Mammoth, CA

Mammoth, CA

Ready to snowboard

All set to hit the slopes in Mammoth. This was in April and I wish I
was back there now.

Testing

I'm just checking to see if I have mobile blogging set up correctly.

Disneyland: Friday, August 11, 2006

Friday, August 11, 2006

Up early to get there in time for 8am opening. Did the normal fastpass collection routine. The one odd thing was our second ride on Splash Mountain. Our first ride was normal although there were only the two of us and we were in the front. We got a little wet, but no big deal. The second ride was an entirely different story. We were again seated in the front, but this time with a family behind us. We thought this was a good thing and would help keep us dry by balancing out the boat. I guess it doesn’t work like that because we got wetter than any other time we had been on that ride. Through the ride, we got splashed on both sides fairly heavily, and then on the drop, everything else got soaked. I couldn’t believe it. Fortunately, I was wearing board shorts, but still. I had to spend the next hour or two drying out my top half. Not fun. We decided not to get a fastpass for that.

We had lunch at the new Café Orleans. We aren’t impressed. They charge the prices that used to be charged at Blue Bayou, but it has none of the atmosphere. I was competing with flies for my food. There’s no bread basket provided, the menu is very limited and overall, it just isn’t worth the prices. We had a monte-cristo, a crab sandwich, and the pommes frites appetizer. The fries were great, covered in garlic. Everything else was so-so, definitely not $15/plate food. We don’t plan on going back unless it’s just for appetizers. [Update, since then, we've gone again and found a meal we love. We each get a bowl of french onion soup and split the pommes frites. We finish by splitting the beignets. This is perfect, not too expensive that you feel ripped off, everything is yummy, and you don't walk out of there feeling stuffed to the gills.]

After lunch, we went back to the hotel and took a nap. Back to the park around seven to ride a few things and then we went over to DCA to watch the Electrical Parade. We stood at the point closest to the park entrance/exit and part way through the parade, after I had my “fix,” we left and went over to Disneyland to catch the fireworks.

We stayed in the park until 11:30 or so, when we realized the lines weren’t really shrinking and decided to go get some dinner at Tortilla Joe's. We had checked earlier in the day, and the sign on the menu posted in the front of the menu said they were open until 1AM. We know that wasn’t accurate in the past, but we figured that since this was a Friday in high season, surely it would apply today, if ever. We were wrong. When we got there at 11:45, they told us they were closed. We questioned about the posted hours, and the guy started to say something about how it varies depending on the season, etc. He shut up when I pointed out it was a high-season Friday. Stupid people. They really should take the hours off the sign as it’s full of &@*%. If the hours weren’t posted, we would have asked and all would have been well. Instead, we got screwed.

Instead, we ended up going to the Napoli Restaurant for pizza. We each had a slice and were preparing to leave the now-closing restaurant, when the guy behind the counter asked us if we wanted free pizza as they were just going to throw it away. Thinking another slice each may be nice, we said ok. They gave us an entire large pizza! We each ate a slice and then gave the rest away to people we saw around Downtown Disney. We noticed an interesting phenomenon. Men will always take pizza. Women are apparently too bashful or afraid of looking piggish to take it, even if the men they are with eat some. So the night ended with no Margaritas, but at least the pizza was good and was an interesting experience.

Disneyland: Thursday, August 10, 2006

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Up at 6:30 and got to the park around 7:45 for the 8:00 opening. We were in within minutes of opening. Note, the early entry gates get changed over to normal entry at the last minute, so stay in a line next to those and be prepared to jump over. We found that out today.

First up was a fastpass to Indiana Jones and a ride on Splash Mountain. There was no line for Splash at all while Indy clogged up in a heartbeat. The line was still empty when we came around after the ride, so they let us stay in the log and go again. The family who rode with us went again too, although the mom jumped out.

Next, we got a fastpass for Splash and rode Big Thunder. Wandered around the treehouse and then used our first set of Indy fastpasses. I think we cut off about 40 minutes of waiting with that, I love fastpass.

DH needed a coffee, so we got him one and went for a ride on the Mark Twain while he drank it. He finished it before we got off, so he went and got new fastpasses for Indy while I waited in line for the Matterhorn. We had to wait about 20 minutes in the sun. Ick. This was followed by a ride in the nice air-conditioned Small World where both of us felt as if it were putting us to sleep. So to change it up, we went to Roger Rabbit.

There was actually a line so we got to check out the queue, but about 2/3rds of the way through the ride broke. We decided to wait a little bit, and we’re glad we did. It was neat to see the process. They had to evacuate all riders and then do a restart which involved a bunch of big keys and a screen that looked like a DOS prompt. They didn’t type anything in, so hopefully it was just information. Eventually everything came back on and you could hear the people further back in the queue cheer when they saw parts of the ride turn on. They let all the cars go through once and then we could get on. We noticed that they really seemed to hurry people into the cars, and we asked about it. They say when the cars get too stacked up, that’s when the ride breaks.

We were hungry, so we headed out of the park where we picked up our tickets for Fantasmic! (Balcony seating) and then went over to DCA for lunch. Taste Pilots Grill was yummy as always, and while DH got our food, I used our tickets to get us fastpasses on Grizzly River Run and Soarin’ over California. By the time we finished eating, it was time for Grizzly. We were concerned about our stuff getting wet, so we got a bag from one of the stores and put our phones, etc in it and put that back in the backpack. We did end up getting wet, but no where near as bad as most of the other times. We probably didn’t need the plastic bag, but it’s nice not to have to worry about the phones getting fried.

The Soarin’ line was huge and the fastpasses didn’t kick in for a few hours, so we did It’s tough to be a bug and then headed back to the hotel for a nap.

We turned on the TV and found out that there was a big terror attack foiled in London and now all the airports have gone to high security. Since the plot involved liquid explosives, no one can bring liquids onto planes and in some places, they aren’t letting people take anything on. Everything must be checked. We’ve heard that no electronics are allowed in cabin, so we will likely have to buy a suitcase to get our laptop home safely. Oh well, thank heavens we flew here yesterday and not today and there were no problems yesterday (other than the purloined cherries).

After a shower and a long nap, we went back to the park and headed to the Disney Gallery for our Fantasmic! Dessert Buffet. We went into the courtyard of the gallery where at 8:30, they collected our tickets. At 8:45, they started seating, calling people in the order in which they made their reservation, so DH's name was called first. Our seats were in the front row all the way on the left. Very good seats. I’m sure everyone wondered what DH had to do to be number one.

The buffet was so-so. It had chocolate cake (with surprise rum-soaked cherries, sounds good, but the reality was a little icky), cheesecake, mini-eclaires, macaroons, cheese and crackers, and skewered fruit. They had beverages, soda, mint juleps, iced tea, etc, but there were no hot chocolate or coffee. It turns out the container/dispenser broke just before. That sucks, but basically we were told to just deal with it. Fantasmic! was amazing. The view was great and the show is awesome as always. Seeing it from such a vantage point, with no crowds around made the price worth it. I wouldn’t do it all the time, but it’s great as an isolated splurge.

The other slight bummer about it was that we were supposed to be able to stay on the balcony to watch the fireworks. We waited a while and eventually heard the announcement that “due to high winds at upper elevations, tonight’s presentation of ‘wishes’ is cancelled.” While disappointing, it was rather entertaining to hear thousands of people all go “aww” at the same time.

Vancouver->Disneyland: Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

Got up at 7 for an 8:15 bus to the airport. It was a shuttle that comes right in front of the hotel next door. We were led to believe by the brochure that it took half an hour from there to the airport. When they bus finally arrived, 10 minutes late, the driver took us about five blocks away and dropped us off on Robson street, right in front of where a couple of homeless people were hanging out. Lovely! She said that she just takes people to where the main bus picks them up and a large green bus should be coming shortly. The only other girl who was on our bus made a comment about being told that it was a fifty minute trip from her hotel which was about ten minutes from ours.

