We all made it safe and sound to Miami and had a lovely meal of appetizers and cocktails in the Sofitel bar. Match the cocktail to the reveler:
Mojito Caipirinha Whiskey Mai Tai
Tomorrow we get up early to go to mass at St Dominic's and then board the boat! There will be some repacking in the morning...
answers:
mojito = Steve caipirinha = Brigid whisky (actually scotch I think) = Gert mai tai = Mom
Steve and I went to Iowa to see Kristen and her Odyssey of the Mind team compete in Worlds. Then we headed to Nebraska to check in on Neal!
Followed by a journey to Salina and Brookville Kansas to do some research on Steve's Dad and family. We came away with more questions than answers!
Lots of fun in the wintry Santa Fe, a favorite!
We headed up to Whistler for snowboarding, though I wasn't able to, I was recovering from back surgery. But it was a great trip!
Quick trip up to see the fall colors, and participate in a photographer's morning opportunity at Bodie.
Headed to San Luis Obispo and Madonna Inn for my birthday, with a trip up to Hearts Castle, and a stop in Santa Barbara camping near the beach and visiting Steve's alma mater UCSB.
After Tony & Elisa' wedding, we headed to Mammoth and Tahoe, hitting Bodie on the way home!
Philly -> Roanoke -> Nashville -> Memphis -> Bristol Caverns -> Natural Bridge -> Monticello -> Shenandoah -> Philly, 2007
Our mission was to pick up Andrew in Nashville, after his first (only) year at Belmont. So Kathy and I made a road trip out of it, stopping in Roanoke to visit my friend Allison, and in Memphis to see Graceland and Sun Studio. On the way back, we stopped at a cavern (Bristol Caverns), the Natural Bridge and Monticello. On the last day we decided to take a little bit of a detour and drive through Shenandoah. Aahhh :)
Steve and I went to Zion NP, after seeing Love in Vegas (it was amazing!). We camped and hiked, doing Observation Point on the first day, the Narrows on the second andAngels Landing on the third. Gorgeous!
Steve and I went to Big Sky, being joined by Julie after a snow delay, and Mary, JP and Christopher as well! We skiied/boarded at Big Sky, Moonlight Basin (our favorite) andBridger Bowl. Steve and I also went to Yellowstone one day (amazing!!!) and with Julie to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.
Anette and I joined Dawn and friends on a cruise from LA to Catalina and San Diego, culminating in a wonderful time in Ensenada!
I'm back in Phoenixville now, until tomorrow when I head for London. Happily, Steve will be joining me there for my Sri Lanka crew reunion :) The past few days I spent in Pittsburgh, but unfortunately not enough time to hook up with any CMU alums. I did go out with Sheeler and Jack, though, for a night out in Philly which was a blast. But on the drive back to Philly from Pittsburgh, it snowed half way and rained the other half. You may ask "Brigid, does it normally snow before Halloween?". No. Makes driving a bit mmore hectic, but I got back to my folks' place safe and sound. In Pittsburgh, Steve and I found a great place up on Mount Washington, the Bella Vista and they ain't lying! We took the Duquesne Incline up, and sat by the window with gorgeous views of downtown and could watch the tugboats chugging down the Monongahela (which became the Ohio at the point).
I'll try to recap Costa Rica tonight -- so much to tell. Maybe I can upload some pics, too... the baby lemur and howling howler monkey shots are great!
I must say it is very weird to think that I have a job and a house in San Diego... it's been just over a month and I could definitely get used to this flitting about :) But I have just a week and a half left, and then I must get re-grounded. But not until then!!
Brigid
... And got henna ankle tattoos before finding the crusty local bar the deckhands had told us about :)
They had a casual blues band which was great and met some colorful characters including a few Irishmen. Don't worry - Steve has no reason to be jealous. On the walk home it seems the town was wall to wall with colorful folk!
We got up maybe a little slower than planned, and as I have been writing the traffic cleared up so we are cruising along on the seven mile bridge at a good clip
Next... Ft Lauderdale
We are currently in a traffic jam on the keys, going 30 mph... It might take us a few extra hours to get up to Ft Lauderdale.
We had a great night last night - checked into our cute guesthouse and walked down Duval St to the docks. Duval is the main drag full of shops and bars. We stopped in Jimmy Buffets bar and had a margarita (ok, 2).
The schooner we took out for the sunset cruise was an 80 foot tall ship. It was gorgeous and great company. Afterwards we used some 2 for 1 drink coupons and...
This blackberry is handy - Anette is driving us down the Keys on our way to Key West. Weve been on the road just over 3 hours, probably a little over an hour to go.
It is absolutely gorgeous, with the ocean all different hues of turquoise... And smelling vaguely of sulphur. Weve got the top down on the black mustang, Anette with a bandana, me with my Montana cowboy hat :) We are stylin. Tonight we will do a sunset cruise on a schooner - should be a blast. We just reached Marathon... Gotta go!
I guess the blackberry has a limit for how much you can write!
So we did the spaaaah and hit the beach. Tonight we will hit the bars and take off for the Keys early tomorrow!
Miami has been warm and muggy but not too bad. I did get bitten by something in the ocean ... Not sure if it was a jellyfish or, as the lifeguard thought, a little fish nibbling me!! But the swelling, tingling and itching is just about gone now, a few hours later.
Off to get ready - Ill touch bases soon!
Anette and I hooked up easily in Dulles and we started the vacation with a few hefeweisens. The flight to Miami was quick and the hotel, right on the oceanfront in South Beach, is a great art deco place. We had a pretty early night and got up this morning to bloody marys :) It started raining hard so we decided to pick up the car (driving down to Key West tomorrow). The sun came out while we were sampling some of Wet Willies frozen concotions over lunch before heading into the spa...
The folks and I took a cruise to Alaska!
Vancouver
Vancouver was our jumping off point.
Ketchikan
First stop and we took a horse-drawn carriage around town and saw some very cool totems.
Juneau
We headed up to the Mendenhall Glacier and to the salmon hatchery on this day.
Skagway
Mom & Dad took the train up the gold rush pass, and I headed out to a bald eagle preserve that didn't have too many birds (wrong season).
Palmer / Hatcher Pass
We took the train from Whittier to Ancorage and then drove up to Talkeetna and down to Wisilla, Palmer and Hatcher Pass.
Danielle and I went skiing at Big Mountain, drove around Flathead Lake to the National Bison Rangeand multiple glorious trips into Glacier NP. We also met up with Mary and JP for some fun in Big Fork as well as Whitefish!
Thanksgiving with the Edmistons, and Mickey!
