RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) Steve, Anthony and I went to a very lovely wedding yesterday! Steve's coworker Scott Smith married his lovely bride Stephanie (so many S's) in an outdoor ceremony in Florence. It was honestly one of the prettiest weddings I've seen in a long time. It was small, very simple, and frigging hot. I don't think I'll ever understand the allure of getting married outdoors in a southern summer, but hey...that's just how some people do, I guess. The wedding was held at one of those big houses that have been re-designed to hold events, and the reception was under a big white tent in the yard. I still didn't get to dance. :P It was just all just very lovely. I may get malaria from the mosquito bites, but at least I'll have contracted it from being at a nice wedding! :)
2) Speaking of weddings, I'm singing in one two weeks from now! It's also going to be outdoors. (WHY?!) The song I'm singing isn't new to me, since I've done it in at least two other weddings before, but I've got this fear I'm going to screw it up! I don't know why. I think I'm always a bit more stressed about singing at weddings than I am when I sing at church. Some brides, or bride's mothers (or hell, groom's mothers) will rip your face off if anything goes wrong at the wedding, even the music. Although I don't see the bride or her mother doing this to me, even if I get up and sing a completely wrong song, I still worry. I'm hoping that I don't mess up the words and that I don't pass out from the heat while I'm singing. Fingers crossed, people!
3) Oh, I just wanted to clear something up, since it wasn't clear to some of you... A couple of entries ago, I talked about a parade I went to while visiting Josh in Colorado. Just to make it clear, I knew what kind of parade I was going to, I promise. I just thought it would be funny to write it as if I didn't. Just FYI! Heehee.
4) Oh Denver, My Denver, I miss your weather. I miss being able to go into the mountains to get snowed on, and I miss needing a jacket after the sun goes down. I miss not being a sweaty mess the instant I walk outdoors and I miss the fact that I could exercise outdoors without wishing I was dead. I don't know if I'd like living in Denver full time, but I'd totally move there just for the lack of humidity.
5) Back to weddings for a second: Why do some grooms think it's funny to smash cake in a bride's face?! It isn't, at all. It didn't happen at the wedding we were at this weekend, but I was scared it would for a second. I mean, I'm sure there are some brides out there who think it's funny, but personally I think it is one of the jerkiest things a man can do on his wedding day! You don't spend hours on your face and hair, not to mention a stinking expensive, white dress, and want to have someone smash a pastry all over you. Of course, when it happens, usually you have a woman trying not to cry or look pissed while she's wiping icing out of her eyelashes, and that's just sad. Any man who'd do that deserves to be taken out behind the reception hall and beaten by the bride's closest male relatives. Yes, I feel strongly about it! :P
6) Our yard looks insane right now. I cut it a couple of weeks ago, when it was super dry outside, and I actually thought the grass was dead for a while. Our whole lawn was brown and looked scalped. With all the rain that's been going on for the past week or so, now it looks like a rain forest. Our lawn kind of always looks crazy, though, because our stupid weed eater sucks and we can't edge worth a poo. It runs on this hoss battery that only stays charged for about 5 minutes at a time, so even if you start trying to get around the edges of things, you can't possibly get it all done before the battery runs out. It's like our whole yard needs a bikini wax.
7) I had to get yet another new breathing machine. I'm about ready to give up on breathing at night and just take my chances. I had to have a periodic card scan by the medical supply place, which keeps up with usage to prove I'm using it so that insurance will continue paying for the machine. Apparently, I had been wearing it for less than an hour at a time before I pulled it off, which is not good enough for Blue Cross/Blue Shield. I don't blame them for that, but I wasn't pulling it off on purpose, so I had to call the doctor and explain the deal. Now I'm on the same kind of machine I was on in the first place for the next two weeks, only with the air ratcheted up another 4 notches, and I'm still pulling it off in my sleep! My personal opinion is that the air pressure is too high, which makes me feel like I'm smothering. I believe this, because the times I've woken up enough to be conscious of what I'm doing, all I have to do is hit the "ramp" button to turn the air down again and I can sleep fine. However, since I didn't go to medical school, my opinion is rather useless. I also think if I could have a mask that didn't make me feel like I was out hunting minocs, I'd sleep better. The thing is so awkward and I keep getting tangled in the hose. I hate it. Anyway, so we'll see how this works. I'd love to have all of that wonderful oxygen at night so that I can be energetic the next day, but at this point I don't think any of it is working. It is so very frustrating!
8) I wish I had more interesting stuff to talk about, but I've only been home for 5 days and nothing of note has happened. :)
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 21, 2011
OK, that was probably one of the worst experiences I've ever had at an airport. Well, nothing bad happened to me exactly, but I was so unorganized and everything got frustrating!
Josh dropped me off at the front (Bye, Josh) and I went in to find the right desk. Denver's airport is HUGE, and my airline had a whole section just for themselves! I initially went into the Online Check-In only line, so I had to finally ask someone where I was supposed to go. Luckily, they were able to point me in the right direction. I had no trouble with the actual check in, but when it came time to turn over my bag, the guy said it was 5 pounds overweight. Well, Josh had told me I might have to pay a fee for an overweight bag, so I asked if I could pay and they said it would be $100. Wow...that's just...wow. They also told me I could try and remove 5 pounds of stuff from my bag, so that's what I tried to do. I had to open my suitcase in front of all of these strangers and dig stuff out. The lady said a pair of shoes and maybe some jeans would probably be fine, so I took out my jeans, my jacket and my brown sneakers. It wasn't quite 5 pounds, but close enough. They allowed my bag through without a fee, but I was now loaded down with stuff and had no idea how I was going to get it on the plane with me.
That was the thing that threw me off, I think. I had to figure out where to keep all of this new stuff that I hadn't anticipated on carrying with me. I finally found a place to sit down and try to get organized. I could carry my jacket, I stuffed my jeans into my already full backpack - the resiliant Jans Sport that I carry everywhere - but I had no place to put the shoes! I tried stuffing them into my bag, but it wouldn't close. I carried them almost to the security line when I finally decided that I couldn't juggle everything I had and still be able to get onto the plane. I threw my shoes away. I didn't know what else to do! I was already in a state of panic trying to navigate a totally new place, making sure I still had my tickets handy, grabbing my ID so I could get through security and all of that...I just felt the shoes were colateral damage of my already hurried state. I felt bad about doing it though. Granted, they aren't shoes I wear very much, but they were not that old and still in really good shape. I wish I could have left them in a place where someone could have taken them if they wanted them, but I was afraid that the airport security would think I was planting shoe bombs around the place. Sigh. Into the garbage they went. :(
Amazingly, I made it through security with no problem and I struck out to find my gate. I was in B52 (easy enough to remember) but when I found it, it said the outgoing plane was going to Crested Butte! Arrrgh! I know I had read the board correctly, and my ticket said it was the right gate, but the plane wasn't going home! I tracked down a security guard and asked what I needed to do, and they said it was still the right plane...I was just really early. Phew.
By this point I was able to sit down and try to reorganize my backpack again. I also realized that one of the reasons I'd been freaking out was because I had forgotten to take my anti anxiety medication. If I'm going to fly, I need to take it. I had no idea my anxiety for flying would start way before I was even at the gate! So I bought some food I didn't really want and I took my pill. After a while, I started feeling much less stressed. In fact, I started feeling downright sleepy. Also, in fact, I kept nodding off while sitting at the gate. I roused myself enough to get on the plane, but immediately started dozing off again. Our plane couldn't take off on time because one of our flight attendants got sick and had to be replaced, but by the time we got into the air, I was going in and out of fuzzy consciousness. I was never fully asleep, but I wasn't really awake either. It was unpleasant.
When we finally landed, I was still in a drugged slump, so I was really glad Steve finally got there to help me! I mean, I was glad to see him in general, but the helping was nice too. We stopped and got dinner (I hadn't eaten much yet that day) and afterwards I crashed. It was only after I woke up and thought about it that I realized why I was so tired. The anti-anxiety pills make me sleepy sometimes, of course, but I had moved the ones I had in my purse into a packet where I keep Dramamine. One of my Dramamine had been smushed, and so the powder from it had gotten onto my other pill mixing the medication together. Nice.
Anyway, I was glad to be home, but I was genuinely sad to leave. Barring my airport misadventure, I had the best time in Denver with Josh and I hope I can go back soon! Yay!
June 21, 2011
OK, that was probably one of the worst experiences I've ever had at an airport. Well, nothing bad happened to me exactly, but I was so unorganized and everything got frustrating!
Josh dropped me off at the front (Bye, Josh) and I went in to find the right desk. Denver's airport is HUGE, and my airline had a whole section just for themselves! I initially went into the Online Check-In only line, so I had to finally ask someone where I was supposed to go. Luckily, they were able to point me in the right direction. I had no trouble with the actual check in, but when it came time to turn over my bag, the guy said it was 5 pounds overweight. Well, Josh had told me I might have to pay a fee for an overweight bag, so I asked if I could pay and they said it would be $100. Wow...that's just...wow. They also told me I could try and remove 5 pounds of stuff from my bag, so that's what I tried to do. I had to open my suitcase in front of all of these strangers and dig stuff out. The lady said a pair of shoes and maybe some jeans would probably be fine, so I took out my jeans, my jacket and my brown sneakers. It wasn't quite 5 pounds, but close enough. They allowed my bag through without a fee, but I was now loaded down with stuff and had no idea how I was going to get it on the plane with me.
That was the thing that threw me off, I think. I had to figure out where to keep all of this new stuff that I hadn't anticipated on carrying with me. I finally found a place to sit down and try to get organized. I could carry my jacket, I stuffed my jeans into my already full backpack - the resiliant Jans Sport that I carry everywhere - but I had no place to put the shoes! I tried stuffing them into my bag, but it wouldn't close. I carried them almost to the security line when I finally decided that I couldn't juggle everything I had and still be able to get onto the plane. I threw my shoes away. I didn't know what else to do! I was already in a state of panic trying to navigate a totally new place, making sure I still had my tickets handy, grabbing my ID so I could get through security and all of that...I just felt the shoes were colateral damage of my already hurried state. I felt bad about doing it though. Granted, they aren't shoes I wear very much, but they were not that old and still in really good shape. I wish I could have left them in a place where someone could have taken them if they wanted them, but I was afraid that the airport security would think I was planting shoe bombs around the place. Sigh. Into the garbage they went. :(
Amazingly, I made it through security with no problem and I struck out to find my gate. I was in B52 (easy enough to remember) but when I found it, it said the outgoing plane was going to Crested Butte! Arrrgh! I know I had read the board correctly, and my ticket said it was the right gate, but the plane wasn't going home! I tracked down a security guard and asked what I needed to do, and they said it was still the right plane...I was just really early. Phew.
By this point I was able to sit down and try to reorganize my backpack again. I also realized that one of the reasons I'd been freaking out was because I had forgotten to take my anti anxiety medication. If I'm going to fly, I need to take it. I had no idea my anxiety for flying would start way before I was even at the gate! So I bought some food I didn't really want and I took my pill. After a while, I started feeling much less stressed. In fact, I started feeling downright sleepy. Also, in fact, I kept nodding off while sitting at the gate. I roused myself enough to get on the plane, but immediately started dozing off again. Our plane couldn't take off on time because one of our flight attendants got sick and had to be replaced, but by the time we got into the air, I was going in and out of fuzzy consciousness. I was never fully asleep, but I wasn't really awake either. It was unpleasant.
When we finally landed, I was still in a drugged slump, so I was really glad Steve finally got there to help me! I mean, I was glad to see him in general, but the helping was nice too. We stopped and got dinner (I hadn't eaten much yet that day) and afterwards I crashed. It was only after I woke up and thought about it that I realized why I was so tired. The anti-anxiety pills make me sleepy sometimes, of course, but I had moved the ones I had in my purse into a packet where I keep Dramamine. One of my Dramamine had been smushed, and so the powder from it had gotten onto my other pill mixing the medication together. Nice.
Anyway, I was glad to be home, but I was genuinely sad to leave. Barring my airport misadventure, I had the best time in Denver with Josh and I hope I can go back soon! Yay!
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 20, 2011
Since Jeoff had to go back to Lamar last night (BOO), today turned into a Josh and Kelly Day Of Fun!
We slept in a bit today since we were up late last night. It was nice to sleep a little longer, but Bella, Josh's adorable, tailless manx cat, meowed me awake at an earlier hour than I thought was appropriate. That's OK, though, because me and Bella have become good friends. She likes to play in my suitcase and chew on my shoes and hairbands.
It wasn't going to be a very intense day, since it's my last full one in Denver. :( Our first stop of the day was the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory! I finally got to go! :) It was actually fun! We learned a lot about the company and about how the stuff is made. I also found out that it is the only Celestial Tea factory in the world, so if you've ever enjoyed a cup of Sleepytime, I've been in the factory where it was made. We got to see the rooms where the ingredients are stored, and we survived the Mint Room (very Willy Wonka, no?), where the menthol will burn your face off if you are too sensitive to it. Josh, me, and only about three other people could stand to be in there for longer than a second. We had to wear hairnets for the whole tour which were tres sexy.
After browsing in the shop a while, Josh decided we needed Indian food, and drove me up the mountains outside of Boulder to a place called Nederlands. The drive was absolutely gorgeous! It wasn't as pretty as Zion National Park, but it is a very close second to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen! Also, it SNOWED on us on the way! Snow! In June! I loved it! :) We stopped at a restaurant called Katmandu, which was a place Josh knew of from when he was in the Order. I'd never had Indian food before, so I was a little scared, but it was sooooooooo gooooooood. I liked everything I had, except for this vegetable thing that about burnt my gizzard off from the spices. We also had proper Chai, which was delicious. We stuffed ourselves and then drove back down the mountain again.
We went to the Pearl Street mall, which is where Jeoff and I had gone on Thursday. Apparently, Josh had never been, so I wanted to take him to the artists co-op to see if there was anything he could find for his new house. The place is stuffed with gorgeous arts and crafts, but most of it is very expensive. Josh saw some things he liked, but will probably have to save up a bit for some of the nicer stuff. After that we walked around, going in and out of different places. I introduced Josh to Lush, which I've been a long time fan of, and after shopping a bit more, we headed back to Denver. We did make one more stop, at a place called The Great Indoors. It's a home decorating, furniture, fixtures and such store. Now I want to redecorate everything. :)
We came back to Josh's place and rested for a while before going back out again. For dinner, we went to Hamburger Mary's, which has drag queens and fantastic burgers. We didn't see any queens, but the burgers were there in full force. We had so much fun, but we finally had to go back so that I could pack. I have so much stuff to take home that trying to get it all in my suitcase will be a chore. Bleh.
June 20, 2011
Since Jeoff had to go back to Lamar last night (BOO), today turned into a Josh and Kelly Day Of Fun!
We slept in a bit today since we were up late last night. It was nice to sleep a little longer, but Bella, Josh's adorable, tailless manx cat, meowed me awake at an earlier hour than I thought was appropriate. That's OK, though, because me and Bella have become good friends. She likes to play in my suitcase and chew on my shoes and hairbands.
It wasn't going to be a very intense day, since it's my last full one in Denver. :( Our first stop of the day was the Celestial Seasonings Tea factory! I finally got to go! :) It was actually fun! We learned a lot about the company and about how the stuff is made. I also found out that it is the only Celestial Tea factory in the world, so if you've ever enjoyed a cup of Sleepytime, I've been in the factory where it was made. We got to see the rooms where the ingredients are stored, and we survived the Mint Room (very Willy Wonka, no?), where the menthol will burn your face off if you are too sensitive to it. Josh, me, and only about three other people could stand to be in there for longer than a second. We had to wear hairnets for the whole tour which were tres sexy.
