Florida, November 7-14, 2009

Rodney and Rasila decided to use their timeshare in its actual location this year: Orlando, FL. Rodney had not been in 17 years and Rasila had never been. The theme parks were not much of a draw. We have Disneyland, Universal Studios, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, as well as Legoland, Knott's Berry Farm, Six Flags, all available if we want to go. We do have friends in Tampa and the weather is generally warmer in Florida than here, and Cape Canaveral is close to Orlando, so we said, "Let's go!"

We flew Continental Airlines through Houston there and back. I have to admit, I was pleased with Continental. We had meals on the long flight to and from Houston, and the planes were clean and on time. The baggage fee was $15 paid before hand, and in these days, that's a good price. We left on the 6:45 AM flight, catching a ride from an obviously very good friend to arrive at 5:00 AM at the airport. Rodney finished off one book on the way there. We arrived at about 4:30 PM local time, picked up our rental car (a Nissan Sentra) from Sunshine Rent a Car, and checked into our condo. A grocery store was right across the street, so we went and loaded up with breakfast, some dinners, and lunches. Naturally, Rodney had called Citibank (no link to you!) to let them know he would be in Florida, but his card got declined anyway. He called immediately to complain and after 20 minutes on the phone, we found out that because the charge came from someplace other than Orlando, Tampa, or Cape Canaveral, (Publix is headquarter in Lakeland, FL), they declined it. He was mad, and wanted the $25 membership fee credited, but was told he would have to write a letter to accomplish anything close to that (note, that still needs to be done).

Sunday, we got up and drove to Tampa (only 70 miles/110 km away). Our friends Harry and Maureen, and their sons Harry Joe and Jacob live there. We went kayaking on a river for a couple hours where we saw a 10-12' (3.5-4m) alligator, but the camera batteries had run out! It was a very deep black, sunning on the side of the river. Very cool to see as they normally hide away. We went back and deep fried a couple turkeys and ate one for dinner. It's quite a production, so if you do one, you want to do more! We then drove back about 9 PM or so because we wanted to get up early to go to Kennedy Space Center.

Monday, we spent all day, 9 AM, when it opened, to 6 PM, when it closed, at Kennedy Space Center. We purchased the "Up Close" tour, which left about 10:20, so we had time to walk the rocket garden before the tour. The tour takes you between the largest launch pads, right by where the Ares 1-X had launched a couple weeks before, and 3 miles from the active shuttle pad, where the Atlantis was launched a week later. It then takes you by the Vertical Assembly Building, the landing strip, and drops you off at the Apollo Center. We then visited the International Space Station Center and back to the main visitor center. They have a simulator ride called the "Shuttle Launch Experience," which was actually pretty mild compared to the theme park rides! We drove back and ate dinner in the condo.

Tuesday was a lazy day, studying and reading. We did allow them to take a couple hours to try to sell us in exchange for some gift cards to Roy's, which we took advantage of that night for dinner. Wednesday was also a lazy day. The condo had free wi-fi internet. Rodney used it as an excuse to buy an HP Mini Netbook so Rasila could study online and we could access the internet without per minute charges. Wednesday night, we did see "Up" at the pool's "Dive-in Movie."

Thursday, we went back to Kennedy Space Center to the Astronaut Hall of Fame. This took most of the day, including going back to the main visitor's center in order to see the films we had missed on Monday (admission was included in Monday's ticket, so no new price).

Friday was another lazy/study day, topped off with a Beer tasting at the pool. Saturday we flew home. A very nice, relaxing vacation!

Vegas for Dave and Karin's Anniversary October 16-18, 2009

Our friends Dave and Karin were married in Las Vegas and celebrate their anniversary there every year. Generally, we try to join them as their old friends from Pennsylvania and new friends from So Cal go and it's fun to make the trip.

This year, we stayed downtown at the Golden Nugget. We drove up on Friday afternoon/evening, arrive about 9 PM, just in time for the evening Happy Hour. Dave and Karin always get an extra room to have a 3 times a day Happy Hour. We then headed out to find some gambling. We ended up at the Main Street Casino, where we were playing the Deuces Wild Poker machines. Rodney had proceeded to lose $20 pretty quickly, so he gave up his machine to Karin. She appeared to be losing money faster than Rodney, so he made the comment, "Looks like you're making my loss rate look good!" Of course, this resulted in Karin hitting the jackpot (all 4 deuces) on the next play, winning over $600!

