Viva Las Vegas

Happy New Year!

Its hard to believe the holidays have already come and gone and I've been back at work nearly a week (how can it only be Thursday?!?)

We had a great Christmas with family, and took advantage of the time off to take a trip to Las Vegas! I've been resistant to taking trips during the holidays, but finally realized/accepted we need to align our trips with the school year since Kevin teaches, and we'll take full advantage of the time we get off at the holidays.  We are lucky that we both work for colleges so we get similar days off.

I'd been to Vegas as a kid, and Kevin had never been so it was really the first trip there for both of us, and we had such a great time.  There is so much to see and do I don't know how anyone could be bored in this town.

It was an easy, non-stop flight and we stayed just off the strip -- at Signature at MGM, we'd wanted a non-smoking hotel, and while it was a walk to the strip it was nice and quiet at the hotel, and a gorgeous hotel - room even had a fridge, microwave and even a small stove (we only used the fridge and coffee maker, but good to know).

We booked our shows/excursions before the trip so we could work out the best schedule for ourselves, and I think we did pretty well, a mix of things to do and time to explore.  Our planned itinerary was as follows:

Tuesday - arrive, explore

Wednesday - explore during day (and pick up show tickets), Cirque du Soleil show at night (also makes sure we get to bed early since we have an early morning)

Thursday - Jeep tour (early morning, so booked it midway through to adjust to time zone); nap, dinner with Kevin's coworker who was also in town

Friday - explore during day (and pick up show tickets),  comedy show at night 

Saturday - head home


We've learned to be flexible on trips and while we stuck to the itinerary pretty well, we adjusted as needed,   We didn't make it to the comedy show, we were just too tired when we got back to the room and decided to stay in and have room service.   We did let Kevin's coworker convince us to go check out Fremont Street Experience and are so glad we did - we had dinner at a spot right along it and though we were wiped from the Jeep tour and a busy day (missed our planned nap) we walked around to see it, a pedestrian only street and an overhead canopy with a music and light show on the hour.

Other highlights from the trip:

Cirque du Soleil show  - we chose the Love show, can't go wrong with Beatles music, and it was amazing to see the interpretations to the songs, and in addition to the songs they had audio from recording sessions that we'd never heard before.

Jeep tour - Kevin wanted to get to do some off-roading, and so we booked this excursion, and midway through our trip it also worked out to be refreshing to get some time away from all the hustle and bustle of the city.   We were a smaller group than I thought - only the two of us and one other family and our tour guide, in 3 separate vehicles, and we went to a nearby natural area, Red Rock Canyon.    We had a beautiful day for it, and we were able to sight see a bit, and Kevin was able to get more experience with rock crawling.  We did not expect to be driving in snow!  that definitely made it more challenging.  

electronic craps  - We've known from our few trips to the casino that we like the game craps, and this time discovered the electronic version.  We liked it for several reasons: minimum bet is lower, you can sit (standing at the table gets tiring), predictable pace of the game, and it also has spaces where you can get descriptions of what the various parts of the table mean, great since we are still learning!

roller coaster - as soon as I saw some of the casinos had roller coasters, I knew I wanted to ride one.    I really mix Six Flags Astroworld and haven't been on a coaster in years.   I got some ideas of which ones to do, and chose based on which sounded good and which we were closest to, Manhattan Express at New York New York won.   It was just what i wanted, had a loop and a barrel roll, and amazing views since its on top of the building (when I could keep my eyes open).  $14 for like a 2 minute ride, but worth it!

We also did a fair amount of just walking around and exploring, and i couldn't get over all the shopping!   We also gawked at a spiral escalator in the Forum shops, I'm still not sure how its possible!    and the food, we ate well on the trip...

Tips:

use uber, we also saw a lot of coupons for lyft, but have never used it so stuck with uber.  We did take a taxi once (from airport to hotel) and the same trip back with uber was one third the price!

If you want photos with the Beatles Love signs, take them when you go early to pick up tickets - we had the place (including the store) to ourselves

Arkansas

We were on vacation last week, and the time away is just what we needed.   We found a remote cabin to rent, with a pond on the land we can use for swimming and lots of land and trails for hiking.

hiking buddy

I was a bit worried of how hot it would be, but it's cooler than home and drier.   We have seen a couple of thunderstorms, its relaxing to sit on the porch and watch it rain.

We brought Smokey with us and he is LOVING his time off leash, lots of exploring and poor guy got stung on his ear.  He's not a fan of water but we did get him to wade and a *tiny* bit of swimming, anything he can do that isn't him crying on the dock is a win.  He mostly just explores the shoreline, and drinks lots of lake water...

We've mostly stayed close to the house, but did decide to try out ATV riding on Tuesday.    We rented a side-by-side so we could share one vehicle and ride in comfort.  It was a great way to explore the Ouachita National Forest and let Kevin do some off-roading.  We saw lots of deer and a turtle, and also saw some sights -- the top of Eagle Mt Vista, and Little Missouri Falls.

We have met some characters in our adventures, and even made a run for the border (with Oklahoma) since the area we are staying in is dry....and wouldn't you know it, right AT the border is a drive-thru beer store, we went to one a bit further down the road, still it was in the owner's front yard and was a mobile home turned into a store, but when in the rural area..it works!

After I wrote this, Smokey finally actually swam!  We got in the boat to try to fish...we head off shore and that's when he swims towards us....we thought he'd come all the way to us, luckily he didn't...he kept trying to get to us, but would just have to turn back.....we finally went to shore and helped him out with us, but he climbed up on me...scraping me up, but still so fun to have him in the water with us, even for a little bit!

Steamboat

Wow, time flies!  We've already been back from vacation for 2 weeks (I was ready to go back on vacation after 2 days back at work!) and its been a busy couple of weeks.

 

As promised, just for our own recollection, I'm doing a brief write-up of our trip.

Our flight didn't leave until the evening, and while it was nice to be able take our time and pack that day, I definitely prefer getting my traveling done early in the day, we were so excited the day seemed to move so slowly.   While we were at the airport in Houston, we saw reports of tornadoes near the Denver airport, not something we wanted to hear.   We were fortunate that our flight was still on time and no rerouting necessary - we saw lots of hail on the side of the road after we arrived in Denver.  

We spent two nights in downtown Denver.  The first evening we got settled in and spent the night at the historic Brown Palace Hotel (they raise their own bees!).   On the full day in Denver, we explored downtown on foot.   We toured the Byers-Evans house – I love being able to tour historic homes, how people lived - and I do not envy how they did their housework (some old vacuums looked dreadful).   Downtown is very walkable, and there is a free shuttle on 16th that we were able to take advantage of.   We ducked into bars to avoid the rain (and one HAIL storm) and toast the start of our vacation.  While we were at the bar we heard a loud siren -- it was a tornado siren, we weren't sure what to do, looked around and no one reacted at all.....it was eerie...