After browsing in the shop a while, Josh decided we needed Indian food, and drove me up the mountains outside of Boulder to a place called Nederlands. The drive was absolutely gorgeous! It wasn't as pretty as Zion National Park, but it is a very close second to some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen! Also, it SNOWED on us on the way! Snow! In June! I loved it! :) We stopped at a restaurant called Katmandu, which was a place Josh knew of from when he was in the Order. I'd never had Indian food before, so I was a little scared, but it was sooooooooo gooooooood. I liked everything I had, except for this vegetable thing that about burnt my gizzard off from the spices. We also had proper Chai, which was delicious. We stuffed ourselves and then drove back down the mountain again.
We went to the Pearl Street mall, which is where Jeoff and I had gone on Thursday. Apparently, Josh had never been, so I wanted to take him to the artists co-op to see if there was anything he could find for his new house. The place is stuffed with gorgeous arts and crafts, but most of it is very expensive. Josh saw some things he liked, but will probably have to save up a bit for some of the nicer stuff. After that we walked around, going in and out of different places. I introduced Josh to Lush, which I've been a long time fan of, and after shopping a bit more, we headed back to Denver. We did make one more stop, at a place called The Great Indoors. It's a home decorating, furniture, fixtures and such store. Now I want to redecorate everything. :)
We came back to Josh's place and rested for a while before going back out again. For dinner, we went to Hamburger Mary's, which has drag queens and fantastic burgers. We didn't see any queens, but the burgers were there in full force. We had so much fun, but we finally had to go back so that I could pack. I have so much stuff to take home that trying to get it all in my suitcase will be a chore. Bleh.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 19, 2011
It was another great day in the Mile High City! Josh and Jeoff took me to a parade!
I knew that there wasn't a holiday or anything, so when I asked what the parade was for, they said it was for Denver Pride. I thought that was really awesome. I mean, it's always the little towns that have a lot of civic pride, but you never see the big towns going through the trouble of having a parade, right?
We got up early so that we could have breakfast at a local bar called Charlie's. Josh said it was a cowboy bar that doesn't usually serve food, but on Denver Pride day, they have a buffet. We got there pretty early. There were a lot of men there, but only a few were cowboys. I also saw a man there dressed in leather short-shorts and some kind of weird leather strappy thing. Wow, that couldn't ever be unseen. My guess was that he was on a float or something, because I can't imagine anyone wearing a thing like that for fun.
The parade started at about 9:30 am, and it was so much fun! It was loud, and people were throwing beads, and everyone was waving these rainbow flags. I thought that was a nice touch, since Colorado calls itself "Colorful Colorado." I guess that was a nod to the state slogan. There were a lot of beauty queens in this parade. I mean, A LOT. More queens than I'd ever seen in any parade before, really. Honestly, though, I kind of thought that most of them were a little too made up. Lots of make up, big hair and the gaudiest dresses you've ever seen. There was also a lot of men walking in the parade wearing skimpy bathing suits. I didn't see a banner for them, but I guessed they must have been a city swim team or something because there were a whole lot them in the skimpy suits and not much else. That was weird. I mean, who wears speedos in a parade? There were a lot of floats that had music playing really loud, and most of it was Lady Gaga stuff. You'd think there would be more of a selection of music for a city parade, but I guess her music is really popular now. There were also a lot of people in costumes! There were these women dressed as bikers and driving big motorcycles, there were men dressed up with these big feather things that spread out behind them and glitter on their faces, so I guess they were dressed as peacocks or something. There was a group of men that came by wearing the leather and stuff, like the guy I'd seen earlier, but I didn't get a chance to read the sign that they were holding. Maybe they were a cosplay group dressed as gladiators or something. There were politicians and church groups holding up signs that said "God Loves Everyone!" and "Thank God You Were Born That Way!" which I thought was great! It's nice when churches can get involved with city events, especially when they are promoting good self esteem. Probably the weirdest thing in the parade was a float that went by that had some men walking beside it, and they were throwing stuff in the crowd. I don't actually think he meant to hit me in the face, but a handful of the stuff he was throwing hit me right in the head and fell all over the ground. I picked it up and put it in my purse, and when I got a chance to read the little packets, they all said 'personal lubricant." Why was that guy throwing lotion samples into the crowd? Well, I ended up with a whole lot of them. I'll probably take them to church and give them to the little old ladies. They love stuff like that.
After the last float passed by, everyone followed the parade and walked down to a gigantic park by the state capitol building. It was SO full of people, I was a little overwhelmed. I've never seen that many people all together in one place before. I found out later that there was over 300,000 people in the park at the same time. This was the second part of the Denver Pride event. There were food vendors, merchandise booths, booths for charities and things like that. We walked around the whole park and looked at everything. I was so glad to see that everyone was having so much fun being proud of Denver. It seemed to make everyone very happy to be there. There were lots of people holding hands and hugging. It was nice to see that the love for their city just seemed to bring everyone together. As I passed one of the booths, a man caught my arm and asked me a question. It was kind of loud, but I heard him say the word "straight." Maybe he was asking for directions or something, but all I did was say "Yes, straight." He grabbed me and gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek and said he was so glad I was born the way I was and that I was being very supportive! It was very sweet. :) I've never met anyone so excited about getting directions before! I don't know what the way I was born had to do with anything, but I'm glad I could help him out. We stayed there for a while, got a snack and people watched for a while, but we had one more stop to make before we were done with the event.
Josh told me we were going to a bar called The Wrangler to sit and grab a drink before going home. He told me there were bears in the bar and I kind of got worried at that. The building he pointed out didn't look very big, and there were a lot of people around. I didn't think it would be very safe to have bears inside with all of those people. I think he had just been joking with me, though, because there weren't any bears inside at all! All I saw were a lot of big, beefy dudes with beards and stuff. I met a lot of really nice guys inside, and so many of them were good looking! Too bad I'm married, right?!
We finally headed home and Josh and I got cleaned up and changed clothes so we could go to Jeoff's mother's house for a cookout. I also finally got to meet Loanne, Jeoff's best girlfriend. She was really sweet! We had a lot of fun! We ate, talked, laughed, and watched part of the Daytime Emmy Awards. Jeoff had to leave to head back down to his house in Lamar, so we all said goodbye and Josh and I came home and crashed. It was a very good day!
June 19, 2011
It was another great day in the Mile High City! Josh and Jeoff took me to a parade!
I knew that there wasn't a holiday or anything, so when I asked what the parade was for, they said it was for Denver Pride. I thought that was really awesome. I mean, it's always the little towns that have a lot of civic pride, but you never see the big towns going through the trouble of having a parade, right?
We got up early so that we could have breakfast at a local bar called Charlie's. Josh said it was a cowboy bar that doesn't usually serve food, but on Denver Pride day, they have a buffet. We got there pretty early. There were a lot of men there, but only a few were cowboys. I also saw a man there dressed in leather short-shorts and some kind of weird leather strappy thing. Wow, that couldn't ever be unseen. My guess was that he was on a float or something, because I can't imagine anyone wearing a thing like that for fun.
The parade started at about 9:30 am, and it was so much fun! It was loud, and people were throwing beads, and everyone was waving these rainbow flags. I thought that was a nice touch, since Colorado calls itself "Colorful Colorado." I guess that was a nod to the state slogan. There were a lot of beauty queens in this parade. I mean, A LOT. More queens than I'd ever seen in any parade before, really. Honestly, though, I kind of thought that most of them were a little too made up. Lots of make up, big hair and the gaudiest dresses you've ever seen. There was also a lot of men walking in the parade wearing skimpy bathing suits. I didn't see a banner for them, but I guessed they must have been a city swim team or something because there were a whole lot them in the skimpy suits and not much else. That was weird. I mean, who wears speedos in a parade? There were a lot of floats that had music playing really loud, and most of it was Lady Gaga stuff. You'd think there would be more of a selection of music for a city parade, but I guess her music is really popular now. There were also a lot of people in costumes! There were these women dressed as bikers and driving big motorcycles, there were men dressed up with these big feather things that spread out behind them and glitter on their faces, so I guess they were dressed as peacocks or something. There was a group of men that came by wearing the leather and stuff, like the guy I'd seen earlier, but I didn't get a chance to read the sign that they were holding. Maybe they were a cosplay group dressed as gladiators or something. There were politicians and church groups holding up signs that said "God Loves Everyone!" and "Thank God You Were Born That Way!" which I thought was great! It's nice when churches can get involved with city events, especially when they are promoting good self esteem. Probably the weirdest thing in the parade was a float that went by that had some men walking beside it, and they were throwing stuff in the crowd. I don't actually think he meant to hit me in the face, but a handful of the stuff he was throwing hit me right in the head and fell all over the ground. I picked it up and put it in my purse, and when I got a chance to read the little packets, they all said 'personal lubricant." Why was that guy throwing lotion samples into the crowd? Well, I ended up with a whole lot of them. I'll probably take them to church and give them to the little old ladies. They love stuff like that.
After the last float passed by, everyone followed the parade and walked down to a gigantic park by the state capitol building. It was SO full of people, I was a little overwhelmed. I've never seen that many people all together in one place before. I found out later that there was over 300,000 people in the park at the same time. This was the second part of the Denver Pride event. There were food vendors, merchandise booths, booths for charities and things like that. We walked around the whole park and looked at everything. I was so glad to see that everyone was having so much fun being proud of Denver. It seemed to make everyone very happy to be there. There were lots of people holding hands and hugging. It was nice to see that the love for their city just seemed to bring everyone together. As I passed one of the booths, a man caught my arm and asked me a question. It was kind of loud, but I heard him say the word "straight." Maybe he was asking for directions or something, but all I did was say "Yes, straight." He grabbed me and gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek and said he was so glad I was born the way I was and that I was being very supportive! It was very sweet. :) I've never met anyone so excited about getting directions before! I don't know what the way I was born had to do with anything, but I'm glad I could help him out. We stayed there for a while, got a snack and people watched for a while, but we had one more stop to make before we were done with the event.
Josh told me we were going to a bar called The Wrangler to sit and grab a drink before going home. He told me there were bears in the bar and I kind of got worried at that. The building he pointed out didn't look very big, and there were a lot of people around. I didn't think it would be very safe to have bears inside with all of those people. I think he had just been joking with me, though, because there weren't any bears inside at all! All I saw were a lot of big, beefy dudes with beards and stuff. I met a lot of really nice guys inside, and so many of them were good looking! Too bad I'm married, right?!
We finally headed home and Josh and I got cleaned up and changed clothes so we could go to Jeoff's mother's house for a cookout. I also finally got to meet Loanne, Jeoff's best girlfriend. She was really sweet! We had a lot of fun! We ate, talked, laughed, and watched part of the Daytime Emmy Awards. Jeoff had to leave to head back down to his house in Lamar, so we all said goodbye and Josh and I came home and crashed. It was a very good day!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 18, 2011
Today was such an awesome day!
Josh had class in the morning, so Jeoff and I hung out around the house and did various thises and thats until Josh came back home. Actually, Jeoff was being industrious and doing his homework. I sat on the couch and dozed with the cat. :) Josh left school early and we were on our way!
Our plan today was one of the things I'd asked to do specifically while I was out here. We were going to drive to Estes Park and visit The Stanley Hotel! Squee!!!!
For those of you who aren't Stephen King fans, The Stanley is a huge resort hotel up in the mountains where the book "The Shining" was created. Mr. King was living in Boulder in the 70's and had just had a book rejected from his publisher. He decided that he needed to get away and try to think up a new story, so he and his wife drove to The Stanley and asked for a room. Since it was the end of the season, and the hotel staff was in the process of closing down the hotel for the winter, he and his wife were the only two guests in the hotel. Since the hotel is allegedly haunted, Mr. King was woken up by a nightmare and voila! The Shining was born. This is how the tour guide explained it, so...I guess it must be right.
The hotel is beautiful, old and huge, and has some of the most gorgeous scenery out of the front windows. You can see snow capped mountains, even in the summer! Gah! Loved it!
We were actually at the hotel for a ghost and history tour, which are very popular. We began our tour learning a bit about the history of the hotel and the family that started it, about why "The Shining" was written and how it affected the hotel itself. The tour guide was very excited, but I got the idea that she may have still been in the process of learning how to do the tours, because some of her stories were a bit disconnected. Anyway, we walked all over the hotel and saw most of the areas of the place that are supposed to be haunted. It was so much fun! I love ghost tours! It was especially cool because the hotel is so old and has a lot of interesting non-paranormal history behind it. I took lots of pictures, but I don't think I caught any ghoolies, ghosties, or long-leggedy beasties. I tried to, though! I really want to catch a ghost, darn it! :( I guess I'm not "open" enough to the experience. Heh. Actually, I realized that a lot of the things the tour guide said and did were basically a way to plant suggestions into the minds of the people listening. Funnily enough, the guide said she was skeptical about the whole thing and that she knew that most stories DO plant suggestions into the listeners minds...and then she went on to do just that.
Oh, the best part of the tour was when we were all standing in an empty bedroom on the "Children's Floor", trying to "feel the spirits of the children's ghosts." She asked us all to close our eyes and let our hands hang down to our sides. The ghosts of the children sometimes come and hold your hand, if they sense you work with kids or are around kids. So we were all doing this when some dude in the back freaked out and said something touched his hand. In my humble opinion, he was faking. I can't explain why he would do it unless it had something to do with trying to startle everyone. Anyway, this guy had just made us all jump, and the tour guide asked us to try again. So we were all standing there, eyes closed, and hands out.
Now, Josh has this ring tone on his phone that is so very creepy. It sounds like a little kid giggling. It's supposed to be a happy sound, I suppose, but it really makes me think of Chucky or something equally as disturbing. It's a creepy kid giggle, is what I'm trying to say.
Ok, so we're all standing there, eyes closed, crammed into this hot bedroom, and had just been startled by the guy who said something touched his hand. It was really quiet when Jeoff secretly text messaged Josh and that giggle went off. Oh, y'all, I bet there were some stained dainties in that room with us! It even freaked out the tour guide! I think we could have gotten away with it if Josh hadn't laughed ! It was so funny. After that, the tour wound down and we went on our way. I very much want to go back and do one of their Ghost Hunting events, and if I can't do that, I want to stay in one of the haunted rooms! The whole thing was so awesome!
After the hotel, we went down into Estes Park and walked along the strip of souvenir shops and restaurants. I love doing that, because you can just go in and out and shop and loiter and do whatever. We each bought a few things, and Jeoff and Josh did a wine tasting. It was fun to watch, but I just simply don't enjoy wine, so I had to live vicariously. We had dinner at one of the local places, which had delicious food, and then we said our goodbyes to Estes Park and came home.
It was such a fun day!
June 18, 2011
Today was such an awesome day!
Josh had class in the morning, so Jeoff and I hung out around the house and did various thises and thats until Josh came back home. Actually, Jeoff was being industrious and doing his homework. I sat on the couch and dozed with the cat. :) Josh left school early and we were on our way!
Our plan today was one of the things I'd asked to do specifically while I was out here. We were going to drive to Estes Park and visit The Stanley Hotel! Squee!!!!
