Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Trying to make Outlook actually work
I'm trying to use Xobni. I need 2 reference to get priority. Hope this works!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Homecoming in October
In October, we visited Laramie for the annual trek to Wyoming's Homecoming game. Wyoming lost to New Mexico, but we got to experience the first ever lightning delay in Wyoming football history (114 years) and stayed home Saturday night due to freezing rain, and woke up to snow!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Pictures from Trip to Spain Part 1
The flash version of the pictures kept coming up and not displaying correctly, so I had to remove the pictures. Here they are. I think they have it fixed!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Trip to Spain, Part 3: Madrid again
On Friday, we were heading back to Madrid, so Roger and I got up and walked to
the supermercado to buy some breakfast, but it didn’t open until 9, so we found
a café for some café con leche which we waited. We bought a nice selection of fruit, juice, croissants, meat and cheese
for 11 euros which ended up feeding us all nicely. We then packed and took a cab to the train
station for our 12:25 train. We were a
bit early, so we had time for more café con leche at the train station. As we lined up for security, they announced
the train was cancelled, so Roger and I got in line to get tickets for the next
train, which was at 13:25. Rasila said
she heard it was cancelled due to a strike, but I suspect the train was just
not populated enough to run it. So we
read for an hour while we waited. After
arriving back in Madrid,
we looked into the old station, which has a tropical garden in it. We took the Metro back to the Gran Via, where
we were staying in the same hotel. Our
rooms didn’t have a view, but there were as nice as the previous ones. We went to the Prado art museum that
afternoon, where they have a very impressive collection of Velazquez, Greco,
and Goya, among numerous others. We were
meeting Mark and Sabrina at 7 at the hotel, and we all went up the rooftop bar
for a pre-dinner drink. It had an
impressive view of the city and a tower that you could walk up that put you at
12 stories up that I got some good pictures from.
We were eating at a Basque restaurant that night and had an 8:30 reservation. When we arrived, we were the only ones there. When we left at 11:00, the restaurant was full with most people just eating their appetizers! I had an unusual dish of baby squid in a salsa tinta, which I found out was a sauce made with the ink. t was very good.
Saturday, we woke at 9:15 (finally getting into the Spanish lifestyle!), had breakfast, and met Mark and Sabrina at 11:00. We were going to go through Retiro Park, but it was raining, so we went to the Thyssen Museum instead. It has a collection of minor works by major artists as well as the only collection of American art in Spain. Rasila enjoyed it as it had works by Monet, Rodin, and others from the impressionist era, which she really likes.
We were doing a tapas crawl that night, so we decided a siesta was in order, so after lunch at an Indian restaurant in the Lavapies district, we took a nap. We were starting our crawl at 7:00 PM, where we hit 7 different places, including the place Hemingway did eat, before crowning off the evening with the San Gines Chocolateria. The hot chocolate is famous and is served in 2 spots, both walking distance from our hotel. The chocolate is thick enough to float your spoon, and you dip churros in it. It was worth the wait, as Rasila had been hearing about it all week! We were finished at midnight, since we had to travel the next day.
Sunday was our travel day home, so we got up at 7:00, ate breakfast, and was on the Metro by 8:00. Roger and Julia’s flight was at 11, ours at noon. We had time to spend our leftover Euros at the duty free shop and flew back with only a minor delay in Chicago due to thunderstorms. The long connection paid off as our bags made an earlier flight and we just picked them up and took a taxi home! All in all, it was 24 hours from getting up to going to sleep at 10 PM.
We were eating at a Basque restaurant that night and had an 8:30 reservation. When we arrived, we were the only ones there. When we left at 11:00, the restaurant was full with most people just eating their appetizers! I had an unusual dish of baby squid in a salsa tinta, which I found out was a sauce made with the ink. t was very good.
Saturday, we woke at 9:15 (finally getting into the Spanish lifestyle!), had breakfast, and met Mark and Sabrina at 11:00. We were going to go through Retiro Park, but it was raining, so we went to the Thyssen Museum instead. It has a collection of minor works by major artists as well as the only collection of American art in Spain. Rasila enjoyed it as it had works by Monet, Rodin, and others from the impressionist era, which she really likes.
We were doing a tapas crawl that night, so we decided a siesta was in order, so after lunch at an Indian restaurant in the Lavapies district, we took a nap. We were starting our crawl at 7:00 PM, where we hit 7 different places, including the place Hemingway did eat, before crowning off the evening with the San Gines Chocolateria. The hot chocolate is famous and is served in 2 spots, both walking distance from our hotel. The chocolate is thick enough to float your spoon, and you dip churros in it. It was worth the wait, as Rasila had been hearing about it all week! We were finished at midnight, since we had to travel the next day.