The next day Rodney got up to make his football bets (thank you Arkansas, for covering against Florida and making the football bets even), and the day was spent watching football, eating, and drinking in the party room. That night we had dinner in the Italian restaurant, the Grotto. With 14 of us, it was quite a dinner. We gambled lightly until 1:00 AM, after catching a couple classic rock shows on the Fremont Street Experience, namely Queen, Don Maclean, and Kiss. It is virtually impossible to find a less than $10 blackjack table, even with the "Fetish Pit" dancers at the Las Vegas Club distracting you.

On Sunday, we decided to take the desert route home to avoid the I-15 parking lot. This takes you through the Mojave National Preserve, on Route 66, through 29 Palms, and onto the 10 just outside Palm Springs. It was a great drive and we want to go camping there in the spring!

Wyoming Homecoming, October 11

Ok, I admit it. I'm way behind on my posts.

So, just a month after the trip to Laramie for the Texas game, Rasila and Rodney found themselves headed to the Homecoming game versus the University of New Mexico. Since we had lost something like 6 straight to UNM in football, it didn't matter that they were 0-4. We wanted to beat them. We knew the weather was going to be chilly, with a forecast gametime temp of 26 F (-3 C), so we packed accordingly.

We flew Southwest Airlines for the 3rd time to DIA, and I like them better each time. The car from Budget was more expensive, even with my frequent renter ID, so we rented from Alamo this time. We had a nice Mitsubishi Galant, which motored us nicely to Laramie, with only a skiff of snow on the Pumpkin Vine. Roger called and said he had once again forgot his season tickets, so we went by the ticket office to get his reprinted before going to the Gas Lite Inn to check in.

We had dinner that night at our favorite, Jeffrey's Bistro, while it proceeded to start snowing. Rodney and his brother Roger went over to the Buckhorn to meet their college buddy Jeff and any others in town. It was an early evening to make preparations for attending the 10 AM parade.

We woke to 7-10" (17-25 cm) of snow. All the roads were closed into and out of Laramie. We met Rodney and Roger's Uncle CC and Aunt Loree to watch the parade in the 9 F (-13 C) weather, then had breakfast at Shari's with them. We overheard the hostess say that the team, the coaches, the cheerleaders and the band all were in Cheyenne the night before for a Cowboy Joe Club auction. Neither Wyoming nor New Mexico were in town! After breakfast, we went back to the hotel and turned on the radio to catch any updates. It turned out that the Governor had given special dispensation to run a snow plow and highway patrol caravan to escort the teams and the accompanying people back to Laramie!

So, we headed to the Library for the pregame and then over for kick off. The roads opened only 1 hour before kickoff, so only people from Cheyenne could have made it that morning. The attendance was announced at 15K, but more like 9K were there. It was 15 F (-9 C) at kickoff and caused an eerie fog to rise from the field. We were well dressed for the game with multiple layers and insulated seats, so we had no problems with it. Wyo won after giving up the first TD to UNM, 37-13. We then headed over to our friend Chelly's for a post game BBQ and off to the Buckhorn and Cowboy Saloon for the evening.

The next morning was actually nice weather (20s) and an easy drive back to Denver after catching the movie Surrogates and lunch in Loveland with Jeff.

Wyoming vs. Texas, Laramie, WY, Sept. 12, 2009

The University of Wyoming signed a 3 game series with The University of Texas and because of a quirk in Texas' schedule, the series started in Laramie. Marc, a friend of Rodney and his brother Roger since 5th grade, works with a Texas grad named Haywood. Haywood basically promised tickets in Austin next year if we took him to Laramie this year. So, we got excited and booked rooms and bought tickets in February in anticipation.

