Happy St. Patty's Day

Writing this while blasting the U2 Vertigo DVD. It is my one Irish celebration today. I also have an interview with an Irish organization on Monday (Does that count?), wish me luck on that, summer in Ireland would be nice.

Sorry All, I have been meaning to post a blog for a while now. Life has been hectic and busy. Most days I barely make it through dinner and the gym without falling asleep. Life at a non-profit is rewarding but difficult on the system.

Returned from Guatemala three weeks ago. It was an amazing experience. Besides learning more Spanish than I ever have in my 9 years of taking classes, I also learned the politics of coffee. Picking coffee next to small children when a typical drink from Starbucks is the same as their weeks wages...well it will change your mind about what kind of coffee you drink. Fair Trade is no better, it's all a scam...let me know if you want to begin a discussion about it! The best part was living with a a Guatemalan family and eating THE BEST FOOD EVER! We stayed in Antigua most of the time, but the service work was in the poorer communities. It was great to see the students work with the families and guatemalan workers as comrades not superiors. The imperalism discussion we had pre-trip really helped the students. They came back to Seattle buzzing with change.

The most serene, spiritual experience I had (I swear I was out of my body...well maybe the 104 fever had something to do with it??) Anyway, we were in Tikal (you know where they filmed Survivor) sitting on top of Temple 4 right before sunrise. Below us was the canopy of the Jungle, a hundred howler monkeys growling and yelping around us, a few jaguars and toucans, then the sun rises and you see out in front of you for the first time...the rest of the ruins of the Mayan city surrounds you. It was AMAZING. Of course I came back home the next day insanely ill. I picked up a nasty bug that landed me in the ER the next day. It took about two weeks to recover my energy. I think I will have to get used to it because I am going back!

So, here I am on St. Patty's Day alone in my huge Seattle Duplex watching U2. Simon is coming home tomorrow from DC where is chatting with Diplomats and CEO's and I just returned from a grassroots, non profit event that hosted Wangari Muta Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize Winner). For all you SIT folks, I saw Kakuta there...small world. I love my work but my boss drives me batty. I am excited to move on from here, I have made great connections here in Seattle and would not mind living here for a few years.

I am here till early May and then am headed home to Chi town for about a month. Then it is off to VT for the summer unless I get that job in Ireland!! It would involve teaching Drama to terminally ill kids.

I miss all my friends. I wish that I could have a big party and I could have all my dearest friends in one room. Then I could hug all of you and catch up face to face. Lastly, we would have a GIANT dance party and U2 would be the live band. Now wouldn't that be cool! Wow, maybe I need to just go watch this concert and go to bed.

Aloha Greetings!

I have a lot to blog about today! We returned from England on November 28th. We spent three days in Vermont gathering our things and packing Si's truck. It was a fast paced, busy three days. We then decided that it would be a great time to travel cross country. Granted winter was not in full swing and the weather outlook was good. WRONG. Our first day trip was a marathon drive from Vermont to Hammond, IN (where my parents live). This 15 hour trek was made even more difficult by a massive snow storm in Ohio. Of-course as many of you know, I don't drive! So, poor Simon was left to his own devices. I had four days in Hammond to have an early Christmas and try to see my entire family. After that escapade, we departed for another 10 hour drive to Tulsa. Oklahoma. This was another snow filled adventure. It was almost impossible to see out the windshield. We made it and spent a quiet night in a motel, cannot say I really saw much of Tulsa. Our next drive was only 9 hours (it's shrinking!) to Santa Fe, New Mexico. This was a nice, boring drive. Santa Fe was fun. We stayed in a motel close to the historic downtown and walked around a bit that night and the next morning. It is a beautiful but expensive little town. It's also freezing, it was 14 below when we were there. The next day we set out for our shortest drive to Scottsdale, Arizona. This is where Si's truck would live while we were away on our tropical island.