Sunday was our travel day home, so we got up at 7:00, ate breakfast, and was on the Metro by 8:00. Roger and Julia’s flight was at 11, ours at noon. We had time to spend our leftover Euros at the duty free shop and flew back with only a minor delay in Chicago due to thunderstorms. The long connection paid off as our bags made an earlier flight and we just picked them up and took a taxi home! All in all, it was 24 hours from getting up to going to sleep at 10 PM.
Trip to Spain, Part 2: Toledo
On Tuesday, we were traveling to Toledo on a 12:20 train, so we got up and had
a lazy breakfast at the hotel, then packed up and took the Metro to the train
station. The high speed train we were
taking has a separate departure gate with security like an airport. We were a bit early, and had to wait about 45
minutes to board. The train was a AVE
train, which travels at about 200 kph to Toledo. I think it is capable of faster speeds than
that, but the trip is only 30 minutes from getting on the train to getting off
the train.
We took the taxi to the Hilton Buenavista Toledo, where Rasila and I had traded our timeshare to get 3 night each for us and Roger and Julia. We checked in, then walked into the local neighborhood for lunch, which we found and enjoyed. I had calamari, eggs, and French fries, Rasila had a delicious chicken. We stopped at a supermercado and bought some water, juice, and wine on our way back to the hotel. We split a bottle of wine before taking a taxi to the old city for dinner. We ate at a recommended restaurant from Rick Steves’ book where we selected off the Menu Del Dia (menu of the day). We took a cab back to the hotel where we had a drink on the patio overlooking the Tajo river before retiring. When Rasila and I got into our room, we discovered a dessert tray! It had an apricot pudding, 3 small chocolate mousses, and some dried fruit candies with a large bottle of water. I think it was because of the Hilton membership, because Roger and Juila didn’t have one.
The next day (Wednesday), we ate breakfast at the hotel, which we didn’t do again since it was 21 euros each! We ate up once we discovered the price. We then walked to the old city, which had some Roman ruins on the way. We head towards where we thought they were, but ended up at the Plaza de Toros (bullring) and Hospital Taverna instead. The bullring had a concert that Friday starting at 10 PM, more evidence of the late nigh Spanish culture. We walked by the Bisara gate and up the hill into the city.
We first toured the Cathedral, which was very impressive. Rick Steves’ had a good self tour which pointed out some things we would have missed other wise, like the hats of the Cardinals rotting over their burial sites in the church and the seven deadly sins in one painting. From there, we walked down to the Jewish end of town to check out the 2 synagogues. The first, the Sinagoga de Maria de Blanca, was used by Napoleon as a stable in the 18 hundreds but is being restored. The second is a Sephardic Museum as well. It is called the Sinagoga Transito or Transit Synagogue. It was built by Muslim workers under Catholic permission. We tried to then visit one of the Mosques, but it was closed for siesta, so we had lunch at this wonderful pizzeria, where the wall was covered with awards from pizza competitions in Italy. By the time we made it back to the mosque, it was closed for the day, so we went to the Plaza Zocodover and tried to take the Zoco Train, but it had just left. We had a beer while deciding whether to leave and come back, when we decided we need to stay instead of making the trip. We wandered by Alcazar looking for a back entrance to a restaurant we saw a sign for, but couldn’t find it, so we ended up walking back up the hill and going down the alleyway to it. It ended up being an excellent choice! It was about 5 years old and had restored the building so you felt like you were dining outdoors in some ancient ruins. Very cool atmosphere. We took a card for Mark and Sabrina so we could send them there when they visit. We took a cab back to the Hilton, where unfortunately, no dessert tray was awaiting us.
The next morning (Thursday), we decided to eat in town, so we walked to restaurant we had had lunch at, but they were not serving breakfast that day, so we continued walking until we found a café. After some discussion in our poor Spanish, we ordered something grilled, which turned out to be a grilled croissant with butter and marmalade. It was delicious! We then walked up to the Roman Circus ruins, which were impressive. I realized I had left my guidebook at breakfast, so I headed back and they had kept it for me. We then took an escalator built into the hillside up to the city. We stopped for another café before heading to the Victorio Macho museum, which also had the Greco paintings from El Greco’s house, which was being remodeled. We then had lunch at a café, where we had a selection of tapas. From there, we went to see the mosque we had missed previously. We then decided to head back to the hotel for a siesta before dinner. On the walk back, we went by another mosque which was being excavated and found our restaurant for dinner which was at the old Bisgara gate, called the Hostel del Cardenal. After a quick nap, and a change of clothes, we took a cab back to the restaurant and dined elegantly in an outdoor patio seating with the gate rising above us. It was a great atmosphere. The house wine was a cabernet, which was unusual, and it was great. We managed to catch a cab that was dropping someone else off as we were leaving and took it back to the hotel.
