HAPPY HOLLOWEEN

SNOW!!

YUCK......What More can I say

FUNGUS AMONG US

Click below to see ALLIE and the Giant Mushroom

http://www.travellogonline.net/images/P1030473.JPG

More corruption by Sarah Palin

The backstory to Sarah Palin's accusations against her former brother-in-law, Trooper Mike Wooten, reveals how Palin and her family have shown utter disregard for wildlife - unless it can be used to her political advantage! According to the Troopergate investigation, Palin's sister Molly got a permit and invited her then-husband, Trooper Wooten, to join her on a moose hunting trip. When it came time to actually shoot the moose, Molly had no interest and asked Wooten to take the shot - even though it is illegal to shoot an animal under someone else's permit. After the shooting, the Wootens brought the moose to Palin's father for him to butcher. Sarah Palin and her family had no issue with asking Wooten to illegally kill the moose under his wife's permit, nor did they have a problem butchering or eating it. But once Sarah Palin decided she could use the moose killing to attack her former brother-in-law, she did. Palin needs to know: Moose are not political pawns - they are majestic animals and deserve to be treated humanely!
sign petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/802901064?z00m=17436909

Palin as president

You have to check out this link!!!!!!!!!!!!
You should click on objects more than once. eg click on the door 3 different times.
Enjoy......
http://www.palinaspresident.com

Will get some hawaii updates soon

Maui WOWIE

Having a great time in Maui. Time is going by so fast. No internet in the condo. There is wireless in the lobby which is a pain to get to.

Dreaming of MAUI AHHH!!!!!

Dreary OCT weekend.

The weekend weather did not turn out to be a nice as they said it would be. Lots of clouds once again. Sunday we went to Angelica to close the camper. It was an ok day for a drive and the fall colors were nice.

We went to start closing the camper, when Emma decided that it was time to go for a walk. She was determined this time that she would go all the way to then end of the road. She really did not give us much of a choice. She made it pretty good, although on the way back her foot did spasm a few times. A couple of min of rest and she was ready to go. Allie and the the other 2 girls ran around like maniacs. She was pooped most of the night. On the way back to the cabin, Emma once again expressed her dominance and insisted on going into the pond. She swam for a while, and left the pond covered in mud!!!

Is Dolly Parton really Dead???

Trapped!!!

2 more squirrels are now gone. Well one was removed today and the other is still up on the roof in the trap eating peanuts.

Allie is much less stinky but still as an odor de pepe.

First day of fall

The first day of fall was kind of a bust yesterday. The weather was beautiful, sunny and cool. However, I left work early(Mon) with a GI bug. It is Tuesday Pm and I was finally able to keep some rice down. So in the last 48 hours I have had 1 and a half pieces of toast and some gator aid. This was all accompanied by a 101 fever. Very nice.

I did venture out this eve and went to pet smart to get some skunk odor remover. I think it made Allie smell worse. I will let you now once it is completely dry.

Oh yeah and you can tell its fall because in the cooler weather Emma has taken over the couch again.

Smells like a flower.....yeah right!!!!!!

About 9 pm on Friday eve I let Allie out the back door. It was very dark. She leaped off the deck and onto the back of a SKUNK!!! The poor thing was sprayed directly in the face. She was very stunned and started foaming at the mouth immediately. When I let her in the house she ran all over spreading the wonderful aroma. I washed her in the sink, but I was afraid that the irritant may interfere with her breathing. I called the emergency vet clinic. They gave me the recipe to cut the smell, but then they said don't out it on her face. WELL that was the only place that stunk.

So now (Sat am) the house smells worse than she does. My favorite "lounging" shirt needs to be burned along with a few towels. Allie appears to be pretty unfazed. Oh yeah... my hands smell nice and pretty too!!!!!! Maybe the skunk was pissed that we took his squirrel friends away.

More on the Squirrels

As of Friday evening we have trapped one large female and three juvenile squirrels. There is another young squirrel hanging around that we would like to trap as well. All the critters have not been harmed. They were taken to the Syracuse area to be released. I guess that really would be a long way for them to find their way back. All four corners of the dormers no have one way escape hatches on them. There were no traps set over the weekend, so any squirrels caught would not have to be stuck in the trap until Monday. From the picture you can see how large of a hole those suckers have chewed. This was hidden behind the soffit which is soft vinyl. There were able to squeeze though the vinyl like a self closing door. They were nice an cosy.

I am on the back deck, and the border patrol helicopter keeps flying over. Maybe some of those scary Canadians sailed over across the lake!!! A?

Some info for those who may be interested in protecting wildlife

WASHINGTON-- Senator John McCain just announced his choice for running mate: Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. To follow is a statement by Rodger Schlickeisen, president of Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund.

“Senator McCain’s choice for a running mate is beyond belief. By choosing Sarah Palin, McCain has clearly made a decision to continue the Bush legacy of destructive environmental policies.

“Sarah Palin, whose husband works for BP (formerly British Petroleum), has repeatedly put special interests first when it comes to the environment. In her scant two years as governor, she has lobbied aggressively to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, pushed for more drilling off of Alaska’s coasts, and put special interests above science. Ms. Palin has made it clear through her actions that she is unwilling to do even as much as the Bush administration to address the impacts of global warming. Her most recent effort has been to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to remove the polar bear from the endangered species list, putting Big Oil before sound science. As unbelievable as this may sound, this actually puts her to the right of the Bush administration.

“This is Senator McCain’s first significant choice in building his executive team and it’s a bad one. It has to raise serious doubts in the minds of voters about John McCain’s commitment to conservation, to addressing the impacts of global warming and to ensuring our country ends its dependency on oil.”

###

The Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund (www.defendersactionfund.org) provides a powerful voice in Washington to Americans who value our conservation heritage. Through grassroots lobbying, issue advocacy and political campaigns, the Action Fund champions those laws and lawmakers that protect wildlife and wild places while working against those that do them harm.

One Squirrel down

Darn!!!! Why did I hire critter ridder??? I should have just invited Sarah Palin over for a town meeting. She would have caught those squirrels and cooked 'em up.
Last night 2 squirrels were displaced from their home in my attic. Ratty tail, was on the roof this am when I left for work, but I have been informed that he is in the trap now.


The picture in the posting below did not transfer. Click on the header to see it.

Palin and wildlife

Squirrels in the attic and Bats in the belfry

So we had a critter ridder company come out today to give an estimate on getting rid of the squirrels. A squirrel ate its way though the wall and stuck its head out the hole to look around the living room Tuesday eve. I stuffed the hole with a paper towel soaked in hot sauce. Later that night Chris fill the hole in with expanding foam to solve the problem temporarily.
Well not only do we have squirrels in the attic....there is a BAT COLONY!!!!!!!!!! no wonder why I had the 2 in the house this summer. The bats will have to stay a while since they will cost and extra 1000.00 to remove.