Marc, Rodney, and Haywood flew up on Frontier Airlines, met Roger at the airport, and drove up to Laramie. We decided to stop in Ft. Collins to pee on the Colorado State University sign have lunch and stopped at the New Belgium Brewery. Turns out they don't have lunch, but we had some tastes of some beers, notably, the Hoptober, which we bought a 12 pack of for the rest of the weekend. We had lunch at Beau Jo's where we had pizza and Fat Tire. We then drove up to Laramie, replaced Roger's forgotten tickets at the ticket office, and checked into the hotel. We then drove up to the Snowy Range Wyoming Highway 130 to make Haywood run around the car at 10,800 ft (3292m). After a couple hours hiking and gawking, we ate dinner at The Old Corral in Centennial. We then finished up the evening at The Buckhorn Bar, where we met plenty of Texas folks and enjoyed the UW Band, Marching Thunder, come by. There was also a live band on 3rd, with some cheap Budweiser, that we enjoyed for a couple hours before stopping at the Ranger Bar, where everything's stranger. It was actually an early evening (midnight).

On gameday, we got up and had breakfast at Shari's, then headed to the Library for some pregame beer and banter with the Texas fans who had reserved the entire restaurant before the game. Luckily, some were adventurous and joined us in the bar. We headed early to the game and enjoyed the first half, where Wyoming had a blocked punt for a touchdown for a 10-6 lead, before going into the half down 13-10. Alas, Texas asserted it's #2 ranking and scored 28 more points in the second half while Wyoming did not score. We had fun anyway! We had went back to the hotel and headed downtown, aiming for Chelo's, but it was closed, so we had a beer at Bud's Bar, then dinner at our favorite, Jeffrey's Bistro. After dinner, the line was long at the Buck, so we introduced Haywood to the Cowboy Saloon, where we watched it fill before finishing off at the Ranger again.

On Sunday, we had breakfast at Shari's again, then walked the campus. The Geological Museum was open, so we enjoyed it, then hit Taco John's for lunch before driving back to Denver and flying home. It was a great trip!

Bike the Bay, San Diego, Aug 30, 2009

Rasila decided to sign us up for a bike ride for our anniversary this year, especially because we did not do the Rosarito-Ensenada this year due to it's late resurrection and the general turmoil in Mexico these days. So, she signed us up for the Bike the Bay event.

We went down Saturday night and spent the night with David and Jill. We had dinner at a new Mexican Sushi Sports Bar (yes, it really exists and was quite good) and went to sleep early since we had to get up at 5:15 AM

Sunday, we had bagels and bananas, walked Ziwi, then headed down to the San Diego Convention Center, which was the parking for the ride. We rode over to the start, grabbed some Peet's Coffee, and waited for the staggered start at 7:00 AM. We were in about the 5th or 6th group, starting about 7:30AM. The ride went along Harbor drive, then up 10th to just under the bridge, where we road an offramp up to the main span. We were separated by the concrete barriers from the car traffic and the bridge was actually much easier than we expected. Riding up Turtle Rock in our neighborhood is much tougher!

We cruised down the back, past Coronado Golf Course, the Hotel Del Coronado, the Navy Seal Base, then down the Silver Strand to Imperial Beach. The Bayshore Bikeway is a great ride. We came back up through the Chula Vista Marina, the 32nd Street Naval Base, the NASSCO Shipyards, and back to Embarcadero Park for the after party. We made it at about 9:30, 2 hours for the ride.

There was Peet's Iced Tea, Carnitas and Fish Tacos, and plenty of Vitamin Water, various Teas, and Karl Strauss Brewery for consumption. A 3 "man" band called the "Blond Brothers Band" (ages 13, 14, and 20) entertained us. They were quite good. They said they had "ongoing technical difficulties" since they had no beer from the beer garden ;-)

We didn't win anything in the lottery drawing, so we left about 11:00 AM, then dropped by to shower and pick up Ziwi at David and Jill's and made it home about 2:00 PM.

Idyllwild, July 2-5 Camping in Boulder Basin

I completely forgot to enter this!

We decided we needed to go camping for 4th of July weekend, so Rodney made a reservation on Reserve America for Boulder Basin. He only made it a few weeks in advance, so was pleasantly surprised to find one of the better camp spots available. It actually turned out to be the same one we stayed at 2 years ago!

