Scott and Caroline's Current Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico

 

 

12/20/2008 - Scott and Caroline close their business, The Alluring Home - A Home Staging Company.

 

2/22/08 - Scott and Caroline have a new address!  1902 Quail Run Road NE, Albuquerque, NM  87122

 

Home

Archives

Photo Albums

Maps

Caroline's Reading List - Updated 03/14/07!!!

Puerto Vallarta Condo Website

Email Scott

Email Caroline

 

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40!  

6/10/09 - San Juan Skyway Scenic Loop - Ouray & Telluride, CO

Celebrating Caroline's 40th birthday in style with some top-notch Colorado soaking, hiking, eating and drinking

 

Since Caroline's birthday happened to fall right on the heels of our recent trip to Mexico, we decided to do a driving trip this time, in celebration of her milestone birthday.  We had been wanting to explore southwestern Colorado's most highly regarded scenic byway known as the San Juan Skyway since moving to New Mexico and decided that now was the perfect time!  The initial portion of the scenic loop, beginning in Durango, CO, was full of stunning mountain scenery - tall snow-capped peaks in the distance surrounded by deep green evergreens and newly leaved aspens, and waterfalls everywhere we looked! - as we traversed the numerous tight switchbacks of Red Mountain Pass.  Wow, simply wow!  Upon arriving at our first destination, the old-mining-now-tourist town of Ouray, CO, we began our celebration in earnest and in style by spending the first night of our tour  (more text & photos)

   
A Little Businesses and a Lot of Relaxing on the Mexican Riviera...Aaahhhh!  

5/27/09 - Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, MX

Making a quick trip down to Mexico to pick up our condo deed and check up on Casita Encantada

 

After a long winter and early spring in Albuquerque largely spent working (even Caroline completed a two-month temp assignment in the spring scoring standardized test essays) and staying close to home exploring our local hiking trails on the weekends, we were feeling ready for a change of scene.  With Memorial Day coming up, we decided to take advantage of the long holiday weekend and take a multi-purpose trip down to Puerto Vallarta, MX, where our condo, Casita Encantada, is located.   Our last visit to PV was over 2 years ago, in March 2007, just before we moved into our first residence in New Mexico.  Since then, we had learned that the deed to our condo (that we purchased in 2005) was finally available and that furthermore, we were required to pick it up in person.  Hence, a trip was in order!  This would also provide a good opportunity for us to inspect the condition of the condo, doing any necessary stocking up of supplies and checking to see if any replacements and/or repairs were needed; we've had a pretty steady flow of guests since our last visit and the humid coastal weather there takes a toll on things like appliances and upholstery.  A little R&R for  (more text & photos)

   
Grand Canyon, in the Snow...or Slush (...or Mule Dung)  

1/26/09 - Grand Canyon National Park - South Rim

Visiting the Grand Canyon for some winter hiking

 

Ever since last winter, we've been talking about returning to one of the national parks that we had visited in the past to see it in the snow with the winter wildlife out.  By January, it looked like another winter was going to pass us by without any national park visits - it was time to act fast.  We would have really liked to go to Rocky Mountain National Park, or return to Yellowstone, but due to our limited time we selected a closer destination - Grand Canyon National Park (not a bad third choice).  Checking the weather for about a week before, it looked like it could be anywhere from 4 degrees and snowy to 60 degrees and rainy... We hoped for snow more than rain, but could do without temps quite that low.

Caroline picked Scott up from work at 1:30, as Scott's boss likes to ditch early on Fridays herself to go camping from time to   (more text & photos)

   
Operation Snowshoe 2009!  

1/11/09 - Valles Caldera National Preserve near Jemez Springs, NM

Snowshoeing with friends in the Jemez Mountains north of Albuquerque

 

The morning was still and clear: a perfect time to head out to the mountains north of Albuquerque and for Caroline and Scott to try out snowshoeing for the first time.  We loaded our rented snowshoes and other gear into the van and after a yummy group breakfast at Weck's Restaurant, friends Naomi, Petra and Tanya piled into the van with us and we headed north into snow country.  It was pretty nerve-racking at first, after driving for more than an hour only to find dry roadways and snow-less mountains.  But we persevered and finally came across the East Fork trail, marked with a small cross-country ski sign on a tree.  The snow looked more than plentiful - we were in business! 

Our party, headed up by Naomi, was comprised of three novices and two experienced snowshoe-ers.  Being two of the three novices, we weren't sure exactly what to expect; snowshoeing always seemed like something that, while handy if you need to walk across snow you might sink into, a lot of work that can be avoided by not snowshoeing.  In some places, it definitely seemed helpful to have the snowshoes, like we were moving with greater ease by not breaking through the top frozen layer of snow.  Since we were mostly walking on a frequently traversed path, however, most of the snow was pretty well packed.  Scott, of course, needed to spend time off the path to make full use of his equipment, and was surprised just how far you can sink into the snow even while wearing snowshoes.  Although fairly easy to move about in - after all, Naomi was able to show us dance poses  (more text & photos)

   
A White Christmas in Michigan  

12/24 - 12/28/08 - Various southeastern Michigan cities

Scott & Caroline visit lots of family and friends during a brief, whirlwind holiday visit

 

By some amazing winter weather miracle, we arrived at Detroit Metro International Airport shortly after scheduled on Christmas Eve and spent an enjoyable evening at Scott's Mom and Dad's house in Dexter with his brothers and aunt and uncle, drinking Denise's now-famous alcoholic slushies, exchanging gifts and playing Wii bowling.  On Christmas morning, it was off to Lake Orion to celebrate with Caroline's family and to spend some QT with our energetic 2-year-old nephew, Christopher.  After this trip, Christopher definitely has a new 'favorite uncle' (even if he does only have one) - Uncle 'Cott!  Christmas night was the annual Brooks Family party at Aunt Sandy and Uncle Walt's, where we got to catch up with all of Scott's Brooks aunts, uncles and cousins.  Over the weekend, we managed to squeeze in visits with a few friends, Cousin Don's family and a quick visit to the outlet mall before flying home on Sunday night.  Although the trip felt a bit hectic and rushed at times, it was wonderful to see everyone and by Sunday we were ready to return home for some much-needed New Mexico winter sun!  Happy New Year, everyone!  We look forward to seeing some of you here in Albuquerque in 2009!  (more photos)

   
Happy Holidays From Scott & Caroline!  

12/17/08 - Albuquerque, NM

Scott & Caroline's holiday greetings and 2008 Year-in-Review

 

Holiday greetings to all our Family and Friends!  Once again, we can barely believe another year has slipped by since our last holiday newsletter.  It has been a busy year (of course - we are the Brookses, after all!), but with slightly fewer exciting adventures as in recent years.  As many of you know, we closed on a house here in Albuquerque at the end of January, after living the free-and-easy renters’ life in 2007.  Our ‘new’ 25-year-old home, located in the foothills of Albuquerque’s Sandia Mountains, has required a bit of TLC.  Sometimes we still wonder what we were thinking, becoming homeowners again!

