Here are Jack's thoughts on the vacation. (Video shot on location)
Stay tuned for more...
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Getting to Vegas
I’m going to break this up into a few posts because otherwise it’s going to be too long. Getting there really sucked. I have no pictures from these 2 days because we didn't want tokens from them. It could have been worse, we could have not made it at all, but I wouldn’t wish what we went through on anyone. Our plane leaving Austin was delayed for mechanical reasons. When it was delayed the 2nd time we suspected that we wouldn’t make our connection so we went to speak with the woman at the counter. She said that if there were enough people on our flight catching the connection then they might hold it. She couldn’t call and check or tell us how many people it would take. After talking to her it looked like our best bet was to get to Dallas and go from there. There was nothing from Austin to Vegas the next day so if we were going to get there at all we needed to at least be in Dallas.
Our connecting flight was delayed as well so Jonathan sprinted down the airport to check it but they took off as we were getting off the plane. They were supposed to leave almost an hour before we got there, why they couldn’t wait another 15 minutes is beyond me. There was another flight that had been delayed even longer so we got on the stand by list but had no luck. All of the American Airlines people were very un-helpful. We were put up in a crappy motel and told that we were top of the stand by list for the 1st flight out the next day. To sum up that evening it took us over an hour to get to the hotel and we got about 4 hours of sleep. There was a little entertainment when Jonathan was wheeling himself around in a wheel chair while we waited for the shuttle that never came.
When we got to the airport the next day we were numbers 4 – 7 on the stand by list and didn’t make the flight. At this point I just wanted to get home, but there were no open seats on flights to Austin either. We finally asked to speak with a manager who at least explained why we were having so much trouble. We stood there and debated about what to do long enough that she managed to book us on 3 separate flights to Vegas all leaving by 12:50, granted we had been there since 6:30. We had 1 person booked on the 9:00 flight and the rest of us on stand by, and finally at the top of the list. We all managed to get on that flight. Marlene was in 1st class. They originally put Jonathan and I in 1st class too but kicked us out as soon as we got settled because the people showed up. Damn them. Will was super generous though and gave his exit row seat to me so that I had a little more space.
I generally don’t get claustrophobic. It takes a lot to get me there but not that day. I think it was a combination of the lack of sleep, the extreme swelling, all the stress, and the completely packed plane. I tried to sleep but I just couldn’t and that just made it worse. It was the most awful plane ride of my life. By the time we got to Vegas I hadn’t eaten in 5 hours and I was in such a panic that I was almost in tears. I couldn’t talk and tell everyone what was going on or I would have totally lost it. I just sat on the floor of the airport and snacked on some nuts while I calmed down. The urge to pee eventually got me up.
I don’t think the baby liked flying. He was very still that day, probably from all the stress but he squirmed on the way up, and on the way down.
But at the end of the day, thankfully we were in Vegas, still with ½ a day left. We checked into the Mirage and settled into our room. It was lovely. You can go here to see pictures of the rooms. Our room was quiet and very large. But the best part was the bed! It was a new serta mattress and so comfy. The room had been newly re-modeled and was so great. For only $98 / night it was a steal. We ordered room service, took showers, and then a nap. And the vacation was back on track…
Our connecting flight was delayed as well so Jonathan sprinted down the airport to check it but they took off as we were getting off the plane. They were supposed to leave almost an hour before we got there, why they couldn’t wait another 15 minutes is beyond me. There was another flight that had been delayed even longer so we got on the stand by list but had no luck. All of the American Airlines people were very un-helpful. We were put up in a crappy motel and told that we were top of the stand by list for the 1st flight out the next day. To sum up that evening it took us over an hour to get to the hotel and we got about 4 hours of sleep. There was a little entertainment when Jonathan was wheeling himself around in a wheel chair while we waited for the shuttle that never came.
When we got to the airport the next day we were numbers 4 – 7 on the stand by list and didn’t make the flight. At this point I just wanted to get home, but there were no open seats on flights to Austin either. We finally asked to speak with a manager who at least explained why we were having so much trouble. We stood there and debated about what to do long enough that she managed to book us on 3 separate flights to Vegas all leaving by 12:50, granted we had been there since 6:30. We had 1 person booked on the 9:00 flight and the rest of us on stand by, and finally at the top of the list. We all managed to get on that flight. Marlene was in 1st class. They originally put Jonathan and I in 1st class too but kicked us out as soon as we got settled because the people showed up. Damn them. Will was super generous though and gave his exit row seat to me so that I had a little more space.