 

On Friday, we picked up our rental car and headed west to Steamboat Springs.   We took a scenic route on the way out there, lots of switchbacks and as we got higher and higher, snow!   It got so chilly we were thinking we’d packed the wrong clothes, but Steamboat was further down in the valley so it warmed back up (yay).

We had a lovely week in Steamboat.  It’s a small town and so we could easily park and walk the length of the main drag, we visited many of the local restaurants and bars (and tasted elk for the first time).   We also took several short hikes – short, partly because for sea level dwellers like we are, the thin air gets to us.  We walked to a scenic waterfall and saw it from two different vantage points.

One afternoon we rented bikes and rode along the path next to the river that runs through town, the Yampa was roaring from snow runoff.

The city is named for the hot springs that the first settlers found – it sounded like a steamboat to them.  Unfortunately the namesake no longer makes the noise due to construction, but there are still several springs around town.  We walked around to see (and smell) several that are all close to each other. We also drove out to Strawberry Park, a pool created along the river that is fed by hot springs.  The pools were HOT!    We were there at dusk and were able to see a few bats come out to feed.   While in the pool you can reach over the wall and feel the cold river, I’d never be brave/stupid enough to jump into it but did like to cool off my hands and face wen it would gt too hot.

On our last full day, we took another hike and found ourselves near a wooden ski jump, we climbed the structure and had the most gorgeous views of the entire valley.    The ski jump was so steep I cannot imagine going down it.  

The trip was just what we needed - restful and relaxing.   We both needed R&R after a long semester and to get us ready for what will be a busy summer as we list our house for sale...

we're back

We are back from vacation!!   We had a wonderful time and we were ready to come home - the best combination.

This weekend is going to be spent catching up on chores and getting set for the week ahead (do I really have to go to work tomorrow?)

I hope to do a full recap soon (complete with pictures), for now here is a teaser of a picture.

Fish Creek Falls

We did have several firsts on this trip:

• hearing tornado sirens while out in town
• tasting elk
• seeing a ski jump from the topp

Steamboat Springs is a great little city, and we only scratched the surface of what all there is to do there.

Smokey was especially happy to see us, he doesn't fool us -- he got spoiled while we were gone since he whines and won't eat - but he milks it!!!

Staycation

I know I say this every month recently -- but really, how is it already September?!?!?!

I'm happy to say good bye to the summer months, though September still means summer weather in Houston...but cannot believe how fast this year is flying by.

The first week of classes went well for both of us and we were both glad to have a long weekend -- I think me more than K since with his class schedule he's at home on Mondays anyway.

We took advantage of the extra day by taking a day trip to Brenham on Saturday.   It took about an hour and a half to get there and we visited the Pleasant Hill winery.   The winery is almost only a wine making place, not a grape growing place - though I did see vines outside and they do buy Texas grapes,   We were able to join up with a tour already in progress -- they start at half past the hour - and saw everything we wanted to see -- including a cellar built into the hill.   Our main purpose was to taste the wine, and we enjoyed it.  They even had different tasting tracks for dry vs sweet, perfect for us since K likes the dry and I prefer the sweet.  After our tasting we each bought a glass and sat in the front room of the store area to enjoy it.   We  chatted with some other folks who were splitting a bottle and got some ideas for other day trips - there are several wineries within a short drive of Houston.

My favorite wines: Collina Bianca and Sweet Collina Rossa (both sweet), K's favorite: Sangiovese.

We'd hoped to also tour the Blue Bell Creamery.  We weren't able to since they're only open for tours during the week - another trip.  We could've gone and bought ice cream but decided against it -- we can buy it at the store and have it at home instead (we did just that on Sunday - Dutch Chocolate - while we watched Breaking Bad).

After the winery, we went to get something to eat.  We'd hoped to try an Italian place the owners recommended, Volare, but were very disappointed to see we'd missed their lunch hours (til 2) and were too early for dinner (reopens at 5).    We will have to go back to try it -- it looks like a house from the outside.   Instead we found a nearby 'saloon' (BT Longhorn Steakhouse) and sat at the 1880s bar and had  sandwich/burger.

After dinner we headed home.  Day trips are the best of both worlds -- a little get away and no worries about finding someone to watch our dog, reservations, packing.   We'll definitely be doing more this fall.

Vacation food

I like splitting up the vacation recap into several posts; it lets me relive my trip a little longer.  This one is all about the food :)

We enjoyed the restaurants at the resort – they had quite a variety to choose from - and also were able to find some places to eat across the street – I love being able to walk to eat!

We stumbled on a seafood place, Snappers, and it was so so good.  I have to brag on their salad and dressing – Kevin cleaned his plate!   He’s not much for salads so this really is saying something.   After we ordered they brought out some long chips and spiced hummus, delicious.  I had to resist eating it all so I’d be hungry for the meal.   I had a lobster risotto with scallops and shrimp – I think it was my first time to have risotto and won’t be my last.   Kevin had a great piece of fish.

We also ate at a Cuban place, Bella Habana.  I have to say my thoughts about this place are mixed.  We ordered tapas (small plates) and the food we got was all good, but I was surprised at how many items they didn’t have  - both for food and drinks (they couldn’t make a mojito for me, which was really disappointing).  They even said they didn’t have chicken…. who doesn’t have chicken?  Then later the only dish that we’d wanted that called for chicken came out so I’m not sure if they did in fact have it…..so confused.    We did enjoy the place and the staff were very friendly.  They only took cash and so after we ate I went to the ATM to get some cash while K stayed at the restaurant and he talked Cuban history with the waiter and I think the cook came out at one point too, made his day.

The place we went to the MOST (besides the beach) was the beach bar right next to our hotel, called the Toasted Monkey.   They had live music almost all of the time and it was really comfortable.  We enjoyed just going over there and relaxing, and their chips and queso were good, and trust me I know good queso!  The people watching was so fun there too!

I had 2 favorite meals at the resort – fish tacos at the Flying Bridge our first full day there, and a Italian food at the Palmetto on our last night.  Totally different food and each time what we wanted – quick and easy the first day and a little fancier the last night.