We took the taxi to the Hilton Buenavista Toledo, where Rasila and I had traded our timeshare to get 3 night each for us and Roger and Julia. We checked in, then walked into the local neighborhood for lunch, which we found and enjoyed. I had calamari, eggs, and French fries, Rasila had a delicious chicken. We stopped at a supermercado and bought some water, juice, and wine on our way back to the hotel. We split a bottle of wine before taking a taxi to the old city for dinner. We ate at a recommended restaurant from Rick Steves’ book where we selected off the Menu Del Dia (menu of the day). We took a cab back to the hotel where we had a drink on the patio overlooking the Tajo river before retiring. When Rasila and I got into our room, we discovered a dessert tray! It had an apricot pudding, 3 small chocolate mousses, and some dried fruit candies with a large bottle of water. I think it was because of the Hilton membership, because Roger and Juila didn’t have one.
The next day (Wednesday), we ate breakfast at the hotel, which we didn’t do again since it was 21 euros each! We ate up once we discovered the price. We then walked to the old city, which had some Roman ruins on the way. We head towards where we thought they were, but ended up at the Plaza de Toros (bullring) and Hospital Taverna instead. The bullring had a concert that Friday starting at 10 PM, more evidence of the late nigh Spanish culture. We walked by the Bisara gate and up the hill into the city.
We first toured the Cathedral, which was very impressive. Rick Steves’ had a good self tour which pointed out some things we would have missed other wise, like the hats of the Cardinals rotting over their burial sites in the church and the seven deadly sins in one painting. From there, we walked down to the Jewish end of town to check out the 2 synagogues. The first, the Sinagoga de Maria de Blanca, was used by Napoleon as a stable in the 18 hundreds but is being restored. The second is a Sephardic Museum as well. It is called the Sinagoga Transito or Transit Synagogue. It was built by Muslim workers under Catholic permission. We tried to then visit one of the Mosques, but it was closed for siesta, so we had lunch at this wonderful pizzeria, where the wall was covered with awards from pizza competitions in Italy. By the time we made it back to the mosque, it was closed for the day, so we went to the Plaza Zocodover and tried to take the Zoco Train, but it had just left. We had a beer while deciding whether to leave and come back, when we decided we need to stay instead of making the trip. We wandered by Alcazar looking for a back entrance to a restaurant we saw a sign for, but couldn’t find it, so we ended up walking back up the hill and going down the alleyway to it. It ended up being an excellent choice! It was about 5 years old and had restored the building so you felt like you were dining outdoors in some ancient ruins. Very cool atmosphere. We took a card for Mark and Sabrina so we could send them there when they visit. We took a cab back to the Hilton, where unfortunately, no dessert tray was awaiting us.
The next morning (Thursday), we decided to eat in town, so we walked to restaurant we had had lunch at, but they were not serving breakfast that day, so we continued walking until we found a café. After some discussion in our poor Spanish, we ordered something grilled, which turned out to be a grilled croissant with butter and marmalade. It was delicious! We then walked up to the Roman Circus ruins, which were impressive. I realized I had left my guidebook at breakfast, so I headed back and they had kept it for me. We then took an escalator built into the hillside up to the city. We stopped for another café before heading to the Victorio Macho museum, which also had the Greco paintings from El Greco’s house, which was being remodeled. We then had lunch at a café, where we had a selection of tapas. From there, we went to see the mosque we had missed previously. We then decided to head back to the hotel for a siesta before dinner. On the walk back, we went by another mosque which was being excavated and found our restaurant for dinner which was at the old Bisgara gate, called the Hostel del Cardenal. After a quick nap, and a change of clothes, we took a cab back to the restaurant and dined elegantly in an outdoor patio seating with the gate rising above us. It was a great atmosphere. The house wine was a cabernet, which was unusual, and it was great. We managed to catch a cab that was dropping someone else off as we were leaving and took it back to the hotel.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Trip to Spain, Part 1: Madrid
In the middle of last year, an old friend of Rodney and his brother Roger told us they were moving to Spain for a couple years. We decided that we needed to visit while they were there. The last week of September, that's what we did!
