California Dreamin'

Ringing in the New Year!

2012-01-16T16:28:00.000-08:00

We had a pretty good 3-day weekend, and are trying to start 2012 off right! We've been doing a better job of cleaning our houses, taking care of loose ends, treating our bodies right, and enjoying the good life.

On Friday my school had a Winter Sports Pep Rally. I had hoped to post a video of the teachers' performance to Michael Jackson's "Thriller," but due to low participation, we decided not to do it. Later that evening I worked as ticket seller at the boys' basketball game...it's so fun to see the boys from my classroom in action on the court.

Saturday was all about food! My friend, Elayna, and I drove up to Orange County to meet Sarah Eley for lunch at Mario Batalli's place, Pizzeria Mozza, in Newport Beach. We started off our lunch with a caprese salad that had the fluffiest buffalo mozzarella and vine roasted tomatoes. The tomatoes were so sweet and delicious.

Accompanying the caprese we had a side order of the thickest panini grilled italian bread, drizzled in garlic olive oil and a healthy pinch of sea salt. For our main lunch we ordered a Funghi pizza and a White pizza with toasted sage and several types of cheese. Both pizzas had the best puffed crust, and I could have eaten much more than was necessary.

Although the lunch thus far was awesome, the dessert was honestly the best part. I'd go back to eat only dessert! We split the butterscotch pudding with creme fraiche on top, and a caramel ice cream with peanut brittle-type cookie, spanish peanuts, caramel drizzle, and marshmallow fluff. Amaze-balls!

*Food photos courtesy of Alice Q. Foodie blog*

After the long lunch we headed over to Fashion Island for a little shopping before heading back to SD.

When I got home Matt and I headed over to our friend, Darrin's, place for his famous veal lasagna. I obviously didn't partake, but it always smells heavenly. A small group of us enjoyed dinner and some wine before calling it a late night.

Yesterday I had my usual 2-hour zoo observation time before driving north for a hike. We met our friends Mike and Kaye to hike at Elfin Forest for a few hours before having lunch at Stone Brewery, which was lovely. I cannot believe we've lived here for nearly 3 years, and hadn't yet been to Stone. It's a staple in San Diego, which has quickly become the #1 place in the US for craft beer and one of the best spots in the world for the same. Stone had some great menu options, including a number of things specially designed for vegetarians and vegans. I had a yummy Mac N' Beer Cheese and a nice Hefeweizen-type beer and Matt enjoyed Duck Tacos while we dined on the patio, surrounded by heat lamps.

It was a rainy night here last night, and rain always brings on the cravings for Vietnamese Pho. Since San Diego's "Little Saigon" is literally around the corner, there is no shortage of choices. We watched a scary movie ("Contagion") and slurped our noodles and broth.

Today we've been busy working and getting ready for the week ahead. In the coming weeks we've got a lot of fun stuff planned, in addition to some upcoming international trips, including Mexico for my brother's wedding.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

Tree at my Parents' House

We have finally returned to sunny San Diego after a 14-day trip to the Midwest. For the most part we spent our time in Chicago relaxing, eating and catching up with family. Before Matt arrived I was able to visit Katharine for her 1-year-old daughter, Julia's, birthday party. I was lucky enough that Kath coordinated the date of the party around my travel schedule - thank you, K!

Prior to the holiday there was a lot of shopping, baking and relaxing going on with my parents. I think I've gained at least 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks! We celebrated Christmas in Chicago before heading outside of the state to see more folks.

L to R: My brother Blake, Altera, me, Aunt Carol, and Matt

The dessert spread at Wendy's on Christmas Day

My brother, Blake, and his fiance' Altera

Rampage...aka "cutest dog ever" (2nd to Syd, of course)

Jake

L to R: Matt, cousin Ryan, me, my mom

My cousins, Doc and Tyler, at my Aunt Ann's house on the farm

Doc's son, Will

Me and Doc's newest son, Brock

At breakfast in St. Louis with my 89-year-old Grandpa

L to R: Michelle, Will & Doc, Aunt Ann, my Mom

We stopped in St. Louis for a bit to visit family there. We then drove to Indianapolis to see some friends. As always, a big thank you to Lisa & Paul for the accomodations. We then drove to Dayton, Ohio to visit Matt's sister, her husband, and our 2 nieces. We had a great time seeing everyone and wish that everyone could visit us on the West Coast more often.

Norah and Uncle Matt in the teepee

Me and 10-month-old Natalie

Our return to Chicago began with a stop at The Silver Palm for the sandwich proclaimed by Anthony Bourdain as, "the greatest sandwich in America." Matt and my brother, Blake, said it was quite good, but perhaps not "the best."

We spent our last night in Chicago playing games with the family, and returned to California on NYE to be reunited with Sydney and Bandit. We rang in the new year with a VERY low-key evening of cheese & crackers, champagne, and "Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve" on the TV. We were both in bed by 12:30am! Ha...to be old!

Today we've cleaned our house, unpacked our bags, finished laundry, and put away all of the Christmas decor. It was nearly 80 degrees outside, so it was a great day to be in and out of the house.

Tomorrow will be filled with football watching and enjoying our last day of vacation before we are are back to the grind.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2011-12-13T21:24:00.000-08:00

A recent San Diego transplant friend of ours just recently commented that "it doesn't feel like Christmas in San Diego." We have done everything in our power to remedy that, including...

Finding the perfect Christmas tree at a farm in Alpine, CA

While there, Sydney and a horse had an unusual viewing experience

We also put up lights for the very first time!

The next weekend we took a little jaunt to Garrison Street in Point Loma to view the crazy houses all decked out for the season. People were selling hot chocolate from their garages & it was gorgeous to see the bay and Coronado beyond each house. (click for a video -- not taken by me)

Ignore the eyes on my "alien dog"

Celebrating 25...or something like it!

