Sisterly Fun

A couple weeks ago Sissy and I went on an adventure to NYC to see our baby sister. She is living in Rye and working as a nanny for 4 totally cute kids (a 5 year old boy and 2 year old triplet boys!). Our plan was to take the all-nighter on Thursday so we could maximize our vacation time. It would be a novel, that I am sure no one wants to read, if I wrote all the details of the trip. So I will just give the highlights from each day.

Day 1, Thursday
- The first challenge of the trip was actually getting on the planes since we were going standby. I made it to SLC, step one complete. We enjoyed a wonderful parade of about 50 kids in full Scottish kilt attire while we waited for our flight! We both made it on the flight to JFK, even ended up in first class, step two complete! We didn't sleep too much, but that didn't matter.

Day 2, Friday
- Sis and I successfully navigate the train and subway and get to our hotel. It was too early to actually check in, so we left our bags there and wandered around the city
- Seeing Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall, Garmet District
- We caused a scene when we had a celebrity sighting. "Oh my God!! It's him!!" I yelled like a total tourist when Matt Lauer was heading to his car.
- Finally checked into the hotel, changed clothes and headed for the train to go out and meet Jess in Rye. Along the way we had to transfer at Grand Central, and it was as huge as I had imagined.
- We had fun meeting Tanya (the mom) and the kids Jess watches. It is a cute little town with a claim to fame. The dock where they filmed Big is not far from the house Jess lives in!
- After playing in Rye we headed back to the city. We were staying on the 34th floor, and noticed that there was a "balcony" outside the window. Really it was probably just decorative as there was no door, but that did not stop us. Out the window we climbed. We enjoyed the awesome view, however, it turned out to be much more difficult to get back in without the heat vent to climb on. We made it back in after a lot of laughter, and I somehow was the only one injured. I am happy to report that my 3+ inch dark ugly bruise is almost healed now!
- Later we took the Staten Island Ferry out and back. It was awesome to see the city from the water and of course the great view of the Statue of Liberty.




















Day 3, Saturday
- Taking in the craziness of Times Square.
- A homeless man called me a lesbian! WHAT!
- Central Park! The park was huge and sadly there was no time to see everything.
- American Museum of Natural History. Again I was overwhelmed by the size of this place. Everything was awesome though. The two best parts were the Hayden Sphere (It totally blew our minds!) and the pterodactyl.
- Walking around after the museum we had our first real scare in NYC. Mugger? Nope. Car wreck? Not even close. It was a SQUIRREL and it fell out of a tree and just about hit Sissy in the head! We all almost had to change our pant cause we were laughing too hard. In retaliation, Jess later tried to kick a pigeon.
- We enjoyed a sweet treat at Tasti D Lite. As I had never seen it, I was informed that this is where the girls from Sex in the City go in the show.
- St. Patrick's Cathedral was amazing!!
























Day 4, Sunday
- Ground Zero. It was totally surreal to be there and think about how long it has been since 9-11. We walked around the whole construction site where they are building the memorial. They also have a memorial museum set up with video about building the WTC towers, items that were recovered from the wreckage, pictures and stories of those who lost their lives and letters of sympathy from people all around the world. It was very touching and I could not even begin to imagine what it was like to be there on that day.
- Many sights to see close by - New York Stock Exchange building, Federal Hall and Canal Street.
- Empire State Building. The view was awesome and we got there right before sunset so it got better by the minute.
- Back to Times Square at night to see all the lights.

























Day 5, Monday
- Guggenheim Museum. It was cool, but I discovered that I don't have nearly as much appreciation for art as Jess and Sis do. Go figure!
- Crumbs! Holy moly, this was the most delicious cupcake ever.
- Lots of souvenir shopping.
- Very long subway ride back to the airport.

It was such a great trip and I loved getting to spend time with the sisters. Sadly it doesn't happen too often anymore now that we live in 3 states across the country from eachother. I love you both! Thanks Jessie for letting us come visit. I took tons of pictures, so see more of New York City.

On Vacation at Home

Since most of my time in the last few months (and for the rest of the year) has been spent on an island off the coast of California, it does seem like I am on vacation when I return "home" to Portland. So, I am now half way through my 6 days off and decided to share a few photos from my last trip.

Although summer has set in on island and most of the vegetation is withering in the heat, the cactus are in bloom adding some great color to the landscape.

About the size of a small lap dog, the California state threatened Island Fox enjoys a nice foot rub first thing in the morning.

Our project is expected to continue through the remainder of the year, more fox pictures to follow. I am back out on Thursday, not to return until the end of August. Also, I will continue to add additional pictures to this gallery.

Florence on the 4th

Last weekend I headed down to Florence, OR to spend the 4th with my aunt and uncle. Jake was out of town and sitting at home on a holiday did not sound like fun. Since I had Friday off work I packed up and made it to Florence by about 2. We had some lunch and it was time for Uncle Larry's nap. So Nana took me on a tour of town, down to the beach and to Old Town to see many of her favorite shops. It was a cute little coast town with all the mom and pop shops along the river. We went back home just in time for cocktail hour. Their friend Rick came over and had a drink with us. At this point I noticed that my aunt and uncle are officially more "with it" than I am. Indeed they own a Wii, and I was one of the few people in the world that had not yet played. So we decided that it was time for me to give it a shot. As it turns out, the Wii is quite fun!! This was only the first of many times that we played. After a couple drinks and a bit of bowling action, it was time to go to dinner. We went to Waterfront Depot down on the river. It was delicious!

We were beyond full and it was almost bed time, but not before a little more Wii. Seriously, I think I might need to purchase one now!

The morning of the 4th was quiet, just breakfast and Uncle Larry washing the cars. We went down to the river to watch the duck race and check out the street fair. We enjoyed some lunch and it was back to home before the rest of the excitement. In the afternoon the Elk's Club was having a car show and dinner. There were a bunch of really neat old cars. After checking out the cars we headed in to the bar for a couple drinks. Sadly, we lounged around too long and they sold out of the dinners. So it was on to plan B, the restaraunt/bar in the same parking lot. Turns out they were closed for the holiday. Plan C was finally the winner - Jerry's Place. This place did not see us coming! Little did they know that Nana and Larry (in their 60's/70's) could be such a wild bunch. A few drinks later it was Keno time, and Larry won big, so he had to ring the bell and buy a round for the bar!

We met quite a few friends that night. There was Jimbo the Chef and former mayor of Cold Bay, AK. Kimmy, who told Rick he was not her type, but who took quite a liking to Nana, and a couple fishermen who enjoyed a shot that was on fire! Needless to say we had a good time. After all the fun could be had at the bar, we headed home. Even though it was getting late, we decided to bust out the dominoes. Turns out that I also quite enjoy dominoes!

We did not bother trying to see the fireworks that night because it was going to be very crowded and the fog had rolled in so you would not be able to see much anyway. Overall it was a great 4th.

Sunday it was time to go back to the real world. I hit the road around noon and was taking the coast highway home to see the sights. I stopped a few times to take some pics of the view, and then was on the road. Unfortunately, everyone else and their brother were also heading home and had decided to take the coast highway. It was stop and go through all of the little towns, but I figured it would pick up when we turned inland. Wrong. It slowed all the way to a stop instead. This provided a lot of time to take pics of the mountain we were driving up. It also settled it that my next car would be an automatic. Stop and go traffic all the way up and then back down a mountain sure does wear out your leg! What was supposed to be a 3.5 hour drive turned into a 5.5 hour trek! But I made it.

It was a great weekend and I enjoyed spending time with Nana and Uncle Larry. From now on I will take I-5!

Here are more pictures from the weekend.