We flew American Airlines to Chicago, where we connected to Iberia Airlines to Madrid. We arrived Sunday morning at about 7:30 AM, where it was still dark because the timezone in Spain is the same as Germany, even though it is closer in Longitude to the United Kingdom. We were met by our friends, Mark and Sabrina, who we first went and got a cafe con leche with, then bought Metro tickets and rode the metro to the terminal Roger and Julia were arriving at. It was 2 stops! Roger and Julia had just got through customs when we arrived, so we then all rode the Metro to downtown Madrid, where our Hotel, the Hotel Atlantico was located on the Gran Via.
Mark and Sabrina had participated in the Blanco Noche so they were as tired as we were. We planned on an easy day and took in tapas and beer for lunch at a place called Dona Juana and then walked to the Plaza del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, took in a drink at the belgium cafe, then went and dropped Rasila off back at the hotel.
The Gran Via was blocked off and when we asked why, we found out the Tour de Espana was finishing in Madrid by the Banco de Espana just down the street. We walked down and watched the finish of 5 laps on the Paseo del Prado. An italian won the stage, but a russian won the race.
We went back and woke up Rasila and walked to a microbrewery called Meson. We had a couple plates of meat while Rodney enjoyed a Tortilla Cerveza!
The next day, we got up, ate a nice breakfast at the hotel (included in the room), then Sabrina met us and we walked to the Palacio Real. The Armory was on loan to the Forbidden City in Bejing, so we missed that, but the palace is a museum into itself with lots of art and unusual rooms.
After lunch, we took the metro to the Banco de Espana stop to visit the Museo Reina Sofia, a modern art museum. It has an impressive set of glass elevators on it’s entrance and is famous for its collection of surrealistic art by Picasso, Dali, and Miro, among others. It has a very famous painting inspired by the destruction of a town in northern Spain that Franco allowed Germany to test their WWII weaponry upon called Geurnica. We were having dinner with Mark, who had to work all day, so we took the Metro out to the area that they live in and sat at a café having a beer waiting for Mark. There, we met 2 other people Mark worked with out grocery shopping and walking their dog. Our dinner was early, 8 PM, so we were seated outside, where we had a wonderful seafood Paella. Afterwards we all had a sidra (cider) from the local sidrea next door.
We flew American Airlines to Chicago, where we connected to Iberia Airlines to Madrid. We arrived Sunday morning at about 7:30 AM, where it was still dark because the timezone in Spain is the same as Germany, even though it is closer in Longitude to the United Kingdom. We were met by our friends, Mark and Sabrina, who we first went and got a cafe con leche with, then bought Metro tickets and rode the metro to the terminal Roger and Julia were arriving at. It was 2 stops! Roger and Julia had just got through customs when we arrived, so we then all rode the Metro to downtown Madrid, where our Hotel, the Hotel Atlantico was located on the Gran Via.
Mark and Sabrina had participated in the Blanco Noche so they were as tired as we were. We planned on an easy day and took in tapas and beer for lunch at a place called Dona Juana and then walked to the Plaza del Sol, the Plaza Mayor, took in a drink at the belgium cafe, then went and dropped Rasila off back at the hotel.
The Gran Via was blocked off and when we asked why, we found out the Tour de Espana was finishing in Madrid by the Banco de Espana just down the street. We walked down and watched the finish of 5 laps on the Paseo del Prado. An italian won the stage, but a russian won the race.
We went back and woke up Rasila and walked to a microbrewery called Meson. We had a couple plates of meat while Rodney enjoyed a Tortilla Cerveza!
The next day, we got up, ate a nice breakfast at the hotel (included in the room), then Sabrina met us and we walked to the Palacio Real. The Armory was on loan to the Forbidden City in Bejing, so we missed that, but the palace is a museum into itself with lots of art and unusual rooms.
After lunch, we took the metro to the Banco de Espana stop to visit the Museo Reina Sofia, a modern art museum. It has an impressive set of glass elevators on it’s entrance and is famous for its collection of surrealistic art by Picasso, Dali, and Miro, among others. It has a very famous painting inspired by the destruction of a town in northern Spain that Franco allowed Germany to test their WWII weaponry upon called Geurnica. We were having dinner with Mark, who had to work all day, so we took the Metro out to the area that they live in and sat at a café having a beer waiting for Mark. There, we met 2 other people Mark worked with out grocery shopping and walking their dog. Our dinner was early, 8 PM, so we were seated outside, where we had a wonderful seafood Paella. Afterwards we all had a sidra (cider) from the local sidrea next door.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Joined nearcircle.com
I joined a blogging circle developed by an old friend from AOL. I don't think the whitelisting will allow the widget to be displayed, but let's see:
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Carmel and Monterey for an Annibirthary
Rasila and Rodney's Anniversary is the day before Rasila's brothers' birthday. This year, her father proposed going to Carmel, CA and Monterey, CA. Rasila's brother Seton is working in Monterey for an internship.