For those of you who aren't Stephen King fans, The Stanley is a huge resort hotel up in the mountains where the book "The Shining" was created. Mr. King was living in Boulder in the 70's and had just had a book rejected from his publisher. He decided that he needed to get away and try to think up a new story, so he and his wife drove to The Stanley and asked for a room. Since it was the end of the season, and the hotel staff was in the process of closing down the hotel for the winter, he and his wife were the only two guests in the hotel. Since the hotel is allegedly haunted, Mr. King was woken up by a nightmare and voila! The Shining was born. This is how the tour guide explained it, so...I guess it must be right.
The hotel is beautiful, old and huge, and has some of the most gorgeous scenery out of the front windows. You can see snow capped mountains, even in the summer! Gah! Loved it!
We were actually at the hotel for a ghost and history tour, which are very popular. We began our tour learning a bit about the history of the hotel and the family that started it, about why "The Shining" was written and how it affected the hotel itself. The tour guide was very excited, but I got the idea that she may have still been in the process of learning how to do the tours, because some of her stories were a bit disconnected. Anyway, we walked all over the hotel and saw most of the areas of the place that are supposed to be haunted. It was so much fun! I love ghost tours! It was especially cool because the hotel is so old and has a lot of interesting non-paranormal history behind it. I took lots of pictures, but I don't think I caught any ghoolies, ghosties, or long-leggedy beasties. I tried to, though! I really want to catch a ghost, darn it! :( I guess I'm not "open" enough to the experience. Heh. Actually, I realized that a lot of the things the tour guide said and did were basically a way to plant suggestions into the minds of the people listening. Funnily enough, the guide said she was skeptical about the whole thing and that she knew that most stories DO plant suggestions into the listeners minds...and then she went on to do just that.
Oh, the best part of the tour was when we were all standing in an empty bedroom on the "Children's Floor", trying to "feel the spirits of the children's ghosts." She asked us all to close our eyes and let our hands hang down to our sides. The ghosts of the children sometimes come and hold your hand, if they sense you work with kids or are around kids. So we were all doing this when some dude in the back freaked out and said something touched his hand. In my humble opinion, he was faking. I can't explain why he would do it unless it had something to do with trying to startle everyone. Anyway, this guy had just made us all jump, and the tour guide asked us to try again. So we were all standing there, eyes closed, and hands out.
Now, Josh has this ring tone on his phone that is so very creepy. It sounds like a little kid giggling. It's supposed to be a happy sound, I suppose, but it really makes me think of Chucky or something equally as disturbing. It's a creepy kid giggle, is what I'm trying to say.
Ok, so we're all standing there, eyes closed, crammed into this hot bedroom, and had just been startled by the guy who said something touched his hand. It was really quiet when Jeoff secretly text messaged Josh and that giggle went off. Oh, y'all, I bet there were some stained dainties in that room with us! It even freaked out the tour guide! I think we could have gotten away with it if Josh hadn't laughed ! It was so funny. After that, the tour wound down and we went on our way. I very much want to go back and do one of their Ghost Hunting events, and if I can't do that, I want to stay in one of the haunted rooms! The whole thing was so awesome!
After the hotel, we went down into Estes Park and walked along the strip of souvenir shops and restaurants. I love doing that, because you can just go in and out and shop and loiter and do whatever. We each bought a few things, and Jeoff and Josh did a wine tasting. It was fun to watch, but I just simply don't enjoy wine, so I had to live vicariously. We had dinner at one of the local places, which had delicious food, and then we said our goodbyes to Estes Park and came home.
It was such a fun day!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 17, 2011
Today was a very low key day, but still quite fun!
We had planned to go on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory (shut up, I wanted to see!) but those plans got kind of derailed. It wasn't a terrible thing, though, because Josh and Jeoff were helping out a friend and things just took a little longer than we thought they would. :)
Josh, Jeoff and I drove to an apartment complex to pick up Joel, one of their friends. He was having some work done on his car, so Josh took Joel to have that done and I was once again left me in Jeoff's capable hands. Since they had invited some friends over for a get together, we went to King Supers and picked up food for the party. We brought everything home and put it away and then just hung out and watched CNN news for a while. Jeoff and I made fun of people that were being reported, which was a lot of fun! We thought that Josh would be back soon, but time just kept spinning out. Since we had waited so long and hadn't eaten, we finally just jumped in the car and went out to Earl's Sandwich Shop, which has some AMAZING sandwiches! Unfortunately, the shop was closing, so we got our sammies to go and drove back to Joel's apartment and ate there.
We left and went to a gigantic liquor store to pick up some wine for the party. I'd never seen anything like this place before. It was huge! It was like a Wal-Mart for alcoholics or something. I've never seen a liquor store where people had shopping lists! They also had shopping carts! There was so very much alcohol. I enjoyed walking around and looking at the bottles and labels. I believe that there are a lot of beautiful bottle and label designs for alcohol, so even though I wasn't interested in buying anything, I still enjoyed looking. I got carded because I was with people who were buying wine. Since my I.D. is from out of state, it gets looked at much more closely. Of course, for some reason people out here think I'm much, much younger than I really am too, but I'm not going to complain about that!
We finally got home and started getting ready for the party! I employed my culinary talents to cut up veggies for a tray, and everyone else did the hard stuff. The people who came over were predominately Jeoff's friends, and they were all really nice! The guests kind of came in two waves, so we almost had two separate parties. It was fun, though. I met a lot of great people that I liked a lot!
I did have one unfortunate moment when someone asked me where I was from. When I said Huntsville, she immediately said "Huntsville? That's where Antoine Dotson is from, right?!" Seriously, people in my town sent humans to the moon, but when you say Huntsville, all they can think of is that guy. Oy Freaking Vey.
Now we're all so exhausted, so I'm about to head off to bed! Tomorrow is another adventure!
June 17, 2011
Today was a very low key day, but still quite fun!
We had planned to go on a tour of the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory (shut up, I wanted to see!) but those plans got kind of derailed. It wasn't a terrible thing, though, because Josh and Jeoff were helping out a friend and things just took a little longer than we thought they would. :)
Josh, Jeoff and I drove to an apartment complex to pick up Joel, one of their friends. He was having some work done on his car, so Josh took Joel to have that done and I was once again left me in Jeoff's capable hands. Since they had invited some friends over for a get together, we went to King Supers and picked up food for the party. We brought everything home and put it away and then just hung out and watched CNN news for a while. Jeoff and I made fun of people that were being reported, which was a lot of fun! We thought that Josh would be back soon, but time just kept spinning out. Since we had waited so long and hadn't eaten, we finally just jumped in the car and went out to Earl's Sandwich Shop, which has some AMAZING sandwiches! Unfortunately, the shop was closing, so we got our sammies to go and drove back to Joel's apartment and ate there.
We left and went to a gigantic liquor store to pick up some wine for the party. I'd never seen anything like this place before. It was huge! It was like a Wal-Mart for alcoholics or something. I've never seen a liquor store where people had shopping lists! They also had shopping carts! There was so very much alcohol. I enjoyed walking around and looking at the bottles and labels. I believe that there are a lot of beautiful bottle and label designs for alcohol, so even though I wasn't interested in buying anything, I still enjoyed looking. I got carded because I was with people who were buying wine. Since my I.D. is from out of state, it gets looked at much more closely. Of course, for some reason people out here think I'm much, much younger than I really am too, but I'm not going to complain about that!
We finally got home and started getting ready for the party! I employed my culinary talents to cut up veggies for a tray, and everyone else did the hard stuff. The people who came over were predominately Jeoff's friends, and they were all really nice! The guests kind of came in two waves, so we almost had two separate parties. It was fun, though. I met a lot of great people that I liked a lot!
I did have one unfortunate moment when someone asked me where I was from. When I said Huntsville, she immediately said "Huntsville? That's where Antoine Dotson is from, right?!" Seriously, people in my town sent humans to the moon, but when you say Huntsville, all they can think of is that guy. Oy Freaking Vey.
Now we're all so exhausted, so I'm about to head off to bed! Tomorrow is another adventure!
Friday, June 17, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 16, 2011
Today we slept in a bit and then Josh and I got ready to go get mani-pedis. Yeah, I've never called them that before, but that is what we were going to do! There is a beauty college a little bit from here, and they were having a special, plus my feet looked awful. They weren't looking so hot while I was at home, but once I spent the day in the dry climate, I had hobbit feet, so I'm glad we did this.
Believe it or not, the girl didn't tickle me very much at all. I warned her that I was severely ticklish, so I think she was being careful so that I wouldn't kick her in the face. :) She was a newish student, so she was doing everything really slowly, so we ended up staying there far longer than we thought we would. Josh had a job interview later in the day, so he had to go and run errands while I was still in the chair. I finally got done, and unfortunately, Josh's interview time was looming quite closely and the traffic snarled up at the worst moment. We inched down the street, and finally had to cut through some neighborhoods to get back on the interstate! Josh was driving like a bat out of hell, and I was praying we wouldn't end up smeared on a guard rail!
We got home in just enough time for me to try and print out his paperwork (we'd had printer issues earlier in the day and had to get a new ink cartridge while we were out) while he jumped in the shower and got dressed. Luckily he made it out in just enough time to get to his interview with a minute or two to spare! Score! :)
At that point I was in Jeoff's hands, and he took me to Boulder, which is about 30 to 45 minutes from Denver. I loved Boulder! It was so beautiful and had streets lined with independent shops and restaurants! It also had aggressive non-profit workers who jumped on us first thing, but Jeoff knew how to handle them! We walked, talked and browsed through interesting shops and had a lot of fun! Well, I had a lot of fun, so I hope Jeoff wasn't bored out of his mind. He was nice enough to pretend he was having fun at least! We had lunch at the Boulder Cafe, and the food was wonderful. When we got the check, the people had given us a "Happy Discount" on our bill. We thought that was awesome! It is probably something they do for everyone, but I choose to believe it was because we were laughing so much!
We walked a bit more, but we were kind of on a deadline, and Jeoff's knee still isn't so great, so we left Boulder, ran a couple of errands, and came home. Boulder is just lovely. I'd only read about it in The Stand, so it was totally different than I had pictured it in my head, and I loved it. To borrow a phrase from Josh, "I could totally live there!"
Once Josh got back from school, we went out to get Pho, which is a noodle soup that you add all kinds of stuff to. It was delish, of course, even though I had trouble eating it. I had a spoon, a fork and chopsticks, and I still couldn't get things out of the bowl without getting it all over myself. We also had bubble tea, like the kind I had tried making a couple of months ago, but it was so much better than my version! NOM!
We had planned to go play trivia at a local pub, but we ended up being too late to participate, so they took me to a cute little bar called "Double Daughters" for something called a "Teddy Bear Orgy" which is some kind of martini with gummy bears in it. I broke my no drinking rule since Josh wanted me to have one of those specifically! It tasted like Hawaiian Punch with vodka in it. I had two. Luckily, I didn't embarrass myself or my two dates, and we had a really fun time talking with each other and with one of the club DJs, whose name was Craig. He was excited to hear I was from Alabama, because his boyfriend was from Alabama, so I had to tell him about Huntsville and where it was in relation to where his boyfriend was from. Also, he tried to talk me into moving to Denver and told me all about where Steve could get work in IT and where the best places to buy a home and stuff are around here. They almost have me talked into it I think! Don't tell Steve!
Once we got home, we sat around and talked for a while, and I remembered why I don't want to drink anymore (not badly, just enough to remind me) and I went to bed. Good times, noodle salad. :)
June 16, 2011
Today we slept in a bit and then Josh and I got ready to go get mani-pedis. Yeah, I've never called them that before, but that is what we were going to do! There is a beauty college a little bit from here, and they were having a special, plus my feet looked awful. They weren't looking so hot while I was at home, but once I spent the day in the dry climate, I had hobbit feet, so I'm glad we did this.
Believe it or not, the girl didn't tickle me very much at all. I warned her that I was severely ticklish, so I think she was being careful so that I wouldn't kick her in the face. :) She was a newish student, so she was doing everything really slowly, so we ended up staying there far longer than we thought we would. Josh had a job interview later in the day, so he had to go and run errands while I was still in the chair. I finally got done, and unfortunately, Josh's interview time was looming quite closely and the traffic snarled up at the worst moment. We inched down the street, and finally had to cut through some neighborhoods to get back on the interstate! Josh was driving like a bat out of hell, and I was praying we wouldn't end up smeared on a guard rail!
We got home in just enough time for me to try and print out his paperwork (we'd had printer issues earlier in the day and had to get a new ink cartridge while we were out) while he jumped in the shower and got dressed. Luckily he made it out in just enough time to get to his interview with a minute or two to spare! Score! :)
At that point I was in Jeoff's hands, and he took me to Boulder, which is about 30 to 45 minutes from Denver. I loved Boulder! It was so beautiful and had streets lined with independent shops and restaurants! It also had aggressive non-profit workers who jumped on us first thing, but Jeoff knew how to handle them! We walked, talked and browsed through interesting shops and had a lot of fun! Well, I had a lot of fun, so I hope Jeoff wasn't bored out of his mind. He was nice enough to pretend he was having fun at least! We had lunch at the Boulder Cafe, and the food was wonderful. When we got the check, the people had given us a "Happy Discount" on our bill. We thought that was awesome! It is probably something they do for everyone, but I choose to believe it was because we were laughing so much!
We walked a bit more, but we were kind of on a deadline, and Jeoff's knee still isn't so great, so we left Boulder, ran a couple of errands, and came home. Boulder is just lovely. I'd only read about it in The Stand, so it was totally different than I had pictured it in my head, and I loved it. To borrow a phrase from Josh, "I could totally live there!"
Once Josh got back from school, we went out to get Pho, which is a noodle soup that you add all kinds of stuff to. It was delish, of course, even though I had trouble eating it. I had a spoon, a fork and chopsticks, and I still couldn't get things out of the bowl without getting it all over myself. We also had bubble tea, like the kind I had tried making a couple of months ago, but it was so much better than my version! NOM!
We had planned to go play trivia at a local pub, but we ended up being too late to participate, so they took me to a cute little bar called "Double Daughters" for something called a "Teddy Bear Orgy" which is some kind of martini with gummy bears in it. I broke my no drinking rule since Josh wanted me to have one of those specifically! It tasted like Hawaiian Punch with vodka in it. I had two. Luckily, I didn't embarrass myself or my two dates, and we had a really fun time talking with each other and with one of the club DJs, whose name was Craig. He was excited to hear I was from Alabama, because his boyfriend was from Alabama, so I had to tell him about Huntsville and where it was in relation to where his boyfriend was from. Also, he tried to talk me into moving to Denver and told me all about where Steve could get work in IT and where the best places to buy a home and stuff are around here. They almost have me talked into it I think! Don't tell Steve!
Once we got home, we sat around and talked for a while, and I remembered why I don't want to drink anymore (not badly, just enough to remind me) and I went to bed. Good times, noodle salad. :)
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH EDITION
June 15, 2011
Wow, I think this is the most travel blogging I've ever done in a span of 6 months before!
I woke up this morning at an ungodly hour and headed to the airport! I finally took my long awaited trip to visit Josh! Yay! I've been telling him I'd come and visit him in Denver for the longest time, but one thing and another was keeping me from going. Finally, I just bit the bullet and bought a plane ticket! I'm so glad I did! :)
The flight was early, but really kind of uneventful. I paid a bit extra to get a seat in something called Economy Plus, which seems to be the section of the plane where the seats aren't smashed up against each other. Luckily, no one had bought the seat beside me, so I was able to stretch out a little bit. My only problem was the kid behind me kept kicking my seat, but I didn't think reaching behind me and ripping off his tibia would go over too well with his parents, so I endured it. :) When we began our landing approach, I had a bad moment of thinking something was really wrong and we were going to have to land in a field or something because I could NOT see the airport! However, I was just in a weird section of the plane, I guess, because the airport was there and it was HUGE.