Happy Birthday ALLIE.

ITS ALLIES FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unsure who to vote for?... Watch this.

If you can't watch this then you can not vote for any ticket with Palan on it!!!!

Montana

The montana pictures are now posted above.

EMMA update

Emma was at the vet yesterday. All is well other than her arthritis. She had blood work done(senior profile) and all is normal there as well. Just need to keep her moving as much as possible.

She's getting OLD!!!

It's LYNN'S B-DAY!!!!!!

Updates

Made some updates to the site today. Chris' hallo bay experience pics are now complete. There are a few new pet pics and some late summer flower garden pictures. Will be working on the Montana pictures over the next few days.

WHAT IS GOING ON????????

I Down loaded the site to my laptop and then had to re publish. Now I have an older version of the home page. A few links are missing too. The only real damage I see is that the Mid July garden pictures are missing.

I hope to have most of the site corrected tonight and then start updating.

The weary hikers

Taken on the last day of our trip as we headed to the airport. Our legs were still pretty sore from the 14 mile hike 2 days earlier. Taken at St Mary's Lake in front of wild goose Island. Hope to have some pictures up by the end of the week. The lap top seems to be working better. I think one of the many windows updates fixed what ever problem I was having. One of the Mcaffe updates must have allowed the hijacker virus to be removed since that is no longer a problem either.

KOA WI-FI not so Good

The wi-fi at the Koa campground did not work very well. For the first few days there was a problem with their system. After that was fixed, the connection was so slow that it was impossible due due anything. Any way, back to the old grind now but had a wonderful time.

Bear pictures

I got about half of Chris' bear pictures posted.
I will also try and do some updates on the Blog from glacier. The camp ground has WI FI.... Will have to see how that works out.

Times goes by......

August is flying by very fast. Less than 48 hours before we start our Glacier adventure. Lots to do before we go.

I hope to get Chris' Hallo bay pictures posted. I have a few the link operational soon. I have tones of other misc pictures to post too. Need to clear all the Memory cards before heading out too.

Today I need to get the dogs on their extended camping trip....for dog sitting purposes. Will add more later and let everyone know what has been added to the web site.

P.S. Check out Whywework.com. Andy and Jen have some great pics from their recent trip to glacier in early July. I hope we have less snow and no blisters.

Week of First's

This week was full of firsts.

While camping last weekend Chris got his first bee sting.

Allie slept in the camper for the fist time. She did not sleep too well. She kept on moving around from me to Chris to Emma.

I got my first case or strep throat. Painful and feel like crap. Pretty much slept the past 2 days away.

....IMAGINE THE THRILL OF IT......

I really like this photo a lot. It gives you some sense of what it is like to be out photographing the bears at Hallo Bay.

Just the camera lens between and these magnificent animals. Although it can't be done...Try and imagine this guy just walking in font of you. The adrenaline rush is like nothing else. Which way will he go next?

Another crappy weekend here. Just been sitting in from of the computer going through some files and getting rid of or condensing old pictures. I did make a few updates in Friends and family and the pets page.

LINK FIXED

OPPS!!!

The link to the mid July Garden pictures is incorrect. I will fix it tonight. Sorry

THE BEAR

It finally happened!!! A large black bear has raided the bird feeders at the family cabin in Angelica NY. My father called last night about 9pm and the bear was there just eating away. Many people have said that there are a lot of bears in the area, but we never have seen any. Hopefully he will hang around the area a bit.

Speaking of bears. I have been after Chris to sort though the 800 bear pictures on the computer. So far he has not gone through too many. I would like to get them posted soon.

I have a few more garden/flower pictures that I hope to get posted later today.

July is well under way!!!

We are quickly moving through the month the 7th already!! We finally had a weekend that was nice. No rain or thunderstorms, but bright sunshine.

The garden is blooming very nicely and the first Humming bird of the season made an appearance. I did post a few of the garden pictures under the friends and family page.

Chris is back from bear camp. I will need to start working on getting some of those pictures posted.

Not transfering.

Well it looks like the last posting did not transgfer. This happens every once in a while and I have not idea why. So I will post this and see if it helps to push things along.
.........another rainy weekend.......................

Could have been a stinky Situation

I first encounter this fellow last night when walking the dogs. He was under a parked car. Emma went after him. I pulled her to fast on the leash that she fell over. Poor girl. Then this am before out walk I spotted him right across the street. Look at that bushy tail!!!!!! I dont want to know how Hi he can lift it.

Emma and I had one encounter a few years go where we both got sprayed. I dont want to go though that again.

Garden Starting to take off.

Side Yard

Small Pond
BACK YARD

COOKIES

Here are a few pics I took of the cookies a coworker made for me. I kinda yelled at her for some mistakes she was making..... This was her way of apologizing. What a sport and baker!!!!!!!

Taken with cell phone.

Going Batty!!!!!

So I am working on the Paris Pictures and I keep
Hearing this noise either in the wall by the fire place. I think oh great another squirrel that is going to die and stink.
The cats keep trying to get on the mantel. Then
I hear the mirror kinda shaking. I can see nothing. A little later I look up and the is the BAT. Hanging up side down on the mirror.

I take a few pictures then it starts flying around. It was wild!!!! Flying darting every where. So now I have 4 animals chasing it all over the house. Dogs are barking. I am laughing and ducking on the floor. At least I don't have much hair for it to get caught in lol I am like how am I ever going to catch this thing. It reminded my of my childhood because we always had a few bats each summer get into the house.

First I try a towel....No good just makes the bat fly more wildly. Finally I spot a cover to a plastic tub. After another 10 min or so here was the result.

Where is he?

I think the girls are looking for Chris. Every little noise and they look to the side window for his car headlights.

Learning to swim

I worked diligently last night and almost have all the Paris pictures uploaded. It is very funny that many of the movies or things I have watched on TV have had Paris in them. Kinda was in awe....Wow I was there.

Allie is starting to like the water. Granted the pool water is very warm right now, so not such a great shock to her little bod. She watched my and Emma swimming around chasing her aqua dog and started to whine. I got in a tube and floated to the side she climbed right on board. We played fetch going after the aqua dog with Allie riding on the tube. Boy did Emma swim fast if we got close to it before she did.

I then started lowering Allie into the water and let her swim for a few seconds while I held her up. She didn't seem to mind and we did It a few times. I may get her a little life vest and see how she does.

I also need to get some pictures of the garden uploaded to the site soon.

It is really amazing at how fast this weekend went by..... Saturday we took a ride down to the family cabin. It was nice because it cooled down nicely in the country. Allie was pretty funny running around all over the place, trying to get the other dogs to chase her.