2011-12-09T20:13:00.000-08:00

On my birthday weekend we engaged in the usual variety of birthday activities, including dinner & drinks out with friends, kayaking in La Jolla, seeking the ultimate Christmas tree and cutting it down before decorating our home, and enjoying one another's company. Sydney even enjoyed meeting a horse face-to-face!

Kayaking in La Jolla Cove

2011-12-05T21:26:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we finally redeemed a gift certificate given to us a while back; the certificate included a kayak and photo session in La Jolla cove. We were looking forward to hitting the water, and it just so happened that Saturday was a sunny gorgeous December day. We were out on the water for about 1 hour, and Matt managed to pet an adolescent California seal when it swam up behind our kayak - it even turned over so that he could scratch its belly!

Here are some photos from our tour...

Southeast Asia - A Trip Review (Part Three)

2011-12-02T14:02:00.000-08:00

Where I last left off we had departed Cambodia en route for the islands, so I will pick up there. Our flight to Koh Samui took us back through Bangkok's airport for a layover and then we continued south. Most visitors travel to Phuket in the Fall, as it's not experiencing the rainy weather that sometimes comes to the "Ko" islands at this time of year. However, because our friends had built the home at which we stayed, we planned our trip differently.

We had a few hours to "kill" in Koh Samui before catching our ferry to Ko Phangan, so we cabbed it to a resort at which many of my friends have stayed, Poppies, for a cocktail beachside. The place was very nice, and would probably be a nice spot to spend a week.

After our brief stop we hightailed it to the ferry terminal for the 40-minute choppy ride to Ko Phangan.

From there a taxi driver picked us up and took us the 45-minutes to the house on the northeast side of the island. I immediately fell asleep on the bed, as a result of the sea sickness pill taken aboard the ferry. After a few hour nap, we meandered on down to the beach for some dinner at the resort (which manages the house). The evening was spent eating and hanging out on an elevated floor, seated on pillows, at the "lounge-style" outdoor restaurant. Little did we know we'd be eating there a lot in the coming days.

Back of the "taxi"

The terrace of our house

A bungalow at the Longtail Beach Resort

Walk to the beach at Longtail Beach Resort

At the very end of the evening we walked into "town" to grab some coffee from the local convenience store, a 7-Eleven! We were followed by a stray puppy...who walked right into the store behind us. We bought him some dog food and thought that would be the end of him - we were wrong.

The next few days were spent eating, reading on the beach, and walking along the sand. Our resort was virtually the only one with guests, as it was definitely the low season and most resorts were doing construction. On the 2nd day as we walked along the coast, a dog bounded toward us from behind some tropical foliage. It was our puppy from the night before! From that point forward he never left our side, sleeping on the house's terrace at night, accompanying us to each meal at the restaurant and while we read on the beach. He even followed us to the neighboring village on a day that we had massages! He became quite a sweet little friend, and in turn we fed him multiple yummy meals (including Shrimp Ramen. soup..a Thai dog's favorite!).

The beach at the resort

Looking up to the restaurant - me reading once again!

On our 3rd (and final) day in town, we also decided to have some cheap-o Thai massages. They were each about $10 for a 1-hour massage, given to us in an open-air Thai style house. We opted for Swedish-style massages, but toward the end of the session there was a bit of pulling and stretching common in Thai massage. I thought it would be weird, but it was actually quite nice the way the masseuses pulled on our spines and muscles - it was oddly relieving.

The little man following me to the massage spa

A spot we found along the way

The view from our house's terrace

One of the resort's resident dogs - she ate with us daily - and was very sweet!

The desolate beach (that's me on the swing)

That night we took a taxi into town for a Black Moon Party on the beach. Ko Phangan is best known for their Full, Half and Black Moon parties, which can draw upwards of 30,000 people from the mainland for a 1-night party. The Half-Moon parties (occurring twice monthly) take place in the jungle, whereas the full moon and black moons parties take place on the beach in Had Rin. These parties basically turn into raves with loads of mixed alcohol served in buckets with straws and lots of illegal drugs. It is not unusual for many tourists to end up in jail or in the hospital by the end of the night/morning. Many tourists come into town without reserving a hotel for the night, and just crash on the beach before taking the morning ferry back to Koh Samui. Needless to say, we went to the party early just to take in the spectacle, drank identifiable beer from closed bottles, and were on our way home shortly after midnight. We had a very tough time finding someone willing to cart us 45 minutes to the other side of the island, but eventually found a married couple that took us in their private pickup truck. Not speaking a word of Thai, the ride was scary as we were uncertain that they had good intentions as they drove us through the jungle. My heart was racing and palms were sweating as I awaited our final fate - which, just happened to be a return to our rental house without difficulty. Phew!

A picture as the crowd grew larger - it was a "Black Light" party, so everyone wore neon

I took this video of the "entertainment" which featured 2 guys juggling various sticks and nunchucks dipped in pure gasoline & lit on fire. There was no crowd control, and we were about 5 feet away...hello risk?!

The next day we departed back to Bangkok fairly early. We had a tearful goodbye with our little puppy friend, affectionately named "Thai," as he ran after the open air taxi as we raced down the street. We are hopeful that he has had as much luck with other tourists to the area since our departure. If it had been easy, we would have brought him back to the US with us for sure!

Southeast Asia - A Trip Review (Part Two)

2011-12-01T19:58:00.000-08:00

When I last left off we had just departed from Bangkok en route to Siem Reap, Cambodia. The wait at the airport involved some Auntie Ann's pretzels and some comfy lounge chairs, but was relatively short, as was the flight to get to Cambodia. We arrived to our hotel (Angkor Home Hotel) fairly late and thought that we'd head back out for dinner and to check out the town. We laid down on the bed and feel asleep...until the next morning! Ha!

The next morning we enjoyed an early breakfast pool-side, and it was quite nice featuring rambuttan and dragon fruit, in addition to some amazing noodle soup. For the day we had hired a guide to take us to Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples, so we got an early start on the tour.

