NYC

Last weekend Sean and I took a break from our busy schedule and headed to New York City. We stayed a block from Times Square, right in Midtown. I love the energy of the city and we felt it as soon as we walked outside. Sean had only been in the city for any length of time once before, so I really enjoyed seeing it through his eyes. He just soaked in the sights and smells and sounds. It does give one an adrenaline rush at first. We started off our weekend by making our way to lunch at Ellen's Stardust Diner, a tourist trap, but fun nonetheless. We meandered up through Central Park and browsed through The Met. Feeling too lazy to walk the distance back, we hopped on the subway to the Empire State Building. Thank goodness I had planned ahead and purchased the express pass. We were able to cut to the front of every line at the Empire State Building. I'm sure we would have waited 4 to 5 hours otherwise. The view was amazing from the top. It helped that the weather for the weekend was perfect. Later Friday evening we dined at a little Irish pub around the corner from Times Square and since the night was still young we moseyed on up to Rockefeller Center and people watched back in Times Square. Saturday morning dawned sunny and bright, so we jumped on the subway and headed down to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Again, purchasing tickets ahead of time pays off and cuts down wait time. As always, Lady Liberty was moving. I believe that Sean really felt the meaning of it all with his own story of moving to a new country and starting over. The Ellis Island experience was just as poignant. We kept telling ourselves that someone's father, mother, brother, sister, etc. once walked the great hall and waited nervously to find out if they would be allowed to stay in America. A wonderful experience. Feeling tired, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit before grabbing a bite to eat and making our way to the theater to see Wicked. And what a show! We loved every minute of it. That was our final hoorah for the weekend and what a fabulous note to end on. We had to head back to reality on Sunday. Thankfully, Sean was taken in by New York too and is already thinking of when we can head back.

Enjoy some snapshots of our weekend . . . Link

The Girls

This weekend was the annual roommate reunion weekend (minus one. We missed Kristin this weekend). This year we headed to New York City. Holly and I were looking forward to our first journey on the train from Lancaster to NYC. We all met up at Penn Station and the talking and giggling began. Right away we went to find our hotel and check in. Lunch was on the agenda immediately after that. Following lunch at PJ Clarke's we headed over to The Met (mostly to get warm, the weather was colder than cold). After meandering and warming, we took a stroll through Central Park on our way back to our hotel. There was a bit of complaining about the frigid temperature, but Kelli . . . and the rest of us survived. For dinner, we met up with Jen's friend Heather at 5 Napkin Burger, where we saw a "famous guy," at least that's what we kept calling him until we figured out that it was Victor Garber (played on Alias, Titanic and now has had a few appearances on Glee). Dinner was delicious and the company was, as always, spectacular. We did go to bed fairly early. We're no spring chickens anymore. Sunday dawned icy cold, but clear. Jen ventured out in her PJs to bring us back some hot coffee and cocoa from Starbucks. Thanks, Jen! Then the four of us made our way to the Empire State Building. Tip to travelers: go to all the tourist sites when it's freezing outside. You won't have to wait in line! We took the elevator to the 86th floor observatory. In spite of the wind and cold, the view was spectacular. Crystal clear skies and views. When we could take the cold no longer we checked out the sights from inside. It was time to say goodbye to Kelli after that. She had to go home and we had some more time on our hands. So Jen, Holly and I jumped on the subway and headed over to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty. I had never been there and it was beautiful. Though I was wishing for warmer shoes. I had some concern that my toes would be frostbitten. We couldn't go up the Statue on Sunday, so we just took some photos and looked around. After that, it was time to part with Jen and we said goodbye to her at Penn Station before Holly and I made our way to our train. I'm already looking forward to next year's reunion. I love my friends and am so thankful that we just pick up where we last left off. True friends are a beautiful thing! Love you girls!