We spent nearly our whole trip at the beach, but we did want a break from the sun one day and so went to check out a local winery.   Florida doesn't grow grapes so this place, Florida Orange Groves Winery, makes wines from all other sorts of other fruits – you name it, they probably make it.  We did a tasting and were able to taste 6 different kinds – we both tasted their Hurricane Class 5 wine and then were able to taste 5 of our choosing – we chose different ones and tasted each other’s so we actually tasted 11!    I liked the wines (my favorite was the mango) and really liked their ‘smoothies’ – a mix that you mix together with wine and ice to make a frozen drink – really good for the summer.  We bought some (blueberry, cherry, and mango) to bring home.   I especially like the wine pouches they sell – think capri sun for adults!  The wine is in a small pouch, perfect for the beach or anywhere you don’t want glass.   

On most of the drive to/from Florida we stopped at fast food places, not great I know but we wanted to get in and out quickly.  We made one exception and I'm so glad we did.   We debated trying to drive home in one day and when it became clear that was too much driving in one day for us we decided to stop for the night in Baton Rouge.   We wanted something good to eat and so I got to searching on my phone - criteria were local and near I-10 and we found the BEST place, even better than if we'd been searching for it...Parrain's (means godfather in French).   They have all sorts of Cajun food (which I love) and we were seated right at the end of the bar, right next to where they make something called chargrilled oysters.  We chatted with the guys working with the grill and they told us what everything was and let us try one.  I haven't been a fan of oysters, but they were delicious!   It was a great way to end the evening and the trip....we're going to have to think of trips that take us through Baton Rouge at mealtime so we can go back.

I'm a numbers person so here a few numbers from our trip...

miles traveled: 1,985

states we were in: 5

nights away from home: 7
total swimsuits we wore: 4 (2 each so one could dry while we wore the other one)

we won’t count the number of calories we ingested :)

St Pete Beach

We had a great beach vacation.    We went to St Pete Beach, FL (near St Petersburg and Tampa).  Whenever we plan a vacation we have to decide if we want to explore a new city and see the sights or just relax, and this year (like last year) going somewhere to relax was what we wanted and this was just what we needed!

We did work in some adventure because we decided to drive rather than fly. I won’t lie; it was a long drive (18-19 hours each way) but a fun one.   Kevin loaded up his iPod with music and we had a cooler with drinks and a few snacks and didn’t worry about how much stuff we were bringing since we didn’t have to get it into carry-on or checkable luggage.   We both enjoyed getting to see part of the country neither of us had seen as adults (we were amazed that parts of Mississippi and Florida had hills!)   I didn’t think to take pictures on most of the drive, but let me tell you we saw lots of I-10 and a surprising amount of rain - every time I drove it would rain, and we were starting to worry we’d see a beach through rain.

We broke up the drive into 2 days, and decided to just stop when we felt like it and find a room.  It worked really well for us both ways.  

Most of the way there we drove in rain, but as we came across the Tampa Bay bridge the sky finally cleared and we had great weather the entire time we were there.

Once we were at St Pete Beach we were very happy that everything we needed was in one spot.  We’d chosen a resort, Guy Harvey Outpost, that had restaurants (and bars) on site and where we could walk right out to the beach and it gave us everything we wanted.   They even had a happy hour each day with free drinks out by the pool bar - we took advantage of that the first day!

We fully enjoyed the amenities at the resort and also made sure we got out in the town a bit too.   The day we arrived, Kevin heard live music and we walked across the sand to a great beach bar next door– the Toasted Monkey.  We made several return trips there and also enjoyed meals at different restaurants just across the street (loved not getting back in the car!) on different days:  a delicious seafood place, a very rustic Cuban place, and a small diner that had Greek and Italian food along with salads.

The most appealing part of the resort was that we could walk right out to the beach and spend most of the day there.   We had use of a cabana – basically two connected lounge chairs with a table top with cut out cup holders in between and an adjustable shade – each day, and made good use of it.   Some people had the shade all the way down but I like to be in the shade and would sit and read when I wasn’t playing in the water.  We were able to reserve the cabana online the night before and could walk right to it in the morning; we could even order a drink through a website on my phone!  (We did that only once)

our cabana

Our resort was the smaller of two resorts run by the same company.   We could walk down the beach to that resort and enjoy the restaurants there.   We ate down there a few times and were very happy we were staying at the smaller one, we were able to enjoy both and didn't have to put up with all the noise from the larger one --- they had a DJ out at the pool doing games for kids and giveaways, we also saw one wedding party coming through on Saturday night.  Nice to visit, but glad we weren't staying there.  That resort also had a huge slide on the beach that we could use – I LOVED that slide!    Our resort also had an adults only pool, we’d walk by the kid pool on the way back from the beach and very happily go to the quiet of the adults only pool, only thing it didn't have was a bar.

The water was wonderful.  It was a bit rough the first couple of days – our plans of taking a dolphin watching tour were nixed since it was so rough.  We had fun just swimming and we bought boogie boards to do some body surfing – Kevin got pretty good at catching waves.    We joked that there was a ‘water taxi’ there was so much current pulling you southward.  When we wanted to ride the slide we’d get in the water and let the ‘taxi’ take us down towards the other resort.  We also made sure to walk up the beach before getting in so we wouldn't have such a long walk back.

I think that's enough reading for now :)   I plan to do another post about specific places we went.

we're back...

I didn't mean to, but I seem to have abandoned the blog again...

We had our much needed vacation and are back and feel very rested and relaxed.   I have been working on pictures this morning (and avoiding going to the grocery store) and plan to do a full re-cap soon.

The best idea I've had in a long time was to tack on a couple of extra vacation days after I knew we'd be back in town, and they've been well worth it!  I had time to get the house back in order and spend a little time adjusting back rather than coming back from vacation and immediately going to work.

As a teaser, here is one photo of what my view looked like much of last week..

PS -- if you can, watch Kids Jeopardy this week.  At first, I was disappointed that the few days I'd be able to watch were kids rather than the regular version, but I actually like it.  I know more of the answers and the kids are so fun to watch -- Sallie on yesterday's show was so excited each time she'd buzz in and put her whole body into pushing the buzzer.

Tahoe recap

Hope everyone is having a great Independence Day!  We're enjoying a day at home, and I was able to write up our trip and load the pictures...enjoy!

Our trip to South Lake Tahoe was exactly what we wanted.  We’d decided we wanted something more on the relaxing end of the spectrum.    When we go to a new city we want to explore and see and do everything but for this trip we wanted to go somewhere we wouldn’t feel like we had to see and do a lot so we could take time out to relax, read and just enjoy some quality time together.

We did just that – we explored the town when we felt like it, and also spent a lot of time just reading books, sitting out on the patio enjoying the weather, played the new board game K had bought, and even went to see a movie!