December 12th, we jumped on a plane and six and a half hours later we were in Honolulu, Hawai'i. Originally we had wanted to spend Christmas with Si's brother in Sydney, Australia but ticket prices were outrageously expensive. The next best thing was where Si went to High School in Honolulu. Ticket prices were reasonable and Si had friends we could stay with. His friend Jeff was to our rescue, the ten days were spent in his cute apartment with his dog, Zolo. I fell pretty hard for Zolo. He was the sweetest pit bull you have ever met. He would cuddle with me at night and lick my feet in the morning. Such a ladies man!

It was my first time in Hawai'i (that is the proper spelling, Ha wa' ee). We did all the major sightseeing. Diamond Head, which is one of the two volcanoes that formed the island Oahu. The hike was a simple one and happened to give you some of the best views on the island. We also did the Makapu'u hike, Manoa Falls (an amazing jungle hike, got bit up) and a long ridge hike in St. Louis heights. This last one just about killed me as I was not expecting it to be very difficult. Seven miles in the heat with not enough food. BUT the view at the top was unbelievable, almost 360 view of the entire island.

Si was determined to go to the beach everyday and we did! We missed one day due to a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center (I'll talk about that later). We spent a few days on Waikiki beaches, Lanaki Beach (supposedly the most beautiful on the island), Ala Moana Beach Park, Waimanalo (my fav with mountains coming right down to the beach). I was a little freaked out by some of the waves. I am not a strong swimmer, luckily I was only washed away once by an unfriendly wave.

The Polynesian Cultural Center is a very interesting place. It is run by Bringham Young Uni. which is a Morman school. Basically the center helps provide scholarships to the students who go to the school and most of the performers and workers go to the uni. It is made up of seven islands that you can walk to and watch cultural presentations, Samoa, Tahiti, Marquesas, Hawai'i, Fiji, Aoterea (New Zealand) and Tonga. The villiages are all very authentic and the performances are fun and educational. At night there is a massive perfomance that showcases the best of all the villages. It was stunning! I also found everything a little odd. There was a lot of exoticism going on and not enough reality about the modern day islands. Plus the place was filled with tour buses and cheese! I suggest you all look it up online they have a great website!

Overall, Hawai'i reminded me of Japan. The population is greatly mixed with different Polynesian groups, native Hawaiians, Chinese, Japanese, mixture of all Asian and south Asian groups, and some Hali (whites). The white population is definitely the minority and mainly come from the strong military presence. The main roads were originally built for the military and many of the hikes we did were old army bunkers. The largest population of tourist are the Japanese, so a lot of signs are in Japanese as well as English. I also heard Japanese spoken constantly. The flora and fauna although different from Japan also has a lot of similarities. Lots of green mountains, bamboo, palm trees....where I lived in Japan we had palm trees.

The food! Besides all the good Japanese food everywhere, there is a plethora of Asian cuisine not to be missed. The best hodgepodge meals are the plate lunches. Full of carbs and fat these plates are a mixture of the many cultures that make up the islands. I had a few with teriyaki chicken, rice, mac salad or Asian cole slaw, some come with fries and kimchee. The main part of the plate could be of Japanese, Chinese or Hawaiian origin (just to name a few). I also enjoyed the Manupua. A hot roll (steamed or baked) with all sorts of interesting things inside. We also had dim sum one morning, lots of homemade ice cream from Bubbies and melt in your mouth shrimp from a road side stall. There was also lots of tropical drinks on the beach (one night in particular was accompanied by a stunning sunset, and hula dancing). The boys (Si and his mates) had to make the ritualistic stop at the Spaghetti Factory. I gathered this was a fav hangout when they were highschool. Nothing of great importance but the ambiance was worth it. Malasadas were a must before we got on the plane for home, Portuguese filled doughnuts! Hawaiian food itself is incredible, kalula pork or chicken, lot's of seafood marinated in the most delectable spices, poi (sort of like Taro mashed potato), etc. Of course we had to make the touristy stop to get shaved ice. We went to Matsumoto's shaved ice on the north shore, nothing short of delicious. Who knew Hawaii was bubbling with culinary delights.

