Life is Good - Monika & Chris Murphy

Our Last Day in Paradise

2010-02-12T12:24:00.000-08:00

We decided to take it easy on our last day in paradise. We woke up without the alarm, had a wonderful fruit filled breakfast and updated our blog. It was only 9 am but it was already hot as hell so we decided to rent a kayak and head out towards Ao Nang. Usually one has to take a long tail boat to get to that beach so we did not expect to actually make it that far but we hoped to find something interesting along the way and we were not disappointed.
The sea in this area is filled with spectacular rock formations and it was so much fun to paddle around or jump in for a quick dip in the crystal clear water. Before we knew it we found ourselves on a beach. One corner of the beach was especially busy so we went to see what it was all about. Oh my...... the trees around the walkway in the back of the beach were filled with monkeys!!! There were so many of them!!! and we had no food.... luckily there was a nice lady selling bananas. We got a back and went to try our luck. They were so so cute and very polite. They would wait their turn and very nicely take the fruit from your hand.
Of course... it is not smart to mess with them as monkeys are very short tempered. And guess what I did... hmm... for the sake of a picture I teased the monkey by moving the banana just out of its reach, and it got closer and closer.... until it lost it patience and hissed at me & scratched me. Ouch... I will not tease a monkey ever again!!!
We swam for a bit in the crystal clear waters and eventually around 1 pm we found our way back to our beach.
We took a shower, had a cocktail in the cool of our room followed by a wonderful nap. One more thing we thought we shouldn't miss out on - the massage. We found a cute lil massage establishment and had our last $7 Thai massage.... ahhhh.
In the evening we met our Norwegian couple for a wonderful Thai dinner and drinks on the beach. It was wonderful meeting them here and it was a great finish to our vacation.

Day 12 - The Elephant Adventure & Best Food in Thailand

2010-02-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

Today we finally got to ride an elephant!!! We wanted to go elephant riding in Cambodia and in Bangkok area but both of those fell through. Today we finally succeeded! We signed up for a tour through our hotel. The tour included an hour of elephant riding, cave sightseeing, swimming in natural pools and Thai lunch.
We got picked up early in the morning by a longtail boat and taken over to the main land where a pickup truck was waiting for us and another nice young couple from Ireland. As soon as we got to our destination the handlers took us to say Hi to the elephants and up on them we went. It was little rocky at first until we got balanced. It was fun, Chris & I both set in the seat on top of the elephant's back and the handler was on its neck.
Few minutes into it the guy asked me if I wanted to sit where he was sitting? I was little hesitant at first but I was not going to pass the opportunity, so I slid down from the seat on its neck.
It was strange, prickly and I had no idea what to do with my feet. I felt bad having it behind the elephant ears as he liked to pull them back so eventually I found a sort of a squat/straddle position on its neck that was agreeable to both of us. It was fantastic - we trekked through the jungle for a bit with frequent stops for palm tree and other snacks for the elephant. I offered for Chris to sit where I was but he said it was safer for all of us if he stays where he was at.
After our wonderful ride was over we bought some bananas and fed them to the elephant. It was fascinating to see them sniff around with the trunk, grab them with it and just throw them in their mouth.
Once our elephant encounter was over the guide took us to explore caves on the property followed by a wonderful swim in cool and shady pools fed by natural springs. It was just what we needed!
The amazing experience was topped of by a surprisingly delicious homemade Thai lunch. We both agreed that it was the best food we have had in Thailand so far!!!

Day 11 - 2/1/10 - Island Snorkeling

2010-02-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Today was a day of Island hopping! We signed up for a Phi Phi Islands tour. This tour was going to go to Maya Bay (known from the movie Beach), Hing Klarng open sea snorkeling, Phi Phi Don Island for lunch, Monkey Bay - to see some monkeys, Lohsamah Bay for snorkeling & finally Bamboo Island for a wonderful swim. The tour was a full day event from 9 am until 5 pm.
We got picked by a speed boat at our hotel and after 45 minutes of a bumpy ride of a lifetime (we sat in the front, somewhat more bumpy there), we end up at our first destination - Maya Bay.
Luckily, were one of the first boats to get there but what was at first a serene bay have turned very shortly into a nightmare. Well, actually we decided to view it as very interesting and entertaining instead. It was comical how many boats and how many people could fit on this tiny beach! It was almost like being on a New York sidewalk during busy time of the day. We were little worried as we thought that all of our stops would be like this one, but luckily that was not the case!
Our next destination was Pileh Bay - wonderful secluded lagoon & the Viking Cave - both of these we just looked at from the boat.
The next stop was Monkey Bay to see... you guessed it.. monkeys and then finally - snorkeling. It was open water snorkel near Phi Phi Don island and it was great. Not the best that we have seen but still very beautiful.
We had lunch at Phi Phi Don with some island exploration and after another snorkeling stop we arrived on Bamboo Island. It was so beautiful there and the beach so white and the water azure blue - just like paradise!
Eventually, this wonderful island experience had to end and we found ourselves back in our hotel room with a delicious cocktail in our hand. Ahhhh...
We freshened up and went on to explore the East Railay Beach area by our hotel. We got there during its low tide time and it was something. For whatever reason the tides here are very extreme and the water line moves by about 300 feet. This change makes East Railay into a stinky, muddy mess of mangrove trees. The very busy restaurants on Railay West are replaced here with an empty seats all around and restaurant staff begging for any business at all. After reviewing this area we decided that it may be best if we have our dinner on the West side.
We went to the Sand Sea Resort Restaurant. We knew from before that this restaurant is was Muslim owned so we came armed with shot bottles of vodka in our pockets as they don't serve alcohol. This restaurant is one of the most exciting restaurants we have ever been to. Ordering is the easy part but what comes to you thereafter is always a surprise. Our first round of mocktails never showed up but Chris' meal came instead. So we ordered another round of drinks and half an hour later I got my meal followed finally, by our drinks! Our friends told us that we were actually lucky because one of their meals never showed up. Although we almost got somebody else's order three other times. Oh, did I mention that this restaurant has about 15 tables and about 20 waiters, including couple of ladyboys. It was very entertaining.

Day 10 - 1/31/10 - Kayaking Around

2010-01-31T17:27:00.000-08:00

We wanted to get up early so we could avoid the hot part of the day. We succeeded somewhat and end up getting up around 7:30. After a wonderful buffet breakfast we rented a double kayak and around 9 am we headed out on the sea to explore the surrounding beaches and islands.
The islands around Railay are nothing like we have seen anywhere else. They are huge limestone towers that rise high from the azure sea. There is a multitude of caves and stalactite and stalagmites all around these magnificent rocks. We kayaked around many of these islands and snorkeled around some. We also stopped at the PhraNang beach - one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and explored the Princess Cave. Princess cave is a cave filled with phallic symbols where people pray for fertility.
We slowly paddled our way back to our beach and we finally arrived after 1pm when it was starting to get really hot.
After a delicious curry for lunch we retired to our cottage for a well deserved nap.
In the evening we booked our tour for the next day - Snorkeling trip to the Phi Phi islands and finished the wonderful day with dinner and drinks.

Day 9 - 1/30/10 - Arrival in Paradise

2010-01-31T17:23:00.001-08:00

In order to catch our early morning flight to Krabi we had to leave our hotel in Bangkok at 5 am. We got to the airport just in time as a huge downpour started right after we arrived. I have never really witnessed a true tropical storm - it was amazing how much water feel in such a short amount of time.
There was no sign of the storm upon our arrival in Krabi. Our hotel's shuttle picked us up and transported us to a local harbor where we boarded a longtail boat - the transportation of choice in this area. We end up sharing the boat with another couple from Norway - Yngve & Anya. They were wonderful and really fun to talk to. We were both secretly hoping that we could stay in touch with them once in the resort but we didn't want to appear like stockers. The boat ride was fantastic, the sea is so blue and the islands all around plentiful. This area was 180 degrees different from Bangkok.
We checked into our spacious, brand new cottage and went on to explore the area a bit. We spent some time on the beach, by the pool and finally taking a nap during the hottest part of the day. While watching the sunset on Railay West we ran into our friends from earlier that day and agreed to meet up for dinner. The dinner by the beach was fantastic and the conversation even better. We were both wishing that they were not from Norway but rather somewhere closer to us as we could truly see being good friends with these two. The conversation was so engaging that we didn't want to end after dinner so we all moved over to the Laughing Tree - a small bar with beach mats and candles right on the beach. We didn't go to bed until 1am. Now we have truly arrived in a paradise.

Day 8 - 1/29/10 - Finally at Peace with Bangkok

2010-01-29T06:57:00.001-08:00

This morning I out-smarted the rooster and put tissue paper in my ears (my husband's idea, as he just pointed out) - ha Mr. Rooster, can't get me... but he still did manage to wake me up but it was easier to ignore him and fall back asleep.
We got up around 7 as we had a tour to catch at 9. We signed up for a bike tour through Bangkok with Grasshopper Adventures. It was #1 activity on TripAdvisor, so it must be good right?
We got fitted on our bikes and our tour guide Tammy took all 9 of us to the streets.
I was not really sure how we were going to navigate these crazy streets, but it was amazing. Tammy took us through the big roads, the small ones and the tiniest of them all. We were going along these canals through people's backyards while dodging cars, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, babies, dogs, cats, food stalls vendors, and who knows what else. It was really a great experience. Tammy even took us to a local market where we sampled some cool local foods and great fruit. We end up taking the ferry back over to the other side of the river. We even got bits and pieces of history and cultural references. Oh, did I mention we even saw a dragon? Well actually it was a water monitor, a huge lizard that can be over 9ft long. Our was only about 5 ft long but still very impressive.
We have also met wonderful and interesting people on the tour - a couple from the US living in Manilla working for EU and another family from Whistler who escaped the Olympics and decided to travel Asia for two months instead.
Once we said our good byes we went back to our hotel, took a much needed shower and headed down to a spa for a wonderful 2 hour long Thai massage. It was a very healing and very relaxing experience.
In the evening we took a dinner cruise and finished the day with shopping in the Pad Pong market.
Tomorrow we are flying to Krabi and finally heading to our island destination. Can't wait, but the Internet may be little sketchy there so not sure when will be our next update.
And the title of this post... I actually enjoyed Bangkok... so I am finally at peace with it.

Day 7 - 1/28/10 - First Full Day in Steamy Bangkok

2010-01-28T01:43:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, I started the day little bit sooner than expected at 4:30 am. There is this very loud rooster right outside of our balcony that started to tell us that the new day is coming and he would not shut up until 7 when a parrot took over his lonesome singing. Chris slept through it all!!!
We had a very good buffet breakfast in the riverside restaurant in our hotel and once finished we thought it may be a good idea to go explore the city before it gets too hot. Ha ha... I don't think there is before it gets too hot time in Bangkok. At first we wanted to walk to all the attractions but after five minutes of walking we decided that it may not be such a bad idea to check out how the extensive boat transportation works. Thank God!!! It was so worth it. Our hotel is right by a pier and the boats come by every five minutes or so. It costs 13 baht and it takes you to all the major sightseeing attractions that happen to be conveniently located along the river.
Our first and just about the last destination was the Royal Palace Complex, I say the last because it took us over three hours to explore it all. We were somewhat warmer than necessary as one is required to wear appropriate clothing while on the palace grounds. Appropriate clothing means long pants for men and long skirt/pants (below knees) for women and a shirt that covers the shoulders for both. If one does not come dressed appropriately one can rent clothes or be refused entry.
We got there just in time for a free 10 am English speaking tour so we took advantage of it. We got to know some more about Thai religious symbols and other interesting facts about the surrounding plentiful buildings. The grounds were beautiful and we truly were in awe. We were happy that we found our way here.
Little bit of trivia information - The royal monastery of the emerald Buddha houses a Buddha image carved from jade, which was first discovered in the year 1434. A ceremony officiated by the king is held three times a year to let the emerald Buddha wear different outfits according to the season, summer, rainy season or winter (basically hot, hot and hotter).
After our visit to the palace we were hot and tired and thought about taking the boat back to our hotel, but once we set down in a shade for a drink we felt much better and we took on yet another site, the Wat Pho, also known as The Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The gold plated reclining Buddha is 46 meters long and 15 meters high, and is designed to illustrate the passing of the Buddha into nirvana. The feet and the eyes are engraved with mother-of-pearl decoration. It was very impressive but after walking around the 20 acres worth of grounds we decided to return into our hotel and cool down a bit.
As of right now we are still hiding in our AC bunker and Chris is schemeing about how to kill our resident rooster & the parrot.
If we get brave enough we may even go out for a dinner.

Day 6 - 1/27/10 - Our Arrival in Bangkok

2010-01-28T01:01:00.000-08:00

Prior to our departure we at last got some of our questions answered by our wonderful cab driver in Siem Reap:
1) Who owns all the Lexus in Phnom Phen? Not even in Marin have seen as many lexus as we have here -> the govermant officials (hmmm makes you wonder how uncorruptable they may be)
2) What is the average (good) salary in Siem Reap -> about $100/month
Just for piont of reference - cost of tuk tuk - $2000 - resulting tuk tuk salary - $200/month
Bike for a kid so it doesn't have to walk 5km to school - $30
3) Why was there a mile long line in front of the Childern's hospital -> each family in need gets a number assign to them and when their turn comes - they come to Phnom Phen or Siem Reap to get care for their sick child in this privately run free hospital. Since then I have read much more about this program and it is amazing what Kantha Bopha & Dr. Beat Richner do for these children. If you want to know more check the link out.

We were sad to leave this wonderful country but we were excited to see what Thailand had in store for us. I have to admit that I was rather overwhelmed by Bangkok - as Chris put it is a high energy smelly chaos. After an hour long cab ride from the airport we checked into our wonderful hotel - Navalai River Resort (again an osais in the middle of this crazy place).
After we settled in we went out to explore around the hotel on foot. We were warned by other travellers about scams that are plentiful in Bangkok and guess what... two minutes into our walk we almost fell for one ourselves. Thank God we are smart :). We explored around 'The Backpackers' Mecca' - Khao San Road and finished the evening with a nice 'stomach safe' dinner. Oh, did I mention how freaking hot it is here?!

Day 5 - Wonderful Last Day in Siem Reap

2010-01-27T23:45:00.000-08:00

This day started really early, we were both awake before 6 am. I guess we were rested enough from our sick time the previous day. We didn't even eat breakfast, because we didn't want to take the chance that it could spoil the rest of our day. We hired a tuk tuk just outside the hotel and headed for the farther parts of Angkor Park. There was hardly anybody out there, well at least at first. We visited couple of small temples followed by Ta Prohm. Ta Prohm is the temple seen in The Tomb Raider movie. This temple complex is only partially cleared of jungle overgrowth in order to present some 'tree-in-temple' photo opportunities. It was pretty cool, but unfortunately there were many tourists at this point.
From there we visited Banteay Kdei and Sras Srang, which were nice but nothing exceptional. The farthest part of our visit was Neak Pean and Preah Khan and they were definitely worth the visit. One was a group of pools with a sort of a fountain in the middle that were believed to have healing powers and the other was a very serene complex, without any tourists and it still had many 'tree-in-temples' left, which were great to see.
At this point it was nearing one pm and we were both 'templed' out so we headed back to town. We found a nice bakery and filled up on bread as that was one safe thing we thought we could eat.
Once again we found ourselves spending the afternoon by the pool before heading to the town for dinner and some shopping. We thought it would be waste not to have Khmer food on our last day in Cambodia so we tossed the dice and ate a real meal and it was worth it! Now we just have to figure out how to make it at home.