The weather was better than we could’ve asked for – sunny and cool.  So cool, that we actually had to grab jackets for some of our outings.

We did a little bit of sightseeing.   We had many good views of the lake, it is beautiful and so clear!   I couldn’t take my eyes off it.    One day we drove out to the Tallac Historic site to see several houses that had been built as summer houses.   One was very rustic, the other – the Pope Estate- was very formal and beautiful.   We took the guided tour (the only way you can go inside it), and were impressed with it.   The house would be wonderful now – K was in love with the den, and even saw that he has some of the same books they had on display (books from the time period, but not necessarily the exact books they had).   It must’ve been quite a spectacle back in the 1920s.  Our tour guide was in a 1920s costume and talked to us as if we were guests of the house, which was a fun way to view it.   The owners of the house were out, so we were able to see their living quarters (we couldn’t if they were there).   From the start it had running water and electricity and the house had separate guest houses and even a small schoolroom on the site.      I cannot even imagine traveling back then to get their – it would have taken 2 trains and a boat to get there from San Francisco.

The rest of our time we spent in the city and made some trips back and forth across the border to Stateline, NV.  It is odd to be somewhere that you can so often travel across the border- NV-CA-NV-CA, I kept forgetting which state we were in!    I also found it so funny how the casinos go right up to the state line (also a street intersection).  

Kevin’s birthday was during our trip and we spent part of his birthday afternoon at the casino.    He will usually just watch me play, but I finally got him to play after I quickly lost most of what we started with ($40).    He really enjoyed playing craps – after a while we finally understand it - and had a run of beginners and birthday luck!    He was up most of the time and having fun.  We ended up about even and what we did spend ($7) made for a very cheap afternoon of entertainment, and we had a bunch of free drinks while we played!

From our hotel, we were able to walk to some restaurants and also ventured off in the car to some others.  My favorite restaurant of the entire trip was Scusa Italian Ristorante.   The food was delicious – the bread they bring out is focaccia and the dipping sauce included balsamic vinegar, very different and delicious.   We each had a pasta dish and it was very fresh.   K even enjoyed the sun-dried tomatoes in his dish!  Other standout restaurants – Swiss Chalet (a first for us to have Swiss food) and Kalani’s – Pacific Rim inspired food.  We went during happy hour to take advantage of that menu, it was still kind of pricey.    They also had sushi.  I could not get over how many sushi restaurants there were in town!  Pizza I understand – it’s a ski city in the winter and pizza is warm and filling and makes the kids happy, but sushi?   Not sure how so many different places can make it…

We hardly ever go to the movies at home,  mostly wait until Netflix has it, so we treated ourselves to a movie on the trip.   We went to see “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”, a very different movie.  We both enjoyed it, though a movie about the end of the world is sort of a bummer.   I did enjoy seeing Steve Carrell in such a different role, and we spotted people we recognized from other NBC shows!

We also took over the table in our room (we were lucky enough to have a kitchenette in the room) with K’s new board game, Twilight Struggle.   He’d wanted to find a game designed to be a two-player game, and he found a doozy!    It is about the Cold War (right up his alley).    We are still learning how to play, the rule book is big and tough to read.   We played one whole game there in several different sittings and are playing again now that we’re home.  Its complicated and we’re each still learning the strategy.   I think we’ll enjoy it for quite a while, and I am learning more about the Cold war since most of the cards are referring to actual historic events.

In case you are interested, here is where we stayed and I’d recommend it.   It’s a mix of rentals and owned units.  They had lots of amenities, including movies for rent and we got them to bring us a wine opener so we could have some wine in our room one night (we saved some money by getting some breakfast and dessert stuff at a Safeway about 2 blocks away – we walked to it!)     Only annoyance, the walls must be thin or the neighbors we had are just annoying, we got a NOISE complaint for watching a movie at 9 at night, we had to turn the volume up to bear the dialogue, but it was not loud enough to keep anyone up and who goes to bed at 9 anyway?   Even the officer who came to tell us seemed confused….

All photos here.

Cruise Activities

ahh...to be back on the cruise, we've been a week and while it is good to be home, the relaxation I felt that week is quickly becoming only a memory.

As promised, here are our photos. There was so much for us to do on the ship, we had an easy time entertaining ourselves during our ‘sea days’. Some highlights of what we did:

• mini-golf – I am so bad at it, but we just had to play. I stopped tracking my score when I was EIGHT over par.


• Trivia – we even won a trophy at sports trivia, if you know me well you know that it is odd that I could win a trophy for my knowledge of sports, I love trivia but am not known for my sports trivia knowledge. We played as a team, and there were some off the wall sports included (orienteering is a sport, who knew?)


• Casino – we tried out the roulette wheel and definitely had a case of beginner’s luck. We came out ahead the first night and didn’t win the rest of the time. Overall we came out ahead, which is a big WIN in my book. We also played black jack briefly, but that game goes so fast, and I like splitting up my bets as I can in roulette. the dangerous part, I can see where the addiction factor comes in - its fun to win, and easy to go ' just one more try', but we had a set $20 to start with and played only with that. To show how lucky I was, the last day we played we found a $10 bill on the ground and used that money to play with, I usually never find money, that has always been my brother's luck.

• several times we escaped to the adults only deck, called the “Serenity deck”, very appropriate, where it was quiet and we’d read or just nap in the deck chairs. There were also 2 hot tubs that we used after one of our excursion days· We were escaping not so much from little kids - we barely saw them as part of their "Camp Carnival" but from those too old to be in those groups, the 18-20 crowd and just all the people. really except for waiting to go to dinner and on/off the boat, there weren't big crowds to wait in at all.

• we saw a great juggling show! If you get a chance to see him, GO!

• The ship even had a library, though as Kevin said it was more of a meeting place for people to talk… we were able to play a game of chess there and checked out a jig-saw puzzle and worked on it for a couple of hours (seriously, there is something for everyone to do).

Our port cities were a lot of fun. We booked an excursion in Progreso and were able to tour a site of Mayan Ruins, called Dzibilchaltun. I was surprised that we were able to climb on the ruins; I’m used to US national parks where there is a rope or glass wall between you and the ruins. It was amazing to see what people built nearly 2,000 years ago. Also, how exact they could make things, the Temple of the Seven Dolls was built so that the door and windows exactly aligned with the sun at specific times of the year - equinox, etc. We also did a little shopping, but were there mostly to see the sights and just enjoy ourselves.