After I landed and got my bags, Josh picked me up in the Chick Magnet and we drove towards his new place! I love his house a lot! It is in a section of Denver that is being gentrified, and I think it may be a remodeled tenement house, but it is gorgeous! It's urban and kind of hip without being pretentious! Just like Josh! Heehee.
After I got settled and changed into cooler clothes (Denver is really hot) he took me on a whirlwind, and if you know how Josh drives that isn't too far from the truth, driving tour through the city. We were going to go on a walk down the 16th street mall, which is a long street lined with shops and restaurants, street performers and non-profit workers who jump on your face and ask for money. They were nice people, but hell if I'm going to hand over my credit card information to people standing on a street corner. Yikes.
Josh tried to kill me right off my making me walk up a flight of stairs. It wasn't even a big flight, really, but carp, it was hard to do. Denver is at such a high elevation that I couldn't fricking breathe as I climbed. By the time we got to the top, I almost passed out! However, I managed to make it, thank goodness. We walked and talked and had a really great time catching up! We didn't go into many stores, but we did eat gelato as we walked and it was very nice.
After that, we made a run to the grocery store for staples and the makings of an al fresco dinner out on his lanai (it's probably not called a lanai here, but we're playing Golden Girls this week). After that we took it easy and waited on Jeoff to come in from Lamar. It's a long drive, and the poor guy has a bum knee from falling down the stairs, so we just relaxed and talked until we decided to go to bed.
I'm so glad I came! :)
June 15, 2011
Wow, I think this is the most travel blogging I've ever done in a span of 6 months before!
I woke up this morning at an ungodly hour and headed to the airport! I finally took my long awaited trip to visit Josh! Yay! I've been telling him I'd come and visit him in Denver for the longest time, but one thing and another was keeping me from going. Finally, I just bit the bullet and bought a plane ticket! I'm so glad I did! :)
The flight was early, but really kind of uneventful. I paid a bit extra to get a seat in something called Economy Plus, which seems to be the section of the plane where the seats aren't smashed up against each other. Luckily, no one had bought the seat beside me, so I was able to stretch out a little bit. My only problem was the kid behind me kept kicking my seat, but I didn't think reaching behind me and ripping off his tibia would go over too well with his parents, so I endured it. :) When we began our landing approach, I had a bad moment of thinking something was really wrong and we were going to have to land in a field or something because I could NOT see the airport! However, I was just in a weird section of the plane, I guess, because the airport was there and it was HUGE.
After I landed and got my bags, Josh picked me up in the Chick Magnet and we drove towards his new place! I love his house a lot! It is in a section of Denver that is being gentrified, and I think it may be a remodeled tenement house, but it is gorgeous! It's urban and kind of hip without being pretentious! Just like Josh! Heehee.
After I got settled and changed into cooler clothes (Denver is really hot) he took me on a whirlwind, and if you know how Josh drives that isn't too far from the truth, driving tour through the city. We were going to go on a walk down the 16th street mall, which is a long street lined with shops and restaurants, street performers and non-profit workers who jump on your face and ask for money. They were nice people, but hell if I'm going to hand over my credit card information to people standing on a street corner. Yikes.
Josh tried to kill me right off my making me walk up a flight of stairs. It wasn't even a big flight, really, but carp, it was hard to do. Denver is at such a high elevation that I couldn't fricking breathe as I climbed. By the time we got to the top, I almost passed out! However, I managed to make it, thank goodness. We walked and talked and had a really great time catching up! We didn't go into many stores, but we did eat gelato as we walked and it was very nice.
After that, we made a run to the grocery store for staples and the makings of an al fresco dinner out on his lanai (it's probably not called a lanai here, but we're playing Golden Girls this week). After that we took it easy and waited on Jeoff to come in from Lamar. It's a long drive, and the poor guy has a bum knee from falling down the stairs, so we just relaxed and talked until we decided to go to bed.
I'm so glad I came! :)
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
RANDOM ACTS OF BLOGGING
1) You know, I realize I should have ended my story about traveling out west with a bang, but the last couple of days of our trip were a bit anticlimactic. We drove back to Las Vegas, hung out in a giant electronic store called "Fry's" for a while, found our hotel, ordered in very generous portions of food from a local Italian restaurant, and watched TV. Our return flight was at an ungodly early hour, so we only slept for a while before getting up and heading back to the airport. The pill I take to keep from freaking out when I fly put me to sleep before we got out off of the runway, so I missed the exciting take off portion of the trip. In conclusion, we had a really great time, so I'm glad we got to go on our wild west adventure!! You guys should totally go out there.
2) Congratulations are in order for my bestie Sara! She and Ron are now engaged! Woot! Her ring is gorgeous, too. See:
1) You know, I realize I should have ended my story about traveling out west with a bang, but the last couple of days of our trip were a bit anticlimactic. We drove back to Las Vegas, hung out in a giant electronic store called "Fry's" for a while, found our hotel, ordered in very generous portions of food from a local Italian restaurant, and watched TV. Our return flight was at an ungodly early hour, so we only slept for a while before getting up and heading back to the airport. The pill I take to keep from freaking out when I fly put me to sleep before we got out off of the runway, so I missed the exciting take off portion of the trip. In conclusion, we had a really great time, so I'm glad we got to go on our wild west adventure!! You guys should totally go out there.
2) Congratulations are in order for my bestie Sara! She and Ron are now engaged! Woot! Her ring is gorgeous, too. See:
You don't wear a ring like this. You signal ships with it! :)
Anyways, I'm very happy for them both! Congrats! May your lives be happy, your in-laws be tolerable, and your wedding cake NOT end up on Cake Wrecks!
3) Last week, Steve was gone on a business trip, so I was alone and doing my own thing. You'd think since I'm doing the housewifey bit right now, it wouldn't change my daily schedule too much when he's out of town. However, if he's not here and I don't have to make dinner at any certain time or make sure he's got clean pants or whatever it is that I'm supposed to be doing, I just throw everything to the winds and do what I want. It's my chance to watch what I want on TV, have meals when I feel like it, and walk around with no pants on if that's what I want to do. :)
While he was gone, I got into the habit of watching the ID (Investigation Discovery) channel. I didn't seek that channel out on purpose, but I turned it on for background noise and got interested. If you aren't familiar with the ID channel, it's basically the channel with shows about true crime, murders, and forensics. I'll be honest, it isn't the best channel to watch if you're home alone. Especially when most of the shows begin with shots of blurred crime scene photos with a voice over saying something like "The Hoboken Ax Fiend crept into her house while she was alone, murdered her with his dull blade, and violated her mutilated corpse." Yeah...nightmare fuel, but it was morbidly fascinating. I slept with many weapons that week. Probably none of them would have been useful in a real situation, but they made me feel safe!
4) Speaking of the ID channel, I watched a lot of shows where the spouse or parent of the victim was charged with the murder. Now, I'm sure some of them were actually guilty of what they were accused of, and I'm sure that the juries who decided the outcomes heard a lot more evidence of what was going on than what the television showed, but some of the trials where people were sentenced to death or life in prison seemed to leave lots of room for doubt in whether or not the people were actually guilty. One of the things I noticed over and over again was that the detectives, police, and jury members would say "Well, I felt they were guilty because he/she didn't ACT like a grieving parent/spouse. They laughed and didn't act the way a person who has just lost someone would act." That bothered me.
People react differently in times of stress and grief, right? I'd probably be doomed if I was in that situation, because I don't think I behave in what is -apparently- the "right" way when I'm sad. I hate crying, or even seeming upset, in front of other people. So even when things are very bad, I try hard not to cry and I kind of get goofy and make inappropriate jokes and laugh at stupid things. When I'm finally alone, I cram myself into the smallest place I can find and cry till I get a nose bleed. That's just how I deal with really bad things. If anyone saw me, or questioned me, before I got to cram myself into a small place, they'd probably think I had something to do with it. That's a scary thought!
5) I'm supposed to be helping with VBS again this year, but I have no idea what is going on yet. I mean, I know I'm running the sound board and taking pictures like last year, but I know I'm supposed to be doing other stuff as well and I haven't been told anything yet. That makes me nervous! I like to be mentally prepared! Boo.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST EDITION VOLUME 2
May 13, 2011
We are surrounded by Mormons.
I mean, that's not a terrible thing, of course. It's just an observation.
Today was going to mainly be a driving day, but when we left our hotel, we went back to Arches National Park to see Double Arch.
It was huge! We had a great time climbing over the rocks, but unfortunately, none of us located Coronado's Cave. :(
In case you aren't aware, the opening shots of the third Indiana Jones movie were filmed in Arches, specifically around Double Arch, Park Avenue, & Balance Rock. Of course, Harrison Ford wasn't in the opening scenes of the movie, but close enough.
We drove back by Park Avenue, and then over to the visitor's center before we got on the road again. We were going to have to cross most of the state of Utah, so it was going to be a long drive!
We did make one more stop on the way, though. Mr. Lee wanted me to see Dead Horse Point state park!
Nice name, huh? It sounded like a biker bar to me, but it was a lovely park near Canyon Lands. I've heard two versions of the story about how it got its name. Apparently, it was common for cowboys to round up wild mustangs by chasing them into box canyons, where they would then build a fence across the opening to keep them inside, kind of like a natural corral. Instead of a box canyon in this case, though, it was a high area with a narrow opening and sheer cliff walls that went straight down into a canyon. One story says that a group of horses were accidentally left fenced into the area where they died of thirst. The other story was that the horses were culls, and the cowboys left them there on purpose. In any case, a lot of horses died there, so the name is apt.
The view was amazing, and you could see part of the Colorado river in the canyon below. I probably shouldn't have been worried about Steve pushing me off of a cliff, because he is scared of heights and would freak out if I leaned over the wall even a little bit! :)
After we left, we started our long drive. The view on the drive was a lot like a Wyle Coyote cartoon, bit rocks, cacti, and mountains. We passed from big red rocks, to big yellow rocks, to big gray rocks, to small tree covered mountains, to snow covered mountains, back to red rocks again. Utah is a gorgeous state!
We got into St. George, Utah, where we were going to stay for the night, and we grabbed an In & Out burger! I'd heard of them, but they don't have locations in Alabama to my knowledge. It was really good! It was also really crowded. I guess we know where all the cool kids got for dinner in St. George!
May 13, 2011
We are surrounded by Mormons.
I mean, that's not a terrible thing, of course. It's just an observation.
Today was going to mainly be a driving day, but when we left our hotel, we went back to Arches National Park to see Double Arch.
IT BELONGS IN A MUSEUM!!!!!
It was huge! We had a great time climbing over the rocks, but unfortunately, none of us located Coronado's Cave. :(
In case you aren't aware, the opening shots of the third Indiana Jones movie were filmed in Arches, specifically around Double Arch, Park Avenue, & Balance Rock. Of course, Harrison Ford wasn't in the opening scenes of the movie, but close enough.
We drove back by Park Avenue, and then over to the visitor's center before we got on the road again. We were going to have to cross most of the state of Utah, so it was going to be a long drive!
We did make one more stop on the way, though. Mr. Lee wanted me to see Dead Horse Point state park!
We were sooooooo very high.
Nice name, huh? It sounded like a biker bar to me, but it was a lovely park near Canyon Lands. I've heard two versions of the story about how it got its name. Apparently, it was common for cowboys to round up wild mustangs by chasing them into box canyons, where they would then build a fence across the opening to keep them inside, kind of like a natural corral. Instead of a box canyon in this case, though, it was a high area with a narrow opening and sheer cliff walls that went straight down into a canyon. One story says that a group of horses were accidentally left fenced into the area where they died of thirst. The other story was that the horses were culls, and the cowboys left them there on purpose. In any case, a lot of horses died there, so the name is apt.
The view was amazing, and you could see part of the Colorado river in the canyon below. I probably shouldn't have been worried about Steve pushing me off of a cliff, because he is scared of heights and would freak out if I leaned over the wall even a little bit! :)
After we left, we started our long drive. The view on the drive was a lot like a Wyle Coyote cartoon, bit rocks, cacti, and mountains. We passed from big red rocks, to big yellow rocks, to big gray rocks, to small tree covered mountains, to snow covered mountains, back to red rocks again. Utah is a gorgeous state!
We got into St. George, Utah, where we were going to stay for the night, and we grabbed an In & Out burger! I'd heard of them, but they don't have locations in Alabama to my knowledge. It was really good! It was also really crowded. I guess we know where all the cool kids got for dinner in St. George!
Friday, May 20, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST EDITION VOLUME 2
May 12, 2011
Today was a busy day! We headed off down the road a way to Mesa Verde, or as I've been calling it (to mess with Mr. Lee) Salsa Verde. It was an amazing drive onto these big, green mountains, and we could see some snow capped mountains in the distance! Mesa Verde is a national park where you can go and see the abandoned cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, or as the PC Police are calling them, Ancestral Puebloans. Pffft.
And this is where I go off on a tangent:
OK, see, the Navajo basically named this tribe because the name Anasazi means "Ancient Enemies" in their language. Now, either these "Ancestral Puebloans" didn't have a language (either written or spoken) in which they were named, or the fact that they sort of disappeared in the 13th century means that the name was lost to history - I dunno. What I do know is, with due respect to the latter day cliff dwellers, is that it's silly to try and change the name that history knows you as, simply because it names you as someone's enemy. They obviously didn't get along with the Navajos, ergo...they would technically be their enemies, and since the true name is unknown, then it seems logical to keep the name that was given. My tribe happens to be called Cherokee, which means "Tree People" but I haven't tried changing it because I don't live in a tree. Besides, Anasazi kind of sounds bad ass and mysterious.
But, I digress...
It was really interesting to see the cliff dwellings.
I'd seen some of these dwellings in books before and had no idea where they were, so I was excited! We didn't want to go on the guided tour, so Mr. Lee drove us around and we stopped where we wanted to and took pictures. We had to take a really long trail to the first one, so we got to see them up close. It was a tough hike since we were at such a high elevation and the air was so thin, but it was worth it! Unfortunately we got down to the ruins at the same time as a very large school field trip of children, so we had to dodge around them to get pictures without kids in them, but we managed. I was a little disappointed to learn that some of the ruins had been rebuilt. When I go to see history, I want to see it the way it's supposed to look! Of course, I can't complain too much, because if someone hadn't done some work on them, they probably wouldn't still be standing. Oh, well, I still totally enjoyed it. We saw so many neat things and the weather was gorgeous. It was warm with cool winds. By far it was the best weather we've had this whole trip! We stayed at Mesa Verde until the afternoon and moved on to our next stop, Moab, Utah.
We only stopped long enough to drop off our luggage at our hotel before we were on our way to the next adventure. We stopped at a Wendy's for a quick dinner, and Steve was almost jumped upon by a very friendly Native American child. He got away from his parents and was intensely interested in what everyone was eating. Luckily, he saw another family that looked more interesting and left before he stuck his hand in our food. That other family wasn't so lucky. Also, I'm fairly certain that the guy who took my order cheated me out of a baked potato. I mean, I was OK without it, but we did pay for it and when I told him he'd forgotten to give it to me, he looked like I was crazy. To be fair, though, he probably wanted me out of there quickly and thought a potato would slow me down...I did sort of look homeless by that point. He wouldn't want me pan handling in his restaurant, I guess.