We were a little ticked at this point and spotted a taxi. Since we hadn’t yet paid the shuttle company ($13/head), we hopped in the taxi. Just before that, while DH was talking with the taxi driver, some homeless guy hit me up for money. Just where I want to be stranded! So I bolted for the cab when DH waved me over, and we were on our way. 15 minutes and $30 later, including tip, we were at the airport. Good decision. We offered to the other girl to share our taxi, but I guess she had already paid, so she said no. Too bad for her. I hope no one bothered her and she caught her plane ok.

At the airport, we did all the standard stuff to get in, and then we had to go through customs where some nasty woman took our cherries. We didn’t mind if she wouldn’t let us go further with them, but she wouldn’t let us retreat to eat a few either. She said once we got that far, it was too late and she walked off with them. It’s not like we hid them or anything, we told her about them. We asked if we could eat just one because they were really good, but no deal. So we told her she should eat them. I bet she just threw them away. At least she let me keep my apricot.

So, we ate our breakfast, sans cherries in the airport and eventually got on our plane. It was a 180 minute flight, and it went by quickly. We read a magazine, did a crossword and some sodukus and then we were landing. Everything else went very smoothly. Got our bags, the Dollar rent-a-car bus was right at the curb when we went out and there was almost no wait to get our car. We plotted our route (the directions I got from Dollar were faulty it turned out) and drove to Disneyland.

At the hotel, it was after 4, so no worries about checking in. Our room is decent. A King bed and a decent size. The air conditioner is pretty strong too, thank goodness, because it’s hot outside. Probably high 80’s. We made a Costco run, and then went into the park about 7.

Rode the newly redone Pirates of the Caribbean and it was ok. Really just a few changes. I kind of preferred the old one, but I can see why people would expect to see references to the movie in the ride now.

We also rode the Jungle cruise, which was really fun. We had a high energy guide which really impressed me because it really seemed like it was her first run of the day when she surely had done many before that.

We tried to hit Big Thunder, but half-way through the line, the ride broke down so we bailed on that. After wandering around a bit, we got some ice cream, watched the piano guy for a while, and went home.

Alaska cruise, day 8: Sunday, August 6, 2006

Sunday, August 6, 2006

We got up at 7:15, got dressed, and by 7:45, we were out of our room, never to return. They needed us out by 8, and the breakfast places closed at 8:30, so we had to get moving although we would have rather slept in. In turns out all the haste was for naught for us though. We docked at 8:45 and our disembarkation time wasn’t until 10:45. They were running late because we weren’t actually let off the boat until 11:30ish, so we found a quiet corner and slept for a few hours after breakfast (waffles, yum).

After our tag was called (Purple, 12), we were off the boat inside of 10 minutes. Customs was a non-event and we soon found our bags. A staff member asked us if we were planning on catching a taxi. We replied that we were, and she pointed at an enormous line and said that was the line for taxis and it would take about an hour and a half. Then she offered salvation, she told us that since we didn’t have much stuff, we may want to consider going past the bus docks and up a ramp to the main street level. She said hardly anyone will be there and it will be easy for us to catch a cab.

We had nothing to lose, so we started to follow her advice. Near the bus area, we ran into AM and the rest of family who all got off before us due to their 2pm flight. We said our goodbyes and went on our way. We owe that staff member a huge thanks as her advice was right on. Inside of five minutes we had a taxi and about 10 minutes and 10 dollars after that, we pulled up to our hotel, the YWCA Hotel on Beatty street.

The hotel is great! While simple, it’s clean and not ickily pretentious as that Howard Johnsons we stayed at our first day in Vancouver. We checked in, and got the YMCA member discount without even showing our card as “I have an honest face.” We dropped our stuff off and headed to Chinatown where we encountered a festival.




We wandered amongst the stalls, watched a bit of entertainment and eventually stumbled on a walking tour that was about to start. For five dollars each, we got a 45 minute tour where we got a little bit of Chinatown history and sampled some food. We tried Chicken wings at a Vietnamese restaurant, had a formal Chinese tea in a tea shop, and a pork dumpling (manapua) and another roll that I can’t remember. A great deal overall. Our guide’s name was Ken, and along with another participant, John, a native of Vancouver, we were the first people they had take the walking tour all day.



Some of the highlights, besides the food, and the really cool tea experience, were the world’s narrowest building at 1.8 meters (~6 feet) wide and the Chinese Benevolent society. I got a kick out of the Wong Benevolent Society in that in order for then to help you, you had to be of Chinese ancestry with the last name of Wong. There was another group for a different last name across the street and nearby was the generic Chinese one that we went in to.



We went back to the hotel for a bit and got our coats as it was starting to get dark, and then we headed to Gastown. This was a mistake. Gastown seems like nothing more than a tourist trap. Lots of stores selling kitchy stuff and overpriced restaurants. Besides being pretty and having the “musical” steam clock, there isn’t much else there. The real problem is that it’s near the main “druggie” street. I guess all the services for drug addicts are nearby and the police don’t bother with them, so they come down to the area where all the tourists with money are and accost them for money. It gets tiring to see people coming that are all strung out and determined to hit you up for money. One or two isn’t a big issue, but they’re everywhere. So we beat it out of there fairly quickly and took tour-guide Ken’s recommendation and tried a Chinese restaurant on the third floor of the mall we started the tour in. It’s obviously designed for large groups/family style, but we still enjoyed what we got. I gather that there was wedding in the other half of the large divided hall, so we got to listen to some Chinese karaoke.

After leaving the restaurant, we got dessert in the ongoing festival downstairs. We ordered a skewer of chocolate covered strawberries. They had the strawberries already skewered and sitting in a container. A young girl, about 10 years old, picked one up, and headed over to a chocolate fountain. She paused and asked if I wanted to do it myself. Sure! So she told me to spin it as I put it in and pulled it out, then to shake it off. She held up a small container for me to put it in and then asked if I wanted a white chocolate drizzle on top (also sprinkles, but I said no to that). She then repeated the whole process with DH. The whole time, her parents were watching her every move and they looked sooo proud. I got a kick out of it. She did a great job.

Alaska cruise, day 7: Saturday, August 5, 2006

Saturday, August 5, 2006

Today is the last full day of the cruise, and it’s a cruising day, so we just slept in until 10 or so when we got up in time to get ready and go to the “disembarkation talk” given by activities director Eric at 11. The rest of the day just floated by. Mostly we sat on the balcony watching the scenery, packed up, ate, and worked out. We saw quite a bit of wildlife today. We were eating lunch in the buffet when N, C, and L joined us. N spotted some dolphins and we all watched those until they went away. While we stood there talking, I spotted a humpback whale. We all got a pretty good view of it, we even saw the underside of its tail, which was huge. We waited for it to come up again, but we were sailing into a fog bank and soon we weren’t able to see much of anything at all. Later on, while sitting on our balcony, DH and I saw Orcas. Quite a few, mostly in packs. So now, we’ve seen at least glimpses of all the animals I was hoping for. Well, except otters, but I’ve seen those before.

We ended the day with the last of the two formal dinners. The food was ok, but it seemed to have declined as the trip went on. What was funny though, was that since DH and I missed the last two dinners due to our shore excursions, everyone was asking us where we’ve been, etc. Even our waiter commented on our absence. We had lobster for the entrée, and it was ok, but slightly overdone.

We had already taken care of the gratuities, so we thanked our waiter for the wonderful job he did, and eventually I did the same for the maid. One interesting thing that she said was “Thank you for being so nice to me.” That seems like an odd thing to say, but I really did make an effort to be friendly with her. I wonder how other people treat the staff.