We stayed at the Carmel Stonehouse Inn, a delightful B&B. Rodney was not sure he could make the trip due to work, but was able to get the day off and flew up to San Jose earlier than the others and got the rental car. He picked up Rasila, then Peter and Risa and we drove to Carmel from San Jose via Gilroy. It was an easier trip than Rodney expected and they easily made it in 90 minutes. We had dinner that night at La Playa. The next morning, we got up, had breakfast, and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We got to see 2 feedings, including one of the Ocean Sun Fish, at 1000 lbs (about 450 kg), the largest boned fish in the ocean. The sea otters were awfully cute too. We had lunch at the Berardus Lodge and Winery. The heirloom tomatoes, basil, and mozerella and jalapeno shrimp salad that Rasila and Rodney had were excellent! We went back to the Inn and napped before walking the downtown of Carmel. We drove via 17 Mile Drive to the Sardine Factory.
The next morning, we ate breakfast, checked out and hiked Pfeiffer Falls and a beach route whose name escapes me before having lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur.
That left barely enough time to drive back to San Jose for the flights home. It was a well needed break!
We stayed at the Carmel Stonehouse Inn, a delightful B&B. Rodney was not sure he could make the trip due to work, but was able to get the day off and flew up to San Jose earlier than the others and got the rental car. He picked up Rasila, then Peter and Risa and we drove to Carmel from San Jose via Gilroy. It was an easier trip than Rodney expected and they easily made it in 90 minutes. We had dinner that night at La Playa. The next morning, we got up, had breakfast, and went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We got to see 2 feedings, including one of the Ocean Sun Fish, at 1000 lbs (about 450 kg), the largest boned fish in the ocean. The sea otters were awfully cute too. We had lunch at the Berardus Lodge and Winery. The heirloom tomatoes, basil, and mozerella and jalapeno shrimp salad that Rasila and Rodney had were excellent! We went back to the Inn and napped before walking the downtown of Carmel. We drove via 17 Mile Drive to the Sardine Factory.
The next morning, we ate breakfast, checked out and hiked Pfeiffer Falls and a beach route whose name escapes me before having lunch at Nepenthe in Big Sur.
That left barely enough time to drive back to San Jose for the flights home. It was a well needed break!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Yosemite National Park
When we bought the National Parks Pass last year, this park was in our sites. Rodney had not visited in 20 years and Rasila had never visited. Rodney took Friday off and we left at 5:00 AM to beat the LA traffic. We stopped at a Starbucks just past the grapevine (I-5 pass into the San Joaquin Valley), and again for a date shake just north of Visalia on CA-99. In Fresno, we took CA-41 to the park.
We stopped and took in the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. It was fun, but a little more expensive than Rodney thought it should be. We had missed the last train of the day (shortly after 11 AM), so we got a ride down in a rail car powered by a Model-T engine. We road back in the train, though.
The snow was sparse this year and all roads were open, so we drove to Glacier Point on our entry. It is a 16 mile (27km) segway off CA-41, but worth it for the spectacular view of Half Dome (see the pictures) and the valley.
We stayed at Curry Village in a tent cabin. It ended up being a lot of fun, although I would prefer camping usually. Our reservation included breakfast, which turned out to be great! We went to the El Capitan Picnic Area Friday and Saturday to cook our own dinner and on Sunday we were at a Picnic Area between the Yosemite Village and The Ahwahnee.
We took our tandem bike, but forgot our helmets! Luckily, Curry Village has a bike rental place that also rents helmets, so we rented some for $5/each. We took the bike to the base of the Vernal and Nevada Falls trail and took what's known as the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls (about 1000 feet/300m elevation gain). The Mist Trail is carved out steps in the granite that is dripping wet, so we chose to take the longer way home, which is 3 times as far. The total hike was about 4.5 miles/7.5 km. Rasila wore some blisters on her feet even though we put moleskin on and had her good hiking socks. I suspect we need to get her new hiking boots that are more snug to prevent her feet from moving so much in the heel. We also visited the lower Yosemite Falls, where we saw a California golden bear tooling through the woods!
The next day, we took the bike for a tour of the valley and did do a 3 mile/5 km hike along Mirror Lakeas well as the 12 mile/20 km loop of the valley. We had 3 deer cross Tenaya Creek in front of us and feed right off the trail. They were obviously used to humans and allowed their pictures to be taken.