We entered Arches National Park to take a quick-ish turn around the park to see a few things before it got too dark. I know I'm beginning to sound kind of cheesy since I keep raving about everything, but I can't help it. Arches was awesome. I mean that in the most literal sense. It fills you with awe. I've enjoyed every place we've been thus far, but this place is just...I don't know. Jaw dropping, I guess. It is beautiful, of course, but it's more than that. I wish all of you could have been there to see it.
One thing Steve wanted especially to see was Delicate Arch, which is a very famous formation. We couldn't take the hike (Mr. Lee's leg and my ankle were not doing too hot, and the hike was 15 freaking miles long) so we went to a viewing area a couple of miles away. I'm not going to lie, it had gotten hot and I whined about the hike. I felt bad later, but it was such a long walk, my foot hurt, and it was hot! I think I've found the secret to keeping me happy while doing outdoorsy stuff: keep me from getting hot.
Write that down.
Other than the being hot thing, though, I was doing fairly well until I noticed my shins were burning pretty badly. At first I thought it was just from the hike, but it felt like something had bitten me. I was wearing jeans, so I rolled up the cuffs and noticed that that the skin on my legs had gotten so dry that it had cracked and red sand had gotten in it. Nice. Yuck. Ouch.
Since the light was failing, and since were were going to go back to see the stuff we missed tomorrow morning, we left the park to go back to the hotel. I wish we had more time to visit the town of Moab, because it has all kinds of little shops and restaurants that look interesting. I know Mr. Lee would let me go if I asked, but it would put us way behind. Oh well, maybe another time!
We got back to our hotel, super tired and very dirty, had a vending machine dinner and sacked out.
May 12, 2011
Today was a busy day! We headed off down the road a way to Mesa Verde, or as I've been calling it (to mess with Mr. Lee) Salsa Verde. It was an amazing drive onto these big, green mountains, and we could see some snow capped mountains in the distance! Mesa Verde is a national park where you can go and see the abandoned cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, or as the PC Police are calling them, Ancestral Puebloans. Pffft.
And this is where I go off on a tangent:
OK, see, the Navajo basically named this tribe because the name Anasazi means "Ancient Enemies" in their language. Now, either these "Ancestral Puebloans" didn't have a language (either written or spoken) in which they were named, or the fact that they sort of disappeared in the 13th century means that the name was lost to history - I dunno. What I do know is, with due respect to the latter day cliff dwellers, is that it's silly to try and change the name that history knows you as, simply because it names you as someone's enemy. They obviously didn't get along with the Navajos, ergo...they would technically be their enemies, and since the true name is unknown, then it seems logical to keep the name that was given. My tribe happens to be called Cherokee, which means "Tree People" but I haven't tried changing it because I don't live in a tree. Besides, Anasazi kind of sounds bad ass and mysterious.
But, I digress...
It was really interesting to see the cliff dwellings.
Cliff Palace. Awesome.
I'd seen some of these dwellings in books before and had no idea where they were, so I was excited! We didn't want to go on the guided tour, so Mr. Lee drove us around and we stopped where we wanted to and took pictures. We had to take a really long trail to the first one, so we got to see them up close. It was a tough hike since we were at such a high elevation and the air was so thin, but it was worth it! Unfortunately we got down to the ruins at the same time as a very large school field trip of children, so we had to dodge around them to get pictures without kids in them, but we managed. I was a little disappointed to learn that some of the ruins had been rebuilt. When I go to see history, I want to see it the way it's supposed to look! Of course, I can't complain too much, because if someone hadn't done some work on them, they probably wouldn't still be standing. Oh, well, I still totally enjoyed it. We saw so many neat things and the weather was gorgeous. It was warm with cool winds. By far it was the best weather we've had this whole trip! We stayed at Mesa Verde until the afternoon and moved on to our next stop, Moab, Utah.
We only stopped long enough to drop off our luggage at our hotel before we were on our way to the next adventure. We stopped at a Wendy's for a quick dinner, and Steve was almost jumped upon by a very friendly Native American child. He got away from his parents and was intensely interested in what everyone was eating. Luckily, he saw another family that looked more interesting and left before he stuck his hand in our food. That other family wasn't so lucky. Also, I'm fairly certain that the guy who took my order cheated me out of a baked potato. I mean, I was OK without it, but we did pay for it and when I told him he'd forgotten to give it to me, he looked like I was crazy. To be fair, though, he probably wanted me out of there quickly and thought a potato would slow me down...I did sort of look homeless by that point. He wouldn't want me pan handling in his restaurant, I guess.
We entered Arches National Park to take a quick-ish turn around the park to see a few things before it got too dark. I know I'm beginning to sound kind of cheesy since I keep raving about everything, but I can't help it. Arches was awesome. I mean that in the most literal sense. It fills you with awe. I've enjoyed every place we've been thus far, but this place is just...I don't know. Jaw dropping, I guess. It is beautiful, of course, but it's more than that. I wish all of you could have been there to see it.
Park Avenue
One thing Steve wanted especially to see was Delicate Arch, which is a very famous formation. We couldn't take the hike (Mr. Lee's leg and my ankle were not doing too hot, and the hike was 15 freaking miles long) so we went to a viewing area a couple of miles away. I'm not going to lie, it had gotten hot and I whined about the hike. I felt bad later, but it was such a long walk, my foot hurt, and it was hot! I think I've found the secret to keeping me happy while doing outdoorsy stuff: keep me from getting hot.
Write that down.
Delicate Arch is the one on the Utah license plates.
It's actually quite big, but we were kind of far away.
Other than the being hot thing, though, I was doing fairly well until I noticed my shins were burning pretty badly. At first I thought it was just from the hike, but it felt like something had bitten me. I was wearing jeans, so I rolled up the cuffs and noticed that that the skin on my legs had gotten so dry that it had cracked and red sand had gotten in it. Nice. Yuck. Ouch.
Since the light was failing, and since were were going to go back to see the stuff we missed tomorrow morning, we left the park to go back to the hotel. I wish we had more time to visit the town of Moab, because it has all kinds of little shops and restaurants that look interesting. I know Mr. Lee would let me go if I asked, but it would put us way behind. Oh well, maybe another time!
We got back to our hotel, super tired and very dirty, had a vending machine dinner and sacked out.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST EDITION VOLUME 2
May 11, 2011
We headed out of Page in the morning and began driving towards Monument Valley. We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart to buy lotion. We all have begun feeling scaly. Seriously, it's so dry that you dont even feel completely wet in the shower! Poor Steve has been getting nose bleeds in the morning because of this. I don't mind the dry air, though, because you don't get soaked with sweat even when it's hot and you don't have to use a hair dryer! Of course, my hair looks crazy, but luckily I brought a large supply of hats! My hands feel like snake skin, which is gross, and my arms and legs feel like I have a thin layer of rubber over my skin, so Gold Bond to the rescue! Also, and I can't be sure why, but everything smells faintly like a burnt match. I'm even tasting sulfer, but I don't know where it is coming from. I also have a constantly dry mouth and my face feels weird. Climate changes do weird things to me.
Although the scenery is very beautiful, after a while it all starts looking the same! Still, I couldn't stop looking out of the window! As we drove, Me. Lee found a Navajo radio station, which we listened to even though we had no idea what they were saying. I tried sending a picture to some of you from my phone, but again service was spotty at best. Maybe you'll get it one of these days.
We stopped briefly in Kayenta, Arizona because we found another shop that sold the pumpkin cookies we like! SCORE! Then we drove a bit further and entered the Land of Very Big Rocks.
One thing I had forgotten about traveling with Mr. Lee, is that he goes full on "honey badger" when it comes to take pictures. It's so funny! He has been known to climb fences, trespass, and simply drive out onto dusty ranch roads to get the perfect shot. Today was no different. First thing, he swung onto a ranch road on someone's property, within sight of their house, parked on the shoulder and walked out into a pasture. I just knew we'd get shot! I jumped out and snapped a quick shot or two, but Lee was out there for a long while. Steve and I watched him as he took pictures, and then we saw him moving some stuff around. We were too far away to really tell what he was doing. When he finally got back to the van, I asked what he had moved, and he told us it was a horse skull!! Gross! He said it added the element he needed for his picture, but still... I hope the picture was worth dragging around a skull!
We finally reached Monument Valley, and apparently, things are much nicer there than they used to be. There is a large, modern building that has a museum, gift shop, and restaurant there. It was very nice!
We Got back into the van and made our way down the semi-paved roads into Monument Valley proper! It was unbelievable!
I've never seen anything like it before. I mean, I've seen pictures, but none of them do it justice. The buttes were just enormous and red and beautiful. Mr. Lee and I took dozens of photos. We'd drive, stop, jump out and take pictures. It was so much fun. I got scared that Mr. Lee was going to fall off of a cliff, because he was so wrapped up in taking his pictures that he didn't seem to be watching where he was going. Luckily, though, we all made it out alive. There were a few bad moments where I thought I was going to barf, because the roads were terrible. They were not much more than ranch trails, and driving on them shook us around terribly. I didn't barf, but it was a close call.
Oooooooh! We saw tumbleweeds! Real, live, tumbling tumbleweeds!!! I squeed.
It was still cold, and it got very windy. At the first stop, a gust of wind hurled sand and dust into my face and it got into my eyes and stuck in my lip gloss. Yuck. If the wind hadn't been blowing, it probably wouldn't have been cold. Oh well, I still say it's better than being hot!
We took pictures for several hours, and went to Gouldman's Trading Post museum and restaurant for lunch. It was fun walking through the museum!
After that, we moved on to the Four Corners, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet! It was the ultimate foot picture opportunity!
We walked around the center point, and Steve took pictures of my feet in each state. I realized while looking at them that I'm so pale that I look green. It's not easy, you know.
We were staying in Cortez, Colorado, and when we got to our hotel it turned out we got a honking big suite. We think it might have been an apartment at some point, because the dimensions didn't make sense when compared to the rest of the hotel. Also, Steve and I found a creepy little kitchen right off of our bedroom.
It's old and doesn't look or smell as if it had been used in a long time. It also has a doorway to the outside, so we were a bit creeped out thinking that someone could just walk into our room in the middle of the night. We locked the door and hoped no weird people would walk in and try to spoon us in the middle of the night. The hotel is great, but that kitchen just doesn't make sense and it weirded me out.
May 11, 2011
We headed out of Page in the morning and began driving towards Monument Valley. We had to make a stop at Wal-Mart to buy lotion. We all have begun feeling scaly. Seriously, it's so dry that you dont even feel completely wet in the shower! Poor Steve has been getting nose bleeds in the morning because of this. I don't mind the dry air, though, because you don't get soaked with sweat even when it's hot and you don't have to use a hair dryer! Of course, my hair looks crazy, but luckily I brought a large supply of hats! My hands feel like snake skin, which is gross, and my arms and legs feel like I have a thin layer of rubber over my skin, so Gold Bond to the rescue! Also, and I can't be sure why, but everything smells faintly like a burnt match. I'm even tasting sulfer, but I don't know where it is coming from. I also have a constantly dry mouth and my face feels weird. Climate changes do weird things to me.
Although the scenery is very beautiful, after a while it all starts looking the same! Still, I couldn't stop looking out of the window! As we drove, Me. Lee found a Navajo radio station, which we listened to even though we had no idea what they were saying. I tried sending a picture to some of you from my phone, but again service was spotty at best. Maybe you'll get it one of these days.
We stopped briefly in Kayenta, Arizona because we found another shop that sold the pumpkin cookies we like! SCORE! Then we drove a bit further and entered the Land of Very Big Rocks.
One thing I had forgotten about traveling with Mr. Lee, is that he goes full on "honey badger" when it comes to take pictures. It's so funny! He has been known to climb fences, trespass, and simply drive out onto dusty ranch roads to get the perfect shot. Today was no different. First thing, he swung onto a ranch road on someone's property, within sight of their house, parked on the shoulder and walked out into a pasture. I just knew we'd get shot! I jumped out and snapped a quick shot or two, but Lee was out there for a long while. Steve and I watched him as he took pictures, and then we saw him moving some stuff around. We were too far away to really tell what he was doing. When he finally got back to the van, I asked what he had moved, and he told us it was a horse skull!! Gross! He said it added the element he needed for his picture, but still... I hope the picture was worth dragging around a skull!
We finally reached Monument Valley, and apparently, things are much nicer there than they used to be. There is a large, modern building that has a museum, gift shop, and restaurant there. It was very nice!
We Got back into the van and made our way down the semi-paved roads into Monument Valley proper! It was unbelievable!
I've never seen anything like it before. I mean, I've seen pictures, but none of them do it justice. The buttes were just enormous and red and beautiful. Mr. Lee and I took dozens of photos. We'd drive, stop, jump out and take pictures. It was so much fun. I got scared that Mr. Lee was going to fall off of a cliff, because he was so wrapped up in taking his pictures that he didn't seem to be watching where he was going. Luckily, though, we all made it out alive. There were a few bad moments where I thought I was going to barf, because the roads were terrible. They were not much more than ranch trails, and driving on them shook us around terribly. I didn't barf, but it was a close call.
Oooooooh! We saw tumbleweeds! Real, live, tumbling tumbleweeds!!! I squeed.
It was still cold, and it got very windy. At the first stop, a gust of wind hurled sand and dust into my face and it got into my eyes and stuck in my lip gloss. Yuck. If the wind hadn't been blowing, it probably wouldn't have been cold. Oh well, I still say it's better than being hot!
We took pictures for several hours, and went to Gouldman's Trading Post museum and restaurant for lunch. It was fun walking through the museum!
After that, we moved on to the Four Corners, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado meet! It was the ultimate foot picture opportunity!
An epic place for a foot picture!
We walked around the center point, and Steve took pictures of my feet in each state. I realized while looking at them that I'm so pale that I look green. It's not easy, you know.
We were staying in Cortez, Colorado, and when we got to our hotel it turned out we got a honking big suite. We think it might have been an apartment at some point, because the dimensions didn't make sense when compared to the rest of the hotel. Also, Steve and I found a creepy little kitchen right off of our bedroom.
*Psycho Music*
It's old and doesn't look or smell as if it had been used in a long time. It also has a doorway to the outside, so we were a bit creeped out thinking that someone could just walk into our room in the middle of the night. We locked the door and hoped no weird people would walk in and try to spoon us in the middle of the night. The hotel is great, but that kitchen just doesn't make sense and it weirded me out.
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST EDITION VOLUME 2
May 11, 2011
Go West, Young Man! (Er...youngish woman)
I don't see how anyone can get used to living in Springdale. It's so gorgeous, I'd spend all my time looking out of the window! I suppose you can get used to anything, though.
After breakfast, we got back on the road and headed to Page, Arizona.
On the way out of town, we stopped at the Human History museum in Zion to get some pictures of the park since the sun was out today. There is literally no place you can look where the scenery isn't beautiful. It doesn't even look real, it's so pretty. I bet there are places in heaven that look like this. I wish I could show it off to everyone I know. I actually tried, but cell phone signals are not so great out here. Hopefully someone got the picture I took! :)
Our next stop was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, which was kind of an "on the fly" trip. After the ginger at the gate got kind of nasty with Mr. Lee for not knowing how to get inside of the park, we made it to the dunes and they were so cool! They popped up out of nowhere. You're driving along, looking at trees and big rocks and then BAM, you're looking at pinkish-orange sand dunes! Awesome. I walked down onto them and promptly almost fell down, of course. I managed to stay on my feet, and somehow I got a mouthful of sand. I determined that the sand dunes didn't like me, so I went back to the parking lot. It was cold out there, too.