When we got home Sunday It was time for swim. I got in the pool first to through Emma's toy. She jumped in immediately after it. Next thing I know I hear this chug a chug a sound. Allie had jumped in behind her. She paddled her way towards me, I directed to her to the stairs. She then sat on the deck kinda dazed. I don't know if she meant to go in or not. Later when I was floating in a tube I did get her to ride along. The first time she was shaking, second time OK. It was funny because Emma barley makes a sound when swimming and Allie was so loud. Will see If I can get her in the water today. At least she got a good bath.

Quick Update.

Chris' passporst is safe and secure...... I was teasing him about saying he may go to Europe this winter with Hallo Bay.

TOO HOT

As every one can see above Chris made it to bear camp. He emailed me and said that yesterday he was helping to build new stairs from the beach up to camp. At least when he gets home he will now how to build new stairs for the front entry way. No Excuses.....

Friday the temperature was unbearable here. 94 in the shade in my yard. The humidity and air quality was so bad, you could not even stand to get in the pool. At least this morning there is a nice breeze, but 83 already. (930am) No air stagnation. Emma is already looking at the pool steps like come on already let me in.



The garden is taking off like crazy... About time. I now for those of you who emailed me about the Pairs pictures. I need to finish them up.

This is a picture of the stairs Chris is rebuilding up to camp
From the beach. When we were there last year we had to trudge up the hill. only basic remnants of stairs were left.

Picture From www.hallobay.com

WAITING!!!!

I am looking for Chris, Has anyone seen him yet?
Are you here?

still no news!!!!! Ya think he could have taken 5 min to email us.

Productive Thursday AM

No word from Chris last night. I guess that means he is at the camp In Katmai.

Woke up early this Am with lots of Energy for some reason. Hope I don't crash at work later. Did a load of laundry, walked the dogs, feed the koi, showered...all before 630am. I guess the weather is going to turn hot today. For the last 2 days the lake breeze has kept us about 10-15 degrees cooler than the city. Last night the thermometer read 52 in the yard the TV said 67.

WED PM update

I guess they are waiting for a 6 pm Alaska time weather update. They are going to try and make it out because there is a low coming in from Russia that could impact weather for the next 4-5 days. For right now It is a go. Chris will leave a message on the machine for me if he did not fly out.

I will update in the morning.

Not Looking good!!!

The view from the Homer web cam.... Not looking to good!!! There should be mountains and glaciers in the picture as well as the entire Homer Spit.

This cam is located at the Owners of Hallo Bay's house.

Alaska update (wed)

Chris called He has reached Homer Alaska. So far he is scheduled to fly to bear camp this afternoon. There will be a 21 foot high tide soon. Once the tide recedes the bush plane will be able to land on the beach.

I will update you once he calls and says he is ready to take off. After that only communication will be via email.

Chris is off to bear camp...Finally

After a few day delay (was supposed to leave on Friday) Chris is on his way to Bear camp. He left this morning about 1030 and will not get into Anchorage until 1030 pm(230am) our time. He is taking the milk run route. Rochester to Cleveland to Detroit and finally to Anchorage.

He will be staying the night in Anchorage at the cheapest motel we could find. 156.oo per night. In the Morning he will fly down to Homer. If all goes well he may make it to Hallo bay on Tuesday, If not then Wednesday. It is all weather dependent.

I will be setting up Chis' blog area on the home page tonight. He will not be able to do any updates until he gets out to bear camp.

Last week we finally go the chance to see Wicked, It was very good, but I was a bit disappointed in how different it was from the book.

I will keep everyone updated on the progress of Chris' trip and his arrival at bear Camp.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

So far the weekend had been very nice. We were able to get a few of the major projects done.
The pool is open
the Screen house is up
The Majority of th plants have been transplanted.
We enjoyed good company every night. Last night had the first fire of the season.

Today they are calling for afternoon thundestorms. So not sure how much more we will get done today.

I am still having problems with the lap top. what ever hijacker I have is tough to get rid of, and it is really slowing the whole system down. I may have to take the compter.

Hope everyone has a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BIG BIRD

The extra large blue heron is Back!!!!! He is once again terrorizing my gold fish pond. As of yet he has not entered into the koi pond. So once again the beautiful ponds are covered with netting. its funny because he did not appear last year. He must be on an every other year cycle.

I am slowly working on the Paris pictures.... There are just so many to sort through and then re size for the web page. Hopefully on a few more days.

Special Day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA LU DOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Today Emma is 12!!!!! We are going to make her a nice bowl of pasta and a side salad for her birthday dinner. Those are her favorites.

The Cruise pages are up. There may be a few additions later. Working on adding the Paris pictures over the next few days.

Can not upload pictures

Ok, so I did a spy bot scan on my computer yesterday. Now I an not able to access the program that allows me to upload and change the main part of the web page. Hopefully tonight I can re-install the program and that will take care of things. Will keep you posted.

Cruise pictures almost ready

If every thing goes well today I will have the cruise pictures up and running. Some of the picture captions may be delayed a bit longer. I am hoping to have the pictures from the Paris portion of the trip on by Sunday night. I didn't realize how many pictures I took in Paris.

I guess the weather is not going to be too nice over the next few days, so I hope to get most of the computer work done. I have a bunch or previous travel pictures scanned, and they need to end up on here as well in the near future.

BACK TO THE GRIND

We have been back for 5 days now. It is already starting to feel like we had no time off at all. I went back to work on Thursday AM, Chris on Friday. Over the week end tired to get some gardening done, but it was a slow process.

I am working on getting pictures on the web page. I hope it will be running by the end of the week. I also still have to get the email list compiled and mailed to every one.

Started giving some thought for a Cruise next April. There is a nice eastern Med one that looks interesting.

Paris Day 3

Paris day #3
Oh my aching feet. We walked quite a bit today. Some of the metro stations are lager than airport terminals. We hoped the metro in the morning and headed to the land of the dead at the Paris catacombs. We walked down a very narrow spiral stair case made of stone. 186 steps down. We walked in dimly lit under ground passage ways until we encountered the land to the dead. Millions of bones pilled high. It was very interesting. We then had to climb only 86 steps out of the crypt. At the top of the winding stairs was the only defibulator I say in Europe.
Next we had a 17€ lunch at chez McDonalds. Then we took a very long metro ride to the Arc De Triomph, Then we waked down the entire Champ-Elysees. We stopped in a few shops along the way. We had some chocolate and banana crepes. Once at the bottom we crossed the river and Headed to Les Invalides. This complex is still a working veterans hospital as well as any army museum and holds Napoleon’s Tomb. The tomb was actually very interesting and best of all it was cool inside. The weather has continued to be in the mid 80s and sunny.
Right down the street was the Rodin museum. We toured only the garden area which was in full bloom, and saw the major sculptures like the thinker and the gates of hell.
It was no about 4pm, so we hoped on metro for the last time and Hit the Orsay Museum. We concentrated on, Van Gogh, Monet and Whistler. We then walked back to the apartment. Rested for about 45 and headed out to see where we needed to go in the AM to catch the bus to the airport. We also need toilet paper, we had been surging for, for quite a while.
Found the bus stop in 10 min. no stores with TP though. Madonna was in town and we ran into the crowds out side where she was performing. Finally found the TP but they did not give us a bag. So we had to go back to the apartment to but it away. Chris had to use it right away only to find out that it was paper towels and not TP.
We headed out and found a store that had the real deal. They were open late so we went to eat first. I was tired and my feet hurt so we picked the first place that looked good. Believe it or not we had one of out best and cheapest meals directly across from the louvre.
We had Vine, and amazing French onion soup. We split an order of escargots( in the shell), quiche lorrain, club sand which, a side of fries. For dessert Chris had some chocolate lady finger thingy. All this was only 41€!!!!
We picked up our TP and headed home. We packed and of to bed.

