Updates...

Again, no pictures (sorry, I'm a slacker). While we're staying at my parents' house, our laptop is stowed away. I'll have a few on Facebook soon, but we've been laying pretty low and trying to save some $$ in preparation for our little one. As a result, our love for travel has taken a backseat, which we expected. However, travel doesn't even come close to comparing to having a CHILD! Cari and baby Lebron (no, that's not REALLY what we're going to name him) are both healthy and active. Cari continues to experience the ups and downs of pregnancy and has officially entered the third trimester, which I call the "it doesn't matter how I sit or lay down, I'm just uncomfortable" phase! We're continuing to learn about exercises, what to eat, what works and doesn't. We're going to be pros by the time the baby is born!

Everything is still on track for a late-January delivery. We even took a "preparing for childbirth" class last weekend and learned a LOT about the delivery and labor process. We toured the hospital, and more importantly, I learned how to change a diaper. That's right folks...WATCH OUT! In related baby news, my sister had her second child, Camden Matthew Comiskey, on 11/2/12! We took the day off to drive down to Concord and see her and her mini-linebacker (all 9lbs 4oz of him). What a blessing it is to actually be able to drive 2 hours and see family instead of pay $600 and fly all day long!

In NON baby-related news, we finally signed a lease on a rental house, starting 12/1. It's a great place near Lake Johnson in a small, quiet neighborhood. It has an attached garage and fenced-in backyard, and it will hopefully be enough space for us, baby, and some guests. As gracious as we are for my parents allowing us to stay in their house, we are excited to be in our own place with our own things and feel a little more settled.

There's not much else going on around here! We got to enjoy tailgating at JMU for homecoming this year with some great friends and dinner afterwards (again, another event we haven't had the opportunity to attend until we moved back). Otherwise, we're gearing up for UNC basketball and hunkering down for the "cold" southern transition to winter (ha. haha.). Keep checking back for more updates!

It's about time...

You'll notice that there are no pictures to go along with this post (which is out of the ordinary). That's mainly because I don't have any pictures loaded on this computer. However, it's also because there are too many words to describe the past several months which leaves little room for pictures.

It took a few weeks to get over our travel hangover. 2 weeks on the road staying at a different place each night is a LONG time. I had to go to work the next day, and I was exhausted. It was a rough recovery, but we made it through. Only after a few months did I get to the point where I looked back on our journey and thought..."Wow! That was incredible. Let's go travel again!" I'm not quite sure Cari is at that point yet, but it's understandable since she's..... PREGNANT!!

That's right! We're going to be parents. What an incredible, God-blessed summer we've had. We actually found out Cari was pregnant a few weeks before our trip, but didn't make the "formal" announcement until July, and since I haven't posted since June, I didn't include anything here. However, despite our plans to try to start having kids AFTER our trip, God's will was done in His perfect timing and we were blessed with a little bean BEFORE the trip. There's no romantic or surprising story about how we found out -- Cari just peed on a stick one morning and BAM.. two lines. This put a slight twist in our trip though; two weeks in the car on many curvy mountain roads with a pregnant woman in her first trimester definitely makes things a little different. Cari was a rockstar though. She didn't start to feel too bad until midway through the trip, and even then she was off and on (mostly on). Luckily, she was able to enjoy our experience on the road with very little difficulty.

We are now down to being less than 4 months until our sweet baby BOY will come into this world. We've been to the doctor multiple times, seen our little man 3 times, and adjusted to the life of "parents-to-be" (as much as one can adjust to that lifestyle). Cari is most definitely showing, but she's feeling much better and we're both learning a lot about the process. It's simply miraculous that God has constructed such an intricate design in child birth. I find it hard to fathom learning about the details of our baby, created from next to nothing, growing inside of Cari for a specified amount of time at a specific rate and not believing in Jesus. My heart breaks for those who cannot experience this process and those who experience it but don't know or understand God's love.

In other news, we are back on the east coast!! Our original goal of making our way back here has been realized. I received an offer for a job in Fidelity's quality management organization, a job which was posted in North Carolina (where I used to work). After being offered the job, we made the decision to use our own money (again) and move back to be closer to family. Similar to our move to Albuquerque, we were incredibly blessed by the outpouring of friendship and love that we received. We had a small army of men helping load our 16-foot Penske rental, which we accomplished in under 2 hours. We had an empty apartment full of close friends and family with who we enjoyed pizza and beer during our last night. When we arrived in NC, we had several old friends (many of who we had not talked to since we left NC) help us unload into a storage facility which we accomplished in under an hour. What an amazing blessing! Thank you to all who helped and who might read this one day..

While it took a lot of planning, the details of our move were relatively simple. We wanted to make sure to spend time with as many of our close friends in ABQ as we could before we left. The last week, we enjoyed some of our favorite restaurants, such as Sophia's Place, went to a beer festival, had one of the most incredible dining experiences ever at Cocina Azul, and just remained in community as much as possible. We packed for several weeks before the move -- our apartment was full of broken down cardboard boxes and packed boxes stacked high. We even made a fort for Belle! :) On the afternoon of Friday, Aug 31st, we loaded the truck with some great help. Additionally, Cari's mom, dad, and sister flew out to ABQ to help us drive back. We took off early Saturday morning and spent a long 15 hours on the road before making it to our less-than-stellar Best Wester in Clarksville, AR. After a short 6 hrs of sleep, we drove another 14 hours and got the opportunity to see and stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousins in Asheville, NC. It was great to see some familiar faces on the road. Finally, we arrived in Cary, NC at Extra Space Storage early afternoon and moved in to our storage unit before going back to my parent's house for a "thank you" cookout to all those who helped. No tornadoes, hail, or dead batteries during this trip, so we count it a success!

Since then, we have been living at my parent's house. It has been yet another blessing that they've allowed us to stay there. We are in the process of looking for a place of our own, but the process is relatively slow given our already busy schedule. Being back on the east coast and near family is great, but it's much harder than we thought it would be. We never thought we would miss ABQ, but we do...mainly because of the people. We became close with so many great people, and now we have to start that process over again. But, we believe God led us back here to be closer to family for the birth of our first child, so we know He'll provide local friends for us in His timing. We've also been able to enjoy a plethora of UNC athletic events (soccer, volleyball, football), experience some amazing southern sweet tea and BBQ, and take in a few events/activities that we wouldn't have had the opportunity to be a part of (First Fridays in downtown Raleigh, Green River Ordinance concert, Tiger Conservatory).

That's all for now (yes.. "all")! I'll try to keep this thing updated more as we experience new things "back home." Prayers are with my sister who will be having her second child, Camden, in less than a month!!

