit of Salvador Dali's art and his films. There was an interesting section about a collaboration with the Walt Disney Company where Dali was to do the illustrations to a piece of music a la Fantasia. A lot of drawings were made,but only a few seconds of film were completed. People at Disney finally completed the film about 5 years ago. It's called Destino
and hopefully will be released in the future, although I don't know when. There's a new exhibit on prefab housing, but that hadn't opened when I was there.This photo shows tired people at MOMA.

I also saw art at the Rubin Museum, The Folk Art Museum, the Met, and the Neue Gallery. I especially liked the Himalayan exhibits, the art of Henry Darger, the balloon dog by Jeff Koons, and the turn-of-the-century German jewelry.

On Saturday, DH and I took a New York Water Taxi tour of the New York City Waterfalls. These are 4 artificial waterfalls constructed on scaffolds that are over 100 feet high. They are an art installation by Olafur Eliasson. I liked the one under the Brooklyn Bridge the best. The boat is a great way to see all the falls, and I would recommend getting a sunset tour. At night the falls are lighted, which we didn't see, but I heard that's the best way to see them.
We also got some great views of the NY Harbor and the Statue of Liberty.

My gourmet adventure for this trip was to eat at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, in Pocantico Hills, NY. This restaurant is owned by Dan Barber, a famous chef and restauranteur, and is special because they grow lots of their own food, harvest it and prepare it on site. In the summer, they do tasting menus and we chose a 5-course meal. There are lots of amuse-bouches as well, and the servings are small, so you can eat a lot before you feel full. I'll post pics when I get them uploaded.
The service is great and the food was excellent! There was a small uproar at our table when 2 different desserts were served-we had no choice as to what we got. A few who would have preferred the chocolate dessert were reduced to begging from their neighbors and some wanted to have had both desserts on one plate. Luckily, a plate of truffles and homemade marshmallows presented at the end soothed some souls. Thanks to the hardy eaters who went on the adventure with me! You know who you are!

The RS heads home soon and will next post about a weekend in the Hill Country!

Cell Phone Woes Again

2008-06-28T13:47:00.000-05:00

Ok- how did I lose my cell phone? I really don't know. I used it Sunday evening while we were at an event. It was nowhere to be found on Monday. I went back to the place and looked in the parking lot, in the hallways and in the room where we had been. No one at the event center had turned in a cell phone. I could have dropped it on the floor when I thought I was putting it back in my purse; I could have dropped it on the way to the car; it wasn't in DH's car, either. We both looked there. I called it several times as I walked around the house and never heard ringing. It has vanished into the ether. Or maybe cyberspace. Or someone has a pretty cool phone with photos of the cats and kids on it.

On Monday I suspended the service, but no minutes had been used since Sunday night. On Tuesday I called the insurance co. (remember I had purchased insurance last fall when the previous phone went kayaking). I had a new phone on Wednesday. Pretty fast service.

It's a "replacement" phone as they don't make my phone any longer. (No more Star Trek communicator button-operated flip opening) :( It is longer and slimmer than the previous phone, and has brighter graphics. It seems more plastic-y to me. And I can hear my breathing while I talk on it...
Luckily I had a previous SIM card, so I was able to recapture a lot of my numbers. But not all. I'm still gathering those. If I haven't called you in a while, it may be that I don't have your number, so please call me!

So, I don't know why I'm having trouble with phones this year. I had my first cell phone for a really long time. Really.

And the last thing-since I had a second insurance claim within 12 months, they canceled my cell phone insurance for the next 12 months. I guess they figure they'll be making more money off of me than the 4.95 a month premium when I lose this phone and need a new one....

Just another week in the life!

A word to the wise: keep track of that pesky cell phone!

Kayak trip

2008-06-16T22:02:00.001-05:00

The first weekend in June means Kayak Trip! With good friends and some clear water, we have a great time! We start below the dam in Llano and head downriver!

Of course, we have to eat, so we spent Friday evening at the Great Castell Kayak Race Charity Dinner. We had fun with the silent and live auctions, and donated lots of money to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm excited about the custom t-shirt quilt I won! Will post a photo when it gets made!

Anyway, we spent Saturday on the river, enjoying the sun and water!
Lots of fish and many birds. It was a beautiful day!

My kayak is the blue one, La Chalupa. (Blog post June, 2007) She's getting a little banged up on the bottom, as she got dragged over lots of rocks this year. (Low water levels and skirting some of the rapids...)
All in all, another great kayak trip!

Tiny Town

2008-06-10T21:04:00.001-05:00

We needed to do a separate post for an interesting attraction in Hot Springs, AR. It's called Tiny Town, and it's worth seeing.

Tiny Town is the work of Mr. Moshinskie, now deceased. His son and daughter-in-law operate the attraction. Wanting a hobby after he came home from WWII, Mr. Moshinskie set up his train sets and began building miniature villages and scenes around them. He also animated the scenes with recycled motors from washing machines and lawn mowers, etc. Children see-saw and swing in the park, the ferris wheel carries passengers, the gunfighters shoot it out in the Old West, dancers spin in a barn dance, a farmer on a tractor plows his field, and many more.

In addition, Mr. T, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton and other stars promenade in the park. Most things were handcarved or made from cans, caps, just about anything you can think of. The more you look, the more you see!

We really enjoyed our tour, especially when Mrs. Moshinskie made it nighttime! Lights from cabins glowed, and the lighthouse beacon shined brightly over the water! Along the way, there are buttons to push to run the trains and start the animations.

All in all, one fascinating place!

Taking the Waters!

2008-05-24T15:20:00.000-05:00

This post has been delayed, but over Memorial Day Weekend, we drove (!) to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a wedding. It was about a 9-hour drive, but we stopped in Mesquite, TX (next to the Rodeo grounds) overnight to break up the drive.

Arriving in Hot Springs by noon, we first went to eat! Had to try McLard's BBQ-a famous local place. There was a line out the door, so we knew it was the right place. DH said the meat wasn't as good as Cooper's, that all the flavor is in the sauce. We had their beef tamales, and the homemade cobbler for dessert. I thought the ribs were pretty good. We later found out that this was President Bill Clinton's favorite restaurant. Hot Springs is his hometown.

This is a photo of a hot spring cascading down a rock face in downtown Hot Springs! This is the town that's also a national park! And one of the first natural places to be protected by the U.S. Government. There were over 100 hot springs in this area and they became very popular with tourists for improving health! You can still take the mineral baths, but they are regulated by the parks service. At our hotel, the Arlington, you can get mineral water-hot or cold- out of faucets in the lobby.

Some of the Victorian Bath Houses are being renovated and one is the park service visitor center. You can see how our modern health clubs came to be. This Hernando de Soto fountain is in the middle of one of the restored bath houses. Cubbies along the walls have bathtubs for soaking, interspersed with needle showers to stimulate the nerves.

We took a dinner boat ride on the Belle of Hot Springs and toured Lake Hamilton. We went shopping along the main drag, and DH even got in a little fly fishing. I had a facial at the spa.
And the wedding was beautiful and lots of fun!

Sunday found us on the road again, back to TX. Spent the night at Santosha-on-the-Llano and had fun playing in the water.