We spent the majority of the day sweating while trekking around these amazing temples, walking ON TOP OF the sandstone carved buildings and sculptures! I imagine the government will have to step in sometime soon and create some regulations for sightseeing, but for now guests were allowed to climb all over the structures. They were truly amazing to see and to hear the stories of Buddhism from our guide. Mid-afternoon we stopped in a small area of restaurants just outside of Angkor Wat for a bite to eat. We were immediately approached by hordes of children requesting us to purchase their wares - they were quite cute, knowledgable about the US and the English language, and I ended up buying a bunch of woven bracelets from one girl. She was more than thrilled to receive the $1.00 income from the purchase.

The afternoon was spent touring the main spectacle, Angkor Wat. Unfortunately some rehab work was being done, meaning the structure was draped in brightly-colored tarps, ruining our photos. Seeing as the work isn't all about us, we managed to make do ;0) We spent a few hours walking around the grounds and climbing up to its peak to watch the sunset over the horizon.

When we returned back to our hotel we went for a little swim, had some "Happy Hour" drinks and relaxed at the hotel's koi ponds. Shortly thereafter we headed into town to walk around for a bit of shopping and to grab some dinner along their restaurant/bar strip aptly named, "Pub Street." The guide books suggested sticking to American cuisine while visiting Siem Reap, so we settled on pizza from Le Tigre de Papier. We dined alfresco which provided ample opportunity to view the action on the street, including too many prostitutes.

Our evening ended with another crazy tuk-tuk ride to our hotel before our early morning departure the following day - back to Bangkok in order to head to the islands in the south.

Southeast Asia - A Trip Review (Part One)

2011-11-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

We had a bit of a whirlwind trip this time around, although I suppose that is usual for us by now! Our trip began on a Friday, when we drove to LA from SD to fly out of the International terminal at LAX. The flight time from LA to Bangkok was 18 hours, broken up by a 6 hour layover in Guangzhou, China. Unfortunately, we flew with an airline that is not known for having quality planes, and now that we've traveled I would agree with that assessment. They played no English-speaking movies, so we had nothing to do but sleep. After a Tylenol-PM and a glass of wine, we were both out like lights, and managed to sleep nearly the entire time! Awesome! The Guangzhou airport was incredibly dull & expensive ($20 for a latte, anyone?), so we killed the time there painfully. Finally we arrived in Bangkok late on Sunday afternoon due to the time difference.

We immediately grabbed a cab & headed to our hotel, the Chatrium Suites on the River. It was fabulous & cheap (less than $100/night)! We settled in and cleaned up a bit before heading back out to check out the city. We hopped aboard the hotel's river shuttle boat and took it to Taksin Pier. From there we navigated the city's train system and headed to the Sukhumvit neighborhood, where there is a lot of activity. We walked around for a few hours before settling on a yummy restaurant (Kinnaree) for dinner. Although we were virtually the only people in the place, it was really great, and we enjoyed a nice first Thai meal. We nabbed a tuk-tuk for a brief ride to the train station before heading home for the night.

Our hotel in Bangkok

Street food in Bangkok

A traditional Thai appetizer (onions, chicken, coconut, lime, peanuts, spicey sauce, chilis)

The assembled appetizer

The tuk-tuk ride from the restaurant

The next morning was all about an early rise and visits to the temples (Wats) in Bangkok. We stopped off at a street market to sample some street food for breakfast. We ate some funny spicy peanuts wrapped in egg batter and some grilled french-toast type bread, along with some tea.
After fueling up, we walked down the street to the Royal Palace to check out the home of the city's former King & Queen (the current royal family chose to make their home elsewhere). The compound was pretty cool, featuring some amazing Thai architecture & design. It was quite hot, so after a few hours we'd had enough and needed to make our way to Wat Arun.

A boat on the Chao Praya river

Breakfast meats at the street market

Funny breakfast peanutty snack

We headed back to the river ferry, and stopped off at another pier to travel there. Unfortunately the ferry drivers are not quite as attentive to the needs of travelers as in the US, so when dropped off at the dock we realized that we'd need to wade through several feet of water (due to the massive flooding there in October) just to make it to the street. Rather than wade through, we decided to go a different route...

Always glad to have a husband nearby to capture the good moments!

Notice the water at Matt's feet

...we both made it through relatively dry. We walked off to Wat Arun to see the massive Buddah in all his glory. It was quite impressive!

Entrance to the Grand Palace

Decor around the Palace

Water in the shops around the river

Market around the Wats

Wat Arun

From there we hightailed it back to the river so that we could check out of our hotel & grab lunch before flying to Cambodia that early evening. We got a bit lost in Chinatown (a very crowded, dirty, but interesting part of time), also taking a few minutes to walk through the Flower Market in that area, while en route. We ended up having lunch at a spot recommned by our Fodor's travel book, called Harmonique. It was definitely eclectic, with loads of greenery & Thai antique furniture inside the French colonial home.

Rambuttan in the Flower Market

This entire bushel of lettuce was $2.00 at the Flower Market

More garlic than one could ever eat!

After lunch we took a crazy tuk-tuk ride back to our hotel - and were likely the ONLY people to have ever taken such a low-class mode of transport to the hotel. We grabbed a cab & headed to the airport for the 2nd part of our trip.

Our room at The Chatham Suites

A fancy guard at the gate to the Palace

A few houses along the river

The Wat roof tile upon which we left a message

Matt at Wat Arun

Buddhist Monks have to get around too!

A store under water

The French Colonial Restaurant, Harmonique

The crazy tuk-tuk ride!

To be continued...

Thailand & Cambodia

2011-11-29T19:35:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving week overseas in Asia - Thailand and Cambodia to be exact. We traveled to Bangkok for a few days, Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, and Ko Phangan (an island off the coast of Ko Samu)i) for a bit of R&R on the beach. Although I haven't had the time to edit photos, add captions or write a review of our trip, I figured I could post my photo slideshow here. I'll also include a few highlight photos...