Since tomorrow is the end of the cruise, we bundled up and sat on the balcony to finish off our wine. The two bottles we brought on turned out to be just right. We took our time and after the last drop was gone, reluctantly went inside to take care of things. We laid out our clothes for tomorrow, packed and labeled our bags and put them outside the door. It seems strange to leave your things in the hall like that, but that’s what they tell you to do. We turned out the lights after midnight.

Alaska cruise, day 6: Friday, August 4, 2006

Friday, August 4, 2006

Today, we arrived in Ketchikan at 2. Our shore excursion tickets said 11am, but since we didn’t arrive at 2, we were a little confused. After wandering around in the masses for a bit, looking for someone holding a sign with “Best of Alaska, Orca Cove Kayaking”, we finally found a pay phone and called them. It turned out that our tour was really scheduled for 3:30 and someone would be over shortly to meet us. When we left the phones and headed back to the dock, sure enough, a teen-age girl was there holding a kayaking paddle and the sign that we were looking for.



We were the only people she was picking up, so we walked back to the shop right away. The shop was about a five minute walk away (she hit at least one hanging store sign along the way with the paddle). At the shop, they took our jackets and had us put on water pants and jackets along with pfds. While getting ready, two other people, a mother and son (Olga and Mike) joined us. We also had the mother of the guide, who would meet us on the boat at the cove. With that, we got in a small speed boat and were soon zooming our to orca’s cove.

After about a ten minute fast and bumpy ride, we pulled up to a larger boat moored in a cove with a number of kayaks on lines floating out behind it. We were transferred to the larger boat where we met our guide, yet another Mike.

They gave us water skirts to put on which are used to seal water out of the kayak. I got in first, and since DH was the “captain,” the one who had control of the rudder, he got in the back seat of our two-person kayak. We paddled around a bit while waiting for the other two kayaks to get ready.



I think we were on the water for about three hours, in that time, we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife (just salmon, starfish, ducks, and seagulls), but loads of absolutely beautiful scenery. Lots of little coves and inlets which were quiet and serene. Pretty much the whole time we were out there, there was a gentle drizzle. It makes it hard to take pictures, but it does look pretty. As long as we kept moving, it wasn’t too cold, but I did notice that when we were done, my hands didn’t want to straighten out and they just felt like ice.

On the boat, there was a nice surprise. They had set out a spread of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, crackers, and hot chocolate. We all sat in the wheel house and chowed down. It was heaven, just the right way to end the trip. There’s a funny story about the salmon that the tour company owner told us. Apparently, he’s friends with the owner of the salmon company and was selling his cans on the boat. The cans had the label of the salmon owner and soon, people from all over the place were calling him to get more after having gotten some on the boat. I guess he made the salmon more as a hobby, not as a full-blown commercial business, and he didn’t like getting calls directly from consumers, so they made a different label specifically for the tour company.

The weather was taking a turn for the worse, and they needed us to go lest the fog create problems, so we were soon ushered back to the little boat and blazing home. The lady who drives the small boat, Kim, brought along her little dog who’s some type of mutt. She says he always wants to come, but hates it while the boat is really going, specifically when the boat hits waves or wakes and gets really rough. Yet, when we pulled into the dock and the doors were opened, he ran straight to the front of the boat to watch us pull in. A different type of hood ornament.



Back at the store, we returned to our normal gear and took a walk around Ketchikan. Along the way, we looked across the street and saw the Ketchikan fire station with two guys hanging out in front. We walked over and DH introduced himself as a fellow fire fighter. They let us go in and see their trucks, including a ’26 SeaGrave. They also took us upstairs where they gave DH some patches in a self-addressed envelope so he can send them some of his. DH also bought a T-shirt. We all talked story for a bit and we eventually went on our way. Just as we were leaving, the ambulance got a call and DH took a picture of the station and the ambulance as it was leaving.



We continued our way to Creek Street, buildings built to hang right over the water. Along the way, we came to the site where the ambulance had gone (an injury of some sort) and the fire truck pulled up, so DH took a picture of the truck, too. Creek street was once where the bordellos were, many years ago. There were ladies with names like Dolly and Blind Polly. Now, it’s a tourist area with quaint shops and restaurants. Unfortunately, it was after 8 and everything was closed, so we took a few pictures, saw a seal or two, and made our way back to the boat in time for the 9:15PM final boarding.

Obviously, we had missed dinner, so we decided to wait for the special, one-night-only, midnight buffet! We thought we couldn’t wait that long, so we placed a room-service order which never showed. It was just as well as it turned out we weren’t that hungry after all. So at 12:15AM we joined the masses to go stuff our faces. I don’t understand what all the fuss was about, we both thought it was highly overrated. Yes, there are ice-sculptures, and things are nicely presented, but people are pigs, and unless you were one of the first in line, everything was more or less demolished.

The food was basically appetizers, or pupus, while DH and I were looking for a proper dinner. I took some things, but most of it was rather tasteless, so I didn’t eat much. We also made the fatal mistake of not getting dessert right away. It turns out that items, once gone, are not replenished. When we went to the dessert table, most trays were empty, and those that were still there, didn’t appeal to me, both in what they were and in that they looked rather handled. So we skipped dessert and just went back to our rooms and back to bed.

Alaska cruise, day 5: Thursday, August 3, 2006

Thursday, August 3, 2006

Today was likely the highlight of our trip. We arrived in Juneau at 8:00AM, and DH and I got our walk-up call at 9. We eventually staggered out of bed, got ready, had breakfast (waffles, yum), and made our way off the boat.




The weather looked rather forbidding. It was cold and rainy with low cloud cover. At 11:20, we found the lady to get us started on (JU10A) the extended helicopter and glacier trek. It was to be a tour of a helicopter ride to and from Mendenhall glacier, along with four hours of hiking around on it. The lady told us she needed to gather up the other participants and then she would check to see if it was on or cancelled due to weather. I was determined to not be too disappointed if it was cancelled as I would rather that than fly in scary weather. She took our tickets and recorded our weights.

Eventually, we heard her call the shop on her cell and we were delighted to hear a surprised “Oh, really?!” Within a minute or two, we were on a van out to the airfield. We got to the place and as soon as we walked in, it was an assembly line. The lady at the dock must have phoned in our weights as they had all our gear laid out and labeled with our names.

The provided everything: pants, jackets, polar fleece (if we wanted), boots, leg coverings, gloves, and harnesses. They also gave us backpacks containing a bagel, salmon-flavored cream cheese, an energy bar, and a bottle of water. There was another bag labeled with our names into which we shoved personal things that weren’t coming with us (the boots and sweaters, etc we had just taken off in exchange for theirs).

We signed the standard waivers, and soon we were headed out to the waiting helicopter. Six tourists to one helicopter and we were assigned seats based on our weights. DH got the window behind the pilot and I was next to him.



The helicopter ride was the part that had me most nervous. It’s hard to forget there’s just a rotor holding you up and should the engine fail, you’ll fall like a rock, but eventually I told myself that worry accomplished nothing, so if I’m going to die, I should at least be enjoying myself when it happened, so I did. The rest of the helicopter ride was a blast. The pilot took us on a little tour around, going into nugget valley and showing us nugget glacier and a big waterfall. It was amazing.

Eventually, though, we made our way to Mendenhall Glacier and landed. Someone met us at the door to the helicopter and motioned us out and over to the “base camp,” a large yellow tent that we never got to go into.



Here, we hit another assembly line where they gave us ice picks and strapped crampons on our feet. Then, we were on our way. We would go a short distance, and then our two guides, Dave and Dawn, would stop and give us a lesson in something. We learned how to go uphill (dig toes in, take small steps, use ice pick in front of you), downhill (stomp feet down like having a childhood temper tantrum and keep ice pick behind you), and sideways (keep ice pick uphill from you and crab walk). The general rule seemed to be that unless you are going uphill, keep as many crampons in the snow as possible. The group, (of 11 tourist and two guides) would get periodically spread out and then they would stop us to talk about things until everyone caught up.