WED AM
Up at 5am Paris time.
Roissey bus to Charles deGaul Airport.
Flight to Newark. And here I sit waiting for my fight to Buffalo.
I consider this trip Over :(

second day in Paris

PARIS DAY#2
What a fast day. Paris is a beautiful city, and from what we have seen so far very clean. In the Metro there is not a scrape of garbage. At least at this time of year there is no smell either.
The Day started with us catching the metro to the Picasso museum. We were there for a little over an hour. It was very interesting, I did not know that he worked in many different mediums. We then walked back toward the river and crossed on to the Isle St Luis.
We found the cheapest café we could find. We had 2 “chez beregers” and a glass of wine a piece. Only 31€. We then crossed onto another island and the went through Notre Dame. It was a very interesting church put was over shadowed by the Vatican.
Next we traveled via metro to the Luvre. We managed to hit most of the major Items I wanted to see. We spent a little over 2 hours and we really only covered one wing. After trying to find the exit for some time we headed home. We rested for about an hour and a half.
We then headed to the efiel tower. We took the metro again to help save on some of the walking. The line for tickets was not too long and moved quickly. We then traveled up the tower by elevator.
After coming down we sat in the park in front of the tower. We waited for the light show to start at 9pm. I guess it was not dark enough yet because nothing happened. The first show must be a 10.
We left and took the metro toward the flat.
We had vine, chips and ham and cheese baguette.

PARIS

Well me have made it to Paris safely. However at a great cost. To make a long story short. I paid to have an extra suit case when I booked my tickets on line. What I did not understand, because it is writen poorly is that, you can have and extra suit case(for a fee) But it does not allow you to bring extra weight????? Then why did I pay this? So our third suit case cost about 283 US Dollars to bring with us. 1oo.oo more than our tickets. In hind sight I should have rearranged my luggage and throw clothes out. I would have been cheaper.

Once in Pais we some how bypassed customs. Dont know how but we just walked and claimed out luggage. We took the Roisey bus to the Opera and then a cab to the apartment. The hallway was SCARY. like hotel carter Scary. But the flat is self is nice and clean.

We walked around the Garden du tuileries, chris had ice cream. Stopped at a market to buy an eclair and some breakfast/lunch supplies.

Dinner was at a nice little cafe. Food is VERY expensive here a coke is 4.50€ so 7.50 US dollars. Water is about 50 cents less. WE will be eating in a lot here.

Ok it is Monday morning and we need to get moving to head out.

Oh yeah and the first 2 days of picture took like 40 sec to updload on the web site. you can now enlarge them if you like

THE FRENCH RIVIERA

DAY#15:Villefranche France.
We woke up this morning to the picture perfect seaside town of Villefranche. This is a small suburb of Nice. The village starts at the sea and stretches up the cliffs. There are many brightly colored buildings. As well as Miles of Stairs.
We tendered in and walked the village checking out the many stores and cafes. We looked in a grocery store and I was able to buy some bottled water in French. Finally getting a hang of this Euro thing too. We thought about hopping the train for the 10 min ride to Monaco but decided against it.
We walked to a local beach where we sat for a while. Then it was time to get our feet into the Mediterranean Sea. What better place than on the French Riviera.
Then we headed back to the ship for Lunch. We spent most of the after noon at the pool with the village as a back drop.
We had dinner at Le Bistro: escargots (double orders) I had the bouillabaisse again and Chris had the braised beef. After dinner we met our group for cocktails. About 9 pm it was time to start packing. Yikes!!!!! I REALLY DON’T WANT TO GET OFF THIS SHIP. A few people are doing the week Med circuit on the ship.
It is about 1030 now. We are supposed to meet at the bar for farewell drinks tonight but I am so tired. Tomorrow we must be off the ship by 730 to catch the transport to Barcalona Airport for out Flight to Paris. This is the part of the trip I have been dreading.
Well me ended up going for drinks and staying out until midnight. We laughed our asses off and said our good buys.

Tilted

DAY #14: Florence Italy…Pisa too
We started the day early, 530AM. We were supposed to be in port by 7am but we were late due to congestion in the port. Finally off the ship about 815. Taxi ride to the train station, then we whisked out way though the Tuscan country side to Firenzi (Florence). We were a group of 6. We hit a few of the major sites like the Dumo.
We then had lunch at a small outdoor café. We had proscuito mozzarella and tomato panini. Very yummy. Followed by a traditional Italian espresso. STRONG!!!! We used the bathroom there which was on the second floor. You had to climb a stone circular stair case with such low ceilings that even I had to duck. When coming down, I missed the last stair and fell directly into the center of the café. I was laying on my stomach but spread eagle. Luckily I did not get hurt. We then split up and went on out separate ways.
We walked a bit more on the crowed streets of Florence and decided that we would go to Pisa. We hopped on a train and off we went.
We walked the streets of Pisa which were beautiful and much less crowded. The architecture of the area was wonderful. We walked to the Piazza del Duomo and there it was the leaning tower!!!! It actually was more dramatic than I expected. I think it was one of my favorite sites. Taxi back to the train station and then the train back to the port.
Chris managed to find the most expensive gelato in Florence at €12,00 a cup. He also found a cannoli.
Once back on the ship we went to the pool and swam under the Tuscan sun. Then a quick tip to the spa therapy pool. We then met our usual group for cocktails. 12 of us went to dinner at the Grand pacific dinning room. In short we had a sea food salad, nicosse?(ahi tuna) salad, and we split lamb chops, sirloin steak and lobster stuffed ravioli. No dessert tonight as we were off to the CHOCOHOLICS BUFFET!!! The sculptures of ice and chocolate were great. Unfortunately after words we had to say good bye to our new friends Pat and Paul since they are sneaking off the ship a day early and driving to Germany before flying home to Vancouver.
As of now 1150 pm we have sailed 4700 from NYC