We took the scenic way home, driving CA-120 over Tioga Pass (elev. 9945 feet/3031 m) to Lee Vining and US-395 about 24 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. We made it home in time to see most of the Stanley Cup game one where the Anaheim Ducks are currently up 2-0!
We stopped and took in the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad. It was fun, but a little more expensive than Rodney thought it should be. We had missed the last train of the day (shortly after 11 AM), so we got a ride down in a rail car powered by a Model-T engine. We road back in the train, though.
The snow was sparse this year and all roads were open, so we drove to Glacier Point on our entry. It is a 16 mile (27km) segway off CA-41, but worth it for the spectacular view of Half Dome (see the pictures) and the valley.
We stayed at Curry Village in a tent cabin. It ended up being a lot of fun, although I would prefer camping usually. Our reservation included breakfast, which turned out to be great! We went to the El Capitan Picnic Area Friday and Saturday to cook our own dinner and on Sunday we were at a Picnic Area between the Yosemite Village and The Ahwahnee.
We took our tandem bike, but forgot our helmets! Luckily, Curry Village has a bike rental place that also rents helmets, so we rented some for $5/each. We took the bike to the base of the Vernal and Nevada Falls trail and took what's known as the Mist Trail to the top of Vernal Falls (about 1000 feet/300m elevation gain). The Mist Trail is carved out steps in the granite that is dripping wet, so we chose to take the longer way home, which is 3 times as far. The total hike was about 4.5 miles/7.5 km. Rasila wore some blisters on her feet even though we put moleskin on and had her good hiking socks. I suspect we need to get her new hiking boots that are more snug to prevent her feet from moving so much in the heel. We also visited the lower Yosemite Falls, where we saw a California golden bear tooling through the woods!
The next day, we took the bike for a tour of the valley and did do a 3 mile/5 km hike along Mirror Lakeas well as the 12 mile/20 km loop of the valley. We had 3 deer cross Tenaya Creek in front of us and feed right off the trail. They were obviously used to humans and allowed their pictures to be taken.
We took the scenic way home, driving CA-120 over Tioga Pass (elev. 9945 feet/3031 m) to Lee Vining and US-395 about 24 miles north of Mammoth Lakes. We made it home in time to see most of the Stanley Cup game one where the Anaheim Ducks are currently up 2-0!
Joshua Tree National Park, May 11-13, 2007
As a "warmup" for the camping season, we made a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in mid May. Joshua Tree is famous for it's monzogranite piles of rock that attract climbers from the entire world. We took Ziwi with us, so we didn't do any climbing.
The park is very close, being just north of Palm Springs. We drove out the CA-91 to the CA-60 to I-10 to the 29 Palms Highway and entered via the West Entrance. Our National Parks Pass doesn't expire until June 30th, so we had entry covered.
We camped at the Ryan Campground, since the Hidden Valley and Jumbo Rocks Campgrounds are usually filled first. We didn't make a reservation since only a couple campgrounds actually accept reservations and both were not in the Lost Horse Valley, which is where we wanted to be. We arrived about 6:45, after leaving at 3:30. Traffic was nasty on the 91 until the I-15 intersection, otherwise we could have been there by 6 easily.
Weather was nice. It was cool, but not cold at night (about 55F/13C), and not too hot during the day (86F/30C). We took in Key's View of the Coachella Valley and the 4 wheel drive Geological Tour and read during the mid afternoon heat on Saturday. On Sunday, we drove to the border of the Mojave/Colorado desert to see the Cholla Gardens and exited through 29 Palms.
We'll be back after it cools down (October?)
The park is very close, being just north of Palm Springs. We drove out the CA-91 to the CA-60 to I-10 to the 29 Palms Highway and entered via the West Entrance. Our National Parks Pass doesn't expire until June 30th, so we had entry covered.
We camped at the Ryan Campground, since the Hidden Valley and Jumbo Rocks Campgrounds are usually filled first. We didn't make a reservation since only a couple campgrounds actually accept reservations and both were not in the Lost Horse Valley, which is where we wanted to be. We arrived about 6:45, after leaving at 3:30. Traffic was nasty on the 91 until the I-15 intersection, otherwise we could have been there by 6 easily.
Weather was nice. It was cool, but not cold at night (about 55F/13C), and not too hot during the day (86F/30C). We took in Key's View of the Coachella Valley and the 4 wheel drive Geological Tour and read during the mid afternoon heat on Saturday. On Sunday, we drove to the border of the Mojave/Colorado desert to see the Cholla Gardens and exited through 29 Palms.
