Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Our California Vacation
We just got back from vacation on Wednesday night and it was a blast. We flew out to Oakland, CA on Tuesday, July 27th. I always seem to attract the strangest people on flights, and this one wasn't any different. A woman who owned a bar in Oakland started talking to me about everything from her ill mother to how she and her boyfriend liked to go to Yosemite in the late 80's with a cooler of beer and sandwiches....totally naked of course. A little too much information for the first conversation, but I could tell she was really having a hard time dealing her recent visit to see her mother who isn't doing so good, so I tried to listen and be a good seat neighbor.
Our first stop when we landed was the rental counter at Budget. I could tell the guy who was helping me was still in training, so his manager was trying to assist, but the bottom line is they didn't have a compact car. I felt like busting out a line from Seinfeld.
They offered some upgrade options of a convertible or a sports car for about $200 more, but I respectfully declined. After waiting a few more minutes, they went ahead and upgraded us for free to a better vehicle...
We packed up our shiny new sports car, which barely fit our luggage, and headed to our first destination: Yosemite National Park. We arrived at about 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and got situated in our tent cabin in Curry Village.
Now it might not look like the ideal accomodations for a vacation (or for a woman who is 21 weeks pregnant), but it was actually an awesome experience. Our tent cabin had two twin beds, a light bulb, a shelf and safe inside. Outside there was a bear locker that was for any food or toiletries. We lucked out and got tent cabin #1 which was located about 50 feet away from the bathroom and a few hundred feet away from the lounge, the dining options and the public showers. I found some good advice online before we left about bringing some ear plugs to help with the noise (there are 300+ tent cabins in the area and canvas walls don't block the noise) and a light bulb socket to outlet adaptor to help charge our cameras and cell phones. The best part is that Curry Village is right in the middle of Yosemite Valley and close to all the different destinations and hikes. We were able to hop on the park shuttle and go to our stop within about 10-15 minutes each time.
We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning ready for our first hike. I wanted to get the longest hike out of the way first, so we tackled the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. Round trip distance of this hike was 7.6 miles and a total climb of 2,600 feet, or the equivalent of climbing over two Empire State Buildings. We started around 9:00 a.m. up the mountain.
We took it nice and slow with many breaks along the way to catch our breath, to eat a quick snack or to just simply take in the views. We did run into several other hikers along the way. There was one family with three kids that we caught up with several times. We'd chat with the parents along the way during some of our breaks and were suprised to discover the mother of the family was originally from the Canton, OH area. We also witnessed an angry hiker that was yelling at his socks for not going on quite right. All walks of life on the trail at Yosemite!
After four hours or so of climbing the steep switchbacks and battling the sun which was creating a pretty hot hike for us, we finally reached the top.
There were a couple of guys that were jumping into the river just above where the falls started. It is definitely not the smartest thing to do as that is how most people die in Yosemite.
We spent some time resting at the top and soaking our feet in the cool rushing water before we headed back down, which was much quicker. We ended up getting back down around 5:00 p.m. and headed back to Curry Village to share a pizza and some ice cream before calling it a night.
The next day we tackled the Mist Trail heading up to the top of Vernal Falls. This was a much shorter hike than the Upper Yosemite Falls hike at a total of 3 miles with a total elevation change of 1,000 feet. There were a lot more hikers on this trail as it was a little more tourist friendly (shorter hike, occasional paved pathway and restrooms).
We actually saw a rainbow along the way. No, not a double rainbow, although we were hoping for one.
On Friday, we took the bus up to Glacier Point which offers amazing views of the Yosemite Valley.
We only purchased the one-way ticket up to Glacier point and decided to hike the Four Mile Trail back down to the valley. The Four Mile Trail is actually 4.7 miles, but it was exactly four miles back when John Conway constructed it in 1872. It's since been extended to take out some of the steeper sections. There were great views of Yosemite Falls and El Capitan along the way.
It took us a little over three hours to get down to Yosemite Valley. We made a quick stop over to the Lower Yosemite Falls area to snap a few photos and then went back to our tent cabin to get showers before heading to dinner at The Ahwahnee Dining Room.
The Ahwahnee Dining Room offered fine dining and it was a nice change from the pizza, sandwiches, trail mix and protein bars we were eating over the past three days. Kristie got a steak filet and I got the Arctic Char.
We got up early Saturday morning, checked out of Curry Village and were very happy to discover that the bears had left our Camaro alone during our four night stay (apparently if a bear decides to rip your door off and check out the inside of your vehicle, insurance does not cover it because it is an "Act of God."). We drove over to Sequoia National Park for a few hours to check out the giant Sequoia trees. General Sherman (pictured below) is the largest non-clonal tree in the world.
From there, we headed to our friends' house in Exeter, CA. Jason and Torey were married a little over a year ago and they just welcomed their son Otis into the world on July 4th, 2010.