The flooding was still obvious in places like this where we had to scale the railings to avoid walking in water!

Our little friend, Thai, that we "adopted" along the way (well, he sort of adopted us!)

Black Moon Party of 10,000 people on the beach in Ko Phangan

Bangkok at night

BFFs...

2011-11-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago The Walker clan decided to plan an impromptu trip out West to visit The Stansburys at their new home. I was lucky enough to have some free time, and was able to meet up with them twice. On Day One we had a lovely dinner at J & M's home, and on the second occassion we met up for a photo session at La Jolla Cove. I'm sure H's blog will host a variety of amazing photos from the trip, but I'll post two that she sent me. LOVE impromptu visits!

The newest addition to the family

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

For the first time since we moved to San Diego, we finally had trick-or-treaters at our home. We waited until the last minute to buy candy, so our offering wasn't good. But, our house was decorated cute & Sydney loved greeting each child!

Hot Pot!

2011-10-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

Two years ago the Science Department at my school started a tradition of getting together for a "team" dinner at one of our houses. Our colleague, F, and his wife invited us all over for Asian Hot Pot that evening, and last night we did the same. Our team has grown quite a bit in the last 2 years. What once began as a team of 4 is now a group of 7. With kids and spouses in tow we took up two long tables, and enjoyed the pluthera of assorted foods offered.

L to R: Noodles, Taro Root, Fish, Tofu and Steamed Buns

He is swimming!

Nerd Alert: "Educated Guess" wine with chemical formulas on the label!

Hard to believe...

2011-10-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it's been nearly 1 month since I've last updated my blog. The blog has definitely taken the backburner lately, as life has become very busy.
I'll post a few catchup posts today, but for now, here's what's going on in our little Cali world...

In between crazy work hours and the typical weekend routine of beach volleyball and zoo volunteering, we are trying to squeeze in some time to plan our upcoming travels, including our trip to Thailand next month. We are still debating whether to travel to the north of Thailand or to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We have got to make that decision soon so that we can purchase our flights. So far we know that we land in Bangkok on Sunday, November 20th and will spend 1 night there before heading elsewhere. We are also ending the trip on one of the islands - Ko Phangan - staying at the home that a SD friend and his family built a few years ago. Thoughts on Chiang Mei vs. Angkor Wat???

The house where we'll stay in Ko Phangan

One of the many relaxing areas at the house

View from one of the balconies

The famous Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia with monks in the foreground

As usual, we'll be back in Chicago for some time in December. I hope to spend nearly 2 weeks visiting family and friends in the Midwest.

We are heading to Riviera Maya, Mexico in February for my brother's wedding. Thankfully we don't have to do much planning for that trip, as we'll likely stay around the resort.

Riviera Maya All-Inclusive Resort

We are also trying to plan out our April trip to Europe. We will begin our trip with my parents in Rome, but then are going to deviate to do our own thing. Right now it's looking like we'll had south to the Amalfi Coast, and then rent a car to drive east to Bari on the coast. From there we'll catch an overnight ferry to Dubruvnik, Croatia to round out our trip there.

Dubruvnik, Croatia

Croatian island

There is so much going on, but they are all good things of course! We are so very grateful!

Miramar Air Show

2011-10-03T19:47:00.000-07:00

For the third year in a row we attended the Miramar Air Show. This year, though, we were accompanied by the Eley family, who recently relocated to southern California. They came fully equipped for the scorching sun, and we all spent a few years watching the plans and sucking down some cool drinks. It was fun to have the kids around, even if they weren't all that into the planes just yet.

Just was well clothed with his headphones, shades and Purdue hat!

Camp Surf: Peer Leadership Retreat

2011-09-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

Like last year, I was asked to chaperone our school's leadership retreat on the beach at YMCA Camp Surf. This year the retreat lasted three days, and included tons of leadership and trust activities, teambuilding work, and time for recreation! Each morning I woke up to the sound of crashing waves, and a stuffy nose to boot ;0)

There were also several breaks each day to allow the chaperones some beach time...

M's Birthday...that much closer to the big 4-0!

2011-09-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that my hubby is beyond the middle of his 30's. Where has the time gone? Considering I met him when he was only 21, it's hard to believe that he's less than 4 years away from 40. I can distinctly remember my parents turning 40. How can my husband be that close?!?

We had a fun time celebrating the new age, nonetheless. We began our weekend with a little fondue shindig at our new abode, ringing in the occasion with beef fondue, cheese and broth for veggies and bread, and some chocolate desert fondue as well. My coworkers were wonderful to lend me the pots I needed, so I had 7 in all arranged around our table.

On Saturday we trekked up to Valley Center to visit our friends' (J & M) new house up there. The scenery was gorgeous, as was their home. Congratulations to them and their growing family!

On Sunday I began chaperoning a retreat for school (more on that later), but managed to break away in the late afternoon so that we could host a beach bonfire along Mission Bay. It wasn't well attended, but we are grateful to those who did come by, including one of M's friends from Grad School who came down from LA. We enjoyed roasted hot dogs and S'Mores into the evening.

Matt also managed to score tickets to the Padres-Cubs game on Monday (his actual birthday), so a nice "touch of home" was had.

Happy Birthday, Matty. I will love you no matter what age you are ;0)

Go Daniel, Go!

2011-09-14T20:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend our friends, Daniel and Sarah, came down from LA to visit San Diego. Daniel was also participating in an Olympic triathlon on Sunday morning. We all enjoyed Saturday with our normal trip to Ocean Beach for M's Volleyball game, some Purdue football watching with the PU Alumni Club at Henry's Pub in the Gaslamp, and then went to dinner at Benecotto. On Sunday we rose early to cheer Daniel on! He did extremely well, finishing 20th in his age group. Rock on, D!

After a job well done!

Laboring on Labor Day

2011-09-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I had to do some school work this morning, but it didn't take too long and I'm ready to spend the rest of the day catching up on some items from the "To Do" list. We had a short thunderstorm (I cannot remember the last time I heard thunder in San Diego, and I've never seen lightening here) this morning, so the weather is quite pleasant.