Photo Link

Christmas in California

This year Christmas was in California for the Steele family. Sean and I flew in late on Christmas Eve and we all met up at Glen and Amy's house in San Jose on Christmas Day. After enjoying some restful family time, Glen, Amy, Sean and I went on a little excursion to Napa Valley. Nana and Grandpa stayed behind with B. We toured and sampled at several wineries, had dinner at Mustard's Grill and stayed over a night at a lovely hotel. The next day, the 7 of us headed into San Francisco to poke around The Presidio, walk along the beach, and eating lunch at the Warming Hut near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. And we did need to get warm. It was brisk and chilly along the water. On our last day, Sean, Glen and I headed down 17 Mile Drive to end with lunch and a bit of sight-seeing at Carmel-by-the-Sea (where Clint Eastwood was once mayor . . . I found that to be interesting). Of course all vacations must come to an end, so Sean and I headed back to PA on New Year's Eve. At least we got to enjoy a little luxury by upgrading to first class. Now we are home and reunited with Winter, who apparently "had a blast" at the kennel while we were having a great time in California. We are slowly easing into the new year and trying to get our bodies onto eastern standard time. Enjoy these photos of our trip . . . Link

Happy New Year!

Vacation

Why do vacations have to come to an end? Why isn't there someone here to make my bed for me every day or turn down the covers and place my slippers by the bed, take my order at one of five resort restaurants, or bring me a mojito by the pool? I want to go back to Mexico!

Sean and I spent 7 fabulous days at Dreams Resort and Spa in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We had a lovely suite overlooking the pool and the ocean. We would sleep in and then wander down to the restaurant of our choice to have breakfast. Then we would walk around the resort for a bit before heading back to the room to get ready for a day relaxing by the water. Sean would swim and float around while I basked in the sun or under an umbrella with a good book (or a good book that I downloaded onto my new Kindle 2). Many times we would take a late afternoon nap and then get dressed for dinner at one of the 5 restaurants at the resort. We did spend several hours one day riding ATVs and then another day down in Cabo by the marina. Sean spent a morning on his own in San Jose del Cabo, taking in the sites and snapping pictures while I lounged some more by the pool. I also treated myself to a massage . . . ahhh! The weather was a perfect, dry 95 degrees every day. The food and drinks were delicious. Life is good in Mexico.

Click to check out our photos . . . Cabo

Travel

We are back from Phoenix. We had a great time. The 80 degree weather wasn't too shabby either.
However, arriving at the airport and finding your vehicle in 32 degrees, covered with a fine layer of snow will snap you back into reality quickly. Marci was jumping up and down at the car door begging me to let her in, out of the cold while I loaded our stuff into the trunk. It's always nice to come home from a long trip and flop down onto your own bed. There's just something about swinging the door open to your own home that makes you let a out a breath of warm relief. The smell of familiarity. It somehow fells like the most comforting thing to let your house wrap it arms around you again.

Much less can be said for air travel. I don't quite know where, or when I stopped enjoying this part of the adventure. Maybe it was when they made you completely disassemble and then re-assemble yourself at the security checkpoints. Maybe its the long lines at the airports, and is it just me or does every employee of every airline just look miserable and annoyed these days? It's somehow feels like its my fault that the airlines are losing money because of years of poor management, delays, and under staffing. Now, the bar of misery has been raised even higher.

It costs $15 dollars to check 1 piece of luggage, and $25 for the next. Am I the only person who thinks this is completely insane? That's like staying at a hotel, and being charged for the air you breathe while staying in the room. How on earth is one supposed to travel without luggage?
Surely this is part of carrying a passenger. Ok - 250 pounds of extra boxes and junk I can understand, but ordinary luggage? Really??

As we were herded onto the plane I saw a nice sign from US Air, explaining that drinks and coffee are all now $2 per serving, and a small snack is $7. I opened their on-board magazine out of sheer boredom and read the note in the front from their CEO, explaining with his big smile that this was their new "you choose your level of service" strategy, and how it was going to make my whole US Air experience so much better. So, let me get this straight - $15 to check my baggage (per person, so that is actually $30) plus a drink for us each ($4) and a pathetic sandwich with a nice plastic spork for lunch ($14) equals a total of $48 (one way)
He's right - this is much better strategy than free. And they wonder why they are losing money.
When did Southwest - (remember them? the "discount, no frills") airline suddenly become the luxury option?