NW Trip '12 - Day 16

6/17/12 - Day 16: Well, there's not much to this day, but for good measure and for closure, I thought I'd add an entry. We decided to sleep in a little since we were up late the night before enjoying all that Vegas had to offer (not really, just blisters on our feet). We grabbed Starbucks in the hotel on the way out and began the 9+ hour journey back to Albuquerque. The good thing about the trip from Vegas to ABQ is that the roads are straight/flat for the most part. The bad thing is that it takes NINE HOURS!! 

We broke up the trip by stopping in Flagstaff for lunch at the Cracker Barrel. We also got a chance to talk to our respective fathers since it was Father's Day!! After some brief conversations and bellies full of food, we finished the rest of our drive to ABQ. We arrived into town around 8:30 and hit Taco Cabana for some quick tacos before we went to pick up our sweet puppy from her dog-sitter's house. She was excited to see us, which was surprising; I didn't think she'd remember us after 2 weeks! 

We arrived back at our apartment around 9:30, unloaded what we could, and passed out. 

1 year of planning, 2 weeks of traveling, 7 cities and 8 national parks visited, 5300 miles driven, and we made it. We made it. We saw every state in the western/northwestern United States (with the exception of Alaska) and visited another country. We drove flat, windy, gravel, dirt, foggy, and rainy roads. We drove 10 + hours some days and 2 hours other days. We drove on cliffs 10k feet up and we drove through creeks along coastlines. We saw deer, elk, moose, bison, bear, bird, and mosquito. We went from desert to lakes to forests to plains to mountains to beach. We were happy and healthy some days and we were sick and grumpy other days. We made it. Would we do it exactly like this again? No, we wouldn't. But do we regret it? No, we don't. What an incredible experience. It's one we will tell our kids and grandkids about. We'll remember it forever!

NW Trip '12 - Day 15

6/16/12 - Day 15: The first half of our last full day and night on the road was about 50/50. The morning was breathtaking. Well, I guess the evening was too, but not in the way one would think. I woke up early (while Cari continued to sleep) and drove up to Glacier Point, which is an unbelievable overlook that gives great views of the entire valley, multiple waterfalls, and Half Dome (pictured above). The early morning sun made things a little hazy, but the rubbery feeling in my legs while looking out over the cliffs and vast expanse of the valley made the drive and the time well worth the lack of sleep. Once I got back, Cari was ready to go, so we had breakfast at the dining hall across the street again and hit the road.

We backtracked a little, heading west before changing direction northeast through the park. We drove through the Toloume Meadows section, and we took a few pictures on the way out. We escaped the mountain passes unscathed and were back on flat desert nothingness on the way to Las Vegas. We stopped for lunch at a random roadside cafe on the way once we arrived in Nevada where I had a roast beef with green chile and Cari had some fruit and a cheeseburger. It was definitely "roadside cafe"-type food, but we managed, as we've been doing for most of the trip. We made it to HOT, sunny Las Vegas in the late afternoon, found our hotel (the Tropicana), checked in, parked, and changed in our pretty nice room on the 20th floor. 

We had been to Vegas last fall for a night, and we decided to go to same place where we ate last time, which was a little Mexican restaurant inside the Venetian near the man-made canal. We took a cab there, found the restaurant, and had a burrito/fajitas and a couple of margaritas. After dinner, we decided to walk down the strip back to the hotel, which ended up being a lot further than we thought. We stopped at the Bellagio for the fountain show and didn't stop again until we got back. 

I have to say a few things about Vegas. I know a lot of people like the city, but I also know a lot of people don't read this blog. Or...maybe 2 people have ever read this blog. Regardless, Vegas makes us sad. It's truly unbelievable to me that sex, alcohol, and gambling attract so many people to one place. I certainly understand the appeal to go once and experience it, and I know the food is good and the shows are entertaining, but I believe the majority of people that go are not there for the food. We've walked the strip twice now, and the amount of nudity, drunkenness, and yes, even child exploitation is appalling. There is desperation in the eyes of almost everyone in that city. Cari and I have decided that if we do go back, it will only be to sit by the pool, enjoy some good food, and see a few shows; but I think we could probably get that at a number of places. Anyways, that's my venting session, and it's also my encouragement to pray for the people who truly enjoy those things. I'm not perfect, but being in Vegas really makes me run towards the Lord more than I do on an average day. 

Aaaanyways, up tomorrow and home for good!

NW Trip '12 - Day 14

6/15/12 - Day 14: I can't speak for Cari, but I struggled a lot the next two days with my emotions. I desperately wanted to be done traveling. Almost two weeks staying at a different place each night takes a toll on the body (physically, emotionally, mentally). I wanted to be home with familiar sounds, smells, roads, friends. However, we literally spent about a year planning this trip. It's good realizing that all the planning, all of the excitement, and all of the effort put into the trip paid off, but tough knowing that the trip was coming to an end. Either way, I set my mind to ensure that we made the most of the next couple days, starting with Day 14!! 

We woke up early in San Francisco after a great birthday evening and walked through the ghetto to get to Dottie's True Blue Cafe for breakfast. We were at a disadvantage with not really knowing the city. As a result, we found out quickly which areas were good to stay away from, but unfortunately, we found out the hard way. Regardless, we made it safely to the cafe and met up with our good friends Nate and Susan from Raleigh, NC! Nate was in town for a work convention, and Susan had flown out the night before to join him. They were kind enough to sacrifice sleep to see us. We had a great breakfast (lots of good home-cooked food) and fun conversation before walking back to the hotel the safe way. :) 

We packed up, checked out, and hit the road by about 10 a.m. The drive out of the city wasn't too bad, and we were on the interstate for a while. Unfortunately, the flat/straight road didn't last long, and we hit yet another incredibly windy road with big hills. We battled the road for a little while and stopped at a quaint little cafe on the top of one of the hills about an hour outside of Yosemite. The food was average (hamburger for me, ceasar for Cari) and the service was poor, but it was the best place...no, the only place to stop. 

Back on the road towards the park, the drive was incredibly scenic and rewarding. The road into Yosemite was along high cliffs (which we had actually gotten somewhat used to) and offered some amazing views of the forests and valley floor. Of course, we stopped along the way to take pictures of El Capitan (large exposed granite rock face) and Yosemite Falls (pictured above). The park was very commercialized and felt a little more developed than we prefer, but it was so large and beautiful that, given the amount of tourists each year, it probably couldn't function well any other way. We parked at the visitor lot and walked the almost one mile to the visitor center where we watched the "Spirit of Yosemite" video. After the short film, we took the shuttle to the hotel because it was pouring. Check-in went smoothly, and I got Cari settled in our rustic, but convenient hotel room before I made my way back to the car to pick it up and park it at the hotel. See what I mean? Lots of roads and shuttles and bus schedules -- not exactly what I think of when I think "national park." 