Jason's parents, Rob and Gwen, and Torey's father, Reed were at their house when we arrived. We spent some time in their awesome backyard pool with everyone, including their dog Brutus. Then, we went to dinner with Jason and Torey and Jason's parents. We had a great time and it was nice to see some friends during our trip.
The next morning, we headed for our next destination: Avila Beach. Avila Beach is located near San Luis Obispo, about halfway along the the Central California Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We stayed at the Avila La Fonda Hotel. It was a great hotel offering many nice amenities such as a complimentary snack basket, free use of beach towels and chairs, free laundry, free wifi, a chocolate pantry and other fun daytime snacks, etc. It was a nice way to pamper a pregnant wife after roughing it a bit at Yosemite.
The beach was really nice, but a bit cool with the temperature hovering in the mid 60's to low 70's.
After a few nights in Avila Beach, we headed back up towards Oakland on Tuesday, August 3rd. We stopped in Monterey for lunch and had a visitor outside the window.
We decided to spend our last night in San Francisco before heading over to our hotel room near the Oakland Airport. First, we checked out Golden Gate State Park and walked around a bit. It was COLD in San Franciso, approximately in the low to mid 50's. It felt like the fall was upon us and we were looking forward to coming back home where the weather would surely be warmer.
We went down to Fisherman's Wharf and got Ghiradelli Sundaes which, at $8.50 a piece, are worth every penny. We took a final picture of Kristie near a cable car and then headed to our hotel in Oakland, which was kind of shady. Shady enough that I returned our rental car the night before our flight, fearing that we might wake up to our vehicle being on cement blocks and missing its wheels.
Overall, a GREAT vacation! If anyone has not been to Yosemite National Park, I highly suggest you go and make sure to give youself at least three days and stay inside the park in the valley. It is truly the most beautiful place on earth.
Our first stop when we landed was the rental counter at Budget. I could tell the guy who was helping me was still in training, so his manager was trying to assist, but the bottom line is they didn't have a compact car. I felt like busting out a line from Seinfeld.
They offered some upgrade options of a convertible or a sports car for about $200 more, but I respectfully declined. After waiting a few more minutes, they went ahead and upgraded us for free to a better vehicle...
 |
| A brand new 2011 Red Chevy Camaro! |
We packed up our shiny new sports car, which barely fit our luggage, and headed to our first destination: Yosemite National Park. We arrived at about 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and got situated in our tent cabin in Curry Village.
 |
| Our tent cabin in Curry Village at Yosemite National Park. |
We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning ready for our first hike. I wanted to get the longest hike out of the way first, so we tackled the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. Round trip distance of this hike was 7.6 miles and a total climb of 2,600 feet, or the equivalent of climbing over two Empire State Buildings. We started around 9:00 a.m. up the mountain.
 |
| Approximately half way up the trail, with Half Dome in the background. |
We took it nice and slow with many breaks along the way to catch our breath, to eat a quick snack or to just simply take in the views. We did run into several other hikers along the way. There was one family with three kids that we caught up with several times. We'd chat with the parents along the way during some of our breaks and were suprised to discover the mother of the family was originally from the Canton, OH area. We also witnessed an angry hiker that was yelling at his socks for not going on quite right. All walks of life on the trail at Yosemite!
After four hours or so of climbing the steep switchbacks and battling the sun which was creating a pretty hot hike for us, we finally reached the top.
There were a couple of guys that were jumping into the river just above where the falls started. It is definitely not the smartest thing to do as that is how most people die in Yosemite.
We spent some time resting at the top and soaking our feet in the cool rushing water before we headed back down, which was much quicker. We ended up getting back down around 5:00 p.m. and headed back to Curry Village to share a pizza and some ice cream before calling it a night.
The next day we tackled the Mist Trail heading up to the top of Vernal Falls. This was a much shorter hike than the Upper Yosemite Falls hike at a total of 3 miles with a total elevation change of 1,000 feet. There were a lot more hikers on this trail as it was a little more tourist friendly (shorter hike, occasional paved pathway and restrooms).
We actually saw a rainbow along the way. No, not a double rainbow, although we were hoping for one.
On Friday, we took the bus up to Glacier Point which offers amazing views of the Yosemite Valley.
We only purchased the one-way ticket up to Glacier point and decided to hike the Four Mile Trail back down to the valley. The Four Mile Trail is actually 4.7 miles, but it was exactly four miles back when John Conway constructed it in 1872. It's since been extended to take out some of the steeper sections. There were great views of Yosemite Falls and El Capitan along the way.
It took us a little over three hours to get down to Yosemite Valley. We made a quick stop over to the Lower Yosemite Falls area to snap a few photos and then went back to our tent cabin to get showers before heading to dinner at The Ahwahnee Dining Room.