ROMA

DAY 13 Rome.
What a day!!!! Good? Bad? I just cant say. Did I throw a coin into Trevi fountain to guarantee a return? NO!
We caught an 8 am train from the port city of Civitavecchi Italy to Rome. We traveled the entire day with Brian and Renee, which made the day more fun. We exited the train at St Peters station and walked to St Peters’ square. We only had a very short wait to entire the basilica it self. Totally amazing!!!!! We walked around inside for about an hour. Next we went to the grottos to the tombs of the Popes. Of Course, Pope John Paul’s was the most crowded. St Peters tomb is there as well.
After leaving the Vatican walked to the Metro, stopping for gelato on the way. The metro was easy to figure out. Once the train arrived that was a different story. NYC sub ways are like a Disney ride compared to the pushing and shoving that went on here. Plus the dirty arm pit smell did not help.
We exited at the Coliseum. We walked directly into a large labor demonstration and parade. You do not want to be in the middle of flag wearing, and waving group of pissed off Italians. We did the out side visit of the coliseum since it was closed for the labor day holiday. Next we walked the outside of the forum since it to was closed.
We then took a taxi to the Pantheon. Also closed but it was the cab ride of death. NYC can not hold a candle to this ride. We have some video to add to the web page latter. Next we walked to what I really wanted to see. The piazza Novana. AH the four rivers fountain…. Covered in scaffolding and not running.
We found this amazing restaurant on the square for lunch. Chris and I had a glass of bottled water. 2 canned iced teas. An Parma ham appetizer. Pasta carbonara, lasangna and 2 chocolate truffle gelatos for desert. The bill was a whopping €71.00. That’s a little over $100.00 US. I guess we paid for wonderful food in a great location and an unforgettable experience.
We then walked to the Trevi Fountain. Beautiful every one should see it. I think every on did today. There were literally thousands of people there. The crowd leaving the fountain was suffocating. I really thought I might just have a panic attack. The pushing shoving and slapping. Yes 2 German men slapped Chris in the face repeatedly while he was trying to protect me on the stairs. Renee was getting ready to hit then with her water bottle.
We then hiked over to the Spanish steps. Covered with people and more scaffolding on the top. We found the metro, which was bursting at the seams. We squeezed into the train and headed for termini station. Once there we caught the express Euro star and got the hell out of dodge. The 45 min ride took us to the solitude of our floating palace…… Paradise.
It was an experience to say the least. I am glad we got to do it and we laughed on the train about all the funny things that happened. We had great company with us and that made the day wonderful.
So it was a fun day in its own way.
It is about 745pm now. We have just set sail. The next port is only about a 125 miles away. I think we are just going to do the buffet tonight and skip getting dressed up, and relax. We will meet the gang for drinks first

corsica FRANCE

DAY 12: Ajaccio Corsica France.
Corsica is a beautiful island, where sea and mountains meet. This mountainous Island as snow capped peaks. It is were Napolean was born.
We tendered to shore about 10 am and just walked around the town. It as very interesting a bit scary because no one speaks English. After seeing some of the sights, we found a café and had a nice lunch.
Corsican cheese panini and French fries with a glass of the vin de masion blanc. We then tendered back to the ship.
After some rest we had an early dinner at Le Bistro. I had double escargots, Chris had lobster/scallop martini and escargots. We both had a frog leg soup. This soup was like green pond slime with cut up frog legs. Very tasty. But ugly. Then for the main course I had duck a’la rounge, Chris had brased beef shank and tender loin. Dessert was an apple tart and the chocolate fondue.
We then started to figure out what the hell is happening tomorrow. Due to a holiday many things are closed. We are not able to stay the night in Rome as planned. We tried to buy train tickets on line but the credit cards keep getting declined. Some one else also tried and they were declined as well.
We have now sailed 4401 miles from NYC. We are now passing the lights of sardinia

DAY 11 CHRIS' 40th Birthday

DAY 11: Sailing the Med. Chris’ 40th birthday
Sailing the day away we got to sleep in until about 9 am. We went for breakfast and then hit the pool. Laying in the sun watching the Mediterranean sea go by, We cruised past the Balearic Islands today and will pass Sardinia and Corsica later.
We had to use the pool today it was just so inviting. The out door hot tubs were great too. We had a light lunched listened to live vocal guitar music poolside. Then we headed to the spa to enjoy time in the hydro therapy pool. By then it was time for an hour nap and get ready to meet for cocktails.
To celebrate Chris and Pats birthdays 18 of us went to teppanyaki. They came out with 2 cakes and 40 people sang to them. Then the next table some ladies did a striptease act for the entire table. Chris was up to 5 long island iced teas by now. I had about the same in gin and tonics.
We all went to see the second city adult comedy improv and more drinking and more laughing. At this point the room was spinning for john from one to many gin/tonic. So we headed back to the room for Chris to have more sinful chocolate obsession. While john tried not to get sick from to many cocktails. Chris’s drinks caught up with him later.
What a wonderful day at sea. We could do 15 day’s of just floating around in the med. Pool, Sun, Friends, and drinks

AHHH.MALAGA

DAY 10: Malaga Spain
One thing I keep forgetting to mention is that for the past 3 days it has been 85-90F.
What can I say about Malaga…..Other than I will be back!!! We awoke early to have breakfast and catch our 8am tour to the caves of Nerja. Before going to the caves we stopped in the town of Nerja. This was a picture perfect Mediterranean town.
We wondered the streets and admired the pastries. I was able to order then in Spanish, as well a ask a question to a pharmacist about a product we needed. We enjoyed the views as we ate our treats.
Then we were off to the caves. They caves were very cool. However we were a bit rushed. Also, they were hitlers about no allowing flash photography. Even, the auto focus light was to much for them. Buy our pictures please.
We arrived back in Malaga and started to explore this most wonderful town. Horse drawn carriages abound.
We went to the main square and wondered down the numerous side streets. We were lured into this tapas bar by a friendly waiter. He helped us thought the menu. We settled on a large picture of sangria. Then we had an anchovy with bread and tomato tapa. Then we went for the 6 tapas combo. Let’s try and remember what we ate. 1)ox tail with rice. 2) some type of sausage, 3) garlic glazed rabbit, 4) Moroccan style pork, 5) Eggplant 6)green olives with sardines.
We were looking at what to order next. The waiter asked if we liked seafood. Of course, we said SI. He then suggested a mixed plate of local fish. He said you must eat like a Malaga person. He said he would do a half order for us. We could not even finish the half order, it was HUGE Rochester HUGE. Loaded with calamari (ink included) pieces of Cod fish, clams, shrimp and sardines. All fried to perfection in a light breading.
Then he insisted that we have a shot of some sort of liquor, free. It went down smooth.
We then waddled in a semi drunken way though the town. We stopped and explored the inside of the beautiful Cathedral of Malaga. Strolled the avenues and local botanical garden. Then with some regret we returned to the ship.
We had plans with our friends Pat and Paul from Vancouver to meet at the steak house for dinner. (Pre birthday celebration for Chris and Pat) Another great meal and company. Chris and I had, Shrimp cocktail, oysters Rockefeller (for me), lobster bisque, 16 ounce T-bone streaks and multiple desserts. Chris and I also had a half of a large bottle of wine.
Then we met are other friends in the bar. Finally getting back to the cabin about 10pm. So as a write this now I am laying on the bed with the deck door open, feeling the sea breeze and listening to the waves as we sail the Mediterranean sea.
AS OF NOW WE HAVE SAILED 3695 MILES, OY VAHY
Tomorrow is at sea day. It is also Chris Birthday. The big 40!!!!
There is a big Celebration planned for Chris and Pat’s birthdays.