I wish the Captain would simply turn on the PA and state the following:
"Good morning folks, this is the captain speaking. Today's flight is going to suck - you are going to be cramped, freezing and uncomfortable, and our bathrooms are going to be extra nasty. You will probably have to sit next to some annoying passenger and pretend to be polite. We are going to rip you off with our pathetic cabin service and your luggage is likely already smashed in the cargo hold. We are definitely going to be late for your connecting flight, because I don't feel like making the plane go any faster. So, sit back, relax and enjoy your flight suckers"

And another thing - when are they going to update the Skymall magazine? Seriously, I see the same junk in there year after year.

Pictures from Arizona are here.


Sean.

Home Again

We are home. I'm already missing the 83 degree weather in Phoenix. We stepped off of the plane this evening in Philly and I almost suffered from frostbite. What a shock to the system! But as always, the vacation must come to an end. Sean and I had a fabulous time with my sister, brother-in-law and nephews. It was so wonderful to see them and spend some quality time together. We meandered around Old Town Scottsdale, took in the sights in Sedona, relaxed together, and strolled the streets of downtown Phoenix. Sean and I needed a little get-away and this was a perfect opportunity. Thank you, Lori, Michael and boys. Miss you already!

(P.S. There are photos of the trip. I'm married to Sean and his new camera, aren't I? He's editing them as I type. We'll post those later.)

A day in the life...

Marci and I took a little road trip yesterday. Not because we wanted to, but because I had to see a customer, 4 hours away from home. I knew it was going to be a long day in the car by myself (This happens a lot in my job) so I asked her if she wanted to come along for the ride. Originally, she turned me down, as the prospect of sitting in the car for that amount of time I'm sure wasn't that appealing, I could hardly blame her. We woke up the next day, and she told me that she had thought about it and decided she wanted to go.
Great! I was glad, we get to spend the day together, and I don't have to be all alone.

A funny thing happens to Marci when she goes for a long ride in the car. We usually start out chatting, listening to the radio. Then after about half an hour, she gets really quiet, and this straight ahead stare seems to creep its way onto her face. As I glance over occasionally, I can see that her long eyelashes are starting to slowly bob up and down, getting gradually lower and lower. I smile to myself. I know what is happening, I've seen this before time and again.
Then I offer the usual "Are you getting sleepy sweetheart?"
I always get the same response: " I'm getting sleepy, I think I need a nap"

Then, she pushes her seat back, folds her arms, takes a deep breath and lights out.
Invariably, her head falls to the right side and she's fast asleep.

This past trip yesterday, was a true testament to the power of the "sleeping car"
We left at 8 AM, and she was out by 8:30.
I took a picture.


Do you fall victim to this phenomenon?
She woke up around 35 mins. later, and told me I had to pull the car over at the nearest rest stop for a potty break. (That is another event that seems to happen on all our road trips)

Anyway, we had a great time. I helped fix a customers 140 ton crane, and 2 hours later we turned around made the trip home.

Back to Work

Well our weekend trip to Spruce Lake came to an end all too fast. We had a great time.
The weekend's activities included a nice hike (where I found a lovely little stream and waterfall) a good round of mini golf, and a visit to see some cute puppies.

Who could ask for anything more you may ask? Yes I know, us Steele's live on the edge.

Worthy of mention is the old, creepy, abandoned hotel we found. The old Buck Falls Inn. Once very much the place to be in the Poconos, now derelict and according to local lore, quite haunted.
Oooooooh.

You decide for yourself.

Click here to see the pics.

Camping - American style

Hi folks,

Marci and I are camping with her folks in Spruce Lake retreat in the Poconos Hills.

I say "hill's" beacuse most folks around here mistakedly call them the Poconos Mountains.

Newsflash, these are hills. I have seen and hiked real mountians, and these are definelty not really mountains.

Anyway, we are camping American style. Our camper is air conditioned, we have surround sound, and I am updating this blog via a wi-fi connection.