In Cozumel we decided to go on our own to the beach. We got in a taxi and went to a place called Paradise Beach, and it lived up to its name. The water again – so blue! And I could see all the way down to the bottom. It was a little offputting to see fish in the water with me, but my guess is that there always are, I just usually can’t see them. We had to laugh when it started to rain and so many people ran for cover – you are in SWIMSUITS people! We just stayed in the water and let it rain. After we had enough fun in the sun, we came back and had a nice authentic Mexican meal.

You can overdo it. Getting back on the boat at Progreso, a guy and girl stumbled up and the guy was so far gone he was passing out and regaining consciousness. The guy behind us grabbed him (part of their group I guess) and everyone made a big opening around him because no one wanted to get in his path if he got sick. He was taken around the line to a separate entrance to the ship and I HOPE brought to the infirmary to be kept an eye on. We caught his name as Roger, so would say ‘don’t pull a Roger’ to each other the rest of the trip. We know our limits and won’t do that. I wouldn't want to be that far gone and lose out on the trip. We did have some good cocktails, each day they had a drink of the day, and they have standard bar drinks all around.

The staff on the ship is very diverse, from all different parts of the world. We were able to talk to a few of them and found it really interesting what sort of a life that must be, living and working on a ship, but it could be a unique way to see part of the world.

It was great to not have cellphone or internet for 5 days, and really just enjoy each other’s company. I am the internet addict of the two of us, and so just turning it off when we left port and not thinking about it for 5 days was wonderful. It was off for so long that when we got back to port on Saturday it was odd to hear a cellphone ringer…

The food should really be a post in itself. There is food literally ALL THE TIME. We stuck to our regular meals – breakfast, lunch, dinner – but would occasionally get a snack. I got some sushi from the sushi bar(!) a couple of times and ate more desserts than I should admit to. I liked the formal dinners, though wish we had the earlier dining time. Our dining time was 8:15, which was late for us but we easily adapted. It was a great chance to get to dress up a little bit and have a fancier meal. The rest of the time you’d see people in swim suits, etc. but this room was more formal. It was nice to have a sit-down dinner, and we had the best waiter, Win. He was very attentive and danced like crazy during their shows. He also learned what you liked and would serve it to you the other days. I guess that is what its like if you have $$$ and become a regular at a nice place. On the formal night we had lobster, mmm lobster. Since the food is all inclusive we also used it as an opportunity to try some food we’ve never had before.

Lessons learned:

• Eat before going to get on the ship, we had breakfast but were starving after the 3 hours it took to get through all of the lines.


• Pre-pay the parking, the web may say they accept credit cards but it looked like all they were accepting was cash, luckily we had gotten cash for the port cities...but hadn't planned to spend $50 of it before boarding the ship.


• Try to get the earlier dinner time, that way you can explore the boat again after you eat. We were always so tired and then full (making us more tired), that we did very ltitle after dinner.

Galveston

Kevin and I came to Galveston for a couple of days to have some R&R. Its been a while since we had a vacation, the summer was spent selling the house and getting ready to move.

We are staying at the historic Tremont House on the Strand, a great location since we can leave the car parked and walk around the Strand. We walked in and out of most of the stores yesterday, and enjoyed a wine bar - called "Bacchus". Many of the stores have signs saying how high the water got during Hurricane Ike - way over my head in all the buildings I've seen! - and we've been sad to see how many shops and businesses didn't reopen after Ike. Several stores have posters showing the damage they had, they've come a long way and knowing how far they've come (and how far the city has to go) makes me very happy we decided to come here to give them our business and spend our money.

Today we went to the Lone Star Flight museum, and toured the Moody Mansion - what a gorgeous house! and the furnishings are all from the Moody family. There is so much history in that house, amazing to know it withstood the 1900 hurricane. Each of these places also had a lot of damage from Ike and another place we tried to see (railroad museum) is being rebuilt in 2010. It will take quite a while for Galveston to be back to where they were pre-Ike.

Today was rainy and cold, great weather to go get hot chocolate at the Nestle cafe *yum*

Big Apple recap

We had a great vacation. I can really see why people fall in love with this city. We were there for 5 days and already plan to go back, but not for a while because it was EXPENSIVE. We didn't do some of the things that other tourists do, but we did what we wanted to do, which is what a vacation is all about. When we first got there I could not get over how fast New Yorkers are! They walk fast and they are fast when they order food to go. We got breakfast each day at a place around the corner from the hotel and the first day I had to just stand back and watch for a while. It felt sort of like jumping into a dance, you have to get the steps down and find an opening big enough before you launch in. New Yorkers were much nicer than the stereotypes I’ve heard, but don't get in their way on their commute!

We walked all over and took the subway. We only took a cab twice, and a shuttle to/from the airport. The subway system is more complicated then I’ve seen before – and I never did figure out which ones were local and which were express trains except for when they ran on different tracks, but we got everywhere we wanted to go.

We saw a lot of sites and also had a great time just wandering around. Probably the strangest thing we saw was while we were walking around in Chinatown. We walked by a market -first fruits and veggies, then the fish area. Some of the fish were still alive, others were filleted. A woman was reaching into a large bucket, and we thought she was getting crabs, lobsters, or maybe some sort of live fish that was in the bucket to have enough water …nope, she pulled up her arm and it was a huge FROG! She put it into a plastic bag and went in for a second one. The look on my face had to be horrible when I first saw the giant frog. I don’t even want to know what she was going to make with it, and one of her frogs got loose and she had to pick it up off the sidewalk. To each his own..frogs may be quite tasty, but I will never know..and NO I don’t think I’d like frog legs either, my grandfather got them one time when I was a kid but I do not think I even tasted them. Luckily we’d eaten a while earlier (in Little Italy), because I don’t think I’d have wanted to eat for a while after that, it was memorable though. That and the stereotypical New York accent we overheard say “How’s your mother?” are going to be talked about for quite a while.

We’d planned out our trip ahead of time (I’m a planner, what can I say) so that we would see things that were located in the same part of town at the same time, both to maximize our viewing and save our feet from all the walking. We were in Manhattan the entire time except for the time it took us to get off a ferry and walk around to get right back on.

On Wednesday we went to the southern tip of Manhattan to see Battery Park and Lady Liberty. We chose not to go to the Statue of Liberty but simply rode the Staten Island Ferry across to see her. I’ve seen it on TV my whole life, but loved seeing her in person! We walked through the financial district and then went over to see Little Italy and Chinatown. We had lunch in Little Italy; oh wow the pasta….mmmm.