I generally don’t get claustrophobic. It takes a lot to get me there but not that day. I think it was a combination of the lack of sleep, the extreme swelling, all the stress, and the completely packed plane. I tried to sleep but I just couldn’t and that just made it worse. It was the most awful plane ride of my life. By the time we got to Vegas I hadn’t eaten in 5 hours and I was in such a panic that I was almost in tears. I couldn’t talk and tell everyone what was going on or I would have totally lost it. I just sat on the floor of the airport and snacked on some nuts while I calmed down. The urge to pee eventually got me up.
I don’t think the baby liked flying. He was very still that day, probably from all the stress but he squirmed on the way up, and on the way down.
But at the end of the day, thankfully we were in Vegas, still with ½ a day left. We checked into the Mirage and settled into our room. It was lovely. You can go here to see pictures of the rooms. Our room was quiet and very large. But the best part was the bed! It was a new serta mattress and so comfy. The room had been newly re-modeled and was so great. For only $98 / night it was a steal. We ordered room service, took showers, and then a nap. And the vacation was back on track…
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Happy Vega-Versary
Today Jonathan and I are going to Las Vegas for the weekend! Our 5th anniversary is on the 20th and this is actually the first year we've actually done anything. Usually we go to dinner, but that's it, no presents or anything because it's so close to Christmas. I didn't plan that very well.
Anyway, we are very excited, we have some friends who are coming too, and it should be a blast.
Jonathan,
I wanted to actually post a little note to you on our anniversary but I have a feeling we'll be too busy on our latest adventure. That and I'm not taking my computer and though the iphone is great for most everything else, blogging is challenging on that thing. I want you to know that the last 5 years have been the best time of my life. I've never been more happy or had more fun. I appreciate all that you do to make our lives possible and all that you do for me. I can't wait to start the next part of this adventure when our son is born. I don't know how it's possible, but since I've been pregnant I love you even more. You have been so amazing during this whole process and you even let me be right almost all the time, even when I'm not. You are going to be an amazing father and I am so grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with you.
Anyway, we are very excited, we have some friends who are coming too, and it should be a blast.
Jonathan,
I wanted to actually post a little note to you on our anniversary but I have a feeling we'll be too busy on our latest adventure. That and I'm not taking my computer and though the iphone is great for most everything else, blogging is challenging on that thing. I want you to know that the last 5 years have been the best time of my life. I've never been more happy or had more fun. I appreciate all that you do to make our lives possible and all that you do for me. I can't wait to start the next part of this adventure when our son is born. I don't know how it's possible, but since I've been pregnant I love you even more. You have been so amazing during this whole process and you even let me be right almost all the time, even when I'm not. You are going to be an amazing father and I am so grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with you.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Yosemite Vacation
Day 1 - Traveling
It was a long day. It took about 12 hours from door step to door step, the last 4 were spent in the car. We did stop at Trader Joe’s in Sacramento and now we see what all the hype is about, and we want one here. Other than a creepy lady at the air port, the day was mostly un-eventful. It was good to get there though.
Day 2 – Into the park
The trailer was parked about an hour drive outside the park. It was the closest place with full hook-up’s. Luckily we got to sleep in because it was really cold in the morning, cold to us Texans anyways, it was in the low 40’s. It warmed up nicely though and the day warmed up to the low 70’s.
This is the first thing you drive through when you enter the park.
On this day we took a bus tour up to Glacier Point. The valley floor, where the main road is, is at about 4,000 ft, Glacier Point is around 7,600 ft.
We found out some interesting things about the park. Like that Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley were the first area of land in the US to be set aside and protected by the government in 1864. It wasn’t made a national part until 1890, after Yellow Stone.
Yosemite also contains California’s oldest ski resort, Badger Pass.
Also, the Sierra Nevada mountain range is one giant piece of granite that’s 400 miles long and about 80 miles wide. It makes Enchanted Rook look like a pebble. The valley was carved out by glaciers which are no longer there.
The view from the top is nice.
One of the features of the landscape is a place they call Half-Dome, the other half was taken off by a glacier. Tom and Maury took our picture in front of it and Jonathan put his hands on my belly. From then on, they called me Half-Dome.