Much of our year revolved around the new house as, in addition to completing repairs typical to a neglected older home, we decided to do a somewhat extensive renovation of the Master Suite.  The renovation project included gutting the master bath, turning the existing hallway into a walk-in closet and building a larger laundry room in what was originally the master closet.  Over-budget and taking far longer than anticipated (of   (more text & photos)

   
The Brookses' Holiday Cocktail Party  

12/14/08 - Albuquerque, NM

Enjoying an afternoon-into-evening of champagne cocktails, eggnog, Scott's delicious hors d'oeuvres and friends - new and old!

 

The house was decorated and spotless, the food was bought and prepared, the drinks were chilled and, most importantly, the major renovations of the year were finished - time to invite the friends! We spent a lovely Saturday afternoon and early evening, welcoming friends into our home and celebrating the holidays with food and (alcoholic) cheer!  The champagne cocktails and eggnog were enjoyed by all and the conversation was lively.  We had a wonderful time mingling with old friends and making new ones and hope our guests enjoyed themselves as much as we did.  Thanks to all who attended  for helping make our party a success (and for your wonderful hostess gifts!).  We hope to see you all again soon and wish you a joyful holiday season! (more photos)

   
Thanksgiving Weekend in the Bay Area  

11/30/08 - Oakland, San Rafael & San Francisco, CA

Frying turkeys, visiting friends and enjoying a visit to our old hometown

 

Having left San Francisco for Mexico at about this time 4 years ago, we decided that a visit to one of our favorite residences and some of our best friends was long overdue.  Ignoring the sad state of our finances, we hopped on a plane on Thanksgiving morning and flew to Oakland, home of the Oakland International Airport and conveniently, of our friends Jen and Tod.  After a brief morning stroll (our flight arrived at 8:30am!) on the sunny Alameda waterfront, the fog rolled in and we headed for Jen & Tod's beautiful view-home (although, sadly, we didn't get to see much of the view in the fog) in the Oakland Hills.  A short time after our arrival, friends Mark & Christine arrived and we all cooked dinner together in Jen's gorgeous remodeled (and humongous!) kitchen, while snacking on Jen's delicious baked brie and homemade hummus (ok, some of us were doing more eating than cooking).  Tod broke out some fabulous wines from his floor-to-ceiling-height wine fridge, and we proceeded to imbibe (a lot) while tending the  (more text & photos)

   
Another Autumn Road-Trip Weekend in Colorado  

10/21/08 - Colorado Springs, CO - Pikes Peak, Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument and the Royal Gorge Bridge

Another action-packed overnight trip to Colorado

 

Even though we've been very busy, what with Scott now working full-time and helping Caroline with home staging activities after-hours, we were feeling anxious to see as much fall color as possible this year, before the leaves are all on the ground.  After working hard all Friday evening to de-stage a home that we were informed on Thursday was scheduled to close just over a week later (giving us only one weekend to dismantle the job), we hit the road at 6:00 am on Saturday and headed to Colorado Springs.  We had been so busy prior to departure that we didn't have much time to plan, and so we didn't really know what to expect (isn't that half the fun?!).  But the weather forecast was warm and sunny (unlike last weekend's thunderstorms, wind and rain) and hey, how bad can Colorado be, we reasoned. 

Upon leaving the New Mexico desert that we call home and entering the mountains of New Mexico as we headed north on I-25, the aspens were in full color and their fiery-yellow leaves were simply ablaze in the warm, fall sunshine.  Pay-dirt!  Our first stop in Colorado was the top of Pikes Peak.  Wow, just wow!  Although it was a difficult (and expensive!) drive to the top - Caroline had difficulty breathing as we climbed in altitude - it was worth it!  The summit, where we ended up, is at 14,115 feet and the vistas all around are so majestic and far-flung that it is similar to the view from an airplane.  Pretty cool.  After coming down the mountain, we took a very pleasant hike in the Red Rock Canyon Open Space (thankfully free-of charge, as we are on quite a budget these days), where we were surrounded by beautiful red rocks and colorful fall foliage.  After briefly scoping out downtown dinner options, we headed to our amazing Priceline score of a hotel, the Crown Plaza, a short drive from downtown and at $42 plus tax, an amazing  (more text & photos)

   
The Autumn Road-Trip Weekend Season Begins  

9/21/08 - Mesa Verde, CO, Four Corners CO/NM/UT/AZ, and Canyon de Chelly, AZ

An overnight trip to four states and another nation

 

This time of year is a beautiful time to travel in the Southwest (but as we always say, where isn't it?).  So we decided we are going to take full advantage of our weekends this Fall and see some of our local (well, within a 6-hour drive) sites that we've been meaning to check out.  First was a trip up to southwest Colorado to Mesa Verde National Park.  Leaving Albuquerque at 6am, we took a beautiful 4-hour drive up Hwy 550 through Durango, CO to the park.  We passed through the entrance station and took a winding but beautiful drive up to the top of the mesa, where the primary sites and our lodging for the night were located.  Mesa Verde is primarily known for its ruins.  Ancient ancestors of the current Southwest Pueblo tribes built pit houses (~600 A.D.) and more sophisticated cliff dwellings (1000 - 1200 A.D.) in this region, and many of the ruins are still in quite good condition.  We took a couple of very interesting tours (you're only able to visit the good stuff via tour), saw a huge bear, and logged a lot of mesa-top miles on the minivan before topping the day off with a nice evening of drinks and dinner back at the Farview Lodge.  As is often the case during our travels in the National Parks, there were as many Europeans as Americans there (nearly all French, German, and English - in that order), which always makes us think that there must be many Americans missing out on some of this country's 'greatest hits' (the best of America's landscape, history, ecology, geology, etc.).  Guess that means more room for us.

Sunday morning we woke up and decided to take a different route home.  We first headed for the nearby landmark known as The Four Corners, the only place in the country where four states meet (Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico), ironically located in the Navajo Nation (more text & photos)

   
The Piper Must Be Paid  

9/18/08 - Albuquerque, NM

Scott goes to work at a "real" job

 

Their accounts have lost significant value, their infrastructure crumbling... Will the government come in and save them?  If only we were talking about huge insurance companies or investment banks the answer might be yes, but as you can probably guess this little story is not about those storied financial institutions about which you've heard so much.  No, this sad tale is about the namesake of this website... namely, Scott.  Nearly four years after ditching their employment back in San Francisco, the money has finally run out.  The remodel and the trip to Africa pushed us over the edge, and Scott has decided to dust off his MBA and see if he can't put it to work (after all, there are still business school loans to pay, too!).  Although we had been warned by several people that our 'resume gap' (please see scottandcaroline.com for details on said gap) would make it extremely difficult, if not impossible for us to get so much as a job cleaning port-a-potties at the State Fair, it turned out that apparently people don't seem to care that much.  A week or two after applying for a few jobs, Scott was hired as a Financial Analyst (aaaahhh, the good ole days) at the University of New Mexico Hospital here in Albuquerque.  Will it be easy to head back to the 8 to 5?  Hardly.  I mean, two weeks of vacation per year?  You've gotta be kidding.  But the paychecks have started rolling in and we'll start settling into some normalcy for a while.  Hopefully not too normal.