We'll be back after it cools down (October?)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Rosarito-Ensenada 2007
This weekend was the 21st Annual Spring Rosarito - Ensenada 50 mile fun bike ride. It runs from Rosarito Beach to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. We had quite a group this year, with our friends John and Ginny inviting friends and our friend Terry also bringing Tracy along. We had 14 in all. We stayed at the Hotel El Cid in Ensenada as has been our recent habit. We did the race in 4 hours and 15 minutes, but we stopped twice for 20 and at least 25 minutes, so we rode the 50 miles in about 3.5 hours.
NCAAs in Chicago, March, 2007
This year, Rodney took his annual trip to the first and second round of the NCAAs to Chicago, IL. His friend Jim spearheaded getting a luxury box, which meant the trip had 16 participants, double the normal 8 or so that usually go.
They stayed at the Hotel 71, which was on the Chicago River, downtown. The event itself was at the United Center. The first round had no upsets, although Texas A&M Corpus Christi gave Wisconsin a scare, which they didn't learn from, and promptly were upset by UNLV in the second round.
Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, which is a big deal in Chicago. Ray and Rodney actually attended a breakfast broadcast from the Irish Pub around the corner on WGN Friday morning. On Saturday, they dyed the river green (see the pix, not just green, but GREEN).
They stayed at the Hotel 71, which was on the Chicago River, downtown. The event itself was at the United Center. The first round had no upsets, although Texas A&M Corpus Christi gave Wisconsin a scare, which they didn't learn from, and promptly were upset by UNLV in the second round.
Saturday was St. Patrick's Day, which is a big deal in Chicago. Ray and Rodney actually attended a breakfast broadcast from the Irish Pub around the corner on WGN Friday morning. On Saturday, they dyed the river green (see the pix, not just green, but GREEN).
Amy and Greg's Wedding, Feb 2007, in Leavenworth, WA
Late February, we flew from Orange County to Leavenworth, WA. Ok, we flew to Wenatchee. The purpose was for one of Rasila's friends from growing up in Seattle, Amy, was getting married!
Her soon-to-be husband, Greg, had done some academic seminars at this neat place they got married, called The Sleeping Lady Inn. We arrived a day early, and just in time to have dinner and drinks with the family.
The next day we spent driving up US 2 to Stevens Pass Ski Area to ski with Rasila's Dad and his girlfriend. We actually hit a powder day and skied hard! Rasila suffered a migrane that night, so she slept while I went to King Ludwig's for an authentic German rehearsal dinner.
The next day, we work to a beautiful snowfall that lasted all day. We spent the day playing games and reading before the wedding started at 6:00 PM. It was a wonderful ceremony with a great appetizer spread afterwards and a fabulous dinner afterwards.
The next day we cleared the 12" of snow off the car and drove back to Wenatchee for the flight home. It was a wondeful trip!
Her soon-to-be husband, Greg, had done some academic seminars at this neat place they got married, called The Sleeping Lady Inn. We arrived a day early, and just in time to have dinner and drinks with the family.
The next day we spent driving up US 2 to Stevens Pass Ski Area to ski with Rasila's Dad and his girlfriend. We actually hit a powder day and skied hard! Rasila suffered a migrane that night, so she slept while I went to King Ludwig's for an authentic German rehearsal dinner.
The next day, we work to a beautiful snowfall that lasted all day. We spent the day playing games and reading before the wedding started at 6:00 PM. It was a wonderful ceremony with a great appetizer spread afterwards and a fabulous dinner afterwards.
The next day we cleared the 12" of snow off the car and drove back to Wenatchee for the flight home. It was a wondeful trip!
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Trips to Mammoth
Another winter, but no vacation for Rodney. This means more trips to Mammoth. We have made 2 trips so far. Once in January and one in February. The January trip was about 2 weeks after the last snowfall and they were hurting for coverage. The February trip was on the front end of a big storm that took the total from 4-6 feet (120 cm- 180cm) to 7-9 feet (210-270cm) of coverage. I discovered my 4WD was broken on the second trip (thankfully, I have chains), so it's in the shop while I anticipate another trip soon!