That's all for now!

Wedding and beyond

2008-05-09T08:07:00.001-05:00

Just to update! The wedding was great and everything worked! Kids had a great time! Whirlwind rest of weekend in NY and then the Road Show went back home to more fun! Fiesta! The Aussies got to see another part of the USA and meet some of our hometown crowd.

After more sightseeing and shopping and eating it was time to pack and head for the airport! We were sorry to see them go, but hope we can take the Road Show down under before too long!

W-Day!

2008-04-19T09:00:00.000-05:00

The wedding day is here! Sunny and warm and a special visit from the Pope makes it all the more wonderful! All the relatives made it to the Big Apple and are having fun meeting and greeting. We have last-minute chores to do, but trust that it will all get done!
Our Friday night party was so good that security was called! It's been an amazing week and finally get to go to the big event!
There's nothing like a wedding in the family to bring everyone together!
Keep smiling!

New York Wedding-1

2008-04-12T20:10:00.001-05:00

The Road Show has decamped to NY where we're excited to have a wedding in the family! I hope to get to a museum or two, but with so many things to do, I'm not sure I'll have the luxury of time to sightsee. That's ok, though, as we'll have lots of family, friends, and soon-to-be family coming for the event!

Planning has gone pretty well so far; now it's the execution phase!
I bought a MOB dress at a fancy store at home; It took almost 6 weeks for the dress to come in and then they had it for 2 more weeks to get alterations done. I finally picked it up this week and my dental hygienist suggested I try it on before I left town. I did, and found that the pins were still in the dress; the alterations had not been done! I took it back the next day, and it only took 2hrs. to finish....I felt one crisis had been averted! The salesperson and fitter were apologetic about the mess-up.

Travel today (April 12) was extremely easy, after the horror stories all week. I flew American and flights were full, but not crammed; flights left on time and arrived early. Luggage came out quickly. Couldn't have been better.

Trees are bare here in NY-but some of the early flowers are out and we saw some beautiful weeping willows and weeping cherries in bloom. I also saw a few daffodils (my personal favorite spring flower) and a robin! Sure signs of spring! Hoping for continued spring weather right through the wedding festivities!

Looking forward to a great week!

Cruise Recap

2008-03-12T07:01:00.000-05:00

I promised to post more about the cruise, but got so busy that I didn't have time. The internet connection on board was quite slow, so photos were impossible to upload. I have added a few photos to the previous posts, however.

Our day in Cozumel was lovely. We went to Nachi Cocom Beach Park- a private beach that cost $20 pp entry fee. This is a small stretch of beach fairly far south on the island with a roped-off swimming area, pool with hot tub, bar and restaurant. There are thatched palapas with beach chairs. We arrived about 11:45 am and stayed until 3:45. We could have gone snorkeling or on a boat ride, but we just relaxed. The water was cold, but clear. We had great food and drinks!

We felt like we were in a Corona commercial!

We did some shopping in Coz, as well. We hit the restaurant gift shops of Margaritaville, Carlos & Charlie's, Senor Frogs, as well as lots of jewelry and clothing shops across the street from the pier.

Overall, the cruise was a great value for the money and we bunco gals had a blast. The travel agents who put together this cruise have set a date for next year's cruise. You can go to www.buncocruises.com and check out the details. They are doing the 5-day cruise from Galveston instead of the 4-day. Don't know if the Bunco Babes will attend as yet, but there is a title to defend!!! Stay tuned!

Bunco Babes Rule!

2008-03-02T14:21:00.000-06:00

Newsflash from the Bunco for Breast Cancer Cruise!!!!

The San Antonio Bunco Babes won 3 of the top 4 prizes!!!!!
Noemi was crowned "Bunco Queen" complete with tiara and boa for winning most games!
Molly came in 2nd place and Melissa won Most Buncos!!!!
We rock!

We've had a great time on the cruise and met a lot of fun gals!
Will post more from the cruise tomorrow, as it's time for the slot machine tournament and I've got to go!

Fun Day at Sea!

2008-02-29T12:50:00.000-06:00

We're cruising the Gulf of Mexico and having fun! Embarkation was a breeze, with no lines and easy check-in. Enjoyed drinks with umbrellas in them and got underway about 4:15. Breezy weather, but sunny. Hit the casino as soon as it was open and I won about $35 on the penny slot machines! That will buy a few more drinks!!! Friday is all day at sea; as I write this we are about halfway to Cozumel.

We played bunco this morning and I won the door prize! We have another session this afternoon and 2 on Sunday. We have about 24 women in our group and they are lots of fun!

I went to the fitness center this am to burn some calories and had a hard time finding a machine that was available! Lots of healthy people on this cruise!!!!

Have to get back to the bunco tables, so I will post a few photos next session!

It's really fun sitting here by the window and seeing nothing but ocean in all directions! And still being connected!

The Bunco Cruise

2008-02-27T12:50:00.000-06:00

We're getting on the road again, this time to Galveston and Carnival's Fun Ship Ecstasy for a weekend cruise to Mexico! Four people from the Bunco Babes group have joined a larger group to compete in a bunco tournament. We paid extra to join this group and make a donation to breast cancer research. We will be playing several sessions over the 4-day cruise, so you'll want to check back for the latest updates!

What is bunco, you ask? It's a dice game that's hugely popular in the south. And west, I guess.
You can check it out here. I play in a group that meets monthly and has been getting together for years. We play for money. This tournament has a top prize of $250. I hope to win!

DD and I are driving to Galveston to board the ship on Thursday. It sails at 4pm and arrives in Cozumel on Saturday for one day of port fun! Then it's back to Gal. for a Monday am docking. You can check out the itinerary here.

Here are some of the things I packed: highlighter markers (to highlight activities on the daily newsletter), an over-the-door-shoe-bag (to maximize space in the small cabins), nightlight (dark at sea at night....), water bottle, beach bag and towel (for the day in port), 2 bottles of wine (don't tell), extra snacks and food, in addition to a nice outfit for the formal dinner night and regular clothes.

The website Cruise Critic has loads of info on just about everything you never knew you needed to know about going on a cruise. And you can meet people on your cruise, too! I found out there are a group from College Station, TX going to see a Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band that will be playing in Cozumel on Saturday. Not sure if the band will be on the ship or not....Sounds interesting!

Hope to have loads of fun, and will post photos as time (and $$) allow.
Travel safely!

The Last of Solitude

2008-02-09T18:04:00.001-06:00

Happily, DH recovered from his illness and was able to have a good time the rest of the trip! Enjoyed sunny weather on Saturday and Monday, so those were our ski days. BAD weather on Friday and Sunday, so we stayed in! We enjoyed friendly poker games, trips to the fitness center, movies, dinners out at nice places (Snow Park Lodge in Deer Valley and Silver Fork Lodge in the canyon). Uneventful travel home, which was nice, and luggage came out quickly, always appreciated! We've never seen this much snow! Hope to come back again soon!