Later in the day, we went to Washington Square Park, and almost missed the chess area because we thought it was blocked off – a large part of the park was blocked for construction, but as we were leaving the park we saw it and went over to watch the people play. While there a guy asked if we wanted to play, so Kevin was able to play two games of chess (and win!) in the park he’s wanted to play in since seeing the movie “Searching for Bobby Fisher” years ago.
Thursday we rode the subway over to see the UN, and when we got off the subway we were at the Grand Central terminal station, so we had to go and see it. The place is huge, and it is marble as far as the eye can see. I couldn’t help but think of Harry Potter and the train station when I was there, yes wrong country….oh well.

We walked over to the UN. We weren’t able to take a tour, but did see the exhibit on land mines. I love the sculpture of the gun tied into a knot. After we left there, we found a place to have a slice of genuine NY pizza. It was so good. After lunch we went to Rockefeller Center, and went to the “Top of the Rock” so we could see NYC from above. My favorite site from the top: Central Park, it is a sea of green in the middle of the city. We also saw the Empire State Building, Chrysler building, the new year’s eve ball, and lots of other sites. Once we came back down, we went to see the statue in front of where the ice skating rink would be (it is already closed for the season).

We went to see Times Square – sensory overload is the only way to describe it. Everywhere you look there are lights and signs, and we saw a girl shooting what we assume was a music video. The poor girl had to be cold – in a light dress and barefoot, and she had to run into the street when the crosswalk was on so that she could then walk and strum her guitar while the cameras rolled. Anyone recognize her?

Friday was devoted to Central Park and the American Museum of Natural History. We also stopped to see the Dakota building, where John Lennon lived and, sadly, where he was killed. We walked through the area of the park that Yoko Ono funded to be “Strawberry Fields”, complete with an “imagine” mosaic on the ground. We walked and walked in Central Park and only saw a very small part of it. In the park you really can forget you’re in a big city. I love all the parks on Manhattan, and know that the people living there must crave the greenery and break from the buildings and concrete. We spent several hours in the museum, especially the sections on the dinosaurs and the animal displays. Did you know that cinnamon is bark? I probably should’ve known that, but can’t say that I did. The most astounding exhibit – a full-size model of a blue whale. Outside of the museum, Kevin got his NYC hot dog…I had a pretzel. This is the only day we had rain, and a doorman on the Upper East Side was nice enough to let us wait it out in the entry way of the building.

Friday night we went to a comedy club (a better option for us then a play or musical). It is called Comic Strip Live and is where Jerry Seinfeld and many others got their start. We had a great time, there were FIVE comedians who performed and they were all funny. The fact that they were VERY New Yorky made it even more entertaining to us.

On Saturday, we met up with my friend Chris who lives there now. We met at the Strand bookstore (18 miles of books!) and then went to get a walking tour of the Financial District. He showed us Wall Street, and the NY Stock Exchange. We also went to see Ground Zero, we’d tried to see it on our own the first day, but weren’t sure how to see it. We did find a memorial to the firefighters and others who lost their lives that day. There isn’t much to see, it’s a construction zone right now. But being near it and seeing how huge the buildings must’ve been I cannot imagine what it must have been like in NYC that day. That night we went to eat Korean BBQ with Chris. We were skeptical because we'd looked at menus of some of the other Korean restaurants near out hotel and scared ourselves, but it was really very good.

It was a great trip. We got a much needed break from work, and enjoyed spending time together. We saw a lot, but also had a chance to relax; a week with no alarm clock (and no doggie alarm) is a good one. There is a lot to do there that we didn’t have time to do, but we saw what we’d slated out for ourselves and had the classic NY food that we wanted to have, in addition to the pizza and hot dog, we ate at a family-run diner, complete with a kid working the cash register. We never ate at one, but I saw soup shops everywhere. That is a kind of restaurant that wouldn’t make it too well in Houston, it’s just not that cold for very long, but I’m sure it’d be great in NYC and now I understand why Seinfeld had whole episodes about a soup stand.

If you want to see more pictures from our trip, go here.

vacation

We had a full weekend of fun. We went to 2 very different birthday parties -- one was a murder mystery party for my college roommate's 30th birthday and the other was the first birthday for the son of one of Kevin's best friends. The murder mystery was a lot of fun, but harder than I expected! It was set in the roaring '20s, so we were dressed up as mobsters, flappers, and other characters -- Kevin was a police inspector...Everyone was a different character and we were witnesses to a murder so spent the evening trying to determine who committed the murder, and protect our own secrets.....nearly everyone there had some motive.....I didn't figure it out, but had fun trying and pretending to be 'Baroness Ravioli'.

The first birthday was the most kids I've ever seen in their house....I lost count there were so many little ones coming and going. They all had a great time, especially since they had set up a bunch of toys in the backyard, the most popular -- a blow-up schoolbus. Lots of food and friends, and we really enjoyed sitting on their backporch - in Houston you have to take advantage of sitting outside before it gets too hot!

On Sunday morning I also did the March for Babies with my sister. Thanks to generous donations I was able to collect $290 for the charity. We didn't find the rest of the people from my work's team, but she and I walked together and had a good time. It is at her alma mater's campus (UH), so a nice opportunity to see what has changed at the campus since she graduated. We saw a sign for a "Chili's too"..never heard of it, but guess its Chili's with a menu that can be fast food or to-go only. based on a google-dive, it is in airports too.

The real reason for my post -- WE ARE ON VACATION! I should be packing right now, but got online to check the NYC weather and get easily distracted when I get online. We'll get ready to go today and head up to my in-laws to leave our dog with them, and then tomorrow morning we head to NYC...we are so excited to see the city and have the break from work. I plan to have a lot of pictures when we return. New York, New York!!

February is sneaking up on me

Where do the days go? Its already almost the end of January. I can tell that the semester is back in full swing, as I get busier and busier at work. Thank goodness I started my job in a non-legislative year, so I could get up to speed on most of our responsibilities and get used to all the reports we do to the state before they move up the deadlines to have data for the legislature. I know it will be busier before it gets better, which is why I am really enjoying working on our vacation plans. Kevin and I have wanted to go to New York City for a while and so we are planning to travel there at the end of April, when the weather there is warmer and my crazy time of the semester is over. I'd ask for ideas of what to see (feel free to send them), but I think that as it is we'll be pushing to see all the things that come to mind when you think of NYC: UN, Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Chinatown, Ground Zero, Central Park, Wall Street, the list goes on and on. I'm reading a guidebook, finding accomodations and know that soon I'll be wondering if we can just go now!