When I was a kid we camped with a tent, some firewood, a small trailer to pull behind the car and some hot dogs for food. If the weather was warm enough we would sleep under the stars, and listen to the sound of the wind gently breathing through the limbs of the pine trees.

We cooked dinner over the camp fire, and an old guitar usually provided the evening's entertainment. The days were spent hiking the in Drakensberg mountains, and drinking ice cold water straight from the pristine streams. (See above picture for clarifiaction on what a mountain looks like - that is the Drakensberg, in SA)

I treasure those days, they are great memories for me.

On another note, today I went for a hike to a lovely waterfall to take a few pictures. The hike back up the hill with my tripod slung over my shoulder was long and hot. The 87 degrees and humidity didnt help.

It felt really good to get back into the air conditioned camper......

Post vacation summary

It's been a while since I added to this blog, so here goes. Now that we are almost 3 weeks past our vacation, I have had some time to gather my thoughts and consider my observations.
1: 18 hours on a plane is about as exciting as going to a podiatrist.
2: Is it normal to be constantly saying to oneself, "hmmm, 3 weeks ago today we were......" followed by a sigh.
3: That nice relaxed feeling you have the first couple of days back to work, lasts for just that - a couple of days.
4: There is no place in the world like your own bed.

That's about it so far. At least, that is all I can think of at 10:36pm at night.

In other news, Marci and I bought a pool membership in our development. It's really nice, and after mowing the lawn in the 346 degree humidity this afternoon it was worth every penny.

I have also finally completed editing our pictures from the trip. Unfortunately the weather was against us. My dreams of a National Geographic - esque photographic envoy were not realized. This was a complete shame as Cape Town is so beautiful. We pretty much had rain the whole time. A trip out to Cape Point which has stunning natural vistas, seaside cliffs and ocean views was met by a thick fog that obscured visibility to a mere 30 feet in front of the car. The only vista I got was a picture of a stinky baboon, taken by Marci leaning out of the car window. Oh well, better luck next time I guess. I did manage to get some good shots. After weeks of editing, tweaking, adjusting and nitpicking at every picture (fellow photographers know what I mean) I have compiled a collection of my favorites. Check them out here. These are posted purely for artsy-farsty necessity and perhaps some self indulgence.
Enjoy.

South Africa

What a trip! Sean and I are now suffering post-vacation blues. We would love to be back in Cape Town, but reality calls.

Our adventure to the Mother Land, as Sean puts it, was fabulous. We started the journey with an 18 hour flight from JFK to Cape Town. We did have a layover in Dakkar, where we refueled and had a security inspection. However, we did not leave the plane. We arrived in Cape Town on Friday, June 13 and met Granny and Grandpa. After some tea, good conversation and good old South African bobotie for dinner, we headed to bed for much needed rest. The following morning, Granny and I joined Zonna and the girls for hair dos and giggles. Excitement was in the air! Later that afternoon, we celebrated Zonna and Steven's wedding. What fun! Those South Africans love to give speeches and they love their wine.

Here's the rest of the vacation in a nutshell:
Sunday, June 15: Lamb cookout at Annika and Martin's house (friends of Auntie Viv and Uncle Ron). Yum!
Monday, June 16: Scenic road trip to Calvinia with Granny and Grandpa for a visit with Auntie Viv, Uncle Ron and Arron at their hotel, Hantam Hotel.
Tuesday, June 17: Sean and I meandered around the small town of Calvinia. He finally got his biltong (jerky-type food. His was made from kudu). I got my mango juice. Tasty! Had a lovely dinner with the gang.
Wednesday, June 18: Headed back to Cape Town in the rain. Winter weather there. Sean and I checked out Tyger Valley Mall that evening. Had a delicious meal at Annapurna Indian restaurant. Probably the best we've ever had.
Thursday, June 19: Breakfast with Grandpa's brothers. Great to see them! Then Sean and I ventured out alone and booked a hotel at the waterfront. Walked along Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Shopped a bit and had dinner at Ferryman's Tavern. Braved the rain and wind again.
Friday, June 20: Drove all along the Cape peninsula. Saw beautiful cliffs, bays and beaches and a mangy baboon. Ate delicious fresh fish. Didn't get to see Cape Point due to heavy fog.
Saturday, June 21: More fog so we missed out on Table Mountain. Instead we headed out to Stellenbosch and found a lovely guest house to check into called the Villa Grande. Walked around the quaint town and had dinner at De Volkskombuis. More bobotie and chicken pie. Of course, the ever present bottle of wine and rooibos tea.
Sunday, June 22: Drove out the Stellenbosch wine route and checked out some wineries. Found my favorite Spier chardonnay and brought it home with me. Dinner at 1802.
Monday, June 23: Time to leave. Granny and Grandpa got us to the airport. We met Zonna and Steven for lunch (they were coming back from their honeymoon) in the airport. Sad goodbyes!
Tuesday, June 24: FINALLY arrived home at 11:15 a.m. after 24 hours of travel. Ahh, home!