Solitude

2008-02-01T15:21:00.000-06:00

We're still in Utah, visiting Solitude Ski Resort with the San Antonio AIA Chapter. If you've been reading the Road Show, you know we've experienced several blizzards the past week... After a sunny morning yesterday, the weather came in again!. The snow is epic! I begged off skiing to take care of ailing DH. If the sun comes out tomorrow, I'll be up on the slopes....or if not, perhaps at the spa. It's not too cold, but the wind is bitter. Stay tuned for more updates!

The Last of the Movies

2008-01-29T07:18:00.000-06:00

Well, Sundance is over for another year and the town is now really quiet. It could also be the blizzard that kept a lot of people home yesterday....

We went to the locals screenings called "Best of Fest." 2 movies are chosen on the last night of the festival for this screening. This time it was the Documentary Audience Award winner: "Fields of Fuel" and the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize winner: "Frozen River."
Here's where the ticket strategy came into play. We had sold our Sunday tickets to this movie when we found out what was going to be in the Best of Fest. Not attending BOF because we'd already seen the film was never an option! And we got to see 2 more movies!

"Frozen River," written and directed by Courtney Hunt, is about a single mother with 2 kids whose husband has taken off just before Christmas. She's trying keep things together for her family and desperately wants a new home, but can't make the payments to have it delivered. (It's a double-wide trailer home.) She meets a young Mohawk Indian woman who uses the frozen river between Canada and New York to smuggle people across the border. The two women work together smuggling people even though they don't like each other at first.
It's a good film and the actors draw you in to their worlds. It is not a downer of a movie and has a hopeful ending. What you'd expect to see on the Sundance Channel or the IFC channel.

The "must see" film of the night was "Fields of Fuel" by Josh Tickell. It's about how to get our country free of foreign oil. It's upbeat and hopeful, and that's probably why it won the audience award. Mr. Tickell has been working on this film for 10 years and his passion is contagious. His main focus is on sustainable energy:using biodiesel fuels. We can grow all the fuel we need. We should be able to have conflict-free energy. We seem to have done that with diamonds...

Years ago he converted a van (the Veggie Van) to run on vegetable oil and has logged over 25,000 miles in it, spreading the word. Now that he has this movie, he's taking it and the van on a 50 city tour and will show the film at both party's political conventions.

He was there for the QandA and stayed after the film in the lobby for over an hour talking to everyone who wanted a word.
We learned many new things: Sweden has pledged to be petroleum-free by 2020; there is algae that can be made into oil, not in millions of years, but in days or weeks; any diesel car, truck, van, ship or bus can run on biodiesel fuel immediately, with no modifications needed.

12 films in 4 days. Whew! It was a great experience and an amazing opportunity to see films of all kinds. We were able to get tickets to everything we wanted to see, and getting around wasn't too much of a hassle. Of course, we weren't invited to any of the big parties and events on Main St....

We have to thank our friends who invited us, housed us and showed us the ropes. Early morning coffee, late night pizza and wings, adventures in souvenir-gathering, celebrity spotting, all good times! Would love to go again!

Photo idea thanks to TFOP

Sundance 4

2008-01-28T15:00:00.001-06:00

Need to review the 3 movies from Sunday afternoon and evening.

The World Cinema Documentary Jury Prize winner was:"Man On Wire", directed by James Marsh. It is a fantastic movie that recounts the amazing Philippe Petit's wire walking event between the World Trade Center towers in 1974. The movie is adapted in part from his book, "To Reach The Clouds".

Archival movie footage, photographs, interviews and recreated scenes tell the incredible story of Petit's planning and execution process. We thought it was the best doc we saw. The director was there for the QandA and allowed as how Mr. Petit would have been there but had to return to New York. The footage of the construction of the World Trade Center towers is very nostalgic and almost heartbreaking. One of the producers is Discovery, so I imagine this will end up on TV at some point.

The Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner was "Trouble The Water" directed by Tia Lessin and Carl Deal. This movie shows how one New Orleans family from the 9th Ward lived through Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. The title comes from a song.

The directors explained that they had planned to film the LA National Guard unit coming home to a devastated New Orleans after being in Iraq. The directors wanted to follow soldiers as they dealt with the destruction from the hurricane, knowing they had not been able to be at home protecting their families. The government forbade filming after only a few days, so the directors went to the convention center and met Kimbery Rivers who told them she had amazing footage of the hurricane and she was looking for a "worldwide" outlet for her family's story. Using her video footage and following up for about a year after the hurricane, we see the family's courage and perseverance as well as their love for their native city. This movie does not yet have a distributor, but it should.

The third movie of the day was the Dramatic Audience Award winner: "The Wackness", written and directed by Jonathan Levine. The director wasn't there for a QandA.

The story takes place during 1994, when Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) graduates from high school with no friends and family problems. He also deals pot and sees a psychiatrist, played by Ben Kingsley. The doctor trades pot for more sessions.

It's a coming of age story with a strong hip-hop beat. The acting is great, and has some funny scenes and lines. The title comes from an exchange Luke has with his almost-girlfriend, Stephanie, played by Olivia Thrilby. She tells him he's too sad all the time because he only looks at 'the wackness" of life. She tries to look at 'the dopeness" which is much better. This might hit a theater near you sometime soon.

After a nice dinner at the Grubsteak Pub, we collapsed back home.

Snacks in the theater? It depends on the venue. Real movie theaters have normal concession stands, but some venues won't allow anything but water in the theater. The large venue at the high school auditorium had a souvenir stand in the lobby, as well as snacks to buy, but they had to be consumed in the lobby. They didn't check purses or pockets, however, so we always had a few granola bars and small water bottles with us.

Sundance 3

2008-01-27T17:52:00.000-06:00

Saturday night's movie was "casting a glance." It is an 'art documentary' by James Benning. He made 16 trips to the Robert Smithson's art installation "Spiral Jetty" (in the Great Salt Lake) from the time of its installation in 1970 to 2005. Each time Benning set up a film camera and let it run for several minutes. He also changed the camera position several times on each visit. The movie shows 5 minute segments from each of the visits. We see beautifully photographed shots of the changing landscape-different seasons, different water levels, etc. Ambient sound and some introduced effects create the background. The only problem is that it's hard to watch basically a series of still photos for 90 minutes! We stuck it out, however, and I plan to go visit the Spiral Jetty at my first opportunity....

Sunday: Up at the usual 5:30 am to get to the Gateway Center Box Office early. This time we were #6 in line! Many people selling extra tix and waiting to see what would be shown when. Today most of the award-winning movies are shown. Check out the Sundance site for the list of winners. The schedule was drawn up listing the award for that time slot, but no one knew the movie for that award until Saturday night. So we had to see the final list posted on the box office door before we could plan the day's movies and see what tickets we should sell.

The other wrinkle is that Utah locals have the opportunity to see 2 movies on Monday night(called "Best of Fest") for free, but those aren't announced until today as well. Our hosts had 4 tickets for each Monday night movie, but also had some tickets for Sunday's award winner showings, so we didn't want to have the same tickets for both days. If you are still following this, I'm impressed! We spent our time in line trying to get it all straight.....