Oahu is the main island although not the biggest. There are about 8 islands, 2 are free from people and I believe 2 more are reserved for native Hawaiians. I hope to someday see Kauai, Maui, and the big island of Hawai'i. With the island of Oahu being so small, we ventured on a round the island drive. This gives you a chance to see some more flora diversity. I fell in love with the Banyon trees. They have these massive vines that fall to the earth and take root. So what you see are hundreds of vines surrounding the tree all with it's own root in the ground. Some of the neighboring trees even hook up with the tree next to it. Awesome. We also stopped to see some of the pipeline masters (huge surf competition). Nothing like 15-20 ft. waves with buff men maneuvering themselves on top of them. Also got to see a Macadamia nut farm and drove by the Dole pineapple farm. I did not stop at Pearl Harbor. Have to say I was not very interested. Not to say it did not look like a beautiful memorial but I have so much animosity towards the military that I thought it would be best to see it from a distance. The island is overrun with the military. We drove past one of the bases. It was like it's own little world, quite scary really!

There was a lot of time spent with friends and doing a lot of nothing. We saw King Kong there. It's all right, not as great as it has been billed. I also got a great hair cut from one of Si's friends mom. She was the cutest little Vietnamese woman you have ever seen! Overall it was a very exciting visit. The plane ride back to the mainland was frightening with some very tough turbulence. We made it one piece back to Scottsdale to celebrate Christmas with Si's Dad and wife Helen.

Christmas is now over, I had a hard time not being with my family and being in the desert. We leave for Seattle on Friday with stops in LA, San Fran, and hopefully Portland. I promise to update everyone once we are secure in Seattle. I cannot wait to start my internship! I need to get working before I forget how!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Tea and Biscuits anyone?

I'm back, back from merry, ole' England. We had a wonderful time, a comfortable time, a warm and fuzzy time. It was my first trip to the United Kingdom or even Europe. It was also my first time meeting Simon's mom and extended family. (I've been officially adopted by the entire family so I guess they like me! They really like me!)

After traveling across the country from Phoenix to Boston, we left the evening of the 9th of November for Manchester, England. It took me a while to realize that I was in a foreign country. Immigration took about two seconds (on the way back as well, even with suitcases full of chocolate!) and driving on the highway in a black taxi didn't do it either. It felt a lot like home. We had been in the desert for so long that the green and rainy conditions were comforting. We stayed with Si's Grandpa Cid. He lives about a 7 minutes walk from Si's mom. She lives in a presbytery at a Catholic church. She runs the household and does amazing work for the church. It was difficult to find an evening when she and the priest, Father Peter weren't busy with important community activities. Father Peter was also like family and officially adopted me too!

The minute we arrived we were given tea and biscuits. I had been introduced to biscuits in the states and had already acquired a terrible addiction. Si's mom regularly supplied us with lunches and dinners and the occasional hot breakfast on Sundays. She was an amazing cook. The food was very English and tasted a lot like comfort food, the warm desserts (puddings) were to die for! I don't know what crazy person said that the English cannot cook because I found it delicious.

The first few days were lazy and we did very little. Some walking here and there to try to keep in shape (we both ended up gaining the weight we lost on the hiking trip!). I went on a little shopping spree alone in downtown Manchester. I managed to see two protests and tons of interesting street performers. Every Sunday we went to Father Peter's mass, it was a very casual service with kids running up and down the aisles. We also spent a lot of time with Si's Aunt Margot and her three kids, Imijin, Dominic and Olivia. Olivia and I spent several hours choreographing dances and playing to exhaustion. Dom and Si played a lot of video games and soccer. Imijin took me shopping to one of the classiest malls in England, the Trafford Center. The Trafford is also where we saw Harry Potter, CHAOS! The mall reminded us of Vegas with it's themed food court and extravagant shopping atmosphere. Harry Potter was a blast though, I could have done without the 30 minutes of commercials before the film!