When Cari woke up, we went across the street to the "food court"-type dining hall for dinner. I had a cheese steak and fruit and Cari had spaghetti/meatballs. Neither dish was exactly superb, but it was a cheap meal and again, convenient. After dinner, we went for a fantastic walk to the base of Yosemite Falls (Cari let me climb on the rocks a little bit) where we took some pictures, walked along the nature trail, and let our food digest. We also come out of the woods in enough time to see the sunset red on the face of Half Dome. It was a beautiful sight and the great conversation rounded off a perfect evening. We even had a TV in our room (which was actually pretty rare for most of the national park lodges/hotels), so we watched a little bit of that before turning in!

NW Trip '12 - Day 13

6/14/12 - Day 13: Happy birthday to me!! After a rough drive the night before, a day in the city with my beautiful wife was the best birthday gift I could ask for. We grabbed Starbucks for breakfast in Fort Bragg and hit the road (if only I had a dollar for every time we sang "on the road agaainn...")! Since we drove a little further the evening before, the short drive to San Fran was a welcome change. We only had to stop for one bathroom break (and ironically, it was for me!). Since we were coming from the north, we got to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge on our way into the city, but we stopped on the north side at a scenic overlook to take a few pictures (see above). It was a little hazy, so seeing downtown as more than a shadow was difficult, but it was still a great sight to see. 

We drove in and found our way downtown to our hotel, the Intercontinental, where we were able to check in early. We splurged a little for our hotel decision despite booking on Hotwire, and it was a little fancy for my taste. But it was definitely nice to stay in a less-rustic place than we had been the past week and a half! Not only that, but my parents had shipped a yummy birthday treat of homemade cheese biscuits which were waiting in our room upon arrival! Our first stop was lunch...Chipotle to be exact! We walked to a 5-story mall and ate a much needed lunch. "Since we were already therrrrree" (can't you hear Cari saying that?) we walked around and shopped for a little bit. Next, we decided to head to Alamo Square Park, the site of the intro of Full House. 

We started walking towards the park and began to get into a very shady part of downtown. I think Cari even saw a drug deal go down. Needless to say, we hailed a cab the first chance we got and made it there much quicker than we would have walking. The park was beautiful and gave some great views of the city, so we just hung out, took lots of pictures, and enjoyed some great people-watching. After an hour or so, we hopped in another cab and went to Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, where Cari had planned a birthday dinner. We had a little time before dinner, so we went to Hard Rock Cafe for drinks (for me) and a big plate of nachos! We also had a nice pre-dinner walk around the pier and a great happy birthday conversation with my parents.

For dinner, we went to the Crabhouse, where Cari had reserved a great table by the window where we could watch the sun go down. She had a shrimp cocktail and I enjoyed the fish and chips. The food was great, but we were still a little full from our nachos, so we didn't nearly eat all of it. After dinner, we walked to the end of the pier and watched the sunset between the Golden Gate Bridge (to the left) and Alcatraz (to the right). We took a few pictures of the sunset and the sea lions close by, ate some Chinese donuts (yum!), and grabbed a cab back to the hotel where we called it a night!

NW Trip '12 - Day 12

6/13/12 - Day 12: I woke up early and drove back up from our cabin at to Crater Lake to take some morning pictures. The weather the day before was chilly and windy, and I wanted to see the lake when it was calm and sunny out. I'm glad I sacrificed sleep to do so, because the lake was even more beautiful in the morning under a bright sunny sky. After taking a few pictures, we grabbed some breakfast snacks at the nearby general store and hit the road (again...).

The drive through southwestern Oregon into northern California was just as incredible as the drive the day before. Oregon officially makes the list of "beautiful states to drive through!" We stopped in Crescent City for gas (> $4.00/gallon...yikes!) and lunch at the Harvest Cafe, which was the top restaurant on Tripadvisor. It seemed to be a local homecooked food type of place, and despite the bad service, the food was pretty good. I had a grilled ham and cheese and Cari enjoyed a BLT without the T (a "BL," if you will). 

Full of food, we drove south on 101 through the Redwood National Forest. We stopped on the way to the visitor center and took several pictures next to the colossal trees. Taking pictures with the trees was a little more difficult since it's hard to get an entire tree into one shot, but we managed. We got to the visitor center, bought a postcard, and saw lots of male elk grazing in the field in front of the building (and lots of dumb people getting as close as they could for a good picture). Our next stop after driving through more of the forest and along the coastline was Fern Canyon, which was recommended in our Fodor's National Park book. About 90% of the drive to Fern Canyon was dirt or gravel, and the first part looked like another scene out of Jurrasic Park - very dark drive through forest with huge trees and eerie moss hanging from everything. The road was barely big enough for one car, so we had to use the pullouts when there was another vehicle approaching. Once we made it through the forest down to the beach, we drove along the coast for a few more miles, having to drive through some flooded  creeks (only about a foot of water though). Finally, we arrived at the trailhead to Fern Canyon. 

The hike was short, but was not very well marked. We found what we assumed to be Fern Canyon, which was a creek bed with high walls on both sides covered in different types of ferns (hence the name, Fern Canyon). We walked over rocks and rotten boards down the creek bed for about a half mile, enjoying the scenery and taking some pictures before turning back. It was a beautiful area and a fun hike overall! We didn't have much time to do anything else, so we continued through the park down the Eureka and ate dinner at a wine bar/bistro. The food was excellent, but the service was such that we felt like we didn't fit in (especially in our grungy hiking clothes). 

After dinner, we had a rough drive down to our cottage in Fort Bragg - we took a long, EXTREMELY windy road toward Route 1 and then made it to the beach. The drive along the beach would probably have been nicer in the morning, but it was somewhat terrifying not being able to see the ground/water below, driving along cliffs, and knowing we were a hundred feet up. We got to our cottage pretty late and stressed out, but enjoyed the friendly service and the quaint, but very nice accommodations. San Francisco in the a.m.!

NW Trip '12 - Day 11

6/12/12 - Day 11: We got up, showered, repacked, ate breakfast at the hotel, and hit the road on a rainy Portland day (good riddance!). On our way to Crater Lake, we stopped at a McDonald's for lunch, which actually seemed to settle well. We enjoyed a beautiful drive through Oregon -- lots of green trees, rivers, lakes, and (the key) very few windy roads. We arrived at the entrance of Crater Lake National Park around 3:00 and were greeted by a rather unfriendly park ranger. Good thing we had cash since their credit card machine was down! 

A large amount of the rim drive around the lake was closed due to multiple feet of snow (seeing a trend here?), but we did get to drive around the West Rim Drive for a good amount, stopping for pictures at all the major overlooks. The lake was spectacular and one of my favorite sights on the trip. It was a color of blue that I have never seen in nature before, and despite the cold and the snow on the ground, we had a great time driving around and taking pictures. We stopped at the gift shop for a few souvenirs and some veggie soup for Cari's afternoon snack! On our way down towards our cabin, we made a quick restroom stop at the visitor center and found out that all the hiking trails were closed. There wasn't much to do in the park, but again, the views were incredible and being that this was day 11 on the road, we were okay with that. 

