Julie's Journeys

Thanksgiving in Florida

2011-03-31T17:29:00.003-04:00

I know, it's already spring, but since we'll soon be heading back to Florida to pick up Mark's mom I thought it might be nice if I actually posted the photos from when we took her down there in November!

We enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving dinner at Nestor's, a popular restaurant in Boca Raton that we always visit at least once every time we go to Mom's condo in Deerfield Beach.

And who says it's a rule that you always have to have turkey on Thanksgiving? At Nestor's you had a choice of turkey, a lamb shank, fish or ham. As you can see Mark went with the lamb. I'm not sure why they even offered ham, since almost everyone there is Jewish.

For Thanksgiving they only had one seating and it was limited to maybe 100 people, and the tables were set up family style so we ended up with four small groups of people at our long table. Fortunately they gave us all plenty of wine, so by the end of the meal it felt like we were one big family!

Welcome to Century Village (or not!)

2011-03-31T17:27:00.003-04:00

Mark's parents bought into this development when it was brand new, so his mom has been going there every winter for more than 30 years now.

She has an end unit in one of the 2-story buildings, which they call "Garden" buildings. It's also in a pretty nice location not far from the main entrance to the village.

Above is a view from the parking area, and below is a view of the pool area directly behind the building.

It's nice that this pool is just outside the patio door, and it's not too crowded because there are pools all over the village for the various "neighborhoods" and people tend to stay in their own areas.

Many of the areas consist of clusters of high-rise buildings like this one in the photo below, which overlooks the golf course and one of the many ponds. It's a lovely place, yes, so why my snarky comment about not feeling welcome in this place?

Well let me tell you ... in addition to a ridiculous rule that prohibits any outdoor grilling (huh?) this duck is about the closest thing to a pet you will find in this entire little village of more than 16,000 residents. They have a strict "no dogs or cats" policy, which I think is insane. No wonder all those old people are so crabby all the time! When we were there in November Mom was telling us about the "scandal" in one of the associations where someone was trying to use a doctor's note to keep a small dog. She wasn't kidding! I was just trying to find a link to the association and its encyclopedia of "rules" you have to follow there and I found this news story about it that appeared just today. What a coincidence!

They do however have a lovely club house, where you can take classes of all kinds or go see cruise ship-style shows several evenings each week if that's your cup of tea.

It's kind of sad to see at least 1/4 of the parking lot closest to the club house is reserved for those with handicapped stickers, and it's kind of scary walking around the village because there are way too many people driving who probably should not be behind the wheel anymore.

Use the shuttle bus service ..... please!!! They have a whole fleet of these little buses that go around the village all day long.

As I mentioned they have many classes at the main club house, including water exercise every morning. They were working those noodles the day we watched them!

Over the last several years as more and more units have been resold, the village has become quite popular with the French Canadians. Apparently they are really big into bocce, so they have taken over the old shuffle court and turned it into a bocce ball court. I'm not quite sure how it is played or scored, but it didn't look too exciting to me.

Although in some neighborhoods it seems like all the cars have Canadian plates, the village is still predominately Jewish.

Schlep is one of my favorite words, so I got a kick out of this poster on the wall in the golf course snack bar. And bagels with lox is one of my favorite snacks, so you know I was over there almost every day!

Wal-Martian Sighting

2011-03-31T17:25:00.002-04:00

If you've ever received one of those emails with photos of "The People of Wal-Mart" and thought to yourself they surely must be made up, I'm here to tell you they're not. They're for real! Just look at this fashion parade we fell into while walking from the car to the entrance.

This guy was only one example of the "fruits" we saw inside. If I'd had more time to follow people around discretely I could have added several more photos to the collection!

Atlanta Revisited

2011-03-31T17:21:00.080-04:00

After four days in ~~Cemetery~~ Century Village, we needed a little vacation so we decided to stop in Atlanta for a few days before returning home. Mark and I had never been there together before, and it just so happened the Packers were playing there that weekend.

Ahhhhh, there's nothing like a nice plush king size bed after four nights of sleeping on a back-breaking sofa sleeper!

We stayed at the Omni Hotel, and this was the view from our room in the north tower looking over to the CNN Center above, and looking out over the downtown area below.

From the covered walkway between the north and south towers I took this photo of the restaurant where we ate Saturday night. It was Mark's birthday and we had a great time! The drinks and steaks were fabulous, and we ended up making friends with the really nice couple at the table next to us. They were from Athens but have Falcons season tickets so they were in town for the weekend too.

We also took the CNN Studio tour, which was really interesting for me. Mark works in TV so he acted like he wasn't too impressed, but I think he found it pretty cool too! And of course I had to stop and pose for a photo by the CNN Humvee that was used in Iraq.

The Agony of Defeat

2011-03-31T17:20:00.063-04:00

Well we all know how this game ended, with the Falcons scoring a field goal to take the lead in the last seconds, but we still had a great time and it was fun to add another stadium to our list!

The Georgia Dome is a very nice venue, and it was nice that everything was within walking distance of our hotel. We didn't even bother renting a car there because there's a MARTA stop right there too.

Their idea of tailgating is nothing like ours here in Green Bay, but they did have a little "activity zone" set up with some lame games and canned music.

I was more impressed by this sculpture, which I'm pretty sure is left over from when Atlanta hosted the Olympics in 1996. Of course I had to zoom in for a closer look!

Ok, so the game starts at 1:00 p.m. We're out walking the streets at 9:30 a.m. looking for a Bloody Mary, only to discover that nothing opens until 11 a.m. Huh? When this beer kiosk finally opened it was naturally all the Packer fans first in line!

Life's too short to stand in line waiting for cheap beer, so we went on inside to find a place to get those Bloody Marys.

While we're enjoying our cocktails who appears at the top of the escalator but our friends from dinner at Dantanna's the previous evening! We knew our seats were not too far from their section, but to run into them again was just too much. We never did write down their names or contact info, but the way our world is shrinking I wouldn't be surprised if we run into them again somewhere down the road!

Unlike our really boring and colorless tickets from Lambeau Field last year, the Falcons actually gave us some cool ones to keep as souvenirs from this game.

And of course, the obligatory self-portrait shot that we do at every single game we ever go to it seems!

I feel a bit sorry for people who have to watch inside a dome all the time. To me a good flyover is one of the highlights of the game! Instead they have to rely on the shooting flames and smoke effects, which are cool in their own way but just not the same.

I must say I really did enjoy the half-time show here though, which was some kind of battle of the bands finale that was being sponsored by the local casino. I especially got a kick out of the little plastic cows with parachutes that they launched into the stands from the catwalk as part of a Chik Fil-A promotion. They were just too cute!

This little "cheerleader" routine was supposed to be insulting to the Packers and their fans, but I actually thought it was pretty funny, especially the guy on the far left with the Clay Matthews wig!

Getting Around in Atlanta

2011-03-31T17:15:00.002-04:00

As I mentioned earlier, we never even bothered to rent a car in Atlanta because MARTA got us everywhere we needed to go, and it only cost $16 each for a three-day unlimited pass.

Mark had never been to The Varsity before, and it's kind of a landmark in Atlanta so I had to take him there just to experience it. I had a pimento cheeseburger just because it's the only place in the world I've ever seen that combination, and it's not a trip to The Varsity without a big pile of onion rings too!