Some of you might be asking yourselves, "what about that home staging business...you know, what's it called...oh yeah!  The Alluring Home.  Right, what happened to that whole deal?"  Well, it's still lumbering along.  While we really haven't actively sought business since last January  (more text & photos)

   
Letts in the Southwest  

9/1/08 - Albuquerque, NM  (Shutterfly photo album)

Chris, Jacque, and not-yet-born baby Larry pay a Labor Day weekend visit

 

After plans to visit us last Memorial Day fell through, Chris & Jacque made the commitment to travel out to Albuquerque over Labor Day weekend to visit Scott, Caroline, and the snakes of New Mexico.  They arrived the Friday of Scott's first week of work, and he was already raring to enjoy his much needed long weekend with the Letts. 

Friday night was off to El Pinto restaurant to introduce our guests to the local cuisine and margaritas - though Jacque's 'condition' prevented her from partaking of any tequila (which served as an advantage later that weekend - pregnant ladies make great designated drivers!). (more text & photos)

   
The Call to Prayer...or The Busiest Little "Village" in the World  

8/18/08 - Kano, Zaria, Kaduna & Abuja, Nigeria; Atlanta & Albuquerque, USA  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-Kano, Zaria, Abuja)

We experience a Muslim prayer service of grand proportions and make our way back to Western-style living at the Abuja Sheraton, before flying home

 

We would have like to stay another day and hire the same guide again, but in the morning (Friday), we decided to quickly visit the Mosque in Kano and drive on, in the hopes of making it to Zaria in time for the weekly Friday prayer service (like Sunday for Catholics).  First, we found the Emir's Palace (with more of the same "WHEYA IZ IT?!!!," from Gausil), which we weren't allowed to go into since we had no appointment.  It seemed to be bustling with visitors (we're doubting they all had appointments) and plenty of goats out front - which were everywhere in Kano, including being transported on okadas.  Then it was off to the Mosque.  Again, we were only allowed in the courtyard and not inside the Mosque due to our apparently obviously non-Muslim status.  We did get approached by a group of angry men telling us we were not allowed to be in the courtyard either, but Gausil yelled at them, telling them he was Muslim and we could be there if we wanted.  He claimed we wouldn't have been able to get as close as we did had we not been wearing our African clothes - another great reason for the Nigerian threads!

By the time we hit Zaria, about 90 minutes south of Kano, it was almost 2pm and time for Friday prayers at the Mosque & Emir's Palace compound.  Supposedly a "village," there are about 1 million people living in Zaria, and a good percentage of the men were also heading toward (more text & photos)

   
Kano - Aaahhh, Now This Is What We Came For (Well, And For A Wedding, Of Course)!  

8/14/08 - Kano, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-Kano, Zaria, Abuja)

Touring the ancient, walled, trade-route city of Kano

 

On Thursday after breakfast, we checked out of our hotel, Gausil came to collect us in the Toyota and we set off excitedly for Kano.  Based upon our Lonely Planet research, we had high hopes for what we would see in Kano, due to its status as a largely Muslim, very old walled city that was a major stop on the sub-Saharan trade route across Africa that is a bit of a tourist destination, if there is one in Nigeria.  After a pleasant 2-hour ride, we arrived in town and Gausil easily located our hotel, after a bit of asking around.  A friend of John's had kindly made us a reservation at the Prince Hotel, which also came highly recommended by our Lonely Planet guidebook.  John had written down the room category and the rate of 15,000 Naira on a sheet of paper for us.  They had the reservation for us but they were unwilling to honor the rate given over the phone, saying that the person who made our reservation for us must have made a mistake and wrote down the wrong amount - classic Nigeria (and Mexico, too, for that matter).  Now the  (more text & photos)

   
Jos, Watch Out, Here We Come!  

8/13/08 - Abuja & Jos, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-Lagos, Abuja, Jos)

We breakfast with the family and leave Abuja solo, Jos-bound

 

This morning, Wednesday (week one - check!), we had one last breakfast with Trevor, Maria, and her (their) family.  We had a good conversation that morning, where we discovered that Caroline dances like an African (perhaps this explains her spraying wins), and that Maria and Quincy thought Scott was an Arab the first time they saw him (and thus might not stand out too much in the Muslim cities we were heading to).  Quincy marveled over the idea that we wanted to travel around and ‘see’ Nigeria and, upon seeing Scott consulting our Lonely Planet West Africa we had brought with us, the family all were very intrigued that a guidebook –  complete with maps – had been written about their country.  We also discussed some of the racism in Africa, how lighter-skinned Africans are seen as superior (and thus fetch bigger dowries) than dark-skinned Africans – explaining the advertisements for skin-lightening soaps and creams that we had seen.  This, while white people across America are applying sunless tanning lotions and/or subjecting themselves to harmful UV rays… apparently we all want to be the same, olive-y complexioned peoples. 

After discussing our touring plans in more detail, we think that Quincy was finally able to understand the type of travel experience (more text & photos)

   
Several Days in the Life of a Nigerian Visitor...or A Little of This, A Little of That  

8/12/08 - Lagos & Abuja, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-Lagos, Abuja, Jos)

We attend church service with the family, have lunch at the Admiral's in Lagos and travel to the family's home in Abuja

 

The next day, Sunday, it was up early again, this time to go (back) to church for the usual weekly service.  It was the family's day to do thanksgiving and the remaining Americans (Greg and Geoff left on a morning flight today) participated in the ceremony (are you surprised?), with Scott offering a yam and Caroline a very ripe pineapple.  Post-service, we piled back in the van for a lunch of ram stew and jollof rice (very spicy, of course) at the house.  After a little visiting amongst ourselves, the Americans begged off, in desperate need of a nap after 3 busy days in a row.  We were taken back to the hotel, where we all passed out in our rooms and then enjoyed a pleasantly familiar meal together at the Italian restaurant in the hotel compound.

On Monday, feeling rested after yesterday's wedding recovery day, it was back to action.  First stop was lunch at “The Chairman’s” (aka “The Admiral”, aka “Favorite Uncle”) house.  Trevor needed to thank him for being the Chairman of the wedding.  While lunch was delicious (chicken, shrimp salad, moi moi, jollof & fried rice, Coke, Star beer and some Elvis Presley on the menu), the real treat was the tour of The Admiral’s water-  (more text & photos)

   
Trevor & Maria's Big Day - #2  

8/09/08 - Lagos, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-Catholic church wedding!)

We attend the Catholic Church wedding ceremony and western-style reception for Trevor & Maria

 
Exhausted from the previous day's activities, we awoke on Saturday morning in our new, beautifully remodeled room in the main hotel building, a generous gift from Maria's father, compliments of PHCN, John's employer, that we moved into upon returning to the hotel after yesterdays festivities.  Thankfully, it was dry today.  Scott dressed in a regular business suit from home and Caroline put on casual clothes, to be dressed later in her complicated outfit at Maria's family's home, before heading to the church.  After breakfast and some photos of Trevor (seemingly dressed as P. Diddy) and the guys in the lobby, the van whisked us off to Maria's family home, as per usual.  Sally and Caroline were again taken upstairs and dressed and had their geles wrapped.  It is a most bizarre sensation to have a gele installed on your head and Sally and Caroline agreed that the feeling of having it done seemed totally different than to watch it being done to someone else.  We were running late and tensions were running high.  Normally mild-mannered and friendly, Maria's sister and maid of honor, Tola, rushed into our room without so much as a glance, rummaged in the closet, and rushed out.  (more text & photos)

   
Another Wedding to Remember - Trevor & Maria's Big Day - #1  

8/08/08 - Lagos, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-traditional wedding!)

