10.29.2012

Finally, the Caymans. Ahhh!

view from our condo balcony
Writing this post has sapped all of my energy for the day.

OK. I might be exaggerating. A little.

I'm sure that if I stop writing now, I will have enough energy left to make it all the way to the swim up bar and raise a glass of rum punch...or four. But only because the glasses are made of plastic. And not very heavy.

Finally, the Caymans. Ouch!

This is my first blog post. EVER.  So cut me some slack on the formatting, picture orientation, spelling, etc.

It was a long day. It started with Karin being grumpy on her couch, it ended with me bleeding all over our kitchen floor.  In a foreign country, even.  Let me splain.

The shuttle driver (Connie), was in a pretty good mood despite the early hour.  Karin, however, seemed a little grumpy;  maybe due to the early hour?

We had set our alarm for 3:30 am.  Until yesterday, I'm not sure that Ann even knew there WAS a 3:30 am.  Connie had said that we needed to leave at 4am, so this just gave us time to shower and load up.  All three suitcases.  I had originally planned on doing a load of laundry and only taking 2, but we were tired, so we just packed all of the dirty clothes in a trash bag, scented of course, and took a load of dirty clothes to the caymans.  The trash bag is one of those nice smelling ones; the clothes weren't scented.  Well, not in a good way.  I had just run 16 miles that morning, and the clothes I ran in, even the shoes, were in that bag.  I bet the Transportation Security Administration LOVED going through that one.  They left the little note so we would know they had been there.

15 hours later, we get to the hotel.  Condo.  Timeshare.  Whatever.  We immediately go to the swim up bar, and in 1 hour consume 8 mixed drinks.  Mostly rum runners, I think.  As we were leaving, there's an umbrella stand that's supposed to be underneath a table, that's not.  And it's cleverly camouflaged in the same color as the pool deck.  So, I walked right into it.  It's only ankle high, and it was dark.  And I was drunk.  I totally blame them for the blood that was shed that night.


Ann:  Should we go get you a tetanus shot?
Me:  Nah, I've had my booster within the last 10 years, so I'm good.
Translation:  I'm not going to waste my vacation time looking for a doctor and getting a shot, even though I have NO IDEA when my last tetanus booster shot was.

And, what's the deal with all the chickens?  That'll be another post.  If I don't end up with tetanusitis, rendered unable to type.

10.25.2012

horns and udders, part deaux

In an earlier post, I wondered about potential problems with breeding stock in Kerrville, TX.  I found out while driving through NM.

the truth is out there, and NM isn't afraid to show it

10.16.2012

a special occasion

Huntington Dog Beach, California - 10/15/12

LEFTY, the love of my life, died in September 2010. My heart was broken over my own loss but I will always be happy because of the amazing memories from our time together.

He loved the beach, and played on many of them around the country - gulf coast, east coast, great lakes, and west coast. We thought it fitting to take him to play forever at Huntington Dog Beach.





Lefty always had a great time at Huntington Dog Beach, as do hundreds of other dogs. If you'd like to learn more about it, please visit dogbeach.org.

10.15.2012

fun with chupacabras and border agents

Sunday, October 14, 2012

What is going on with the saguaros in AZ?
In Arizona, we saw lots of saguaro cactuses (i know, it's really cacti). It was kind of mesmerizing, watching them, and by the time i decided i needed pictures, there just weren't anymore to be seen. Andy wouldn't turn around so I was all, "fine. i'll draw one on my super cool iPad."

And then about 20 miles later there were more. Lots more.

An awful lot of them look sickly. Or maybe they've been gnawed on by chupacabras (chupacabri?) You be the judge.


chupacabra - NOT drawn on my super cool iPad

crossing the border from AZ to CA
border agent: do you have any fruits or vegetables?
andy: i have a baggie of strawberry shells
border agent (smiling): have a nice day
strawberry "shells"

final stats for 10/14/12:
* 494 miles
* 7 hours, 56 minutes
* average ~39 mpg
* 4 bathroom breaks
* 2 gas stops
* 1 coffee stop
* 1 meal stop


10.14.2012

a BIG day. in the car.

Today felt a little like this was the first day of the adventure because this was the day we were leaving Texas.

We made it all the way from San Antonio to Kerrville before stopping for coffee. On the way back to 10, we noticed this warning sign (Andy wouldn't let me turn around to get a picture of the actual sign, so I had to find this one on the TxDOT site). 
horns. and an udder.
Now admittedly I'm a city girl, and I don't know much about livestock, but it seems to me that if this sign is accurate, they're gonna need some new breeding stock. Soon.
About 3:40pm (MST) we crossed the border to New Mexico.
8 hours in the car. we still look pretty happy.
Dinner at La Posta in historic Mesilla, NM. Pretty decent food, beautiful decor, and some lovely birds that wolf-whistle. A lot.
shrimp ceviche, story of the building, a couple of birds.
You know that commercial where 2 guys are on a road trip and they listen to Spanish lessons in the car? At the beginning, they can't properly pronounce "gracias". They finally stop for gas, and the passenger guy gets out complaining about "trece horas en el coche sin parar e no musica," and the driver says  "compre unas papitas" while you're in there. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch it here. We think it's funny. Anyway, we thought we'd give it a shot...
drive time Spanish
el autopista es grande
We had planned to stop for the night in Las Cruces, but it was only about 4:30 when we got there, so we kept going. About 7:15pm (PST) we crossed in to Arizona. Between the last of the daylight and our headlights, we had just enough to get a picture.
still happy, but i was worried about snakes.

Have you ever heard of Willcox, AZ? Me neither. But that's where we stopped for the night. Tomorrow - San Diego!
Here are the final stats for 10/13/12:
* 785 miles
* 11.5 hours
* average ~ 32 mpg
* 6 bathroom breaks (yes, for me)
* 3 gas stops
* 1 coffee stop
* 1 meal stop

10.10.2012

san antone

We left Galveston, and had lunch with Dad and Mom at Tookie's - one of my all-time favorite burger places. It was badly damaged by flood waters from Hurricane Ike, but was resurrected by a new owner. Check out the high water line in the pic below. And if you haven't been yet, put it on your bucket list.
Mom sitting next to high water line at Tookie's
We got to San Antonio late that afternoon, and spent the weekend hanging out with Annemarie (Andy's sister), shopping, drinking some beers, and looking all over town for a new battery for her car. Annemarie got lollipop ice cream because Megan wasn't with us to be all grossed out about it.
blue lollipop ice cream and Annemarie!
Meanwhile, somewhere in Ohio...Megan got her ear licked.
Marga Gomez (licker) and Megan (lickee)
But, the most significant event of the week is that I got offered a contract to develop training materials for a major east coast power company! I'll know more details in a few days. It doesn't pay what I made before, but for now I'm happy to fund my travel and an occasional pedicure...

10.06.2012

striving for less

We sold our house, which had been on the market for most of the year. We sold or gave away most of our stuff. We traded in the convertible for a hybrid. And I left my job.

Why?

So I could spend some time getting over a professional disappointment. So I could travel full time with Andy.

Here we go...