My Old Stomping Grounds

2011-03-31T17:05:00.089-04:00

I was stationed here in 1982-83, and I knew it had changed a lot over the years so I wanted to go take a walk around it again. It's not that big to begin with, and more than half of the acreage is a golf course, so you can basically walk around the entire post in less than an hour!

This used to be our parking lot for the Public Affairs Office, which was located on the first floor of the wing to the left. Now it's a nice little brick courtyard and the building houses various other offices along with the garrison headquarters.

My friend John was also stationed here in the early 1980s, so I had to get a photo of his old office in the Staff Judge Advocate building. This is prime real estate, right under the flag pole at the end of the parade field, and it appears the same offices are still housed there.

Here's the view from the other end of the parade field, where we used to have picnics and play frisbee when we weren't using it for our weekly physical training sessions. It was kind of a crappy day, with rain threatening the entire time we were there this time, but in the summer this is really gorgeous.

This is the view on the north side of the parade field, which is known as Officer's Row. Below is one of the largest houses with the most ornate trim. I always imagined that was where "The General" lived, but now this small post is home to two major headquarters so who knows where all the multiple generals are housed? Probably in Buckhead, haha!

Us peons lived across the field here on Troop Row, which was quite convenient because I only had to walk down the sidewalk about 100 meters from my barracks to my office. But even then the housing space for enlisted soldiers was very limited, so within six months I applied and was granted permission to move into an apartment off post.

Hey John, I just had to get a photo of this for the memories! I can't even remember now how many times around the parade field equaled our two-mile run, but I do remember running in that god-awful heat during the summer and how much I hated it!

This was the Main Gate when we were stationed there, but now I think they only open it when they have special convoys or something. We were there in the middle of the day on a Monday and it was deserted. The new Main Gate is at the far south end of the post, where the motor pool used to be.

This is the new headquarters building, where I almost got in trouble when some guy came out the front door and started yelling "no pictures!" as I was artfully framing up this shot from under the trees below! We were almost back to the gate anyway, so we high-tailed it outta there before anyone could come out and confiscate my camera.

Come to find out there was a huge sign right inside the gate that says photography is prohibited and you can be fined up to $10,000 if caught. The sign is very visible if you're driving in, but we came in through the walking gate so I honestly never saw it. Oops!

A Great Wisconsin Gas-Tank Getaway

2010-09-15T22:43:00.000-04:00

It's been forever since I posted anything on this blog! We've been busy here at home, mainly because we got a new puppy shortly after our last trip and we've also been trying to finish a major home improvement project. Other than a few long weekends at our favorite Up North retreat cabin, we really haven't done any traveling to speak of. So we decided it was time for a little road trip, to one of those places our local newspaper features as a "Gas-Tank Getaway" in the Saturday travel section.

Mount Horeb is a little town about 20 miles west of Madison, and it was settled mainly by Norwegians so they have this funky troll theme going throughout the area. In fact the reason we went there was to meet up with some old Army friends who were going there for the 8th Annual Thirsty Troll Brewfest.

The fest was a blast, but I also enjoyed stepping back in time at this 1950s era hotel that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. More on that later!

Beer Here!

2010-09-15T22:42:00.000-04:00

This is probably my favorite "still life" photo from the day, and the beer from Cross Plains Brewery was outstanding too.

Lake Louie Brewing had good selections too, and a most interesting banner!

Of course the Thirsty Troll himself was on hand to pose for photos with the crowd.

Another interesting group of brewers was the one from Madison's Ale Asylum.

But in the end we had to cast our votes for the Stone Cellar Brewpub, which was the only entry from Mark's hometown of Appleton. Normally I don't even try the dark beers, but they featured a vanilla stout that was just awesome!

Here's to good friends ....

2010-09-15T22:41:00.000-04:00

This is me with Jessika, one of my print team soldiers in the 139th MPAD during our Iraq tour in 2004-05. She was responsible for the layout of some amazing newsletters and magazines, and she still does a lot of great artistic stuff these days in Chicago. As you can tell, I'm proud of her just like she was my own daughter!

And this is her boyfriend Justin, who also served with us in Iraq as part of the broadcast team. He's also a very talented young man and I'm proud to call him an honorary son as well as a great friend.

Here's Jess with her cute little sis Jeni, who came up all the way from Springfield to party with family and friends for the weekend.

The lovely lady on the left is Justin's mom, Rachel. She is the one who started this brewfest trip tradition six years ago, and the group has been getting bigger every year.

She and her friends have it down to an art now, including renting the park shelter and organizing a big potluck for the after party!

Hop Couture

2010-09-15T22:40:00.000-04:00

I love men in skirts!

2010-09-15T22:39:00.000-04:00

The Fashion Parade - Continued

2010-09-15T22:38:00.000-04:00

The Karakahl Inn

2010-09-15T22:37:00.000-04:00

When Jess first told me everyone was staying at this place, I looked it up on TripAdvisor.com and found reviews running the gamut from "Hidden Gem" to "Haunted Dump" so of course I was intrigued.

As I mentioned earlier, this hotel was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright back in the 1950s and even today I think it really is quite an architectural gem. It's faded and peeling and more than a bit run down these days, but it's one of only two hotels in the city and the other one is not much newer!

The interior hallways still have the original carpets, which I really liked. Mark said it reminded him of "The Shining".

Even I had to admit that the empty pool area looked a bit like a ghostly cavern.

Keep your expectations low ....

2010-09-15T22:36:00.000-04:00

Really, what do you think you're getting for $60 a night on a festival weekend? Luckily we're not really picky people, so we were happy to find a basic motel room with a comfortable bed and clean bedding.

Most importantly the bathroom was clean, and aside from a missing knob on the fan control everything was in working order.

It even has a state-of-the art wall heater, which fortunately we didn't need to use.

I'm sure this was the height of modernity in the 1950s.

And of course it offered the holy trinity of TV, mini-fridge and microwave, so you know Mark was a happy camper!

Bring Your Bike!

2010-09-15T22:35:00.004-04:00

Mount Horeb is right around the middle of the beautiful Military Ridge State Park Trail which runs about 40 miles from Madison to Dodgeville.

There are actually 14 different trolls on the Mount Horeb Trollway, but I just had to stop for a photo by the "biker" troll!

The trail is a former railway, so it's not too hilly and it has some beautiful bridges.

We rode from Mount Horeb to Blue Mounds, which is actually the highest point on the trail so the ride back was a nice cruise on a mostly downhill grade. It was perfect after a big breakfast and Bloody Marys at Aunt Mary's Hooterville Inn!

By coincidence the 112-mile bicycle ride portion of the Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon came right through Mount Horeb on Sunday. We had no part in that though! We just happened to see them where the trail crossed this road as we were coming back into town later in the morning.

More random scenes along the trail .....

2010-09-15T22:34:00.000-04:00

In addition to several picturesque bridges, the trail went under the highway at one point via this cool little tunnel.

Of course we expected to see a few dairy farms along the way .....

.... but the llamas were a pleasant surprise!

On The Road Again ....

2010-01-10T22:00:00.001-05:00

Ok, so technically we flew to Phoenix, but the January 3rd final regular season game was the one we picked a long time ago for our road game trip this year. We were kind of wishing we could have stayed on for the playoff game this weekend, but now we all know how that turned out :(

The new stadium has a very interesting design, which you can read about here, but we found it ironic that they had the dome roof closed that day. The weather was 72 degrees and sunny, so they had to turn on the AC so people wouldn't get too hot. Huh?!?!?