My garden loved the shower! Everyday that I venture out there it's looking better and better, and I cannot wait to harvest some of the goods.

I've got a nice looking pepper, some vibrantly colored flowers, and some red chile peppers just waiting to go into a recipe. I'm thinking of trying THIS RECIPE sometime soon.

Overall we've had a nice weekend. We watched the first Purdue game of the season at Henry's Pub on Saturday morning, with the rest of San Diego's Purdue Alumni Association. They held a raffle, and we won tickets to Wednesday night's Padres game, so it was a nice morning. Later on we went over to our friends' (Mike and Kaye) condo for a little birthday bash, before the whole group walked to PetCo Park for the box suite at the baseball game. We all had a lot of fun, especially the birthday boy.

Ashley and I at the game

Matt and Ashley in the Suite @ PetCo Park

Mike and Kaye at Fleetwood after the game

Yesterday I worked at the Zoo in the morning before driving up to Orange County to visit Sarah and Rob, who moved here from Indianapolis a few weeks ago. It'll be really nice to have some good friends close by. We have some plans to take their kids to the Miramar Air Show in a few weeks.

That's about it. It's going to be a busy week around here. I've got a lot going on with school this trimester, but all of it should be good. Ciao!

Road trip!

2011-09-03T08:03:00.001-07:00

Things have finally calmed down, and with an extra day to work this weekend I feel that I have the time pull together a "thorough-ish" report about our road trip to New Mexico.

The trip began on a Thursday, after Matt had been to the car dealership for a tune up and some new brakes...after all, his Jeep would take us 2,500 miles in the course of the next 10 days. We piled up the car, created a comfy sleeping spot for the Syd, and were off. Within a few hours we found ourselves in a land as hot as Hades (aka "El Centro, CA") for lunch, and ended in Tucson around dinnertime.

We checked into the sweet little copper house (featured as an architectural wonder in the magazine, "Sunset" a few years back) we rented, and headed out for dinner at a pseudo-Chicago-style pizza joint. It was a'right.

Syd had no problem being left behind in the cool (literally) pad, so the next day we departed early not fearing for her comfort in the least. We spent a good portion of the day walking around the University of Arizona's campus, and having lunch in the little downtown. Afterwards we toured the Sonoran Desert Museum, running through the exhibits before it closed. We stopped for a Dairy Queen Nutter Butter blizzard (yum) on our way home. After all, aren't vacation and Summer all about ruining your appetite with ice cream?! We ate a late dinner at a recommended local Taco Shop, packed with the area's Hispanic population.

The next morning we toured the Titan Missile Museum, catching some views of the missile that could have been released during the Cold War. It was definitely more Matt's thing than mine, but kind of interesting nonetheless. The remainder of the day was spent in the car, as we headed to our stop for the night - Las Cruces, New Mexico. We ate dinner at a recommended restaurant, the Adobe Cafe, featuring New Mexican cuisine, and got our first tastes of the amazing NM green chile!

The control room - awaiting the President's orders to blast the missile to Russia!

The head of the missile

Frito Pie

Back on the road, the following morning we headed toward Albuquerque. Toward the end of the afternoon we stopped at a 1960's diner along Historic Route 66, and enjoyed some milkshakes and Frito Pie (basically chili cheese nachos made with Fritos). Surprisingly, it was pretty good...in fact, I'm craving some as I type. We ended the night by arriving at our B&B in Santa Fe, and hitting the hay.

The next day was all about walking downtown Santa Fe to catch the sights. The city is incredibly charming with the right amount of upscale shopping, gourmet restaurant choices, culture and over-the-top numbers of art galleries. Santa Fe is the 4th largest artists' community in the world, behind some lesser known cities such as Paris and New York City! I would believe it now that I've seen how many art galleries dot the cityscape. We walked all over town, got drizzled on a bit, and retired back to our accommodations in the late afternoon. We grabbed Syd and took her with us to dinner at the Cowgirl Cafe, a pretty decent BBQ joint where I enjoyed a Butternut Squash gratin - full of fat, but mighty tasty :0)

The Native New Mexican Indians selling their wares

A famous staircase in a church, believe to have been built by Joseph, the carpenter, himself

We decided to do some hiking the next day, and after a brief stop at the city's Farmer's Market, headed out to the Kasha-Katuwe National Monument (aka "Tent Rocks") to battle some warm weather and the slot canyons. The hike, itself, was easy, but it was quite hot which made for a challenging excursion. The views were well worth it though.

Hot & Sweaty at the top

We ended our day with the purchase of cowboy boots for both of us...

Cute, no?

...and dinner made back in the kitchen of our adobe house at the B&B. Syd enjoyed the fact that we were back with her for the evening.

The next day we decided to take the High Road route up to the ski village of Taos (we used this review to guide us). We stopped at a few spots along the way, including El Santuario de Chimayo, which is believed to hold special healing powers in its soil. I rubbed some on Sydney in hopes that it might cure her of her seizure disorder. We also stopped for lunch at Sugar Nymphs Bistro in the mountain community of Penasco. It was a dual cafe and performance theater, and an acrobatic performance troupe was in session while we ate. It would have been fun to stick around for their show, but we didn't have the time.

El Santuario de Chimayo

Syd enjoyed some lunch at the cafe too

When we finally arrived to Taos, we decided to tour the Taos Pueblo, currently occupied by the Pueblo Indians. Most residents were on holiday, but it was still interesting to see how some can still live without modern luxuries like running water and electricity!

On our way back we stopped to view the bridge over the Rio Grande Gorge. It provided interesting sights, and a good preview of what we'd eventually see near the Grand Canyon. Sydney had a seizure in the car while we were parked in the lot near the bridge, so my chapel soil didn't seem to help. As usual, it was mild and fast, and she recovered quickly as if nothing had happened. We hope that if they continue, they will still be mild like this.