Thank you to Granny, Grandpa, Zonna, Steven, Viv, Ron and Arron and all of the wonderful friends we met there. You made our stay extra special and we miss you already.

Check out all of the links for a bit of education and check out these photos . . . South Africa (Sean would like you all to know that Picasa doesn't do a great job displaying them. Unfortunately, the compression they use doesn't give photos the same quality that the originals . . . whatever that means).

Day After

For those of you who travel, you know that flying to and fro can pose some challenges . . . getting to the airport on time, standing in long lines for check in or security, going through customs in an efficient manner, dealing with other travelers, and most importantly: Sleeping on the plane! Luckily for Sean and I we had no trouble with any of the above mentioned experiences. Except that last one. It is the kicker and most important and necessary on a long flight. There is no way to get comfortable on a plane. I do believe we could now be considered contortionists after finding multiple sleeping positions throughout our 18 hour flight home. Yes, I said 18 hours! We left Cape Town, South Africa at 6:00 p.m. their time, so that would mean noon our Eastern Standard time. We flew all night with a stop over in Dakkar for refueling and a security check. Although we never got off of the plane. Then we headed on to JFK and arrived there at 6:30 a.m yesterday morning. After going through customs and claiming our baggage we jumped on the Air Train to take us to our long term parking lot. Finally, we pulled out and headed home around 8:00 a.m. and turned into our own driveway at 11:15 a.m. Which means we were traveling for about 24 hours. Ahh, home!

It is good to be home. I speak for Sean as well when I say that we feel like we've been hit by a truck. But it was all worth it. We had a fabulous couple of weeks in South Africa celebrating his cousin's wedding, spending time with family and taking in the sights. There will be more blogging on that later when we upload the photos. But for now, here are two fun shots of a mangy baboon we saw near Cape Point.

Return to the Motherland

Marci and I will be traveling to South Africa this summer.
YAAAAY for us!
It's been a good 15 years since my family left, and I decided that it was now or never.
(The other motivating factor was that I found airfares really cheap)
The best part is that I get to plan the whole trip. Marci told me last week that she just wants to go, and have it all organized.
This is awesome!
And so I have planned a week long trip across the Karoo desert on camelback.
(Don't tell her it is going to be a big surprise.)
Yeah right. Can you imagine? "We are doing what?" Followed by the look of death.
You know, the one all wives give their husbands when what they are trying to say is - "Have you lost your mind"
I used to get that look a lot when we first got married. Now I know when it is coming and I just start to laugh nervously, or do what all guys do and say "ha, ha, just joking" in the nick of time.

I have discovered that ladies like traveling away from home only on the following conditions:
1: Proximity to a working electrical outlet must be maintained.
2: Proximity to a working toilet, must also be maintained
3: An entire country must ensure that their electrical system will function with the grooming tools of choice - namely hairdryer, and curling iron. (Works in conjunction with rule #1)
4: A much larger then necessary suitcase is required, and non-negotiable.
5: Any overflow of luggage will require additional space in your luggage, also non-negotiable (see section a/addendum B "using sex as a bargaining tool")
6: Proximity to running water must be maintained at all times
7: Running water MUST be available in a heated configuration.