The view from the freeway coming into Glendale .... where the stadium kind of looks like a big UFO has landed in the middle of the desert.

Again with the flames outside an inflatable tunnel. Must be a dome thing.

And as we all know the Cardinals hardly played any of their first string that day, so the Packers ran away with the game and the final score was 33-7. Too bad they couldn't repeat that today. What a heartbreak .... losing 51-45 in overtime. Oh well, it was a young team that went farther than most people ever expected, and there is always next year!

A Perfect Winter Getaway

2010-01-10T21:59:00.001-05:00

Kudos to the Packer Fan Tours staff for putting us up in this fantastic hotel, which made our stay in the Phoenix area very enjoyable.

We're pictured here in the courtyard of the Mission Palms in Tempe. It's right on the edge of the ASU campus and just steps from the new light rail system. It's also just half a block from Mill Avenue, which is Tempe's equivalent of State Street in Madison. Lots of great shops and restaurants!

Our room was very nicely appointed and the entire hotel had a southwestern decor that wasn't too overdone.

Below is the view we had overlooking the courtyard from our third floor room at night.

Riding the Rails in Phoenix

2010-01-10T21:58:00.000-05:00

Just opened in 2008, the new light rail system currently goes from Mesa to the north side of Phoenix, and you can buy an unlimited day pass for only $3.50 per person.

We got on in Tempe and headed north to check out downtown Phoenix. Here we were passing Chase Field, where the Arizona Diamondbacks play.

At the far north end we got off for awhile to watch part of the Fiesta Bowl Parade.

As we were waiting for the next train to take us back to the south end, this little guy saw me taking a photo and decided he wanted to be in it too!

Whoohoo, we finally made it!!!

2010-01-10T21:57:00.000-05:00

Mark and I were convinced that we were the last two U.S. citizens who had never been to the Grand Canyon, so as long as we were already in Arizona we couldn't NOT go up to see at least the south rim!

It wasn't exactly the nicest weather, the light wasn't the best for photos and the trails were too icy to venture down into the canyon, but on the flip side we didn't have to fight hordes of other tourists at this time of year.

Sunset, Sunrise

2010-01-10T21:56:00.000-05:00

We arrived at the park in late afternoon, and the rim trail was too icy to venture out on too far, so I took this sunset shot from the edge of our little cabin complex at Bright Angel Lodge. Below is virtually the same shot taken early the next morning as the sun was rising.

Grand Canyon Village Lodging Logistics

2010-01-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

If you want to stay inside the park during the summer you have to make reservations a year ahead of time, but I was able to go online in early December and get a cabin in the Bright Angel Lodge complex for only $111 per night. All lodging inside the park is managed by a company called Xanterra.

The cabins are a step up from the rooms in the main lodge buildings, but they are all duplexes or four-plexes with paper thin walls so you can hear the people next to you when they sneeze! We were only there for one night though, so it was cool just to stay so close to the rim at a relatively inexpensive price.

The view inside our cozy little cabin, which also had a mini-fridge and coffee maker so we had everything we needed.

Of course we found a Trader Joe's before we left Phoenix so we were stocked with plenty of cheap wine and snacks!

The other lodgings in the village that are right on the rim include the old El Tovar Hotel and the Thunderbird and Kachina Lodges, but even in winter the rooms start at almost $200 per night. Who wants to spend that when you're only there for what's outside anyway?!?!?

Winter in the High Desert

2010-01-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

Tips for the budget-minded traveler ...

2010-01-10T21:53:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure how much you come out ahead on hotel costs when you factor in the gas for these RVs, but we sure saw a lot of them throughout the park.

If you're really looking to save money I'd say check out this rental company!

When it comes to rental cars, I'm all about cheap. I always go through a website called CarRentals.com and no matter where you're going or how far out you make the reservation it never fails to bring up the best deals available. I booked this one back in October right after I purchased our airline tickets, and we got this little Chevy Aveo through Fox Rent A Car in the Phoenix airport for only $69 for three days. It was so new it still had a temporary tag and it only had about 500 miles on it, which we more than doubled before we turned it in!

Scenic Overlook Overload

2010-01-10T21:52:00.000-05:00

Probably the best thing about visiting the park in winter is that you can drive all the way out to the Hermit's Rest on the west end of the south rim, which you can only access via shuttle bus or a seven-mile hike along the rim during the summer.

This is the Lookout Studio, located not far from the Bright Angel Lodge.

Here I'm just attempting some artsy-fartsy kind of shot because by this point I'm thinking how many vista shots can you take?!?!?

Last, but certainly not least, we stopped at the Desert View Lookout Tower before leaving the park at the eastern exit. I made a panorama shot of the view from here, which is included in another post.

Standin' on a corner of a trail outside Sedona ...

2010-01-10T21:51:00.001-05:00

On the way back to Phoenix we spent two days in the Red Rock country around Sedona, and everyone who heard we were going there said we HAD to take one of the Jeep tours.

There are at least four or five different companies that offer these tours, but we ended up going with A Day in the West and we had a great time.

It was especially nice to have Mario as our driver, because his stories about how the Native Americans used the various plants for food and medicines were really interesting. His other stories and jokes were pretty funny too!

Just a couple pretty pictures of the scenery on our sunset ride.

Hey, hold my beer and watch this!

2010-01-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Here is where we really headed off the beaten path .....

Buckle up tight and hang on to your sunglasses!

Just kidding about the beer in the title of this post, but wouldn't that be a perfect name for a Jeep tour company in northern Wisconsin?

And here I was rudely cut off .....

2010-01-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

For some reason Blogger has decided to truncate pages with too much content, and apprently I exceeded the quota of photos for one day. Since I archive monthly on this blog, I moved the last few posts to December. If you're still interested in seeimg more pics from the Sedona area just click on the archives for December 2009 in the right hand column. Thanks!

ET, phone home!

2009-12-31T21:49:00.000-05:00

Mark wouldn't go on any of the vortex tours or let me have my "aura" photo taken because he thinks that's a bunch of hooey, but he did agree to stop here for just a minute because he (kind of) believes (in the way he truly believes I'm a little nuts) my story about seeing an actual UFO in 1978!

The aliens are everywhere in this part of the country .... don't you see the one right here?!?!?

The Wright Stuff

2009-12-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

I'm a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan so I was bummed that we didn't have time to visit Taliesin West while we were in Phoenix, but at least I got to see this beautiful chapel that was designed by one of his students.

The Chapel of the Holy Cross is just south of Sedona on East Chapel Road.

In these last two photos you can see the circular walkway that winds up from the parking area and the entrance to the chapel itself at the top. It is absolutely beautiful inside and out.

Hotwire Scores Another Hot One

2009-12-31T21:47:00.000-05:00

This was the view from our balcony at The Ridge in Sedona, where we ended up staying by taking a chance on the hotwire.com website.

Sedona has become a real touristy (read expensive) area, with rooms at old Route 66-era roadside motels going for $70-80 per night, so when I got an offer for a studio condo at a 3-star resort for only $76 per night for two nights I decided to go for it.