The Rio Grande down below

That evening we went to dinner at a highly recommended Santa Fe restaurant, La Choza, whose sister restaurant (The Shed) in town is one of the city's fanciest. We really enjoyed our meals and I would highly recommend a stop to anyone visiting Santa Fe.

The next morning we rose bright & early, heading back toward Arizona. It was a long day in the car (during which Sydney had yet another seizure = scary!), but we did see some pretty scenery. Just outside of Flagstaff we stopped at the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. They are right next to each other, so stopping for many photos & seeing both only took about 1 hour. We ended the evening in Flagstaff, eating Subway sandwiches, curled up on the bed in our hotel room!

The Painted Desert

Some rock carvings in the Painted Desert

Numerous logs turned to stone

The next morning we rose fairly early and M & I visited Meteor Crater National Monument. He'd been there as a child, but it was truly unlike anything I'd ever seen. It was easy to imagine how a meteor leaving behind a crater of this magnitude could cause intense damage, and how a much larger meteor could have led to a mass extinction event.

We checked back in on Sydney half-way through the day, and then headed back out to Sedona to see some red rocks. I'd never been before, and it was honestly one of the most gorgeous things I'd ever seen. Sedona has definitely gone on the "possible places to retire" list! We tried to go on a hike, and are so thankful to have been driving M's Jeep Wrangler with 4-wheel-drive. The drive toward the trailhead was INSANE, and any non-4WD vehicle could not have made it. We were even happier to have the Jeep when the skies opened up a short time later. After ~ 10 minutes of walking from the trailhead, we proceeded to run back to the car before getting completely drenched from a torrential rainstorm. Had we waited any longer, it was quite likely that the "road" would have been washed out by floods and we might have been swept away with them! It was pretty dangerous (and stupid <-- we both agreed). On the way back to our hotel we saw some amazing rainbows!

Scary weather

The result of scary weather :0)

That night we wanted to check out downtown Flagstaff, and decided to take Sydney with us since she'd been sitting in the hotel room all day. The downtown was so cute & walkable, with tons of activity, foot traffic and nightlife options. Definitely a great place to spend some time.

The next day we headed out for the Grand Canyon. It was a 1.5 hour drive along some side roads. While driving along I just happened to glance to the left of the car and spotted a brown bear just a few feet away! Matt turned the car around and we got some great photos since it was only ~ 10 feet away max. When it started to show a bit more interest in us (and when we recognized that it was still an adolescent) we realized that "Mama Bear" might be close by so zoomed away before there was any incident.

We stopped at the Grand Canyon for ~ an hour, before it started getting too hot. Syd loved the views ;0)

From there we drove on toward our destination - Las Vegas! Matt had only one thing on his mind while heading toward Sin City, and that was to see a favorite Irish band, Sin e Ri-Ra, perform at Nine Fine Irishmen in the MGM Grand. Matt has talked about taking me to see this band for the last 3 years, and finally we had our chance! After getting settled at our hotel, he and I headed out in the 100+ degree heat (it was really hot) of the night-time heading straight there. Wouldn't you know though that when we arrived we found out that the band was on vacation?!? Matt was incredibly bummed, but we went inside anyway and ate some yummy Irish dinner while listening to the replacement band, which I'm told is nowhere near as good.

The next day we departed for home, and while just outside of the city our car's AC started acting all wonky. The hottest part of the trip and NOW the air-conditioning goes out? I mean, really...

Nonetheless, we made it home sweaty and ready to be out of the car after battling some serious Sunday "Vegas to SoCal" traffic.

It was a great trip and we hope you enjoy the recap!

Our road trip to New Mexico

2011-08-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

I've been extremely swamped with my return to school this week, so I haven't yet gathered up enough time to write about our roadtrip. It's on the agenda for this week. In the meantime, I'll post the slideshow of the pictures from my Picasa album. Be sure to check out the photo of the bear we encountered on the side of the road while en route to the Grand Canyon!

Our veggie garden - a labor of love!

2011-08-22T21:05:00.000-07:00

I recently participated in a Gardening 101 class offered at Wild Willow Farm on the south side of San Diego. The class was meant to introduce the students to the ways of growing their own healthy food - aka "veggies." I have petered around in the dirt from time to time, but would not even come close to saying I have a green thumb. It is more like brown or yellow, so this class was perfect!

For the final class, all of us gathered at one of the participating students' homes...and they chose ours! Woot! We had a site visit a few days before the scheduled "build day," and had to prepare the soil a bit in advance.

I found the perfect spot for the garden - it gets tons of direct sunlight throughout the day and is a relatively undisturbed area on our property.

We dug some trenches so that the soil could begin to soak up some water in advance of the final class. I watered these channels daily, fully soaking the area.

On the day of the build approximately 20 people showed up at our home bright & early, ready to get dirty and sweaty. We followed a technique known as double-digging on one of the beds and sheet mulched the second bed. The class instructors brought all of the plants, tools (I own virtually nothing), plenty of compost, and the labor!

Working hard!

The sheet mulched bed

Looking down from our deck

This is what we ended up with...

The day was also our 5th wedding anniversary, and Matt surprised me by giving me a Mandarin orange tree. We spent the evening planting it together (hence my title "a labor of love"), and hope to watch it grow up to its full height of 13'-15' over the next few years. We plant to dig it up & take it with us to our next home.

Two-and-a-half weeks later, this is what our garden is looking like now...

Butternut Squash

Beans sprouting up!

Cucumbers growing up along a support network

Thai Basil

One of several tomato plants

Green Pepper

Jalapeno pepper

Zinnias

Artichoke

Marigolds

Mandarin Orange Tree

The little tomatoes are coming in!

Checking in from New Mexico!

2011-08-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

That's right...if you guessed at our roadtrip destination accurately. We are in this Southwestern spot! We are busy enjoying our time in Santa Fe - we spent the day walking around the plaza, and looking at all of the art galleries and unique architecture. This seems like the perfect place to retire - high end with loads of natural beauty and great food & shopping, but also a relatively affordable cost of living!