Day 9 Cadiz Spain

DAY 9: Cadiz Spain
We arrived into port on time, but it took a while for the Spanish authorities to clear the ship.
We boarded out tour bus and did a tour of the ancient and modern city. The city it very beautiful. I wish we had days to explore it.
We then headed to the cliff side city of Arcos. We walked the city but everything was closed since it was a Sunday.
Next we were on our way to a Spanish bodaga and Andalusian horse fare. We were educated on the process of making sherry. We were in the town of Jerez, where Jerez grapes are grown and sherry was developed.
Next Came the Sherry tasting. It was done very differently than U.S. wind tasting. We were seated at tables of 8-10 and given 5 different bottles of sherry. We got to it. I ended up buying a bottle to share with the travel buddies back home.
We arrived back in Cadiz about 400. We then walked along the coastline promenade and through an incredible sculptured park. We watched people catching squid from the pier. We then walked a maze of narrow cobble stone streets to get back to the pier. For me this was Spain. Everything I have imagined since High School.
Once back on the ship we had a light snack, since we had no lunch.
Chris went to the spa, I napped for 45 min. Chris went up to let people know we were skipping cocktails tonight but he never returned. So I went to the spa for about 50 min and soaked in the therapy pool.
As I was leaving Chris found me, we changed and headed to up to the bar for drinks. We were there until 10 pm. I was laughing so hard that I spit my drink all over the place.
Finally at 1005 4 of us headed to Magenta for dinner. We had leak and fennel soup, and roast leg of lamb.
After closing the place at 11pm we tried to head to the store to buy soon screen. It took us almost an hour to get there because we kept running into people we know and chatting. It is amazing how many friends we have made on this ship.
Bed about 1245. We will wake up in the Mediterranean as we are passing through the straight of Gibraltar about 3 am. We can see some lights from Tangiers now. (Africa)
I am writing this at 7 am as we pull into the next port. We have now sailed 3628.1 miles from NYC.

Lisbon Portugal day 8

DAY 8: Lisbon Portugal
We sailed up the Tygus river and under the Ponte 25 de Abril Bridge and directly into the port of Lisbon. The ship was greeted by a giant statue of Jesus erected in thanks when Portugal was spared from entering WWII. We were then quickly shuttled to the city center via bus.
830 AM. Not a soul on the square other than our bus load of people. No shops, no info, nada. We were traveling with our friends Pat and Paul. So we wondered around the main square and the Baxia area. We viewed the famous elevador de Santa Justa. We then headed up the back way to castelo sao Jorge. I don’t know how many hundreds of steps we had to climb to get to the hill top neighborhood but we made it. Legs burning and huffing all the way.
We explored the castle and its spectacular views. We then headed down to the oldest part of Lisbon called the Alfama area. It was one of the few areas to survive the 1725 earthquake. We walked very narrow winding streets dodging cars and street cars. We stopped and visited the Cathedral of St Vincent. It is from the early 1700’s. He is the patron saint of Portugal. More walking and we ended up back at the spot we started at. Not by choice.
It was a good thing because now the square was filled with people and tourist info. We bought a ticket for the hop on hop of bus. We took the blue line tour which took us through a large potion of Lisbon, and hit most of the highlights. One thing that really stood out was the amazing tile work on the buildings. We passed the Torre de Belem: which is a defensive tower built in 1520. The Mosteiro dos Jeronimos (16th century) and many of the main monuments.
One thing we could not find is a Hat store and a place to buy sun screen. I am burned to a crisp and in pain. I will have to see if the ship has some outrageously priced sun screen or a goofy hat.
We took the shuttle bus back to the pier. We strolled the boardwalk and found a restaurant called Don Pomodoro. We were given a plate of thinly sliced parma ham and bead. We indulged in the Portugues tradition of port wine. We had past with shrimp and pasta with muscles. It was amazing. Later when we returned to the ship we saw that the place was certified by the Accademia Italian Della Cucina, and represents authentic and the finest Italian food.
It is now about 6pm and we have just left the river for the open sea. Chris is at the spa but I can not bear the thought of anything hot on my skin.
At 730 we meet friends in the star bar for cocktails. Tanquery is becoming my friend. Later 4 of us went to dinner in the Grand Pacific dining room. We had escargots, seafood combo, seafood with thai noodles (chris had ribs too) and some strange dessert. We decided to no go to the show, but go to bed early. Well that did no happen. Chris wanted more ice cream so we went up to the buffet.
We ran into some other friends and chatted for about an hour.
Now it is 1110 and we need to change the clock ahead for the final time. As of now we have sailed 33185 miles from NY. Our Crossing is officially over.

DAY 7 feel free to what ever......

DAY 7: At SEA
Time is flying by way to fast!!!! Today is another relaxing day at sea. We did not wake up until Julie the cruise director, yes Julie, just like the Love boat made the 11am announcement for BABABA Bingo.
We had some coffee on the balcony and watched the sea go by. About 1200 we went up to have lunch. Just as we finished we had some people join us and we chatted until after too on the AFT deck.
Back to the room for a quick change and headed for the pool deck. Sat in the sun for about an hour. Chris had to try out the water slide.
We then went to the spa and relaxed for almost 2 hours.
From the spa we were able to see a few pods of dolphins coming up to the ship and then riding in its wake.
It is about 6:45 here 1:45 in NY. We have now sailed 2926 and 258 miles until we reach Lisbon. Seas have been very calm today.
I am off now to our nightly cocktail with friends then dinner.
Dinner was at Tapas restauant nothing special tonight. Service was kind of slow but we had good company and conversation.
We then went to the 70’s review show. It was kind of fun. The best part was the dramatization of the popular 70’s tv show themes. Like the Brady bunch all in the family etc The 4 of us sat in one of the opera boxes on the side the theater.
Then of course off for ice cream. We made a stop at Bliss night club. And then off to bed. We are now sailing into Lisbon this am.