We drove up Thursday afternoon and set up camp about 6:00 PM, cooking a quick dinner before nightfall. The next morning, we hiked to the fire lookout, then headed into town to look up an old boss of Rodney's. He runs a couple stores in Idyllwild and one in Palm Springs. We found him and arranged to meet him for lunch on Saturday, then went and bought a America the Beautiful Pass, so we can persuade ourselves to visit more National Parks, Monuments, and Forests for the next 12 months. After some short hikes that kept ending at the wilderness area, so we couldn't take Ziwi, we headed back to the camp and read and relaxed.

The next day we got up, ate breakfast and then headed to the Ernie Maxwell Trail before joining Rodney's boss and partner for lunch. We then got to see their incredible house and enjoy some drinks on the patio, before heading back up to sleep for the night.

We got up and headed back early on Sunday to take care of tasks, just wanting to go camping again.

Brown Family Reunion June 26-28, 2009

The last week of June was the bi-annual Brown Family Reunion, Rodney's mother's family. We flew Southwest Airlines again this time. They definitely have one of the smoothest operations. After getting the cheap SUV from Budget Rent A Car last trip, we spent twice as much money for a Chevy HHR this time. It was a decent little car though, and we used it well, since Rodney's brother, Roger, and Roger's wife Julia called when we were just north of Cheyenne on I-25 to say they were 20 (35km) miles east of Casper and Julia's Passat had broken down. Since we were in the state, we decided we could make the 250 (400km) mile detour to pick them up. Wyoming (and Colorado) were both beautifully green from the record wet June and we drove 80 miles (135 km) through a downpour on the way to Casper. It cleared up nicely by the time we were in Casper, where the only VW dealer in the state, Ray Powders Volkswagen, was located. We had a great view of Laramie Peak on the way past Glendo Reservoir, which was full to overflowing. We arrived in Torrington about 7:30 and went to eat at Buck's Pizza, which hit the spot. After a couple hours socializing and playing games, we hit the sack.

Saturday we took a walk up the downtown of Torrington and found a nice coffee shop, then spent the mid day at the group lunch with the 60 or so family members that made the reunion. In the afternoon, we took the 50 mile (90 km) trip to the farm where Rodney's mother grew up, in Moore Springs. Rasila's quote, "Now I know what the middle of nowhere truly is!" That night we had a group dinner and played games until tired.

Sunday was a quick gathering and good-byes, and then we drove to Cheyenne to see Rodney's Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Ray's place east of Cheyenne. It was a beautiful 80 acre spread with a horse barn and pastures. Some neighbor's cows were on "the back 40." We then made the drive back to Denver, where the security lines were insane, and flew back Sunday night.

Volleyball, Sea World and a Birthday Party, June 6-7, 2009

This weekend was a packed weekend. Rodney's San Diego friends organized the semi-annual "Just Us" volleyball tournament in Mission Beach. We still store some 4x4 poles at an apartment there (secret place), where we can set up our own courts. We had 10 people or so, and we played a "King of the Beach" style tournament. Rodney was 1-3, which wasn't surprising since he hadn't played in 18 months.

From there, we dropped Ziwi off at our friends, David and Jill, house, then went to Sea World for local.com's 10th Anniversary celebration. We took in the Sea Lion show, the Dolphin Show, the Shark Encounter, Manatee Rescue, and, of course, Shamu! We hit other stuff too, but those were the highlights.

We spent the night at David and Jill's, then headed home to do the yard work, and then up to Los Angeles for Rasila's friend's, Chris', birthday. It was a nice afternoon after the thunderstorms and the food and the beer were good.

Rasila's brother Belden's Graduation, Colorado Springs, CO

Since we'd been to 2 of her other brother's (Seton's) graduations, we decided to attend one of Belden's. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, with an MBA.

We flew up Thursday night on Southwest Airlines, trying out their new service to Denver. It was a smooth flight, with us arriving at 8:30 PM or so. I had reserved an intermediate car at Budget Rent A Car, but they were running out and offered an SUV. I said "no," but they then said I had to wait for a car to be cleaned, so I changed my mind since we had a 90 mile drive to our hotel. We ended up with a full size GMC Yukon!