Men have few rules for travel. In fact, these are some of Sean's rules and tips.
1: Always carry on luggage. They cant lose it that way, and no checking baggage!!
2: Travel light - underwear can be turned inside out if necessary
3: If I forget it here, I can buy it there.
4: I don't want to talk to anyone on the plane, even pleasant old ladies. I just want to sit and be quiet and miserable like everyone else
5: Don't take shampoo or soap, the hotel will have plenty of that stuff. Then you don't have to put it in those little bags for security.
6: Always get the aisle seat, that way you can get up when you need to.
7: Check in online at home, print your boarding pass, and go right to security. No checking in. This has saved my butt from missing a flight countless times.
8: Always travel with earplugs. You never know when that broken old A/C in your hotel room is going to go click, click, click all night.
9: Essentials for any trip - your most comfy jeans, and an I-pod
10: Leave your parking stub in your car, under the visor. Once you get into the airport put your car keys in a secure place - for me usually in a pocket in my suitcase.
11: Remember your parking spot!! A handy trick I use is to send myself a text message with the space number. Nothing is worse than getting into a dark parking lot after a long flight and not remembering where you parked the car. I did this once on a cold, snowy night, and walked the lot for 45 mins in my business shoes and dress pants. Never again. This way you store the number on your cell phone and voila.

There you go.
I am looking forward to spending time just with my wife. Once we see all our family, Marci and I are going to head out in to the eastern cape for 3 days, just us.
We are going up the garden route (google it if you want) after we spend some treasured time with my grandparents, and my family.

I will be sure to post a very informative blog after our trip!

Sean.

Some info on Cape Town
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town

Vegas, Baby!!

I spent a few days last week in Las Vegas. A group of us from work attended Conexpo 2008 Basically the largest construction equipment convention in the galaxy. We flew out last wednesday, and I came home on saturday. To say that the convention was rather large would be a complete understatement. Massive, gargantuan, completely impressive would be words better suited to describe the show, it was awesome. It took 2 days of solid walking to see everything I needed to see, and I still didn't see everything.
Needles to say that by the end of it, I was pretty tired.

We also had an opportunity to spend some time walking around 'Vegas.
What an experience that was, so here are my observations.

1: Las Vegas was built by an alien civilization, determined to extract as much money as possible from the human race. They needed this money to help re-finance the unfolding sub-prime mortgage disaster on their own planet.
2: The aliens have also constructed some kind of time altering mechanisim flux capacitor thingy that makes time, well, irrelevant. (That way you spend more money)
3: Elvis apparently has many brethren that look just like him. My opinion is that they are undercover alien FBI agents, keeping an eye on us humans.
4: The alien logistics, and zoning committee that picked the site for Las Vegas construction did a lousy job. Somehow, they picked the middle of the desert. Don't they know we humans require large amounts of water for survival?
5: After the Chief of the zoning committee was fired for this mistake, they just built Hoover dam, and solved that problem. Ah - free electricity too!!! Brilliant!!!
6: During the test and market research phase of their project, they also discovered that as long as you have cocktail waitresses feeding the humans free alcohol, they tend to keep putting more and more money into their slot machine-money collection systems.
7: Make it big and shiny, with lots of sparkly lights and neon, and the humans just keep coming back!!! Moohahahah.....

Well, it seems to be working - quite well actually.
I was almost suckered in, until I hit a 777 on the 25c slot machine, and took them for $12.50.
HAHAHAHA.
I got my money out before they could get any more of it. Take that you freaks.

So, also thanks to my company for putting us up in a very swanky hotel. I have vowed to return someday, I just find those big neon lights strangely attractive.....

Sean.

The Venetian, outside




Caesars Palace (E.T. HQ)

Phoenix

The sun was high but the temperature was not. I thought Phoenix, Arizona was supposed to be warm. But when my mom and I arrived there the day after Christmas, it was only about 50-something. That didn't bother us too much because we were there to see my sister, my new brother-in-law and my crazy nephews. My sister didn't tell the boys we were coming. So when she pulled up to the curb at the airport, the 7-year-old sees my mom and starts yelling "Momma!" They were so excited to see us, and we were thrilled to finally hug them. It's not always easy having family across the country, especially with the boys growing up so fast.