DAY 6

Day 6: Ponta Delgada
Today we enjoyed the island Sao Miguel which is an Island in the Azores chain. The town is Ponta Delgada. I was really taken aback by the lush beauty of this island. Flowers every where.
We took a tour to the fumaroles and hot springs. It was very interesting. First we stopped in a little town and walked around its square for a bathroom break. Here we found a bank and withdrew some Euros.
We then headed to an area with boiling mud pots and steam vents. It was like mini Yellowstone. The people however will dig these large holes and fill them with a concrete ring to stop the sides from falling in. Then they will use these to cook meals.
We then headed to Terre Nostra botanical gardens. They have a thermal hot spring that you can swim in. I wish we had the time to do that it looked great.
Next we were off to a tea plantation. We watched and learned about the production of tea. We then got to taste the finished product and it was very good. As it turns out, The Azores are the only place in Europe to produce tea. There are 2 plantations and both are on the Island.
Back on board ship we had a light lunch with friends, an we set sail for continental Europe. Our crossing is almost complete.
The bridge report is that we have sailed 2445 miles and have 743 miles to the next port of Lisbon.
Chris just called from the spa to have me look out the window for a whale but I did not see It.
Need to get dressed for dinner at Cagney’s steak house. Will update more later.
Once again the steak house was out of this world.
Oysters Rockerfeller.
Clam chowder
We split: lamb chops, fillet mignon and a rather large piece of prime rib.
Dessert: chocolate obsession.
Then we met our buds for cocktails and headed to the Second city comedy show. Chris needed ice cream before going back to the state room. So it is now 1115 pm, and we need to move the clocks ahead again!!!!!!!
Tomorrow is a at sea day. I hope we have some sun to use the pool. The seas have been calm all day.

Oh yea and to piss me off. We don’t need our passports to get off the ship. They are no stamping them. All these countries and a blank passpot

DAY 5 for real

DAY 5 : at sea
I am updating this about 1030 pm our time. I am sad that our sea days are coming to an end. We have now sailed 2108.5 miles from NYC. Now the rushing around will start.
Today we had breakfast, and chatted on the decks with new friends for a while. Before you knew it, time for lunch. Again we ended up running into people and just chatting and sitting watching the waves go by.
Afternoon I took an hour nap then went to the spa for a while. Chris had been there for and extra hour.
We had an early dinner at La Cucina. The Italian restaurant. Yummy yummy. We had antipasto, Caesar salad, veal Marcella, oil and garlic penne, and finally terimasu. Oh yea and a bottle of wine.
Then we met friends for cocktails. We were then going to go to the 930 show but ended up in the buffet because we had 2 ice cream fiends with us.
So we ended up just chatting and having a great time.
This tip, the balcony room has been great. We are able to sail with the doors open. The air temps have been in the high 50 or 60. 66 right now.
Tomorrow we will see land for the first time since Saturday night. We have an early shore excursion scheduled. So I will sign off for now.
Have to advance the clock another hour. Almost midnight!!

DAY 5

DAY #5 At sea
Not a whole lot to report today. It was a fairly quite day. It started out very sunny and warm for breakfast. Shortly after that however the wind picked and the clouds moved in.
We did not have lunch today because we were having an early dinner. We headed up to the spa where we spent about 3 hours. The hot stone chairs are wonderful. Relaxing to the max. As the afternoon wore on the SWELLS picked up. The relaxation pool started to rock and spill over the sides. That did me in.
Chris stayed up there for a while. The spa is at the very front of the ship. I headed back to the room which is mid ship and much more stable. I took a compazine a precaution.
Dinner time rolled around and we were of to Le Bistro….. ½ price to boot. We had the same meals. Lobster and scallop martini, escargots, French onion soup, and a wonderful bouillabaisse with large amounts of seafood.
At dinner we started having waves that reached to the 6th floor windows. Of course, we had a window seat. Chris keep saying don’t look now here come a big one, the ship would roll.
Ahh dessert. Chocolate fondue and creame boulle . Chris was covered in chocolate.
The rest of the night we rolled and rolled and rolled. Chris went to watch the sunset of the back of the ship. Plates were crashing all over the place. People were tipping all over. In our room the sky would disappear and we would only see water. Then we would roll and only see sky. Chris managed to hit the buffet 2 times and eat a least a half gallon of ice cream.
Move the clock ahead and off to bed. Chris is thankful for sleeping pills on nights of the rocky seas and a belly full of ice cream. We traveled 1500 miles at this point in the middle of

DAY 3

DAYDAY #3 At sea

WE have sailed about 1100 miles. The ocean is 14500 feet deep. We are in an area call the sargousa sea. This is named for the sea weed that grows here. It has been said once you enter this area you never get out!!!!!! Great with me as long as the food holds out.

Seas were ruff most of the morning and early afternoon then calmed down. The hydrotherapy pool was closed all day today because of the seas. People were getting pushed out of the pool.

It has been nice enough that we have sat out every morning in the sun for breakfast. Today went by very fast. These days at sea are wonderful.

After lunch we went for a mile and a quarter walk around the deck. Then off the spa using the various amenities and an hour and a half went by like nothing.

We met a few friends for cocktails at the star bar.
Then off to dinner at Magenta, one of the main dining rooms. While waiting for our table we listened to the string quartette in the atrium.

Diner was quick and delicious. We started with lamb sausage wrapped in grape leaves with hummus and chi chi beans. Then a fatoush salad. It as a pita with lettuce grilled peppers and a few other items. Chris had soup in addition to this, a puree of black bean. For the main dish we had the grilled NY strip steak with green beans and potato au gratin. We shared a bowl of pasta carbonara.

After diner we went to see the Gem production of World beat, which featured music from around the world.

Then it was time to change the clock ahead and go to bed.

Because of up load problems I will have to enter the blog this way and up date pictures at a later time. The band width here is just to low to upload decent pictures.

One week to go!!

Only a week left to go before the next adventure. I can't wait but time is going by fast.
I think that every thing that needed to be pre arranged is done. Now all I have left to do is print all the info and organize it some how.

This week was a great week weather wise. Warm and sunny. That all ended today, but It did give us the opportunity to get quite a bit of yard work done. I nice start since it will well into may by the time we return.

Blog updates not transfering

Not sure if there is problem or not. The last update did not post to the web site. I may be problem on the server. It was a weekend. So this is more or less a test post.

Allie can no longer get out of the yard. I lowered the front gate yesterday so she is trapped.

FIRST FLOWERS OF SPRING

OFF TO WORK

IT'S OFFICIAL !!!!
CHRIS IS OFF TO
HALLO BAY BEAR CAMP
TO WORK

WWW.hallobay.com

bastard!!!!!