This weekend is the Super Bowl and we are ready. There will be a 3-D commercial for the new Monsters vs. Alien movie, so we got our glasses. They are about the cheapest glasses I've ever seen, but I guess they have to be to give away 125 million of them. We got 4 pairs and they came all connected together, basically a sheet of tough paper with plastic lens sheeting across the back of them and I had to punch and cut them apart. We'll see how good the 3-D affect is. I hadn't been to a 3-D movie in years until I went last spring and WOW has it come a long way, it was about dinosaurs and I really felt like I could reach out and touch them. I am looking forward to the game, but admit I watch it more for the commercials, I don't really care who wins between the Steelers vs. Cardinals, but will probably root for the Steelers since their QB was my fantasy football QB. Frustrating that he didn't do well enough (well, probably the rest of my team and me as the manager didn't do well enough) to get me into the playoffs but he's in the Super Bowl. Come on good commercials! I've heard that some companies changed their approach of commercials because of the economy, but others are of the thought that - you still need to laugh, really you need to laugh even more since the economy is doing so poorly, so I hope they can make me laugh. If you want to see some you missed in previous years, go here.

Travel Preparation

We are getting ready for our trip to Nicaragua . Yesterday we went to the travel clinic to get immunizations. Kevin and I had consecutive appointments (10:30 and 11) and Laura had the one right before at 10, too funny since she made her appointment completely separately from ours. It took longer than I thought it would because we each spoke to the doctor about what to be aware of and what to look out for when we're on the trip (good information to have), and also consulted with him on what vaccines to get. Turns out we could've all had this consultation at the same time, who knew? When I made the appointments they gave us separate times, oh well.

We each got two shots - hepatitis A and tetanus (which I really needed to get a booster of anyway). We also got a pill regimen for typhoid fever (we have to take each of 4 pills every other day) and several prescriptions - one for anti-malaria medicine (take weekly starting a week starting the week before we go, 6 pills total), and preventive and if it happens diarrhea medicine. I definitely want to avoid getting that if I can! I also plan to bring over-the-counter medicine with me, those go pretty much everywhere we go. I'm glad we realized it now, it was really sort of out of the blue that I thought of it when we were at friend's house talking about our upcoming trip and I thought, shots? do we need shots? We might be ok, but I'm pretty cautious so would rather just know that I'm covered.

I've started reading a guidebook on Nicaragua too, Lonely Planet from the library. I haven't gotten very far since I try to read it at bed time (bad idea), but I'll sit down and read it, maybe this weekend. This weekend shouldn't be as busy as last weekend, though we do plan to check out the dog show! Reading about where we're going, and hearing about the planning thats gone into their wedding is getting me excited about the trip!

Last night we went to eat with my parents at the Indian place we like in Pearland, Moksha. mmm, love it! My parents actually re-arranged what day they were coming (originally Monday) so that the place would be open - they are closed on Mondays, and between about 3 and 5 most days of the week . We've forgotten that and gotten there hungry and excited to eat only to see that we came during the time they were closed, but not this time. It was very good.

Pikes Peak

This morning we took the Cog Railway to the summit of Pikes Peak (elevation: 14,110)! The train has a cog wheel to pull it on the track rather than just the t-rails because it is a steeper incline than a usual train can take - at the steepest point a 25% incline (go up 1 foot for every 4 feet traveled). We saw amazing views on the way to the top, including the view that inspired the woman to write "America the Beautiful" in 1893. At the top, we could see in all directions and could see mountains in other states -- we could see Colorado and four other states (Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Wyoming). It was windy and cold at the top! We took pictures and enjoyed the view, then went inside to warm up. on the way back down they said the temperature at the top was 32 degrees, and colder with the wind chill! I put on gloves that I had in my jacket :)

On the way back down we saw wildlife - yellow-bellied marmots and a small group of young big horn sheep.

Afterwards we walked around downtown Manitou Springs and grabbed a bite to eat. There are natural soda springs in the town that you can drink from, I tasted it in two places, but didn't really like it.

We drove through Garden of the Gods, and looked at the amazing rock formations. Kevin got to do a little more off-roading on an unpaved road going up above the park. We were able to see great views of the rock formations and of Pikes Peak - how high we were earlier!

We stopped at Patsy's in downtown Manitou Springs for ice cream, and went to a local bar to have a drink to cap off our wonderful vacation. We'll head back to Houston tomorrow. Its been a great vacation, but we're both ready to go back home and sleep in our own bed and see Smokey. We're not ready to go back to work, but who ever is?

Royal Gorge

We had to leave Ouray this morning :( We headed east via highway 50. We crossed the Continental Divide at Monarch Pass (elevation 11,000+) - it was cold and windy! Good preparation for 14,000 feet tomorrow (Pikes Peak).
The road followed the Arkansas River for a lot of the ride. We pulled off at one point and watched rafters go down the river - good thing we saw that AFTER we'd already done our rafting. We saw bighorn sheep on the side of the road!

We took a short detour to see the Royal Gorge - the highest suspension bridge in the US, over 1000 feet above the same Arkansas River we'd been driving alongside earlier. We drove across the bridge and then walked back to explore. We could feel the bridge swaying with the wind and in the middle of the bridge it was very windy (you can see my hair blowing around in the photo below). While we were on the bridge we saw a train go by on the tracks at the bottom of the gorge - it looked like a toy! We rode an inclined rail down to the bottom of the gorge and watched the Arkansas River rushing past, swirling and crashing over rocks and along the cliff walls. Looking up at the bridge gave you a sense of how high we'd been only a few minutes before.

Tonight we're spending the night in Manitou Springs, near the base of Pikes Peak. tomorrow we'll ride the Cog Railway to the top (over 14,000 feet).

Kevin's nose is our new altimeter, the higher we go the more congested he gets, and the mountain pollen blowing in the air is making his allergies go nuts!

Adventures a-plenty

We're having a great time, we've been so busy that I've been too tired in the evening to blog or upload photos. On Tuesday - our first full day in Ouray (pronounced You-Ray) - we went horseback riding. Kevin had never been on a horse and I haven't been since Girl Scout Camp. I am so short I was given a stump to stand on to help me to get onto the horse, and they had to adjust the stirrups so that my feet were actually in a loop above where you should put your feet, again because I'm so short. The owner said "I've never done this for an adult", yes I'm shorter than the kid who was riding ahead of me. I rode a horse called River and Kevin rode a horse called Papillon (means butterfly in French). We each got bumped around pretty badly (my back still hurts a bit from the jostling), and we were at the back of the line of horses, so when the horse ahead of me would trot to catch up mine would too and then K's would also, sometimes without much warning. We rode up and saw some beautiful scenery - I didn't take pictures because my full attention needed to be on staying ON the horse. being away from the road is very serene, and the guide took our photo when we got to the spot where we turned around. He gathered each group separately, and told us to "hold our horses" while he set up the other group - that is the first time I've heard that phrase used to literally mean hold your horse still. I am glad we stayed on the horses, I'm not sure if I could've gotten back on without my stump! When we got back, K understood the meaning of 'bow-legged' -- he couldn't move his foot over to the brake pedal, so i had to drive us back to town. Seems like everywhere we go, there is construction -- there are only a few months in the year they can do construction on these roads, so they are re-asphalting and doing other work so that only one lane is passable. Every time we go out of town we have to wait through it, luckily we've not had to wait too long and have gotten where we wanted to go in plenty of time.

