Florida Vacation Day 3

On our third day in Florida we visited the Kennedy Space Center. I really thought this was an amazing place.  All of the exhibits were both educational as well as just plain amazing!  The highlight of my tour here, was that I got to touch an actual piece of moon rock. It was so awesome knowing that I was actually touching a piece of the moon!  We also got a tiny glimpse of the space shuttle Discovery. It was in the vehicle assembly building and we could just see it though the open bay door as our tour bus drove by.

Vehicle Assembly Building

As much as Ed and I enjoyed our tour, it was also a very sad time to visit the center. We visited on January 29th, just one day after the anniversary of the Challenger explosion.  The monuments and memorials to the crew (as well as crews of other missions) were so very moving. It's really hard to explain how I felt. I remembered sitting in 8th grade science class and watching as the Challenger lifted off.

On a happier note, while we were out on the tour that went to the launch pad areas, we got to see some dolphins swimming! That was pretty amazing. We were only able to get pictures of their fins sticking up, but it sure was entertaining watching them.

Ed with Launching Pad 39 in the background

Florida Vacation Days 1 & 2

Ahh, finally something interesting to write about. So, my trip to Florida was wonderful! It was so nice to get away from the cold here in Colorado.

The first day of vacation was more or less just a travel day.  Ed and I took separate flights (we each had a free ticket on separate airlines) and Ed's plane arrived a few hours before mine did.  This was good news for me...By the time I landed, Ed had gotten the renal car, checked us in at the condo, gone grocery shopping, and unpacked the suitcase. After he picked me up at the airport, all I had left do was relax.

On our second day, we decided to drive to Daytona beach, since I had never seen the Atlantic Ocean.  Daytona was pretty cool.  Ed was loving it because you can drive on the beach.

 It was a crazy ride. You can only drive 10 mph, but that was still exciting because the sand was NOT packed. It was like driving on fresh powder snow.  Once we parked, we actually had a hard time getting moving again. It was really fun though.

After we drove for a while we got out and walked on the beach. It was so nice and there were so many birds. Of course there were seagulls, but also quite a few pelicans and they were quite lovely.

Then we had a late lunch at a restaurant overlooking the water and headed back to Orlando. 

I was really happy to see the Atlantic Ocean because my grandfather grew up in Rhode Island and talked fondly the Atlantic. But the real highlight of my day was something I wasn't able to get a picture of...I saw a bald eagle in the wild. Yes, I've seen them in zoos before, but to see one soaring above your head and have it be low enough that you can really get a good look was...magical.

I'm Back!

So, I've been home from vacation for about a week. Things are getting back to the old routine.  First of all, I'm so happy and relieved to say that Artie did very well being boarded at the vet's office. He was not happy about it, but his physical condition was really good, so that pleased me.  It took him and Ozzie a day or two to get over the fact that we left them, but they are both back to their old routines too.

Now, I just can't believe that I've been to Michigan and am already back here in Colorado. Man, the time seems to fly by.  We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, but we did see a lot of people.  We saw a lot of people, went a lot of places, and ate a lot of good food!

I'm really thankful to my Aunt Sandie for hosting a get together for us.  We were able to cram a lot of friends and family into a one day event and that was wonderful.  I'm also thankful to my Aunt Paula because she stayed afterward and did a lot of cleaning!


Aunt Sandie and Aunt Paula



Little Cousins having fun in their "fort".

Me with my beautiful cousin KaSaundra, her beautiful
daughter Jaiden, and Moriah in the background.

I'm really grateful to have two such wonderful aunts!








Living in a home with no children, it was so special to be around all of my little cousins. It was also so noisy! Only seeing the kids once every other year on average is hard.  Of course I see pictures all the time, but being with them in person is just amazing. I love my family so much!





It was great being back in Michigan to see all of our friends and family, but it was also great because we got to enjoy many places and things that aren't normally available to us.




Detroit Zoo



Yates Cider Mill
Yum, cider and warm donuts!




 

Detroit Tigers game at Comerica Park



Sam and Ed on a giant swing!
Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH



Sander's Ice Cream Parlour
Just like when Eddie was a boy!











Lafayette Coney Island



Ahh, lots of good times! I can't wait to do it again!






I can't wait for September...

Ed and I will be going home to Michigan for a visit in September and I can't wait!  I haven't been home in two years, and for Ed it has been about seven.  There are so many people to see and places to go.  I can't wait to see all my little cousins and how they've grown in the last two years. And of course the rest of my family and friends.

Me in 2008 with my beautiful cousins
 Jaiden & Nevaeh

My cousin Laith -

Just born the last time I was home in August 2008

I've been working on getting all the details taken care of. We have our plane tickets.  I'm working on renting a house in White Lake for the week...It's easier than staying with relatives and better than a crummy hotel room.  It's really reasonably priced for the week and fairly centrally located to all the places we want to go.  One thing that's especially nice is that it's on the lake and there is a grill, etc. so we can host a get together while we're there.  That may be easier than trying to run all over the place and see everyone separately. 