We checked into our very rustic cabin near the campground, unpacked, and put some beer on ice. Cari took a nap while I checked the maps for our trip to the Redwoods tomorrow, looked over pictures, and journaled a little. Once she woke up, we went to eat at the on-site restaurant across the parking lot from our cabin. The staff was very friendly despite the relatively low volume of guests, so it was a good experience. I had a phenomenal fettuccine alfredo with chicken and Cari enjoyed a large stuffed baked potato. After dinner, we went back to the cabin and played some card (Go Fish and Old Maid) before turning in! 

NW Trip '12 - Day 10

6/11/12 - Day 10: Given our early bedtime the night before, we got up and left Mt. Rainier relatively early (grabbing breakfast at the Inn's cafe on the way). On the way out of the park, we stopped for a brisk 1.5-mile hike at the "Grove of the Patriarchs," which was a "must-see" according to our National Parks book. The hike was nice and quiet, winding through some very old, very tall douglas firs and across a suspension bridge before making it to "the grove." The grove consisted of several 1000+ year old trees that looked like they were straight from Jurassic Park (in size and age). We took a few pictures, hiked back the way we came, and hopped in the car to head to Portland!

On the way to Portland, we made the biggest mistake of the trip: we stopped for lunch at Subway. We didn't realize it was a mistake at first, but once we got into Portland and found a parking garage near Pioneer Courtyard Square, Cari made good use of her empty sunchips bag. :/ It wasn't a very pleasurable experience for her, obviously. Once she was..umm..done, we walked down to the square and took a few pictures of the flowers (see above). I also went out on a hunt for ginger ale. After hanging out and hoping that her stomach would settle, and then seeing that it wouldn't, we decided against further sightseeing and drove across the city to our hotel near the airport, the Clarion.

We took it easy the rest of the afternoon -- Cari rested for a bit while I did laundry and checked work email. Around dinner time, I drove to Target and bought some chicken noodle soup for Cari and stopped for takeout at Buffalo Wild Wings for me. It was a relaxing, recovering night of eating, watching the Kings win the Stanley Cup, and yes...folding laundry. I'm sure Portland is a nice place, but there really wasn't much we wanted to see/do here, so having a day of rest (which was much needed) was probably a wise decision. Maybe we'll make it back one day and see all the splendor that the city has to offer ... until then, good riddance!

NW Trip '12 - Day 9

6/10/12 - Day 9: Jon and Megan got up and left early today (4:30 a.m...yuck), and since Mt. Rainier National Park (our next destination) was only a couple hours away, we decided to sleep in a little. I still woke up a little earlier than Cari to try and do a little laundry, but had a couple unsuccessful attempts (either all the machines were taken or broken). So, with dirty clothes bag still in hand, we left the hotel by about noon and ate brunch (yes, brunch. I know I said noon. Hush.) at IHOP and hit the road. 

We made it Mt. Rainier National Park around 3 and drove through the park and up the mountain to the visitor center (right at the base of the mountain itself). The park was beautiful and fascinatingly underdeveloped, which made it feel much more like I would expect a national park to feel. There were trees everywhere, waterfalls, and mountain vista views on the drive up. Once we arrived, we bundled up (40 degrees out) and took a few pictures outside before watching a video in and walking around the visitor center. We decided to try and hike one of the nearby trail (the "Skyline Trail") but we didn't have our snow boots and crampons and couldn't make it through the feet of snow that was still on the ground (yes, multiple feet). So, instead of hiking, we drove back down the mountain a little ways and slowly made our way back up, stopping at some of the main sights. 

We stopped and took pictures at Christine Falls, a random bridge and viewpoint, and Narada Falls. The latter was an adventure, since there was still a foot of snow on the hiking trail to get to the falls viewpoint. I went it alone because Cari wasn't feeling well, but it was our first larger waterfall of the trip and well worth the treacherous hike. Back to parking lot safely, we continued the drive back up the mountain to our hotel, the Paradise Inn, and checked in/unloaded. The Inn was very old and rustic, but still classy... but old. And rustic. Given the lack of food options, we defaulted to the restaurant at the Inn -- I had chicken parmesan and Cari had a venison shepherd's pie. We finished up dinner, took a few sunset pictures of the mountain peak, and turned in EARLY (9:15!). 

NW Trip '12 - Day 8

6/9/12 - Day 8: Short drive day!! We were thrilled to wake up and know we only had to drive a couple hours max to get to our next destination. We didn't, however, factor in "waiting at the border" time, which added an additional hour. Regardless, we hit Starbucks on the way out of Vancouver and got to the border in about a half hour. We waited in line for a while. There were plenty of border agents, but unfortunately there were also a LOT of people that wanted to get into the U.S. We finally got through and made our way to Seattle in a 1.5-hour car ride filled with some fun travel "I Spy"-type games. 

Our first stop was going to be the downtown market, so we found parking a few blocks away (for $15!!) and walked down the step grades to the market. As we expected, it was incredibly crowded, but we walked inside one end and made our way down to the other end. The inside tent area was filled with a few souvenir shops, some restaurants, and a lot of fresh seafood, produce, and flower vendors. About halfway through and feeling a little claustrophobic, we stopped for lunch at Lowell's. I had a beef brisket dip and Cari had a large seafood sampler. The food was pretty good, but definitely not worth the price. Either way, we enjoyed the break from the crowd for a little while before heading back through the rest of the market! After lunch, we continued through the tent area and got to the end where the famous fish-throwing seafood vendor was. We watched for a little while but didn't see much action, so we continued on. 

Cari and I took a little break and walked a few blocks up to a shop she saw on the way into town while Jon and Megan got some food items from a place Jon saw on TV (mostly desserts). We met up in the grassy park-like area near the market and just relaxed and hung out for a few. Once we were slightly rested and even more full than before, we walked the mile to the Space Needle! Jon and I took the elevator to the top which was a little disconcerting given the full glass elevator door. We walked around the entirety of the top and took some pictures and then headed back down. It was a cool sight to see, and I'm glad to say I've done it, but $20 was a little pricey for a 5-minute view of Seattle on a cloudy day. 

Once we were back on the ground, we walked around a little more, heard some bad music at a festival nearby (including some Filipino rapping), and took the monorail back to a station close to our car (instead of walking the mile + back). After a long day (or, after 8 long days!), we decided to just go back to the hotel for the rest of the afternoon/evening and hang out, so we did just that. We checked in at the Doubletree by Hilton near the airport and walked a LONG walk to our room. After unloading, we went to the hotel bar/restaurant for dinner -- I had some buffalo wings and Cari had linguine with a spicy red sauce and veggies/chicken. We hung there for a little while, watched one of the NBA games, and retired to the room for drinks and tv movies. We were also entertained by the constant shaping and re-shaping that Jon did to his beard while he shaved it. I think it was a great way to spend the last evening with our travel buddies!  