Day 4 - 1/25/10 - Cambodian Detox Treatment

2010-01-26T18:17:00.000-08:00

The plan for today was to sleep in and take a cooking class in one of the local restaurants to learn how to make some of these wonderful Khmer dishes, followed by relaxation, shopping and perhaps even some massage. But instead we checked into a Cambodian Detox Spas. I was the first one to partake, starting the night before and Chris followed my lead the following morning. The enrollment was not voluntary but it sure did detox us thoroughly and did wonders for my waistline.
As you may have already guessed we got sick. At least this time we were able to pin point the source. It was our lunch the previous day in one of the restaurants in Angkor Wat area. Looking back... probably not the best choice. Needless to say we didn't take the cooking class but instead we spent the day in the bed and in the other area nearby. Fourteen hours and two cyproflaxins (stomach antibiotic) later I felt slightly better, at least as long as I didn't drink nor eat anything, so I went to read by the pool and left Chris in the room to sleep it off. I think I am out of the woods but he is still fighting it... hopefully tomorrow we will be both better and will get to go explore the rest of the temples. Luckily, today was not supposed the be an action packed nor travelling day, so really it was the best day to get sick. The way I see it, one has to get one of these stomach bugs on each continent one visits. Hopefully, this will have Asia covered.

Day 3 1/24/10 - Angkor Wat

2010-01-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

Our first full day in Siem Reap we decided to visit the main purpose of our travel to Cambodia - Ankor Wat. We arranged our tuk-tuk pick up the night before. Sunny, as he called himself picked us up at 8:30. We got lucky as it was cloudy and not so hot, at least for now. There are many temples in the area with Angkor Wat being the most famous of them all. We stopped by the front gate to purchase our $40 tickets and through an alley of monkeys (they were everywhere) we finally arrived at the main gate. The enjoyment of this place and its magnificence increased dramatically once got away from most of the Japanese tourists. This place was amazing. We were both so happy that we didn't decide to omit Cambodia as originally contemplated. The detail on all of walls, the statues, the size, it is impossible to describe. We wandered around Angkor Wat for a while in absolute awe.
Once we gout our fill Sunny took us to the next destination - Angkor Thom, a fortified Royal City (10 square km) surrounded by a moat 30 feet wide. The best part was the Bayon. Bayon is a temple mountain that stands in the center of the area. It's towers are decorated with over 200 smiling faces. We walked around some more visiting the Terrace of Elephants and of the Leper King but it was getting really hot and we were getting really tired and hungry, at this point it was close to 2pm.
We had a lunch on one of the restaurant in the area. Chris seemed to have enjoyed it but I didn't like one of the dishes so I left it alone.
Once again we spent the afternoon by our wonderful pool and in the evening we headed for dinner in the Temple Restaurant that offered traditional Apsara dance show during dinner times and also had cooking classes one could attend during the day. The food here was absolutely amazing and the price ($3 for a meal) unbeatable so we decided to sign up for a class the next day. Beat we headed to bed around 9.

Day 2 - 1/23/10 - Bus Adventure - Phnom Phen to Siem Reap

2010-01-26T18:13:00.002-08:00

We got our tickets the day before for our early morning bus ride to Siem Reap. The whole journey is about 320 km and it takes about six hours.... oy... like we didn't have enough traveling already. But it was actually an amazing experience - the incredible things that you get to see from the bus window! And once again I was surprised how absolute poverty can exist side by side next to such luxury. In the middle of nowhere you could have a HUGE HUGE mansion next to a thatched hut. We spent the whole ride observing everything passing us by - people taking baths in their mud ponds, babies running around naked in their yards, super skinny cows grazing in dirt fields, Buddhist monks walking on the side of the street with their huge umbrellas and people carrying their whole families on one motorbike. Hey, you can even fit building supplies, two dead pigs, huge sack of rice and a wife on one scooter...who needs a car! Why do you need a hitch on the back of the bike when you can have your friend sit behind you and put it over his torso... safe right?... oh and did I mention there was a horse on top of the trailer that was being pulled?!
Anyway... it was a fantastic drive from one town to the next with no dull moments...
Once in Siem Reap, we got a tuk tuk to take us to our hotel - Bopha Angkor. The hotel is amazing... a little oasis with fountains and secluded corners where one can relax. It has a very spa like feel with a fantastic pool that sure feels great in this sticky hot weather. We chilled by the pool and after a little R&R we went on to explore the town itself.
Siem Reap finally feels like we are on vacation. A cute little town with silk lanterns in the trees and plenty of small shops and restaurants around every corner. Oh... did I mention you can get a massage for $6/hr... we are thinking about having foot & leg massage at the same time as head and shoulder one. I think $12 just may be worth it!
We finished the day with our complimentary 6 course meal at our hotel's restaurant. Oh my god, I fell in love with traditional Khmer (Cambodian) food - Fish Amok... soooooo good. Basically it is a green curry with fish, but so much better.. and their version of Thai beef satay is unbelievable!
Tomorrow we are heading out in our tuk tuk to finally explore Angkor Wat!
The connectivity here is limited so I will have to post it all at once when I have a chance.
Stay tuned.

Day 1 -1/22/10 - Rude Awakening in Phnom Phen

2010-01-22T18:13:00.000-08:00

After a long day of traveling - approximately 24 hours, we finally arrived in the capital of Cambodia - Phnom Phen. Our vacation didn't exactly start on a good note. On our last flight from Taipei to Phnom Phen we sat next to a nice man who was coming home to Cambodia. He has been living in the US for last 30 years after leaving as a teenager. As of 2000 he has started coming back to Cambodia for the sole purpose of looking for any surviving relatives. Out of his immediate family he was the only one able to escape, all of the rest of his immediate relatives were killed by the Khmer Rouge. Of all his extended family he was only able to locate one of his younger cousins who is now in his late thirties. After listening to his stories and all that his country has gone through at the hands of the Khmer Rouge I felt guilty for coming here for a vacation. Going to places like these sure makes you appreciate ALL that we have.
On our way from the airport we talked to our cab driver who also survived the brutality of the Khmer Rogue. After all he has gone through, he has a little baby for whom he is not able to get proper health care for but he is lucky enough because his wife and two kids at least have a place to live - he is renting a room in a house near the airport.
After our "refreshing" start we finally checked into our wonderful hotel, took a shower and went out to explore the town. You wouldn't believe how crazy the traffic was. We almost considered renting a tuk-tuk (a moped pulling a rik-shaw) just to get across the street! Since we heard plently of bad stuff about Phnom Penh, we were prepared for the worst. It actually turned out to be not that bad - expectations are everything! We walked around for a bit but that got old fast as the city is really polluted and the drivers use lanes only as a suggestions not necessarily as rules. Who says you can't pull into the ongoing traffic head first without stopping? and why shouldn't a two lane road have about six lanes of traffic going through it?
In the end we gave in and took the tuk tuk to the main temple where we saw an elephant and a crazy family of monkeys making their home in the middle of the city and unfortunately a $1 dollar baby. These little 5yr old kids where sent out by their moms with fresh, FRESH newborns strapped to them to go beg for money... saying '$1 dollar for baby', It is so scary... our social services should see this!!!
We were so tired prior to visiting the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda we needed at least a drink to reset... and that's when the legless man shuffled over and the elephant man came by (he had a floppy head tumor that hung from his temple down to his shoulder). It was little too much for me.
Needless to say, our first day of vacation did not feel like a vacation at all. The funny thing about Cambodia was that you see all these poor families on bikes and mopeds driving around between luxury Lexuse and Escalade. Guess some people are better of!
Luckily by the afternoon we finally started to feel like we were on vacation when we went to explore the beautiful grounds of the palace and finished the day with drinks and dinner by and in the pool of our hotel. We just had to escape it all for a bit.

The picture with the bottles is the gas station ;o) no kidding. There are plenty of these on every corner.

Cambodia & Thailand here we come

2010-01-20T12:48:00.001-08:00

Ok... I know it has been a loooooong time... but finally here is an update! We are getting ready to embark on another adventure this time on a new continent for both of us - Asia has so far been a mystery for both of us. We are going to try to change that by visiting Cambodia & Thailand.

We are leaving tonight so stay tuned for updates! Here is just a few highlights:
1) After 14hour flight to Taipei followed by 4 hour flight we will arrive in the capital city of Cambodia - Phnom Phen
2) The following day we depart early in the morning for Siem Reap - our base camp for Angkor Wat exploration and our home for the next 4 days
3) From there we will visit the capital city of Bangkok for a couple of days and explore around there
4) The final and hopefully the most relaxing part of our trip will be spent on the coast of Thailand in Railay West... voted to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world... ahhhh

Like I said .... Life is Good!!!

Lucka's Birthday/House Painting

2009-06-21T21:42:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Lucka's (my sister's) bday the way she wanted it to be celebrated - by working!!! Her birthday is on the 8th of June and she was going to return to Czech on the 20th and she wanted to see the whole house painted. And in order to that... we pretty much had to keep on painting every freaking day. We started on Friday the 5th and we finally finished on Sunday the 14th. We painted from sunup to sundown (well at least on the weekend) - it was crazy. I was looking forward to going to work as I could get some rest there then return home and keep on painting. But it was soooo worth it. Lucka & I finished the lower level by hand while Chris was replacing some parts of the siding and we all worked on the upstairs together. Lucka & I doing the details while Chris was rolling after us. The last day the 14th we started at 8 and finished by 9pm. A long day... but the most gratifying day as we finished it all!!!
We and all the people who followed our progress were amazed at how fast we were moving along. We all loved the results and now we have one of the only two green houses in the area... all the rest are booooring shades of gray.

5/30 - Kayaking in Whittier & bye bye Alaska

2009-06-04T14:21:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day in Alaska and it was going to be a long one!!! We had to leave the boat by 8:30 a.m. and our flight was not until 1:30 a.m. the following day. Needless to say – we were not looking forward to this loooooong day. Once we were done with our last breakfast on the boat we joined our group to head out to mainland Whittier for a kayak tour. The weather was so so… looked like it could rain any minute, but that is considered a good weather in these parts of the world. Lucka has never gone on a kayak so she begged me to go on a double with her…. That was at least until she heard the speech from our guide on what to do in case you tip over…. She didn’t like the idea of swimming in the water that not too long ago was an ice… so she opted to go with the guide instead and I was free to go with Chris. We had a good group of 11 to start with, somewhere along the way we lost 5 so there were only six of us finishing the tour. One couple was lost to fear, they turned around right away… and the second had to return with the guide after the husband got seasick. We spent the next three hours paddling along the coast, crossing to the other side of the bay and exploring some waterfalls and thousands of nesting birds along the way. It was spectacular. I was very proud of Lucka how she handled it, she didn’t even complain and actually enjoyed herself. We had a great time!!!
Mom & Dad didn’t go with us on the kayak tour but instead they took a bus tour to yet another glacier and to the wild life sanctuary. We were to meet up with them in Anchorage. We got on a bus just in time as we only had 5 minutes before the tunnel was to close. You can leave Whittier only once in an hour, on the hour, through one way tunnel. That is the only way in an out by land.
We met up with Mom & Dad in Anchorage, grabbed delicious food in our favorite restaurant – The Snow Goose restaurant… and walked around the town for a bit while Mom & Dad went to a museum and movies. We returned to our hotel in the evening and hang out there until it was time to leave for the airport….. sooooo tired!!!

5/28 & 5/29 - The Glacier Experience - Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

2009-06-01T16:12:00.000-07:00

The next two days we were to be ship bound prior to our disembarkation in Whittier and the official end of our Inside Passage adventure. The first day we visited the Glacier Bay National Park. The 'show' started around 9am when were entered into this wondrous place. We had park rangers on board who narrated all that we saw. Despite the tremendous size of our boat we were able to get fairly up close and personal with these beautiful glaciers. We were even 'lucky enough' to see calving of the glaciers (don't know how we can truly be happy to witness the direct proof of global warming) but it was a spectacular show just the same - the crackling and the huge boom when it finally broke of... it was beautiful. We spent most of the day on our balcony with a drink in our hand enjoying the view and I ... snapping away with my two cameras :o).
We were able to get a lil workout in prior to going for yet another delicious dinner. This time I couldn't decide if I should have Beef Wellington or Lobster Tail... so I had both. Thank God the cruise was not any longer as they would have to roll me off the ship.
We had to pick up speed overnight as we had a long haul in the open seas to reach College Fjord. We were not getting there until the afternoon so we had the whole morning to get some gym time in, some swimming, hot tubing and lil sauna to finish it off. In the afternoon we once again hang out on our balcony enjoying the view. We didn't get quite as close this time as we did the day before... but the view was amazing just the same. So peaceful in there.... just the nature, floating ice all around... oh yeah... and 2.5 thousand people on board Margarita glass. Once the whole show was over we headed out for our last dinner of this voyage. Last hurray before the diet that does have to come ;o) this huge sea monster ;o) Chris said that the ice all around looked like we were swimming a a Margarita glass. Once the show was over we headed out for our last dinner of this voyage. Last hurray before the diet that does have to come ;o)

5/27 – Skagway – The Gateway to the Klondike

2009-05-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

Our scheduled activity for the day was to board the train that would take us up to the White Pass right on the BC border tracing the steps of over hunderd thousand of men that headed up north in search of gold known as the Klondike Gold Rush. Out of the 100K only about 30-40 thousands actually reached the gold fields and out of those only a few hunderds bacame rich. This railroad was also known as the ‘Railroad to Hell’. This railroad was an engineering marvel for it has to climb from the sea level in Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the Summit in just 20 miles and has many tight curves. The construction began in 1898 and was finished only 24 months later.
We really loved the train ride on this very old train and enjoyed the spectacular views it had to offer. Within the hour we found ourselves in the White Pass surrounded by over 8 feet of snow. I got to say it was lil chilly outside where we chose to stay most of the ride as we didn’t want to miss any of the sights and picture opportunities. We were also rewarded for our preseverence when was saw a black bear eating away right by the train track. I still can’t believe that the gold diggers were able to make this journey of around 600 miles on foot even before the railroad was built. That is just crazy… and they didn’t have to make the journey just ones they had to go several times as they had to transfer all of their belongings and than some – around one ton of supplies. That is determination!
After a hot toddy and lil lunch on board we headed back out to Skagway for a hike to a few lakes and a waterfall. It was somewhat steeper than we expected but Mom did really good all the way up to the lakes. Mom & Dad turned around and Lucka and us continued to the Icy Lake where Lucka decided to wait for us as we wouldn’t let her go back by herself and Chris & I literally ran the next almost a mile to the waterfalls. They were worth it… we took a few pictures and ran back to Lucka at the Icy Lake where she was truly starting to get a lil icy.
We looked around the town for a few minutes but besides the many & many jewelry shops and gift shops there wasn’t really all that much to see… especially in the icy wind that was blowing all around. It was very nice to get back to the warmth and comfort of our ship. Oh but Mom managed to find some beautiful jewelry to add to her plentiful collection.
Tomorrow we will reach the Glacier Bay National Park.