Father Peter is from the north of England and we spent a few days in what is known as the shire. Yes, LOTR fans, this is where Tolkien got his inspiration for hobbit land. The land is filled with Ents (the talking trees), rolling green hills that are separated by charming stone walls, an everlasting supply of sheep, and towns that look like they haven't aged in hundreds of years. We went to a beautiful area called the Nick of Pendle (where I learned they burned a lot of innocent witches), Blackburn, which hosts a stunning market that Si's mom and Peter do there weekly shopping, and once in the Lake District. The Lake District is home to Peter's boat and we spent a eerie morning rowing along the lakes with the fog billowing off the shoreline. They also treated us to two lunches in traditional British pubs, where the food is served up as if you are at home. Lovely fish, poultry and Si devoured a steak and kidney pie, as well many servings of bangers and mash (sausages). I had to eat some chips while I was there (fries) and the crisps were also yummy (chips for you USA folks). I loved the sea salt and balsamic vinegar flavor! We never made it to an Indian restaurant but with all the good food from his mom there was no need.

We also took part in a few day trips, one to Liverpool and another to Birmingham. Birmingham is where Si spent his formative years, from 8-17. So, it was a blast from the past. We traveled to all his old stomping grounds, his schools, his old house, the parks he biked in like crazy, etc. Warwick castle was not too far from Birmingham so I ventured into my very first castle. It was a great castle to visit as it is WELL preserved. It cost a small fortune to get in but we both agreed that it was worth it. My favorite part was climbing up all the towers and playing with the peacocks in the gardens. We ended the day with Si's oldest friend Abi treating us to a home cooked dinner. Stan, her son, was also a treat.

Liverpool was where most of Si's dad's family resides, so most of the day was devoted to catching up and visiting. I also needed to be super touristy and see Beatles land. We did the necessary stops at the Beatles story at Albert Dock, the Cavern night club, Penny Lane, Strawberry fields, and John Lennon's house (we actually did not see this but we supposedly drove by it!).

One of the highlights of the trip was the Christmas Fair at Father Peter's church. This is a English institution. Almost every church has these fairs where people can buy new and used merchandise for discount prices (a skirt and jeans for 4 pounds!). All the money is put right into the church! They made over 2000 pounds! (Double that to get the US conversion) Si just happened to be Father Christmas, well a very skinny Father Christmas, and I was Tinkerbell from Chicago. That is what Father Peter kept announcing over the loud speaker "Make sure you visit Father Christmas and Tinkerbell from Chicago!" It was a very exciting night. The kids were adorable although some were crying hysterically at the sight of Santa and others were too old and sassy to be visiting.

Manchester held a European Christmas Market that resembled the one in Chicago. It was very creepy to be walking around downtown Manchester and feel as though I was in Chicago. This may be why it felt so comfortable.

Our last three days in England were spent in London. London was madness, it has this NYC feel but without the huge buildings. I was lucky to connect with a dear friend of mine from Japan. She had just moved to London in March and was kind enough to host us for 2 nights. Luxury accommodation 10 minutes from London Bridge that did not cost a dime! (Well, it did cost some chocolate but it was worth it!) I seriously think we should write a book about how to see London in 3 days time. We did so much! The first day was spent doing a lot of walking, we saw the Bank district (= NYC Wall Street), Horse Guard Parade, Downing Street (= white house), Houses of parliament and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, The Palace at night and during the day, Lieceister Square(theatre district), the National Gallery (to see my first Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli etc) and that evening I went to see a small play! I saw 'Everything is Illuminated', it had a cast of 4 and an audience of 7. We were above a pub in Camden Town (North of Downtown), it has a rep as the Goth district. Si had got a great deal on a ticket for 'A Few Good Men' with Rob Lowe, so Caroline and I went to the off, off, off, Broadway production alone.

The following day was just as insane, we walked across the Tower Bridge and saw the Tower of London (we intend to go in next time), Southwark Cathedral (oldest Gothic cathedral in London), Shakespeare's Globe (of-course it is a much newer version), the Tate (Modern museum of art, very foreboding building), Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens (saw the Peter Pan statue!), Albert Hall, the Natural History Museum (not to be missed, so much fun, huge life size T-rez that senses your presence and roars and moves!), London Eye (very fancy ferris wheel, that takes you 30 min to go around, you stand in this pod and get amazing views), Piccadilly Circus (= Times Square), Convent Garden (fantastic shopping district), and then we went to see THE LION KING! Jaw dropping, Si and I were just speechless over the costumes, sets and songs...priceless!