The Ahwahnee Dining Room offered fine dining and it was a nice change from the pizza, sandwiches, trail mix and protein bars we were eating over the past three days. Kristie got a steak filet and I got the Arctic Char.
We got up early Saturday morning, checked out of Curry Village and were very happy to discover that the bears had left our Camaro alone during our four night stay (apparently if a bear decides to rip your door off and check out the inside of your vehicle, insurance does not cover it because it is an "Act of God."). We drove over to Sequoia National Park for a few hours to check out the giant Sequoia trees. General Sherman (pictured below) is the largest non-clonal tree in the world.
From there, we headed to our friends' house in Exeter, CA. Jason and Torey were married a little over a year ago and they just welcomed their son Otis into the world on July 4th, 2010.
Jason's parents, Rob and Gwen, and Torey's father, Reed were at their house when we arrived. We spent some time in their awesome backyard pool with everyone, including their dog Brutus. Then, we went to dinner with Jason and Torey and Jason's parents. We had a great time and it was nice to see some friends during our trip.
The next morning, we headed for our next destination: Avila Beach. Avila Beach is located near San Luis Obispo, about halfway along the the Central California Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We stayed at the Avila La Fonda Hotel. It was a great hotel offering many nice amenities such as a complimentary snack basket, free use of beach towels and chairs, free laundry, free wifi, a chocolate pantry and other fun daytime snacks, etc. It was a nice way to pamper a pregnant wife after roughing it a bit at Yosemite.
The beach was really nice, but a bit cool with the temperature hovering in the mid 60's to low 70's.
After a few nights in Avila Beach, we headed back up towards Oakland on Tuesday, August 3rd. We stopped in Monterey for lunch and had a visitor outside the window.
We decided to spend our last night in San Francisco before heading over to our hotel room near the Oakland Airport. First, we checked out Golden Gate State Park and walked around a bit. It was COLD in San Franciso, approximately in the low to mid 50's. It felt like the fall was upon us and we were looking forward to coming back home where the weather would surely be warmer.
We went down to Fisherman's Wharf and got Ghiradelli Sundaes which, at $8.50 a piece, are worth every penny. We took a final picture of Kristie near a cable car and then headed to our hotel in Oakland, which was kind of shady. Shady enough that I returned our rental car the night before our flight, fearing that we might wake up to our vehicle being on cement blocks and missing its wheels.
Overall, a GREAT vacation! If anyone has not been to Yosemite National Park, I highly suggest you go and make sure to give youself at least three days and stay inside the park in the valley. It is truly the most beautiful place on earth.
Friday, July 23, 2010
20 Week Update!
Just yesterday, Kristie reached the 20 week mark. She's starting to feel the baby move so it's becoming very real now!
This past weekend, Kristie's Dad came up to visit for a few nights. We took care of a small project around the house...which I always seem to rope Chuck into :) ... and then we went to dinner at Arrabiata's in Bay Village. After dinner we headed over to Avon to catch the Lake Erie Crushers game that night. We had first row seats on the first base side and it was a great night for a ballgame.
The garden is coming along nicely despite noticing we had a security breach as a rabbit somehow made its way through our fence. We've picked about 10 cucumbers so far as well as some lettuce and cilantro. Both the corn and broccoli is just about ready. And once the tomatos start, we are going to have hundreds, if not thousands.
And finally....the news you've all been waiting for! Kristie had her second ultrasound tonight and they were able to analyze much more this time. They gave us a slightly updated due date of December 7th. We also decided to find out the sex of the baby despite having some last minute thoughts about changing our minds. We found it we are having a baby girl! We are both thrilled!
We will check back with another blog in a few weeks.
This past weekend, Kristie's Dad came up to visit for a few nights. We took care of a small project around the house...which I always seem to rope Chuck into :) ... and then we went to dinner at Arrabiata's in Bay Village. After dinner we headed over to Avon to catch the Lake Erie Crushers game that night. We had first row seats on the first base side and it was a great night for a ballgame.
The garden is coming along nicely despite noticing we had a security breach as a rabbit somehow made its way through our fence. We've picked about 10 cucumbers so far as well as some lettuce and cilantro. Both the corn and broccoli is just about ready. And once the tomatos start, we are going to have hundreds, if not thousands.
And finally....the news you've all been waiting for! Kristie had her second ultrasound tonight and they were able to analyze much more this time. They gave us a slightly updated due date of December 7th. We also decided to find out the sex of the baby despite having some last minute thoughts about changing our minds. We found it we are having a baby girl! We are both thrilled!
We will check back with another blog in a few weeks.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Summer is flying by
So we let everyone know that we are pregnant but I don't think it has really sunk in for me as much as I would have expected at this point. I am 19 1/2 weeks along and we went to the Dr last Thursday morning. She said I'm on track with my weight (up about 4 pounds) and we got to hear the heartbeat again. We go in Thursday the 22nd to hopefully find out the sex of the baby. Jeff is in a race against time to get the living room in order and then we need to get the nursery in order. Keith came over and they moved all the living room furniture to the basement. We have that set up now as a family room or den. It's nice down there and very cool in this heat.