We spent a lovely 5 days with them in their new house. My mom and I took the boys with us as we did some sightseeing. If you ever head out that way, I highly recommend a trip to Sedona. It's breathtaking. My photos do not do it justice. The rocks are just red and amazing. The variety cactuses (you don't have to say "cacti" anymore) were neat to see. The architecture of the homes and buildings was interesting since it's so different than back east. The southwest flare is everywhere. I really enjoyed Old Town Scottsdale as well and it's quaint cowboy-esque and southwestern buildings and shops.

Our vacation ended quickly and I already miss the boys. But it's back to reality.

Click here to see the photos from the trip . . . Phoenix

Thankful

I am so thankful that we were able to go to San Jose for Thanksgiving. Glen and Amy opened Hotel Steele for the 6 Steele's and our friend Steve. Sean and I had a very smooth trip out to California on Wednesday and stayed until Monday morning, when we took a very early flight back home. The days included wandering around Los Gatos, eating a very yummy turkey, a visit to Trader Joes so I could get my favorite chocolate truffles, snacking and drinking tea, a day in San Francisco, a little wine tasting at several local wineries, the Body Worlds exhibit at the San Jose Tech Museum, and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory near Santana Row. Besides all of the tourist-y activities, we enjoyed family (and Steve) time back at house, while the men rocked at Guitar Hero. Amy and I made a valiant attempt, but were booed off by the cyber-fans on the game. As it always is, vacations must come to an end. Sadly, Sean and I made the trek back home with ease. It wasn't until we got our car and started the drive home from the Baltimore airport that we experienced any delays. We hit rush hour traffic on the beltway. Welcome back to reality!

Thanks, Glen and Amy, for a wonderful time.

Click here for some photos of our trip . . . Thanksgiving Vacation

Spruce Lake

Sean and I spent 5 days in the Poconos at Spruce Lake Retreat. My family has been vacationing there since I was three years old, although we did take a summer off here and there for other trips. But Spruce Lake has been a big part of my growing up years. My mom's sisters, their husbands, my cousins and now their children also have been camping there for years. We have so many memories of playing together on the playground, swimming in the pool, paddle boating, hiking back to the Wilderness Camp, watching fireworks, sitting around a campfire, eating ice cream and candy in the snack shop, making mountain pies, and playing games in the sun room. I can think of many more memories of the things we used to do, but that would take too long to list them here.

My cousin Patti and I then

My cousin Patti and I now

I knew Sean would enjoy the restful, relaxing atmosphere, so after my 12 year hiatus from the campground I took him back last year. We had so much fun, that we made the trip again this year and mooched sleeping quarters in the camper off of my parents. Roughin' it in my parents' air conditioned, TV ready, surround sound equipped camper is my kind of camping. Click here for some family snapshots and beautiful scenery. Spruce Lake Pics

Meheeco..

Last month, we took a five day trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The best part about the entire thing, besides the stunning weather, warm pool, and free pina coladas was that the whole trip was free!! Thats right, free. Did I mention it was free?

Our sales team at work won some sort of contest (I'm actually not to sure how we won it) and the prize was 5 days in Cabo. Highlights included a boat ride to "Los Arcos" - a huge arch out in the ocean, blowing glass, and a tasting of what is possibly the worlds most hideous tequila. We stayed at the "Melia Cabo Real" resort - translated, I think that means "come here and do nothing for 5 days" in Mexican. We had just a short walk to the beach, and spend a lot of time swimming from the edge of the pool to the swim up bar.

If you ever visit Cabo, be sure to attend "Cabo Wabo" - Ex Van Halen lead singer's club. Great place. Next stop on the tour has to be a small bar called "The Giggling Marlin." This is an, ahem interesting place to say the least. We'll just leave it at that.

I took a bunch of pictures, so click on the link to see Mexico Pics