It turned out that we had Sunday tickets for one of the Monday night movies, so we were able to sell the Sunday tix to people in line. That turned out to be "Frozen River", which won the Dramatic Grand Jury Prize award.
We bought the Documentary Grand Jury Prize winner, which was "Trouble the Water."

We kept the Dramatic Audience Award winner:"The Wackness" for Sunday evening.

We also decided to sell tickets to "World Dramatic Prize winner:" "King of Ping Pong" in favor of "World Documentary Jury Prize winner": "Man On Wire." More on those movies in the next post.

The weather turned very windy and snowy today, with the big storm heading in tonight and tomorrow. My expression in the picture means "Please don't let the camera get wet!"

On to the 3rd movie of the day, so will continue later!

Sundance Day 2

2008-01-26T17:58:00.000-06:00

Friday night's movies were: "Savage Grace" directed by Tom Kalin, starring Julianne Moore. It's a true crime story about a severely dysfunctional family. Emphasis on severely. The acting is pretty amazing because there are several very disturbing scenes.....
The last act is searing and violent. We would have liked to stay for the QandA but we couldn't because we had another movie to get to--another wrinkle in the Sundance experience: you have to plan your routes and know how much time it takes to get from one place to another.

The second movie we saw was "Phoebe in Wonderland" directed by Daniel Barnz and starring Elle Fanning as Phoebe, Felicity Huffman as the mother, Bill Pullman as the father, and several other great actors. It's about a girl whose Tourette Syndrome symptoms are beginning to emerge and how she and the people around her deal with this. It's beautifully photographed and all the characters have fleshed-out personalities.

As we got in line for this movie, I turned around and the people in line behind us were friends from Alabama. How "small world" is that????

Saturday morning found us back at the main box office in line with about 20 people ahead of us. There seemed to be fewer tickets available, but we made our selections and again got in and out quickly, even scoring a ticket for a film with only 8 available seats!!!! We even found out that you can exchange tickets for face value minus $2.

The first movie was "CSNY:Deja Vu". This was at 9:15 am! But they filled every seat in a large theater. This movie documents the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young 2006 "Freedom of Speech" tour. I thought this was a '2 for 1": a protest movie and a concert movie. For baby boomers, this is really "deja vu." And we seem not to have learned anything much from the Viet Nam War.

We ate lunch in a small pizza/sub shop near the second movie and saw "Puujee." This is about a Mongolian family made by a Japanese film director. I thought it would be something you might see on the Discovery Channel or the Travel Channel: customs and lifestyle, that kind of thing.

But I was wrong. It's about how one girl from a nomadic herding family, Puujee, captures the hearts of the film crew and they keep coming back to spend time with the family and see how she grows up. The ending is extremely sad, as the film crew finds out on a visit to the family in 2004 that Puujee is killed in a car accident when she was 12. The photography is wonderful and you really get insight into how their traditional way of life is quickly disappearing. The director, Kazuya Yamada, was there for the QandA and it was interesting to hear his thoughts on the film.

Last film for the day will be "casting a glance." More on that tomorrow.

Did see Felicity Huffman at the movie last night, and Regina Taylor (from the TV show "The Unit") at the movie this am.

Still low on the star count.

Sundance!

2008-01-25T17:16:00.000-06:00

Am lucky enough to be spending a few days in Park City, Utah with friends to take in a few movies. I've seen 2 movies so far, and 2 more movies this afternoon and evening. There are many ins and outs to negotiating this event, and our friends have been extremely helpful. Today in PC alone there are 47 movies showing at 9 different venues between 8:30 am and midnight. 18 other movies are being shown in Salt Lake City and 2 other ski area venues, one of which is the Sundance Resort.
We got in line at 6:15 am at the Main Box Office in order to get tickets for today's movies. A list of all the movies with available seats (and the no. of seats ) is posted on the door of the box office. We had plenty of time to scope out the list and make our decisions. The box office opened at 8 and because we were there early we were about 15th in line and we got in and out quickly. We were back on the street at 8:10 am (BO opened at 8) with all the tickets we were hoping to get for today. Will do the same for tomorrow. I imagine that there were at least 150 people standing in line when we left the box office.

Inside the ticket office

Last night I went to see a documentary called "Dinner With The President:A Nation's Journey". It was made by 2 Pakistani filmmakers who requested to have dinner with President Pervez Musharraf and he agreed. The film explores the contradictions of democracy and seeming dictatorship. I thought it gave a lot of insight to the situation in modern Pakistan and why democracy is such a foreign concept to most of the people there.
The second movie I saw was "An American Soldier: The Recruiter." It follows an Army recruiter (one of the top recruiters in the country) through a year of his life and his recruits as they go into basic training. It really humanizes the soldiers and what they go through. It also points out just how young these soldiers are and what a huge task we are asking of them.
Another interesting facet of the film festival is that the director and sometimes the actors are available after the film for questions and answers (known as the "QandA"). The questions from the audience run the gamut from thoughtful to arcane.

So far, everyone has been extremely helpful, polite and friendly. Haven't seen huge crowds, but we've also managed to steer clear of downtown at peak times. Watch this space for more updates!

Holidays in Colorado

2008-01-03T21:05:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a lovely family holiday in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. It was so cold and snowy this year! There were 16 of us in our extended family group, and that was great to see everyone! We skied in the blizzard and fog, and in the freezing cold! The snow was light and powdery, thanks to the cold temps.

The trees never lost their snowy caps, because the sun wasn't out for very long and it never warmed up. I don't think it got above 20 degrees the whole time we were there.

New Year's Eve is celebrated on the mountain by a torchlight parade and fireworks. The ski instructors hold flares and ski down the front face of the ski area. Fireworks conclude the show. Then we go to dinner at The Butcher Shop for a great meal and back home to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Our traveling worked well this year-we managed to avoid the terrible storms and delays that plagued other places. Thanks to the family for such a nice trip!

Trip to Albuquerque

2007-10-16T21:53:00.001-05:00

Got to go with friends to Albuquerque for the Balloon Fiesta. It was a lot of fun! We left home at night and drove and drove and drove until we got to the Acoma Pueblo the next morning.

We took the tour of the "Sky City" and saw the church and dwellings. It was interesting and a combination of the old and new. After the tour we headed across the highway to the Sky City Casino for some lunch and gambling, not necessarily in that order...
Friday night saw us have dinner with friends at the Kirtland Air Force Base Club and out to the Isleta Casino. Many penny machines, and I learned how to lose money at many of them, such as Xanadu, Seaside Fries, Bedazzled, and Double Diamond Deluxe.

The Balloon Fiesta started early Saturday morning with the Mass Ascension. Due to low winds, many balloons ascended and we saw many up close. The lines to get to the park were looong, and so were the lines to get out of the park.

Saturday afternoon was beautiful, with a hike on Sandia Peak and a trip to the quirky Tinkertown Museum.

This is a wall of bottles at the museum. There are many rooms with miniatures mostly hand made by as a hobby of Ross J. Ward. Check out http://www.tinkertown.com/

Saturday night took us to authentic New Mexican food and the Isleta Casino again. I found a loose Xanadu machine and cashed out $92.00 That put me a little bit ahead for the trip, gambling wise.