He started painting the living room on Thursday and we will be working on it some more tomorrow. My dad is here this weekend. The two of us went out to El Rodeo last night for dinner. Jeff went to the Indians game with some Cavs folks. Today we hit Costco and Pettiti's. Tonight is dinner and then to the Avon Crushers game. We went a few weeks ago to one of these games with our neighbors Ed and Jenise and had a great time. $9 tickets and we were practically in the bullpen.
It's about 93 degrees today. There is a slight breeze which is helping matters but still very warm and muggy.
I may sneak in a quick nap before we head out to dinner tonight. I'll try to keep things better posted on here and hopefully some pictures soon.
He started painting the living room on Thursday and we will be working on it some more tomorrow. My dad is here this weekend. The two of us went out to El Rodeo last night for dinner. Jeff went to the Indians game with some Cavs folks. Today we hit Costco and Pettiti's. Tonight is dinner and then to the Avon Crushers game. We went a few weeks ago to one of these games with our neighbors Ed and Jenise and had a great time. $9 tickets and we were practically in the bullpen.
It's about 93 degrees today. There is a slight breeze which is helping matters but still very warm and muggy.
I may sneak in a quick nap before we head out to dinner tonight. I'll try to keep things better posted on here and hopefully some pictures soon.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Big News!
It's definitely been a while since we've blogged, so this little tidbit of news should be a great way to jump back in...
Kristie is pregnant!
Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. We've been trying since last fall and we were starting to doubt whether or not it was going to happen or if we were going to need some help. We planned a last minute trip to Niagra on the Lake on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Niagra on the Lake has many wineries and just to be on the safe side, Kristie took a pregnancy test and sure enough, it was positive! No wine tasting for Kristie that weekend, but the excitement of this news made up for that many times over.
We were able to get in to see the doctor on Tuesday, June 15th. The doctor asked us how far along we thought she was. We were not quite sure and guessed 4-6 weeks. She started pushing on Kristie's belly and said either there are twins in there or she's further along than we thought. Then she got the Doppler thingy out and was able to hear the heartbeat. This led her to believe that she was 10-12 weeks along which would put the due date as December 27th. With that still as an unknown, she had us schedule an ultrasound appointment for Monday, June 21st.
At this point we were dying to tell our families and our friends, but wanted to hold off until we were sure of the dates, etc. At the ultrasound appointment, the technician called me back once she was ready. I was so surprised to see the baby on the screen moving around, with an occassional hand visible. She told us at that point, she believed Kristie was about 16 weeks along and her due date was December 8th. The baby at this point is 4 ounces, but it was just a few weeks too early to determine the sex.
We could hardly believe our ears! Kristie was all the way through the first trimester and had no symptoms whatsoever! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of telling our families and friends and starting to plan for this new addition to our family.
We'll be sure to update the blog along the way!
Kristie is pregnant!
Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. We've been trying since last fall and we were starting to doubt whether or not it was going to happen or if we were going to need some help. We planned a last minute trip to Niagra on the Lake on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Niagra on the Lake has many wineries and just to be on the safe side, Kristie took a pregnancy test and sure enough, it was positive! No wine tasting for Kristie that weekend, but the excitement of this news made up for that many times over.
We were able to get in to see the doctor on Tuesday, June 15th. The doctor asked us how far along we thought she was. We were not quite sure and guessed 4-6 weeks. She started pushing on Kristie's belly and said either there are twins in there or she's further along than we thought. Then she got the Doppler thingy out and was able to hear the heartbeat. This led her to believe that she was 10-12 weeks along which would put the due date as December 27th. With that still as an unknown, she had us schedule an ultrasound appointment for Monday, June 21st.
At this point we were dying to tell our families and our friends, but wanted to hold off until we were sure of the dates, etc. At the ultrasound appointment, the technician called me back once she was ready. I was so surprised to see the baby on the screen moving around, with an occassional hand visible. She told us at that point, she believed Kristie was about 16 weeks along and her due date was December 8th. The baby at this point is 4 ounces, but it was just a few weeks too early to determine the sex.
We could hardly believe our ears! Kristie was all the way through the first trimester and had no symptoms whatsoever! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of telling our families and friends and starting to plan for this new addition to our family.
We'll be sure to update the blog along the way!
Friday, June 19, 2009
My Nephew, The Dancer
My little nephew Benjamin Scott can really bust a move...check him out at a wedding we went to last weekend.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
My Cousin Is Famous!
My cousin Stephanie Durant won the "Love at First Sniff" contest sponsored by Gain and she got to take the stage with Mandy Moore at a private concert in Chicago. Check out the video below!
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