5/26 - Juneau - Two Mile Hike & Whale Watching

2009-05-26T23:35:00.002-07:00

Today was our Alaskan capital day - Juneau. The weather wasn't perfect but at least it didn't rain.... well at least at first. We thought it would be great to escape the hoards of cruise tourists - there were four ships in port. The main attraction in town was a Mt. Roberts tram that took tourists up the face of the mountain that surrounds the city. Chris thought that it would be too boring to take the tram as everybody else did... and instead decided to take us on a 'two mile' hike. I have to admit I agreed that hiking would be much better since for a change we would get to stretch our legs a lil and get some fresh air! Our two mile hike that was supposed to be 35 minutes end up being a lil bit over an hour. :o) Our whole hike was accompanied by Lucka's complains about how steep it was and how tired she was... and God knows what else. Chris counted himself lucky that he couldn't understand her, I didn't have that advantage. Mom & Dad end up taking the tram to the top and enjoyed the same view we did... they even seen the resident eagle, who was too hurt to be released into the wild.
After lil shopping in town (mostly alcohol) and a food refill on the boat we departed on our evening whale watching tour. At this point it was raining cats & dogs so we didn't expect to enjoy it all that much... but luckily we were wrong!
The ship was very nice, they even had a wonderful buffet setup for us... yeah like we need more food after being on the boat where there is food available allllllll day!!!! but to our surprise most of the people there loaded up a full plate! Crazy! The beginning of the sail was mostly uneventful, we did see some whales but they were all too far to really see. Until..... the lil one found us!!! It was fantastic. He managed to escape his Mom, who was in his pursuit... and started to practice all of his moves. He was breaching out of the water.... smacking the water with his flippers and waving at us... and just rolling around. Eventually his Mom caught up with him and they both started to play. It was a really spectacular show. The captain said that they have not seen anything even close to what were bared witness to. Unfortunately, we had to leave eventually ... but luckily it was after the lil one got tired and was not quite as entertaining. Later on the naturalist on board explained to us that the lil one was practicing all that his Mom has taught him that he will need later on in his life and his Mom was making sure he was doing it right :o).
It was a great finish of our day. It was truly an amazing experience for all of us.
Now... Lucka & I are chilling in our room watching movies while Chris ventured into the casino.

5/25 - Ketchikan - Misty Fjords

2009-05-26T23:35:00.001-07:00

Our day in Ketchikan started super early as we only had a limited amount of time as the boat was in the harbor only from 6am until 2pm and we wanted to get in as much as possible. The first thing on the agenda for the day was a seaplane tour to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Lucka was not sure if she would be comfortable on this tiny plane so we decided that it was safer if she just joined us once we were done with the tour.
There was about 20 of us going so I thought the plane would have to be relatively big to fit all of us, but to my surprise they split us up into four groups and the four of us had our plane DHC-2 DeHavilland Beaver all to ourselves.
Misty Fjords National Monument is a 2.3-million acre piece of pristine wilderness that can really be only viewed by a floatplane; it is the only way to truly take in its majesty - soaring cliffs, saw-tooth ridges blanketed in trademark mists, sky-blue lakes, endless waterfalls, icy saltwater fjords and miles of glacier-carved gorges. The views were spectacular!!! Midway through our trip the pilot landed on this huge lake and told us to get out if we wanted to and take in the view... at first I was lil confused... cause we were in the middle of the lake... how the hell am I going to get out? Only then I realized that we were to stand on the floats... duuh! It was truly once in a lifetime experience! Mom & Chris were even lucky enough to sit next to the pilot (one on the way there, the other on the way back) and enjoy the full view from the cockpit.
We headed back to our boat for a breakfast and Lucka pick up and went back to town for a lil exploration. Unfortunately, it rained on us... but we didn't expect anything else as the average annual rainfall exceeds 160 inches at Ketchikan. We managed to walk through all that this 4th largest town (7.5K population) in Alaska has to offer in under 2 hours and all frozen return back to our boat for a hot toddy and of course more food!!!

5/23-5/24 - From the Mainland to the Inner Passage

2009-05-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

The last two days have been a blur. Everything has happened so fast. We started our Friday early on leaving our great house on Vancouver Island and got on the ferry back to Vancouver where we were to get on our ship to start our last part of the trip. Everything went smoothly until the point where we got stuck in a huge line to get on the boat. For whatever reason they had two boats leaving from the same harbor at the very same time. You would think after all the time they have been in business of sailing ships they would figure out that having two cruise ship leave on the same day is probably not the best idea.
Our waiting time was increased even further by having a foreigner in our midst... yep my lovely sister. We all decided to go in with her and we ended up waiting for two and half hours to be finally allowed to board!
They checked us in and once we found our way to our room we started the sail off right... by blowing off the emergency orientation meeting and having triple vodka cocktails on our balcony. As if the was not enough we headed up on the upper pool deck to watch the ship set sail and leave Vancouver under the Lion's Gate bridge with many more cocktails in our hands and bellies and shortly there after... in our heads.
We had a great dinner in one of the formal dining rooms and explored the ship for a bit before we found our way back to our room. .
The following day Lucka stayed in bed while Chris & I went for a lil workout in the fitness room. It was a great way to start the day. We cleaned up and picked up Lucka from the room... only to swiftly return her back to it as she got sea sick from the ship movements. She spent most of the day in bed watching movies and trying to get better. We figured out that she was better once she finished off the bread and even the cookies that her lovely brother brought back for her. Chris & I spent the day exploring the ship and taking part in some of the activities they had going on during the day.
Tonight was a formal night so we all dressed up in our best and had yet another wonderful dinner.
Tomorrow we are heading to Ketchikan where we are to take a scenic flight over the Misty Fjords National Park.
So far the sail has been a very relaxing experience and we are still getting to know the ship a lil so we shall see what comes next. We even seen some orcas along the way.

5/22 - Sunrise to Sunset

2009-05-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day that I actually saw a sunrise!!! Chris was trying to be mean and woke me up to show it to me, expecting me to just roll over and ignore him... but man was he surprised when I sprang out of the bed and armed with my camera headed for the balcony. It was beautiful... I took several pictures and headed back under my covers....
Despite it's early start today was a slow day. We didn't have a precise plan, we were just going to do a couple of hikes in the local parks and finish the day off in Sooke. It was another beautiful day on Vancouver Island - 70+ (20) and not a cloud in sight.
After Dad's two hour bike ride and our wonderful breakfast we packed up the crew and let Heidi find our way to Goldstream Provincial Park. There we hiked to see the Niagara Falls... yep I always thought they were on the east coast....but hey what do I know. Well they were nothing to be compared to the real ones... but it was nice just the same. After Niagara falls we wanted to find yet another hike to falls... but somehow Heidi has failed us and we were only able to find our way out of the park into a residential area. We didn't let that stop us and continued to Sooke where we wanted to hike the Whiffin Spit in Sooke. It was a nice hike where Lucka collected washed out glass, Mom talked to all the strangers along the way and I tried unsuccessfully for the most part setup the camera to take the perfect group shot - it is like herding cats.. and the boys were just along for the ride ;o). It was a nice walk after which we were in need of some nourishment. Well, I just needed alcohol... but Mom was in mood for a soup.
We found this wonderful place right on the water... and we had some snacks... soup... and of course wine!
Once we returned back to the house we split up - Mom & Dad headed for a hike and we went to explore the surrounding areas to see where we could hike up to. We were very surprised when we on an accident drove up this park and after a short hike found a 360 view of the whole island. We intended to return there for the sunset and so we did. It was beautiful... even though a lil chilly. Luckily my sister was kind enough to put some red wine in a plastic bottle to keep me warm.
Tomorrow is our final day here... we are heading back to Vancouver to board our cruise ship... our home for the next 7 days... hopefully they will have Internet so I can continue my rambling.

5/21 - Butchart Gardens

2009-05-21T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today was a Butchart Gardens day where we were to celebrate parent's anniversary and enjoy my name's day. The weather was once again perfect - around 75 (20) or so and sunny. We arrived in the gardens around ten and spent the next three hours walking around these beautiful grounds. They have several main areas out of which the Sunken Garden was my favorite. Until about 1906 this area was used as a limestone quarry and once the limestone was exhausted the wife of the entrepreneur, Mrs. Butchart converted the depleted land into beautiful gardens and piece by piece she established the base for what is there now. The Sunken garden is where the bottom of the quarry once usde to be.

We were lil worried that there wouldn't be too much to see, but we were pleasantly surprised by the colorful masterpice that awaited us. There were blooming tulips, forget-me-nots, rhododdendrons, lilacs, pansies, azaleas, magnolias... and that's jsut a few that I knew the names of.

Mom admired all of the wonderful japanese maples and by the end of the walk she convinced Dad to add four more trees to her collection of 27 (at least I believe that was the last count) japanese mapels that she already has.
We had reservation for an afternoon tea at one so we had to end our tour through the gardens and find our way to the restaurant. I have personally never had high tea... but it was a wonderful experience. The girls enjoyed the tea and all it involved while the boys decided to stick with the regular lunch menu. The food was wonderful and it was a fantastic experience. Although we did agree it was good that we didn't opt for the High tea at the Empress hotel where the atmosphere is lil bit more uptight... that realization was based on my husband taking Lucka's plate and wanted to lick it so she couldn't use it and Lucka in turn taking his forks and knife and pretending to wipe her arm pits with them... yep... over all a very classy company we are :o).
In the afternoon Mom & I took a nap while Lucka and Chris went to get me flowers for my name's day and after that... Lucka took a nap while Chris & I went for a two hour bike ride, this time up north while Mom & Dad enjoyed a wonderful walk around the neighborhood discussing fiture japanese maple purchases.

5/20 - Victoria Day

2009-05-20T23:27:00.001-07:00

For whatever reason I was actually awake before Chris and all I could think about ever since I woke up was how much I wanted to go for a bike ride and explore this unbelievable area. Luckily, maybe by the sole strength of my willpower or maybe due to lil probing and poking Chris woke up not too long after me. :o) It didn't take much convincing to get him to agree to go for a bike ride, especially after his father told us how beautiful it was when he went for his bike ride at 5:30 this very morning... oy... thought I was an early one at 7:30.
This area is filled with bike/running paths that will take you just about anywhere. We opted for the one towards Victoria and we were not disappointed. Although I was surprised how many people actually use their bikes for commuting.
Once we cleaned up after our bike ride and got everyone on the same page we took the scenic route to Victoria (this time by car). Prior to our arrival within the downtown we managed to see beautiful neighborhoods, several gardens, beaches... and even a castle!The downtown itself was breathtaking. I felt like I have crossed the ocean and end up in England! The vibe of the town was so great. People everywhere, everybody happy... I guess it also helped that they had one of their first non rainy days in a while and we were lucky to be enjoying it! We walked around all of the main attractions ... and of course we had to stop in an outside cafe for a bottle of wine and lil relax time after such a hard day of vacationing... it does tire one out!!!
On the way home we stopped by a fish market and picked up a fresh halibut that Chris bbqed for us on our balcony. Tomorrow we are off to Butchard Gardens to celebrate parents' 42 anniversary.. and in a lil part my name's day... can't wait!

5/19 - From Vancouver to Vancouver Island

2009-05-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today was a traveling day. We made the journey from our hotel in Vancouver to our beautiful rental house near Victoria! What did people do before VRBO.com? We had to make a stop on Granville Island to pick up some fresh pastry and produce - especially the carrot muffin for Mom. We took the scenic route down to the ferry terminal and boarded the biggest ferry that I have ever been on, I believe it fit 208 cars and I didn't see the number for the trucks and people.... While waiting in line we called to check in on our puppies, only to find out that we had the biggest wuss. She was too afraid of the big dogs so they had to put her in with the lil ones ;o( our poor baby!!! I mean the big dogs were too afraid of her... yeah right... anyway...
Once on Vancouver Island we let Heidi (our GPS) show us the way to our home for the next four days on SeaPearl Place. This house is absolutely fantastic and the area is just breathtaking. We didn't really do much for the rest of the day. We made a wonderful dinner at home and went for a nice hike to the beach. We managed to get lil lost so our small hike that I promised Lucka has turned into an hour plus scramble through the surrounding areas. Where was Heidi when we needed her!!!
This whole island is so very beautiful I could see myself living here. Both Lucka & I were saying how much the climate reminds us of our home! Everything is so green and lush and fresh... ahh.. miss that in Cali! Oh this is the view from our living room.

5/18 - Our first full day in Vancouver

2009-05-18T19:34:00.000-07:00

We started our day semi early by scouting for a bagel shop my friend recommended only to realize that it was in the middle of an island. All of sudden we were faced with a dilemma of how to reach this magical island (Granville Island)... luckily they have a very handy boat taxi service that leaves every few minutes just a few blocks from our hotel. The public market that we found on this island was great! Ton of produce, meats, pastries... anything you want. I loved that it felt lil bit like an European market... and they had very similar things that I was used to from back home. Even a poppy seed pastry!!!
After our breakfast and the island exploration we picked up Lucka, who had a headache and had to stay back, and headed for Stanley Park. It was supposed to rain later on that evening but we got relatively lucky that we managed to stay mostly dry on our hike throug the park. It was so beautiful, they did a great job with this park. We also spotted a cruise ship in the harbor and Lucka just couldn't believe that they can really be so big.
Once we got our fill of Stanley park we found our way to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. Lucka didn't think she could manage to cross the bridge that stretches 450 feet (137m) across and 230 feet (70m) above Capilano River. But same as with me, Chris decided to help Lucka conquer her fears by herding her across the bridge. At some point she had tears in her eyes and shouted something incoherent in our direction but in the end she managed to cross it only to find herself entering into canopy tour. She wasn't too pleased when Chris ran after her and shook the bridges :o).
Once we were done with this unique park we decided that it was time for an early dinner in a local brewery and we called it a day and relaxed in our hotel.
Tomorrow we are embarking on our second part of our journey, this time to Victoria.
I really enjoyed this town and I could see myself living here. It is very relaxed and so pretty.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful and full schedule for our three day Easter weekend.
1) Good Friday - My company gives me Good Friday off and it has been a tradition for the last at least 6 years to go up to the wine country and visit some new wineries. Chris was off and Patty managed to break away in the middle of the day so we all headed up to the Dry Creek area to discover some new and exciting wineries. The weather was great and we were able to check off a few new wineries from my map - Rodney Strong (good port) , J Winery (overpriced), Limerick Lane (nothing really), Christopher Creek (good zin) & Armida(nice 'poison' & great grounds). Not a bad score!

2) Holy Saturday - since Chris had to work on Sunday we met up with Mom & Dad on Saturday in Sausalito for a wonderful brunch @ Horizons. The food was amazing... and of course so was the company. Afterward we took a nice stroll along the water with both of our pooches.
3) Easter Sunday - Chris had to work so I invited my Czech friends for a lil appetizer afternoon on our deck. Luckily, the weather was perfect so we were able to sit out there until everybody had to head home.
Ahhhh.... the weekend couldn't have been better!!!