Up early Sunday morning for the trip down I-25 to I-10. We saw the second ascension of balloons as we drove south. A fun weekend!

Cell Phone Resolved

2007-09-09T22:35:00.000-05:00

I finally receive the cell phone on Sept. 5. That's 10 days being out of touch and disconnected. Very weird feeling. It's funny how I've gotten so used to the instant communication possibility. Not that I spend all the time on the phone, but not being able to when I wanted to was the hard part.

People wondered why I didn't call them back. I had about 10 messages in my voicemail when I was finally reconnected. (Had to spend another 30 min. on the phone with at&t getting the SIM card activated.)

Have spent the last week restoring my address book and have lost several good numbers. The phone has some neat features and some annoyances. Like everything electronic.....And switching numbers from phone memory to SIM card memory has been tedious.

It has a button on the side that activates the spring-loaded flip-up mechanism. That is cool.

It has a picture display on the front and on the inside. If you turn on the camera and keep the phone closed, you can see yourself in the display and take your own picture. Not that I do that kind of thing.....

I don't want to get too attached to it....I haven't had good luck with electronics lately....

Thanks to M.J. for the waterproof cell phone bag. It will come in handy! I'm going to have to try it out, but I'm afraid to do so! Will let you know the results!

Cell Phone Woes- Part 2

2007-08-28T07:32:00.000-05:00

Well, Sunday I went to the phone store to see what they could do for me. I told them the phone got a little wet and the battery seemed to be shorted out. A replacement battery was put in, and the phone did turn on! A ray of light! But it didn't really work. I was able to sign up for an insurance plan ($4.99/mo.) which allows a phone to be replaced. I did get some rice and put the phone in the bowl, thinking it couldn't hurt. But I think the new battery also shorted out and the phone didn't turn on again.

Back to the phone store Monday to see about replacing the phone. They don't do insurance replacements at the stores any more (once again, consumers are inconvenienced and receive fewer services while paying higher prices) but I got the phone number to call.

Tuesday morning called the insurance company (which I'm sure is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T) and after keying in many numbers, got a live person who asked me for all those same numbers again. I can get a replacement phone, factory refurbished (not new) but my model is on back order and may take 10 days to get here. And I have to pay a mandatory $50 deductible-automatically added to my phone bill. Today. And I have to mail the damaged phone and battery back. 10 days without a phone? That doesn't sound very convenient....

Did I ask at the store about loaner phones? Hmmmm. Didn't know that was a possibility....

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Cell Phone Woes

2007-08-26T12:29:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to get a new cell phone, but the cell phone spirits are against me. I had a great Nokia candy bar phone that was pretty high end when I got it in the dark ages of cell phones. No camera but it had great range and was sturdy. So it finally went dead-bad car charger or what, I don't know but it died mid-call and never revived. That was ok, because I wanted something new with more features.

I took myself to my newly expanded Cingular-oh, sorry, AT&T -store and was pretty disappointed in the selection of phones. They had some in special cases that they didn't even carry any more-"We just haven't bothered to take those out of the cases." I wanted another bar phone, so I ended up taking home a Samsung something-or-other-very thin with a big screen. Flat buttons, similar to a Motorola Razr. It was too thin and too light and I couldn't get used to the buttons.

So the next day I took it all back (and the car charger) and looked around again.
This time I picked up the Nokia 6126 a flip phone (not what I really wanted) but it fit into my hand and had ridges around the buttons and a similar Nokia interface to my old phone. This time I got the bundle: car charger, case, and bluetooth headset. And a rebate form. That was on Wednesday. I was getting used to it and even added a photo of Beans to the front display. I was really getting used to it.

Then came Saturday. We went kayaking. I put the phone in a ziploc bag and got a waterproof bag from DH. "Is this bag waterproof?" I asked. "Yes," he said. I clipped the bag to the back of La Chalupa and we headed down the Medina River. In the first set of rapids I got caught sideways and tipped over. Lost the nalgene water bottle, but knew the waterproof bag was clipped in. After coming to calm water and turning everything right side up, DH said, "That bag should have been inside your boat-it's not waterproof like that." Hmm. Either something is waterproof or not, not only waterproof if it's inside another container.....At least that's what I would have thought.

So, the Nokia was waterlogged. I took out the battery and tried to keep it dry for the rest of the trip. When we got home I put a hair dryer on low and dried it for 4 hours. The water condensation in the screens cleared up. This morning I put it back together and plugged in the charger. After a while it actually beeped and came back on. The outside display was working, although dimly, and the keypad lights were on. Could it be resuscitated? The inside display did not work. After making a few noises-rumbles and beeps, it went off and hasn't come back on. I think I put in the battery too soon. Perhaps if I'd read this article last night, it would have helped!

I guess I'm going back to the phone store today. Perhaps the third time's the charm for cell phones.......On the way I'm going to drop the rebate forms at the post office.

New York, New York

2007-07-28T07:53:00.000-05:00

View of Chinatown

Last stop on the summer road trip was New York. It is great to be able to combine a family visit with some culture and fun! Thanks to the 'rents for putting us up, and treating us to dinners out and theater seats! Highlights of the trip included cake tasting with DD as well as a whirlwind trip to Chinatown and the Metropolitan Museum.

There was a rumor afloat that showing one's Docent Badge could get one into museums for free. We tested this out and found it to be TRUE! Plus, the docent's guests can also enter for free, although each museum has different guidelines as to how many guests: MoMA allows one free guest, the Met allows up to 4 free, the Cooper-Hewitt let in 2 guests. This is great news and should be shared with all docents! Quite a cost savings, as MoMA is now up to $20 entrance fee, and most other museums heading into double digits as well.

The best way to see the Metropolitan Museum is in short, targeted strikes. We went on Friday evening, when it stays open until 9pm and there are drinks on the roof. We saw the new Greek and Roman Galleries and the temporary exhibit on the Clark Brothers' Collections. We also ate in the small cafe (which has been moved since the opening of the new galleries). The food and service were quite good, although not cheap. But it is in a nice area near European Decorative Arts with a bank of windows that looks onto green space. The restaurant stays open until 10 pm so you don't feel rushed.

There are weird flowers outside of the Cooper Hewitt Museum and Richard Sera sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art and that pretty much concluded the culture for this trip.

We also were in NY for Harry Potter weekend, and I was able to read
about half of the book before I left for home. Thanks to DM and DD for that!

I have to report the demise of my beloved Casio Exilim camera, as DH took it on his fishing trip and accidentally let it go swimming......Vacation pics will be up on the Flickr site soon. Any suggestions for a new, waterproof camera?

Summer School For Docents

2007-07-22T21:32:00.001-05:00

The Road Show is still on the road, and behind in the posts!

From July 9 to July 15 I was part of a group of docents from all over the country that came to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA to learn more about how to talk about art. We were taught primarily by Michael Cassin, the Curator of Education for the Clark, an energetic (to put it mildly!) teacher whose love of the arts drives his passion for teaching. The Clark has a treasure trove of Impressionist art, as well as American, Medieval and European art, and collections of decorative arts and English silver (and a few sculptures!)