I've had pretty good luck using priceline and hotwire for flights and hotels (which can give you great deals if you're not really picky about hotel brands and not really stuck to a strict schedule for flights) and this was no exception. It was a really nice place and our studio was pretty cool.

Of course this place IS part of a timeshare group so you have to fend off the pitch to attend their "open house" when you check in, but once you get past that they pretty much leave you alone.

It wasn't quite nice enough to use the pools, but I thought this was a very clever pool towel arrangement!

Javelinas On Parade

2009-12-31T21:46:00.000-05:00

I'm always fascinated by the various "street creatures" you find when you visit different cities, and in Sedona right now they have Javelinas. This one is sponsored by the Pink Jeep Tours company and is located right in front of their main office.

The one above is sponsored by the local Rotary Club, and the colorful one below by the Oaxaca Restaurant. Aren't they just too cute?

Panoramania

2009-12-31T21:45:00.000-05:00

Please humor me here as I play around with the "photomerge" feature of my brand new Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended software package! To get the full panorama view you have to click on the image to open it up, then use the "back" button on your browser to return to the original blog post.

This is the inside of the new University of Phoenix Stadium, obviously. This was made using three separate shots that I tried to keep as level as I could as I panned the stadium from my seat in the upper corner.

This Grand Canyon shot is stitched together with three shots taken from behind the Bright Angel Lodge. Ideally they should be taken with a tripod, but since I'm all about traveling light I think I did pretty well without one.

This is the view from the far east end of the park by the Desert View Lookout Tower. In this case I tried using five separate shots, so you can see the end effect is a little distorted. It almost looks like you can see the curve of the earth!

Another three-shot composite, taken from behind the Chapel of the Holy Cross just outside the city of Sedona.

A scene from the back country outside Sedona that we explored on our Jeep tour. This one is made from four images that I intentionally shot with a lot more overlap, and I think overall I'm most happy with the end result of this one. I'm still learning though!

This is why I have an I-Pass

2009-08-18T23:15:00.000-04:00

This is my brother and his family. They live just south of the Wisconsin border in a northern suburb of Chicago, just far enough to go through two toll booths!

Me and Jim, together again to celebrate his birthday at the annual summer pool party he's been hosting at his house for the last six years. I missed the first one because I was in Iraq, but I've been the official photographer for this party now for the last five years!

Jim took this photo of me with his lovely wife, Lisa.

Lisa with Hunter, who also has a June birthday so this is his party too.

Hunter is also an awesome big brother to Ryan and Madison.

Party Central

2009-08-18T23:14:00.006-04:00

I can definitely see why they bought this place. It's on a cul-de-sac so it has a huge back yard with a pool and plenty of room for a play area.

I took these pics from on top of the playset at the back of the lawn area, and they still have woods behind here too!

The inside of the house is totally set up for entertaining, and everyone who comes to this party brings something to add to the buffet table here.

Lisa always gets everyone's favorite chicken and pasta catered in from a local restaurant too.

Ok, my debit card gets a workout on these trips too .... this is just what I bought to bring home because we don't have these awesome shops here in Green Bay!

Professional Party Planners at Work

2009-08-18T23:13:00.000-04:00

Jim is a lot younger than me, so he still uses an electric leaf blower to clean off the deck. He said he aspires to be like Mark and hopes to soon own a gas-powered model!

Meanwhile Lisa and I are hard at work in the kitchen preparing fresh sangria.

Just for the record, it was Jim's bright idea to use a disposable styrofoam cooler for this concoction.

We found out how well that worked now, didn't we?!?!?

Thank goodness we had a Dippin' Dots cooler from last year that was still clean enough to mix drinks in!

We all scream for ice cream!!!!

2009-08-18T23:12:00.000-04:00

The Dippin' Dots were all the rage the last couple years, but the novelty has worn off and I think even these kids realize we're in a recession now. They were perfectly happy with the generic "frozen novelties" from Dominick's this year!

Oh yeah, we had some "adult flavors" of the cold stuff too!

Could they possibly get any cuter?!?!?

2009-08-18T23:11:00.005-04:00

At this age the girls are still pretty willing to smile for the camera ...

.... but good luck trying to get a serious shot of the boys!

Our Little "Up North" Retreat

2009-06-03T22:42:00.001-04:00

One of the perks of working at the college is this wonderful retreat facility we can rent out when student groups aren't using it. It's only about two hours north of Green Bay but you really feel like you're getting away from it all. Below is a photo of the new lodge that was built after the original cabin was hit by lightning and burned to the ground a few years ago. Many people in the college community contributed to the rebuilding fund. It's really nice inside and out and still a major bargain to rent, but the only downside is that everybody wants to go there now.

In the old days we could rent this 40-acre property pretty much whenever we wanted to and it only cost $10 a day, but that was when it was really rustic. It was basically a one-room cabin with a few odd additions tacked on over the years, and the only running water came from a hand pump in the kitchen sink. And of course the outhouse was down the trail about 100 meters. I think the only people who used it were former military people like us and the science professors!

I guess in a way it was a blessing in disguise when it burned down, because now the place is much more accessible to everyone and it's benefitting our students in the way the donors originally intended it to do. A brief story about the property and the lodge is here on the college web site.

The Nature Channel Live

2009-06-03T22:41:00.002-04:00

It was still way too cold for swimming, but we enjoyed some hiking in the woods and just watching "The Nature Channel" from outside on the deck.

There is a small island in the middle of the lake directly in front of the lodge, where a loon is currently nesting. It also has several large rocks which are prime sunning spots for the big turtles.

Here is what the lodge looks like from the lake. I took this shot from the canoe, and in the spirit of full disclosure I have to confess that all these photos were taken with a $5.99 disposable camera. I almost lost a $250 digital camera here on Memorial Day weekend of 2003. We were way out in the middle of the lake when a wicked north wind blew in and we nearly got swamped, so I wasn't taking any chances this year!

Everyone who uses this place is asked to chip in and help with the upkeep. The people before us took care of restocking the woodpile, so we tackled the boathouse and swept out a winter's worth of dead bugs. Now it's all cleaned up and reorganized in the finest Feng Shui tradition!

Why we fly south in the winter .....

2009-03-25T19:45:00.015-04:00

Snowbirds in the Sunshine State

2009-03-25T19:44:00.002-04:00

For the last few years we've been going to visit Mark's mom while she's wintering in Florida, and this time we decided to add a little trip to Key West since neither of us had ever been there before. Normally we fly into Fort Lauderdale, but this time we flew into Miami, where we picked up a rental car and drove south as far as Florida City the first day.

We wanted to start fresh in the morning for the overseas highway drive, so we spent the night at the Travelodge, a friendly, clean, and relatively cheap place right on US 1. Among the other things it has going for it is Captain's seafood restaurant right across the street, and a huge liquor store just a few blocks south. It's your last chance to stock up for your stay in the Keys at mainland prices!

Ahead in the distance here is the Seven-Mile Bridge, the longest span on the entire 127-mile highway. You'd think you could cover that easily in less than 2 hours, but you'd be wrong. The speed limit is only 45 mph, and it's a lot of stop and go traffic, so the trip to Key West takes a good 3.5 hours. It's definitely worth it though because there is so much beautiful scenery to enjoy along the way.