Day 10 - Long Journey from Ixtapa to Taxco... aka Poor Chris

2009-03-17T14:44:00.000-07:00

We started our day the earliest we have done so far - at 6:30. Leaving Ixtapa was easy. We left around eight and headed towards Acapulco. Acapulco was a great middle point - about three hours away - between Ixtapa and Taxco (our final destination of the day). Unfortunately, the road to Acapulco is not a toll road and as such is filled with many unexpected topes (speed bumps) that could rip your car apart, so as you can imagine our drive to Acapulco was not the fastest.
We thought it would be nice to have a lunch in Acapulco, stretch a little and head up to Taxco. Yep.. that was not the case. We got stuck in a huge traffic jam on a road that resembled coastal highway 1 (very curvy) before we even entered Acapulco city limits. We sat in it for a while before we finally came to a realization that Acapulco was not worth it and that we would rather back track 15 miles to get to another road that would avoid Acapulco all together. That was a life saver! I think Chris would have never made it out of that town sane.
Little did we know what awaited us!! When we were planning our vacation, Taxco sounded like a really neat historical town (first public records date back to 1529) built on a side of a mountain (5900 ft), with very steep narrow cobblestone streets lined by whitewashed houses with red-tiled roofs. Doesn't that sound really cool? Yeah... sure did... until we were stuck on the curviest road of our lives (curva peligrosa signs everywhere) hugging the cliff heading up the mountain trying cover the 6K feet elevation gain... while dodging crazy trucks and buses. Oh my... three plus hours of this.
We were very relieved once we finally got closer to the town itself. After all, our hotel was right downtown on the main square... how hard could that be!? Once again… yeah right!! Upon the approach of the city limits we started to see many, many, many Volkswagen Beetles, Lucka counted 100 within first 4 minutes, and then she just gave up. We had no idea why this car was so popular around here. It did not take too long to find out.
Driving into the city was crazy - one little 2 lane road with 4-6 rows of cars on it depending how many idiots decided to join us in our lane... directed by policemen that offered to help us and directed us towards downtown. We thought he was nuts, no way could this road be big enough for two cars?! Nor could we drive up such a crazy steep cobblestone street… wrong on both counts. This is where the beetles came into play. They were everywhere! And they could fit in areas where no other car would. It was insane. Our car died several times as it tried to make it up the hill (oh did I mention it was a stick…no automats around here). Chris finally broke down (poor guy – I thought he was lost to us) pulled over and I ran out to find our hotel and get the help to help us out. The bellboy end up driving our car to the park garage and we went to our room where Chris collapsed on the couch and I didn’t think he would get up again. Luckily lil relax and some food in his stomach – we have not had any food since breakfast and it was 5 at this point – did wonder and he was able to get up and walk around town a bit.

Day 9 - All American Vacation Day

2009-03-13T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today was a total chill day - or as I like to call it the Middle American vacation day in Mexico. We had a breakfast at our hotel, we walked around the town a little and had the best food since we have been in Mexico... yep... ashamed to admit it... @ Senor Frogs. After that we went to the pool and played around down there. I was truly trying to embrace the American way of life... and for a day... it wasn't as bad. But I could not do that sort of vacationing on regular basis.
By the pool I was able to find out at what level Lucka & Chris really were. I intended to actually for the first time since our vacation started to open my book and read. But instead I was chased around the pool by my husband and my sister; trying to swim under water there and back across the pool; throw around a coconut in the pool that has fallen off the palm tree right next to us; watch them get whistled at by the bay watch guys as they rushed into the waves on black flag warning; take pictures of them as they slid off and jumped off slides that were meant for little kids; and have them swim in the baby pool. Yep... they are right at the same level as the lil ones. :o) But we did have fun!!!
We finished the day... how else... in Senor Frogs dancing first to Footloose, which was fun...... last ... Mexican country. That one was a signal to us that it may just be time to go home and put an end to our American Style day.

Day 8 - La Isla de Ixtapa

2009-03-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today we had a plan!!! The plan was to spend the whole day on La Isla de Ixtapa and I am pleased to report that we have accomplished it just as planned. We took 'a ferry' (I am using this term very loosely as it was nothing more than a lil fishing boat) over to the island where local boy - Jorge - took care of us. He showed us the way to La Playa Coral, supposedly the best snorkeling beach in the area and hooked us up with a bucket of cold beer. We spent most of the day snorkeling (all of us, first time for Lucka), reading (Mony & Chris), and sun tanning (Lucka). We got little hungry so we asked our waiter for a menu so we can pick our meal... and instead of the regular paper menu, he brought us a platter with lobsters, fish & shrimp to choose from. I have never seen a menu quite like it. We picked the shrimp and we were not disappointed, even Lucka had a few, but mostly she ate her french fries.
We packed our camp around 4 pm and headed for the mainland. At this point Lucka started not to feel so well. We thought it may have been her stomach again...but once we saw her out of her swim suit... we relized that it was the sun - she had a lil heat stroke. From now on she is known as 'Smokey' (as the smoked meat). I believe Chris was asking her whether she was medium rare or rather medium well. But I do have to say that she is looking a 'bit' darker. We wanted just a something small for a dinner so after the ritual sunset walk we headed to Subway down the street and ate it at the beach with a bottle of wine. Unfortunately, in the end it has proven to be not such a good idea as Chris got a food poisoning from his teryiaki sauce on his sandwich. Poor guy!!! I guess we always have to have one 'man' down. Hope I won't get my turn.

Bailey - You will be missed!!!

2009-03-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

We would like to honor and remember a very good friend, a loyal companion, and the best brother a guy could have - Bailey. We are all going to miss him very much. He enriched our lives for more than fifteen years and his memory will be with us forever. We will miss you very much!

Day 7 - Ixtapa & Zihuatanejo

2009-03-11T22:45:00.001-07:00

Unfortunately, our 'sleep in' day was interrupted by our eager room service, who knocked and opened our door at 8 in the morning. Grrrrr... Neither one of us could fall back asleep after that so we descended from our 11th floor down to the pool for a nice breakfast. Once fully awake and high on caffeine we got ready and departed to find out the ferry terminal for the next day's trip to La Isla de Ixtapa. Lil island just a bit from the mainland that supposedly has the best snorkeling around here (that is yet to be determined). The gentleman at the pier were very surprised why we were looking for the ferry in the Marina... opps... guess we took a wrong turn somewhere. In the end we arrived at Playa Linda from where the ferry leaves as we found out ... every ten minutes. So we are all set for tomorrow. While there we checked out their Cocodrilo and iguana natural habitat. Those creatures are truly scary. Not to mention the Mexican security on the gates were not really such that would withstand any properly directed efforts and disabling them. Such as a tiny rope holding the fence in place..... ouch.
From there we sniffed our way to Zihuatanejo. From all that we have heard prior to our arrival we expected this sleepy small beach town. But instead we arrived in this rather chaotic loud and rather sizable town. We parked at Playa La Ropa and walked up and down it. It was very relaxing and quite a bit warmer there than in Ixtapa. We had a wonderful lunch on the beach (Lucka still eating just french fries and like as her stomach is not yet 100%) and after that we were swiftly prompted to get back so Lucka can get her union mandated two hours on the beach. She really wants to get a tan from here. Chris and I on the other hand have spent those two hours trying to stay in shade :o). I think she can be pleased with the progress she is making!!
We finished the day with a wonderful sunset walk on the beach... ahhh....

Day 6 - Through Urupan to Ixtapa

2009-03-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

We departed Patzcuaro on Tuesday morning after yet another wonderful breakfast in our B&B, that place was really great. We eventually managed to find our way out of Patzcuaro (why is it always harder than it should be to find one's way?). We thought it could be cool to stop on our way down to Ixtapa in Urupan and check out their Eduardo Ruiz National Park and its beautiful waterfalls. It took us some time (yet again) to find our way through Urupan (Mexican signs are really not all that good... although we did manage to find Walmart... didn't know they had them here). But eventually our and Heidi's efforts paid off and we arrived at the park.
It is the only National Park in Mexico, inside the limits of the city. The whole park is build around the Cupatitzio River which flows throughout the park and the water is diverted and spilled back to the river throughout a series of fountains and waterfalls. The ravine is cool, shady, and filled with tropical plants. We walked all around the park and explored all of the hidden corners of this delightful place - lil paradise in the middle of the town. We also witnessed - Mexican Ron (for those that know) - jump of the tree into the river below him, probably not the smartest move of his life since right next to him on the tree itself was a little RIP for one of his predecessor.
After our visit in this oasis we found our way back to the main highway and through a series of several military checkpoints on one of which we got pulled to the side. I think this was the first time we actually got pulled over by these 'boys with machine guns' - scary how young they are!! Luckily after a brief exchange they let us go. .... uff...
Finally around 5 or we arrived at our destination - Ixtapa. Needless to say that Lucka was very, very excited to finally arrive by the ocean. By far this was her favorite part of the whole trip just as expected!!! For us... well San Miguel was better but this is nice too. Relax time by the beach. Our hotel is very nice and the pool and beach are really nice. We immediately had to go to the pool for a dip to satisfy Lucka's need for a swim and afterward we walked on the beach, drinking our wine and watching a beautiful sunset. It was a perfect end of the day!!!

Day 5 - Janitzio & Patzcuaro

2009-03-09T22:37:00.000-07:00

Today was reserved for Patzcuaro and near vicinity exploration. We started the day for us rather early - 8:30 with a breakfast at our lovely B&B. We got a few pointers from fellow travellers and soon after breakfast (crepe filled with spinach & some fruit salad) we headed out to check out Janitzio - the island nearby Patzcuaro. Our guidebook said it was only 3km from downtown so I had a brilliant idea to walk there, we have walked more right?! The only think I didn't consider during my planning stage was that Lucka & I (Monika is writing this not Chris) would be wearing skirt & a tank top. This outfit proved to be rather popular with the local drivers as we got more attention than we have asked for. After a few minutes I decided - despite the hot weather - to put on my long sleeved shirt just to cover up at least some parts. Lucka on the other hand was enjoying this unexpected attention. I thought my walking idea was that much more stupid since we didn't have a map and we were sort of feeling our way to the lake... we all thought about the US advisory about travel to Mexico when we found ourselves in the middle of a construction zone, surrounded by many interested eyes... at that point... I had to agree with Chris that TAXI may have been a better idea. Luckily about an hour later (3km my @#$%) we finally arrived at the pier for Janitzio. The most interesting think about this island was the ride there with an extremely bad guitar player and the ride back with a pretty good full blown band! The island itself was not all too remarkable. On the way there we were able to see the local fisherman in action and that was pretty cool. We also climbed the many many many steps up to the statue on top of the island... but that was about it. By the time we decide to head back we were all way too hungry, but afraid to eat anything on this island... as the hygiene was not the primary concerned here... but we at least had a beer to fool our hunger.
Once in Patzcuaro we stopped for a wonderful meal and explored this amazing colonial gem. The town is truly beautiful, and soooo full of life, it is amazing. I believe my photo albums will be filled with pictures of churches as that is the main thing here. Tomorrow we are heading out after breakfast to URUPAN national park for some waterfalls and from there to Ixtapa. We shall see how good Heidi (our GPS) will be!!!

Day 4 - SMA to Patzcuaro

2009-03-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

We saddled up the Dodge Attitude and left beautiful San Miguel de Allende this morning. The ladies and I headed down to the colonial city of Morelia - the drive was easy and the scenery began to get a lot more verdant and lush. Our guide book raved about Morelia and we thought it was a must see. Morelia was a big, crazy city with tons of traffic. It had some beautiful buildings and an impressive cathedral, but overall it was way too hectic to truely make it a fun vacation destination.
Lucie sniffed out our car's parking spot and we sped out of town. As the driver, I was lucky enough to have three women telling me where to go - Monika, Lucie, and Heidi (we named our GPS Heidi, which has a woman's voice). Lord, help me!
The three women were right on with the directions to Patzcuaro, but when we hit the city limits Heidi could no longer help us and then the trouble started. Our ace backup navigator, Monika stepped up with a map and took the lead. We took a wrong turn into town and rode the bumpiest road in all of Mexico into the city center. Unbenowest to Lucie, Heidi and I, Monika decided to take us on a deluxe tour of Patzcuaro. We did multiple loops around both main squares and once we saw all the highlights, Monika deftly guided us to the hotel which was beautful. Monika picked another wonderful hotel - La Casa Encantada.
Patzcuaro is a small, colonial city which has a great feel - gringo free. When we arrived, there was a huge festival going on and the whole city was alive - music, dancers, and a marching band making the same route that we did through the city earlier. We finished the day with a great steak dinner at an authentic Argentinian restuarant with a guitar totting crooner and his pint-sized back-up. Tomorrow we head to the lake for some more exploring.

Day 3 - San Miguel - Strolling Around

2009-03-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today was our first lazy day!!! Yeh!!! Unfortunately, I was woken up by the beatiful bells of the Parroquia de San Miguel at 6:30, 6:45, 7:00... luckily it either stopped right after that or I fell asleep so deeply that nothing really mattered. Lucka and Chris managed to sleep through it all. Luckily, Chris slept and slept and slept from ten to almost ten! He needed it after the stressfull day of driving.

We woke up and stumbled downstairs to our courtyard for breakfast. Once full of the delicious food we went for a nice walk to El Chorro - the springs where San Miguel was founded. Many of the local women still do their laundry at this spring. After that we went to El Mirador - the Lookout Point over the historic distric of San Miguel.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the whole town. Along the way we found many picturesque courtyards in the middle of these colonial villas. They were breathtaking.

Once tired we sat down for a lunch at El Jardin. It was the most fantastic of days.

After that we relaxed for a bit at our room and went for a dinner later on to Ten Ten Pie - which was the most disappointing dinner we have had yet. We tried to make it up with some ice cream... and I think it did help. We walked around the town for a bit... and eventually we found our way back to our sanctuary.

2 Day - Drive to San Miguel & The Celebrations

2009-03-07T15:57:00.000-08:00

After a simple lunch we got into the car and started to find our way to San Miguel de Allende. The main goal of this ride was
1) avoid Mexico City at all cost
2) arrive at San Miguel in one piece, but both proved to be rather difficult. The first was my fault as I made Chris take one wrong turn, despite the advice of our magic box and we almost ended up in the city again. Yuck! The second was rather hard to achive since the Mexican drivers do not seem to follow any exact driving rules or use blinkers.... or anything else that we may be used to. Thanks to Chris' fantastic driving skills we were able to make it all the way to San Miguel after all.
We got here only to find out that we arrived right in the middle of one of the biggest celebrations this town has to offer - The Festival of Our Lord of the Conquest (kind of sad & ironic). It took us a bit to find the way to our hotel as the whole downtown was blocked off - so Chris let me out of the car, I ran to the hotel through the crowds and parades and asked the receptionist for the best way to navigate to our hotel. Needless, to say that Chris was very relieved once he parked in the underground garage in our hotel and got out of the car for the next two days! We were very pleased with our hotel - Posada Carmina. It is a very cute colonial villa with a beatiful courtyard garden...and the rooms, so nice and comfy with the old colonial charm.

We spent the evening just walking around Jardin (the main square) watching all the colorful Aztec dancers. We have never really seen anything quite like it! The celebrations finished with a beatufil fireworks display after which we headed to La Posadita - this chraming restaurant on top of one of the negihboring villas with views of the surrounding churches - spectacular! I believe it is safe to say that we fell in love with this charming town!!! Oh did I mention that Chris tried to kill all of his taste butts by eating load of cayenne pepper in his soup... oops!

Day 1 - Mexico City & Teotihuacan

2009-03-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Mexico City later in the afternoon. We dragged all of our lagguage over the catwalk to our hotel just across the way from the airport. They had a wonderful fitness club so we decided to start our trip somewhat healthy with a nice hour in the gym followed by a swim in their pool, even Lucka took part in it.The next morning we headed back to the airport to get our car. It took almost two hours just to get out of the rental place! After that we embarked on to the unpleasant drive out of Mexico City - blah - amazing how large a home of 20 plus million people could be.. what a horrible experience! Especially for Chris who was stuck behind thewheel. Thank God for our GPS that always got us out of the worst trouble that we managed to ran into on our way to Teotihuacan. I believe Chris called it the Magic Box and from now on he is going to worship it!Teotihuacan was very impressive. I can't believe it was all built around the 100BC to 200AD. We climbed up both of the main pyramids - of the Sun & the Moon. The pyramid of the Sunis supposedly the third largest pyramid in the world. It was hot but luckily not scortching hotso we managed to get up without any issues. Lucks now knows no gracias very very well - havingto say that to the vendors that were all over the place.