The drive down was smooth and the vehicle had XM Radio, so we tuned into the Jimmy Buffett concert from Irvine on Radio Margaritaville and sung along the whole way down. We arrived at the Fairfield Inn at about 10:40 PM.

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (included, yah!), then went to the audaciously named World Arena for Belden's Graduation Ceremony. It took the requisite 2 hours and we then went to lunch at Panera Bread, and then drove around Garden of the Gods. We had dinner that night at the Craftwood Inn in Manitou Springs.

The next day we went and rode the Manitou and Pikes Peak Railroad to the top of Pikes Peak. It was a fun trip, with the top being a snowstorm (see the photos)! This took most of the middle of the day and we went back to the hotel and used the gym before dinner. We had dinner that night at Walter's Bistro, an outstanding place that I would have driven right by!

The next morning, we went to the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center in Woodland Park, CO. We took the guided tour and thoroughly enjoyed it! They had a traveling Darwin exhibit too. We had lunch at Joanie's Deli, then high tailed it back to DIA to return the car and fly back home.

Mammoth Spring Skiing, April 10-12, 2009

We headed to Mammoth for a weekend with friends. Rodney loves spring skiing, and 16 inches (40 cm) had fallen on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (it was snowing when we arrived at 10 PM). We met Rasila's friend, Juliet, at the Ontario Airport, where she left her car in long term parking, then met our neighbor, Lisa, and her boyfriend, Kevin, at the condo. We stayed at Sunshine Village Condos, at a 1 BR + loft, 2 BA condo for the 5 of us. There was a queen and double in the loft with the second bathroom. It was perfect.

Saturday was a great spring day with the temps in the high 20s F (-3 C) at 9:30, and the top never broke freezing. It was Juliet's first time to Mammoth, so we took her across the entire the entire mountain from Chair 9 in the south to Chair 13 on the back side. She was tired by the time we got her back to the base.

Sunday was even warmer! We left at about 3:00 PM for the drive home and hit bad traffic as soon as we hit I-15 all the way to the tollroad into Irvine. Holiday weekends, they suck.

Portland for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

Last year, Rodney didn't technically travel since the 1st and 2nd rounds were held in Anaheim at the Honda Center. This year, we wanted to go to Portland, but we couldn't get tickets. After some discussion, we put our names on a waiting list for a box, like 2 years ago in Chicago. We were notified in November that we had been granted the box and proceeded to get additional bodies and planned the trip.

Rodney flew up on Alaska Airlines, and was originally going to take the Max train to downtown, but his friend Mark, who lives in Eugene, was at the airport and took Rodney, Ray, Scott, and James to the Hotel Deluxe. We then checked in a walked to the Agency Sports Bar, for dinner and some beers. They had some great Pulled Pork BBQ sliders on special!

The next morning, we left at 9:00 AM on the train to the Rose Garden Arena. On the way, we stopped by Voodoo Donuts, for some delicious Crunch Berry and Fruit Loop covered donuts. We arrived about 9:45 at the arena, and had to walk all the way around the building to the Club/Suites Entrance on the opposite side. After getting to the club level, we had to wait for them to open the Arena at 10:00 AM. They had only one door and 2 people taking tickets. Luckily, the line was small. Our suite was, of course, completely around the opposite side of the arena! When we arrived, it had the sandwiches, hot dogs, Jones Sodas, and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Widmer Hefeweizen, Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale, and Coronas for the wimps.

The first game was Purdue vs. Northern Iowa, which started out a blowout, but Purdue just couldn't shake UNI completely. We kept calling the big man for UNI "Bagels Eater" for fun. Purdue won. The second game was Washington vs. Mississippi State, which Washington won easily. We then had to leave the arena for the change in sessions. They funneled us all out into the parking garage and then we had to enter back in through the same entrance! Luckily, we were at the front. I don't think they got everyone back in the 30 minutes allotted.

The evening session was Gonzaga vs. Akron first, which was a great game. Akron was way better than any of us gave them credit and the game went back and forth before Gonzaga extended a lead in the final minutes when it got to the exchange a bad shot for 2 foul shot portion of the game. The evening game was a blowout at the beginning, with Western Kentucky just dismantling Illinois. Illinois came back at the end to come within 3 with a minute to go, but WKU won.