We attend the Traditional Engagement/Wedding ceremony for Trevor & Maria

 

On Friday morning, we awoke to the sound of rainwater rushing in torrents out of the gutter outside our room at the Eko Hotel.  "Oh, no," we thought, "it's going to be pouring rain on Trevor and Maria's wedding day!"  We looked down the street from above, only to see women, heads loaded with goods, wading through the flooded street up to their knees in water and okadas, the ubiquitous motorcycle taxis of Lagos, driving slowly down the street in water half way up their tires, the drivers with their pants rolled almost to the knee in an attempt to keep them dry.  Despite the rain, we got up and prepared for the day, donning our Nigerian outfits custom-made specifically to be worn today - 2-piece outfits in a beautiful indigo blue color, accented with a light blue star pattern woven into the fabric - as previously instructed by the bride.  With all this rain, Caroline thought to herself that luckily, it didn't matter what her hair looked like, since her head would eventually be covered with her gold gele, or traditional Nigerian headwrap.  Now there's a  (more text & photos)

   
Welcome to Nigeria...or, Don't Try This at Home!  

8/07/08 - Lagos, Nigeria  (Shutterfly photo album - Nigeria-pre-wedding)

Our trip begins, as we travel to Nigeria to attend friend Trevor's wedding and to see what this Nigeria place is all about

 

“What in God’s name are you doing going to Nigeria?” has been the most common reaction when we’ve told people our plans to head to Nigeria.  So, first off, allow us to explain WIGN our plans are.

Our friend from Michigan, Trevor, aka Dawger, akina (also known in Nigeria as) Tokunbo or simply Toks, found himself a lovely ladyfriend while on a long-term work assignment in the Baltimore area.  For purposes of this website we’ll call her Maria, since that’s her name.  It turned out that this Baltimore beauty was Nigerian, with the majority of her family living back in Lagos, Nigeria.  Next thing you know, they’re engaged (not quite as easy as it sounds when you’re following Nigerian engagement protocol – but I digress), and planning an African wedding.  As you’ve no doubt guessed, we were on the invitation list, and planned ourselves a nearly two week trip to see what we could see of Nigeria.

Now that we’re all up to speed on the reason for the trip, go ahead and kick back, grab a cup of palm wine, get your yellow fever and wild polio vaccines, take your anti-malaria pills, and read on.

Step one, buy expensive plane tickets and fly to Nigeria.  This accomplished, we landed at the Murtala Mohammed International (more text & photos)

   
A Wedding to Remember  

8/03/08 - San Diego, CA  (Shutterfly photo album - Deanna & Ryan's Wedding!)

We travel to San Diego to attend friends Deanna & Ryan's wedding and for a little summer-time R&R

 
After feverishly putting some finishing touches on our Master Suite Remodel and preparing for our big trip to Nigeria (for wedding #2), at the end of July we hit the road in our trusty van, the Golden Gancho, San Diego-bound.  Our remodel proved to be a bigger and more time-consuming job than originally anticipated and we spent the better part of the summer working on it.  We needed a vacation...baaaad.  So we left a few days early to enjoy some sand and surf, before attending Deanna & Ryan's wedding on August 2nd.  We splurged on a room at the swanky Ivy Hotel, where the wedding was taking place for 3 nights (Scott found an irresistible 24-hour internet sale on our room), but decided to save a little cash for the first two nights and ended up at the funky Lafayette Hotel, which we booked through Hotwire.  Well, it was clearly quite a grand place...a long, long time ago.  A little run-down these days and in a slightly unsavory neighborhood, it still had a sort of old-movie-star glamour and charm about it, if you could ignore its  (more text & photos)

   
Remodel Complete!  

7/24/08 - Albuquerque, NM 

Four months after moving into our new house, we can actually use our master suite!

 

We knew when we made the offer on our house we'd be doing some updating.  One of the things we wanted to fix was the master bathroom shower, which seemed way too small (and from 1983).  So we thought, "hmmm, if we're going to work on the shower, we might want to put in a jetted tub, in which case we'll want to put in a new floor, and if we're doing that we should put in a new vanity.  Since we're making that mess, let's change the master closet into a laundry room, and transform the hallway and laundry closet into the new master closet - which means we'll need to create a new door into the master bedroom.", etc., etc.  You can see that one thing led to another, and our enlarged shower turned into a huge project.  Besides updating the look of the bathroom, we wanted to make our house less 'apartment-y'.  Getting rid of our long hallway by transforming it into a walk-in (more text & photos)

   
Tailgating at the Opera  

6/27/08 - Santa Fe, NM  (Shutterfly photo album - Santa Fe Opera Tailgate Pics!)

We join friends Erica & Eric for an elegant evening in the Santa Fe Opera parking lot...and breathtaking amphitheater!

 
On Friday evening, June 27th, we loaded up Eric & Erica's (fancy) big ol' truck with the necessary supplies and headed up to Santa Fe for the opening night of the 2008 Santa Fe Opera season.  (The opera that evening was Falstaff, for anyone who actually cares.)  We pulled into the parking lot with all of the other variously attired opera-going-tailgaters, many formal or in costume, and set up our makeshift table, patio chairs and cocktail-party spread. The weather was perfect - balmy and overcast, but no rain - and the clouds only made the mountain setting that much more stunning.  After imbibing a few champagne cocktails and feasting on shrimp, ham & asparagus crepes, and gourmet cheese and crackers among other delights, we broke down our spread and headed into the open-air amphitheater for our first-ever opera performance.  Although we can't (and won't) necessarily claim to be opera fans, it was a very satisfying event, experiencing a beautifully set and costumed (and actually humorous) opera, while seeing the lightning (more text & photos)

   
Party Like It's 1983!  

3/08/08 - Albuquerque, NM   (Shutterfly photo album - Totally Awesome 80's Party Pics!)

Friends join us for a 'Vintage 1983' party at our new house

 
Before we make too many changes at our new, 'vintage', home, we wanted to revel in it's 1983-ness, and let others do so as well.  Our guests made a good showing, with lots of big jewelry, 80's hairstyles, and pegged pants to add plenty of authenticity.  The biggest hit had to be Eric's beautiful bleached blonde mullet, a pelt which was passed around and adorned by nearly all partygoers at one point or another.  Everyone also had clearly brushed up on their early 80's dance moves, as many of the skills displayed have certainly not been seen since 1985, or '86 at the very latest.  The snacks included some of our favorites from 25 years ago, such as spray cheese, pizza rolls, jiffy pop, a Hostess dessert platter, and a candy assortment including starburst and recess pieces, among others - all washed down with wine coolers.  Healthy?  Hardly - we didn't care, it was 1983 that night, we were invincible!  The photos say much more than we could ever hope to communicate with words...  Thanks for coming everybody!  (more photos)

   
Travelers' Pit Stop  

2/22/08 - Albuquerque, NM

We get a visit from Janet & Mark, formerly of San Francisco and soon to be of Washington D.C.

 
As a welcome reprieve from all the recent chaos that is our lives these days, we had the pleasure of an overnight visit from our friends Janet & Mark from San Francisco.  Upon their arrival in Albuquerque, they were in the process of making a cross-country drive/move from San Francisco to Washington D.C., where Janet has taken an architecture position with a former employer.  Janet's husband, Mark, also an architect, is looking forward to continuing his newfound 'International Man of Leisure' status for the time being and has big plans to hold court at the local coffee shop near their new apartment in the District.