We left on Thursday, driving through Tucson and Las Cruces,NM before heading up to the northern part of the state. We are here for two more days, and hope to do a little hiking. On our way home we are stopping in Flagstaff/Sedona and Vegas before returning to San Diego.

Sydney is also enjoying her trip, and we're glad we brought her with us. She had a surgery three days before we left (she got a foxtail embedded in her chest - I urge all Californians to read up on foxtails...they are nasty!), so we've been glad to keep an eye on her while she recovers. Our friend, Karen, is watching our house and Bandit, and she is an absolute doll to do it! Thank you!

I will sign off with a few photo highlights of the last few days...

Matt screwing around in the Sonora Desert

Me doing the same :0)

"The Copper House" we stayed in while in Tucson

We stopped for lunch at this diner along Route 66 in Albuquerque

New Mexico grows the BEST green chiles!

At the peak of a VERY hot hike among the Tent Rocks outside of Santa Fe

Safari Park Teacher Workshop

2011-08-11T19:49:00.000-07:00

Before we left on vacation I participated in a 3-day Teacher Workshop, located next to San Diego's Safari Park (formerly the Wild Animal Park), at the Zoo's Conservation Research Institute. The workshop focused on conservation lessons that can be incorporated into the classroom. I learned a ton of useful stuff, and hope to incorporate a lot of the material into my Ecology curriculum. Some of the work they're doing is truly incredible!

As part of the workshop we were also treated to multiple special tours around the Safari Park, and all food, beverage and hotel for the 3 days. The group put us up at The Rancho Bernardo Inn, consistently rated one of the best places to stay in town. It was gorgeous! We had catered meals all day long, including post-dinner cocktails and dessert under the stars of the Safari Park. Each day was jam-packed full of activities, but it was a lot of fun.

The only frozen zoo in the nation - over 1000 species' stem cells are preserved here!

Large animal operating room in the vet hospital

A young female armadillo - she is peeking out!

Me and an elephant leg bone

The companion dog that races before the cheetah...they are pals!

The cheetah ran from 0-60mph in less than 5 seconds! She was fast!

We checked traps around the grounds & found some interesting creatures, including this Tarantula!

Scorpion found in a trap

Cute little guy who also got trapped

Giraffes free to roam the "savannah"

Taken during our evening Photo Caravan; this is a mixed-species exhibit

Giraffe bum!

I got to feed the giraffes eucalyptus leaves!

Baby giraffe!

We also fed the rhinos some apples

The gorgeous room at the RB Inn


One of many outdoor walkways at the RB Inn

Fireplace in the Lounge at the RB Inn

More outdoor space at the RB Inn

A virtual tour of El Cerrito...

2011-08-09T21:06:00.000-07:00

This post is purely for those who haven't yet seen or new neighborhood and/or may never get the chance to visit us here! I give you a "virtual tour" of our 'hood...

"The Midwestern"

"The Victorian"

"The typical Spanish-style Californian"

More of the same as above

And again

A reworked ranch

Love this one!

Scary stuff...

2011-08-04T10:42:00.000-07:00

Being a Biology teacher, one would think that I love all living things. Which, for the most part, I do. But, I am a HUGE arachnophobe! Living in a 90-year-old house may not have been the best decision for someone like me. Two days ago I was introduced to the style of a black widow web, so, of course, I started to see them everywhere around our home. Knowing that it was likely just in my head, I tried to relax. However, yesterday while sitting in our front yard petting Sydney, I noticed what appear to be a widow web under a wooden eave by the front door. After taking a closer look, I also saw several egg sacs and a large spider! Using my handy camera phone to snap a pic, I got a better look at the spider and took to Google to do some identification. It was, in fact, a widow spider.

At first I thought it was a male black widow, as it wasn't really black and didn't have the characteristic red hourglass on its body. I have since discovered that it was actually a brown widow spider, less toxic, but equally scary nonetheless. Apparently they have taken over Southern California in the last few years (a great resource can be found here), so I am quite sure there are many of them around our property. I may just have to get used to them, but we may hire an exterminator for some extra peace of mind. I have been reminded by many how I really wanted a home with outdoor space...boy, do I have it!

Anyway, I picked up some lemongrass-based insect killer yesterday, and ventured outside donning rubber globes and a Swiffer duster (ha!) to attack the BEAST. The spray made it mad, and when it scampered out of its hiding space I smashed it to heck! Success!

On another note, I have some sort of pest that has been eating my planted veggies. I've started a few foods from seed, and when they just started to sprout something has come along and munched away. There is virtually nothing left. I had to cover them with a large plastic cover last night, and am afraid to remove it. What bothers me most is that this creature is walking up onto our deck (where the seedlings are located), and eating next to my bedroom window. But, it also seems to take notice of when I've left the house to eat - even if it was only for a 10 minute dog walk! Little (or large...I'm unsure) bugger!

Can you see those MASSIVE bites on my leaves? The leaves are virtually all gone now!

What we do.

2011-07-28T13:16:00.000-07:00

Travel is what we do. Not everyone understands it. Some think we're crazy. Some wonder where we get the extra money. But, for us...travel is not really a discretionary expense. It's not something we do once all of the bills get paid. We eat out, but not a ton. We live modestly. I don't go shopping to buy new clothes, and I don't have a closet full of the season's hottest shoes. We do, however, have an annual travel budget. Every year. It's pretty much a non-negotiable. We've got a decent amount of travel to do in the next 12 months, including Chicago for the winter holidays, Riviera Maya, Mexico in February for my brother's wedding, and Italy and Greece with my parents in April.

So, we've been wracking our brains for the last few weeks trying to figure out where we should go this August. A lot of ideas came onto the table. We have finally decided. We're going to take our big trip this November, during a 1-week break from school. The destination is new to us, is international, and it will take ~ 20 hours to travel there.