We also had other excellent tour guides as we took in contemporary art at MassMoCA, a new exhibit on Gerald and Sara Murphy at the Williams College Museum of Art , and several tours of art on view at the Clark. I loved the area as this view of the hill behind the Clark is typical. Lots of Berkshire Mountains around, too!
We stayed on the Williams College campus in Dodd House, which was adequate, but not heavy on amenities.

We also enjoyed 2 nights of the Williamstown Theater Festival, seeing "The Front Page" and "Villa America", both with recognizable actors from TV and movies, notably Nate Coddry from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Matt Bomer from Traveler, Richard Kind from Spin City.

I worked pretty hard during the docent classes: we looked at a lot of paintings and objects from all genres, and had to do group exercises and presentations. I hope I can practice what I learned and improve my "gallery talks." It was great getting to know some more docents-hopefully we can visit each other's museums and get some wonderful tours from each other!
This is a photo of Michael teaching-we spent almost as much time in the classroom as touring. The Berkshire Eagle did a story about us. I did not get in the photos or the article!

With a day or two on either end of this trip to visit with friends and family in the Northampton area, it was a great week!

Camp Reunion

2007-07-12T07:31:00.000-05:00

The Road Show has been on the road!
If you ever went to camp, you will know how nostalgic you can get for those summer days by the lake. If you never went to camp, you will think people are slightly crazy....The radio show This American Life did an episode about camp that was rebroadcast recently. You can check it out here

Anyway, my camp (Camp Northland for Girls) was in northern Minnesota outside of Ely, the gateway to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. It was on the North Arm of Lake Burntside. It was started in the late '40s by a couple of teachers, and was run by them and their son until 1980. The property was subsequently bought by the YMCA of St. Paul, MN and added to their existing family camp. So, over the years, we Camp Northland girls have returned at various times to relive our childhoods. We have slept in the original cabins, used the outhouses and saunas, swam in the lake and taken out canoes and sailboats.

Thanks to the internet, we have found over 75 people who attended camp as campers and /or counselors and this reunion (6/30/07-7/7/07) proved to draw the most people to date.

The YMCA has expanded their property and built some nice log cabins with amenities about a mile from the original camp. As we are all getting older and need more creature comforts, we opted for the nicer digs. We could still do all our old camp activities and some new ones, too.

I really enjoyed the chance to connect with childhood friends, both from camp and my elementary school years. It was as much fun to find out what these people are doing now as to remember activities and canoe trips with them.

Many people brought their Memory Books and we spent hours looking at all the kids over the years and trying to remember everyone in our cabins. We shared secrets that had never been told (kids who snuck over to the boys' camp down the lake, took food from the kitchens, things like that) and learned lots about the history of the camp and what led to its closing.

Of course, I had great new experiences this trip. I got to go sailing, which I really liked but never did much as a camper. I canoed and hiked and got 2 tours of the bigger part of Lake Burntside. I was in a car that ran out of gas and a boat that almost ran out of gas.

I reconnected with the people and the lake and the woods.

And now for a camp song!

Tall girls, short girls, fat and thin,
Whatcha gonna do when the heat sets in?
Nothin' to do, nothin' to say,
That's the time to pack your bags and go away:
Come to Camp Northland where the breezes blow,
Come to Camp Northland where you swim and row;
Answer the ever luring call:
Camp Northland girls, the best of all!
Boom dadi yada, Some Girls!

Where in the world is Amy Sandiego?: Camp Wood, Texas

2007-06-26T21:57:00.000-05:00

Where in the world is Amy Sandiego?: Camp Wood, Texas

Midnight at the Nueces

2007-06-12T23:49:00.000-05:00

Had a fun kayak/fishing weekend with friends on the Nueces River near Camp Wood, Texas. I got to try out my new kayak, "La Chalupa", a Wilderness Tarpon 10.

"La Chalupa" is one of the cards in the game of Loteria-usually depicted as a young lady in a canoe full of flowers. DH got me the decal Very cute. The boat is easy to paddle. We did a very nice 3-mile stretch of the Nueces with small rapids and ripples. Just about my speed. The group went back in the afternoon and did the same stretch again, while I watched from the bank. My wrist was tired, although it is coming back well. Of course, I fell into the water getting into my boat right at the beginning, not a good sign, but I stayed in after that.

Of course, we were playing farkle at midnight (and beyond)-a popular dice game. Sunday DH and I did some fly fishing. I caught 0 and lost 2 flies. DH caught a monster bass and tiny perch. A relaxing and fun weekend.

What I'm Reading-Spring 2007

2007-05-31T17:21:00.000-05:00

The Last Tuesday Book Club is finishing up its third year! Thanks to all those who have been faithful members and readers! Also thanks to the sometimes-readers and occasional attendees. The more opinions the merrier!~
Beyond the LTBC I've read some interesting books: Beach Road by James Patterson-murder mystery, fairly entertaining, but nothing great. Really enjoyed The Gates of the Alamo by Stephen Harrington. Anyone in Texas and especially South Texas who thinks they know all about it will learn something new about the siege of the Alamo. It's very readable and has great characters. Also liked Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See-a tale of Chinese women and their tribulations. Didn't like White Ghost Girls by Alice Greenway as much-it's written as a haunting memoir but it's a downer of a book.
One book we had put on the LTBC list but I think we're removing is Wicked by Gregory Maguire. It's the imagined life of the Wicked Witch of the West-from birth to death. It's all about the politics and religion of Oz and all its weird inhabitants before Dorothy Gale from Kansas arrives. It's not a happy-go-lucky story at all-after all, we all know what happens to the WWW at the end....but if you want to know one person's idea of how the WWW got to that end, this is a richly imagined tale. I have also read his Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, and his writing definitely takes you to faraway times and places.
While I was laid up with the broken wrist, I read my first Carl Hiassen book:Skinny Dip. Can't wait to read another one. Why wait? I just bought 2 Donna Leon ppbs that I haven't read before--will report when completed.
Happy reading!

Wrist Revealed

2007-04-21T07:39:00.000-05:00

10 weeks after surgery the bones are almost healed. New x-rays taken and this shows the truly gruesome nature of the plate. Is that screw supposed to be sticking out of the bone????
I've really benefited from therapy. I have about all the flexion back and just need to rebuild strength. It won't ever match the right wrist in terms of flexibility, I fear.

The scar is healing nicely, as I've really been working on it every day. Massage with lotion for 10 min. at a time, several times a day. The thin red line.

Still have to be careful with carrying weighty objects. I can lift the big laundry detergent jug but can't carry it.
Thanks for all the cards and letters!
Waving bye with the left hand!

New Museum 2

2007-03-15T17:55:00.000-05:00

Here is a photo of some of the docents looking at one of the larger contemporary pieces at the Blanton This was commissioned by the Blanton, but I didn't catch title or artist.

New Museum

2007-03-14T08:23:00.000-05:00

The SAMA Docents went on a field trip this week. They took a bus to Austin and saw the new Blanton Museum on the UT campus. It is a great building-stunningly high ceilings and large exhibit spaces. They have a wonderful collection of contemporary art (much of donated by the late James Michener and his wife)-huge pieces and several installations. They also have a huge print collection and European Art. We had a docent-led tour of the museum, and they let us in for free, which was great. If you want to see a lot of modern and contemporary art in one place, this is it. We spent about 2 hrs. there and then got back on the bus to go to lunch.