I dozed off and on when we got back on the road, so I didn't see an awful lot until we got into Kanab, Utah. We ate lunch at a pretty fair Mexican restaurant (a local favorite) and did a little shopping. We went to a place where there were some absolutely gorgeous silver and turquoise jewelry that I wish I could have bought, but it was antique and cost more than I could afford! Boo. We drove out of Kanab towards our next stop, and it started raining again. Apparently, we brought rain to the desert. Usually, we only take rain when we travel east, so, go figure. It had also been hailing hard enough to make the ground look covered in snow in some places. While I was very glad it wasn't anywhere near as hot as the last time we were here, I was a little surprised that it would be so cold!
There is one thing that kind of sucks about traveling out here, and that's the complete lack of knowing what time it is. The time zones change without warning, and then it depends on whether you are on or off the Navajo reservation. As of now, we might as well say we are on Western Howdy Doody Time.
We soon drove out of the rain and into beautiful sunshine as we entered Glens Canyon.
It was so beautiful! I wish there hadn't been buildings out there to get in the way of my pictures, but oh well. It was also warm, so I got out and walked around a bit. Mr. Lee found a flowering cactus, and when I knelt down to take a picture, I don't know if I fell or just forgot that cacti were spiny, but my hand went right onto it. Ouch! I spent the next few minutes plucking spines from my fingers.
Our next stop was in Page, Arizona, where most of the things we had planned kind of fell through. The shop where we usually get special pumpkin cookies had closed (boo!), the slot canyons were closed, and (and I hate to admit this) I chickened out of climbing up to see the horseshoe bend. Mr. Lee couldn't make the climb because he'd twisted his knee, and Steve didn't want to see it, so there wasn't anyone who could shame me into going. Shut up! There were no guard rails! It was 1000 feet to the river below, and you have to go right to the edge to see it. Also, and I know this isn't fair, but I have an irrational fear that Steve is going to push me off of a cliff. I've been having nightmares.
We finally just went to the hotel to check in, and we all fell asleep. I think we're all turning into old people. I woke up when Glee came on and spent an hour trying to explain to Steve and Mr. Lee what was going on and who everyone was. Fun, that. Later, we went out to pick up a quick dinner and spent the rest of the evening sitting around. I didn't mind, though. We had a lot of stuff planned for the next day.
May 11, 2011
Go West, Young Man! (Er...youngish woman)
I don't see how anyone can get used to living in Springdale. It's so gorgeous, I'd spend all my time looking out of the window! I suppose you can get used to anything, though.
After breakfast, we got back on the road and headed to Page, Arizona.
On the way out of town, we stopped at the Human History museum in Zion to get some pictures of the park since the sun was out today. There is literally no place you can look where the scenery isn't beautiful. It doesn't even look real, it's so pretty. I bet there are places in heaven that look like this. I wish I could show it off to everyone I know. I actually tried, but cell phone signals are not so great out here. Hopefully someone got the picture I took! :)
Our next stop was the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, which was kind of an "on the fly" trip. After the ginger at the gate got kind of nasty with Mr. Lee for not knowing how to get inside of the park, we made it to the dunes and they were so cool! They popped up out of nowhere. You're driving along, looking at trees and big rocks and then BAM, you're looking at pinkish-orange sand dunes! Awesome. I walked down onto them and promptly almost fell down, of course. I managed to stay on my feet, and somehow I got a mouthful of sand. I determined that the sand dunes didn't like me, so I went back to the parking lot. It was cold out there, too.
I dozed off and on when we got back on the road, so I didn't see an awful lot until we got into Kanab, Utah. We ate lunch at a pretty fair Mexican restaurant (a local favorite) and did a little shopping. We went to a place where there were some absolutely gorgeous silver and turquoise jewelry that I wish I could have bought, but it was antique and cost more than I could afford! Boo. We drove out of Kanab towards our next stop, and it started raining again. Apparently, we brought rain to the desert. Usually, we only take rain when we travel east, so, go figure. It had also been hailing hard enough to make the ground look covered in snow in some places. While I was very glad it wasn't anywhere near as hot as the last time we were here, I was a little surprised that it would be so cold!
There is one thing that kind of sucks about traveling out here, and that's the complete lack of knowing what time it is. The time zones change without warning, and then it depends on whether you are on or off the Navajo reservation. As of now, we might as well say we are on Western Howdy Doody Time.
We soon drove out of the rain and into beautiful sunshine as we entered Glens Canyon.
It was so beautiful! I wish there hadn't been buildings out there to get in the way of my pictures, but oh well. It was also warm, so I got out and walked around a bit. Mr. Lee found a flowering cactus, and when I knelt down to take a picture, I don't know if I fell or just forgot that cacti were spiny, but my hand went right onto it. Ouch! I spent the next few minutes plucking spines from my fingers.
Stupid, stabby cactus!
Our next stop was in Page, Arizona, where most of the things we had planned kind of fell through. The shop where we usually get special pumpkin cookies had closed (boo!), the slot canyons were closed, and (and I hate to admit this) I chickened out of climbing up to see the horseshoe bend. Mr. Lee couldn't make the climb because he'd twisted his knee, and Steve didn't want to see it, so there wasn't anyone who could shame me into going. Shut up! There were no guard rails! It was 1000 feet to the river below, and you have to go right to the edge to see it. Also, and I know this isn't fair, but I have an irrational fear that Steve is going to push me off of a cliff. I've been having nightmares.
We finally just went to the hotel to check in, and we all fell asleep. I think we're all turning into old people. I woke up when Glee came on and spent an hour trying to explain to Steve and Mr. Lee what was going on and who everyone was. Fun, that. Later, we went out to pick up a quick dinner and spent the rest of the evening sitting around. I didn't mind, though. We had a lot of stuff planned for the next day.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST EDITION VOLUME 2
May 10, 2011
Leaving Las Vegas
This morning we reluctantly woke up and headed out of the city. There was a lot of road to cover before we made it to our next stop. We had breakfast at a Carl's Jr. restaurant, and I had to slap Mr. Lee on the arm for telling the lady behind the counter that they needed to get the food we have at Hardee's back at home. I swear, he's turning into Grandma. :)
We got back on the interstate, and it was like driving across the surface of Mars. Well, if Mars had scrubby bushes, that is. Don't get me wrong though, it's beautiful country. Long stretches of flat desert bordered by rocky hills and mountains. It looks like everything is close but Mr. Lee says that the clear air magnifies, so we were actually very far away from them. It was really pretty. There were a couple of places where my brain had trouble processing what I was seeing. It was just mountains, but my head kept expecting to see Alabama type scenery. I was instead looking at something completely unfamiliar and I couldn't quite wrap my brain around it. It was a weird sensation!
At one point, we were going along a long, flat road, and suddenly it seemed like mountains came out of nowhere and jumped in front of the car. Before I knew it, we were driving through a canyon inside the mountains. It literally took my breath away for a minute. I mean, you hear about that happening, but has it ever really happened to you? I almost had to grab my inhaler, but I managed to start breathing again. :) Good Lord... It was huge and deep and amazing. I wish I could have taken pictures, but we were moving too fast. Seriously, when you start feeling like you're important, I suggest you go to that canyon and be reminded how small you are in the scheme of things.
We made our way through the unbelievable scenery and into a small town called Hurricane, Utah, where we stopped for gas, ice cream, and jackets. Believe it or not, it was chilly outside. Neither Steve nor I had brought coats, because the last couple of times we had traveled out there, it was blazing hot. We were not prepared for the late spring weather! We couldn't really find what we were looking for, so we had to settle for some cheap Wal-Mart workout suit jackets. We figured they would be good enough. Heh.
Oh, and Hurricane had the most gorgeous roses I'd ever seen! Just FYI.
We made it into Springdale, Utah, where we would be spending the night at The Brambleberry Inn. We actually stayed there the last time we visited the west, so it was nice to be in a familiar place. It was a bit overcast and only a little chilly, which wasn't too bad. Since we had gotten to our hotel sooner than we had expected, we decided to take the tram into Zion National Park, which was just down the street. While we were waiting on the tram, I decided to run back to our room and grab Mr. Lee's and my jacket. Steve didn't want his (that part is important). It wasn't really cold, but I was a little chilly at the bus stop and figured it wouldn't hurt to bring it along. I'm very glad I did.
Zion National Park is in this gorgeous valley below high Navajo sandstone cliffs. It attracts all kinds of people, from the wheelchair bound to serious survivalist rock climbers and hikers. It's the kind of place where you might get shivved by a hippy if you "Take more than pictures" or "Leave more than footprints." When we got on the park bus to go to a place called "Weeping Rock", it was just starting to sprinkle, and we were joined on the bus by some of the hard core outdoorsmen. They were outfitted with Camelbacks, hiking gear, and heavy rain parkas. When they walked on, I had a moment of smugness when I saw their rain gear. I thought, "Huh, they're so tough, but they can't stand to get a little damp. Wimps." When we reached our stop, Mr. Lee must have been feeling the same smugness, because he called all the people not getting off of the bus "cowards."
That's when God punished us for our hubris.
The path up to Weeping Rock is very steep, but not impossible to climb. Steve, Mr. Lee and I began up the trail, and the rain got harder. No big deal, right? Steve didn't want to continue up the trail, but I shamed him into it. Lee had to stop and change a camera battery, so we went on without him. Just as Steve and I got to the top, the rain started coming down with a lot of force and it started to hurt. Of course, that's when it stopped being rain and started being hail. We ran up the steps and hid under the rock as the hail pelted down. I'd love to say that the rock provided a lot of protection from the water, but it's called "Weeping Rock" for a reason. It constantly drips underneath. Nice. Mr. Lee eventually struggled up the trail, wet and beaten with ice, to hide under the rock with us. We got a chance to take a few pictures, and when the hail stopped, we decided to walk back down to the tram stop. Before we were halfway down, the hail started up again with a vengeance. I've never stood out in a heavy hail storm before, and I don't think I ever want to do it again. The ice bits were like rock salt! I was already wet and cold, so the hail beating down stung like a mofo. We're lucky the hailstones didn't get any bigger! Poor Steve was wearing shorts and no hat, plus, he hadn't brought his jacket, so he was getting the worst of it. By the time we made it to the bus shelter, we were freezing cold and soaked through. The temperature had dropped, so instead of soldiering on to another stop, we hopped the bus and rode it back to the visitor's center. We were miserably wet and cold. We finally got back and had the chance to warm up a minute or two before the visitor's center closed, and then we caught the tram back to our inn.
The rest of the day was dull in comparison. We changed into dry clothes, had dinner, and we huddled user blankets for a long time after trying to get warm.
I'm never making fun of people in panchos again.
May 10, 2011
Leaving Las Vegas
This morning we reluctantly woke up and headed out of the city. There was a lot of road to cover before we made it to our next stop. We had breakfast at a Carl's Jr. restaurant, and I had to slap Mr. Lee on the arm for telling the lady behind the counter that they needed to get the food we have at Hardee's back at home. I swear, he's turning into Grandma. :)
We got back on the interstate, and it was like driving across the surface of Mars. Well, if Mars had scrubby bushes, that is. Don't get me wrong though, it's beautiful country. Long stretches of flat desert bordered by rocky hills and mountains. It looks like everything is close but Mr. Lee says that the clear air magnifies, so we were actually very far away from them. It was really pretty. There were a couple of places where my brain had trouble processing what I was seeing. It was just mountains, but my head kept expecting to see Alabama type scenery. I was instead looking at something completely unfamiliar and I couldn't quite wrap my brain around it. It was a weird sensation!
At one point, we were going along a long, flat road, and suddenly it seemed like mountains came out of nowhere and jumped in front of the car. Before I knew it, we were driving through a canyon inside the mountains. It literally took my breath away for a minute. I mean, you hear about that happening, but has it ever really happened to you? I almost had to grab my inhaler, but I managed to start breathing again. :) Good Lord... It was huge and deep and amazing. I wish I could have taken pictures, but we were moving too fast. Seriously, when you start feeling like you're important, I suggest you go to that canyon and be reminded how small you are in the scheme of things.
We made our way through the unbelievable scenery and into a small town called Hurricane, Utah, where we stopped for gas, ice cream, and jackets. Believe it or not, it was chilly outside. Neither Steve nor I had brought coats, because the last couple of times we had traveled out there, it was blazing hot. We were not prepared for the late spring weather! We couldn't really find what we were looking for, so we had to settle for some cheap Wal-Mart workout suit jackets. We figured they would be good enough. Heh.
Oh, and Hurricane had the most gorgeous roses I'd ever seen! Just FYI.
We made it into Springdale, Utah, where we would be spending the night at The Brambleberry Inn. We actually stayed there the last time we visited the west, so it was nice to be in a familiar place. It was a bit overcast and only a little chilly, which wasn't too bad. Since we had gotten to our hotel sooner than we had expected, we decided to take the tram into Zion National Park, which was just down the street. While we were waiting on the tram, I decided to run back to our room and grab Mr. Lee's and my jacket. Steve didn't want his (that part is important). It wasn't really cold, but I was a little chilly at the bus stop and figured it wouldn't hurt to bring it along. I'm very glad I did.
I haven't been everywhere in the world yet, but
Zion is easily the most beautiful place I've seen so far.
Zion National Park is in this gorgeous valley below high Navajo sandstone cliffs. It attracts all kinds of people, from the wheelchair bound to serious survivalist rock climbers and hikers. It's the kind of place where you might get shivved by a hippy if you "Take more than pictures" or "Leave more than footprints." When we got on the park bus to go to a place called "Weeping Rock", it was just starting to sprinkle, and we were joined on the bus by some of the hard core outdoorsmen. They were outfitted with Camelbacks, hiking gear, and heavy rain parkas. When they walked on, I had a moment of smugness when I saw their rain gear. I thought, "Huh, they're so tough, but they can't stand to get a little damp. Wimps." When we reached our stop, Mr. Lee must have been feeling the same smugness, because he called all the people not getting off of the bus "cowards."
That's when God punished us for our hubris.
The path up to Weeping Rock is very steep, but not impossible to climb. Steve, Mr. Lee and I began up the trail, and the rain got harder. No big deal, right? Steve didn't want to continue up the trail, but I shamed him into it. Lee had to stop and change a camera battery, so we went on without him. Just as Steve and I got to the top, the rain started coming down with a lot of force and it started to hurt. Of course, that's when it stopped being rain and started being hail. We ran up the steps and hid under the rock as the hail pelted down. I'd love to say that the rock provided a lot of protection from the water, but it's called "Weeping Rock" for a reason. It constantly drips underneath. Nice. Mr. Lee eventually struggled up the trail, wet and beaten with ice, to hide under the rock with us. We got a chance to take a few pictures, and when the hail stopped, we decided to walk back down to the tram stop. Before we were halfway down, the hail started up again with a vengeance. I've never stood out in a heavy hail storm before, and I don't think I ever want to do it again. The ice bits were like rock salt! I was already wet and cold, so the hail beating down stung like a mofo. We're lucky the hailstones didn't get any bigger! Poor Steve was wearing shorts and no hat, plus, he hadn't brought his jacket, so he was getting the worst of it. By the time we made it to the bus shelter, we were freezing cold and soaked through. The temperature had dropped, so instead of soldiering on to another stop, we hopped the bus and rode it back to the visitor's center. We were miserably wet and cold. We finally got back and had the chance to warm up a minute or two before the visitor's center closed, and then we caught the tram back to our inn.