NW Trip '12 - Day 7

6/8/12 - Day 7: While we only got about 6 hours of sleep, we woke up with a renewed sense of excitement knowing that we would only have to spend about 4-5 hours in the car today. We didn't get to see much of Osoyoos given the rain and fog in the morning, but we were anxious to get to Vancouver anyways, so we didn't mind. We had a beautiful drive through some of Canada's wine/produce country -- the roads weren't too windy, but the mountains and greenery were stunning. We arrived at our hotel (Westin Wall Centre) around 1:00, and they were nice enough to let us check in early. After unloading and taking a quick bathroom break, we walked to the train station (about 10 minute walk). 

We took the sky train (an elevated monorail-type train) to Waterfront station, where we were told to get off if we wanted to see the main "tourist" area. We found our way downtown and located a food truck called "Fresh Local Wild" that Jon had seen on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. Overall, it was extremely good food. Cari had a fresh salad and I went with the fish and chips, salmon-style. We also got the opportunity to sit in their small one-table seating area attached to the back of the truck and chatted with the guys running the truck. They gave us a good recommendation for a dinner location, which we ended up trying, but more on that later. 

After lunch, we strolled down to the waterfront, walked around, and then walked back up through the "shopping district." The culture of people was much different here than any of the other locations we had visited thus far. We noticed lots of young, "fashionable" people, many of which were of Asian descent. Next, we located a bar and settled in with a couple of pitchers for the U.S. vs. Antigua/Barbuda men's world cup qualifying match. It was a good "reset," since I think we were all a little grumpy as a result of being indecisive with our plans (and probably moreso due to spending 24 of the past 48 hours in the car). Anyways, after we watched the U.S. win handily, we decided to walk west to Stanley Park to find our dinner location. We didn't realized exactly how far of a walk it would be, but we enjoyed being outside and seeing a new place. 

We FINALLY made it to our dinner location at the Teahouse Restaurant. We had an amazing dinner (one of the best of the whole trip). We also had a friendly server who gave us an appetizer on the house for walking all the way out there. While we watched the sun set over the water, I enjoyed a perfectly cooked tenderloin, ceasar salad, and wine picked by Jon. Cari had wild mushroom ravioli with scallops, and we shared a raspberry sorbet for dessert. We stayed for a couple hours, joking with the staff (mainly Phillip from the Philippines!). Instead of walking back, we had the restaurant call us a taxi that took us back to the nearest train station. We happened to get a GREAT taxicab driver who was incredibly entertaining. It was a great way to finish a fun night out! We took the sky train back to the station near our hotel, walked back, and passed out.

NW Trip '12 - Day 5/6

6/6/12 - Day 5: The majority of the next two days were spent in the car. Luckily, we were getting two of the longest drives out of the way earlier on in the trip (as opposed to the second to last day). I felt a little better the next morning after getting a LOT of sleep the afternoon/night before and presumably flushing whatever bug I had out of my system. 

We hit the road pretty early and headed east to Cody, WY where we stopped for some good old McDonald's for breakfast. After fueling up, we hit the road for a long day in the car (~approx 11 hours). We drove through most of Montana, which was incredibly dull (contrary to my expectations). We arrived at our hotel (St. Mary Lodge and Resort) in Glacier National Park late afternoon just in time for some light snow, along with temperatures in the 20's! We checked in, got settled, and went to the lounge in the lodge for dinner. Sitting in comfortable leather chairs near a roaring fire was exactly what we needed after a long day in the car. We enjoyed a light dinner (soups, salads, etc.) and some mild entertainment compliments of our server before going back to the room to hang out (and for me to pass out early again).

6/7/12 - Day 6: I'm combining day 5 and 6 into the same blog post since most of the two days were spent in the car. Unfortunately, day 6 was even worse than yesterday. We woke up a little later (probably a mistake, but we needed the sleep), and Cari, Jon, and I went back to the lodge for a breakfast of pancakes and fruit. We packed up and hopped in the car to drive as far as we could into Glacier Park. The main road that we were planning to take through the park, "Going to the Sun" road, was still closed about 15 miles in, so we drove as far as we could. Glacier was incredibly beautiful -- huge mountains, blue lakes, waterfalls and wildlife all over. I desperately wanted to keep driving, but a closed road meant a closed road. So, we turned around, took lots of pictures, and made our way southwest around the park. We ended up taking a "shortcut" (Route 49!!) that turned out to be...well...terrifying. Curvy mountain roads, partially gravel, no guardrails, and sheer cliffs. Luckily, we were only on the road for about 20 minutes, but the ladies would probably claim it was at least an hour! 

After making our way back to "safety," we drove west through Montana, into Idaho for a short time, and through Washington before heading north to Canada. Our meals were less than desirable today (Arby's for lunch and Taco Bell for dinner). We also were semi-delirious by the time we arrived at the border, having driven over 13 hours, some of which was on foggy, windy, and dark mountain roads through Washington. We had an amicable border police on the way into Canada, so we were glad that he didn't mistake our delirium as being caused by.. "mind-altering substances." We drove a few miles into Canada to our Best Western in Osoyoos, B.C. (a lake town, mainly a retreat for retirees) and fell asleep quickly.

NW Trip '12 - Day 4

6/5/12 - Day 4 - Sick day!!! Well, only for me. I guess it was bound to happen given our road-diet and my sensitive stomach. However, over the past couple days, I would question whether or not I was bitten by something semi-poisonous due to our stay in a rustic cabin (complete with spider webs), intense nauseousness on 6/5, and my continued bodily soreness for the next 2-3 days. Regardless, I tried to make the most of this day, and Jon, Megan, and Cari all did great in putting up with me and my frequent need to "please pull over!"

We woke up relatively early and drove to Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton Park hoping to see some morning wildlife. We didn't catch any wildlife, but we did see a great view of the Tetons in the morning sun. After Oxbow, we drove to Jenny Lake (which is when my stomach started its turn for the worst). I sat in the car while my three travel companions got out and took a few pictures. After a quick stop at the visitor center close by (yes, I'll spare the details of all the "stops" we had to take throughout the day), we headed north to Yellowstone!

Yellowstone actually wasn't very far from Grand Teton National Park. In fact, they basically back up to each other, which was convenient, especially given my illness today. Once we entered the park, we drove about 15-20 minutes to the Old Faithful site and had a light lunch (crackers for me!) at the cafe outside. We continued to the visitor center and walked around a little before figuring out when the geyser was going to erupt. About 15 minutes before the "projected time," we walked out and got a standing spot to watch Old Faithful! Luckily, there wasn't a bad "seat" since Old Faithful was a little elevated. You could still stand in the back and see the eruption. Right on cue, the geyser built up and up before fully erupting -- what an incredible sight!! It spewed about 50-70 feet in the air for a minute or so before going back down. Overall, it was a great experience! 

