...then she got silly busy! I will catch up with all of you after our cruise! Yep that's right we leave on Sunday for a cruise to Mexico. I was thinking I might just stow away and disappear for a while. What do you think?
April 02, 2009
March 22, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: Hoover Dam To What We Call Home
You all know that we are already in CA settling in and I am just now wrapping up the final post from our road trip. We are staying with my in-laws...that sounds so funny...We are staying with Rick, Lori, Jack & Jessica. Week 1 at the larger Grammier household has been a great success. We fit all our stuff into convenient little spots trying not to turn their lives upside down. Bermuda and Sambuca are starting to really warm up to each other. Bermuda forces Sambuca to play with her and steals all her toys. I wonder if our kids will be like this?!?!
We are so very grateful that our families are generous and flexible enough to let us crash their lives at any given moment. Over the past few years we have leaned on all our different family members in so many different ways. There is never a doubt that they will help us along our path. It really has been very nice to have a place to be as we figure our stuff out. They even give Bermuda lots of love too!
The very last leg of our trip included a drive over the Hoover Dam and a stay in Vegas. Somehow we didn't manage to take one picture in Vegas...probably because I was so focused on getting some sun while we were there. We did get some great pictures at sunset on our drive over the Hoover Dam. They are building a new bridge over the canyon because they do not want people to continue to drive over the dam. It was an amazing sight and we could even hear the men talking as they were working on those big arms of concrete. Scary!
Side note: Did I ever mention Bermuda learned how to roll down the window on our drive? She loves to have her head out the window while we are driving. She figured out that if she leaned on this one spot she could get it to go down...I think maybe she is too smart!
Hoover Dam
March 21, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: Grand Canyon
We really enjoyed the our stop at the Grand Canyon. It was a beautiful day and we explored the South entrance of the park. The views were stellar. The pictures hardly do it justice.
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: NM & AZ
We saw some beautiful sights on the drive through New Mexico & Arizona. Just wanted to share a few of my favorite pics!
March 17, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: Texas Is A Big State
Wow...We Made it to CA and I I am just finally getting a few minutes to catch you up. Where did I leave off?...yes...rain in San Antonio.
Everyone told us that it takes forever to drive through Texas and they were not kidding. We didn't hit Austin after a slightly hectic work interrupted day in San Antonio. We will have to go back! Here is what we did find in Texas.
Lots of BBQ joints.
Sidenote: For all to Californians...pretty much everyone else in the US does not think of the word Bar-B-Que the way we do...It is NOT a verb, they do not BBQ a steak they grill their steak! They would not invite friends over for a Bar-B-Que, they would
80 MPH Speed Limits
Wow...You don't even really have to speed. When we tried going 90 it felt like NASCAR!
Gotta Have a Gate If You're Gonna Live in Texas
We ended up on some back roads as short cuts...In this process we saw tons of ranches that are way back off the road but they have a nice gate at the road. There are seriously so many fo them! All colors shapes and sizes. Most of them have the brand of the ranch on them.
One and Only Historic Ditch Walk
Yes...i said "ditch"....We had to drive around the block and take a picture.
Which Room Do You Think Is For Rent?
One in the house that has fallen down or in the vintage motorhome...
Windmills
Do you know what windmills were originally used for in the US? These water pumping windmills were created to bring water out of the ground in areas that are normally devoid of water for animals.
Oil Rigs, Cotton Fields & Cows
We saw these oil rigs in the middle of many cotton fields. It took us a while to figure out what the crop was because it just looked like a bunch of dead sticks coming out out of the ground. Then we saw a newly harvested field that still had the leftover little white tufts of cotton throughout. Lots and Lots of beef cows!Yum!
March 11, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: Raining In San Antonio
One of Dave's NCO's from his first deployment is in San Antonio and we caught him for dinner and drinks by chance. It was a great visit and awesome to see Dave catch up with an old friend. We stayed in a great spot and enjoyed as much of the city as we could with dreary weather.
As we enjoyed the riverwalk I just kept saying how great it would be if it were sunny!:) We grabbed a bite and enjoyed a drink at Durty Nelly's. We spent the rest of the afternoon at the hotel in the spa in the rain!