We hiked around a bit and ate ice cream. At the gift shop, back of the valley floor, we discovered fire mango. It was dried mango that was spicy, everyone loved it, but I wouldn’t touch it. Later in the trip they wiped the store out. I also found this cute little hat that I got for the baby. The model here is Guinness.
Day 3 – Giant Sequoia Trees
The first thing we did when we got to the park was go down to the Wawona hotel and have lunch. The hotel was built in 1874 and the food was very good.
Then we headed down to see the giant trees at Mariposa Grove. This was my favorite part of the trip. We hiked through the forest and it was like being in something out of Lord of the Rings, I swore the trees were going to start walking around.
This is us by a tree in the parking lot. Tom took a pine branch from Yosemite (a $300 fine if caught) and hand carved these walking sticks for us. They used to be one long branch and they are super light weight. We couldn’t take them on the plane so we’ll get them in February when they get back.
The roots of these trees only go down 6 to 8 feet, but they grow out. This is the bottom of one that has fallen over. Apparently this tree fell 300 years ago.
This tree is the Grizzly Giant, it’s between 1,900 to 2,400 years old. Its trunk is 30 feet across and it’s 90 feet around. It’s the oldest tree in the park, and the thing is massive. The picture doesn’t do it justice, it’s just too big to get a picture that accurately shows its size. This is taken from a distance and you can see the people at the bottom.
In 1895 the California tunnel tree was cut through. It’s still living and doing fine. They used to pull buggies through it.
This is Jonathan… being Jonathan ☺
And this is just a random tree that I took a picture of as we were hiking back down the trail. If you look really close you can see Jonathan standing next to the tree on the right side of the picture.
In the car on the way back to the camper I saw a bear on the side of a hill. We saw very little wild life the whole time we were there. A few birds and lots of squirrels, but that was about it. Jonathan saw a bear crossing the road on day 3.
That evening we watched the Longhorns win a great game! It was very nice of all the Aggies to watch the Longhorns, and even not pick on me too much. Of course the Aggies are doing so bad this season that they couldn’t talk much.
Day 4 – Off the wall
On our last day we first had a pick-nick in the meadow across from El Capitan, commonly known as the most popular climbing spot in the US, and looked for climbers.
At a height of 3,000 feet it takes most people about 3 days to climb it. They have slings that they attach to the face of it to sleep in. We saw 3 different groups of climbers.
The rest of the day was spent driving around to different look-outs and taking a few pictures.
And we went to the most expensive hotel in the park. Rooms ranged from $450 - $1,000 a night.
That evening we went out to dinner and then played a game called Quarto, which was fun. Overall it was an awesome trip and it was so good to spend some time with Tom and Maury. We are definitely going back to Yosemite and hiking more and exploring more of the park. I think we’ll go back in the spring time when all the water falls are flowing and everything is blooming.
Day 5 – Traveling again
This was just another long day, again about 12 hours of traveling. We got back to the house at about 12:30 AM and Jonathan had locked us out. He locked the door from the garage into the kitchen and all the windows were locked up tight. He had to climb into the attic and drop into our closet where the other entrance is.
The pregnancy went fine the whole time, nothing really to report, which is what we wanted. My hips got really sore from sleeping on the air mattress and my feet were swelling the whole time but my feet usually swell when I travel.
It was a long day. It took about 12 hours from door step to door step, the last 4 were spent in the car. We did stop at Trader Joe’s in Sacramento and now we see what all the hype is about, and we want one here. Other than a creepy lady at the air port, the day was mostly un-eventful. It was good to get there though.
Day 2 – Into the park
The trailer was parked about an hour drive outside the park. It was the closest place with full hook-up’s. Luckily we got to sleep in because it was really cold in the morning, cold to us Texans anyways, it was in the low 40’s. It warmed up nicely though and the day warmed up to the low 70’s.
This is the first thing you drive through when you enter the park.
On this day we took a bus tour up to Glacier Point. The valley floor, where the main road is, is at about 4,000 ft, Glacier Point is around 7,600 ft.
We found out some interesting things about the park. Like that Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley were the first area of land in the US to be set aside and protected by the government in 1864. It wasn’t made a national part until 1890, after Yellow Stone.
Yosemite also contains California’s oldest ski resort, Badger Pass.