The rest of the day was dull in comparison. We changed into dry clothes, had dinner, and we huddled user blankets for a long time after trying to get warm.
I'm never making fun of people in panchos again.
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST VOLUME 2
May 9, 2011
I woke this morning in my clothes, on top of the covers, and face down in a pile of pillows. Well, I almost had all of my clothes on. Thank God I was wearing two shirts, because I only had the outer one on one arm and the rest of it was wrapped around my head. I must have been extremely sleepy to manage that. I don't even remember going to sleep. Maybe it was a defense mechanism that kicked in while we were watching Desperate Housewives. *Shudder* By the way, What the hell is it with resorts and all of the pillows? Who needs 9 pillows? Even with Steve's giant head, he doesn't need that many pillows.
Anyway, amazingly, we didn't oversleep this morning, but I suppose we have our Central Standard Time brains to thank for that. I was afraid we'd slept the whole morning away, but when I scrambled to look at the clock, it was only 6:00 A.M.
Since Mr. Lee had the meeting with the resort people today, Steve and I were on our own. After breakfast, we walked across the street to The Sahara* and looked around a bit. The Sahara seems weirdly empty, but that could have been because it was a Sunday morning. We won $5 in the casino! Of course, we managed to lose that 5 dollars at the other casinos, but it was fun while it lasted. After that, we got on the Monorail (can't seem to get away from those, can I?) and went as far down Las Vegas Blvd as we could. We took a few pictures, and then we walked down to the Luxor and wondered around.
We actually just walked from casino to casino and looked around. I think we walked a hundred miles today, which probably wasn't great for my ankle. It hurt. A lot. I had the ankle brace on, but it basically only kept my foot from twisting again. I was apparently too dumb to take an aspirin before venturing out. :{
On a good note, I found Macarons!!!!! WOOT! I figured if anywhere would have them, the Paris Las Vegas Hotel would have them! Yay! Actually, it was a place called the Sugar Factory attached to the hotel, but whatever.
We also went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and looked around. I realized pretty quickly that a) I can't fit into any of the clothes any of the stores sell, and b) I couldn't afford them even of I could wear them. Boo. So, I did the only thing I could think of, I went back to the Vosges Haut-Chocolate store and got some stuff I'd never tried before! Don't judge me. Thankfully, I didn't buy three tons of fancy chocolates that had to be temperature controlled from there this time. I bought a reasonable amount of boxed stuff that could be carried around in my backpack. The girl behind the counter even gave me a free one! NOM!
Have I mentioned that Cirque du Soleil freaks me the hell out? It really does. It isn't normal for people to move in those ways and it scares me. I don't even like watching them on television. Also, Cirque du Soleil is EVERYWHERE in Las Vegas. You can't get away from them! So I spent my time here flinching away from the posters and banners. Whee.
The whole time we were out, the wind was blowing like crazy. I mean, the news said there were 60 mph gusts and I believe it! All of the rollar coasters and other outdoor rides were closed because of it. It was blowing so hard that it was really hard to walk against, and it was slinging very fine sand into our faces. I got a couple of pieces in my eyes, which was quite unpleasant. At one point, I opened my mouth to say something, and a gust of wind blew sand down my throat. Yuck! You think God was telling me something? ; ) My foot was hurting so bad, and we were so tired and hot, that we decided to come back to the hotel. My ankle was swollen worse and bruised, my hair was just...insane, and I had a fine crust of sand all over my face. I looked lovely. When I went to the bathroom to wash my face, I noticed that the wind had blown one of my earrings right out of my ear lobe! Lucky it wasn't expensive or anything, but it was one of my favorite ones.
Hastared wind.
Mr. Lee came in a few minutes after we did and we decided to go and get dinner. We jumped in the car and went to The Bellagio to try their famous buffet. It was delicious, which was a surprise. Usually buffet food tastes industrial to me, but this was very good! It was also expensive, and I didn't feel as if I ate enough to justify the price. The hotel itself was gorgeous, and I wish there hadn't been so many people there because I would have loved to get closer to some of the Marino glass sculptures. They were made by frickin' Dale Chihuly! Can you believe it?! I am such a dorky fan of that guy, but I never thought I'd get to see any of his stuff in person. It was GORGEOUS!
We were all still pretty tired after we ate, jet lag I suppose, so we went back to the hotel and sacked out. I wish there had been more exciting adventures, but it was at least a fun day! :)
*EDIT: I had no idea The Sahara was closing down! How sad. :( It really was a lovely building. No wonder it was so empty. If we had known, I might have tried stealing one of the chandeliers! :)
May 9, 2011
I woke this morning in my clothes, on top of the covers, and face down in a pile of pillows. Well, I almost had all of my clothes on. Thank God I was wearing two shirts, because I only had the outer one on one arm and the rest of it was wrapped around my head. I must have been extremely sleepy to manage that. I don't even remember going to sleep. Maybe it was a defense mechanism that kicked in while we were watching Desperate Housewives. *Shudder* By the way, What the hell is it with resorts and all of the pillows? Who needs 9 pillows? Even with Steve's giant head, he doesn't need that many pillows.
Anyway, amazingly, we didn't oversleep this morning, but I suppose we have our Central Standard Time brains to thank for that. I was afraid we'd slept the whole morning away, but when I scrambled to look at the clock, it was only 6:00 A.M.
Want to give your sphincter a workout first thing in the morning?
Look out of a floor-to-ceiling window on the 36th floor when you forget you are that high.
Since Mr. Lee had the meeting with the resort people today, Steve and I were on our own. After breakfast, we walked across the street to The Sahara* and looked around a bit. The Sahara seems weirdly empty, but that could have been because it was a Sunday morning. We won $5 in the casino! Of course, we managed to lose that 5 dollars at the other casinos, but it was fun while it lasted. After that, we got on the Monorail (can't seem to get away from those, can I?) and went as far down Las Vegas Blvd as we could. We took a few pictures, and then we walked down to the Luxor and wondered around.
New York, New York Hotel and Casino
The Luxor. The pharaohs only WISH they had a pyramid this big.
We actually just walked from casino to casino and looked around. I think we walked a hundred miles today, which probably wasn't great for my ankle. It hurt. A lot. I had the ankle brace on, but it basically only kept my foot from twisting again. I was apparently too dumb to take an aspirin before venturing out. :{
On a good note, I found Macarons!!!!! WOOT! I figured if anywhere would have them, the Paris Las Vegas Hotel would have them! Yay! Actually, it was a place called the Sugar Factory attached to the hotel, but whatever.
Josh would not approve!
Ahhhhhhhhhhh! *Angel Chorus*
You want to know the truth? These cookies were prettier, but my cookies tasted better! :) At least now I know! AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE!
We also went to the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace and looked around. I realized pretty quickly that a) I can't fit into any of the clothes any of the stores sell, and b) I couldn't afford them even of I could wear them. Boo. So, I did the only thing I could think of, I went back to the Vosges Haut-Chocolate store and got some stuff I'd never tried before! Don't judge me. Thankfully, I didn't buy three tons of fancy chocolates that had to be temperature controlled from there this time. I bought a reasonable amount of boxed stuff that could be carried around in my backpack. The girl behind the counter even gave me a free one! NOM!
Have I mentioned that Cirque du Soleil freaks me the hell out? It really does. It isn't normal for people to move in those ways and it scares me. I don't even like watching them on television. Also, Cirque du Soleil is EVERYWHERE in Las Vegas. You can't get away from them! So I spent my time here flinching away from the posters and banners. Whee.
The whole time we were out, the wind was blowing like crazy. I mean, the news said there were 60 mph gusts and I believe it! All of the rollar coasters and other outdoor rides were closed because of it. It was blowing so hard that it was really hard to walk against, and it was slinging very fine sand into our faces. I got a couple of pieces in my eyes, which was quite unpleasant. At one point, I opened my mouth to say something, and a gust of wind blew sand down my throat. Yuck! You think God was telling me something? ; ) My foot was hurting so bad, and we were so tired and hot, that we decided to come back to the hotel. My ankle was swollen worse and bruised, my hair was just...insane, and I had a fine crust of sand all over my face. I looked lovely. When I went to the bathroom to wash my face, I noticed that the wind had blown one of my earrings right out of my ear lobe! Lucky it wasn't expensive or anything, but it was one of my favorite ones.
Hastared wind.
Mr. Lee came in a few minutes after we did and we decided to go and get dinner. We jumped in the car and went to The Bellagio to try their famous buffet. It was delicious, which was a surprise. Usually buffet food tastes industrial to me, but this was very good! It was also expensive, and I didn't feel as if I ate enough to justify the price. The hotel itself was gorgeous, and I wish there hadn't been so many people there because I would have loved to get closer to some of the Marino glass sculptures. They were made by frickin' Dale Chihuly! Can you believe it?! I am such a dorky fan of that guy, but I never thought I'd get to see any of his stuff in person. It was GORGEOUS!
We were all still pretty tired after we ate, jet lag I suppose, so we went back to the hotel and sacked out. I wish there had been more exciting adventures, but it was at least a fun day! :)
*EDIT: I had no idea The Sahara was closing down! How sad. :( It really was a lovely building. No wonder it was so empty. If we had known, I might have tried stealing one of the chandeliers! :)
Monday, May 16, 2011
BLOGGED ALONG THE WAY: WILD, WILD WEST VOLUME 2
'Allo! I'm finally back in the south and trying to readjust my sleeping patterns! Enjoy!
Las Vegas, Nevada!
May 8, 2011
This morning, Steve & I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and hustled over to Mr. lee's house so that we could start our adventure! We had been discussing another trip out west for a couple of years now, and since Mr. Lee had signed up to do one of those "Please buy a timeshare" spiels, we decided to begin our trip in Las Vegas this week!
We had no problem with our flight out of Huntsville, and we even had a fairly easy time with our flight from Atlanta. The flight was full and our seats were in the very back of the plane. Sitting in the back doesn't bother me, but it must bother other people quite badly. These old biddies sitting behind us, who had apparently only made it onto our flight on a stand by list, complained a lot about where they were seated. It really got on my nerves! Add to that the fact that they talked loud, brought smelly food onto the plane, and kept getting up and wondering around the plane. Who does that? They'd stand up and just hang out in the aisle, much to the chagrin of the flight attendants who were pulling big carts down the aisle. In fact, a lot of people just stood up and wondered around during the flight. I just kept to my seat, alternately reading, staring out of the window, and dozing off. At one point, I fell asleep and dreamed I was on a train. I woke up suddenly, my mind still convinced I was on a train, and I was looking right out of the window. The weather was very clear, so instead of seeing trees passing by, I was looking straight down on middle American farmlands at least 35, 000 feet down. I had a split second where my Crazy Town brain almost kicked in and I came within an ace of screaming. Luckily, I remembered where I was in time. I'm sure everyone appreciated that! We only had one fairly bad moment when we were landing. The winds were pretty harsh, and they were shaking the plane badly. I can get motion sick fairly easily sometimes, and even though I'd been fine up to this point, it hit me quickly. The absolute last thing I want to do is barf on a plane, so I grabbed for my backpack which had a bag of candied ginger in it. It's the only thing I've ever known that can stop nausea cold. Unfortunately, the man sitting in front of me had kept his his seat leaned back practically in my lap the whole flight, and my backpack was wedged under it. It was close, and I probably should have just horked on his head to teach him some traveling manners, but with one almighty heave (no pun intended) I hauled my backpack up and got to the ginger in time. Again, I'm sure everyone appreciated that!
We landed and managed to get onto the tram that would take us to the baggage claim area. It took us to the big part of the airport, where all of the shops and things are. We had to walk a long way, and once we were almost there, we had to descend a set of stairs. Well, there was a set of stairs and a down escalator, but for some insane reason, I chose to use the stairs. I was doing fine, thinking to myself that if I had known how steep the stairs were, I wouldn't have used them, when my ankle turned. I heard a crunch and I went down. I managed to only fall down two of the stairs and catch myself by the hand rail before I went all the way down, but the damage had been done. I didn't fall far, but I fell hard. I ended up sitting on the stairs, with people going by asking if I was ok, and I managed to get up and walk, but my ankle was borked. I could walk, but it felt like cold needles were racing up and down my leg with every step. By the time we had gotten to our rental car, I knew it was sprained pretty badly. Unfortunatey, there was nothing I could do about it. We couldn't check into our hotel yet, so we went to a little independant Mexican place and grabbed lunch (the food was amazing, by the way), and since we had planned to go to Hoover Dam to see the new bridge, I climbed a lot of stairs and walked almost all of the way across the bridge before I had to stop. We made it back to the car, and stopped a couple of times along the dam to take pictures, which didn't do my ankle any favors. I was tough, though, and kept my whining to a minimum! :)
We had to stop at Wal-mart and pick up a few things, so I got a lovely ankle brace to keep me from making things worse. So that's great. I'm on a walking/hiking vacation, and I managed to hurt myself first thing.
We are staying in a really nice place, one of the Hyatt Grand Vacation resorts right on the Las Vegas strip! Our room is on the 36th floor, and I haven't made myself look out of window yet. :) I felt like a homeless person when we first came into the place because we were hauling all of our luggage and a cooler when we waked in, and we had that grungy "we've been traveling all day" look. With all of these well dressed people walking around, I felt like one of the Beverly Hillbillies.
We didn't go out and do anything tonight because we we're all so tired and we have all day tomorrow to look around, so we just got room service and are hanging out in the room. Pratts Gone Wild, indeed.
'Allo! I'm finally back in the south and trying to readjust my sleeping patterns! Enjoy!
Las Vegas, Nevada!
May 8, 2011
This morning, Steve & I woke up at the butt-crack of dawn and hustled over to Mr. lee's house so that we could start our adventure! We had been discussing another trip out west for a couple of years now, and since Mr. Lee had signed up to do one of those "Please buy a timeshare" spiels, we decided to begin our trip in Las Vegas this week!
We had no problem with our flight out of Huntsville, and we even had a fairly easy time with our flight from Atlanta. The flight was full and our seats were in the very back of the plane. Sitting in the back doesn't bother me, but it must bother other people quite badly. These old biddies sitting behind us, who had apparently only made it onto our flight on a stand by list, complained a lot about where they were seated. It really got on my nerves! Add to that the fact that they talked loud, brought smelly food onto the plane, and kept getting up and wondering around the plane. Who does that? They'd stand up and just hang out in the aisle, much to the chagrin of the flight attendants who were pulling big carts down the aisle. In fact, a lot of people just stood up and wondered around during the flight. I just kept to my seat, alternately reading, staring out of the window, and dozing off. At one point, I fell asleep and dreamed I was on a train. I woke up suddenly, my mind still convinced I was on a train, and I was looking right out of the window. The weather was very clear, so instead of seeing trees passing by, I was looking straight down on middle American farmlands at least 35, 000 feet down. I had a split second where my Crazy Town brain almost kicked in and I came within an ace of screaming. Luckily, I remembered where I was in time. I'm sure everyone appreciated that! We only had one fairly bad moment when we were landing. The winds were pretty harsh, and they were shaking the plane badly. I can get motion sick fairly easily sometimes, and even though I'd been fine up to this point, it hit me quickly. The absolute last thing I want to do is barf on a plane, so I grabbed for my backpack which had a bag of candied ginger in it. It's the only thing I've ever known that can stop nausea cold. Unfortunately, the man sitting in front of me had kept his his seat leaned back practically in my lap the whole flight, and my backpack was wedged under it. It was close, and I probably should have just horked on his head to teach him some traveling manners, but with one almighty heave (no pun intended) I hauled my backpack up and got to the ginger in time. Again, I'm sure everyone appreciated that!