Afterwards, we drove clockwise along the lower loop to Biscuit Basin where we got to see some very interesting geothermal pools and other features, including Sapphire Pool. It was interesting going from the wildlife-heavy Grand Tetons to the very different, geographical feature-heavy area of Yellowstone! After walking along the boardwalk at Biscuit Basin, we drove to the Grand Prismatic Springs. It started to rain (see picture above), and given the colder weather mixed with the hot pools, there was a LOT of steam. Unfortunately, we couldn't see much, but the thermal formation were crazy, and many of the colors looked like lava! We were glad that we went, regardless of the limited visibility.

We hopped back in the car and drove almost 2 hours to our hotel, which was halfway between Yellowstone's east entrance and Cody, WY (Pahaska Teepee Lodge). It was a very small, rustic A-frame cabin community, but it did the trick for the price! I passed out for the afternoon since I wasn't feeling well and Cari, Jon, and Megan went to the lodge restaurant to eat. Apparently, they had a very entertaining discussion with the staff about a recent buffalo attack, which didn't make Cari feel very comfortable. No buffalo/bison to speak of though, and whenever they got back to the hotel room, I woke up for a few, ate some crackers, and then passed out again for the night. It was a rough day health-wise, but we still got to see some great stuff!

NW Trip '12 - Day 3

6/4/12 - Day 3: Given our rather long drive on Day 3, we were up and out of the hotel in SLC by around 8:30 a.m. We made some humble peanut butter sandwiches for breakfast in the parking lot of the hotel, gassed up, and hit the road... again. Via I-15, we drove north from SLC through Utah and into Idaho. Surprisingly, Idaho was one of the most beautiful states we drove through -- lots of green, mountains/rolling hills, and small lakes/ponds everywhere. Since we missed the "Welcome to Idaho" sign on the way in, we stopped when we entered Wyoming and turned around to take the Idaho picture. Unfortunately, there was no "Welcome to Wyoming" sign, but we took whatever pictures we could and drove east into WY.

Our first encounter with Wyoming folk was at a small general store about 45 minutes southwest of Jackson. We mainly needed it for a bathroom break, but ended up buying a few items. As a "reward" for our business, the store clerk and his daughter gave us a sharpie and asked that we sign their picnic table in front of the store. Of all the signatures, we thought we might live relatively far away, but in comparison, we were pretty close! There were names of people from China, Australia, and many other foreign countries. On second thought, we realized that Yellowstone is a pretty famous place. Anyways, we drove on and made it to Jackson Hole, WY. We parked in the town center/square and walked around before ending up at a bar facing the square. The food was acceptable, but definitely nowhere near top of the list during our trip (frozen burger for me, chicken ceasar for Cari).

After lunch, we drove north towards Grand Teton National Park! We arrived in no time and stopped at the first visitor center to get information, plan our trip, and buy some souvenirs. First on our "to-do" list was driving Antelope Flat road to see some wildflowers and wildlife. The former was pretty non-existent except for a few small patches. The latter was abundant, especially on the bison front. We saw several herds of free-range bison roaming the grasslands (not too close to the car though). Got some great pictures of the magnificent beasts, along with some nice panoramics of the mountain range, before driving back into the park.

We stopped at a random trailhead a few miles into the park where the rangers at the visitor center indicated a mother moose had recently given birth a few days ago. There was quite a crowd surrounding the wooded area where the moose was last spotted, many members of which had very large cameras with very large lenses (National Geographic, maybe?). Unfortunately, we didn't see the moose, but we did catch some elk on our way north through the park. Our next stop attempt was Jenny Lake overlook. I say "attempt" because a storm was blowing in as we drove through the park -- lots of gusty wind and sheets of rain. We made it halfway down the one-way drive to Jenny Lake overlook and had to turn around due to a fallen tree (luckily it didn't fall on us, but it was blocking the road completely). After turning around and heading to Colter Bay Village (our destination for the evening), we caught sight of a grizzly bear walking down the side of the road. Fortunately, there was a ranger there to guard against all of the ignorant tourists who wanted nothing more than to risk their lives to get a picture.

We continued to Colter Bay and checked into our old, but spacious cabin. Because of the storm, we had no electricity, but this was a minor issue that was fixed by the time we returned to the cabin later in the evening. Since we weren't given any expectation of restored power, we went across the street to the general store and bought a flashlight and some Christmas ornament souvenirs. Next, we went down the street to the Ranch House for dinner -- had an excellent wild game bolognaise with a salad while Cari enjoyed bacon-wrapped meatloaf. Both dishes were very hearty, and very good. With our tummies full, we walked down to the bay marina, looked at the boats, watched the sun go down, and took pictures (while we were eaten alive by mosquitoes). Once the bugs got their fill of us, we took a short hike around part of Lakeshore trail, skipped rocks at the lake, and took a few more pictures before turning back. We stopped at an outdoor ampitheater on the way back and sat through a LONG introduction by a park ranger (which we actually thought was the entire program). Once the intro stopped and the transition began into the program, we casually and politely collected our items and left. We were almost back to the main path when Cari spotted a white-tailed deer and FREAKED OUT!! I think it caught her by surprise, but I'm glad I wasn't in her way, otherwise I might have had a tennis shoe print on my face.

Before bed, we hopped back in the car to do some dusk moose-hunting. It was a little too dark, and we didn't find any moose, but we did find a LOT of elk (male and female), some of which we almost ran into. It was a very cool sight to see dozens of elk grazing in the fields at night, so we were satisfied with our hunting expedition. We made it back safely to our now powered cabin and passed out relatively early!

NW Trip '12 - Day 2

6/3/12 - Day 2: We managed to get up and ready and out of the hotel by 9:00 a.m. (not bad for four people in one room). We had scoped out a good breakfast cafe around the corner the evening before, so we walked from the hotel to the Love Muffin Cafe. It seemed to be a very organic/fresh food type of place, and the food was excellent! I had a carnitas burrito and Cari chose the healthier route with her whole-wheat waffle. After breakfast, we piled back in the car and headed back into Arches National Park. Once in the park, we drove all the way through to the end point of the single road ("Devils Garden"). The original goal was to hike most of the trail, which would be around 6.5-7 miles, but that goal changed pretty quickly once we started hiking and realized how hot it was (95 degrees-ish in the desert = HOT). Regardless, we made it to Landscape Arch and Double Os Arch, took some pictures, and headed back to the car. After some mild disrobing to rid ourselves of any sweaty outer layers, we saddled up and hit the road heading north towards Salt Lake City. 