The last day was just as nuts as we had a 2:30 pm train to catch back into Manchester. We took the morning to enjoy the Borough Market. One of those English Markets with all the trimmings, Delicious food and gifts! This one is supposedly near the Leaky Cauldron (Harry Potter fame) but seeing that we are merely muggles we never found it. Lastly we made it to The British Museum, basically a "look at all this stuff we stole from all our previous colonies!" museum. It did have some very cool Egyptian mummies etc, and Lord Elgin's Marbles (Huge Greek Marble slabs from the Parthenon) and the Rosetta Stone (The key to deciphering the heiroglyphs).

We left on Monday, Si's mom, Father Peter and Grandpa Cid and all the cousins were especially hard to say good bye to. I doubt we will see any of them until our wedding in 2007...We had an amazing little trip!

Now we are off tomorrow to drive Si's truck to Chicago and then to Phoenix. It is the first stage of our move across country to Seattle. The Seattle trip won't happen till after Christmas. A week from Monday we will be enjoying the beaches in Honolulu!

112 miles and counting...

112 miles was the final count for a 3 week expedition including the Grand Canyon. I am now determined to tally my miles for the next 30 years. How fun will it be to see how far I have hiked when I am 57! The trip was Eventful.

We started out on October 17 and drove from Phoenix to Monument Valley on the Navajo reservation. The tribal park has the most amazing vistas, (we were lucky enough to camp right in front of the buttes on the edge of a cliff)! The reservation itself was pretty depressing, the widespread poverty and invasion of electricity and oil corporations was very evident. I was delighted to see that the Navajo make up for some of it by selling an ample supply of John Wayne memorabilia. This part of the country has been host to hundreds of movies, many of them from the 40's, 50's, 60's western movie making boom. The area has been the backdrop of HUGE stereotypical, misguided images of native people. Luckily the Navajo see the profit in selling this merchandise to the vast array of tourists that come to see John Wayne's cabin. I also enjoyed John Wayne's cabin. I grew up watching every western known to man. So it's an interesting situation.

Next we were off to Southern Colorado. We were there to see Mesa Verde and drive on the Million Dollar Highway through the rockies. The first night was the beginning of two "luxury" stays in a motel. Most of the 3 weeks was in a tent so this was a small change that we could not get used to enjoying. We stayed in Cortez and Durango, the latter is a quaint little town. I would recommend it to those of you who enjoy crunchy, outdoorsy places. They also have a restaurant where you can order a 1/2 pound of barbecued meat and nothing else. How could you go wrong?

Mesa Verde was culturally interesting. Not the most beautiful of the places we visited but the Anasazi ruins were enthralling. 80% of the ruins are still original and you are able to hike through 2 of them. They have even recreated a kiva that you can climb into. The anthropologist in me was fascinated by the stories the rangers told on the building and sustenance of these peoples. I guess there is an even less commercial tribal park that the UTE people run but we found out about too late.

The Million Dollar Highway is worth every penny! No you don't actually pay, but the views are sure to cost you that much to build. It was my first time seeing the rockies and also to breathe such clean air! We were even able to play in the snow. Most of the locations we went to were fairly warm in temp so the snow was a novelty. We also drove through the most picturesque towns. Silverton is a old school western town right out of the movies. I expected a shoot out at any minute. Then we ended in Telluride, the ski resort for the movie stars. I thought I saw Laura Linney, but I am sure it was just my imagination. We rode the gondola up to the resort and ogled at all the fancy ski shops.