We landed and managed to get onto the tram that would take us to the baggage claim area. It took us to the big part of the airport, where all of the shops and things are. We had to walk a long way, and once we were almost there, we had to descend a set of stairs. Well, there was a set of stairs and a down escalator, but for some insane reason, I chose to use the stairs. I was doing fine, thinking to myself that if I had known how steep the stairs were, I wouldn't have used them, when my ankle turned. I heard a crunch and I went down. I managed to only fall down two of the stairs and catch myself by the hand rail before I went all the way down, but the damage had been done. I didn't fall far, but I fell hard. I ended up sitting on the stairs, with people going by asking if I was ok, and I managed to get up and walk, but my ankle was borked. I could walk, but it felt like cold needles were racing up and down my leg with every step. By the time we had gotten to our rental car, I knew it was sprained pretty badly. Unfortunatey, there was nothing I could do about it. We couldn't check into our hotel yet, so we went to a little independant Mexican place and grabbed lunch (the food was amazing, by the way), and since we had planned to go to Hoover Dam to see the new bridge, I climbed a lot of stairs and walked almost all of the way across the bridge before I had to stop. We made it back to the car, and stopped a couple of times along the dam to take pictures, which didn't do my ankle any favors. I was tough, though, and kept my whining to a minimum! :)
We had to stop at Wal-mart and pick up a few things, so I got a lovely ankle brace to keep me from making things worse. So that's great. I'm on a walking/hiking vacation, and I managed to hurt myself first thing.
We are staying in a really nice place, one of the Hyatt Grand Vacation resorts right on the Las Vegas strip! Our room is on the 36th floor, and I haven't made myself look out of window yet. :) I felt like a homeless person when we first came into the place because we were hauling all of our luggage and a cooler when we waked in, and we had that grungy "we've been traveling all day" look. With all of these well dressed people walking around, I felt like one of the Beverly Hillbillies.
We didn't go out and do anything tonight because we we're all so tired and we have all day tomorrow to look around, so we just got room service and are hanging out in the room. Pratts Gone Wild, indeed.
Friday, May 06, 2011
Great. Just flipping great.
We had to take Bear to the vet early this morning and there was an "incident" with another dog. He was already wound up when we got him in the car, and when we took him inside he didn't seem to get any calmer. Since it was morning, I didn't think it would be much of a problem, but we somehow managed to get there just as a tide of dogs were being brought in for dog day care. (Yeah, I know.) I don't know if he got scared, or if it was because he thought he was protecting Steve, who was holding him back, but a Cocker Spaniel came in and got in his face and Bear chomped down on his front paw and wouldn't let go. They got them separated, and he didn't tear up the other dogs foot, but there was a hole in it and it was bleeding. When we left the dog was in a consult room with one of the surgical techs. The man was so angry. I apologized, but I don't think he was listening to me. We told the vet we'd pay for fixing the dog's paw, but I'm afraid that man will try and sue us or something. He seemed really, really angry. There is no way we can afford to be sued. I'm not even sure how we can afford to pay for the other dogs bill, especially if he needs surgery or something. The whole incident made me feel sick to my stomach, and I've been huddled in a ball alternately chewing my fingernails off and crying since we got back. It doesn't sound like a big deal, and I'm hoping it isn't in the long run, but the man was SO angry. Bear isn't a mean or bad dog, he's just stupid. I feel so awful.
EDIT: OK, I've calmed down a bit. It was just reaction, I guess. I've never seen one of our dogs hurt any other dogs but each other and it scared me. I also realize that the man couldn't successfully sue us since dogs are dogs and they bite sometimes. I also saw everything and know that Bear didn't actually attack the other dog AND he was being restrained PLUS the fact that a whole herd of dogs came in and were growling and snapping at each other and it just so happened that the Spaniel happened to jump at Bear at just the wrong time. I still feel terrible, though. We will, of course, pay to have the other dog's paw treated. It was just awful to have my dog hurt another person's dog. :( I hope Bandit will be OK.
We had to take Bear to the vet early this morning and there was an "incident" with another dog. He was already wound up when we got him in the car, and when we took him inside he didn't seem to get any calmer. Since it was morning, I didn't think it would be much of a problem, but we somehow managed to get there just as a tide of dogs were being brought in for dog day care. (Yeah, I know.) I don't know if he got scared, or if it was because he thought he was protecting Steve, who was holding him back, but a Cocker Spaniel came in and got in his face and Bear chomped down on his front paw and wouldn't let go. They got them separated, and he didn't tear up the other dogs foot, but there was a hole in it and it was bleeding. When we left the dog was in a consult room with one of the surgical techs. The man was so angry. I apologized, but I don't think he was listening to me. We told the vet we'd pay for fixing the dog's paw, but I'm afraid that man will try and sue us or something. He seemed really, really angry. There is no way we can afford to be sued. I'm not even sure how we can afford to pay for the other dogs bill, especially if he needs surgery or something. The whole incident made me feel sick to my stomach, and I've been huddled in a ball alternately chewing my fingernails off and crying since we got back. It doesn't sound like a big deal, and I'm hoping it isn't in the long run, but the man was SO angry. Bear isn't a mean or bad dog, he's just stupid. I feel so awful.
EDIT: OK, I've calmed down a bit. It was just reaction, I guess. I've never seen one of our dogs hurt any other dogs but each other and it scared me. I also realize that the man couldn't successfully sue us since dogs are dogs and they bite sometimes. I also saw everything and know that Bear didn't actually attack the other dog AND he was being restrained PLUS the fact that a whole herd of dogs came in and were growling and snapping at each other and it just so happened that the Spaniel happened to jump at Bear at just the wrong time. I still feel terrible, though. We will, of course, pay to have the other dog's paw treated. It was just awful to have my dog hurt another person's dog. :( I hope Bandit will be OK.
Monday, May 02, 2011
BLOGGING IN THE DARK
May 1, 2011
I was told that revolution was just three missed meals away. For me, revolution would begin the first time I couldn't flush my toilet.
Luckily, the water treatment plant that services our area wasn't damaged in the storms. We've had clean, running water this whole time and for that I'm very grateful!
I've actually figured out that the lack of power doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Of course, I'm going on the assumption that the situation is only temporary, but still, most of the things I do don't require much electricity. It's inconvenient, but not terrible. I think if this had to be long term or permanent, I'd miss the internet the most. If for no other reason than because I have friends I'd never hear from again without internet access, which sucks. Oh well, that is just life in these modern times, right? Right now I've still got my iPad and iPod, which can be charged in the car to keep me from going completely technologically cold turkey, and the odd minute or so I can use Steve's phone to read Twitter or Facebook to make sure my friends are still out there. Not so bad, actually.
It's weird how empty the town feels. A lot of people got out of Dodge and off to greener, better lighted pastures once they realized how long we'd be off the power grid. I know that there are still plenty of people out here, but Huntsville is (contrary to popular belief) kind of a big town. I'm used to at least a modest amount of traffic and noise, even out here in the suburbs. The most cars I've seen in my immediate area lately have been at Target or Publix, and even then, there aren't as many as I've seen there before.
I made breakfast on a Sterno hot plate today!
We've been reduced to college dorm food. Those are
bacon bits on an egg sandwich. Oy vey.
We found one at a sporting goods store nearby, and we were very lucky to find it! Almost every piece of camp cooking equipment was snatched up long before we got there. The only reason it could even do us a bit of good was because I still had 2 leftover cans of Sterno from 2006, when I got an indoor s'mores maker. See, my magpie-like shopping habits have helped us out more than once during this ordeal! You can't find propane or sterno for love or money around here right now. I also had a little, tiny cast iron skillet that I got from my mother's house when she moved, and it fit perfectly over the flame. We keep finding little blessings around each corner these days.
We went to Mr. Lee's house again for another shower, and then over to my mom's house to take them some ice and charcoal. They'd been staying in Decatur, but had come home today to check on their dog and clean out their freezer. Poor them, they had only recently ordered a bunch of meat from Obama Steaks (actually Omaha Steaks, but my mom got confused) and she gave us some. We took a bit, but because we still have no power, we couldn't take as much as she was offering! My sister, who lives out in the willy-wags of Elkmont can take the rest, since their power has already been restored. Once again, we had steak for dinner, and we are vey blessed to have such good food, but I'll be honest, I'm getting tired of grilled meat. It's a treat most of the time, but having so much so often is getting cloying. I'd be happy to have a peanut butter sandwich at this point. We're also getting pretty good at baking stuff on the grill! We have managed not to burn anything yet, and honestly, that's a better track record than I have with the oven! :)
I think the dogs are going to be sad once everything gets back to normal. We've been giving them whatever leftover steak we couldn't keep, and they've been in hog heaven. Since we've been keeping the window in the kitchen open for the cross breeze, I've just been lifting the screen and feeding them the chunks of meat from right there. I think they have come to believe that it is some kind of magic doggie drive through restaurant.
As I had settled down for my new evening activity of crocheting in the semi-dark and listening to my iPod, at about 7:50, I was suddenly shocked into almost swallowing my tongue when the light next to my chair snapped on! It scared me! We heard cheers up and down our street as the streetlights came on, and seemingly every outside light flicked on as well. Steve and I stood in the middle of our living room just staring around. I felt like one of the monkeys at the beginning of the movie 2001: A Space Oddessy, cowering and throwing sticks at the big monolith they didn't understand.
We knew there was a chance that the power could just as easily go off again while the power company tweaked the grid, so we made sure not to run through the house flipping on everything that plugged in! I spent the next hour or so washing out the interior of the fridge, and washing dishes. Hey, you have your way of celebrating and I have mine! :) Unfortunately, we think the fridge no longer works. It makes sounds, but it isn't getting cold. Possibly, the power popping off like it did might have fried the wiring. That sucks so bad, because the fridge is not even a little bit old. Also, it's going to take me a year to remove all of my magnets and stuff from the front if we have to get a new one. :)
I'm very thankful that we have power again, and I hope it stays on instead of teasing us by going off just as we are getting used to it. I do have to admit, though, a part of me is really going to miss the quiet evenings. I enjoyed sitting in the semi-dark with the windows open, listening to the neighborhood dogs bark and not having the tv on constantly. It was nice. Don't worry, though, I didn't love it enough to go Amish or anything. I enjoy air conditioning, hot showers, and cooking without open flames too much. If I feel the need for a quiet evening again sometime soon, I'll just turn off the lights and listen to whale songs or something on the iPod. :)
May 1, 2011
I was told that revolution was just three missed meals away. For me, revolution would begin the first time I couldn't flush my toilet.
Luckily, the water treatment plant that services our area wasn't damaged in the storms. We've had clean, running water this whole time and for that I'm very grateful!
I've actually figured out that the lack of power doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would. Of course, I'm going on the assumption that the situation is only temporary, but still, most of the things I do don't require much electricity. It's inconvenient, but not terrible. I think if this had to be long term or permanent, I'd miss the internet the most. If for no other reason than because I have friends I'd never hear from again without internet access, which sucks. Oh well, that is just life in these modern times, right? Right now I've still got my iPad and iPod, which can be charged in the car to keep me from going completely technologically cold turkey, and the odd minute or so I can use Steve's phone to read Twitter or Facebook to make sure my friends are still out there. Not so bad, actually.
It's weird how empty the town feels. A lot of people got out of Dodge and off to greener, better lighted pastures once they realized how long we'd be off the power grid. I know that there are still plenty of people out here, but Huntsville is (contrary to popular belief) kind of a big town. I'm used to at least a modest amount of traffic and noise, even out here in the suburbs. The most cars I've seen in my immediate area lately have been at Target or Publix, and even then, there aren't as many as I've seen there before.
I made breakfast on a Sterno hot plate today!
We've been reduced to college dorm food. Those arebacon bits on an egg sandwich. Oy vey.
We found one at a sporting goods store nearby, and we were very lucky to find it! Almost every piece of camp cooking equipment was snatched up long before we got there. The only reason it could even do us a bit of good was because I still had 2 leftover cans of Sterno from 2006, when I got an indoor s'mores maker. See, my magpie-like shopping habits have helped us out more than once during this ordeal! You can't find propane or sterno for love or money around here right now. I also had a little, tiny cast iron skillet that I got from my mother's house when she moved, and it fit perfectly over the flame. We keep finding little blessings around each corner these days.
We went to Mr. Lee's house again for another shower, and then over to my mom's house to take them some ice and charcoal. They'd been staying in Decatur, but had come home today to check on their dog and clean out their freezer. Poor them, they had only recently ordered a bunch of meat from Obama Steaks (actually Omaha Steaks, but my mom got confused) and she gave us some. We took a bit, but because we still have no power, we couldn't take as much as she was offering! My sister, who lives out in the willy-wags of Elkmont can take the rest, since their power has already been restored. Once again, we had steak for dinner, and we are vey blessed to have such good food, but I'll be honest, I'm getting tired of grilled meat. It's a treat most of the time, but having so much so often is getting cloying. I'd be happy to have a peanut butter sandwich at this point. We're also getting pretty good at baking stuff on the grill! We have managed not to burn anything yet, and honestly, that's a better track record than I have with the oven! :)
I think the dogs are going to be sad once everything gets back to normal. We've been giving them whatever leftover steak we couldn't keep, and they've been in hog heaven. Since we've been keeping the window in the kitchen open for the cross breeze, I've just been lifting the screen and feeding them the chunks of meat from right there. I think they have come to believe that it is some kind of magic doggie drive through restaurant.
As I had settled down for my new evening activity of crocheting in the semi-dark and listening to my iPod, at about 7:50, I was suddenly shocked into almost swallowing my tongue when the light next to my chair snapped on! It scared me! We heard cheers up and down our street as the streetlights came on, and seemingly every outside light flicked on as well. Steve and I stood in the middle of our living room just staring around. I felt like one of the monkeys at the beginning of the movie 2001: A Space Oddessy, cowering and throwing sticks at the big monolith they didn't understand.
We knew there was a chance that the power could just as easily go off again while the power company tweaked the grid, so we made sure not to run through the house flipping on everything that plugged in! I spent the next hour or so washing out the interior of the fridge, and washing dishes. Hey, you have your way of celebrating and I have mine! :) Unfortunately, we think the fridge no longer works. It makes sounds, but it isn't getting cold. Possibly, the power popping off like it did might have fried the wiring. That sucks so bad, because the fridge is not even a little bit old. Also, it's going to take me a year to remove all of my magnets and stuff from the front if we have to get a new one. :)
I'm very thankful that we have power again, and I hope it stays on instead of teasing us by going off just as we are getting used to it. I do have to admit, though, a part of me is really going to miss the quiet evenings. I enjoyed sitting in the semi-dark with the windows open, listening to the neighborhood dogs bark and not having the tv on constantly. It was nice. Don't worry, though, I didn't love it enough to go Amish or anything. I enjoy air conditioning, hot showers, and cooking without open flames too much. If I feel the need for a quiet evening again sometime soon, I'll just turn off the lights and listen to whale songs or something on the iPod. :)
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