The landscape changed significantly, from reddish/brown desert to yellowish rolling hills, and then finally lush green mountains. We stopped in between Arches and SLC at a rest area and threw together some PB&J sandwiches for lunch; nothing fancy, but it did the trick! We finally arrived at the Hilton Airport at SLC (just about 10 minutes west of the city) around 5:00 p.m. and took an hour or so to rest. Around 6:00, we drove into the city for dinner at the Red Iguana, which was a "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives" feature that Jon found. We were seated right away and enjoyed an authentic Mexican dinner of Tacos Don Ramon (and some regular tacos). After stuffing ourselves with delicious food, we drove a few miles further into downtown and parked near Temple Square. The temple (Mormon Temple, that is) was closed since it was a Sunday, but we walked around the square for while, enjoyed the scenery, and took a few pictures. 

After watching the sun set against the temple, we walked to Creek City Center (an outdoor mall similar to Short Pump in Richmond), but again, everything was closed. We made our way back to the car and explored downtown a little more before hitting Squatters Pub/Brewery, another Jon Osborn-find. We had a moment of humor because we thought it was a gay bar at first (mainly due to the rainbow flags flying outside). But, a quick google search indicated that it wasn't, so we felt at ease trying it out. Jon and I enjoyed a VERY strong (but good) IPA while Cari had her shirley temple. Finally, we went back to the hotel for drinks and a little Bill Cosby standup comedy, compliments of Jon's DVD and laptop. Bed around 11! 

NW Adventure Intro and Day 1

Well, the time for our epic northwest adventure of 2012 finally came. After over a year of planning, budgeting, discussing, and getting excited, we finally had the opportunity to explore uncharted (well, uncharted to us anyway) countryside, mountains, cities, plains, and valleys of the northwestern U.S. I'm not exaggerating when I say "over a year" either. What started as a fun-sounding trip transitioned to a very real possibility and eventually became a concrete plan that we were able to execute and enjoy, making memories that will literally last a lifetime (as cliche as that may sound). 

In what will probably seem like a poor attempt at capturing some of of those memories, I was graciously given a journal by my parents that I used to document details of the trip. Given my constant travel-fatigue, along with our relative lack of time, I was only able to make some bullet points each day of our trip. Therefore, I'll use that information as an outline, and I'll expand in this blog. My goal is to write a different post for each day of our two-week trip (with a picture from that day). I'm sure this will take a good deal of time and space, but since not many people (if any) read this blog, well....I don't care! :) Here goes nothin'....

6/2/12 - Day 1:  After picking up Jon and Megan at the airport the evening before, we were set to go on Saturday morning. We (very geometrically) packed everything in the car with some space to spare. I was a little nervous about getting everything in the trunk since I didn't want anyone to be uncomfortable with items at their feet given that we'd be spending a great deal of time in the car. However, we fit everything perfectly and headed out around 8 a.m. We didn't make it too far (Bernalillo) before we stopped at Blake's for some good ole' New Mexican breakfast burritos. It was a quick stop though, and once we had our stomach fuel, we were ready to go (again). We drove northwest through New Mexico and through the southwest corner of Colorado (west of Durango and north around Cortez). Once we made it to the Utah/Colorado border, we stopped on the side of the road and took some pictures in front of the "Welcome to (enter state here)" signs. Our goal was to get pictures in front of each state sign. Overall, we did pretty well (missed Washington, and didn't care too much about NV or AZ).

Anyways, we stopped in a little town called Dove Creek in UT and ate lunch at a roadside cafe called Peace Tree. It seemed like an organic/fresh food type place, but when I asked for no mushrooms on my cheesesteak, they indicated that the veggies all "came together" (which means "frozen" to me). Regardless, the food was good - cheesesteak for me and ceasar salad for Cari - and it was nice to get out of the car and sit outside to eat. After lunch, we hopped back in the car and headed north to Arches National Park. Megan and Jon brought some car games, so we played a few of those on the way and stayed relatively entertained. We made it to Moab, UT early afternoon and drove through the town to get to Arches National Park.

Once at Arches, we stopped at the visitor center to use the restroom, buy a postcard at the gift shop, and mainly to plan our visit. After getting a plan together, we drove into the park. It was an amazing sight to see - lots of reds and browns, large rock formations, and definitely still a lot of desert. The main formations and arches were more spread out that I expected, but there was one paved road that went in and out of the park (and was relatively straight, which we wouldn't appreciate until later!). Our first stop was Balanced Rock, which was just that, a large rock that appeared to be "balanced" on top of another taller, more slender rock formation. We took a few pictures and continued along to the Delicate Arch viewpoint. Delicate Arch is the "symbol" of Utah, and it appears on many of the license plates. We didn't hike to the arch itself (3 miles roundtrip), but we did hike the mile to the viewpoint. It was still a little far away, but easy to see and take pictures of. Next, we cruised over to Window Arches (North Window, South Window, and Turret Arch). We parked and hiked to the window arches (climbed around a little bit) and then over to Turret Arch - all large, beautiful formations. Before wrapping up the day at the park, we crossed the street to Double Arch and took some pictures.

We drove back into town (Moab, that is) and ate at "Blu Pig BBQ" for dinner. It was a fun place; not too nice, so we felt okay going in our sweaty hiking gear. I had brisket and pork BBQ with fries and "bacon-laced" green beans and Cari enjoyed chicken strips and baked beans with hashbrown casserole. The food was excellent after a long time in the dessert, although, the "Carolina-style" pork must have been Western Carolina, since it certainly wasn't the vinegar-based "Q" that I expected. Either way, I can't complain! We listened to some blues music from a local house musician while we ate, which made the experience even better. Finally, we checked into our hotel, the River Canyon Lodge. It was pretty old, but okay for just the night. We shared a room with Jon and Megan this time around, and all of us passed out relatively early (and quickly!). Day 1, in the books!

Breckenridge Spring (or...Winter?) '12

Yes, yes. We went to Breckenridge...yet again. This place is seriously our dream town. Other than the fact that it's still too far from family (which is a big factor to consider), we would think about moving here. We actually already decided to buy a house in the mountains here when we retire..haha. So, what better an excuse than our simple love for such a beautiful place to make another trip?

Well, actually a concert at Red Rocks Ampitheater was the MAIN excuse. Red Rocks is a concert venue I've dreamed of getting to see, and we found out a couple months ago that The Fray (a band Cari and I both really enjoy) was playing there. The Fray is originally from Denver, so we figured it would be a good show. We drove up to Breckenridge Friday morning and arrived early afternoon after running into some snow (and almost running into a large herd of elk crossing the road!). After a leisurely stroll around town and an early dinner at Eric's, we checked into our hotel (the Skiway Lodge -- we've never stayed anywhere else, and probably never will...it's that good). Once settled, we hit the road to Red Rocks (1.5 hr drive toward Denver). The drive was pretty bad -- lots of snow, slush, rain, traffic, etc. We still got there on time and parked and hiked up the bazillion stairs to the ampitheater. What an amazing place! The seating area is surrounded by large rock formations ("Ship Rock" and "Creation Rock"). We suffered through a few opening bands (they weren't too bad; we were just cold and wet) before The Fray rocked out the stage. They played an amazing show and we couldn't have asked for more. The sound was incredible and the lights were fantastic thanks to the fog. NO thanks to the fog, however, was our drive home. I seriously have never been more terrified to be on the road in my life. Cari was a huge help, but for about 10-15 miles (which took about 30 minutes), we were driving in fog so dense, I couldn't see more than 5 feet in front of the car. Needless to say, it was a slow process. But, we made it and passed out at 2 a.m.!