It seemed that everyone was pretty fit and there were no obvious laggards, although one fellow who was extremely tall seemed to have a harder time than others overall. Maybe this is one case where being lower to the ground is helpful as it really seemed fairly easy to me.

At one point, they told us we could walk into an ice cave in groups of one or two to look around. It was a narrow enough crevasse that people wouldn’t be able to pass each other. Eventually, DH and I went and it was very narrow, but sooo cool. I bent my head around the corner and saw water falling from the ceiling and the whole inside was that beautiful blue color. Still, the water had to go someplace and we were standing in the river it was forming and I guess some of it topped over the edge of my right boot and my foot was rapidly wet and cold. The guides told me not to sweat it, that it would warm up soon and they were right. After five minutes or so, once we got moving, I never thought about it again until the end when we took off all our gear (ewww).

The rest of the four hours that we actually spent on the glacier was maneuvering through crevassases and over ridges. They took us on a route they had never done before as they wanted to scout it out and no one in the group had any objections.



At one point, a fellow from (I think) Costa Rica, was holding up his camera and saying “photo, photo.” I guess he was trying to get a group picture. He stepped sideways and stumbled into a stream. While I was horrified at the moment, I didn’t fail to notice that while he let his body go into fridged water, he did all he could to hold that expensive camera out to the side to keep it from getting wet. He didn’t entirely succeeded, but after we (the guide and I) pulled him out of the water and he dried off his camera, it still took pictures. He showed no concern for himself at all, just the camera. In the end, we all gave our cameras to Dave and had him take a few group shots.
While the whole trip was amazing, there were two highlights that just blow my mind. At one point, to get over a vertical drop, we clipped onto a “zip-line” of sorts. We don’t let go and coast though, rather, we lean back with our weight on the rope and walk somewhat horizontal to the ground, putting our crampons flat into the vertical wall while descending sideways.



The other highlight was that they let us try out ice climbing. They ran down two ropes and each guide acted as a belayer for a rope while we went up one by one. In each hand we had an ice pick and our harnesses were attached to one end of the rope. We were told to swing the pick as high as we could over our heads and use our legs to climb up to it. We were to stick our butts out and look down at our feet, concentrating on jamming the toe picks into the ice and keeping our feet level.



DH went first and had no problems at all. Some of the others of our group can’t say the same thing. Two of the women in particular only went half way up and then wanted to come down. Just before I went up, I watched a fellow who really looked like he had done this before and I took cues from him. Particularly swinging my arms independently instead of putting them both at the same height like some were doing. It seemed like only seconds until I was at the top of a several story tall climb and sitting back in my harness, I was lowered down. At the bottom, Dawn asked me if I had ever done that before. I replied no, and she told me that it looked like I had. Neat, I didn’t look clueless! Bonus! Still, I wish I could have gone again, as does DH. Heck, we were both about twice as fast as some of the others, shouldn’t we get to go again?

In all too short a time, we were back at the helicopter where they took our ice picks and crampons and had us board. We waved to Dawn and Dave as the helicopter took off and soon they were gone. The ride back was over in about five minutes. I guess we got the scenic route going out to the glacier, and now they were in a bit more of a hurry.

Sure enough, there was another group waiting to leave when we arrived. We were told that ours was the first group of the day that got to go. All the ones scheduled before ours were cancelled due to the weather. For us, though, the weather was great. The clouds lifted and all was well. I can’t believe our good fortune yet again. This was one of the more amazing experiences of my life. I will never forget it.

After all this, we were driven back to the boat where we boarded and dropped things off and then headed back out to the town. The first few blocks of Juneau are a little depressing as they are so obviously made for tourists, but go up a hill, and you are at a more real-looking place. We even found a place that we gather was Juneau’s “Down to Earth” where I found my Ginger Snap cookies that I like so much.



After wandering around a while, we got hungry, so we went back to the boat and headed over to the sushi bar where they actually had all the good kine sushi along with wasabi, shoyu, and ginger. Yum. After quite a bit of that, we got a small pizza and took it up to our room where we opened our second bottle of clandestine smuggled wine. We ate it on the balcony as the ship left port.

Tomorrow is Ketchikan. We don’t arrive until 2, so DH and I are planning on sleeping in.

Alaska cruise, day 4: Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Wednesday, August 2, 2006

Today was Hubbard Glacier day. We got up early to shower and eat. Around 9, we started to get interesting views outside our window. We ordered in hot chocolate and coffee and sat on our balcony to watch the world go by. Eventually, we came to a stop in front of two glaciers: Hubbard and Valerie. Hubbard is the one that’s really impressive, huge in size and very pretty. It’s also the one that was doing the most calving. At several stories tall, any chunks falling off make a big splash. At one point, a huge chunk that went up almost the whole height of the glacier fell forward, like a door that’s come free of its hinges. Very cool. I’m glad we got to see one big calving. I found the noise of the calving to be fascinating. It was almost like gunshots in the distance.

Alaska cruise, day 3: Tuesday, August 1, 2006

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

My birthday! Oddly enough, I didn’t remember that today was my birthday until after we had gotten up early, worked out, and taken showers. We were both a little forgetful. We ate breakfast in the main dining room, which proved to be a big disappointment. I thought they would know how to do eggs benedict, but I think Cinnamons has ruined me for all others. The eggs were rock solid, and the hollandaise was lousy. I pulled off the eggs and ate the ham and English muffin, but it was basically just for food, not because I wanted it.


Today, we were in Sitka. We took a shore excursion to Tongas Forest National Park which was very nice. It consisted of several hiking loops in the park with a bathroom break in the middle. The hikes weren’t too strenuous, just a little up and down. What really impressed us both was the quality of the trails. They were cleared and well maintained. Most of the trail was covered in gravel or wood stairs. Someone spends a lot of time working on them. We’re told that Sitka has 12 miles of roads and 15 miles of trails. For a town of 4600 square miles, they only have roughly 8000 residents. Very small town with a lot of room. The town only has two stoplights.


At one point on the tour, between trails, a man ran past us and said “there’s a grizzly.” We thought he was joking as the rest of his group was still out in front. It turns out he was running to get his camera, not to get away. It was actually a brown bear, about 800-1000 pounds, hanging out in a field. Every so often, he would pop his head up over the tall grass and check us all out. All I have are a few pictures of a little head above the grass. Still, it was really neat to see. He was somewhere in this field, the next photo is a zoomed in of when he popped up his head.


We had three guides on the tour and there was some dissention among them. One is rather familiar with bears and was willing to take the largish group along the planned trail while another didn’t want to go, yet she didn’t want to do a different trail with only two people (the ones that were willing to change course), so the reluctant ones came along and basically implied that we were all stupid. The first tour guide (Laura?) gave us all a rather stern lecture before we continued stating that we were to stay within one arm’s length of the person in front of us. Also if the bear stands on it’s hind legs and sniffs the air, that it’s ok, but when he stands on all fours, lowers his head, and walks towards us, then we’re in trouble. She said when that happens, don’t run, instead, talk loudly, and make yourself look as big as possible. It was all for naught as the bear never moved from his spot and we were soon long gone. It was quite a thrill all around.

On the bus ride back into town, we also saw an eagle sitting in the top of a tree and flapping its wings. The guides pointed it out stating that it had made a nest there.

After the tour, we had a little time before we had to catch our tender back to the ship, so we wandered around. Didn’t accomplish much except take a few pictures of totem poles (they’re everywhere), and establish that the prices are outrageous.

On interesting thing is that the tour gave us bars of chocolate. It came with the story that the chocolate was made by a former forest ranger who wanted to spend more time with his kids, so he took his hobby and made it into a business. It’s a big success, and the guides seemed rather proud of him.