Here is a link to pictures of the house we're renting.

http://www.rentalbug.com/pics.php?pic_id=3472

Right now we're just waiting on the rental contract to make sure that everything is agreeable to us.

The only things I have left to do are: arrange a cat sitter for while we're gone, get the rental car, come up with some sort of itinerary for our trip and let everyone at home know so they can make plans.

Oh boy, oh boy, I can't wait!

Our Trip to Colorado - Day Two

Okay, so we got up Friday, drugged the cats, went to breakfast, came back, loaded the cats up and checked out of Motel Hell.

Friday's drive was very long. We got on the road at about 8:30 a.m. and didn't pull into our place in CO until around 10 p.m. Though the day was long, it was a good day all in all. We started the morning out in Nevada, went through Utah, Wyoming, and finally arrived in Colorado. I have to say, with the exception of driving through the salt flat area of Utah, I really enjoyed all the scenery along the drive.




That's about it, nothing too exciting happened along the drive. Although I will say that we were nearly blown away by the high winds in Wyoming. Wow! The cats were good again except for maybe the last half hour of the drive when they started crying. We understood though, it had been 12 hours since they had been medicated and it was wearing off.

We survived though, and so did they.

It's Been A Long Few Days!

As I sit here in my living room in Superior, Co and think back on the last five days, I am just exhausted!

Wednesday night we decided to go watch our friends from Ed's work at their softball game. Of course, five minutes before we are planning to go to the game I pop a crown off of one of my teeth! That's bad under any circumstance, but it was really bad in my case. After all, we were planning to leave town the next day! Thankfully my dentist was able to squeeze me in for an emergency appointment and re-cement my crown on Thursday morning. We were leaving the state though, so we decided to make the most of our last night and join our friends at a local bar after their game. I guess I'm really getting old, because 3 beers and staying out until 11 or so, really did me in.

While I was at the dentist the next morning, Ed was at home waiting on the movers to come. They were actually on time, so that was a good thing! We were hoping to get on the road ourselves by noon, but by the time the movers got done it was after one. Not too terrible, but a later start than we had planned. I put some extra cat food outside for my stray girls, took a last look around,
and we were on our way.

It was bittersweet leaving. I only had a couple of friends in the area, so it's not like I had a lot of ties, but it was still kind of sad leaving. I was also feeling bad about the two little stray cats I usually feed, as there was just no way we could take them. Anyway, as we were leaving our neighborhood I got a couple of tears in my eyes, but managed to wipe them away before Ed saw. I'm always embarrassed about things like that. Once we got out of our area and down towards SF I was okay.
One last drive across the Oakland Bay Bridge and we were on our way.

Now speaking of cats, I was really nervous about taking our cats on the long drive to CO. After weeks of trial runs around the area, we finally came up with a good solution. Xanax and Buprenex prescribed by the vet were a lifesaver once we got the dosage right. We drugged Artie and Ozzie first thing in the morning and by the time we got on the road they were pretty out of it. They weren't happy about going into their travel cages, but once they were in there and safely tucked into the back of our CRV they calmed down. We heard a little meowing, but not too much and thankfully Ozzie never went to the bathroom or vomited in the car! Good Boys!!!!


Our drive was pretty uneventful. We had a little rain driving out of CA, but nothing to bad. I was kind of shocked to see snow still in the mountains this late in the year. I thought it was really cool though.

Nevada had some surprises for us too. Within minutes of crossing the boarder from CA to NV we saw a rainbow. We thought it might be directing us to a pot of gold at a nearby casino, but we resisted chasing it! Well, another hour or so into NV, I looked over and there was another rainbow! This one wasn't as big as the first one, but it was beautiful. The way the sun was shining around it and the lighting all around was just fantastic. I took a picture, but it really doesn't do it justice.

We were getting tired, so we ended up stopping for the night in a town called Winnemucca. Wow, that was an experience! First off, all of the motels were pretty much booked because of a rodeo or donkey races or something. As an added pain, we had to find a motel that accepted pets. We didn't make reservations in advance since we didn't know how far we would drive that first day. We ended up in probably on of the trashiest motels we've ever stayed in. You know it's not great when the a handwritten sign on the bullet proof glass at the front desk says "Sorry, No Refunds". Hmm, has to be pretty bad if people are asking for refunds. But, it was a room, we could take our cats in, and we were tired and didn't care. I will say though, it had the absolute best water pressure for a motel shower. It was a great way to start out the next day! I got a good laugh at the "continental breakfast" they provided when I went in to check out. It was a tray lined with foil proudly displaying what appeared to be individually wrapped Little Debbie Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies. Now, don't get me wrong, those are tasty little treats, but calling them a continental breakfast is a bit of a stretch!

Well, that's it from the beginning of our journey up to the second morning. More later...