We had a delightful time catching up with the travelers, sharing meals and travel tales at El Pinto New Mexican Restaurant and the (more text & photos)

   
Sandia Heights, Here We Come!  

2/22/08 - Albuquerque, NM

Home Sweet Home - or - the Brookses change residences yet again!

 
Well, we've been a little out of touch lately, so we thought it was high time for an update.  As many of you know, we've been very busy in recent months getting our new home staging business, The Alluring Home (www.thealluringhome.com), up and running.  It's been a huge undertaking, but we are well on our way! 

We also have the exciting (for us, anyway) announcement that, as of January 31, 2008, we are the proud new homeowners of 1902 Quail Run Road NE!  It proved to be quite a stressful transaction and we are very happy to have that over with!  We will still be residing here in the Duke (more text & photos)

   
Salud!  

12/14/07 - Albuquerque, NM

Happy Holidays 2007!

 
Holiday greetings to all of our family, friends - new and old, acquaintances and anybody else who may be reading this year's newsletter:

Wow, as usual, it's been an action-packed year for us. 2007 has been a year of transitions, as we've relocated and re-adjusted to life not only back in the States but here in New Mexico, as well (which frequently feels, culturally, more like Mexico than the US!). For those of you can't quite keep up with us (and I don't blame you - I can barely keep track of us!), here's the rundown of our goings on this past year.

Back in January of this year, we returned to our home in Mexico - San Miguel de Allende to be exact - after spending the holidays with family in Michigan. We had left our home and lives in San Francisco just over 2 years earlier and funds were beginning to run low, so we decided it was time to think about relocating back to the States and try to build the bank accounts back up. We put our San Miguel condo on the market, but weren't (more text & photos)

   
Halloween Re-cap  

11/08/07 - Albuquerque, NM

Almost two weeks after the party, we finally get to posting photos

 
As pathetic as we've been keeping our website updated, we can't possibly allow ourselves to dress up for Halloween without putting some photos on the internet.  Our friends Erica and Eric go to the same Halloween party every year, and we were lucky enough to score an invite as friends of friends.  So this guy owns a rug shop stocked with tons of extremely expensive Persian and Oriental rugs.  And he apparently really enjoys Halloween, because he throws a party in his store every year.  Everybody got really decked out, there were some impressive costumes.  The majority of the ladies, of course, were dressed as the slutty "insert costume idea here".  We took a different tack.  We went all Brokeback Mountain over here, as Caroline did her best Ennis Del Mar, while Scott put his best Jack Twist forward.  Erica and Eric went all Asian on us, duding up in a highly impressive geisha costume and ninja suit.

While dressing up like cowboys seems like it would be a relative breeze when you live in New Mexico, it wasn't as easy as we (more text & photos)

 

The Brokeback Experience

   
Up, Up and Away...  

10/12/07 - Albuquerque, NM

Scott's parents come for a visit to Albuquerque and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

 
On October 2nd, Scott's parents, Jerry and Denise, arrived in Albuquerque to visit Denise's childhood friend, Carol and her husband Ric (who coincidentally also live here in the Duke City), and of course, their son and daughter-in-law (that's us).  We spent an activity-filled yet relaxed week with them, kicking off the week's events by attending the early-morning 'Mass Ascension' at Balloon Fiesta Park, where we watched as thousands of beautiful balloons took off and filled the sky with color.  The next day, Sunday, we all went with Denise's friend Carol to a breakfast party where we could see the balloons in the distance from our hosts' amazing (and large and gorgeous!) view patio.

The rest of the week was spent doing typical Albuquerque-visitor stuff, such as a visit to the Atomic Museum, a drive up the  (more text & photos)

 
   
Crazy for the Festivals  

09/02/07 - Bernalillo, NM & Hatch, NM

Attending the New Mexico Wine Festival on Saturday, following it up with the Hatch Chile Festival on Sunday

 
We're trying not to festival ourselves out before the big one - the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta in October (not to mention the big NM State Fair starting this Friday!), but we just couldn't pass up wine and chile this weekend.  First, our friends Naomi and Mike invited us to attend the NM Wine Festival in Bernalillo.  We found some decent wines at the Black Mesa Winery booth and drank plenty of them while enjoying Naomi's makeshift picnic.  A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The next morning we drove 2 1/2 hours south to Hatch, NM, the world capitol of  chile!  That is chile with an 'e' (what many Americans might incorrectly call 'peppers'), not chili (the bowl of spiced meat & beans from Texas). Hatch is just 45 minute or so from Mexico, but it felt even closer.  A very down-home fest it was, with plenty of chile ristras for sale, country music bands, carnival rides & games, and lots of taco stands.  The air was strong with the scent of roasting chiles and conversations in Spanish.  On our way home we stopped off for a visit of Truth or Consequences, NM.  It was once called Hot Springs, NM until it answered the call of the Truth or Consequences game show in 1950, which challenged any American town to change its name to the name of the show.  Though the name is no longer Hot Springs, it still has them, and we've heard it's now popular with tourists.  It was more like a ghost town when we wandered through. Perhaps we'll go back some day, perhaps we won't. (more photos...)

 
   
Another Romantic Anniversary - Part 2  

08/31/07 - Albuquerque, NM

Celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary in Scottsdale, AZ

 
Well, it was hardly Secrets Capri Resort in Playa del Carmen (Secrets Capri entry), but we still had an enjoyable 2-night stay at the Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center (and it cost a lot less!).  Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised by the Spanish-style tile, metal work and paint accents, very reminiscent of hotels we've seen in Santa Barbara, CA, in evidence throughout the hotel.  While it is definitely an older property, they have done a nice job keeping it in good condition (as evidenced by all the Mexican workers fixing up the fountains in the pool area while we were lounging there).  Our room, while nothing overly fancy, was quite nice, very spacious and well-kept.  The windows had quaint wooden shutters (adding to the Spanish colonial atmosphere) and our room looked out over the golf course, for an air of quiet seclusion (except when a golf ball, we think, hit the building beside our window with a resounding thunk!).  The hotel staff was very friendly and helpful, while not overbearing, as we tend to find them at  (more text & photos)
   
Another Romantic Anniversary  

08/28/07 - Albuquerque, NM

After over a week in Albuquerque, it's time to get out of town again

 
Last year, we celebrated our anniversary by visiting the concentration camp at Dachau (Dachau entry), and this year is only a tad more romantic.  We're going to the Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center!  Perhaps we'll get a meeting room and express our love through Powerpoint... Invite a special guest speaker to our suite...

There are lots of nice resorts in the Phoenix area.  Looking at the Bidding For Travel website which helps you place Priceline bids, it looked like people had been getting all kinds of nice places for a steal this time of year (since it's over 175 degrees Fahrenheit right now).  The Marriott Camelback Resort, Hyatt Regency Resort, The Boulders...but we get the conference center.  Tomorrow is our 9th, and you can rest assured we won't be Pricelining our 10th anniversary trip!  But it'll be nice to go hang out by the pool (Hopefully in the shade.  Under misters.  With cold drinks.), and will undoubtedly be more relaxing than our road trip.  Two nights in the same place!  Happy Anniversary to Us.