Mexico Here We Come

2009-03-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

Get ready... we are heading out for a ten day trip to Mexico... stay tuned for updates as soon as we get an access to the internet. We are going to be starting in Mexico City and then on to Teotihuacan, San Miguel de Allende, Patzcuaro, Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa, & Taxco.
Stay tuned :o)

Weekend in Lake Tahoe

2009-02-19T09:49:00.000-08:00

Skodas invited us to spend the weekend with them up in their ski lease cabin in South Lake Tahoe We didn't have any plans that weekend so we decided to take them up on it. We drove up with Patty on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, this was right before all the snow fall they just had so there was no snow on most of the drive up. Luckily there was at least some around the lake itself. Skodas were on the slopes when we got there so we decided to enjoy the outside and head for a hike from Camp Richardson. It was so beautiful there; not much snow but the sky had fantastic clouds and a wide variety of colors - perfect for pictures. We emptied our flasks on the hike and headed back to the cabin for more booze :o).
The following day Patty decided to go with the Skodas to the slope and we went out for a snowshoe hike around Fallen Leaf. There was plenty snow there and frash snow so we were actually able to use our snowshoes. We took lunch with us and found a beautiful deck where we had our lunch. On the way back we got lil spooked as we ran into a pack of coyotes ... I think we counted 7 or 8. Luckily, our guard dog didn't even notice them.... yep she is special. They checked us out but I guess we didn't look appetizing enough so they decided to leave us alone and move on.
A storm was coming so we decided to wrap it up and head home. We got back in record 2hrs 45min. Tahoe rocks!!!

San Francisco Day

2009-02-06T08:42:00.000-08:00

On Sunday we headed to the city to have a perfect San Francisco Day just like all the tourist do. We parked our car at Crissy Field and walked over to Buena Vista Cafe for the 'Best Irish Coffee in Town". Only to find out that everybody else was there for the same so instead we ended across the street in an Irish bar and ordered wide varietal of coffees - starting with Irish, Italian moving to Baileys, Amaretto... and who knows what else. All I know is that we had a good base to get us through the next couple of hours..... why were we buzzed from a coffee? What's up with that?
After our starter we got our tickets and hopped on the cable cart and took it all the way to the Union Square... being tourist is fun! up and down those crazy streets...
From Union we walked down to Market got on the street cart and took it to Embarcadero. We walked around the Ferry Building..... and stopped over at The Slanted Door for margarita and appetizers... still don't know what's the big thing about this place... Julie makes much better spring rolls than they served us...but hey... I was happy with the drink :o)
From there we walked to Fisherman's Wharf...where we end up with a nice lunch/dinner with of course... more alcohol... and we ended the day with a beautiful sunset just as we were entering the Aquatic park on the way back to our car.
Not a bad freaking place we live in! It is good to be tourist here... but even better... it's awesome to live here!

Perfect Winter Day on the Beach

2009-02-03T14:57:00.002-08:00

Couple of weeks ago we had a brilliant idea to spend the afternoon on the beach. We had a wonderful warm spell those couple of weeks but around here you still don't know what to expect around the ocean. Luckily were we all in for a treat!! Neither one of us could remember another day when we would have seen the ocean that calm and the weather so perfect to hang out on the beach. Limantour was fantastic!

We chased and ran away from the weaves and frolicked on the beach all afternoon long. Patty made us fantastic sandwiches, the wine was superb... it was just the best day ever. Oh, did I mention the chocolate dipped strawberries?
We stayed around in our tank tops and shorts until the sunset and got back home around 7 or so. It was one of those absolutely perfect days!!! Life is Good!!

Quick Glance Back @ 2008

2009-01-27T08:27:00.000-08:00

I would just like to glance back at 2008 really quickly before we move on to 2009. Last year has been very good to us. All of our loved ones stayed healthy! and no major disaster struck us! That's good right! But it was even better than that.

We took on a wonderful and lengthy project that was our kitchen. Our house was a mess for over 3 months but it was sooooo worth it and we absolutely love our new space! We were also lucky enough to be able to travel some. We spent 10 days in Arizona/Utah in April followed by kitchen & house mess escape to Alaska in August and finished off by almost three weeks in Central America in November. In September we also celebrated our first wedding anniversary.

For the new year we can only hope for the same! We are very lucky to have each other and to have such a wonderful family and group of friends that surrounds us. Thank you all for being part of our lives.

End of Our Trip

2009-01-27T07:49:00.000-08:00

Ok it is time to finally finish my recount of our vacation and move on to the present time.
We finished our last day in Belize with a wonderful dive. I was lil nervous once we got out there past the reef into the open sea and I was told that we were going to go to 80+ feet. The deepest I have ever gone was 35ft.... oops... at that moment I knew I had only two options - 1) stay in the boat and for sure puke myself as the waves were huge or 2) go down and take my chances and pray that I will do fine. Chris didn't seem all too sure which one I was going to choose but was relieved that I went in. I immediately started going under as it is much calmer down there and once I looked around I was instantly at ease. It was so surreal. The depth made everything seem ... I don't know... I guess like we were in space... everywhere you look you have people floating midair or so it seams and the depth of it all.... it was just amazing! I loved it.... but I still couldn't believe that I am ok! Especially once I saw that we were at 86ft....
I was one of the first to go up as I used up my air rather quickly but I was also the last to go back in the boat as I didn't want to empty my stomach. I was very happy that we didn't partake in the puke fest that was going on on board.
Once refreshed and rested we went for a fantastic bike ride around the island and were rewarded by beautiful sunset.
Our stay was fantastic... but we were ready to go see our family - especially our pup.

4 Days in Ambergris Caye - Belize - Part 2

2009-01-13T10:03:00.000-08:00

We started the day with a wonderful breakfast made for us by Renita. It was delicious and very nicely setup. After breakfast we took the bikes provided by our B&B and embarked on the island exploration. We stopped by the recommended dive shop - Amigos del Mar to book our afternoon dive and headed up north along the beach. I think this was my favorite part of our stay. Just cruising the island on a bike. So nice and relaxing and the beach was beautiful. Not to mention to get to peak into all the resorts along the way!
After lunch we got picked up by our dive boat and headed to Hol Chan Marine Reserve and Shark Ray Alley and we were not disappointed. We did see ton of fish, turtles, 7ft nurse sharks and about 5ft sting rays. The only disappointing part was the amount of people everywhere.
The rest of the day we spend with drinks and cards on our patio and a wonderful dinner with our newly acquired friends from Canada.
The following day we took our bikes and headed south instead. This part of the island was not as enjoyable at the north part but we still got the best out of it. Once we got back Patty headed for the rest of her dive cert and since the sea was not too calm we decided to opt out of dive that day and instead we explored the town and had a couple of drinks with Amanda and Justin. in the evening we took a part in the popular game of Chicken Drop if you don't know what it is ... look it up. Too funny.

4 Days in Ambergris Caye - Belize - Part 1

2009-01-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Belize City around 4pm the following day with a stop on the way in The Guanacaste National Park -it sounds better than it actually was, but at least we stretched our legs a bit.
Belize City itself was really not impressive at all. Very dirty, nasty and chaotic. Oh, did I mention that it has population of 70K (lil bit bigger thanSan Rafael) with almost 8 murders per month! Safe city right?! Yuck... Needless to say we couldn't wait to get on our flight and get the heck out of there. Luckily, they were able to accommodate us rather quickly and in no time we found ourselves on board this tiny plane where Patty was the co-pilot (God help us!) Luckily, Patty didn't touch anything and let the pilot do all the work and we safely landed in San Pedro within the next 20 minutes.
We got a cab and arrived in Changes of Latitude - our B&B home for the next four nights. Renita the co-owner was a very very nice lady who made us feel very welcomed and gave us some pointers about the layout of things on the island and places to see and do. After settling in and couple of drinks we headed out in search of our dinner. Once in San Pedro we could finally understand what Belize was all about - this was it. Forget the mainland.... the islands are where its at! The vibe was very very different... more like a Caribiean island and the people were actually nice. They all had the easy going no rush attitude. We loved it! Chris and I were finally able to stop bitching about Belize and enjoy it for what it was... the islands. The part we didn't like though were the prices. Even in the cheapest and not so clean place you can expect to pay $20+ for a plate. That said ... we also had the best shrimp burrito we have ever had!!! We finished the day in the bar on a beach listening to some Regee. Not a bad day at all.

Tikal - Guatemala

2009-01-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

We checked into our hotel - Jungle Lodge right in the park - and immediately rushed into the park to catch the sunset. Oh wait... first we made ourselves some stiff drinks and then with those we rushed into the park. ;o)
The park was amazing.... we went to Chichen Itza last year... but it was nothing compared to this place. These beautiful and some extremely tall buildings in the middle of the jungle! It was amazing! And the best part.... they still let you climb all over the place. There were some people singing beautiful ballads and we watched the sun set with a few other fellow travelers while finishign our drinks.
In the morning we got up before sunrise in order to make it to the temple IV on time to watch it from there. I wish I could say we actually saw the sun rise... but.. it was cloudy so we didn't see it until some time later... but it was still great. What we did see were some spider monkeys that threw stuff at us as we were entering the park and we also spotted a very loud howler monkey... now I understand where they got their name!
We left the park for breakfast and returned back later on in the morning. Once we got our fill of the park we drove to Flores - lil island town about 45 minutes away from the park. It was a very nice town that reminded me of Mideateranian cities more than anything else. It seemed lil out of place. We spend a few hours here and finished the day by a nice dinner at Jungle Lodge.
In the morning we departed for Belize City and from their on a plane to Ambergris Caye - our final destination!

3rd & 4th Days in Belize & Guatemala

2008-12-30T13:14:00.000-08:00

We went to pick up Patty & Erinn the following morning and together we couldn't really decide where to go & what to see... so we decided to show them the best that area had to offer... Rio On. We did our bone rattling ride once more to the wonderful pools and hang out there for a bit with couple of cold ones in the water with us. Once we got our fill of Rio On we backtracked to Five Sisters - another lodge by Five Sisters' Waterfalls. It would be a great place to stay if you were to go solely to Rio On and Caracol... but driving back to San Ignacio from that place would be nuts (which is what we had to do in order to meet up with the girls).

We headed back to Black Rock for the family style dinner and played cards afterwards with Giovanni.

The following morning we woke up early and went for a hike to Vacca Falls (approximately 5 mile round trip). We were supposed to meet the girls by ten to head out to Tikal. We were ready but unfortunately the girls were not so we spend the next hour plus waiting around until finally at 11:30 we were finally able to leave on yet another adventure.

We were not quite sure what to expect on the border we have heard many stories and some good and others not so much. Luckily we didn't encouter any major issues - only the long wait... maybe one and half hour to get through the whole thing. Over all... not bad at all.

The roads in Guatemala were quite comperable with the ones in Belize. First section mostly dirt road with pigs running across and random times and the second - paved but filled with unexpected pot holes that were not fun at all while hit at full speed.

It took us about two hours to reach the Tikal National Park border and once there drive was very smooth. We were quite entertained by the crossing sings - snake, puma, turkey, cow, deer, coatimundi... and may others.. almost funny what all they can come up with. How do those animals know that they can cross only in these areas? Beats me!

2nd Day in Belize

2008-12-29T09:51:00.000-08:00

We started the day early as there is really no sleeping in with all the jungle noises. We headed to San Ignacio, had a breakfast and left a message for Patty & Erinn that we would not meet up with them until the following morning.
The main destinations for the day were Rio Frio, Rio On and Thousand (actually 1600ft) Foot Falls. Little didn't we know how long 15 miles can take. Two hours later we finally bumped and rattled our way to Rio Frio. We did not see one car on the road the whole way there, the only human contact we had was the armed checkpoint we had to go through. Rio Frio was a really huge cave tunnel with waterfalls and pool. Once we got our fill of the cave we backtrack 30 minutes or so to Rio On. Rio On is a sequence of pools and waterfalls and I manage to wipe out quite nicely on the very slippery rocks before I even got wet, oh and I thought I killed the camera too. Luckily for me.. and Chris (since he would have to listen to me complain) the healing waters cooled down my huge bruises and I walked away almost without a scretch - just my elbow hurt and the camera just needed lil convincing to work again.
We did end up driving to the Falls but we regreted that decision as it took us almost 1.5hr round trip and it really was not worth it... but who would have known that. Driving on the actual road during the night sucked so bad as our lights didn't really shine ahead but rather down below (that proved to be very handy on the dirt road but not so much on the asphalt) and we couldn't see any pedastrians or the plentiful farm animals strolling along the way.
All of this was followed once again by plentiful cuba libres and nice dinner with our new friends from Canada.

Our Introduction to Belize

2008-12-22T14:51:00.000-08:00

The following morning we boarded a plane for Belize City through San Salvador. We arrived in Belize, picked up our car and started on our Belizean adventure. At first, we were in a little bit of a shock as Belize was completely different from Nicaragua. Judging from the prices in Belize (same as in SF) we expected it to be lil bit nicer - but it wasn't. And unlike Nicaragua, which was very much alive and humming with people and animals... this country was rather dead. I guess one can't expect too much from a country of the same size as Marin & Sonoma county put together and half the inhabitants.
We hoped that we would see some more of what really Belize was all about in it's capital - Belmopan... once again we were rather disappointed when we realized that the crappy block of a street that we just crossed through WAS THE DOWNTOWN!!
We thought that maybe Belize would improve it's standing if we visited the highly recommended Blue Hole National Park. The park was known for the St Herman's Cave and the actual Blue Hole itself. But yet again the hike to St. Herman's cave and to the watch tower thereafter was a muggy and mosquitoes filled experience. At least we were able to wash off all the sweat in the Blue Hole before we headed towards San Ignacio.
Unfortunately, San Ignacio was not what we hoped for either so we just tried to get out of there as quickly as possible just so we can get to our Lodge in the jungle.
The turn off for Black Rock Lodge was only a few miles outside of the town and it took out about 45 minutes to cross the 6 miles of dirt road that lead to the lodge itself. The views along the road were spectacular! (through the farms, orchards and finally the jungle itself we arrived at our destination!)
We checked in, had a glass or two or maybe three in the hammock by our cabin and headed for the family style dinner Black Rock was offering. It was a great way to meet and connect with all the other people that stayed here. We had a great time talking to one couple from BC but originally from Slovak late into the night!

Ometepe to Managua

2008-12-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

The following day was our last day in Nicaragua so we had to figure out a way to get back to Managua. We booked a taxi to pick us up at 10 the following morning. Only during our breakfast we talked to a couple from Canada and a family from Australia and they told us that there is a bus leaving at 10:30 - so instead of $30 we could pay $5 - sounded good to us. We got our stuff together and went to wait for the bus. While waiting I managed to loose a banana to a monkey with some serious attitude. Granted in Nica nothing happens on a precise time schedule... so no surprise the bus was about 30 minutes late. But once we finally saw it... we knew that we were not going to be taking it back to the ferry terminal. There we people hanging off of it... fully packed with a huge load on its roof. After a brief consultation with our newly found friends we decided to order a cab and split the cost. Of course the cab driver was on the other side of the island so we had an hour to kill while waiting. Hey, what better way to wait than with Media serbida :o)
Our drive showed up and to our incredible luck we got into town just as the ferry was about to leave. We took the - this time mostly empty - ferry back to San Jorge where we got yet again really lucky as the bus for Managua was just leaving. It was a long ride back and after the bus and another cab ride we finally found ourselves back in Managua around 6 pm. We were supposed to meet up with Chris' family but when we called she told us that under any circumstances should we be leaving the hotel after dark as they have had some violence in the streets due to the results of the elections. We took her advice and stayed in. We had a wonderful dinner by the pool.