Later that day, we hiked up to Cascade Falls. The altitude is tough! The town is at an elevation of 7,700 feet! Quite a jump for our sea level lungs. It is a short hike, up 8th avenue (only 3 blocks over from our hotel - on main and 5th, but uphill) and then a short hike from where the road ends to the falls, and we still had to stop a few times to catch our breath. It was worth the hike, a beautiful waterfall and water rushing by us in a concrete spillway (to protect the town from flooding). We have been able to see a lot of waterfalls because of the time of year we are here. The snow is melting and making lots of waterfalls, and some of the rivers/creeks much higher and faster. This is truly amazing country, and so beautiful. Sometimes I just have to stop and appreciate our surroundings.

That night we went to the local Hot Springs pool, very soothing to our muscles. We soaked in the hot water section, and it felt so good, like a hot tub, but natural. There were some people in the cooler parts of the pool, but I dipped just my hand into it and it was too cold for me. We watched the shadow come over the mountains while were in the pool, but left before it was too dark, it was cold when we got out!! brrrr..... we came a long way to get be chilly in June!


Yesterday we went off-roading - Kevin did all of the driving. We drove towards Yankee Boy Basin, it was beautiful but I was nervous with the dropoff right next to our car, so we didn't make it all the way to the basin, but we did see some great views and K got some off-roading experience. Even the off-road trail had construction! we followed right behind a truck that was spraying something on the road (glad we're in a rental, it is filthy!). We drove a bit on the Million Dollar Highway towards Silverton and then came back to town to go on another off-road trail towards Telluride. The views on the Million Dollar Highway are beautiful, but as I've said several times - the whole area is the "million dollar highway" to us, with its beautiful views. We drove on a trail called the Last Dollar Road, it is a long winding route that goes on top of a mesa and allows great views of the Sneffles mountain range, and put us near Telluride, where we wanted to go anyway. This was some great off-roading! beautiful views, and we even had to get out once to look at water crossing the road to make sure it was safe to cross, it was - otherwise we'd have had to find a place to turn around and go back. Coming down was fairly steep, but beautiful, and we were able to smell the pine trees around us.....ahhh

We explored Telluride (elevation: 9,500 feet). We actually parked in Mountain Village and took free gondolas (enclosed ski lifts) to Telluride. We were able to get out at the top of the mountain and see the Coors mountains and look down some ski slopes (elevation: 10,500 feet) -- this is probably the only way K will be at the top of a ski slope. We looked down black diamonds (expert level slopes), and they do look steep. I'd be over on the easy trails. We saw the site of Butch Cassidy's first bank robbery, and hung out at a great local restaurant - Brown Dog, great pasta and a fun atmosphere. We rode the gondolas back and drove back to Ouray - you can tell I'm a Texas driver (not used to mountains). I got passed by so many cars on the drive back...

Last night we went to a local event called "Taste of Ouray" in the community center. We were able to sample some of the local cuisine. We were still full from earlier, so we had drinks (Colorado beer and wine) and dessert - truffles are delicious, and they unveiled an oreo dessert (both from a chocolate place called mouse's), and listened to several groups perform live music.

Today we're going east and plan to see Royal Gorge.

C&K

Travel Day

Today we drove to Ouray. Along the way we crossed the Continental Divide and saw a lot of different scenery - snow-capped mountains, snow near us on the road, then more desert looking foothills and shrubs, mesas, and back into mountains. My favorite part of the drive was in Glenwood Canyon, where there were rock walls near us on either side, and we were able to see the Colorado River rushing along next to us - the road follows the river for most of the drive, so we saw a lot of rapids and rapidly moving water. It is truly amazing to see all of the canyons and crevices and realize they were made by water rushing by for millions of years. It is Kevin's first time to see true mountains and very inspiring for both of us to see. His favorite part of the drive was seeing the meadows as we drove into Ouray. I drove the last part so he could get a break from driving and truly enjoy the scenery.

We walked around the town a bit this evening, and made reservations to horseback ride tomorrow.

We posted pictures and added a link to our Colorado photo album, on the right side of this page.

White Water Rafting

Today we drove out to Idaho Springs (west of Denver) to go white water rafting. It was exhilarating! We saw some beautiful scenery on the way out there and we know we'll see much more of the snow-capped mountains this week.

In the higher elevation, it was chillier than in Denver, so we took advantage of the equipment they provided - wetsuits, windbreakers, and rented booties to wear to keep our feet warm (not dry, but warm). We would've frozen in what we'd brought - swimsuits, sandals, and cotton clothes. We both had the thought that we'd gotten in over our head as they were explaining technique and what we'd be expected to do, but we went ahead and had a great time. The other people in our raft were also from Texas (and our guide's name was Austin - coincidence, yes), and the guy in front with Kevin was a character - his comments kept us laughing -- talking about his 3 knees (right, left, and wee-knee), and how cold he was, and that the wetsuit needed drainholes in certain unmentionable areas. The water was FREEZING -- 38 degrees, and it was snow the day before! We all got soaked, but Kevin especially since he was in the front. None of us fell out of the raft, and we didn't get stuck on rocks - we saw one group that did, and it didn't look fun at all. We are absolute beginners, and I think that's all I'll ever be.

We're taking it easy the rest of today. Rafting left us both pretty tired and we were out late last night in LoDo (lower Downtown) with Sharon and some people she knows. There is a movie theatre right by the hotel, so we walked over to watch a movie, The Strangers (Kevin's pick), I watched it all but wanted to cover my eyes sometimes, it was so scary!

Tonight we'll take advantage of the hot tub at the hotel.

funny story -- last night Kevin wanted to listen to "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver since we're in Colorado. I didn't put it on the mp3 player in our GPS, so we thought we'd look for it on a radio station, and we found it! Then it came on again, and again....we checked the station again this morning and we think that's all that station plays! Rocky Mountain High 24/7.