Also, the Sierra Nevada mountain range is one giant piece of granite that’s 400 miles long and about 80 miles wide. It makes Enchanted Rook look like a pebble. The valley was carved out by glaciers which are no longer there.
The view from the top is nice.
One of the features of the landscape is a place they call Half-Dome, the other half was taken off by a glacier. Tom and Maury took our picture in front of it and Jonathan put his hands on my belly. From then on, they called me Half-Dome.
We hiked around a bit and ate ice cream. At the gift shop, back of the valley floor, we discovered fire mango. It was dried mango that was spicy, everyone loved it, but I wouldn’t touch it. Later in the trip they wiped the store out. I also found this cute little hat that I got for the baby. The model here is Guinness.
Day 3 – Giant Sequoia Trees
The first thing we did when we got to the park was go down to the Wawona hotel and have lunch. The hotel was built in 1874 and the food was very good.
Then we headed down to see the giant trees at Mariposa Grove. This was my favorite part of the trip. We hiked through the forest and it was like being in something out of Lord of the Rings, I swore the trees were going to start walking around.
This is us by a tree in the parking lot. Tom took a pine branch from Yosemite (a $300 fine if caught) and hand carved these walking sticks for us. They used to be one long branch and they are super light weight. We couldn’t take them on the plane so we’ll get them in February when they get back.
The roots of these trees only go down 6 to 8 feet, but they grow out. This is the bottom of one that has fallen over. Apparently this tree fell 300 years ago.
This tree is the Grizzly Giant, it’s between 1,900 to 2,400 years old. Its trunk is 30 feet across and it’s 90 feet around. It’s the oldest tree in the park, and the thing is massive. The picture doesn’t do it justice, it’s just too big to get a picture that accurately shows its size. This is taken from a distance and you can see the people at the bottom.
In 1895 the California tunnel tree was cut through. It’s still living and doing fine. They used to pull buggies through it.
This is Jonathan… being Jonathan ☺
And this is just a random tree that I took a picture of as we were hiking back down the trail. If you look really close you can see Jonathan standing next to the tree on the right side of the picture.
In the car on the way back to the camper I saw a bear on the side of a hill. We saw very little wild life the whole time we were there. A few birds and lots of squirrels, but that was about it. Jonathan saw a bear crossing the road on day 3.
That evening we watched the Longhorns win a great game! It was very nice of all the Aggies to watch the Longhorns, and even not pick on me too much. Of course the Aggies are doing so bad this season that they couldn’t talk much.
Day 4 – Off the wall
On our last day we first had a pick-nick in the meadow across from El Capitan, commonly known as the most popular climbing spot in the US, and looked for climbers.
At a height of 3,000 feet it takes most people about 3 days to climb it. They have slings that they attach to the face of it to sleep in. We saw 3 different groups of climbers.
The rest of the day was spent driving around to different look-outs and taking a few pictures.
And we went to the most expensive hotel in the park. Rooms ranged from $450 - $1,000 a night.
That evening we went out to dinner and then played a game called Quarto, which was fun. Overall it was an awesome trip and it was so good to spend some time with Tom and Maury. We are definitely going back to Yosemite and hiking more and exploring more of the park. I think we’ll go back in the spring time when all the water falls are flowing and everything is blooming.
Day 5 – Traveling again
This was just another long day, again about 12 hours of traveling. We got back to the house at about 12:30 AM and Jonathan had locked us out. He locked the door from the garage into the kitchen and all the windows were locked up tight. He had to climb into the attic and drop into our closet where the other entrance is.
The pregnancy went fine the whole time, nothing really to report, which is what we wanted. My hips got really sore from sleeping on the air mattress and my feet were swelling the whole time but my feet usually swell when I travel.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Off to Yosemite
I'm so excited to be going on vacation! It's not Europe or Mexico or Hawaii, but we get to go spend some time with some great people who I haven't seen in ages and see part of the country that neither Jonathan or I have seen.
The last time I was in California I was 10 and Jonathan has never been so this is very exciting for both of us. The bad news is that it's 8:25 PM and I'm still not packed. Above is a picture of Yosemite and the new header is also from there. We will have no cell phone coverage but I'll have my iphone and should be able to get e-mail.
I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures to show you when we get back. Enjoy the weather while we're gone, I know we'll be enjoying it!
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