Me and MY GIRLS

Me and the girls in front of the fire on my birthday. Waiting for some Pizza for diner. You can see a few more pictures under the pets section

Ground hog day

Driving home from work today I saw a ground hog on the side of the road eating away. Does this mean it is spring if they are out of their dens? I hope it does. This was the first one I have seen this year.

I see that the pictures of the emerging plants did not transfer over on the last post. Don't know why that happens. For the last few months they have all been showing up.

Signs of Spring

Happy Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. Right now I am having my own little Easter celebration. Even though it is only about 30 out the sun is warm with little or no wind. I am sitting on the back deck, with the dogs having coffee and listening to the birds sing.

I can see a few of the day lilys are starting to peak their heads out. Things are starting to wake up for spring. The Pusey willow bush is stating to open. I little late for dingus day, but getting there.

So even though it is cold it is a beautiful Easter Sunday morning. Enjoy it

IT's A BOY!!!

My niece Michelle had a baby boy today. Only 16 years after her last son.
no news on size etc yet.

All is well

Allie is home and doing well. She is acting like nothing has happened. She is all over the place.
The min she got home she ran and jumped on the couch to lick Emma

THINK SPRING!!!!

On the calender today is the first day of spring. As I look out the window it is snowing pretty good. I know, around here spring starts about Memorial day. It is just nice to think that winter is behind us.

Will be picking up Allie later this afternoon.

Allie's sugery Day

Allie had her surgery this am. She is doing well. She will be staying over night and I will pick her up tomorrow after work. It if funny no having her here now. I am able to sit and type this with out her trying to get on my lap.

I think Emma misses her a bit. She keeps looking around at any little noise to see if it is her. Tequila is happy, he is laying in the middle of the living room floor purring away. He is not being attacked.

YET ANOTHER BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday Karen L..... Some say she is 49 other say 50...HMMM

Pictures from the Spring 2001 Tennessee trip are no online. I have also added a few pictures to the pets page 2. Emma and Allie took a trip to Buffalo so Allie could meet her cousins. This was her first long car trip and she behaved very well.

BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday to

Kathy G!!!!!!!

ALLIE THE MOUSER

Well not that kind of mouser. I stepped away from the laptop for a minute and she grabbed my brand new (less than a week) wireless mouse. She chewed it up pretty good. It still works, but this is a replacement for the first one I had. She chewed the part that goes into the usb port on the first one. Puppy power!!!!

Snow update. We did get about 20 inches of snow. It fell over such a long period of time that it was not really too bad. Didn't feel like a real storm

Will we get it this time?

The ice storm the other day was kind of a bust. Not much ice, not much of a storm. Now there are calling for a snow storm this weekend. The way the snow is coming down now it looks promising. I have had enough of winter, but if they are predicting a storm lets at least get one!!!

The Fall Tn bear pictures are back up. (2001 fall), Even if you looked at them before you may want to check them out again. The original scans that are posted now are much better.

I am working on a TN spring 2001 trip now. I hope to have that posted by the end of the weekend.

Still sick and a storm is a com'in

I am still home sick. I am sure people at work will be giving me a hard time. Fever was 1o1 last night. I think it has finally broke today. Still coughing a lot but feel much better. I should go tan so people will really think I was away instead of feeling like Sh*t,

I hope to add some pictures today to the friends and family page of us at Allegany state park a few years ago. May be even doing a little scanning if I feel up to it.

We are supposed to get an ice storm tonight. I should take a quick ride and get some gas tonight in case the pumps go down to no electricity.

Warming by the fire

Emma and Allie in front of the fire keeping warm on a cold winters night. I been sick all weekend. really coughing up a storm today. Chris is also still sick but doing a little bit better.

Monday night on the TV show: Anthony Bourdine no reservations will be highlighting the foods of Hawaii. It is on at 1000 pm not sure of the channel. either the travel channel of food network

Leap day

well it is leap day, an extra day....and I am sick. Think it is the flu. I was hoping to go home this week end but looks like I cant now. I would not mind being sick except for the dizziness.

TN 2005 update complete

Check out the added pics.......

Tenessee 2005 update

I am in the process of updating the spring 2005 trip to tn pictures. I am hoping to have them up and running by Tuesday night. I have found and scanned all the remaining pictures from that trip.

MAJOR EVENT!!!!!

Allie went out side by herself!!!!!!! She started to let me know that she wanted to go out. I opened the door and down the hall stairs she went. I opened the out side door to very blustery conditions. I didnt expect the snow and only had socks on. I opend the door out she went. She did #1 and then #2 AND ran right back in!!!!!!!!

New Light Switch

This is a light switch that we got for xmas. As you can see from the moose rack below it fits our decor well.

Well it is back to work in about 15 min. Presidents say weekend is over. Now we are in it for the long haul. No more long weekends until vacation.

WHO IS THAT MASKED WOMEN?

I was busy scanning away when I came across this picture. It is not in the right place, but I figured it was good for a laugh. I am working on scanning some glacier pictures from 2003. I want to at least scan them all. I may not post until on the cruise. How relaxing to work on the web page in the middle of the atlantic.

Happy Belated Valentines day!

I totally missed putting any valentine's day pictures on the site. So happy Belated Valentines day to all.

I have added a few new pictures under the pets section. See the nice meal Emma had.

Taxes are done...... Will have some cash for the next trip....

It is a long week end due to presidents day. I hope to maybe get some scanning done to add a new trip to the website. Will have to see what happens.

Finally feels a bit like winter

Today feels like winter. The winds are blowing and the snow is falling. Not a lot of snow but just enough to feel like winter. With Feb well under way the days are already getting longer. The Flower and seed catalogs are arriving in the mail, and thoughts of spring.

Allie got a new condo yesterday. She out grew the one she was in. I guess we could have just kept squizing her in, but what the heck. May as well give her some room. Emma was out playing in the snow this am. Seams like the colder the better for her.

Ready to go

Passports are in hand. we are set. Less than 3 weeks to get both of them.

Passport update

One passport has arrived. I guess the other is still in limbo some where!!!!

Allie and Emma update

Allie and Emma both went to the vet last week. They are doing fine. Allie is up to 8lbs and Emma is down to 99lbs. Allie had to get 2 shots and Emma had a chem drawn( which came back fine).

At the top of the page you can see I have added an additional Hallo Bay bear video.

Emma and Allie are also playing a lot more now. Driving us crazy with all the growling and yapping on both their part. I will have to try and get some video of them soon.

MLK DAY

Well at least there was no work today!!! It is very cold out though, but no snow.

Update posted on Friends and family page. 50th wedding aniv album

Other than that did not get much done today. Not even cleaning. Yikes.

Mean Girls

GRRRR Were going to get you