Our adventure would lead us into Southern Utah next, where we remained for about 10 days. 60% of Utah's land belongs to the government and that is why they have such beautiful national parks. The amazing thing is that they are all insanely different. Moab was our next stop, another crunchy town that happens to be the dirt bike capital! We were there to see Arches National Park, but with a crowded campground we stayed in Moab the first night. Si woke at 4:45am the next morning and waited in line for hours to get a campsite in arches. There were only 3 campsites that opened up and luckily he was second in line! It is a beautiful campground right next to all the red hoodoos (rock formations). This happens to be Si's fav national park. It was made famous by Edward Abbey's book, Desert solitaire. It is a vast land of desert and huge red rock formations made up mostly of hoodoos and balanced rocks. Of course the main attractions are the naturally formed arches. Delicate Arch being the most famous as it adorns all of Utah's license plates. We did a good hefty hike through Devil's garden, rock scrambling, a little climbing and A LOT of red dirt everywhere. The red rocks and dirt followed us for most of our trip.

Canyonlands was next. This HUGE national park is only about 30 minutes west of Arches yet the scenery changes immensely. The canyons are wider than the grand canyon but not quite as grand. They are remarkable and formed like the grand canyon by the Colorado river. We did our most difficult hike of 11 miles here out into one of the canyons, climbing up and down a large rock slide, out over a hogback down to the 4 by 4 road and back up a wash. We were only able to visit the Island in the Sky area of the park, hopefully we can get back to visit the Needles area.

The next night we stopped briefly in Capital Reef park. It wasn't originally on out list as there isn't much to do there without a jeep. We ended up doing a short nice hike out to a natural bridge and the next morning being visited by about 20 deer. We woke up to see a whole herd of deer grazing near our little tent. Having lived in the park for so long they are used to people. They got within 2 feet of me while I was eating my breakfast. It was nice to just relax and be one with the deer...kidding.

BRYCE! Wow, you leave Capital Reef and suddenly two hours later you are in alien territory. The rough guide to the southwest describes Bryce as having freakish landscapes...and well that just about sums it up. The hoodoos come in colors such as orange, red, pink, yellow, and white. Bryce is a canyon so as you gaze out over the canyon you can see these creatures stretched out all over the place. We hiked a trail named the Fairyland loop, I am guessing this is because the rock formations look a lot like Disneyworld. You have to look this park up on the net! I am also hoping to get my photos up on the web soon. The bad part about Bryce was that it was so COLD...we woke up with frost on our tent and on out last hike we were shivering our way up 2100 feet. It was the highest spot we went to, I think at about 8000 feet. (Besides the rockies, but we weren't there long enough to enjoy the cold)

After the brisk mornings of Bryce we were happy to arrive in our last Utah park of Zion. Zion canyon was the only park where you are in the canyon and not above it. This makes the temp much warmer. I think this was one of my favs if I am not comparing it to the Grand Canyon. The cliffs here had some type of mystical beauty and they were surrounded by these lush green, yellow and red trees. There was also amazing weeping rocks that cry out water that is over 4000 years old, and refreshing waterfalls. The hike that we had been preparing for was here, Angels Landing. This 5 mile round trip hike climbs 1500 feet, not much compared to Grand Canyon or even Bryce, BUT....to do that you need to climb the last 1/2 mile walking on a path that is not wider than 30 inches with drops of 1500 feet on both sides. Most of it is uphill with a safety chain that you can use to keep your balance. Once you are up, the views are stunning. You truly feel angelic!