March 10, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: N'awlins
That is the way they really say it...N'awlins, not New Orleans...Lea & Paul's family taught me that when I went with them last year for Mardi Gras. I end up pronouncing it in some strange combination of the two sounding like a white girl trying to play Cajun. No one seems to care they just smile at my attempts...Everyone in this town is always smiling.
We got into New Orleans late on Sunday evening. We headed directly for Beignets at Cafe Du Monte. We got distracted by some Hurricanes along the way. Bermuda was along for the party! New Orleans is a good dog city because most everything is in walking distance and outside. We did find out after having her on Bourbon street for a while that dogs are not allowed on that street.
The food in New Orleans is awesome. On our drunk-ish walk home I couldn't pass up a shimp po-boy. We found this little divey place for breakfast called Lucy's Retired Surfers bar. Emeril's for dinner was delicious! Dave had a hand rolled cigar at the New Orleans Cigar Company. I found some great shopping in Jackson square. We ooed & awed at the antiques, saw a book case priced over $40,000. Sooo many great galleries, but we decided against art because we just don't know what our soon to come house will look like :) We even caught a few hours in the afternoon by the pool to start overcoming our North Country sun deprivation. You can see from the pics below that my skin is still a pale tone of paste.
Bermuda needed a bath before getting back in the car after tromping around in the New Orleans street sauce. We had a great time here in New Orleans!We are coming back to New Orleans with our timeshare program!
March 09, 2009
March 08, 2009
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: Distance Between GA and NOLA
Please note that I am catching you up on some posts I wrote in the car along the way...
The drive between Cartersville & New Orleans went quick. We stopped of in Birmingham for a visit with Kerri and Tim. We saw just enough of Birmingham to know that it looks like a fun town to live in. We got to take Bermuda with us to lunch at Rojo. The sun was shinning and food was great. Kerri & Tim thanks for taking us to lunch! It was a great pit stop.
Before we got to Birmingham we got to see some of the Georgia and Alabama countryside. These pics show you a little of that flavor. There were quite a few funky little homesteads. I imagined them to be places where the life lived was very simple. It looked like an area where dinner around the table was the big event of the day. No materialism as far as the eye could see.
The freeway through Mississippi was pretty boring. I always had big dreams that there was something special in Mississippi...I think we just missed it.
NOLA (New Orleans, LA) here we come. I love the little bit of New Orleans that I saw last year at Mardi Gras. It is one US city that has a true culture of its own. It has music, food & fun all unique to New Orleans. We can't wait to have our way with it!
The Big Road-Trip Back To CA: The Grammier's March To The Rowell's
Leg one of the trip complete! We are in the South. Shenandoah Valley
After a long day getting through many many states We made it to Cartersville, GA on Friday night. In this first part of the trip we made it through NY, PA, MD, WV, VA, TN and into GA.
Civil War Battlefield after Civil War Battlefield! Little did I know were were taking the same route Sherman took when he burned his way from the North into Atlanta. We caught the Mason Dixon line early in the day. Then on 81 all the way we saw the battlefields in the Shenandoah Valley in VA.
We tried to take a picture of each stateline as we crossed it but we were unsuccessful. We ended up with at least an image of each state. It was quite a long ride. The pics explain some of adventures along the way...and yes there might have been a speeding ticket.
Mobile Homes in PA Mason Dixon Line Welcome to Maryland! West VA Farm
VA Battlefield Speeding ticket in VA? Welcome to TN! Welcome to GA!
The soundtrack for Day 1 included but was not limited to:
Don't stop Belivin' - Journey
Going to CA - Zeplin
Water Under the Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Tara, Cope, Ramsey, Sage & Bentley took very good care of us once we landed in Cartersville, GA. We hung out in their great new pad. Talked and laughed over coffee, BBQ & Japanese. Enjoyed their outside space as the temp climbed above 70! We warmed up with a little Wii Bowling and then went bowling in their little hometown bowling alley. They are also going through the post Ft Drum 2-22 transition out of the army so we have a lot in common. The dogs took a day or two to get to know each other so just about the time we left they were becoming comfortable!
Ramsey makes every moment lighthearted and fun. His great smile and crazy curls are enough to make anyone laugh. He loves being read to...Goodnight Moon & Chicka Chicka Boom Boom were his favorites. Now we are off to New Orleans with a quick pit stop in Birmingham!
THANK YOU ROWELL FAMILY FOR A GREAT STAY!