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Christmas in Wyoming
We spent the holidays this year with Rodney's family. Traveling at Christmas or Thanksgiving is always an adventure, some years more than others. This year, there was a huge snowstorm through the Rockies and into the Great Plains about Wednesday before we left. It closed the Denver Airport until Friday at noon. I made the mistake of saying how happy I was to not be flying through Denver since we had decided to fly to Salt Lake City (now known to us as "The Lake") and drive to Riverton, WY with Rodney's brother and his wife. When we arrived at the OC airport at 6:30 PM Friday, we were informed our flight was delayed and would not depart until 9:59 PM (it was scheduled for 8:35 PM). I should have suspected that time, as I later realized it was picked due to the fact that you cannot take off from the airport after 10:00 PM. As we waited, at about 8:00 PM, it was announced the flight was canceled. I have Delta's number in my mobile as I have had previous problems with Delta. I called as we walked back to the counter and finally got through. The earliest available seat was the 8:35 PM flight on Saturday. I was evidently being re-booked out of Palm Springs by someone else, so I had to have the agent work to book me as I wanted. As I went to ask about where to get my bags, the agent announced they had booked everyone on a flight out of Palm Springs and would bus everyone over in the morning. I thought I was glad I was not doing that, but maybe I shouldn't have been so happy. The next day, our flight got canceled before we left for the airport! We were now on the 9:30 AM flight Sunday morning.
Sunday morning was crowded at the airport, but we made it with relative ease, although we had to go in a special line because we were taking Ziwi. The only consolation was we had First Class this morning. We arrived about 1:00 PM, then left our skis and boots at Roger's house, then drove the 5 hour drive to Riverton, which put us in about 7:30 PM on the 24th. Rodney's brother Bob arrived about 5 minutes later from Billings, MT.
We had a nice Christmas, playing 9 different games (Harry Potter Uno, Yahtzee, Tripoly, Hearts, 5 Alive, Pass the Pigs, Gridlock, Dominos and one other, hmmm...), as well as getting 2-3" of snow, which delayed our drive back to The Lake by a day.
We drove back to The Lake on Friday, played Rummikube that night, then skied at Alta on Saturday. We played Sequence that night. The next day, we had a 8:10 AM flight to allow Roger and Julia to ski if they wanted, which had us arriving at 6:30 AM. We barely made it through the check-in line (once again, a special line due to Ziwi), and the baggage x-ray line, and the security line, to get on the plane at about 7:55 AM.
We arrived a little late due to needing de-icing on the wings, but spent 45 minutes waiting for luggage, which we received all except our skis. Delta thought they should have been on the flight, but couldn't tell us where they were, so they gave us a tracking number and promised to call when they arrived (don't want $1500 in ski equipment left on the sidewalk).
We hoped it would arrive on the next flight at 12:30 PM, but couldn't check the status on line, or on the phone. We ended up calling their main line and being persistent about getting help and eventually were told it should arrive on a 4:08 PM flight. It turned out the tracking number had the letter 'O' in it, not the number '0.' The online tracking never worked.
We headed to the airport about 5:15 PM to see if they made, which they had. As I claimed it, the guy told me he had just called. Turns out our skis flew United through LAX to make it home. Fun, fun.
Sunday morning was crowded at the airport, but we made it with relative ease, although we had to go in a special line because we were taking Ziwi. The only consolation was we had First Class this morning. We arrived about 1:00 PM, then left our skis and boots at Roger's house, then drove the 5 hour drive to Riverton, which put us in about 7:30 PM on the 24th. Rodney's brother Bob arrived about 5 minutes later from Billings, MT.
We had a nice Christmas, playing 9 different games (Harry Potter Uno, Yahtzee, Tripoly, Hearts, 5 Alive, Pass the Pigs, Gridlock, Dominos and one other, hmmm...), as well as getting 2-3" of snow, which delayed our drive back to The Lake by a day.
We drove back to The Lake on Friday, played Rummikube that night, then skied at Alta on Saturday. We played Sequence that night. The next day, we had a 8:10 AM flight to allow Roger and Julia to ski if they wanted, which had us arriving at 6:30 AM. We barely made it through the check-in line (once again, a special line due to Ziwi), and the baggage x-ray line, and the security line, to get on the plane at about 7:55 AM.
We arrived a little late due to needing de-icing on the wings, but spent 45 minutes waiting for luggage, which we received all except our skis. Delta thought they should have been on the flight, but couldn't tell us where they were, so they gave us a tracking number and promised to call when they arrived (don't want $1500 in ski equipment left on the sidewalk).
We hoped it would arrive on the next flight at 12:30 PM, but couldn't check the status on line, or on the phone. We ended up calling their main line and being persistent about getting help and eventually were told it should arrive on a 4:08 PM flight. It turned out the tracking number had the letter 'O' in it, not the number '0.' The online tracking never worked.
We headed to the airport about 5:15 PM to see if they made, which they had. As I claimed it, the guy told me he had just called. Turns out our skis flew United through LAX to make it home. Fun, fun.
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