The next day, we had breakfast at Kenny and Zuke's, then met with the rest for lunch at the Deschutes Brewery, before spending the rest of the afternoon watching the games at Henry's 12th Street Tavern, which had a 4 page beer menu! We finished the night with an excellent meal at Jake's Famous Crawfish.

The next morning, I had breakfast in the hotel cafe, then we played a game of basketball at the 24 Fitness. The games this afternoon were Washington vs. Purdue, which was a tight game, but Washington just couldn't get the lead, even with 10000 fans. Purdue won by 2 points. The evening game was Gonzaga vs, Western Kentucky and we were rooting hard for WKU. Their point guard, Mendez-Valdez, was hot and had 17 points in the first 4 minutes. We were yelling, "SHOOT!!!!" anytime he touched the ball. This was a great game, with WKU tying the game with 6.9 seconds left, and a Gonzaga point guard going the distance to make the game winning layup with 0.5 seconds to go.

The next morning, another breakfast at Kenny and Zuke's, then we went to Henry's again to watch the games until late checkout at 1:00 PM. We then hopped a ride with Mark back to the airport and watched games there. I was the last person to fly out, and watched all games before flying home at 7:45 PM. On to New Orleans next year!

Midweek Trip to Mammoth Solo March 4th and 5th, 2009

Since Rodney is starting a new job Monday, his last chance for midweek skiing was this week. When the e-mail "Dump Alert" came for Mammoth Ski Resort, he decided to make a spur of the moment trip. After booking lodging through Mammoth Reservations, he drove up Tuesday afternoon. It was snowing when he arrived and snowed all night and all the next day. Thursday was a blue bird day with knee deep powder!

Quick trip to SLC, Feb 20-23, 2009

If I was still unemployed, Rasila and I committed to drive to Salt Lake City to visit my brother and his wife sometime in February. So, we made the trip last weekend.


We bought the unabridged Arctic Drift on CD at Costco for the 700 mile each way trip. We left at 5:45 AM, after a brief stop at Starbucks, we hit the road. We stopped in Barstow, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Leeds, UT, and Nephi, UT on the way up for gas, switching drivers, coffee, and lunch. We arrived at about 5:30 PM.


We spent Saturday at Alta Ski Resort, where we had a spectacular lunch at the Collins Grill. That night we went to see Coraline.


On Sunday, we went to Solitude, which has always been a favorite of mine because it lives up to it's name. It has been a few years since we were there, and they have upgraded a couple lifts and I'm a way better skier. We had a great time. Rasila was able to ski both days and we have pronounced her knee "healed enough."


Monday, we drove back, leaving at 8:00 AM with stops in Nephi, UT (I never filled with gas while in SLC), St. George, UT, and Las Vegas, NV to switch drivers, and eat lunch and we arrived back home at about 6:30 PM. It was only about $140 for gas, even in my SUV. A lot cheaper than the flight would have been with $50 each way for each set of skis, and $100 each way for Ziwi. Quick, but fun!

Powder Days in Mammoth! Feb 10-11

The last big snowfall in Mammoth, I couldn't talk anyone into playing hooky from their jobs, so I didn't go. This time, I didn't even invite anyone! It snowed 44 inches (110cm) over the weekend at Mammoth, so I decided to go.


Unfortunately, I needed new tires before driving in the snow, so I made a quick Monday morning trip to America's Tire Company to replace them, we headed out at about 2:00 PM. We arrived in Mammoth at about 8:00 PM, where we dropped by at Nik N Willie's for a pizza before checking into our "Micro-Fridge" room at Motel 6.


Rasila was still recovering from her knee sprain, so she stayed in the room and studied for her MFT Certification Test with Ziwi, while I left at 8:00 AM to hit the slopes. I had 10 runs in before they opened the top at 10:00 AM. It had not been open in 4 days and was untracked from Dave's Run to Paranoid Flats. I made about 5 runs off the top, then stopped for lunch. After that rest, I still only had legs for 8 more runs in the afternoon. I was aiming for 25, but only made 23. We had a takeout dinner from Perry's Cafe and I slept very well that night!