Isla de Ometepe

2008-12-04T07:45:00.000-08:00

We started the day with an early breakfast and headed out for our scheduled tour. Only we thought it would be an actual tour, but instead it was just us and our guide - Jose Maria - who didn't speak a word of English. We thought it was going to be a very long day as we were going to spend most of the day with him... but to our surprise we got by just fine. I guess our conversation wouldn't have been as pretty to an actual Spanish speaking person... but hey... we understood each other (barely). Jose Maria showed us and told us about the island, the plants, the animals... and so much more about everything around us - we even heard about the "walking tree", which can actually move a few meters a year by eliminating roots on one side and moving toward the sunnier areas by growing new roots in that direction.

The main object of our tour were the San Ramon waterfalls. The drive to the hike was only about 10 miles but it took us over an hour of a very bumpy road. And if that was not bad enough from the bumpy road we got on even bumpier road. On the way up we picked up a New Zealand family and gave them a ride in the pick up, no idea how they all managed to stay in during this bumpy ride. The hike up was beautiful and Jose Maria continued stopping and pointing out many of the interesting things around us.
We got back to our hotel took a nap and headed out for a short hike to Ojo de Agua (spot recommended by JM). We didn't really know what to expect, we thought it would be a whole in the ground like cenotes in Mexico were, but we were pleasantly surprised once after hiking through the plantations of plantains we stumbled in a clearing with beautiful crystal blue water pools. It was so beautiful and people hanging around there were very nice. We talked to a group of guys from Canada that were (motor)biking all the way from Canada down to Chile. We swam around, had a beer and once the sun started going down - we headed out.
And then... you guessed it we finished the day with Media serbida and a wonderful lobster dinner.....ahhh...

Our Journey to Ometepe

2008-12-01T18:26:00.000-08:00

After two marvelous and relaxing days in Granada it was time to depart on our next adventure. This time to the volcanic island in the middle of The Lake Nicaragua - La Isla de Ometepe. Ometepe has two volcanoes - Conception & Maderas. In order to get there we intended to get a taxi to the local bus station from which (supposedly) buses leave quite frequently for Sam Jorge(the departing town for the ferry to the island). To our huge surprise there were no buses leaving for the rest of the day due to the elections. Hmm.... so we just stayed in our partially falling apart taxi and paid our non English speaking cab driver $50 to take us all the way to the ferry (about 1.5hr drive). On the way there we picked up his wife to keep him company on this long journey. We arrived at the ferry only to find out that we had another 3 hours to wait as the service was limited due to... you guessed it... the elections... those damn elections. Luckily, the local bar was willing to server us alcohol as long as we masked it and put it out of sight in case cops came by... no problem... right! We passed the time by drinking and playing cards.
On the ferry ride over we climbed up on the top of the ferry and hung out with about 30 or so backpackers heading to the same destinations. We met a few interesting people... mostly Canadian... guess they don't like to spend winter back home.
Two or so hours later after a beautiful and bumpy ride through and around a variety of farm animals, we finally arrived at our destination - Villa Paraisio. Chris was right it was a beautiful place... lil paradise on the shore of the lake that looked more like an ocean rather than a lake. Chris was telling me about this beautiful beach this places was supposed to have.... the best on the island...but there was none... was he laying to me? hmm... Later on we found out that there really usually is a beach but not during these months. We would have to wait until February to see the beach again.
We finished the day... yep you guessed it... with Media Servida (not too many cops walking by here, so it was ok to serve alcohol)...and a delicious dinner.

Granada & Mumbacho

2008-11-26T17:39:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Granada in the late morning and checked into our hotel - Plaza Colon and we were pleasantly surprised as to how beautiful the hotel was. One blemish on our arrival was when the clerk let us know that we should purchase some extra alcohol as the whole country wouldn't serve any alcoholic beverages starting the following evening (Saturday) until Monday morning as the elections were to take place on Sunday and the government didn't want any drunks to vote. I don't think that would fly in the US!
We had a wonderful lunch in the square and walked down the promenade all the way to the lake. Once we turned around to head back we noticed the incredibly dark blue sky which was a sign of something rather wet heading our way. Oppps... we weren't sure if we were going to make it back downtown before the storm started but that didn't stop us from taking our time... and getting drenched just as we neared the square. We had to wait for the storm to pass in one of the restaurants with several cocktails... could be worse huh? Once the rained stopped we ventured into the local liquor store and purchased (at first 2 bottles) of rum (I send Chris for one more the following morning).
The next morning we signed up for a kayak tour around the plentiful isletas in the lake and a hiking tour of Volcano Mumbacho. The rest of the time we spent by our pool drinking and relaxing... what could be better. This was a very very relaxing part of our vacation.

Our Arrival in Nicaragua & the Bus Ride

2008-11-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

We left SF on Thursday morning and got to Managua on the evening of the same day. Chris had a great idea to book a room across from the airport so it was super convenient to get to. We celebrated our arrival there in the Nica way - by having a media servida... half a liter of rum with coke and lime by the pool...
The next morning we met up with Karen and Stacy, couple of ladies we met in the hotel, and got a taxi to the bus station where we were to catch a bus to Granada. The ride to the bus stop through Managua was not the most picturesque but it sure was interesting. I was not ready for what was to come once we got out of the taxi. Immediately we were swarmed by ten or so guys asking us all kinds of questions that I didn't understand. Chris told them we were going to Granada... and suddenly I saw all of our bags on top of their heads moving through what looked like a field of ants... to the right bus. All I knew that I was on the bus... not sure if it was the right one at the moment... but that was part of the adventure. The bus ride very entertaining. I was also able to find out why all the roads are so littered - the family next to us was eating their meal and once done they just opened the window and tossed the plate out - all clean... why do we even bother with trash cans :o).
Our 'express' bus was direct to Granada... but that doesn't mean that it wouldn't stop hundred times... express just means faster than the slowest. On every stop people would jump out while it was still moving and jump on while still moving. Various merchants would some on board on one stop and jump off on the next. I got to say that it was probably the most entertaining bus ride of my life.

We are back....

2008-11-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

We are back!!!! We both had a wonderful time on our extensive travels... but we are both happy to be back home with our puppy!
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) we didn't have access to the internet while we were gone so now I will slowly try to go back and cover what we have done.

Only one week to go!!!

2008-10-30T07:34:00.001-07:00

I know it has been way too long since our last vacation (almost 3 months) so we really deserve this one :o).
Some of you know what a mess our vacation planning has been. We have considered majority of the world... starting with our favorite pick - Thailand - but they started to demonstrate and do similar crazy things that made us reconsider. Then we moved on to Cambodia and Vietnam but we weren't all that excited by it. Then Egypt came into play... but we realized that in order to do it right it would cost way too much money so now finally, for many reasons we have finally decided to visit Nicaragua, Guatemala & Belize and we are both very excited by these countries. Chris has already been to Nicaragua and loved it. He also has an extended family down in Managua that we hope to visit with for a lil bit and I would love to meet them. After that we will fly to Belize City where we will meet up with Erinn & Patty - spend a few days in the jungle and head to Guatemala - Tikal to see the ruins. We will finish our trip on the Ambergris Caye relaxing and diving the second largest barrier reef in the world. We won't be taking our computers but hopefully we will have some way of updating this darn thing. If not... we will have to catch up once we get back. Stay tuned....

Bushwhacking - Part 3

2008-10-09T07:38:00.000-07:00

We didn't really have a plan for the last day of our trip. We had some ideas from the map but we were not really sure whether the hikes would be worth it or not so we decided to seek an expert advice from the local ranger station.... yeah... that worked out well! Let me just say that one shouldn't expect any help from those guys. After this unsuccessful attempt we started yet another hopeless quest -the search for coffee. The one shop that we found the previous day was closed on Mondays and that was THE only shop in town. Luckily we were able to seek out one lil stand by the road that was able to provide us with this life saving liquid.

On the way towards Downieville we stopped by Sardine Lakes - a hike that we found the previous day online. We thought we remembered the trails from the map... but we realized that maybe our memory was not serving us so well when we found ourselves bushwhacking around the lake. We made several efforts at looping the lakes only to finally give up and settle down by the Upper Sardine Lake for a nice lunch, wine & dip in the crystal clear water.

We stopped for a lunch in a very cute miner town of Downieville. We got sandwiches, bottle of wine and took our chairs and umbrella down to the beach by the river (well actually in the river) and had a wonderful and relaxing afternoon.

Nine Lakes in One Day - Part 2

2008-10-09T06:58:00.001-07:00

Ok back to our anniversary... the second day.
On the second day of our trip we found a beautiful hike in the Gold Lake vicinity - The Bear loop with Round lake extension. All together about 8 miles. This hike was nice, relaxing and relatively easy - not much elevation gain. One thing we have learnt though - is to do the loop counter to the direction we did it. Our problem was that we hit all of the lakes in the first part of our trip and then we had a big gap at the end where we didn't see any lakes and just walked through the forest (Zoe wasn't a fan of that one). If we were to do it again we would have started with the forest part first, at least that way we would feel like we've deserved the lakes that much more. I think that day we broke our record - nine lakes in one hike and they were all beautiful (Big Bear, Little Bear & Cub Lake - get it the the Bear loop? then Long, Hellgrammite, Mud, Silver, Round and Gold Lake). We also started to work towards our goal of having a nice cold white wine with us for our lunch break. This time it still go little warm... but at least we had it. Next time - thermoss may be in order! (work in progress).
We finished the wonderful day with nice apptizers in a surprisingly great restaurant - The Longboards in Blairsden (great atmoshpere and beautiful views of the golf course and the valley) and of course... great wine.

Our Anniversary Getaway - Part 1

2008-10-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, our anniversary fell on Monday so in order to truly celebrate it we had to take the following weekend off and have some fun. Chris planned the whole thing and he did a wonderful job at it. At first we couldn't decide where to go... Monterey, Mendocino, Wine country..... but in the end - Sierras won as there is really not all that much to do around the coast, well besides sit and drink on the beach, which is ok too... but the dog doesn't get as much exercise.
We decided to mix it up a lil and not go for the usual Tahoe area. Instead Chris researched the area around Graeagle (nope not misspelled... that's how it is, some book keeper came up with that name - took Y out... and made this.. got to love accountants huh?) Graeagle is in the Plumas National Forest (about 40 minutes north on 89 from Truckee). The whole area is a golfing and hiking paradise (the first was lost on us - although the restaurant on the golf course was fabulous) but the hiking... we did love - tons and tons of lakes all over.
The first day we stopped on the way up to do the Sand Ridge and Five Lakes Basin trail. It was a moderate hike with spectacular views and plenty of lakes (Carr, Feely, Big & Little Island, Long, Round and Milk Lakes - and many more unnamed ones) for Zoe to swim in. After the hike we went to find our cabin in Blairsden where we arrived lil after 6 and we spent the rest of the evening relaxing... and of course... drinking.

Year Today & Kitchen is Done, done, & done

2008-09-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate our 1st anniversary!! Can't believe it has been already a year since our wedding... but on the other hand, it does seem like we have been in each other's lives much much longer... in a good way :o) And yep.... we still do love each other very very much... and we do have yet to see a big argument... not that I want to.... so far it has been a smooth sailing (lol as long as he doesn't touch my alcohol). As my friend Andi pointed out... if you are in a good relationship with the right person... it is just effortless... all the way through.. and you know what.. she is right.. I can't imagine being with anybody more perfect for me than my husband. I love our life together!!!

And on the anniversary of our wedding I would also like to celebrate the completion of our kitchen!!! Three long long months later we are finally done. And we LOVE it!! It was worth it... although it was a ton ton of work, especially for Chris and Zoe :o)

There are still a few things to do, touch ups etc... but the majority is DONE. If you want to see more check out our shutterfly pages.

Alissa is Leaving

2008-09-22T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we met up with Alissa, my friend who is moving to San Diego. Her husband is in the navy and got finally reassigned from Virginia down to San Diego, much closer to Alissa's family. They got married in Januray and so far have been able to spend only few days here and there together. I am very sad to see her go but I am hoping she will love it down there and make a great life for her and her family.

Teresa's 7th Birthday

2008-09-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated my niece's birthday. She has just turned 7. I told her not to grow but she still refuses to do so. I believe she said:"Mony... I can't help it, I don't have any control over it!" So scary how fast they grow! Now she can even ready her own birthday cards without Mom's help! Sorry just freaking out about missing all the precious time with her; she will be a teanager before I know it. They just moved up to Folsom so I dont' get to see them as often but I guess I just have to make more effort about driving up there while she still wants me to be part of her life.

On a different note... KITCHEN is finally getting closer to the end. All the functionality is there now we just have to do couple more the the pretty stuff to finish it off, then I will post some pics. I can't believe we survived ten weeks without kitchen. But we are both very happy with the way it turned out (thank God).

Another update... my very good friends Kamila & Frank just had their baby girl, I can't wait to see them all. I am so very happy for them I know Kamila has wanted a lil one for a long time.

Oh and tonight I am taking my husband to see a Czech movie - I served the king of England. Thank God he doesnt' mind reading movies :o). Hope it is good.

Also... new pictures have been posted on monikachris.shutterfly.com.

He finally made me do it!!

2008-09-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

What is it that he made me do you ask?.... get the citizenship of this country. I know, strangely worded but... part of the agreement was that even though I am a citizen now I don't have to be an American. :o) (Yes, I am strange... but that's just how it is). So now I am Czech with an American citizenship. For better or worse... at least now they can't deport me for a DUI. I can hardly believe that it has been over ten years now since I've arrived in California. Wow, time does fly.
My friend Natalka end up getting her citizenship on the same day that I did so it was very nice to have a friendly face in the crowd. There was about 1500 of us... and about 80% of that were either Chinese or Mexican. I know... didn't see that one coming huh?
After the ceremony Chris took his parents and I for a wonderful brunch in Ritz just down the street. The weat her couldn't have been better.

Day 9 – The Last Day in Alaska

2008-08-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

Day 9 was our last and a very long day in Alaska… our flight wasn’t leaving until 2am the following morning so we had plenty of time to fill up with activities. We packed up in the morning and headed for Whittier to depart on our 26 Glaciers cruise. As you are probably already thinking… 26 glaciers are lil too many and we thought the same. But it was actually the shortest (only 4hrs) cruise they offered. We brought our leftover booze with us so we were nicely prepared to enjoy the sights. We saw many sea otters float all around us… and the huge glaciers with the little ones were just amazing. I have never seen anything like that. Also the rain, cold, and wind certainly added to the atmosphere. Brrr…. Chris had shorts on… what was he thinking? California boy!
From Whittier we caught the 6pm opening of the tunnel and started our trip back to Anchorage. There we hiked on the Earthquake trail where they have an exhibit setup about the 1964 9.2 earthquake and tsunami that devastated most of the area. Once again… I ate ton of berries along the way.
Oh.. and we saw mama moose with two lil ones grazing right by the highway. That was a nice touch to finish off our Alaskan adventure. Then all that was left was dinner at the Sleeping Lady (Anchorage Brewery) and off to the airport. Too bad it was so short… but hey… so far it looks like we are heading back next May, this time Juneau area.

