Caroline's Reading List - Updated 03/14/07!!!
| Tailgating at the Opera | |
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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! |
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| 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) |
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| Party Like It's 1983! | |
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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 |
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| 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) |
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| Travelers' Pit Stop | |
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2/22/08 - Albuquerque, NM We get a visit from Janet & Mark, formerly of San Francisco and soon to be of Washington D.C. |
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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) |
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| Sandia Heights, Here We Come! | |
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2/22/08 - Albuquerque, NM Home Sweet Home - or - the Brookses change residences yet again! |
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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) |
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| Salud! | |
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12/14/07 - Albuquerque, NM Happy Holidays 2007! |
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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) |
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| Halloween Re-cap | |
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11/08/07 - Albuquerque, NM Almost two weeks after the party, we finally get to posting photos |
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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... | |
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10/12/07 - Albuquerque, NM Scott's parents come for a visit to Albuquerque and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta |
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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) |
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| Crazy for the Festivals | |
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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 |
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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...) |
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| Another Romantic Anniversary - Part 2 | |
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08/31/07 - Albuquerque, NM Celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary in Scottsdale, AZ |
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| 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) |
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| Another Romantic Anniversary | |
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08/28/07 - Albuquerque, NM After over a week in Albuquerque, it's time to get out of town again |
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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. |
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| Pacific Northwest Summer Road Trip 2007!: Recap | |
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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 |
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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!) |
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| The Brooks Residence | |
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08/18/07 - Albuquerque, NM Some photos of our home |
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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) |
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| Hey, We Live In Albuquerque Again! | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Bryce Canyon N.P., Red Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante N.M, Capitol Reef N.P. & Natural Bridges N.M | |
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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!' |
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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) |
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| U.S 89: Skip It (If You're Not Scott), Highway 12: Dont Miss It! - Part 2 | |
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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 |
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| 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 Narrows (more text & photos) |
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| U.S 89: Skip It (If You're Not Scott), Highway 12: Dont Miss It! - Part 1 | |
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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 |
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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 of New Mexico's desert scrub landscape. (more text & photos) |
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| Driving the Oregon Trail or 'Will Ya Look at those Historic Wheel Ruts!' | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Waterfalls, Waterfalls, Everywhere! | |
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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 |
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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 log-jam (more text & photos) |
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| Sea Lions and Starfish: The Oregon Coast | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Heading to Coastal Tourist-ville | |
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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 |
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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 on our (more text & photos) |
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| Singing Seattle's Praises | |
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08/08/07 - Seattle, WA (Shutterfly photo album - Olympic NP & Seattle) Liking Seattle much more than we expected |
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| 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) |
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| Caroline is HOW Old??!! | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Caroline Heads East, Scott Covers the West | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 4 | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 3 | |
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07/26/07 - Port McNeill, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island) End of the road - Cape Scott Park |
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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) |
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 2 | |