Once we got to Key West we parked the car here at the Key Lime Inn and never used it for the next three days. We were right in the middle of the island so we could walk everywhere. We spent the mornings doing all the touristy stuff, and the afternoons swimming and just lounging around the pool reading.

Hemingway's House

2009-03-25T19:43:00.000-04:00

I really enjoyed the tour here. We learned a lot of amazing trivia about the author and his many wives, as well as some interesting history about Key West.

This was the studio where Hemingway wrote several of his novels. Note the cat on the chaise lounge; just one of the 46 cats currently living on the property.

In many ways Key West reminded me of New Orleans, and this house with its beautiful grounds would definitely be right at home in the Garden District.

Here the tour guide is telling us the story of the fountain and the little pool it flows into, which was actually a urinal from one of Hemingway's favorite bars. Now it's a glorified water bowl for the cats!

Hemingway's Cats

2009-03-25T19:42:00.002-04:00

This one was the official "greeter" in the house and she followed the guide along with us throughout the whole tour.

Many of the cats have six toes, which is really evident here on this guy. They are called polydactl cats.

Just one of the many little cat houses around the gardens.

The Southernmost Point

2009-03-25T19:41:00.001-04:00

Here's the obligatory photo of the marker on the south end of the island. I cropped out all the tourists on the left who were jockeying around trying to get pictures of themselves in front of it. We didn't feel like waiting around.

Just to the right of the marker you can see through the fence around Naval Air Station Key West.

I hope the people stationed there are getting hardship duty pay, haha!

Flora and Fauna

2009-03-25T19:40:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what these flowers are called but I absolutely love them.

This I know is a banyan tree. File that under useless trivia!

This is the world's most annoying rooster. He lives on the grounds of the Key Lime Inn and he crows at all hours of the day and night.

Just one of the zillions of geckos that live in south Florida. I love the geckos. They eat annoying insects.

This handsome fellow is Newton. We met him at one of the bars on Duval Street!

More Flora and Fauna

2009-03-25T19:39:00.000-04:00

After the long and dreary winter we've had here in Wisconsin, I was just so happy to see living things that I maybe went a little overboard on the photos.

But how could I NOT take a close-up of this cool bush?!?!?

Did I mention how much I love the geckos?

And the winner of the funkiest flora award goes to this .....

Location, Location, Location

2009-03-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

All the hotels in Key West are really expensive during the high season months of Feburary and March, but I thought the Key Lime Inn was well worth it mainly because of its great location.

The rooms are not huge, but very comfortable. I liked the island decor and the little wine chiller fridge, and naturally Mark loved the flat screen TV.

Nice bath products are always a plus too.

We also had a little coffee bar area, which Mark promptly turned into a martini bar!

Random Things That Made Me Laugh

2009-03-25T19:30:00.002-04:00

Bahia Honda State Park

2009-03-25T19:28:00.001-04:00

This little park is located at the south end of the Seven-Mile Bridge and has one of the few really nice beaches in all of the Keys. We stopped to check it out on our way back from Key West, but unfortunately these are the only two photos we got that day.

Luckily I had purchased a relatively cheap Nikon Coolpix just for trips like this, because right after I snapped this shot Mark said "Let me take a picture of you on the beach" and as I handed the camera to him the wrist strap got hung up and we dropped it. Right in the sand. Lens down. Ooops! Needless to say it's history. Oh well, I was never really happy with that camera anyway. I'm looking at the Canon Powershot now as a replacement. I guess then I'll have to plan another trip to try that out!

How we spent our stimulus check .....

2008-12-24T12:19:00.000-05:00

I've always wanted to visit New Orleans and the Packers ended up playing the Saints in a Monday Night Football matchup this year, so we decided to go help stimulate the local economy there. We've done a couple road game trips on our own, but for this one we went through Packer Fan Tours and it was a great experience.

The first half of the game was actually quite exciting, with the Packers matching the Saints score for score, but unfortunately they flamed out in the second half.

I don't know if the rain kept people inside or if they just don't have the "tailgating" culture we do here in Green Bay, but we did see a few diehard Saints fans partying in the parking lot.

Seriously folks, this is the real name of the local bus company that took us to the game!

Packer Fans Invade the French Quarter

2008-12-24T12:15:00.000-05:00

The city put out the welcome sign for the Packer fans, who rolled into town ready to party.

Of course we managed to find the local Packer fan bar, which happens to be an Irish pub called Molly's that is managed by a guy originally from Wisconsin.

We also had a few "Hurricane" drinks at Pat O'Brien's restaurant, where one of our local sportscasters from Green Bay was taping his weekly pre-game show.

I just had to include a photo of the flaming fountain in the courtyard because I thought it was really cool!

Lots of beer, but no brats here!

2008-12-24T12:10:00.002-05:00

Our fan tour package included a nice 3-hour tailgate party with unlimited food and drink on the Creole Queen riverboat. It was windy and raining all afternoon so we didn't spend much time out on the deck, but we had fun watching the scenery go by from inside.

We ended up sitting with a really nice family from Utah, of all places. They don't have a team of their own so they've adopted the Packers and they try to go see them play in a different city each year. They've been to more road games than we have over the years!

We also met lots of other Packer "groupies" like this bunch.

There was plenty of food for everyone, but it wasn't the typical brats and burgers you get here in Wisconsin. The only sausage to be found was in the jambalaya. Yum!!!

Cities of the Dead

2008-12-24T12:08:00.000-05:00

Since we were only in New Orleans for two days, we hopped on a bus one morning for a 2-hour city tour. It was a nice introduction to the different neighborhoods and it gave us a chance to see some of the areas still recovering from the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina. It also included a stop at one of the famous cemeteries.

We learned that many of the larger tombs contain several generations of the same families, and the families with money have some very elaborate tombs.

For those who don't have a family tomb there are many religious orders and social organizations that maintain larger tombs like this one above.

And then there's always a "hole in the wall" for those who don't have any other options or just prefer to be buried alone.

We saw that people leave all kinds of stuff in the urns besides flowers.

We also got a peek inside one old tomb that has fallen into disrepair, which shows how they stacked the bodies and then swept the remains to the back after they decomposed. All very creepy, yet strangely interesting! You can read more about it all here.

Random Snapshots

2008-12-24T12:06:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure what this guy is doing, but it looks like he's asking "Do these asses make my ass look big?"

This guy was standing on the corner outside our hotel preaching and singing the whole time we were there.

I didn't get close enough to really hear what he was saying, but I imagined he was preaching against the evils found inside the liquor store across the street.

Apparently public affairs is very important to the New Orleans Fire Department because we saw three of these vans parked outside the station on Decatur Street.

Excuse me, but I'm off to update my resume and get it in the mail right now!!!!!

This is why we live in Wisconsin ......

2008-10-12T21:59:00.008-04:00

We have real seasons here, and fall is my favorite one of them all!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

2008-06-02T20:23:00.000-04:00

Memorial Day weekend had us off on a road trip to Indianapolis, where my lovely friend Teresa treated us to some great Hoosier hospitality. She invited Doug and Cynthia to come along too and she put us all up at her house for the weekend.

Even though she just had knee surgery the week before and was still getting around on crutches, she wasn't about to miss the race!

For first time race-goers like us, entering this gate was a little like a pilgrimage. This IS the mecca of racing after all.

Let the race begin!