Day 8 - Crow Creek Canyon

2008-08-20T08:02:00.001-07:00

In Girdwood we stayed in a cabin very similar to something you would find up in Tahoe, I guess it only made sense since Girdwood is basically the base camp for Alyeska ski resort. In the morning we made a delicious breakfast with our selection of smoked fish (btw smoked scallops rock) and after that we departed for yet another hike. This time we did a part of the famous Iditarod trail – the Crow Creek Canyon. It was a solid 4 mile climb but yet again the views and the flowers all along the trail were well worth it. Once we got to the top we had a spectacular view of the mountain ranges below us. I was happy we took pictures right then since within 5 minutes from us reaching the summit it started hailing and storming… and the view was no more. But it has stopped just a suddenly as it started and we were able to enjoy a sunny decent and the pictures with all the clouds were incredible.
That evening we took the 2.5 miles tunnel to Whittier and yes… we did understand why nobody really visits that town. There is really nothing… nothing … there. But it is a good starting point for cruises to Prince William Sound and we did return the following day to do just that.

Day 7 - Homer to Girdwood

2008-08-19T09:25:00.002-07:00

The arrival of the following morning meant our departure from La Caleta. Willie picked us up around 9:30 as agreed and dropped us off in Homer. We walked around The Spit for a bit doing lil shopping and bonding with local dogs that ruled the area. After that we hiked for a while on the local beach and had the best lunch and pastries at the Fresh Sourdough Express – the owner was the best, we truly liked all the Alaskans that we have met up there… very genuine and nice people.
Leave it to us to find the only winery in Alaska – before we left I found online the Bear Creek Winery in Homer… and of course we couldn’t miss out on wine tasting in Alaska… yeah… if you are thinking they can’t have good vineyards up there you are right… but they adapted and they are making their wines from berries. The wines were lil too sweet for our taste but it was a great experience just the same. We couldn’t miss it. Slightly drunk we departed for Girdwood (about three hour ride that Skoda slept right through… too bad as they missed out on some spectacular views all along the highway.

Day 6 - 8/6 - Kayaking Sadie Cove & Hiking the Big Bear Poop mountain

2008-08-19T07:46:00.002-07:00

Today started rather slow in our amazing retreat away from the civilized world. After our breakfast and lil chill time we packed our sandwiches and headed in our kayaks to the mouth of Sadie Cove. It was about 5 miles one way and it took us about one and half hour to get there. Willie told us there was a trailhead right at the mouth so we started crawling through the thick underbrush trying to find the trail the Alaskan way. Eventually the boys were able to sniff it out and we started a mad rush up the hill through what looked like Jurassic Park. The speed picked up even more once we saw the ten pound scat on the trail. Unfortunately, for Chris I was lil scared of the lurking grizzlies so after an hour march through the jungle we made him turn around and go back down to our boats. He wasn’t too happy but Heather and I were relieved. On the way back we were able to catch the tide coming in and more or less surfed it back to the cabin. A few sea otters and soaring bold eagles kept us company on the way in. One salmon even attempted to commit a suicide by trying to jump into Skodas’ kayak. The fog finally lifted and we were able to see the beautiful mountains all around us. Not a bad view from the cabin.

Day 5 - 8/5 - La Caleta

2008-08-13T08:06:00.000-07:00

On this day we left Homer for our two days in the wilderness.
We left the cabin in the morning and headed for the Small Boat Harbor where Willie (the owner of the cabin) was going to pick us up and take us to the cabin. We also managed to pick up a piece of halibut on the Spit in case the boys didn’t catch anything. Willie picked us up as agreed and took us on his open aluminum skiff to a piece of paradise that was our home for the next two days. La Caleta was the best place we have ever stayed in, very rustic and self sufficient. The electricity here was made from the stream coming down the mountain and all the cabin itself was made from drift wood that Willie himself processed. We had a wonderful time the first day just chilling and taking the kayaks to the mouth of the two rivers to watch the salmon fight their way up the stream to their breeding grounds with the bold eagle and bear intently watching. We watched the sunset at 11:30 from the deck with our glasses of wine.

Day 4 - 8/4 - Seward to Homer

2008-08-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

We left Seward early in the morning and headed for Homer. On the way to Homer was stopped in Skilak Lake Natural Refuge and did a little hike up the Hideout Trail. The trail was rather overgrown and Heather did not feel her best that day so we end up doing just a short hike with beautiful views of Skilak and Hidden Lakes constantly yelling, talking, singing, whistling… you name it … any noise to keep the plentiful bears away. We arrived at our Highliner cabin in Homer later on that afternoon after moose sighting and after reaching the western most place reachable by road in North America - The Anchor Point. We toured ‘The Spit’ and skipped the stones at ‘The Lands End’ and dined out at the Homestead - one of the best restaurants…. period… especially since they had moose grazing at their front lawn…. RJ loved it. :o)

Day 3 - 8/3 - Hike of a lifetime

2008-08-11T12:02:00.000-07:00

Harding Icefield hike @ Exit Glacier was by far the best hike I have ever done! We had some idea what was ahead of us… but it didn’t compare to what the hike was really all about. The hike was supposed to be 7 miles and 1500 ft elevation (steep but not too bad) but it end up being 10 miles round trip with 3400 ft of elevation. But it was awesome!!! It was a solid climb for couple of hours. Few times we even had to scramble up a rock face and crawl through snow - but it all sure was worth it. The views and the nature all around us was unbeatable and it only got better when we tried to feed Ron to the bears and skied down the mountain on our shoes. Heather and I hated the boys quite a few times when we were trying to keep up with them up the hill but we forgave them as soon as we got to the top. I only wished we would have brought sled with us to go down on. And the black bear sighting… amazing… 30 feet away…
Needless to say that we had hard time moving around once all was said and done…. It did take a toll on us, especially on Heather who was coughing her lungs out.

Day 2 - 8/2 - Anchorage to Seward

2008-08-07T21:04:00.001-07:00

Once Chris succeeded with getting the car we stopped at local Costco and stocked up on all the food and drinks that we thought we needed and headed towards Seward. The ride was somewhat long so in order to break it up and stretch our legs we stopped for a hike at the base of Mt Alyeska in Girdwood. We did the Winner Creek Gorge hike with beautiful views and a hand tram crossing over the valley. After the hike we arrived downtown Girdwood (it was sort of hard to find as there is only a post office, clinic, and a restaurant). We thought we missed it… but in the end we realized that it really was it. Chair 5 - what appeared to be the only restaurant in town… had an excellent selection of food and we all said that it was the best food we have ever had. It may have had something to do with how hungry we were ;o) Once we satisfied our hunger we headed for our accommodation for the night in beautiful Victorian Serenity cabins in Seward. Luckily, they looked better from the inside than they did from the outside. And they were by the sea... you just had to walk to it a lil bit. :o) The light outside at 11 pm was (and still is) tripping me out.

Day 1 - 8/1 - Arrival in Anchorage

2008-08-07T20:56:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Anchorage around 11 on Friday evening. We went to our car rental only to find out that our special coupon deal that Chris pirated from on of the coupon websites didn’t work and instead of $700 they were going to charge us $1,600. We left the airport that night in the shuttle bus to our hotel slightly stressed and not knowing how the rest of our trip was going to play out. Luckily, our very resourceful Chris was able to find yet another coupon for yet another car rental company and the next morning he came back with a $800 Highlander. The agent was slightly surprised how Chris was able to get such a great deal but he gave it to us just the same. Thank God… else our whole trip would have been somewhat different.

Finally.....

2008-07-31T22:55:00.000-07:00

I can't wait... we are leaving tomorrow afternoon for Alaska. This last week has been really hard. Especially for Chris who is already asleep right next to me. He has had 7 consecutive days of 12 hours labor filled days. We were trying to finish all the dry wall before we left... and I am happy to say we did it. Well mostly Chris... but hey I did do my share... until 8 each night...
Anyway... dry wall done. We got couple more screws to screw in... and off we go. We sure deserve this Alaska vacation. I would say it will be nice to relax but hey I do know how we operate... so there will be lots of hiking, kayaking... and probably not much relaxing. But anything is better than being in our super messy house.
The cabinets have arrived yesterday... so when we get back- once the mudding and taping guy is done... - we paint, have the hardwood put in... the cabinets... granite... and ahhh.... done done done.
It will be nice. Now I just hope we like the final outcome :o)
Stay tuned we will try to post from Alaska.

Countdown to Alaska

2008-07-30T14:18:00.000-07:00

Oh my... you wouldn't believe how much we are both looking forward to our upcoming trip to Alaska. It could not come soon enough. Even two days, that's all that's left before we depart, seems like a long time. Not only are we looking forward to all the adventures that await us... but it will be great to get away from our never ending daunting project of remodeling our kitchen. I believe we just entered week 6 of our remodel and we are definitely not done. But at least things are coming back together and better yet we will escape it to magnificent Alaska and pretend it is not waiting for us to do once we get back :o). Stay tune... I will post some updated pictures before we leave and once in Alaska we will try to keep this blog up whenever possible.

Chaos & Destruction

2008-07-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

I believe we are approaching week 4 of our house destruction and so far... it is only getting worse. We started by taking out all the kitchen cabinets, all the sheet rock had to come off and then the floor followed. We kept our sink as long was we could because we quickly realized how essential it really was. Once all the walls were down Andi, the contractor, came in. He did all the structural stuff - building new walls, new supports, moving the existing walls and other fun things like that. He was surprisingly fast and once he was done we just had to wait for Rollo and Jose - the electricians - to come in. While we waited we continue to scout surrounding areas for our granite and floors. I must say that almost broke me... how can people build a house from ground up and make all the lil decisions that go into it... and I can't even remodel our kitchen? Nuts. Luckily we found what we both liked. The floor we liked we found in Petaluma - hand scraped hardwood Shaw floor and we end up ordering it from El Sobrante - much cheaper. The granite.. we got an estimate in the city and end up finding it in Emeryville for half the price. It does pay to shop around. We started with Venitian Gold and end up with Owen Gold... not really sure what the difference is.
Jose and Rollo have been working for over a week now... and they are doing a great job. The only problem that everybody warns you about is.... where do you stop. We only wanted to do the kitchen... but now we have moved into the living room too. I guess black melted aluminum wiring was a reason enough to redo all the other wiring in the house. Fun fun. I feel like yesterday we finally reached a turning point when we got our new windows in. We both love them and can't wait to have all the sheet rock back up to see the full effect.
Once the electricty is done we can finally put the sheet rock up and then mud it. But the rest will have to wait until after we come back from Alaska. If you want to see more pics go to: http://monikachris.shutterfly.com/action/

Wine Tasting on 6th of July

2008-07-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

It was supposed to be a super hot day so what a better way to escape the heat then to go wine tasting around Russian River. Yeah, not sure how that makes any sense, cause it is not really all that much cooler up there (hotter may be the case)... but hey, that was our reasoning and it worked for all of us :o)
We always stay around Sonoma so we decided to try something new. We already found Hook & Ladder up there (our new favorite winery) so why not to explore the surrounding areas. I think we have established our personal record - 6 wineries in one day!! Not bad huh?
We started at Kendall Jackson, Martinelli, Pellegrini, Hook&Ladder, Harvest Moon, and Taft Street Winery. My favorites.... still H&L and Pellegrini. Both of these are small wineries with a very nice feel to them, none of that big corporation feel like KJ. I am already looking forward to our next outing. I want to cross all the wineries off my list :o) What a mighty quest.

Novato Does Have a Soul

2008-06-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

It has been thrown in our faces many many times in the past that Novato does not have a soul (usually by our friends from southern Marin - you know who you are). So I am very happy to report... that based on our extensive survey.... Novato does have a soul, or at least there is a hope that it may have one soon.
During the summer months there is nothing better than to head out and enjoy the evening with a nice glass of wine and something at least small to eat. But where to go? Not even southern Marin has many places to sit outside and dine. Well now I think that we got them all beat there are several in Novato and the one most worth mentioning is Rickey's. I have always seen the neon sign from the highway announcing they have jazz by the pool... but I didn't think much of it until this Friday when I actually strolled in and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very nice intimate setting with the tables all around the pool and nice jazz band playing in the corner. We even dipped our feet in the pool to chill out. If you have not been there... you got to try it.
The other one we discovered by strolling around on the first summer evening was Portelli Rossi (used to be Kitchen). We had a nice dinner on the patio in Las Guitarras and then we just walked around and found this Patio area where until recently was an actual building. Very nice atmosphere and a great wine.
There is yet a chance that we may have a nice downtown. Oh and look at this inflatable movie screen every Friday. Go Novato!

Our 5th Annual Whitewater Adventure

2008-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

We successfully survived our annual Whitewater Adventure. You think that doesn't say much, but if you would have seen what we put our bodies through... you would understand. It is still a surprise to me that more people don't get hurt. Every year it seems to be a tradition that the new 'couple' is the one who gets trashed the worst. This year was no exception - Ian & Nia where the ones who do not remember much from the first day of rafting. Chris has learned his lesson on his first trip so this year he was trying to monitor (unsuccessfully I might say) his intake. But it was better than the first year and he was able to recover quickly (no arguments). For those who know - the Italian Boy - he came out a plenty and he just would not shut up. :o) now Heather finally understands why having the Italian Boy (aka Chris) come out is not such a good thing. We had a wonderful time and it took me two days just to recover from those two days of rafting. I think I finally have my voice back and alcohol is starting to sound appealing again.

Pia's Retirement Party

2008-06-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

This Sunday Muna (my boss) hosted a wonderful retirement party for one of our co-workers - Pia. Pia is retiring at the end of the month and we all wanted to wish her all the best on her newest journey. Muna did a wonderful job on planning the whole thing and everybody seemed to have a great time. We will miss Pia and her wonderful sense of humor.

Wine & Song around the Plaza

2008-05-26T18:22:00.000-07:00

Chris' parents invited us to join them for a Wine & Song around the Plaza. It was a great event downtown Sonoma. They had several different venues where they served wine and appetizers and had a jazz band playing. We spent the day strolling around downtown Sonoma going from one place to another, drinking wine and listening to great music. Not a bad day at all.

Mother's Day

2008-05-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Mom decided that instead of going out for a brunch or something equally mundane she would rather go kayaking. We met up early in the morning and went out of Sausalito towards the city. The weather was awesome - calm, no wind and warm but not too much... just perfect.
After our two hours kayaking trip we setup on the beach and had a great picnic and way tooooo much wine. Karlyn was also able to join us and hung out with us for a few hours. It was actually the first time she has met Chris and his family. It was great to have everybody together.

The Brand new Addition

2008-05-07T13:28:00.000-07:00

I know I know... what yet another addition? This one not as big as the last one. This one weights about 6 lbs and is about 14 inches long... I know lil one, right and we have Zoe to thank for it. Our little angel was doing one of her favorite activities - chasing the EVIL vacuum cleaner - and somehow she managed to get tangled in my laptop cords and.... my laptop is a history. Well not completely, only the screen is gone and they even offered to repair it for basically a pocket change... $573.60. So I thank the lovely boys in BestBuy and walked over to buy me a new one for $899. But this time - I got the accidental damage policy.... bring it on Zoe!! (or rather not)
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8776176&type=product&id=1204332255372

Oh I also posted new pics from our trip to Arizona/Utah - http://monikachris.shutterfly.com

Meet the Newest Addition to the Murphy Family

2008-04-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

I know it took me a long time to finally find a new car.... it has been what... two days since they told me that my car was no more... but that's just how I work. :)
Here is our new baby - Mazda 6s Wagon with V6. We both love it even if most people think we are crazy for having a mini van and a station wagon.. but we don't care. :o)

April 10th I said bye bye to my car

2008-04-15T09:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday was a beautiful day and I just couldn't wait to get out off work, get home and enjoy the great outdoors with Chris & Zoe. But instead I had to deal with cops, tow trucks and messed up back. Needless to say it could have gone better. I just wish people would look both ways before pulling out of parking lots. Now we are awaiting the verdict from the insurance company whether my car is worth saving.