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07/25/07 - Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - North Vancouver Island) Waterfalls and bear-spotting |
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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) |
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| Northern Vancouver Island Adventure - Day 1 | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Vancouver Island Arrival | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Vancouver | |
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07/18/07 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (Shutterfly photo album - Vancouver & South Vancouver Island) Arriving in Vancouver and an awesome Priceline hotel |
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| 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) |
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| Montana, Where The Sky Is Big | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Grand Teton & Yellowstone National Parks | |
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07/12/07-07/14/07 - Jackson, WY (Shutterfly photo album) Exploring Grand Teton NP, and a quick driving tour of Yellowstone |
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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) |
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| Just Can't Wait To Get On The Road Again | |
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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 |
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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) |
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| Housewarming Party | |
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06/24/07 - Albuquerque, NM Having some people over for our first party in Albq |
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Yesterday, we had basically everyone we know in New Mexico over for a housewarming open-house party. We laid out the spread and mixed up the sangria, and had a pretty good showing! We had fun, and hope our guests did too. Since the 11 liter punch bowl of sangria was empty by party's end, we're pretty sure people ended up enjoying themselves at some point... Thanks to everyone for coming - we hope that was just the first of more parties to come! (more photos) |
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| Bling! | |
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06/17/07 - Madrid, NM Mouthful of style |
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After Scott's first, white temporary crown fell out, he got this sweet silver number installed! Must've been out of gold, or else they knew he didn't have the dental insurance to cover it. (enlarge that photo please) |
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| A Walk In The Jemez | |
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06/14/07 - Jemez, Santa Fe National Forest, NM Taking a picturesque walk north of Albuquerque |
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It was our third time up to the hiking trails around Jemez Springs, about an hour and 45 minutes northwest of Albuquerque, where this time we decided to take an 'off the map' hike down a trail that we were driving past. So we pulled over at Las Conchas trailhead, which leads to part of the East Fork Trail. An easy, flat walk down the banks of a river, it's so beautiful you must remember to ask us to take you there next time you're visiting us here in Albuquerque. We practically had the trail to ourselves - with the exception of the occasional intrusion of a chipmunk here or there. (more photos) |
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| Happy Birthday Caroline - Thanks For The Party Erica and Eric! | |
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06/11/07 - Albuquerque, NM Enjoying some festivities on Caroline's birthday |
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Our friends Erica and Eric generously decided to host a party for Caroline's (and mutual friend Corey's) birthday. And quite an affair it was! The wine and beer were flowing, the fajitas were sizzling, the cupcakes were scrumptious, and the setting (their back yard) was beautiful. Great fun was had by all, and Scott didn't need to lift a finger to celebrate his wife's birthday! Although we did head out for an 'official' celebration of our own, a pleasant night out at the Gruet Grille for a mediocre meal. Erica's fajitas put Gruet to shame. (more photos) |
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| Grand Canyon Splendor! | |
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05/19/07 - Albuquerque, NM (Grand Canyon photo album) Exploring the Grand Canyon, Colorado River, Walnut Canyon and Petrified Forest National Park/Painted Desert |
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A few weeks ago, we decided it would be a good time to start making use of our National Parks Annual Pass that we recently bought. So we called up the booking service for Grand Canyon's South Rim accommodations. Although their various lodges and hotels were already pretty booked up for May, they managed to squeeze us in for 3 days in the middle of the week at the Yavapai Lodge. "Yippee, we're going to the Grand Canyon!" we said (ok, maybe it wasn't quite like that...) During our brief stay, we managed to fit in a 7-mile hike on the Rim Trail, offering gorgeous canyon views almost continuously, an amazing 3-mile round trip hike down into the canyon and a quiet float trip on a motorized raft down (more text & photos) |
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| Prom Night | |
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05/13/07 - Albuquerque, NM Heading to Prom For Old People |
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| After meeting Christine's friends Naomi and Mike last weekend, they invited us to their friend's house for a prom party. Since the vast majority of invitees were in their mid-30's, it was really more of an 80's throw-back prom. So...Caroline scoured the local thrift (and costume) shops looking for a nice, 80's-style-poofy-sleeved-dress (found at Thrift Mart - $7.99!) and Scott found himself a hot pink tie and cumberbund to wear with his tux. Duly decked out in authentic prom-wear, we headed to pick up Naomi and Mike (also sporting snazzy 80's prom threads - see photo) and head to the party. Our hosts, Alexandra and Rob, really gave it 110%. They invoked an 'Under the Sea' theme, putting up an aquarium patterned backdrop throughout the 'ballroom'. They also managed to rent a disco ball, construct a balloon arch for photo-ops, and even provided a keg (of beer!). We met lots of cool people who all seemed to put plenty of effort into donning 'period prom costume'. A good time, Scott had to drag Caroline off of the dance floor after 2am! Although we were a little suspicious when Rob and Alex won King and Queen... we all smell a little foul play. Thanks again to Naomi and Mike for inviting us out! (more photos) |
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