 

   
Pacific Northwest Summer Road Trip 2007!: Recap  

08/27/07 - Albuquerque, NM - MAP of our completed trip to the Pacific Northwest

Summary of our 38 days, 23 beds, 2 countries, 8 states, 9 national parks and monuments and 7,300 miles on the road

 
Now that we're back and finally caught up with all of the things that require catching up with (including updating this website and sorting through 1,000 or so photos) we wanted to put together a short recap.  Road travel can be hard on you, and it's been nice resting up this week.  It was hard on our car too, as we had to buy brakes, 2 new tires, and a couple of oil changes along the way. 

It was definitely all worth it though - one of our favorite trips ever.  One of the things that made it so great was the amount of time we gave ourselves, which led to a leisurely pace with time to take detours.  We wanted to list our favorite sights and places along the way, but that's sooo haaard (we say in whiney voices).  But we'll jot down a short list of a few of our favorites anyway. (more text... and the Best Of list!)

   
The Brooks Residence  

08/18/07 - Albuquerque, NM

Some photos of our home

 
Now that we're home again, we realize that lots of people we know have seen many more pictures of our road trip lodging accommodations and home exchanges than they have seen of our house!  Here are some photos which will hopefully remedy that situation.

And no, we don't live on a hot air balloon, those are just some of the balloons that float over our house every morning. 

Just a note: our guest room is not pictured here, since it was just an empty room when these photos were taken.  We have since outfitted it with a bed, bedding and bookshelf, in preparation for our first houseguests arriving in October: Scott's parents, with SF friend Leane following closely on their heels!Looking forward to your visits!  (more photos)

   
Hey, We Live In Albuquerque Again!  

08/17/07 - Albuquerque, NM (Shutterfly photo album - Utah Parks & Aztec Ruins)

After a quick detour to Aztec Ruins National Monument, we find ourselves back in the Duke City

 
Woke up this morning in Cortez, Colorado, just 45 minutes west of Durango (in case that helps anyone).  Started the day with a leisurely Comfort Inn breakfast on their outdoor mountain-view deck, along with more French tourists.  We feel bad that the poor European tourists eat chain hotel continental breakfasts and drink the terrible coffee, after they (Europeans) provided such tasty breakfasts for us all last summer.  "Mmmm", they must say, "I think I'll have just one more slice of that delicious perfectly square piece of white sandwich bread, and maybe a banana that won't be ripe for 3 more weeks!".

We kept to our word and drove right by Mesa Verde, but were so intrigued by the Aztec Ruins National Monument in Northwest New Mexico that we simply couldn't help ourselves and had to stop.  Contrary to the name, as you might guess, these are not actually Aztec ruins, but (more text & photos)

   
Bryce Canyon N.P., Red Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante N.M, Capitol Reef N.P. & Natural Bridges N.M  

08/16/07 - Cortez, CO (Shutterfly photo album - Utah Parks & Aztec Ruins)

Making damn sure this annual National Parks pass pays for itself - or - 'No More Red Rock!'

 
Highway 12 is one of the most scenic roads in the country, winding through Red Canyon, by Bryce Canyon, through Grand Staircase-Escaclante and up to Capitol Reef National Park.  There are not many places on the road where you're not driving by absolutely spectacular landscape and it just seems to go on and on, one gorgeous mile after another.  If you ever have the chance to drive this road, do it.  Seriously.

When you take Highway 12 east toward Bryce, you pass right through the Red Canyon area in Dixie National Forest.  Dark red cliffs and rock formations, a new bike path extending the length of the park, drive-through tunnels carved in the red rock, a site worth seeing in its own right.  We stopped to take a quick look before trying to catch the morning light (and morning temps) in Bryce, where we walked a short while into the (more text & photos)

   
U.S 89: Skip It (If You're Not Scott), Highway 12: Dont Miss It! - Part 2  

08/15/07 - Panguitch, UT (Shutterfly photo album - Utah Parks & Aztec Ruins)

Veering off the agenda, we decide to take an unplanned detour to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, by way of Salt Lake City

 
After checking out of the Quality Inn in Springdale, we drove back into Zion this morning to see some more scenery and attempt a short hike or two.  We decided to hike the Emerald Pools waterfall trails and for a real adventure, the Narrows.  The Narrows, a relatively narrow (though wide in comparison with New Mexico's Tent Rocks area) and deep canyon, has a paved 1-mile trail running along  the river.  At the end of the trail, the river widens to fill the canyon from wall to wall.  Here, you either turn around or head into the shallow (1 to 2 feet deep) river and keep slogging ahead.  After missing our opportunity at the Oneonta Gorge in the Columbia River Valley, we decided to jump in head first (figuratively) and get our feet wet (literally).  It was a cool sensation to be walking in the river with the canyon walls rising above you on both sides.  Caroline was most fascinated, however, at the number of people willing to jump into the river in their shoes, socks and pants.  Her wet feet and sand-filled shoes made the final part of the (more text & photos)

   
U.S 89: Skip It (If You're Not Scott), Highway 12: Dont Miss It! - Part 1  

08/14/07 - Springdale, UT (Shutterfly photo album - Columbia River & Utah)

Veering off the agenda, we decide to take an unplanned detour to Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, by way of Salt Lake City

 
Somewhere along the road in Idaho, we decided to spend less time there and instead take an extra day or two to do a very quick tour of the national parks in southern Utah, some of which we briefly explored back in late 2004.  A better decision was never made!

Backing up: On Monday morning, after checking out of the Boise Doubletree, and following a truck stop breakfast and a pretty but relatively unremarkable scenic drive through southern Idaho's Sawtooth Mountains, we stopped for an early pizza cafe dinner in Ketchum (near Sun Valley), ID.  We found it interesting to note how much of the landscape in Idaho, western Washington and western Oregon is reminiscent of much (more text & photos)

   
Driving the Oregon Trail or 'Will Ya Look at those Historic Wheel Ruts!'  

08/12/07 - Boise, ID (Shutterfly photo album - Columbia River & Utah)

Taking a break from the scenery, as we travel the path of the pioneers from Portland to Boise, ID

 
Purely by coincidence, our route out of Oregon and into southern Idaho had us traveling a large section of the historic Oregon Trail today, as it pretty much follows U.S. 84.  The gorgeous, lush greenery and rushing waterfalls of the Columbia River Gorge turned into miles and miles of golden-brown fields as the highway (and Trail) veered away from the river towards the southeast.  But that was okay with us, since we'd been on scenery overload for a while now, especially since hitting the Oregon Coast. 

Being mildly curious about the advertised 'historic wagon wheel ruts' still visible from the mid- to late 1800s, when hundreds of thousands of pioneers came this way looking for a better life, we stopped off at one of the numerous-yet-not-easy-to-find-or-plainly-marked interpretive sites.   (more text & photos)

   
Waterfalls, Waterfalls, Everywhere!  