We were headed for the Capitol Grill, and we drove for about 10 minutes. It turns out the Capitol Grill is in the basement of the Capitol Building-there's no street level entrance. You have to go into the Capitol building and then find the elevators to the basement. We had been driving around looking for the street entrance.... The bus parked across the lawn from the building and we got out and trooped over to the entrance. At that moment, a huge thunderstorm broke right over our heads... We made it safely to the building and walked the rather intimidating halls to the rotunda and found the elevators. Nice cafeteria, with many food stations. Pleasant lunch and good company.

Broken Wrist Heals

2007-03-08T13:57:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the ortho surgeon, I now have this wonderful plate in my wrist.
This photo is looking from the back of the hand down onto the plate. I have a nice scar on the inside of the wrist. The screws are holding the broken bits of bone away from the wrist. Therapy starts tomorrow.

Knitting Projects

2007-02-13T15:18:00.001-06:00

Even with the wrist problem, I've finished two projects in the last month.
First up is the tasseled scarf, knitted with 1 strand of boucle yarn, and 2 strands of "Incredible" ribbon yarn held together. Knitted on size 50 needles.

Then I did a lap robe/afghan with 4 strands of yarn held together. Also on the size 50 needles. It measured about 34" by 54" before the fringe. The large needles are easy to hold and the projects go quickly.

The Broken Wrist

2007-02-10T09:18:00.000-06:00

Jan. 19, 2007. It had been a great day! Skiing, massage, facial, nice dinner out with nice people and dancing. It was the walk home that was the mistake. Just a small slip on a little hill, better negotiated on skis than on foot, as it turned out. I was helped up by several people (who were too slow to stop the fall) and we continued back to the condo. The wrist hurt but I hadn’t heard any crunching of bones, so I thought it was probably a bad sprain. After removing the sleeve of my jacket we saw that the wrist was off-kilter and extremely swollen--DH said “We have to go to the emergency room-don’t even finish taking off your coat.”

Ever taken a taxi to the emergency room? On a Friday night in a ski town? My advice would be to call 911 and take the ambulance. They probably show up sooner, have trained personnel in the vehicle, and don’t charge as much (I’m not really sure about that last part, but I am about the first two parts.)

At any rate, after stating that my pain was “8” on a scale from 1 to 10, I had x-rays and the bad news: Broken distal radius (that means at the lower end of the bone) with angular displacement of the wrist. Wait for the orthopedic surgeon to arrive to set it. After several different IV drugs and more x-rays, I awoke to a splint/cast from elbow to fingers. The take-home prize was a sling. But supposedly straight bones. They sent me home with the vicodin, too.

Spent the rest of the vacation skiing the couch instead of the slopes. Luckily I had brought the size 50 knitting needles and was able to start on a scarf. And I had picked up 2 books in the Houston Airport on the way.

Fast forward through the limitations of only having one hand for all tasks, and not being able to drive for 10 days, to the Jan. 30 orthopod visit. More x-rays and the bad news: compression of the bones inward, surgery needed. Please come tomorrow afternoon and don’t eat anything after midnight tonight.

Went to the surgery center on Jan. 31. Got there around 2 pm. Went into operating room at 3:50. Had to wait for the arm to go numb-very weird feeling being able to see your arm but have no control over it. Woke up at 4:35 and was in recovery. Was able to eat and drink by 5:15 and was home by 6:00 pm. Anesthetic on arm wore off at 6:30 and had a bad 30 min. until Nurse DH came home with the meds. But got the pain under control by midnight. (after about 1300 mg. of vicodin-just not all at once…)

Feb.6 saw me in the Orthopod’s office again for stitch removal (only one long stitch to hold the glued skin in place) and casting. I have good use of fingers, less use of thumb. Cast to remain on for 2 weeks. No lifting allowed, but driving is ok. Bruising was almost gone (did I mention that the whole inside of my palm all the way to my elbow was a most horrible purplish-black?)

You can see in the photo that the cast is made of a mesh material that looks like an ace bandage-it comes in a roll and is soaked in water, wound around the arm, and then dries hard. I chose a darker purple than shows in the photo. I have started to decorate it with a silver Sharpie. I have to put a bag on it before bathing, as I didn't get the Gore-tex-lined option.

Will update as the cast comes off in 2 weeks.
Tread carefully!

Just for the Record

2007-01-16T09:24:00.000-06:00

This is an update to the previous post. I did receive my refund check from Spirit Incentives just before the holidays. It came in the time they said. So that episode is over. I hope I learned my lesson.

Spirit Incentives Breaks My Spirit

2006-12-15T07:35:00.000-06:00

Be Prepared-this is long. But it is not a rant.

DH and I went on a time share tour last spring. We didn’t buy a time share, but “won” two certificates for free travel. I was really excited-one certificate was for travel to a choice of hotels in exotic places. The certificates are good for one year. The one that caught my eye was “Royal Lahaina Hotel, Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii.” I read the directions, even the fine print. I sent in the certificate with chosen dates for possible travel.

About 2 months later I got a letter that said “Your first chosen travel date is unavailable, should we continue with your 2nd chosen date?” I returned the card “Yes”. About 2 months later I get the same card. I chose 2 more dates. Second letter comes back the same-“should we proceed with your next date?” I return the “yes” reply.

Then in November I get a letter that says I need to pay $140 in taxes. I’m excited. I call up the Customer Service line (NOT a toll-free number). “Are you processing my Jan. 9 travel date?” I ask. They reply, “Yes, your next date is Jan. 9 and when we have your taxes we will have a reservation agent call you to finalize reservations.” I’m starting to research airfares to Maui; I look on my calendar and think about what I’ll have to rearrange to make this trip.

Then I call the customer service no. back a week later to see if they received my $$. They had, and they gave me the toll-free “reservations” number. I call and they have my info and they “start looking at availability” and I’m on hold for many minutes. Finally they come back and say they have “No availability for that date.” What?? I got the taxes letter! I called and they said they were preparing to confirm that date. “Well, if you had sent in the $$ for the taxes earlier, you would have gotten your date.” HUH? How could I have sent the $$ in earlier if I just got the letter 2 weeks ago? “Do you want me to check availability for your next date?” Yes, please. I’m on hold for many more minutes. “No availability for that date either.” What??? How can that be?

After several calls to the reservations number and the customer service number and much arguing, it turns out that there is NO availability for Maui for ANY possible travel date from January to April. “We only get limited no. of rooms.” None. And none of the other places listed for travel had any availability either, except for perhaps Jamaica.

There is NOTHING in the information packet that says taxes must be paid BEFORE a reservation can be processed, although it does say that taxes are the responsibility of the traveler. But taxes apparently have to be paid before a reservation is processed. When I point that out about the lack of info in the packet, they have no answer, but no apology and no way to give me what I want. They won’t extend the length of my certificate, even though I didn’t get a letter about taxes until 7 months after I sent in the first reservation request.