We got back just in time to change and head down to dinner. DH told the waiter it was my birthday and at the end of the meal, I had four tables plus about 6 wait-staff all sing happy-birthday to me. I think I must have turned crimson, but it was a nice gesture.

Alaska cruise, day 2: Monday, July 31, 2006

Monday, July 31, 2006

Cruising day today. We basically spent the day checking out the boat and eating. We started off with sleeping in, then we went to the gym. Around one, we had showered and went to get “breakfast,” eventually eating in the aqua spa café.
For dinner, this was the first “formal” night. Also, AM had planned a cocktail party, which included a photographer. DH looked very handsome in his new suit, and I wore the black strapless cocktail dress. I gather black was a popular color that evening. All the men and almost all the women were in it.

Alaska cruise day 1: Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sunday July 30, 2006
Vancouver->Alaska

We woke up this morning at 6:00 AM by alarm. We had also scheduled a wake up call at 6:10 in case the alarm didn’t work. When the phone rang, there was nothing on the other end, just silence. Odd, but I guess effective.

We showered, and went down to Main street where we eventually stopped at a café called “Waves.” They only had breakfast burritos, which sounded good in theory, but weren’t so hot in reality. Still, it was a funky little place with decent seating and free wireless internet.

Eventually finishing breakfast, we made our way back to the hotel, checked out and met everyone else downstairs at 9 AM when the bus arrived. We somehow crammed all the luggage in underneath, and drove off, eventually arriving at Granville Island where we had an hour and a half to wander.



The Granville Market is an amazing thing. We were getting rather jealous looking at all the amazing food. It’s a foodie’s paradise with all sorts of fresh fish, sausages, cheeses, fruits, veggies, and just about any other ingredient you can think of. I think we would blow a bundle there if we had a kitchen.

We did buy two bottles of wine at a store there. We took recommendations from a girl with glasses. She saved us when we told her we planned to smuggle them onto the cruise ship. She told us to be sure to put them in checked bags, rather than carry ons as they scan the carryons (she was right, they did). Since we were planning on doing the opposite, we were very grateful for the advice. Even if the wine isn’t so hot, she’s forgiven just for the tip.

After this, we all got back on the bus and went to the mall near the pier. We had 45 minutes there, and DH and I picked up small bottles of hand cleaner (I couldn’t find mine before we left) and some lip balm (labello, which they don’t sell back home). At the very last minute, we found a Starbucks and I got my final Green Tea Frappacino until we reach a port.

Back on the bus, and 10 minutes later we were off and heading towards customs. The bus driver took care of our luggage, we only had to deal with carry-ons, which was very nice. We had to go through several lines: one for security, one for customs, and one for getting our room key, and then finally on the boat.

The boat itself, The Celebrity Infinity is enormous. It dwarfed the Norwegian Cruise Line boat docked next to it. As we boarded, they provided Champagne and Mimosas. We grabbed a champagne each and headed over to the shore excursions line as we had been neglectful in making those reservations. So, we booked the incredibly expensive glacier trek and a hiking trip, and then headed to our cabin.







Room 9132 is ok. The room itself is nice, oddly enough, the bedspread brings it down quite a bit. The room would look much better with a less threadbear cover, but the rest of it is fine. I do notice the inevitable signs of wear and tear, but we have a balcony and that makes up for a multitude of sins.





We grabbed a late lunch sitting on an outdoor deck in the back of the ship. The food (salad and veggies for us) was quite good and the staff seemed very friendly. We wandered around a bit and entered a give away (which we didn’t win), and eventually made our way back to the cabin where we found our luggage waiting outside the door.

As we unpacked, there was a knock at the door and we met our stateroom attendant, Meriam. It’s strange unpacking to such a degree, but nice to not be living out of a suitcase, which we plan not to touch for the remainder of the trip.

At 5, we had a lifeboat drill where we had to go down to deck 4 (from 9) and stand around listening to euphemisms for “we’re sinking” while we all wear large orange life vests. People on the dock laughed and took pictures, but we know they’re jealous they aren’t coming.

45 minutes later, we were finally back in our cabin getting ready for dinner which was supposed to be a six. While we were getting ready, there was another knock at the door, and Meriam brought in a covered dish which contained chocolate covered strawberries from M (the girl we booked the cruise through). Very nice touch. Since we were about to leave for dinner, we put it in the fridge for later.

Even though it was casual night, we still had to put a little effort into our clothes as we can’t wear jeans. It also turned our that we were the only ones at our table for at least a half an hour.





We went ahead without them and we were into the second course when everyone finally arrived. We are seated with all the family. I don’t know what the hell that was about, but apparently the habit of being late runs in the family.

DH and I had the same things until dessert: Shrimp Cocktail, Tomato Bisque soup, Caesar Salad, Prime Rib, and dessert. I had the Crème Brulee, and DH had the Raspberry Cheesecake. Everything was excellent, except the salad was too drenched in dressing for my tastes, so I ate very little of it.

After dinner, we went to see AM's room, which is actually a suite as they had grandma with them too. It’s beautiful. There’s a separate bedroom with a walk-in closet and a wide-screen plasma TV. The bathroom has a whirlpool tub and a window to the living room, which has panoramic windows. The rooms are located in the front of the ship and stick out a bit. There is no balcony, but they had floor to ceiling glass and the effect is really something.

Later, we walked around the ship checking everything out and at 11, made our way back to our room. We sat outside with the strawberries and the cheaper of the two bottles. It wasn’t bad. A little more fruity than we’re used to. Has a great smell. For $12 Canadian a bottle, it was way better than the $8/glass wine we had with dinner (the name escapes me). Went well with the strawberries too.

When we finished the strawberries, and were just chatting, we caught the distinctive smell of Marijuana. Leaning over the balcony, I noticed a young guy in a white tee shirt and baseball cap way up ahead on the same floor. He was clearly the one as I saw him take a puff and when he turned and saw me, he pulled away from the railing and neither he, nor the smell made a reappearance.

After describing what I saw to DH, we both realized that it was likely a cousin. The area we saw him in was about where his cabin is. We plan to mess with him tomorrow, mentioning in front of others how we smelled pot from our balcony while he’s in earshot.

So, now it’s about 12:40. We should be in the inside passage tomorrow.

Vancouver: Saturday, July 29, 2006

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Last night dad took DH and I to the airport. Our flight was on Air Canada at 8:50, so we dropped off the car at mom and dad's just before 6:30 (after picking up a splitter at radio shack) and then we switched cars and headed over H3. At 7, we pulled up to the terminal and DH and I both rejoiced at seeing no one else unloading. Then we came to a stop, and realized no one was unloading because everyone else was already there. Bummer.

Fortunately, the line moved quickly and we were soon greeted by a very friendly agent. She gave us our seats and when we realized that we were assigned to the middle section with an aisle and a middle seat, we requested different seats. She told us the flight was very full, but she would see what she could do. So she gave us our boarding passes and then told us to find her at the gate in a little while. In all this, she almost forgot to check our bags. She never even weighed them, and we had spent so much effort making sure the big bag was under the limit.

We went and bought Chocolate Chocolate Chip Frappaccino from Starbucks for us to split (earning the envy of a little boy who walked by) and headed for the gate. The agent from before was already there, and she told us we had great timing, and then gave us the window and aisle on the left side of the plane. YAY, no-one sitting next to us! What a nice lady. DH says her name was Kris. We should write a letter or something.

The flight was uneventful. They served us a meal (only because it was international) and then showed a movie starring Anotonio Banderas (dance something or other). It was ok, although rather formulaic, especially at the end when the kids take over the ballroom.

The flight was just over five hours and the time difference is three hours, so about 5:30am, we arrived in Vancouver. Going through customs was almost a non-event. The line wasn't very long, probably just people from our plane, and they didn't even ask us if we had anything to declare. So, one stamp in our passports later, we were officially in Canada.