For some odd reason after spending about 2 weeks roaming around in the wilderness, camping and eating only the "best" food, we decided to go to Las Vegas for 2 days. CRAZY! I had never been there so just imagine being isolated for such a long time and stepping into the insanity of Las Vegas. We stayed at the veteran casino The Tropicana on the strip at one of the busiest intersections in the world. The room was nice and the pools were refreshing. Our main goal was to eat amazing food, and see as much as the strip as possible. Luckily all the hotels are open 24hrs a day and you can just walk in and get a glimpse at people gambling away their lives. Here is my run down on the hotels: Excalibur, lame medieval themed hotel that is full of kids and chaos, Luxor, amazing architecture in the shape of a pyramid with a beam of light that shoots out of the top at dusk but so cheesy it can make you gag. Mandalay Bay, I think it is supposed to have some type of Burmese theme but it is one of the posh destinations for younger people...we had an amazing lunch there at the Burger Bar...any kind of burger (including veggie), any topping, any bread, any fries, it was awesome. The MGM grand, the world's largest hotel with over 5000 rooms was just TOO big and overwhelming but they have this lion habitat where these cute lions play catch right over your head...plus they have the Western hemisphere's largest bronze statue (of a lion of course)! Never made it into the Monte Carlo, Aladdin was a fun hotel, they had a great mall called Desert Passage where it actually rained in the mall! Paris was a fav of ours, not too pricey but more high end, we ended up having dinner there the first night. It was right outside on the strip with the Bellagio fountains shooting up across the street. What a sight, we probably saw a dozen or so of the fountain shows. Amazing to see the ample supply of water being shot up 1000 feet in the air in the desert! New York, New York was also architecturally stunning, I think they have like 12 NY building replicas not including the statue of liberty. We went on the roller coaster that zooms all around the hotel including central park and it was a blast. The shows in Vegas are so campy and over the top, our hotel has a 20 min aerial show right over the casino floor and Treasure Island had a theatrical performance, filled with fire, dancing, song and one of the ships even sunk..both free. The Mirage's volcano was also cool, water on fire...how do they do that! We couldn't do Vegas without sampling some buffets so THE Buffet at the Bellagio was our second day lunch destination..we were drooling at all the selections..wowsers, I cannot even begin to tell you. The Bellagio itself was my fav hotel along with the Venetian. It has this seasonal conservatory that was complete with Chihuly glass sculptures and unique floral mosaics. The Venetian was complete with gondola rides in the mall, ON THE SECOND FLOOR! It also had this cute little Italian pastry shop that had all the cookies I remember eating as a child. We also saw the newest hotel the Wynn, made by billionaire Steve Wynn (creator of the Bellagio and the Mirage). The most posh hotel on the strip, just dripping with money. All the old school hotels were around too, some of them have perished, like the Sands and Desert Inn, but the Sahara, Stardust, the Flamingo, Riveria are all still there. Circus, Circus was much like Excalibur with it's dumpy theme but very exciting adventuredome filled with roller coasters..it was dead though. Our last night was complete with a stroll on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and a Vegas show down at the Stratosphere hotel. The Bellagio fountains look better from the air and seeing that it was halloween, we saw a burlesque vampire show. The show was actually quite good with exceptional dancing to rock music from the 70's to today and including lots of exposed body parts and aerial routines. Before we left we had a French buffet for Breakfast with crepes and blintzes and then set out for our last two destinations. (We did not gamble, not once!)

Death Valley after Vegas was such a disappointment. It was so desolate and HOT and we were still in a bit of a Vegas daze. We did some nice hikes though through a small canyon and over some difficult sand dunes, (we thought we were in the Sahara). We also saw the lowest point in the USA (-220 feet or something like that)the salt formations were very cool. You also drive through all the secret military bases to get there, I think area 51 was close by and there was a marker showing us where the A-bomb was tested. Nice. Crazy as it seems, during the tests, Vegas residents would take picnics into the desert to get a closer look at the blasts.

Last but not least, we went to Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam as a final hurrah before heading back to Phoenix. It was nice to see water and green trees after Death Valley. The history of the dam and creation of the lake was interesting and the weather was perfect. The final morning we set out for what we thought would be a good last hike to some natural hot springs. The 6 mile hike was through a sandy wash and it was hard but seemingly worth it to soak in a hot spring. We never found the hot spring and upon returning to out car, we discovered that our passenger side window had been smashed and most of our clos, CD's had been stolen! I lost some sentimental things but we were both fine and that was the important thing. When you put it all in perspective nothing that cannot be replaced or that wasn't needed was taken. The funny part was that I lost all my undergarments, I was wearing my bathing suit..so yeah that had to be replaced sooner.

We had an INCREDIBLE trip, and I encourage you all to trek out into the southwest. I leave for England tomorrow to meet Si's extended family and his mum. Staying in Manchester, and trips to Oldham, Liverpool, Birmingham, LOndon etc...are all on the agenda.

