Happy Birthday, Hubby!

Last week, we started our trip to Glacier National Park, Montana. Hubby's birthday was last week and I had a wonderful surprise adventure planned. We left work Thursday afternoon for the airport and got to Atlanta. And stayed there. Our connecting flight boarded early (how does that even happen?) and we were bumped along with about a dozen other people. Having booked the flight through Travelocity, I immediately got on the phone. I was connected to a man named "Abraham" who sounded like he was probably somewhere between Kuwait and China. After explaining our predicament and being put on hold several times, he said that Travelocity could not help us and we would have to deal with an agent. So much for that trip guarantee.

The Delta agent found a few flights for us, but none of them were leaving Atlanta until late the next day. From as early as noon to as late as 7pm. One of them was to LAX then Salt Lake. One was our original plan straight to Salt Lake, but didn't leave until 6:30 the next night. After declaring that I would never use Travelocity or Delta again, she magically found a flight leaving at 7 am to put us in Salt Lake by 9 am. Done. I still probably won't ever fly Delta again. The flight attendants didn't seem very friendly and their intercom skills were a little lacking. They all sounded somewhat inebriated.

We finally made it Salt Lake City and proceeded directly to the parking lot where Jenny and Dan had very generously left one of their cars for us. We drove from Salt Lake to Columbia Falls, Montana where Jenny found an awesome cabin from Wild River Adventures . The drive was a lot longer than yahoo maps let on, but it was beautiful. Dan and Chrishan met up with us in Columbia Falls to lead us to the cabin. Thanks guys!

I managed to acquire a killer migraine on the trip from Salt Lake and that combined with a really long day sent us both straight to bed. Saturday morning Dan cooked an awesome breakfast for everyone. Shan (you're a lifesaver!) worked some kind of magic on my head and neck that relieved the worst of my headache so I was able to enjoy the hike to Avalanche Lake. After lunch, we headed back to the cars and drove to the Hidden Lake Visitor Center. We all decided that we would hike Hidden Lake the next day and headed back to the Chalet.

Dan cooked an amazing dinner for all of us: grilled steak and chicken, baked potatoes, and squash and zucchini. We surprised Hubby (again) with a rich chocolate cake. In the absence of candles, Dan improvised with matches and nearly lost a finger.

Sunday we headed back to Hidden Lake. The change in weather was really weird. Saturday was beautiful and sunny, not too hot. Sunday was overcast, windy and cold. We still enjoyed a beautiful hike to the overlook, though. Had the weather been better, we would have hiked all the way down to the lake. After returning to the parking lot, we all decided (at Dan's suggestion) to do lunch in St. Mary's, and found The Curly Bear. We drove back to the Chalet for some rest. Dan cooked another stellar meal of quesadillas.

Sadly, Hubs and I had to get to bed early so we could leave by 5 the next morning. We left out a little early and took a different route suggested by Dan and Chrishan. It was a much more scenic route and seemed a bit faster. We arrived at the Salt Lake Airport in plenty of time to catch our plane. Once we got to Denver and checked in, we saw Martina Navritilova and her family, as well as her little pet dog.

We had such a great time with everyone and meeting the kids. We're already looking forward to another big vacation next year.

There's a bunch a pictures. We got some really good ones, and I just couldn't pick any favorites.


(blogger won't let me embed picasa album right now :(. check back later)

Adventures

The weekend after the Fourth, we went to St. Joseph's Peninsula State Park near Cape San Blas, Florida. The afternoons were nice, but both mornings we were there, terrible storms blew in. Sunday morning, we didn't really even pack the tent, it just sort of got rolled up and stuffed in the bag. The wind was so bad, the stakes were pulled up, and it was like fighting a hot air balloon to pack up. We haven't pulled the tent out yet to clean up all the dirt and sand. Not really looking forward to that.

We took everything we needed for the camping trip and planned a crab boil for the second night. We bought an extra dip net, turkey necks, and fishing licenses. Two years ago, we caught about 20 crabs, but didn't know what we were doing and killed them all. After researching how to catch, cook, prepare and eat, we set out to crab. For this:



Three crabs and about an ounce or so of meat.
These are the other pictures from the trip, all taken with my cell phone.