The next morning, there was 9-12" (23-30 cm) of fresh snow. Nice, light 5% moisture content that I could wipe off with the broom on my ice scraper. I loaded up most of the stuff and headed out at 8:00 AM again. I got 15 runs in before taking lunch at 11:00 AM to join Rasila back at the room for lunch. Check out was noon, so we checked out and I dropped Rasila and Ziwi at the Village at Mammoth and went out. Rasila called about 45 minutes later and she was cold, so I only got about 3 runs in that afternoon before heading back to pick her and Ziwi up. We left about 2:00 PM, and arrived back in Irvine at about 7:30 PM.

Ski Vacation in Whitefish, MT

We traded our timeshare via RCI to Crestwood in Whitefish, MT for the week of January 9th - 16th, 2009. This is the second ski vacation we've taken using our timeshare. The first was in January of 2005 at Steamboat Springs, CO. We had invited others to come along since we have a 2 BR condo, but we were by ourselves.

We flew Delta Airlines via Salt Lake City to the Glacier Park International Airport in Kalispell, MT. After a small struggle to not pay $125 to ship the skis (skis and boots count as only one piece of luggage!), we had a smooth flight with the exception that I had forgotten my book on the headboard of my bed! Luckily, I had packed Slan and Slan Hunter, which I polished off Slan from the 1940's on the way up. We checked in, where we were able to get $50/day lift tickets to Whitefish Resort, formerly Big Mountain. We also got 3 Nora Roberts books for Rasila and the Yahtzee game to play from the office. After a quick trip to the grocery store, we were ready for the week!

We skied Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Rasila got tired early Sunday and Rodney skied with a local named Greg from Kalispell in the afternoon and got some tips. It snowed about an inch (2.5 cm) on Saturday night of heavy, wet snow. We drove to the mountain every day but Saturday. I was worried it might be busy, so we took the Snow Bus from a parking lot around the corner. It was not crowded, so we drove ourselves every other day. We loved the food at Hellroaring Saloon and Eatery, and also took a free mountain tour Wednesday with a guide at 10:30 AM.

We met a couple, Rick and Sam, from Great Falls, MT in the hot tub Monday night and somehow talked them into joining us for snowshoeing in Glacier National Park on Tuesday. We rented snowshoes at Tamarack Ski Rentals for only $10 and drove over to walk the Apgar Lookout road. It was only 2 miles from the parking lot to the lookout, but we only made it probably a little over half way before turning back. It was kind of soft, melting snow and breaking a trail (there were only cross country ski tracks) was hard work! We still took almost 3 hours to go probably 2.5 miles. We rewarded our workout with a Famous Dave's BBQ "Trash Can Lid". It was devoured!

Rasila fell on "Over the Hill Gang" on Wednesday and sprained her knee, so Rodney skied by himself on Thursday. Even though it was not crowded, we only saw Rick and Sam once in the 3 days we skied in common. We did see them in the hot tub every night though! We also went and saw Marley and Me at the local theater Sunday night and ate out at MacKenzie River Pizza one night. We had tried to go to a Sushi place recommended by Rasila's father, but it was closed the night we went out to eat.

Whitefish was great and we'd like to return!

Christmas in Wyoming and New Year's in Utah

This was the year to spend Christmas with Rodney's family, so we flew to Salt Lake City on the Tuesday before and then drove with Rodney's brother Roger and his wife, Julia to Riverton, Wyoming on the the 24th. It was a relatively nice day with temperatures varying from the 20s F (-5 C) to the 40s F (+5 C). South Pass had its usual wind, but at least it wasn't blowing so much snow you couldn't see the highway. Rodney's brother Bob had car trouble and didn't make it until Sunday.

Rodney's Dad had made his usual spectacular cinnamon rolls and they were available for breakfast every day we were in Riverton (6 breakfasts). We entered right into the games, playing Mexican Train Dominos, Rummikub, Sequence, Cribbage, and Mille Bourne over the days.

Christmas was fun and we had a traditional turkey dinner. The day after Christmas, it snowed about 2-3" (5-8 cm). It had not snowed in Riverton since October 11! Rodney helped his Dad clear the snow from the walks for them and the neighbor on either side, so Ziwi would be able to walk to "take care of business."