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

2008-06-02T20:21:00.000-04:00

Above is the National Guard car that we were all cheering for, and below is the Target car which eventually won the race.

When everyone is driving under the caution flag it's possible to track the cars with the camera and actually get some shots where they are in focus.

Once they get back up to speed, however, forget about it. They all go by in a blur like this.

I never drove that fast even when I lived in Germany!!!

Hanging Out on Pit Row

2008-06-02T20:18:00.002-04:00

Teresa scored us the best seats in the house! I'm not sure what they call this area but it's inside the track right behind pit row.

The Agony of Defeat

2008-06-02T20:13:00.000-04:00

We also had front row seats for one of the first crashes of the race ....

.... and we got to see Danica's car get pushed back after her unfortunate mishap.

Go Guard

2008-06-02T20:10:00.000-04:00

They always give out hundreds of free tickets to military personnel and maybe it was because the National Guard car was a a top seed this year, but it seemed like Guard soldiers made up the majority of the crowd.

When you're a photographer in the Army you always have to be acutely aware of the image you're trying to project, so you want to avoid using photos of soldiers who are out of uniform or doing stupid things. Of course there's never any shortage of those though!

Like this ditz wearing braids that extend way past the collar of her shirt, which is totally in violation of the regulation governing hair styles. I'm willing to cut her a little bit of slack however, since she does have a combat patch on her right shoulder .... unlike this John Wayne wannabe below!

Speedway Spirit!

2008-06-02T20:07:00.001-04:00

We were lucky that Teresa has a really good friend who lives just a few blocks from the track so she let us park for free in her driveway, and after the race she invited us all to stay for a cookout so we could hang out until after the traffic cleared out. More wonderful Hoosier hospitality, thanks Lori!

These are just a couple of the awesome yard displays we saw as we walked through Lori's neighborhood.

A great time was had by all!

#20 - Mexico

2008-03-12T20:40:00.001-05:00

Late February seemed like the perfect time to escape Wisconsin and add another warm country to my list!

We chose Cancun simply because our friends Doug and Cynthia (below) won a trip there. I went online and found some great deals for the same week they were going, and even though we didn't stay at the same hotel it worked out great. Cynthia took the photos above and a few others in this series of posts. I didn't want to take my Canon and my Fuji Finepix died, so all of our photos from this trip were taken with Fuji QuickSnap one-use cameras.

We had a gorgeous ocean view from our balcony and the best sand beach on the whole "Zona Hotelera" strip. They didn't have much of an ocean view from their hotel, and there was still construction going on right next door so they woke up to the sound of jackhammers instead of the crashing waves, but they scored a way cool penthouse suite with a perfect setup for happy hour cocktails!

Home Sweet Hotel

2008-03-12T20:39:00.000-05:00

You can spend a ton of money on all-inclusive hotels in Cancun, but we wanted to get out and see the country while we were there so we opted for a basic room at the Hyatt Cancun Caribe. We absolutely loved it and would definitely stay there again if we ever go back.

Sunrise on our balcony, overlooking the pool and the beach. The weather was perfect, so we turned off the AC and left the sliding glass doors open the whole time we were there.

Looking back at the main hotel tower from the pool area (above) and the view of the beach behind me taken from the same lounge chair (below).

We even got to witness a wedding on the weekend, which was really neat. It was also very sweet .... lots of guests were watching from the balconies and when the couple kissed everyone started cheering and then kissing too!

The Resident Peacocks

2008-03-12T20:38:00.001-05:00

We counted at least 2-3 males and 5-6 females living on the grounds of our hotel. We also learned that they make a lot of noise. They start at the crack of dawn like roosters, except they sound more like howling cats in heat!

Chichen Itza

2008-03-12T20:37:00.001-05:00

This ancient Mayan temple complex is about a 2.5 hour bus ride from Cancun and well worth the trip to see it once in your lifetime. It was voted into the New 7 Wonders of the World last year. It's kind of like Stonehenge in that it's all laid out according to the sun and the temples cast really cool shadows twice a year during the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.

Don't let these photos fool you into thinking you'll have the place to yourself though. I actually had to get quite creative in my shooting angles to not get hordes of people in these shots! It's a very popular tourist attraction now so unfortunately most of the temples are cordoned off and you are not allowed to climb on them anymore.

If you want to learn more about the history you can click here. I normally don't rely much on Wikipedia, but it actually has one of the best descriptions of the place I've been able to find online. It seems like the rest are all links to discount tour companies. And speaking of tour companies, they offer various packages ranging from about $59 to $99 per person. We decided to splurge on the Sky Luxury Cruiser tour, which was definitely worth the extra money because it's an all-day trip.

The tourists are outnumbered only by the souvenir vendors here! I was totally captivated by all the brightly painted ceramic bowls, but I was afraid they wouldn't make the trip home without breaking so I refrained from buying any. However the wood and stone carvings were fair game!

How the Other Half Lives

2008-03-12T20:36:00.001-05:00

Doug and Cynthia got a chance to really live the high life for a week at Le Meridien. The photo below shows the living room/kitchen area of their penthouse suite.

Their trip was sponsored by the same insurance company that sent Doug the world's largest gift basket at Christmas and as we know they spare no expense!

This is a true 5-star resort with marble bathrooms and nightly turn-down service with monogrammed robes and little sweet treats on the bed.

But of course Doug and Mark couldn't resist making fun of the over-the-top opulence!

Getting Around in Cancun

2008-03-12T20:35:00.000-05:00

You can spend a fortune on taxis, or you can be brave and ride the bus for about 65 cents per person. You can take either the R-1 or the R-2 to get downtown and they run every ten minutes, 24 hours a day.

At night you even get free entertainment sometimes, but during the day you have to provide your own!

Thanks to the idiot lady at the Cancun airport who ran all my cameras through the x-ray machine even after I explained it could ruin the film. Fortunately we only lost the last 1 or 2 images on each camera but a few others came out with these lovely red streaks.

Downtown at Mercado 28

2008-03-12T20:34:00.001-05:00

Since Cynthia speaks Spanish we decided to venture downtown to the artists market and try to do a little haggling. Fortunately the market has a food court where we could park Mark and Doug while we shopped! If you ever go there I would recommend you stay around the outside edges, where the vendors are more laid back and let you just look around. The further into the maze of stalls you go the more aggressive they are. We found a few deals, but it honestly wasn't worth the aggravation.

So we decided to join the guys for lunch and some entertainment, along with more than a few cervezas. We can get Corona here in the US, so we went for the Dos Equis and Modelo while we were there!

Electrical Engineering in Mexico

2008-03-12T20:33:00.000-05:00

The wires above were spotted just off the patio of an outdoor restaurant, and the electrical connections pictured below were typical all over the downtown neighborhoods we rode through on the bus.

They obviously don't have anything resembling OSHA in this country!

The Big Kiddie Pool

2008-03-12T20:32:00.001-05:00

Another really great thing about the Hyatt is they have the Regency Club Suites right next door, and it's all one big complex so we also had access to their gorgeous infinity pool.

And of course the requisite swim-up bar, with Happy Hour starting at 1 pm!

Here's where I start experimenting with the underwater camera .....

More Underwater Fun

2008-03-12T20:31:00.001-05:00

This Fuji Quicksnap waterproof camera was the best $8.39 I ever spent!