Here is what is left from my car :o(

Day 8 - Death Valley through Bishop back home

2008-04-15T09:29:00.000-07:00

The last day of our mini vacation started early. We wanted to get in and out of Death Valley before it got into the forecasted 90 degrees. I am not sure what I expected of Death Valley... but I guess maybe lil bit more than there was. Hey... you know what... it is a Desert!! more of what we have seen on our trip over and over. The cool thing was that we got down to 0 elevation and passed several 7000s and one 8200 within a few hours of each other. The other amazing thing was that within two hours you went from desert to ton of snow. Pretty amazing! Zoe & I totally fell in love with Bishop area - we have to come back. We did a nice hike along a creek and Zoe got her fill of swim. We also stopped off by Mammoth, Mono Lake and the backside of Yosemite. Chris was right when he said the 395 was beautiful!!!

Day 7 - Bryce Canyon to Death Valley

2008-04-04T20:01:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that our vacation is almost over :o( It went by so fast. I guess that's what happens when you are having fun!! We started the day early in Bryce National Park (btw it was 23F overnight..brr). We brought Zoe with us but unfortunately dogs were not allowed on any trails in the park so we took her anyway, at least on one of the hikes. I have heard a lot about Bryce and I have seen many pictures but the semi-snow covered hoodoos were breathtaking. There was still snow all over the trails so the combo of the snow/ice/clay mush made it all a very interesting hike. We hiked a couple of the beautiful almost empty trails around there and around two headed up to a very exciting town Beatty on the border of Death Valley National Park. It is amazing how many noman's towns one can encounter in these parts of the world. The drive was about 5-6 hours and we passed through three states on the way. We also got from almost 9000 feet in Bryce to Death Valley in that amount of time. Unbelievable.

Day 6 - Lake Powell & Grand Staircase Escalante

2008-04-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

Before we even had a coffee we headed for Lake Powell. We did a lil hike to the Horseshoe Bend where we had a great overlook of that part of Colorado River. It was trippy when all you see is a desert and then out of nowhere... there is a raging river way down below. Zoe wouldn't get anywere close to the edge. After that we gave her a nice lil treat when we took her down to the lake for a nice swim. She had the best time ever chasing the waves and retreiving empty cans (no sticks around there) from the water.
We tried to get in to hike the Wave, this really picturesque slot canyon, but unfortunately we didn't make the list of the ten people they let in each day :o( Instead they recommended a different one the Buckskin Gultch. It was amazing!!! The only thing that was somewhat daunting was the constant threat of flash flood. I know it wasn't really all that realistic, but the clouds were collecting... and the three mile hike back through the riverbed was lil scary. Not to mention the wading through the clay water pools, so we turned around lil bit sooner than we intended, but it was still worth it.

After that we took a 40 mile ride on a dirt road up to Bryce. Oh did I mention there is snow outside our lodge... brr... from the desert to the snow in less than two hours.

Day 5 - Grand Canyon

2008-04-03T20:34:00.000-07:00

Headed out of Sedona to Grand Canyon first thing in the morning. We got there three hours later. Chris down played as to what to expect when we get there so I didn't really have any high expectations. But once we got there.... it was great! It is not very interactive... but the hike around it was worth it. We hiked for a few hours and then had nice drinks and appetizers in the lodge and left in the afternoon for our next adventure, this time from a small town by Lake Powell - Page.

And as some of you know... our tradition unfortunately is... to get stopped by cops at least ones... and it so happened in the Arizona desert. Suprise surprise Chris was speeding... but common... is 11 miles over limit really speeding? He should have seen us earlier!! Luckily, not sure whether it was the fireman sticker on the van or our super cute border collie that the cop happen to have at home too... but we got away with warning. Uff... that's a first one.

Day 4 - Bell, Courthouse & Cathedral Rock

2008-04-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

It seemed like today we never stopped... but it was good. We started with a morning 5 mile hike right from our hotel to Bell Rock, Courthouse and around both. The views from there ... wow. I can see what it is #1 hike in the area. We got back to our room 3 hours later and had a nice lunch downtown Sedona and supported local business by buying few silly lil things we didn't really need. We also checked out a few nice art galleries in the area.

Around 3 we thought we could do a short hike to the Cathedral Rock. Yeah, once again what started as a 2 mile hike ended 5 miles later. We tried to make it all the way to the top but unfortunately, Zoe's lil paws couldn't climb up the steep rock. It was more of a climb than a hike and she just couldn't do it, although she did try - poor thing. Instead, we did loop around the whole mountain and finish it off with a swim for Zoe in the creek.

One thing we did forget to bring with us for the hike was a bottle of wine. In order to correct the lil omission we went for yet another, this time really short hike up Bell Rock to watch the sunset... and we got really lucky... you be the judge of that.

Day 3 Dead Solider's Pass - aka 2 mile hike

2008-04-01T20:32:00.001-07:00

Day 3 we started rather slow. We took our time in the morning and went into Sedona downtown for breakfast. We found a nice covered parking place where we were able to leave Zoe for a bit and explored the town. It is a super charming lil town with many stores/restaurants/cafes/galeries. It was nice just to walk around and explore what Sedona has to offer. We also stopped by the information and got some info about all the best hikes in the area. The lady was well informed and recommended whole slew of hikes to fill our days with.

We grabbed the map and headed for a short/easy hike through Dead Solider's Pass. What started as an easy 3 mile hike ended the 'Murphy Way'. Seven miles and four hours later we arrived back at our point of departure. Three miles wasn't really enough so we added on another path that intersected with ours and decided to make a loop out of it. The only problem was that we missed the turn of point so it added lil bit more extra miles. But it was well worth it, the views from up there were amazing, but Zoe and I are very happy that we came in April while it was still 'cool' cause cool it pretty darn hot according to my standards.

We spent the rest of the day in our cute hotel and watched 'Into the Wild'. Overall, not a bad day.

Day 1&2 Our Arrival to Painted Desert

2008-03-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

We are at the end of our first full day in the Painted Desert. We left home on Saturday morning and wanted to spend the night in Needles, a very 'exciting' lil town in the middle of nowhere, but instead we decided to push through and make it all the way to Flagstaff. After twelve hour drive we arrived at our destination and spent the night in a five star Motel 6 :o). It is safe to say that Zoe is not a fan of tall buildings and open stairwells. We had to (Chris had to) carry her both up and down to our room - it was a very traumatic experience for the lil puppy.

We had our breakfast in Flagstaff and after that we headed towards Sedona. On the way down we stopped for a 4 hour hike in West Fork of Oak Creek State Park. It was a picturesque hike with multiple acrobatic river crossings. Eventually Chris just gave up and walked right through it.

In the afternoon we drove through Sedona (wow I had no idea how beautiful it is around here) and checked in our cute lil resort right by Bell Rock. We are lil tired but I can't wait for tomorrow to see more of this beautiful place. Here are some pics we took right behind our hotel.

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T08:26:00.000-07:00

What did we not manage to do? Our long weekend started on Thursday by having our friends over for dinner. It has been a while since we had everyone over so it was nice to see all and catch up. We also placed bet on when Heather would fall asleep... and hey... I won... I put 10 but 9:58 marked the spot.

We wanted to go wine tasting on Friday but instead we spent the morning searching for Chris' wallet that end up showing up in Erinn's car, she thought it was Rob' and took it with her when they left our house on Thursday. Once that was all sorted out we headed up to Petaluma for a bike ride. It was absolutely stunning. There were no cars and the views were spectacular (thank you Tom for recommending this one). I also realized that 26 miles is for now my limit. We have to work on that if I want to do the ride in May (40 or 60? not sure yet).

We got home, took the dog out, worked on the yard, and drove down to Muir Beach to meet up with a group for full moon hike, picnic and bon fire on the beach thereafter. We had a great time! We started in Pelican Inn with a group of 25-30 and hiked for an hour under the moon light, set down on the top to enjoy our dinner and bottle of wine and hiked down to the beach where the bon fire was already waiting. We couldn't have wished for a better weather! I am sure we will do this hike again. I believe we got home after midnight.

Poor Chris had to go to work the following morning. I had the best intentions of going to kickboxing but that didn't happen and instead I met up with my friend Kamila for lunch. After that I attempted to get into Easter mood by coloring eggs with my sister and my niece an that was lot's of fun. And to finish the day off I played tennis with Erinn. I am still hurting from that one. :o)

We took it easy on Sunday cause we both needed it. Chris went for a run with Zoe and than we did lil work around the yard and got ready for his parents. They came in the afternoon and we had a wonderful lunch/dinner and enjoyed the afternoon together.

Uff... now I am back to work hoping for a lil rest :o)

Planning our Southwest Trip

2008-03-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

We are starting to get ready for our lil road trip to SouthWest. I can't wait. We are going to leave on Saturday 3/29 heading for Bullhead City with a brief stop in Mojave Desert. The following day we drive over to Sedona where we will stay for the next three nights exploring the town and the area around it. Chris already picked some wonderful hikes for us to do. On the third day we want to venture to Flagstaff and see what that area has to offer. From there we drive to Kanab via Grand Canyon. As of now our last stop will be Death Valley. But I believe Chris has changed the itinirery a little bit since the last time we talked about it. I believe now we are going to incorporate some slot canyons and kayaking.... he is a great planner!!
Our next trip after this will be Alaska and after viewing Misa & Filip's blog from their trip up there... I just can't wait. But one trip at the time. :o)

Another Weekend in Tahoe

2008-03-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

We just had yet another wonderful weekend. Chris has been working a lot so it was nice that we were able to steal away couple of days up in Tahoe. We needed it. Mitch and Julie invited us to stay with them in their cabin, we just had to find a dog-sitter. Luckily, Chris' parents just got back from their vacation and were able to take care of Zoe so we could head out. Seriously, I hope when we are his parents' age that we have as great of a life as they do. Just this year they already spent three weeks in Hawaii, got back for two weeks and left again for two weeks to go to Egypt. They sure know how to live!! One day....
Anyway ... Tahoe was great. We snow-shoed one day and played on a ramp that the boys built for Hannah (Ari's lil girl who was never allowed on it, cause it was too dangerous) yeah.. boys will be boys. Actually I think it was Mitch who shouldn't have been allowed on it cause he end up dislocating his shoulder... poor guy! Thank God we had a trained professional on staff. Go Chris! He had to step away from his post in the kitchen and put Mitch back together. Poor Mitch :o) What a great man I have!!!
Oh almost forgot... Julie and her siblings just remodeled their cabin in Tahoe and after seeing the living space/kitchen we know what we want in our own house. Now if we could only get the money together :o( Next year. My friend Kamila and her boss Dave (the structural engineer) are coming by on Monday to tell us what is and is not possible to do, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Weekend Away... at Home

2008-02-19T07:01:00.000-08:00

As all of you know we just had a long weekend and Chris & I thought it could be fun to get away. At first he suggested camping.... but to pack all our stuff for camping just for one day it just didn't seem worth it. Not to mention it was still cold out during the night. Since I vetoed that idea poor Chris had to improvise. Eventually, he found this cute boutique hotel down in Santa Cruz. It was perfect - very cute, allowed dogs, right on the beach, for $70/night. Chris had to work on Saturday so we were going to leave first thing on Sunday morning and come back on Monday night. I packed all my stuff and waited for him to arrive. All our plans came, yet again, tumbling down once he called the hotel and found out that as of month ago they no longer allow dogs... thanks Zoe :o) We tried to find another place and I even did book one that allowed dogs, but once I looked it up on TripAdvisor (thank you fellow travelers) I thought it may have not been the best since some compared it to a BAD Third World country accommodation and said they left the hotel as soon as they got there. After reading these reviews I realized that Santa Cruz just may not be in the cards for us this weekend.
So we had to... yep you guessed it ... improvise yet again, thank God my husband is so good at it.
In the end we decided to stay in our neck of the woods and go for a hike.
We end up heading down to Samuel P. Taylor's park and doing the Barnabey Peak hike. It was a steep climb, but the views were well worth it. We even had a nice picnic with a well deserved beer. After that we headed down and explored Pt. Reyes areas and beaches but it got rather cold so we decided to end the day with a nice bottle of wine and appetizers in Olema and what else is left then to go home and cuddle up by the fire.
We wanted to go biking on Monday but unfortunately, Chris' back was still hurting so we thought it would be a great idea to broaden our cultural horizons... and visit one of the many museums in the City. It was a brilliant idea! The only problem was that it was a Holiday! therefore, all was closed. So instead, we had to improvise yet again! We went down to Sausalito and met up with Patty and spend part of the afternoon watching the seals and seagulls munch on the plentiful herring. I have never seen anything like it. After that we enjoyed the view and a bottle of wine for the lounge in Spinnaker.
What can I say.... Life is Good! and we are pros in improvising!

Uncle John's 70th Birthday

2008-02-18T20:11:00.000-08:00

On February 9th we did what was long overdue. We had Uncle John and his kids with their kids over for the celebration of John's 70th birthday. John is Chris' Dad's oldest brother. I have never really met all of them besides the passing at Heather's wedding and Chris' grandpa's funeral so it was great to have them all over and get to meet them and spend some time with them. We had a great time and hopefully so did they.

Happy Birthday Dad!

2008-01-31T07:44:00.000-08:00

Today would be my Dad's birthday, he would be turning 53, so I thought I should at least remember him out here. The picture is from our last Christmas when Chris got to meet him and ask him for my hand in marriage. My Dad was a great cook and so is Chris so it was beautiful to watch them in the kitchen together.
It is the first birthday without him. It is hard for me but it is way worst for my sister back home. She has had really hard time after our Mom passed away and then Dad sure didn't help. As if that was not enough, she called me yesterday to tell me that her kitten passed away. I know, you think cat - what's the big deal? But to her it was the only thing that made her want to come back home and gave her something to look forward to. She doesn't really have much at home to keep her going. Sometimes I am very worried about her. Below is picture of my sister with her kitten and it's sister.

Alissa & Matt's Wedding

2008-01-29T15:21:00.000-08:00

My friend Alissa was getting married on the 19th of January and Patty & I joined in on the festivities. Alissa is our friend from way back. The three of us & Cecily used to work together in Phoenix American in 1999 (wow...long time ago). The wedding was in Bodega Bay in Tides Inn and it was a very cute setting. It started at 5pm and we didn't end up getting home until midnight. They did a great job on organizing the whole thing. Here is the ex-Phoenix crew (Patty, Mony, Alissa & Cecily) and Alissa and Matt.

Weekend in the snow

2008-01-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

We couldn't resist the urge to enjoy all the freshly dumped snow up in Tahoe so we headed up for a three day weekend in South Lake. We rented a cabin up there and brought the dogs with us. Skodas and Tongas left on Thursday night and us, Patty and the three dogs joined them on Friday morning. We got on the slopes around 12 but we still managed to get our fill of snow. Chris did really great on his new snowboard. The second day wasn't as good since Patty manged to twist her ankle. Luckily, that didn't happen until the end of the day. I think she may be off it for next few weeks. Poor Patty! The boys were boys on Friday night and decided to prove their manhood by running through the snow with now shoes on. For some it end up better than for others :o) Go testosterone!

Sunday we opted out of skiing and went snowshoeing while Patty gambeled and the rest watched football. I love Tahoe, the nature is just amazing. We had fabulous time snowshoeing. The dogs did great, only towards the end their paws started to bleed a little - all the crazy running through the snow. Oh, was also run in to a border collie puppy. He looked just like Zoe just year ago. :o(