Our first order of business was to get some cash, so after an initial misfire, we found a working ATM that eventually took our card once I got mad at it. Then we caught a cab to the hotel, the Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel on Kingsway. It's ok. The rooms are rather humble, with the smallest bathrooms I think I've had yet, but there's a restaurant with cheap food downstairs, lots of shops and other restaurants nearby, a free paper, and cheap internet access. Could be worse.

We got to the hotel, and our room wasn't ready yet, so we went to call M when we discovered our phones didn't work in Canada! Crud. So we asked for the room number for the B family and got three. Trying one, we got K who came downstairs to get us. We met up with Uncle S for breakfast and then they let us sleep in their room until ours was ready. They went in the bus to go pick people up at the airport and do a little sightseeing.

Eventually, we got a room, slept a while, and then showered and went out. The neighborhood seems slightly seedy, but generally safe. I see a lot of new businesses opening up, and a lot of new condos being built. It looks like it's in a rebuilding period. The new things are all very nice, and the old looks like it's being brushed away.

We tried to get a new sim card for our cell phone, but the guy at the store did a trial run and it didn't work. Our phone seems to have a block on it, so we are trying to get that removed. We also tried to follow one of Rachel Ray's recommendations and try a dim sum place about a mile away, but it appeared to be booked for a wedding. The bride was right at the door greeting people, so we backed out.

Eventually, we just grabbed a slice of pizza and made our way home. We're doing pretty good, ready to sleep some more, but ok. I seem to be coming down with a cold, but hopefully I can avert the worst of it.

Going to bed, planning on watching a movie on the computer.

Tinman: Sunday, July 23rd, 2006

Sunday, July 23rd, 2006

Today, I did the Tinman! I am a triathlete! On the way over, I prayed for no accidents and no flat tires. Not walking on the run and coming in under my predicted time (3 hours) would be bonuses, but no big deal. I got everything I ever hoped for and more. My race went better than I could have imagined. No accidents, no flats, no walking (except through the three aid stations as I have not yet mastered the art of drinking while running), and nine minutes under the time I was shooting for!

I was up around 2:50AM and left the house at 3:30. The race packet said parking would be scarce. They lied. Just after 4, I pulled into the lot we go to all the time for our training days, and it was wide open. Maybe 10 cars were there of about 150 or so stalls. Check in was from 4 to 5:30, so I imagine it filled up not too long after though.

By 4:30, I had managed to get someone to write my number on me and went into the bike area. I got a great spot on my wave's rack right at the end of the rack. It was right in front of the chute that we run through after the swim, so no searching for my bike. I set up my stuff and mentally went through my transitions a few times to make sure I had everything laid out right. I did the standard bathroom run and then got my timing chip from the race organizers.

I was feeling a little uptight at this point, so I lathered on the sunscreen, tucked my swim cap and goggles into my swim top strap, and taking part of a pb&j sandwich, headed for the beach. At this point it was still an hour from my start time at 6:05. I was in the last wave, and happy for it. It was still completely dark, and the idea of swimming in darkness wasn't one I relished, so being last gave the sun a chance to come up. Also, there wouldn't be anyone left to pass me and bum me out. It's all good.

I sat down and leaned against a coconut tree and looked at the ocean. The sky was clear and the water calm. In the darkness, the lights of Waikiki twinkled along the shoreline curving out to the right. It was just beautiful. It seemed that everyone was in their own world, very little conversation, so all was quiet. It struck me again how lucky I am to live here.

After a while more and more people congregated there, and eventually I saw some people I knew. We all talked story for a bit and faster than I would have imagined, the first group was getting in the water. These were the elite athletes along with men 20-30 years old. I never even heard the start, it turns out it was being done by a guy with a bull horn. You don't hear him unless you're in the water. Odd. Anyway, suddenly, the water turned into one of those "piranha" scenes you see in cheesy movies. It started to boil and thrash as they all started to swim. Visually, very entertaining. I was amazed at the speed at which some of these guys can cover 800m. In about 8 and a half minutes, the first guy was dashing out of the water while most of the pack was still at the half-way point.

The crowds parted to let the competitors dash into the chute towards the bike rack. At one point, a couple of guys swung wide and came out way to the side of the chute and the crowd had to point them in the right direction. I guess the leader of that small group didn't sight things quite right and the others just followed him. When he started up the sand, he looked up, saw the crowd (and no chute) and look of befuddlement passed over his face for a second until he took the hint of the people pointing to the side and he dashed off.

One wave at a time, all my friends and training partners went in until eventually I was alone, with a bunch of other people in black caps. This was the 30-34 women along with relays. Excepting a few guys who must have been doing relays, it was all women. The guys made a few comments about how fortunate their circumstances were. We made our way into the water and I was amazed at how warm it was. I've swum at Queen's beach at all different times of the day, and it's always been on the cold side and at least a little murky. Today was perfect. It was like bathwater, and so clear. You could see every detail on the bottom.

The bullhorn announced the one-minute warning, then started the ten second countdown where I started my watch timer, and then we were off. The swim went about as well as could be expected considering it's my first time in a large group start. Since swimming isn't my strong suit, I positioned myself near the back of the pack. I didn't really get kicked, but we all felt each other up a bit before we spread out some. I think I finished somewhere in the middle, but I didn't look back as I ran out of the water and up the beach. I was stripping off my cap and goggles when I saw mom and dad, which was cool as I wasn't sure if they had come (Mike wasn't there as he had to work).

Did my first transition without a hitch and started to dash for the bike exit when I had to grind to a halt for mom to take a picture. I wasn't too happy about that at the time, but I was sure happy about it later (details to come). Out on the bike course, I initially didn't feel too strong. I was heading into the wind down Kalanianaole when I thought maybe I was hungry. So I put a piece of pb&j into my mouth and promptly gagged. Hmmm, that was unexpected, but I persevered and eventually managed to swallow, and...all was well. Don't know why it didn't want to go down, but once in its destination, it was soon converted to fuel.

I went along the course and eventually made my way up heartbreak hill and at the top I caught a second wind. Suddenly, I felt great. I blazed down the hill and started picking people off one by one. One girl tried to pass me back, but I caught her and never saw her again. The return trip was a blast, I don't know why the first half was so whimpy, but I'd rather get better over the course rather than weaken. In what seemed like no time at all, I was heading into the bike chute. I jumped off and started to run, and then there were gumby legs. It seemed that my legs lost all bone structure for a moment and just decided to do whatever they felt like. Ok...so I walked quickly for a few steps and then they were fine again and I dashed off, pausing for another gritted-teeth photo.

2 minutes or so later (and another photo stop) I was out on the run. The run starts with a loop around the zoo and then a left from Paki onto Monserrat which is basically a big long uphill. Oddly enough, I remember almost nothing about going around the zoo. I know I did it, but other than a tiny recollection of some volunteers on a corner, it's like it never happened. The hill on the other hand, I can't forget. It looms above you and your tired legs. So, looking down like an ostrich putting its head in the sand, I labored up the hill. This wasn't going well, but I know this hill always sucks for me and I get better once over the top. Sure enough, at the top of the hill, I hit the first aid station and was soon on the downhill.

Around now I got a decent rhythm and I think my pace increased throughout the run. Even going up diamond head was no big deal and I was able to pass quite a few people, which gave me more motivation. Then you finally hit the corner of Kapiolani park and your brain screams "It's not fair, I'm at the park, I should be done...Where the HELL is that finish line?!" Eventually you round a corner and there it is, so you accelerate (ok, it was imperceptible, I'm sure, but it felt like it), and soon, I was done and someone was molesting my ankle to steal my timing chip.