Me + Sprites = No Friends

Well, I haven't worked things out with the camera sprites, but I was able to recover the pictures that I was able to take. I picked some of my favorites.

My last night

On my last night in Utah, I am a little sad. I'm sad to be leaving such a beautiful place and leaving my friends. Jenny is having her first baby in a few months, and because of several factors, I won't be able to be here to help out when the baby comes. That, and I'll have to wait until Utah thaws out to come back. The snow was pretty, but way too cold for me.

I had a really great time here in Utah. I've spent the last few days with one of my best friends, and I've made some new friends. Some notes on our adventures:

The reception Saturday was incredible. I met so many nice people. Some of whom I had heard (or read) about, and others that came to celebrate. It was cold, there was snow, but it was worth it. The food was delicious, the fire was warm, and the backdrop couldn't have been any better.

Sunday, a bunch of us went down to Little Wild Horse Canyon for a short hike. BEAUTIFUL! Unfortunately, my camera decided it was time to start acting up. Apparently, just being in close proximity to Dan and Jenny does that to cameras. So, I managed to get a few pictures, but they started getting fuzzy. I'll post a few when I get back home and can sort things out with the camera sprites.

After Little Wild Horse Canyon, Jenny and I drove down to Moab to stay the night and see Arches National Park on Monday. Too bad we both forgot that Columbus Day is Monday and a lot of people use this 3-day weekend for off-road sports. 10 hotels we checked were all full. We had dinner, and headed back home. Late night.

Monday we just sort of chilled. A busy weekend really wears out the pregnant folk. I was pretty tired myself from the hike and boulder climbing we did Sunday. We stayed close to home, watched a movie, took a nap, and went to a birthday party. All in all, it was a really good day.

I'm excited about coming back in the spring when all sorts of new life will be here. New babies, new flowers, new bugs!

A Trip is not a trip is not trip

Today I am flying out to Utah for my friend Jenny's wedding reception. I packed a couple of days ago to be sure that I had everything I needed. I made my list, counted out how many pairs of socks, how many shirts, even dug out my travel sized everythings. I'm ready. Hubby brings me to work with my carry-on and suitcase. All is good.

Then, it hits me.

I forgot my pillow.

This is no ordinary pillow. Some may find this disturbing, others will completely understand. I've had this pillow, and one just like it, my ENTIRE life. This pillow has been through everything with me. It has traveled around the world with me. It defended the freedom of These United States with me as I loaded containers in Kuwait. When I found myself all alone, no matter where I found myself, my trusty pillow was there.

I immediately started whining. To my coworker's dismay. Then I call Hubby and he's not there. I have to leave a whining message that I forgot something very important. My pillow. When he called back, there was no sympathy, only: "Maybe now you will have learned your lesson. All those times you make fun of me for making lists, now maybe you will start making lists." But I did make a list. Never have I had to put the pillow on the list, because that would be like putting your right arm on the list.

Hubby suggested that maybe Jenny will have a pillow. I reminded him that not only do Jenny and Dan need their own pillows, Jenny's mom is in town, and I will be using the air mattress. I don't mind the air mattress, but I need my pillow. Then I said, "Maybe I can just sleep on a couch cushion!" Hubby exploded in laughter. So supportive. Then he comes up with these ingenious solutions:

A bag of flour
A bag of corn meal
Ooh, Rice!
Ooh, Ooh, a ziploc bag full of rice!

About this point in the phone call, Jenny emails me with a weather update. Instead of the worst winter storm in 10 years, now the weather people say, just kidding, rain and cold and wind. I email her back and say, "I forgot my stinking pillow," Who cares about the weather, I FORGOT MY PILLOW!!!

Ever the solutionist, Jenny assures me that they have plenty of pillows that stink that I can borrow.

Hopefully, my trip won't be ruined.

I am looking forward to the bonfire. I haven't been to one of those in a while.