I cancelled my certificate and requested a refund. Haven’t seen it yet.
If you Google “Spirit Incentives” you will be directed to websites where people have a lot of bad things to say about this company. Their company website doesn’t have any content, except info as to how companies can buy their travel packages as incentives.

When the time share company called us, we told them that their incentive plan was a rip-off and reflected badly on the time share company for having it.

DH told me this was a rip-off and I thought I could follow the rules and get the benefit. But it didn’t work like that.

Oh well, older and wiser. Be warned.

What I'm Reading-Fall

2006-11-12T22:32:00.000-06:00

Ok-it’s been several months since a book update. The Last Tuesday Book Club has read The Devil Wears Prada, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,and Memoirs of a Geisha, all great books, each in its own way. It helped that the movies have come out and we could also discuss similarities and differences.
We also read Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation, a lyrical memoir by John Philip Santos. This book was chosen by our city to read collectively over the summer and I really enjoyed it.

Upcoming for the LTBC is The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (murder mystery), and The Alchemist by Paul Coelho. Our group is certainly eclectic!

In addition, I just finished The Other Rebecca by Maureen Freely, an updated retelling of Rebecca, with a few extra twists. A couple of plane trips were eased by reading March by Gwendolyn Brooks, an imagination of what Mr. March was doing during the Civil War while his family had their story told in Little Women. I raced through The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan-a young adult book that has Greek gods and goddesses hovering over America and causing trouble. I’d read the sequel: it has a well-drawn modern protagonist with plenty of problems.

I enjoyed Blood From a Stone by Donna Leon. I’ve really enjoyed the Detective Brunelli series set in Venice. I know I’ve missed a few books in the series, because they only became available in the U.S. a couple of years ago and our stores don’t stock all of them. And, also set in Venice, I read City of Falling Angels by John Berendt (writer of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). This is non-fiction, about the fire at the Fenice Opera House and all sorts of the interesting Venetians and expats that make up Venetian society.

I think that about covers it for now! Happy reading!

The Kittens

2006-10-03T19:52:00.000-05:00

DS brought home 2 kittens. A female named "Cake" and a male named "Damnit".They are brown and gray striped. They are kinda cute, even if they knock over the trash and eat anything they find. They will chase paper balls and bring them back for more.

They just cost me $530.

Of course they needed spaying and neutering. They needed pre-op blood tests. They needed rabies shots and distemper shots. Cake had worms and ear mites, so she got meds for that. They have post-op meds. They needed city licenses.

They've rebounded from the surgery pretty well, except they keep trying to jump up on the counters and they can't quite make it...

Are they worth it? The jury's still out.

Houseboat Adventure Report

2006-09-26T13:09:00.000-05:00

I survived the houseboat adventure! Most of my fears did not materialize: I didn't get bored or tired of the people, didn't see one rat (although we made sure they couldn't get on board via anchor ropes), was happy to see the CO testers in every room. No one tried to get in touch with me and couldn't, although when we passed places where there was cell service, I did try to call out and leave messages. I could have used one more book, and did some knitting but not all that much. I could have exercised more and did overindulge in food and drink when presented the opportunity... It was really fun and the people were great. I loved being on the boat and seeing this amazing part of the country. It's like traveling in an RV, but you get to be on the water and there's no trailer park at the end of the day, just a sandy beach to call your own.
Above is my photo of Rainbow Bridge. We took a boat into a side canyon and then hiked back to the bridge formation. It was early in the morning and we had the place to ourselves. It was quite beautiful. We also saw Anasazi ruins and cliff paintings, famous historical sites, and lots of rock formations.
I would definitely do this trip again!

Houseboat Adventure Preparations

2006-09-01T18:34:00.000-05:00

The bags are about packed. How to fit everything in in reasonable room? And not have any liquids or gels in the carry-ons? (There goes the Visine, moisturizer, lipgloss, Purell, mouthwash, toothpaste, facial moisturizer and perfume usually in my carry-on.) DH has a rolling duffel-not too large. He is carrying a fishing pole tube. I have a 24" suitcase. That's ok. Then we have the carry-on stuff. Pack of tortillas. 2 lbs of coffee. Small binocs. book. knitting. magazine. carry-on meds. camera. headphones and cds/dvds.camera equipment, phone chargers, notebook computer.(not a small one), plugs for that. I may do a small rollaboard and the computer bag....
Here is what I'm worried about on the boat:
1. I'll get bored.
2. I'll get tired of the people.
3. I won't get enough exercise.
4. I will eat and drink too much (that could be 2, but this is a long list)
5. I will need to get in touch with the outside world and won't be able to.
6. Someone from the outside world will need to get in touch with me and won't be able to.
7. Carbon Monoxide poisoning. (People have died on houseboats because of this.)
8. Sunburn
9. Two fat books won't be enough.
10.Rats climbing up the anchor ropes.
11.I will not be able to quit worrying about home.

I hope it will be fun.

Houseboat Adventure

2006-08-30T07:57:00.000-05:00

We're getting ready to take a houseboat trip on Lake Powell. We launch from Page, AZ and motor north. I'm a little nervous about being on a houseboat for 7 days. With 2 other couples. All the things I won't be able to do: morning walks, checking email,checking in with my exercise coach. We have to bring everything with us, because they don't plan on stopping at any marinas along the way. No cell service after the first hour. At least it's an easy trip in the way of clothes: all casual and swimwear. We bought water shoes that can also take easy hikes. DH is loading up with fishing gear, I'm loading up with books, knitting, journals. I'm bringing the yoga videos and Farkel dice. And the telescoping marshmallow forks. The scenery should be beautiful in a Grand Canyon/Red Rocks way, and they've promised me Rainbow Bridge. I know DH relaxes extremely well, but I don't know about the rest of us....Will update after the trip!

It's all on the internet....

2006-08-16T23:13:00.000-05:00

I've been planning a trip to Las Vegas for the last week. All on the internet. Sure, we've been able to book airline tickets online for several years, and hotels, too. But I'm amazed every day at how much in online. I've already printed out the tickets to the new Cirque de Soleil show. Unheard of not too long ago....

Thanks to my brother's girlfriend, I found a travel website www.groople.com that has deals for groups. And they replied promptly to my email questions and were easy to reach on the phone. I booked 5 hotel rooms for our family reunion at a good hotel for a great price, with different arrival dates, all very easily.

Other interesting things I've found online:
Need telescoping marshamallow roasting forks? Type that into Google and you can get www.rollaroaster.com, the perfect gift for the outdoor enthusiast.

Membership to the Lower East Side Tenement Museum (www.tenement.org) saved me $$ and got me a personal reservation agent when I needed to book a tour for 8 people.

Of course, maps and directions are easy to find online, but with my AAA membership I downloaded a triptik for a road trip to Dallas.

I've ordered bon voyage gifts for friends taking cruises that were in their staterooms on departure.

I remember when companies first started putting their website addresses in their TV, radio and print ads. That seemed weird. Who would actually go to a website for more advertising?
Now, the TV, radio, newspapers all have reduced content in their media, and you have to "go to our website for more on this subject."

And the whole blog explosion....
It's all on the internet. For real.