08/11/07 - Portland, OR (Shutterfly photo album - Columbia River & Utah)

Enjoying the beautiful scenery of the Columbia River Gorge, after a quick lunch-stop in Portland

 
After heading east from Florence and the Ocean Breeze Motel to Eugene and then a brief jaunt up I-5, we were in Portland in time for a quick stroll-about and a Whole-Foods-Market-deli-picnic-lunch in the trendy Pearl District.  As we sat on our bench and ate, we noted the relative lack of urban atmosphere here (in comparison with Seattle, at least); the neighborhood was definitely upscale, and pleasantly hip, but it seemed to have a more relaxed, small-town, earthy sensibility to it.  This, combined with the highly walkable, leafy, tree-lined streets, made for a pleasant lunch outside the West Elm store (whose merchandise had only been seen by Caroline in catalogs until now!), as we watched the locals pass by on their Saturday errands.

Next, it was off for a scenic drive down the Historic Columbia River Highway, located just east of Portland and containing 18 miles of short trails leading to numerous beautiful, rushing waterfalls.  Nervous of the crowds we were likely to encounter in such a touristy locale on this beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon in August, we were pleasantly surprised at the relative solitude we found at the first four or five waterfalls we stopped at.  The only heavy crowds we experienced were at Multnomah Falls, the most famous and popular of the many falls on this short scenic drive.  Still, we braved the throngs of tourists, took our photos and jumped back in the van, traveling on to our last stop in the area, the beautiful and eerily dim and narrow Oneonta Gorge.  It was tempting, but Caroline ultimately refused to do the intriguing-seeming hike, as the narrow gorge necessitated hiking over a  (more text & photos)

   
Sea Lions and Starfish: The Oregon Coast  

08/10/07 - Florence, OR (Shutterfly photo album - WA & OR coast)

Our final day touring the gorgeous and never-ending coastlines of Washington and Oregon

 

Another day on the Oregon coast, and the sun is still shining!  If it took half of the day yesterday to hit our stride and find the coastal beauty that we seeked (suck?), today the majesty of the Pacific was on us from the start.  Even the inland portions of today's tourism was impressive, starting with the Munson Creek Waterfall just south of Tillamook.  At 319 feet, it's the tallest waterfall in the coastal range.  Somehow, we just don't seem to be getting bored with the waterfalls...

Gorgeous rocky-cliff coastline covered with redwood, sitka spruce and Douglas fir (like we know our trees all of a sudden).  Today we didn't feel like wasting our time eating, so we lunched quickly on delicious Subway brand sandwiches (Subway, eat fresh!) on an obstructed view (more text & photos)

   
Heading to Coastal Tourist-ville  

08/09/07 - Tillamook, OR (Shutterfly photo album - WA & OR coast)

Driving west from Seattle to begin our drive down the Washington and Oregon coast

 

Leaving the summer gloom of Seattle (the sun didn't want to come out once Caroline arrived back in Seattle) behind, we headed west where we planned to drive down the Washington and Oregon coastline.  After a quick sushi stop in Olympia (another state capitol visited, check!), we made our way to Long Beach, Washington.  Long Beach bills itself as the world's longest beach.  The Michigander in us is skeptical about the claim, but it is indeed a very long beach.  The hard-packed sand makes it suitable for biking, driving, and mopeding on, and we saw all of these activities during our evening walk on the beach.  Seeing how it's also famous for its oysters (the town of Oysterville was just up the road), we couldn't resist sampling them for dinner.  The oysters, along with everything else here, are fried… and were not at all impressive.  We'll take the oysters of Tamales Bay, California or the southeast U.S. any day.  We spent the night at the cute, coastally, Boardwalk Inn, where we enjoyed the innkeepers fresh muffins in the morning  (more text & photos)

   
Singing Seattle's Praises  

08/08/07 - Seattle, WA (Shutterfly photo album - Olympic NP & Seattle)

Liking Seattle much more than we expected

 
Brakes, check!  Computer, fixed!  Caroline, back with Scott on the road!  Things are returning to 'normal' again.  Scott spent three nights in Seattle at a place called the Crack-House-Brothel Motel (ok, it wasn't really called that) in the Fremont district of Seattle.  Apparently the only room within miles of the city during SeaFair weekend, it was not the finest establishment around.  Sleazy motel aside, Scott loved Seattle.  And who wouldn't, when it's sunny and 80 degrees every day.  Not only does it have a very vibrant downtown, there are many other neighborhoods close by that each have their own village-y feel.  And yes, lots of coffee shops  wherever you turn.  But no, Seattle, we will not be fooled by your August sun and dry-ness.  We know that 7 months of mist and gloom lurk around the corner.  After life in Mexico and Albuquerque, Seasonal Affective Disorder would strike us down before Christmas. (more text & photos)
   
Caroline is HOW Old??!!  

08/04/07 - Scott, Seattle, WA / Caroline, Grand Haven, MI (Shutterfly photo album - GHHS 20th Reunion)

In the middle of 'Pacific NW Roadtrip 2007', Caroline flies back to her hometown of Grand Haven, MI to attend her 20th high school reunion

 
While Scott  was busy enjoying Seattle, Caroline went back to Michigan to attend her high school reunion, which was planned after Scott and Caroline decided to go on this giant roadtrip.  Actually, our home exchange was scheduled to end the weekend of Caroline's reunion, but we decided to leave Vancouver Island early because Caroline had been looking forward to another high school reunion since the last one ten years ago (what a dork, huh?). 

Well, it turned out to be well worth the trip, so no disappointments there.  Caroline had a great time catching up with old classmates, especially Mary Jane and Brian, and seeing her twin sister and nephew, 9-month-old Christopher.  And there's talk of a 25th reunion! (more photos)

   
Caroline Heads East, Scott Covers the West  

08/02/07 - Scott, Seattle, WA / Caroline, Grand Haven, MI (Shutterfly photo album - Vancouver & South Vancouver Island)

Coming back to the U.S., visiting Olympic National Park, then splitting up

 
Just temporarily splitting up.  Scott dropped Caroline off at the Seattle airport today so she could attend her high school reunion (20th) this weekend.  You're thinking, "Scott and Caroline, not joined at the hip?!"... That's right, we'll be apart for a rare occasion.  So rare, we're not even sure what to do with our website narrative!

But first, let's quickly catch up on recent travels.  Five more days visiting the beautiful southern shores of Vancouver Island - including riding bikes, swimming in the beautiful Sooke Potholes, hiking to waterfalls on the beach (Mystic Beach), and three more visits to Victoria.  We ferried out of Victoria to Port Angeles, Washington, on a sunny Thursday morning, spotting a few dolphin along the way.  Upon our arrival on U.S. soil, (more text & photos)

   
Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 4  

07/27/07 - Metchosin, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island)

Taking a top-notch hike and visiting friends from Mexico, before returning to our home base

 
Although the Haida Way was a bit expensive-seeming for a hotel that had not been overhauled in some time (the chairs in the hallway looked circa the 1970s), the hot breakfast buffet, served in the on-site cafe and included in the price of the room, was surprisingly good on all counts...and we know our way around a complimentary hotel buffet... On our way back down the island we stopped off at the unmarked Ripple Rock trail, per the suggestion of the aforementioned magazine article.  A great hike through the rainforest-y landscape, over a suspension bridge, and up a rock wall to a lookout point high over the Discovery Passage.  Challenging, but well worth the effort.