Random Things That Made Me Laugh

2008-03-12T20:30:00.000-05:00

Like this blown-out flipflop, spotted just down the road from the Margaritaville restaurant.

No translation necessary for either of these!

The Annual Pilgrimage

2007-10-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

It may be just a hole in the wall, and it's not exactly in the classiest neighborhood, but this is THE place to go for middle eastern food in Minneapolis. Almost every year since 1995 I've gone there to spend a weekend with Lynda, a very dear friend I have known since high school. We both love gyros, falafel and hummus, so we start every visit with a pilgrimage to the Holy Land Deli!

We also went to a couple places that were totally new to me. Both are chain restaurants, but they haven't made it to the Green Bay market yet. The first was a brew pub called Granite City, where we had some really awesome burgers. The nice thing is that they offer a smaller version of all their burgers on the lunch menu, and they even let you substitute fresh fruit for the fries. Overall it was a great lunch! The next day we went to Baja Sol, which was also really good. I'd have to say Mexican food is near the top of my favorites list, right next to German, Italian and Middle Eastern. Believe me, I never went hungry anywhere in the world the Army sent me!

By now you're probably thinking that all we did all weekend was eat, but we were merely fueling ourselves for some serious power shopping. Here's a photo of Rosie checking out all my bargain scores ......

Honestly, this was all stuff I really needed. Well maybe not the two books I bought, but books are never a waste of money, right? Also, our coffeemaker was about to die any day and I found the programmable, auto shut-off one I really wanted - on sale! You set it up the night before and wake up to freshly brewed coffee keeping itself hot in a stainless steel carafe. How cool is that? And did you know that in Minnesota there is no sales tax on clothing? Just another good reason to stock up on some new sweaters for the winter if you ask me. I can justify anything!

#19 - Czech Republic

2007-06-11T21:30:00.000-04:00

I'm blessed to have a job I love, which also allows me to travel and learn at the same time! I work at a small college founded by the Norbertine priests, and they organized a tour to some of their European abbeys for faculty, staff and alumni. We left right after the spring semester ended, and I was very excited because it started in the Czech Republic. I had never been there before, but it was always on my "places to see" list because I have Bohemian ancestors. I still haven't seen the Grand Canyon, but I'm up to 19 different foreign countries now!

It's hard to pick just handful of photos to post from the 450+ I took, but here are just a couple of my favorites. Above is a garden gate at Zeliv Abbey in the Czech countryside. Below is one of the beautiful street lanterns in Prague. This one includes a sign leading to Strahov Abbey, the final resting place of St. Norbert. Norbert is one of the principal patron saints of Bohemia, and his statue can be found on the Charles Bridge.

The Abbey Road Tour

2007-06-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

Strahov
Zeliv
Tepla
Geras
Wilten

Ever Ancient, Ever New

2007-06-11T21:25:00.000-04:00

That's a phrase the Norbertines use to describe their order, and the community at Schlagl is a perfect example of one that has thrived by adapting to the needs of the times. We stayed overnight in their beautifully renovated wing that houses guest rooms and a seminar center, and we enjoyed lunch and dinner in their awesome restaurant. They also have their own brewery, and the beers are very good!

They even have a little demonstration garden in front, which shows the method they use to grow the hops. In this part of Austria - near the borders of Bohemia in the Czech Republic and Bavaria in Germany - you can see whole fields filled with these frame contraptions. I've done my share of brewery tours over the years, but I keep learning new things all the time!

No twist-off caps and wasted packaging here! I love that in Europe the beer bottles are returned and reused, as are these durable plastic racks. Schlagl is "the beer of Austria's only abbey brewery" and has been produced since 1580. They have modernized the plant quite a bit over the years, and they now have a website as you can see from the address on the side of this van.

The Healing Garden

2007-06-11T21:20:00.000-04:00

This post is dedicated to my friend David at Well Sweep Herb Farm, who first introduced me to the great botanical gardens of Europe more than 20 years ago. He taught me a lot about herbs and their medicinal uses, as well as the importance of just stopping to smell the lavender each day!

The priests at Geras Abbey in Austria have an extensive herb and flower garden, as well as a shop where they sell various herbal teas and elixirs. They also have a stork nesting on one of their chimneys. We all found that rather ironic!

Man cannot live by bread dumplings alone ......

2007-06-11T21:19:00.000-04:00

Shout-Outs Part 1

2007-06-11T21:17:00.001-04:00

How can we ever thank our hosts enough?!?!? Here we are sharing a laugh with Marianus at Tepla Abbey, which is in a very remote part of the Czech Republic. Note the cell phone attached to his waist sash!

I never did get the names of these two fathers at Geras Abbey. They didn't speak any English, but they were very nice and they served us one of the greatest lunches we had on the whole trip!

Here is where we first met Richard, the prior at Zeliv Abbey, and he welcomed us with a short tour of the grounds.

This is Lukas, the prior of Schlagl Abbey in Austria. Love the Teva sandals!

Patrick welcomed us to Wilten Abbey, which is now part of the city of Innsbruck, Austria. He also treated us to a wonderful lunch and a visit to the abbey gift shop, where we all stocked up on fabulous chocolates and liquors!

A Day in Prague

2007-06-11T21:15:00.000-04:00

This is the city as seen from Strahov Abbey, which is way up on the hill above the whole castle complex. You can see the spires of the St. Vitus Cathedral on the far left.

This is the famous Charles Bridge, which is lined with statues of all the saints who were part of the history of this area. It's a pedestrian-only bridge linking the area known as the "lesser town" below the castle complex to the "old town" across the river.

About halfway across the bridge you find St. Norbert. He's the one in the middle of this group of three. In the background you can again see the St. Vitus Cathedral and the castle complex.

These last two photos are from the Jewish Quarter of the old town, which is a beautiful part of the city best seen on a walking tour. We were lucky to have an absolutely gorgeous day to walk all through the city!

St. Vitus Cathedral

2007-06-11T21:14:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the "crane your neck and look up" portion of our tour!

This is Prague's main cathedral in the castle complex. It's a classic example of Gothic architecture and it includes many beautiful stained glass windows.

Just when you thought .....

2007-06-11T21:10:00.000-04:00

....I'd become all holier than thou now, never fear! I'm still compelled to record for posterity everything that is weird and wacky wherever I go.

It seems like in every major European city you're supposed to spit in the river or touch some statue for luck. In Prague it's this statue of St. John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge, so here I am petting the dog that is part of the sculpture.

I guarantee you, however, that I did NOT touch this one!

Shout-Outs Part 2

2007-06-11T21:08:00.000-04:00

We will also never forget our intrepid bus drivers, who definitely deserve a medal for this trip. Above is Hans Guenther, who drove us throughout the Czech Republic and into Austria. Below you see Bert, who got us from Austria into Germany and back more than once!

Gemutlichkeit

2007-06-11T21:05:00.000-04:00

That's German hospitality, which I first learned about when I stayed with Brigitte's family in 1984! In the pic with us is her daughter Laura. The last time I was there she was only three years old .... now she's 12 and studying English in school, so she and I have been corresponding the last few months. It worked out nicely that I could rent a car in Munich and return it in Frankfurt so I could visit with them before I came home from this trip.

This photo includes Brigitte's husband, Bernhard, and her mother, Marzella, who came to have dinner with us that evening.