I walked into the finishers area and the runner who had finished just in front of me leaned over and started heaving. I'm not sure if that means she had a good race or not, but I got out of there rather quickly. The rest of the morning was spent comparing stories and we had a post-race party in the afternoon. I finally went to sleep at 9 last night and slept for 10 hours straight.

The aftermath: My timing chip was defective...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH. Not happy. They lost all my times except my final overall. Here's where the pictures came into play, each one had a timestamp, and as she took pictures before and after my bike and run sections, I can calculate within 20 seconds or so my times. So here's what I got:

Overall: 2:51:40.9
Swim (800m) and T1: 19:30
Bike (40k): 1:27
T2: 2:10
Run (10k): 1:03

All in all, it was a good day. I don't know what I would have done differently, and as for my first triathlon, I'm very happy with how it all went. Of course, it didn't take me five minutes after crossing the finish line before I started thinking about how I can improve for next year. One year ago I was being a couch potato, and I just finished a triathlon. It's shocking to me, but I'm sure happy about it.

Mammoth, CA: March 2005

So, DH and I went to Mammoth, CA for our first experience playing in snow. We flew to LA on an afternoon flight, and slept at my brother's for the night. The next day, we packed up 4 adults, 2 kids, and a large dog into two cars and drove up to Mammoth. About 4 hours later with a stop at a rather odd road-side restaurant (a taxidermist did the decorating and they only served burgers. scary), we arrived at the "cabin." That's in quotes because it's really just a normal house, I don't know why everyone kept calling it a cabin.

The first order of the day was to go up to the ski resort and get everything prepped for tomorrow. DH and I were fitted for boots and boards. I don't know if you've ever rented ski gear before, but it's not very high on my list of things to repeat. It's not very pleasant to try on a pair of boots that probably had just come off a rough day on the slopes and hadn't even dried yet. I was pretty grossed out, but there was nothing for it.

With gear in hand, we went on the hunt for lockers, apparently they are a precious resource out here, so once you get one, you don't relinquish it until you are going home, and I don't mean back to the "cabin." Stowing the none-too-pleasant-smelling gear in a musty locker (lovely, just lovely), we went back for dinner and a good night's sleep in preparation for the lessons that DH and I were signed up for the next morning.

Woke up early and got dressed. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and nearly laughed out loud. I looked like a boy! Baggy ski pants and my jacket was too big. With a hat hiding my hair, big boots and thick ski gloves, I looked exactly like an awkward teenage boy. I guess snowboarders aren't known for being fashionably clad.

While my brother and family hit the ski slopes, DH and I manuevered our boards over to the lessons area. I figured it wasn't a good sign when the first 20 minutes were teaching us how to fall (Omen number one). Turns out that there really was a reason for that. I'll get into that later. After making us practice falling, we strapped on our boards and went up and down a tiny little hill (not kidding, 30 feet long, maybe 4 feet in elevation). After learning how to turn and stop, and working on that falling, seriously, it was happening to everyone, they took us to the lift.

That first lift ride was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. The scenery is just stunning and to be lifted up like you're flying over it is an amazing thing. The fact that there's nothing holding you in and if you lean too far forward you're toast might have had something to do with the exhiliration, but I still remember the rush. We went higher and higher. Looking back down the mountain it was cool to see the world drop away, and looking up I was amazed at how far further some of the other peaks go. I was looking at one peak that was insanely tall and steep when to my horror I realized people were actually skiing down it! I think they were committing suicide, how could anyone survive that!

One other thing about the lift. You can see all the people skiing and snowboarding by beneath you. It's pretty cool to watch people, you see the ones who really know what they're doing, and you also see some spectacular falls. What I fortunately didn't notice until later was that about 95 percent of the people we saw fall down, had snowboards attached to their feet. Omen number two.

To my dismay, the ride came to the end, followed by the single most difficult thing for me to accomplish...the dismount. I just can't get off those things gracefully. I ate it almost every time and had to crawl away as fast as I could with that damn board stuck to my leg. The dread of the inevitable getting off tainted every lift ride thereafter. Too embarrassing.

So, we're at the top of the bunny slope where I'm like, "Is this REALLY the easiest thing you have?" The lane is narrow with trees on each side and in some places, if you don't turn in time, you go off a cliff into a 10 foot deep ravine. That's the bunny slope. Great. Ok, so after they have us all sit on our butts in the snow getting soggy bums, we get started. There was not a one among the group that went more than 4 feet before falling back down. Snowboarding is HARD!

So after falling our way down the slopes, we reach the bottom and go back up for another round. Every member of the group looks like they've been beaten. We're all limping a little, rubbing parts of our bodies, straightening clothes that have gone awry. We're not a pretty sight. But, here we go again.

The second run was better in some ways, but worse in others. We're all able to manage going for a while before falling, and stopping and changing directions by shifting weight, but now they want us to learn the 'S' turn. Hoo Boy, a whole new world of pain there. You see, when you change directions by coming to a stop, and shifting your weight, you never really go very fast. When you start doing real turns, you can really start booking it if you're not very careful. While that's fun later, in the beginning all you know is that the faster you go, the nastier the falls are. DH and I took some whoppers. The worst ones are when you are facing up hill, start to turn, lose it, and fall backwards downhill. I think everyone learning this should wear a helmet and a neckbrace.

To add insult to injury, there are all these little kids, maybe 5-7 years old just zooming by. They're all on skiis, but still, it's a little annoying to be sitting in the snow trying to convince yourself to get up again and to have these kids effortlessly go by. What really got me was at one point, I was on my rear, catching my breath after yet another tumble, when this little girl, weighing maybe 30 pounds, pulls up and goes "are you ok?" I wanted to smack her! I know it's not nice, and I'm sure she had good intentions, but ooooh, I was NOT happy.

By the third run, we had mostly gotten the hang of it. We would fall occassionally, but there were enough seconds (note, not minutes) in between falls that you could tell this can be fun. At one point, the instructor had us all sit together, then moved downslope and had us one by one do 'S' curves down to him and stop. I got up first and did it perfectly, no problem. I was so impressed with myself until I got up to the instructor, stopped, and promptly fell on my a**. So much for my ego.

After that, the lesson was over and we were on our own. After another run, we decided we had enough bruises and called it quits for the day. We stored our gear in our lockers and went home. After peeling off my ski clothes, I was grateful we were in cold weather, because I wasn't showing any skin for a while. Someone would think that DH and I beat each other! Also, if DH wouldn't have pretended to not know me, I might have worn a pillow strapped to my rear the next day. Whooee, it hurt to sit. But, it was all worth it.

The next morning, the alarm went off, and I opened one eye. I was afraid to move. Slowly, I wiggled fingers and toes, then shifted arms and legs. Testing the pain that was going to be involved with getting up. Oh My! Everything hurt! DH was the same way. We moved like geriatrics with bad arthritis. After lots of grunts and groans we got into our ski gear and headed back to the slopes.

I'm happy to report that day two was infinitely better. The first run down the slopes had us worried, it was pretty bad, but after that, our bodies picked it up again and it went well. By the end of the day, we were doing an occasional entire run without falling and we were testing how fast we were willing to go before chickening out. That's really a rush BTW, going fast is fun, but you know you're still unsteady enough that if you hit too big a bump, you're going to eat it.

Things transpired that kept us away from the slopes the next day, but I can't wait to do it again. I hope that we don't forget how and have to start all over again. I also hope that I will have magically figured out how to get off the lift gracefully.

Russia: March 2005

I was in Russia! I can hardly believe it myself. A friend of mine was going to adopt two sisters from Russia and asked me to go along. With about two weeks from when I was asked to when we went, I said yes! In what seemed like no time at all, I was freezing in Russia.