Sorry this was SO long....

The Big Hole in the Ground!

Greetings! One more post before I head out tomorrow for a 3 week road trip. The Grand Canyon was MARVELOUS! We arrived last Monday night in Grand Canyon National Park for 3 nights of camping and 3 days of hiking. The camping was great except for the 25 degree night temps. We survived with lots of layers and campfires. Si, his brother James and I were the chosen few. James unfortunately had a cold the first day, so Si and I ventured out for our first 9 mile hike along the rim.

The rim hike is an amazing trek right along the edge of the canyon, no bars, guard rails, just you and the canyon! Breathtaking views of the entire south rim. The next day, James felt well enough to do the rim hike on his own, SO Si and I did another 9 miles. This time we did the valley day hike into the canyon. The Bright Angel Trail is a well traveled trail filled with tourists but well worth it. We hiked down to the oasis called Indian Garden. It was a great place to have lunch before beginning the trek back up. On the last day, we wanted to get on the South Kaibab trail. My legs were very sore so we only did 3 miles into the canyon. This trail is a ridge hike and allows much more stunning views of the scenery. It is also much steeper! In total we did 21 miles, I am very proud of myself!

On the way back we stopped in Flagstaff, a cute crunchy town (just learned that this means it is liberal, hippy, and outdoorsy). We had a delicious vegetarian meal at Macy's....and relaxed in front of a TV at the motel.

I have been enjoying a bed, good food, showers and rest here in Scottsdale. Tomorrow we leave early for Monument Valley in Navajo country. We will be hiking and camping in the following places: Mesa Verde, Colorado (probably staying in a motel in Durango), Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion National Parks in southern Utah, and a FUN two days in Las Vegas at the Tropicana...some more camping and hiking in Death Valley before going down to San Diego for a trip to the Zoo. We will be back in Scottsdale around the 6th of November so we can repack for England.

Wishing you all the best!

Red Rocks, Good Eats and Dead Snakes

Hello all! This is my last post before I descend into the Grand Canyon tomorrow! This past week has been gluttonous. We ATE a lot of wonderful food at some of the finest places in Scottsdale, AZ. We also were lucky enough to be fed by Si's Dad. He is an amazing cook! I have also been hiking, running and biking regulary, oh I cannot forget the crazy volleyball games in the pool. It has felt like a honeymoon for Si and I!

Last Thursday we traveled to Sedona, AZ, home of the famous painted desert. The rocks were stunning. I was blown away by the magnificent views and extraordinary town. Sedona is the metaphysical capital of the country. Pretty eccentric! Soon I will figure out how to include photos on my blog!

Last night we were treated to flamenco dancers at the Hyatt. Incredible talent, I was mesmerized by the quickness of their feet! Tonight we will have a dinner party at Si's parents house. It will be a little bittersweet as Beans leaves tomorrow for NYC. Beans (affectionate nickname) is Si's bro James girlfriend of 10 years! It is also Si's B-day today, but he wouldn't want me to tell you that.

James, Si and I will head out mid-morning. The canyon will be in the 20's at nightfall so we are bringing VERY warm clos. We should be just fine, I should be able to give one more update before I big road trip. We leave a week Monday.

Hope all is well in the BIG world!

Seattle ROCKED!

The rainy city was a blessing! I got my internship working with Global Visionaries and I cannot wait to start in January! It was fabulous...the whole team were very welcoming. I stayed downtown in a lovely hotel very close to Pike Place market. I ate A LOT! I also looked at a HUGE duplex that Si and I may rent for four months. I think we will take it. I am looking forward to exploring the city more and getting a bike!

I am currently in Phoenix. I arrived yesterday afternoon. I was able to meet Si's brother James and his girlfriend for the first time. Let me just say, it is going to be a fantastic week playing with them! We have some day trips planned, scrumptious meals, lot's of hiking and biking...then a week from Monday we will go to the Grand Canyon! Hope all is well in everyone's world.

Sending my love from the city of SUN!