Saturday was spent enjoying Breckenridge. We woke up late, drove down to main street, walked around/shopped for a while, then ate lunch at Lucha. Cari had the best burrito she'd ever eaten, and I enjoyed a pretty amazing quesadilla myself. After lunch, we walked around a little more and then went for a drive on some of the surrounding mountain roads (which presented good picture opportunities). We went back to the hotel after our drive and Cari took a nice nap while I watched soccer, played solitaire, and enjoyed some fine Maker's Mark! :) After our relaxing afternoon, we continued into the evening by going back to Eric's and watching a hockey game, then came back and sat in the hot tub for a while and finished up the night by watching Dan in Real Life (one of our favorite movies).

We woke up Sunday and (while trying not to get TOO depressed that we had to leave soon) packed up and went to Cool River Cafe for some great bagels. Post-bagels, we shopped a tad bit more and took a few more short drives before heading home. It was an amazing trip, complete with crazy weather, great music, fantastic conversation, and enjoyment of God's beauty in such an incredible place. We're already talking about the next time we can go back!

Camping 4/20 - 4/22

Woah! Less than two months between posts! For all you followers, which I think might be just my parents (which is ok, since I love my parents), get ready for many posts in the next month or so. We have two trips coming up in May before our epic road trip in June, so I'm sure I'll have a lot to write if I can keep up with everything.

Our most recent adventure was spent in the mountains of the Santa Fe National Forest camping with a large group of people. We went with about 10 other adults and 5 kids and only knew 2 of the adults. It was a great time getting to know some new people and make friends. We left Friday evening and drove about 2.5 hours from ABQ to our campsite. We went past Cuba, NM, then drove another hour or so past some farmland and up a dirt service road deep into the mountains (luckily, the couple organizing the trip knew where we were going). It was dark when we arrived, so we set up camp pretty quickly and enjoyed some hotdogs, hamburgers, chips, and beans for dinner.

I'll take a quick timeout to describe the incredibly coldness that we experienced at night. Cari and I constantly checked the weather for Cuba, NM throughout the week which indicated lows in the mid 30's. Not too bad, right? Wrong. After Cuba, we climbed another 1500 - 2000 feet in elevation which meant lows in the low 20's. It was...COLD. Cari and I zipped our sleeping bags together (a trick Nate and Susan taught us), dressed in layers, and used our precious (and hairy) dog Belle as a mini-heater. So, we survived!

Saturday was spent eating breakfast burritos and fruit (we ate REALLY well), hiking up the mountain, going on walks, hanging out and talking, and playing frisbee. It was quite relaxing, other than having to keep track of Belle -- she didn't really like the other dog that was on the trip, even though the other dog was incredibly sweet, likely because she's possessive and territorial. But, she was fine being outside, despite being tied to the tree for most of the day. We ate some amazing kabobs and had "banana surprise" for desert before hunkering down for another long and cold night.

Woke up Sunday and cleaned up the campsite before heading back home. We stopped on the way home a few times to take some pictures of the scenery. It was actually scary to see what we had driven up two days earlier in the dark -- hundred-foot dropoffs with no guardrails.. yikes! The views were great though, and we got a few good pictures (see Facebook album "Spring 2012"). Overall, it was a great experience and fun to get out in nature and really rough it (no bathroom = roughing it, in my opinion). It was also nice to meet some new people. We're looking forward to our upcoming trips -- keep an eye out for posts in a few weeks! 

New Year, New Adventures

First post of 2012!! I know, I know...almost 3 months into the year...pathetic. We haven't done a lot since our last big trip to the Grand Canyon/Vegas late last year, but I'm sure when I start typing, it will seem like much more. For starters, we got to go home for both Thanksgiving AND Christmas last year, which was fantastic. We spent Thanksgiving '11 with the Bordsen clan in Asheville. After a late arrival into Raleigh (almost midnight), then driving to Asheville (3ish hours) the same night, we didn't get much sleep, but it was worth it. We had the opportunity to spend time with most of my dad's side of the family, which we rarely do given our current residence location. :) I hadn't seen many of them since Cari and I got married! It was a great time, and included beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lots of food, family, drinks, bluegrass at a local brewery, and a quick trip to the Biltmore Estates on the way out of town. Again, a great time.

Christmas '11 was spent primarily with Cari's family in Harrisonburg. There was, yet again, lots of eating and hanging out, shopping, reading, relaxing, etc. For Christmas morning, the Nashes hosted a Christmas service (since it was on Sunday) at their townhouse and invited their neighbors. The turnout was great, and it was an excellent opportunity to lead worship with Cari's brothers and listen to her family spread the gospel through preaching and ministering to those they share their lives with daily. What a blessing! We stayed in town for a few more days and then went to stay with my parents for a few days (including New Years Eve, during which we fell asleep at 10!). It was nice to catch up, and enjoy seeing my sister, brother-in-law, and niece. Again, much eating, drinking, and bowl games and movie watching occurred.

After hunkering down for a loooooong winter (okay, only 2.5 months, but it felt long), Cari and I got to take a nice Spring Break vacation of our own. We had contemplated going to Mexico because we had always wanted to do an all-inclusive resort. However, after lots of prayer and consideration, we decided we didn't need to spend that much money and that we wanted to stay stateside. We finally decided on Tucson, AZ since it was probably the warmest place within driving distance that was safe/nice. We stayed at the Westin La Paloma (which I highly recommend) for five days. Besides a 2-3 hr expedition to the zoo one morning (where Cari got to feed a giraffe!), we literally sat by the pool the entire rest of our stay. We enjoyed 80-degree sunshine, poolside service, a swim-up bar, amazing food, and LOTS of reading. The resort was incredibly accommodating, and everyone was very nice. We also knew a few folks who had been/lived in Tucson before, so we got some great recommendations for restaurants that we could venture to in the evening. Other than getting trapped in Demming, NM for 3 hours on the way home due to wind conditions/brown out, it was a phenomenal and incredibly relaxing trip!

We have a quick trip to Breckenridge in May to look forward to (including seeing The Fray in concert at Red Rocks Ampitheater outside of Denver), and then the next adventure will be our 2-week road trip around the northwestern U.S early this summer. I'll likely have to write individual daily blog posts for that trip given all that we're trying to pack in, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. That's it for now - Happy 2012 everyone. Talk to you all soon!