We landed in Moscow, the picture is the view from our hotel window right before we went to sleep for the next 15 hours. (more about Moscow later). We were in Moscow for two days and then we took a four hour flight into Siberia, landing in Novokuznetsk (south-central Russia). From here, it was a 15 minute drive to the orphanage where we met the girls. My friend, A, had already been there once and met them before, but they had never met their future father. They’re adorable girls, 7 and 11 years old.

The orphanage was actually rather nice, granted everything is relative. The plumbing was primitive and they kids wear the same clothes for a week, but I understand that’s not uncommon around those parts. Generally I got the impression that the orphanage staff try very hard to make it a nice place for the children.

The town itself was rather grim. It’s a coal mining town and everything is coated in black soot. The snow, the buildings, cars...everything. It’s just a depressing place. Very poor. You can hardly imagine that people can survive the winter in the shacks that qualified as homes.

After we left the orphanage (sans girls, we can’t take them until after the court date), we drove three hours to the town of Kemerovo. Kemerovo is sort of the capital of the region, and fortunately, it’s a big step up from Novokuznetsk. It’s a modern town, big governmental buildings, hotels, restaurants, etc. Our hotel looked good in the lobby, but my room, well, let’s just call it an adventure and leave it at that. Functional, but not something you really care to remember.

Here was my first real experience with Russian food, and to my surprise, it’s really good! Not to mention cheap. For about five bucks I ate in a nice restaurant and had food that would have cost me 15 to 20 bucks back home! I’m amazed that no matter where we ate, there was an attention to detail that was very impressive. They take great care in the presentation and everything tasted as good as it looked.

In Kemerovo, we spent the next few days dealing with legal stuff. We had the court hearing where my friends were declared the legal parents of the two girls. I wasn’t allowed in the court room, but I’m told there’s a jail cell in the corner of the room. So much for prejudicing the jury.

One interesting thing about the Russian adoption system is the secrecy involved. You get the impression that people are hiding things from you. You ask questions about the kids you’re about to adopt, like health or their past, and if the people in charge think you won’t like the answer, they’ll evade. This gets confirmed when eventually they’ll drop a little morsel of the negative information here and there when they think the time is right. You just have to wait and get in their due time. To top it off, sometimes they’ll drop bombs on you right in the court room, moments before everything’s official. Fortunately, nothing too major this time, but it’s happened to my friend before on her last adoption. Oh yeah, she already has two other girls from previous Russian adoptions, one is now 17 and the other is 13.

After the court hearing, you spend a bunch of time running around town getting documents signed and notarized. The Russians are alllll about documentation. Things got a little humorous around now. You see, A’s church donated about one thousand dollars for her to buy things for the orphanage. She couldn’t just give the orphanage the money, because corruption is rampant, so we had to spend over one thousand dollars in a place where most things are ridiculously cheap.

We bought shoes, clothes, books, toys, and hygiene and medical supplies. Everything in massive quantities as there are over one hundred children in this orphanage. At the end of the day, we had to haul it all up to our rooms. People in the hotel lobby stared at us open-mouth as five adults hauled tons of childrens stuff through. They probably thought that this was rampant American excess, “adopt one child and look at all they bought for it.”

The next day, with all the main legalese finished, A’s husband flew home to take care of the other girls and A and I headed back to the orphanage, along with our huge haul of purchases. Christmas came early this year. A number of children came out to help us bring everything in and their faces reflected total amazement with each armload taken out of the van.
In the orphanage, we were escorted to a room where the girls were to meet us.

One thing to note, is that the children are not allowed to take their clothes with them (needed for the next child), so you have to bring clothes with you. Apparently, these two knew the drill and were eager to get going because they ran in the room and started stripping down reaching for the new clothes. In just a few minutes, they were ready to go. They left clutching only the teddy bears that A had given them during her previous visit. They actually owned NOTHING else.

Back to Kemerovo, a three hour car ride with two little girls on a big adventure. It actually went surprisingly well. In Kemerovo, the adoption facilitator announced that A had to go get the girl’s passports, so I took the girls into the hotel. I’ll never forget this. As I walk into the hotel lobby with two very cute little girls trailing behind me, all these Russians, both men and women, went “awwww.” They act tough, but a lot of it is an act. This hotel is used for a lot of adoptions, so I guess they knew what was going on.

The next day, we head for the airport. We hand over our tickets, and the lady, who of course speaks no English and looks as mean as a bull dog, points at the date on my ticket. To my horror, it said I was supposed to leave the day before, apparently with A’s husband. The travel company that booked us all had made a huge mistake. I almost panicked with visions of being left behind in Siberia with no means of communication.

Thank heavens I was with a group, or I might have been stuck. The lady looked at our panicked faces and motioned for us to wait. She continued processing the other passengers for what seemed like eternity (reality: 10 minutes) while we stood there each with a little girl holding our hand. Finally we were motioned to put our bags up for checking and she slid a new set of tickets over the counter for all of us! They put me on the flight! I was sooo happy and relieved. I had figured they wouldn’t make us stand there if they weren’t going to help us, so I had pulled out a can of macadamia nuts I had brought along. When she gave us the tickets, I said “thank you” in Russian, and gave her the can. This woman, who looked so intimidating, actually cracked a smile, although you could see she tried to stifle it.

The rest of the trip was spent in Moscow. It’s a wonderful city. Lots of beautiful buildings and loaded with history. Near all these amazing things, to my shock, I encountered a McDonalds. Now I didn't eat there, but I was surprised at how busy they were.

I had one day to myself and I used the most of it. I went to Red Square and saw St. Basil’s Cathedral, Lenin’s tomb (supposedly you can see the body, but they weren’t letting people in that day), and the Kremlin. I got to go inside the Kremlin (the seat of the Russian government) and tour the places they let you see.

There’s a big museum inside of the Kremlin called the Armoury. It holds all the state treasure. It’s got diplomatic gifts from other countries, clothes that the Tzars wore, jewels, etc. All the Russian history sort of stuff. It was fascinating, but unfortunately, most of the plaques weren’t in English. No problem. There were a number of private English language tours going around (expensive), so if something interested me, I’d just wait a bit and someone would come by and talk about it. I stayed for two separate tours in front of the Faberge Eggs! They were just amazing.

After the Kremlin, I went to the Tretyakov art gallery. The best collection of Russian art in the world. My guide book sucked, it didn’t say what metro stop to use or what streets to follow after that, so I guessed. Oh wait, the metro... The subway stations here are amazing. You'd think you were in an art gallery. Can you believe there are chandaliers over where the trains go in and out? And there's no litter and no graffitti. The "Palaces of the People" indeed.

Ok, back to the Tretyakov... When I got off the metro, I wandered a bit, then asked a trio of babushkas how to get there (in Russian. Maybe one in 20 Russians speak English and that’s being generous). They pointed and rattled something off. I was going to just go on the point, but I guess they realized I was clueless and took pity on me. They motioned me to follow. We went down a path with them glancing over their shoulders every so often to check that I was still with them. I felt like a lamb following a shepherd. Eventually, one turned off and the other two, motioning me to follow, went the other way. Down another street, they stopped in front of a building and motioned to it. They had gone out of their way and took me right to the door of the place! They laughed as I thanked them, turned and went back on their way. I encountered alot of that in Russia, people going out of their way to help you.

The rest of the time in Moscow, we wandered all over the place. It was fascinating to watch these kids with so little life experience. They had never seen an escalator! An American two year old can negotiate these things, but these two had no idea had to negotiate the move from solid ground onto something moving. A and I had to each firmly grab a child and hold on tight as they got on/off or else they would fall down. They seemed to think it was great fun and giggled alot about it.
To these two, everything is amazing. They’re fascinated by subways, statues, buildings, and especially those little Russian dolls that are embedded inside each other. It’s a wonderful experience to see things that you might take for granted reflected in their eyes. It’s a big new world for them.

Whooo, it’s late, I’m tired. I better wrap this up. In all, I spent 11 days in Russia, and it was an amazing experience.