Rodney's brother, Bob, and Bob's significant other, Jo, made it on Sunday and we had a mini Christmas that day. On Monday, we swam in the high school pool, since the exercise bike had become boring with the treadmill out of action. Monday it was in the 50s F (15+ C)! It was never that warm when Rodney was growing up. The coldest we saw was about -5 F (-20 C), so it wasn't bad at all (those temperatures were always just before dawn, which was 7:45 AM or so).

We went with Bob, Jo, Roger, and Julia to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button at the classic Acme Theater in Riverton.

We drove back to Salt Lake City on Tuesday and skiied Alta Ski Resort on Wednesday and Friday, and Snowbird Ski Resort on Thursday. I still had a card from last year, so I was able to save $5 on the first day at Alta, and the Lift House sells discount tickets, so we got a chairs only ticket for $54 for Snowbird. We spent New Year's eve staying up all the way to Midnight EST, which was 10 PM local time. What party animals!

It started raining Friday night in SLC while we watched Utah beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That turned to snow, which was so slick Rodney fell while taking Ziwi out to pee before bed. He said "Darn, I wish I hadn't done that." or words like that only with 4 letters each. Saturday, we loaded up and Roger and Julia dropped us off at a madhouse SLC Airport, but we had 2 hours and 45 minutes before our flight. We arrived home about noon Saturday, which allowed us to watch the San Diego - Indianapolis game that night.

Vegas for Dave and Karin's 20th Anniversary Dec 5-8th, 2008

Well, I was waiting for Karin to send pictures because I forgot my camera, but I made another trip, so I'll have to add them later, if ever.


My friends Dave and Karin celebrate their anniversary in Vegas every year, and we have joined them twice before. This one was special since it was their 20th. We made plans in March for this trip! We stayed at Sunset Station Casino in Henderson. We had been there before. It is a great place to spend something like this because they have many restaurants, a bowling alley, a cinema, and a Starbucks! We drove up Friday, leaving about 10 AM, and, after a pit stop at The Mad Greek for a strawberry shake, arriving about 3 PM.


We immediately joined the crowd for some bowling. They wouldn't let Rasila have the bumpers up since she weighs more than 80 pounds, so we had to make due. Her best game was about 81 and I bowled a 139. I would have bowled better, but while I ran to make a bet on the University of Buffalo int the MAC Championship, they bowled a frame for me. We then had dinner at the seafood restaurant, where I had the Shrimp Etuoffee. We had a 3 liter bottle of wine to share. Later that night, while Rasila and I were cashing chips, we heard someone say, "Where did you get that?" Followed by, "The group next to us drank it, so I took it when they left!" Yes, they had taken the bottle and were walking around with it for some reason. Rasila and I did well gambling that night, winning the football bet and a couple hundred in blackjack.


We woke the next morning and went to breakfast after coffee and a newspaper and the gym. We then dropped by the "Party Room," where Dave and Karin had set up a suite for all to meet in 3 times a day. We could have had breakfast there with all the muffins they bought at Costco! I ducked out to make a parley bet on the Big 12 Championship, SEC Championship and USC-UCLA game. I also bet on the "Over" for the Big 12 Championship, since Missouri and Oklahoma both had high scoring offenses. It was 79 points! We ended up spending all afternoon in the room, drinking Yuengling and watching football. I lost my parley, but won the over bet.


Dave and Karin had a room rented for the celebration and they did their usual wonderful job of decorating and the food was excellent as well as the dancing! We spent some time on the craps tables and video poker, where I gave back some of the money we had won the previous night, but had a good time.


Sunday, most people left. We had a breakfast in the buffet with Suzanne and Joe, then I made a parley bet on the NFL games, New Orleans-Atlanta, Chicago-Jacksonville, and Denver-Kansas City. We then went to the party room and watched the games while trying to finish up the perishables and help pack up the room. When Dave decided to drive back with Karin that night, Rasila and I ate at the Italian Restaruant and then went to sleep early to drive home.


On the way home, we stopped at the Barstow Outlet Mall, and bought most of our Christmas presents.


It was a gerat trip and next year, I'm taking my camera!