Being the ever-gracious German hosts, of course they couldn't let me go home hungry!

Thanks to the nice lady at the Sixt Auto Rental office for the free upgrade to this Peugeot, which was a real treat to drive on the autobahn where there are no speed limits. It was good to get my adrenaline fix for the summer, because the last time I had that much fun in my WRX it cost me $150!!!

Road Tripping!

2007-04-26T21:00:00.001-04:00

Having Army buddies all over the country and the world means always having a free couch to sleep on no matter where you end up in your travels! My boss was gone to a conference last week so I had the chance to take a few days off and hit the road.

I wanted to go to Louisville to visit Fred and Jaclyn because I have to miss their wedding next month. (I'll be off on another trip that required a substantial non-refundable deposit, which I had already made before they set their wedding date. Bummer!) Fortunately Jaclyn understands Fred's sense of humor, because if you know Fred you KNOW that we couldn't pass this ice cream stand without turning it into a photo op!

Fred was my right-hand man in Iraq, and some of his blog posts from during our tour are included in the recently-released book "The Blog of War."

As his former editor, I have to brag him up a little because I'm just so darn proud of him!

I also want to say thanks again and send a Happy Birthday shout-out to Teresa, another old Army buddy in Indianapolis who let me crash on her couch one night during this trip too!

Thunder Over Louisville

2007-04-26T20:47:00.000-04:00

What a weekend to be in Louisville! Last Saturday was the big kickoff to the Kentucky Derby season and it was one big party all along the riverfront. The highlight for me was the fireworks though. I must have shot a hundred photos, and I wasn't even using a tripod so I was amazed that so many turned out. Here are just a few of my favorites .....

For Puzzle Lovers .....

2007-04-26T20:11:00.000-04:00

I'm trying something new here by making a puzzle out of one of my favorite pics of the old buildings in downtown Louisville. Just click on the pic and it will come up as a puzzle. This is a new feature on Jigzone, a web site where I waste entirely too much time when I should be updating my blogs!

Panorama-Rama

2007-02-11T21:35:00.001-05:00

This series is made with a software program called "autostitch" you can download for free. I used it to make these overview shots of the cities we visited on our 2005 trip to Germany and Italy. If you click on the pics to enlarge them you will see it tends to distort a little bit, but I still think it's pretty cool!

This first one is the city of Wiesbaden, Germany, where we spent a few days with our friend Keith.

This is the view from the castle in Heidelberg, Germany, overlooking the old part of the city and the Neckar River.

This is the Olympic Village in Munich, taken from atop the Olympic Tower. We stayed with our German friends, Bernd and Franzis, who were actually living in the village at the time so we had a real immersion experience there!

I finally got to take Mark to visit my old stomping grounds in Vicenza, Italy. This is the city as seen from the top of Monte Bericho.

It's hard to believe I lived in Italy for two years back in the 1980s but never got around to visiting Florence (too busy skiing and partying with my friends stationed in Germany I guess!) but we saw it on this trip and it was beautiful. I probably appreciated it a lot more than I would have back then too!

San Francisco - August 2006

2007-01-07T15:41:00.000-05:00

This cartoon reminded me that I've been sitting on these pics from our California trip for months now and I never got around to putting anything else on this travel blog I started. It also made me laugh because it described our visit perfectly!

Mark lived in northern California for a few years in his younger days, but it was only my second trip there ever. The first time was in 1998 and we spent a few days in Napa Valley wine country. This time we actually took a bus tour through the city of San Francisco.

Warning - I am known to take photos of just about anything that grabs my eye! Here's the "San Francisco Still Life" I took when we stopped to walk around by the City Hall downtown:

Now you see why the cartoon made me laugh so hard! We were lucky to get on a tour with Tom, an Irish guy who has lived in SF for 20 years but still talks with a bit of a brogue. How he kept up such a colorful commentary while navigating the narrow streets and steep hills I'll never know, but he was an awesome driver! He works for this company, which I would recommend highly.

Follow us on our adventures!

Mission Dolores

2007-01-07T15:36:00.000-05:00

This was another stop on our tour. You can read more about it here if you like. The inside of the church was beautiful but you couldn't use any flash, so we mostly enjoyed walking around the cemetery reading the tombstones and smelling the roses.

We had a gay old time!

2007-01-07T15:32:00.000-05:00

Now we are not really "bus tour" people (except for the party bus trips we took in Germany) but we only had one full day in the city on this trip and we really wanted to see Alcatraz. For that we had to reserve tickets in advance, and it was only a few dollars more to take the full-day city tour package so we went for it. The mornings are usually cold and foggy anyway, so it's a comfortable way to see a lot of different neighborhoods in just a few hours while the sun slowly burns off the fog.

Not far from Mission Dolores is the Castro District.

This has to be one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the city. Even on the dreariest of days it's always colorful!

It's also home to the Queer Channel Broadcasting Center, which may be of interest to some of my old Army broadcaster friends. I wonder if they have a reverse "don't ask, don't tell" policy?!?!?

The Rock

2007-01-07T15:24:00.000-05:00

This is definitely no paradise island. Even on a bright and sunny day in August it's still cold and windy out there, but it's well worth it to experience the place that's been the subject of so many books and movies.

Mark points out that this guard tower was obviously rebuilt since Clint Eastwood blew it up!

This is the view looking over toward Angel Island.

Looking back over downtown San Francisco, I think I spotted our missing conex on this passing ship!

Eat, Eat, Eat!

2007-01-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

Did I mention how much we ate while we were in California? This is Mark's brother Rick, and the whole reason for our trip was his son's bar mitzvah. For those who have never been to one of these ceremonies, let me just say it rivals your average wedding here in the Midwest. It starts with a rehearsal and family dinner on Friday night, then a lunch for everyone at the synagogue following the Saturday morning ceremony. The party continues with dinner and dancing Saturday night, and then everyone comes to the house on Sunday to watch you open your presents and eat more food!

The bar mitzvah boy - very happy this weekend is over I think!

I also think I could adapt to living in California quite nicely, if I could make enough to live in a neighborhood like this.

Hummingbird Heaven

2007-01-07T15:11:00.000-05:00

This was the courtyard area of the hotel we stayed in. The weather in the south bay area was much nicer than San Francisco, so we enjoyed pool time and watching these beautiful birds every day.

From the Archives .....

2006-08-01T00:11:00.000-04:00

For my first post I thought I'd start with a couple of the 600+ photos I took on a two-week trip to Germany and Italy last year, shortly after I came home from Iraq. I returned to work right after we got back from this trip and I've been busy ever since, so I never did anything with these. I'll post a few from time to time to fill in the gaps between upcoming trips!

This is me on the balcony of my old "home away from home" at the Hotel Rose in Heidelberg. When my Guard unit was deployed there in 97-98 this is where we all stayed, and on our 2005 trip Mark and I were able to stay in the same room I lived in during my deployment! The family that owns this place literally adopted us as their own, and many members of my old unit still keep in touch and visit again whenever they can.

This is just one of a hilarious series of Mark next to the incredibly small cars they drive in Europe. You have to click to enlarge the photo to read what this one says, but it basically translates into "Rent A Man, Inc." If I ever decided to take a job in Germany I'm sure he could get himself into this franchise because he's a handy guy ... he'd just need a little bigger vehicle!