Before pointing the minivan back toward Metchosin, we paid a brief but enjoyable visit to our friends Betty & Brendan who live (more text & photos)

   
Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 3  

07/26/07 - Port McNeill, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island)

End of the road - Cape Scott Park

 
Per the suggestion of our famed magazine article, this morning, we headed almost 2 hours down a dirt/gravel road westward toward Cape Scott Provincial Park, which is located on the Pacific Ocean.  We saw 2 more bears on this road. They seemed more fearful out here in the middle of nowhere, apparently less accustomed to traffic.  We caught one unawares in the middle of the road and it rushed to get out of our way, running quickly to the side of the road on all four giant padded paws. 

After a couple hours of driving, at the end of the road, we parked the car and hiked along a beautiful, yet easy, wooded trail until we reached a clearing and there it was before us, the Pacific Ocean, beyond a wide stretch of soft sandy beach.  But the best part was the tiny cove, (more text & photos)

   
Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 2  

07/25/07 - Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island)

Waterfalls and bear-spotting

 
This morning (after a breakfast of PopTarts, bananas and coffee in our room), upon the recommendation of the hotel manager, we stopped at Elk Falls Provincial Park just north of town to do a short hike to a waterfall.  Upon setting out, Caroline was thinking "you've seen one waterfall, you've seen them all."  Well, boy was she wrong!  Due to all the rain they've had this summer on the Island, it was flowing, I mean really flowing.  We both agreed that it was the most amazing waterfall we'd ever seen and well worth the stop.

At mid-day, we stopped for lunch and a small touring break in the tiny community of Telegraph Cove.  A quaint, picturesque little place, entirely built on stilts over the water, not much goes on here except tour departures and eating/drinking at the over-hyped Killer Whale Cafe, where (more text & photos)

   
Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 1  

07/24/07 - Campbell River, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island)

Visiting tidepools and driving up-island for a few days of experiencing Vancouver Island's small fishing and logging towns and wildlife viewing

 
Our first couple days on the island were spent settling in and relaxing a little after our week of busy touring and traveling.  On Monday we spent an enjoyable (albeit cloudy) afternoon wandering the charming, flower-filled streets of Victoria and the next morning, we departed for our previously scheduled 3-night trip to the northern Island. 

Just a little background: prior to embarking on Pacific Northwest Roadtrip 2007!, we had read a magazine article regaling the natural wonders and desolation of northern Vancouver Island: mile after mile of thick evergreen forests, snowcapped mountains in the distance, pristine lakes and oceans...and bears...lots and lots of bears.  We had to go!  With the exception of our distant spotting in Yellowstone National Park last week (more text & photos)

   
Vancouver Island Arrival  

07/22/07 - Metchosin, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - Vancouver & South Vancouver Island)

Settling in to our home exchange on the Island

 
After 4 days of touring around in almost non-stop rain in Vancouver, it was time to ferry over to Vancouver Island to our home exchange in Metchosin, a small rural community about 30 minutes outside British Columbia's capital city of Victoria.  Needless to say, we were more than ready for a change of scene (or at least weather!).  We took a pleasant (and dry!) ferry ride through the gorgeous Gulf Islands and Scott even saw a bald eagle and some harbor seals during the excellent naturalist talk out on deck.  (Exhausted, Caroline was taking a load off inside at the time and missed out on the wildlife action). 

Upon our arrival in Metchosin, our delightful and hospitable home exchange hosts, Donna and Wally, welcomed us to their comfortable, tranquil home with a refreshing blackberry welcome cocktail while we sat on the covered patio in the light rain and got acquainted.  We passed an (more text & photos)

   
Vancouver  

07/18/07 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - Vancouver & South Vancouver Island)

Arriving in Vancouver and an awesome Priceline hotel

 
After a minor delay at the border due to an old driving infraction of Scott's, we arrived in the beautiful city of Vancouver on a sunny, warm evening - absolutely gorgeous!  Upon making our way thorough the city, we arrived at our hotel for the next 4 nights, the Westin Bayshore Resort and Marina.  And wow, what a hotel!!!  We had decided to use Priceline to book a hotel and were surprised when we ended up in a beautiful 7th-floor room overlooking the marina and a heavily treed section of Stanley Park beyond.  Upon entering our room, we were greeted by a huge fluffy white bed and sliding glass doors opening up to the amazing view, sunlight pouring into the room.  The room was expensive but hey, everything here is expensive and, all things considered, it seems like a great value (and our only real splurge of this trip). (more text & photos)

   
Montana, Where The Sky Is Big  

07/14/07-07/16/07 - Montana, Idaho, Washington (Shutterfly photo album - CO, WY, MT, ID, WA)

Heading through the northwest, way faster than Lewis & Clark did

 

The first stop after Yellowstone was Bozeman, Montana.  After looking at the perhaps the skankiest motel room at which we'd ever had the pleasure of checking out (it even had painted cement floors... and tried to charge $70!), we ended up staying in a new, surprisingly decent Microtel by the highway.  Downtown seems to be on the rebound after years of neglect.  We passed a pleasant evening in a nice pizza & beer place packed with young Bozemanians.

Although our next stop, Missoula, was quite close via I-90, we took the circuitous route through historic Virginia City to make sure we got to spend our quota of time in the car.  Virginia City is an amazingly intact 19th-century town that was purchased by a Montana rancher/history (more text & photos)

   
Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks  

07/12/07-07/14/07 - Jackson, WY (Shutterfly photo album - Grand Teton & Yellowstone NP)

Exploring Grand Teton NP, and a quick driving tour of Yellowstone

 

Our first brief stop after Fort Collins, CO was Cheyenne, Wyoming, a rugged-seeming western town just days away from it's annual Frontier Days Festival (we're always missing the excitement by a few days).  It seems more 'real western' than any of the other cities we've visited, and we're already planning to make it back for the festival some day.

Next it was on to Jackson, Wyoming, our base for exploring for the next couple of days.  This is not a very rugged-seeming town... Built for tourism and t-shirt sales, it's there to house people looking to explore the parks or go skiing.  And explore the parks we did!  Luckily, Scott's Uncle Larry and Aunt Deb just visited the parks a couple of weeks ago, and were able to offer some great suggestions for things to do and see.  Thanks UL & AD!  We saw some beautiful scenery: mountains, lakes, waterfalls, geysers... you know - just what you'd expect.  Highlights were seeing elk, deer, (more text & photos)

   
Just Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again  

07/11/07 - Fort Collins, CO (Shutterfly photo album - CO, WY, MT, ID, WA)

Starting our 5-week road trip from Albuquerque to British Columbia

 

We weren't technically scheduled to leave until tomorrow, but we just couldn't wait to hit the road.  So here we are at a Sleep Inn in Fort Collins, 11 hours or so after leaving Albuquerque.  That 11 hours included a lunch in the historic Union Street district of Pueblo, Colorado, and a stop at the not-so-historic outlet mall of Castle Rock (not to mention several traffic problems - we're not in sparsely populated New Mexico anymore).  It was a warm, Wednesday summer evening in Fort Collins, and this place is bustling!  The restaurant patios are full, there are plenty of people out in the streets, there's live entertainment in the main town square... most cities would love to have this kind of activity on a weekend.  Seems like a really fun college town.  Apparently we weren't quite ready to totally disengage from New Mexico yet... we ended up having margaritas and dinner at a Mexican restaurant tonight.  Tomorrow we head up to Jackson, Wyoming, where we're basing ourselves to explore the Grand Teton National Park. (more text & photos)

   
Click here to see archived entries