Some hints (in photo form)...

One of several places we'll be staying

This food is pretty typical - I am SOOOO excited!

And next month we're going to do a nice driving trip with our pooch in tow. We will be driving Matt's jeep, and I'm pretty excited to hit the open road with the soft cover off and the wind in our hair. We've never been to this destination, and are happy to tick it off the "must see" list. For now, some photos to hint at the destination...

The not-so-fun of living in an old house...

2011-07-22T18:36:00.000-07:00

Could be cute, but it's sorely falling apart & has become the home to many critters

The first one to brave this shed is a bold soul!

Plenty of garden spiders - in & out

And no AC :0(

The fun of living in an old house...

2011-07-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Likely tomorrow's post title will be something along the lines of "The not-so-fun of living in an old house," but in an effort to focus on the positive, I'll start with the benefits here today. Our house was built in 1929, and although it has been remodeled in certain areas, many of the period details were left intact. I walked the yard yesterday, snapping photos of some of the more unique features...

Funny door knocker & "peep hole"

Art Deco light fixture in the Living Room

An odd wall cutout...perhaps once held the family phone

Leftover plantings from previous residents

Walkway to the canyon made from marble slabs

Fire hearth at the bottom of the yard in the canyon - used to be frequented by all neighbors as a respite from the summertime heat and/or entertainment in the evenings (well before there was television)

In the heat of the Summer...

2011-07-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

...drink this! It's my new favorite Summer non-alcoholic "cocktail."

Offline...

2011-07-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

We're going to be "offline" a bit this week as we are packing up our house for a move across town. I don't have any photos to post of the new place other than an exterior shot, stolen from Google maps. and Bing. I will post some more images once we've moved in.

This will (hopefully) be a good move, as we've been itching to get some outdoor space with sunshine for a while now. Our current home is generally 10-15 degrees cooler than the outside temp, and we get absolutely no sunlight. My plants are feeling it! The new house has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, with ~ 400 more square feet than our current home, and an amazing 1300 square foot deck overlooking the backyard canyon. We are excited to have the tranquil outdoor space, and are looking forward to cooler evenings spent in the jacuzzi with a bottle of wine from our wine chiller!

Signing off, among piles of boxes...

Cross your digits...

2011-07-06T10:26:00.000-07:00

Things have been moving thissa way and thatta way in regarding our housing "situations" in the last few weeks. We are currently balancing (battling?) a move within the confines of America's finest city, as well as attempting to remedy the need for a tenant of our Evanston home. Assuming that all things work out the way we want, then we'll be ready to book a nice Summer travel trip. We've got our fingers crossed that things will work out allowing us time to take a trip in August before I head back to school.

Right now this spot is on the list of "possibilities."

A few hints...
a) The destination is in the same hemisphere
b) The time here is 14 hours and 45 minutes ahead of the west coast
c) Neither of us has been near here before, but have been to the 2 likely cities for our flight's layover

Getting honky tonk!

2011-07-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

On Friday I went to the San Diego County Fair with our friends, B. and E. This being only my 2nd county fair (the first being the Orange County Fair in 2009), I was looking forward to 3 things...1) fried crazy food, 2) big produce and 3) cute livestock. I just love the baby piglets & bunnies!

We began the ordeal just right...by sitting in traffic to find parking! Snort! No, but seriously...after finally getting into the Del Mar Racetrack (where the fair is held), we headed straight to the food booths. B and E both got something relatively healthy, and I went straight for fried potato slices on a stick.

Basically, this, without the sausage in the middle:

(photo courtesy of someone else)

After this fried goodness, we walked around a bit taking in the sights, including these two turkeys...

E. and I were swooning over this baby goat...

We walked & we walked, trying to find the HUGE produce. You know the stuff I'm think of, right? The 150 pound pumpkin, the grapefruits as big as your head, that sort of thing. They were NOWHERE to be found, and I mean NOWHERE. We finally had to stop in to Guest Services, and it was confirmed that they were not on display at this fair. What the heck? How can you call yourself a County Fair and not have big produce?!? I don't get it.

Anyway, to drown our sorrows we went off to buy dessert. E. and B. split a powdered-sugar coated funnel cake, while I went a slightly different route...

After an hour-long wait to pull out of the parking lot, we finally ended up home and proceeded to pass out into a sugar-induced coma!

Pirates on a deserted island...

2011-06-20T16:55:00.000-07:00

Pirate Sydney abandoned ship this last weekend & found herself on a deserted beach in Point Loma. A photo journey...

Some dinner found along the way

Dog Days of Summer

2011-06-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

Friday was my last day of school for this academic year. Despite not having worked the entire year, nor working full-time, I was still counting down to this date. As usual the final days were a hectic mess of grading, writing exams, taking exams, and calming down excited kids. I am still not 100% certain of my fate for next year, but am crossing my fingers for good things. Thinking positively again, I left all of my teaching supplies in my classroom ready for next year.

As part of their farewell to me, the EcoFuture club I advise created a little "thank you" video. I love it!

We had a themed end-of-the-year breakfast last week, and were asked to dress up like we would have in our own high school days. Our staff is quite young, so most dressed like they do today with a few lettermans jackets and cheer uniforms spread about. Here are some other photos of the breakfast:

My coworkers: me, Mark, Juli, the "other" Courtney Craig, and Ryan

Our principal's secretary went to HS in the '60s and still fits in her cheer uniform!

Courtney won an award for always hitting "Reply All" on email correspondence

I have a decent amount of "projects" lined up for this Summer, including...

Watch a few TV series (Mad Men, Dexter, Weeds, etc.) based on recs from friends

Other suggestions?

Read loads of books

I just finished Book #2 in the Hunger Games series...SO GOOD!

Continue viewing my list of classic, foreign, and "must see" movies

Suggestions?

Volunteer at the Zoo at least 5 hours/week

I continue to help with the orangutan behavior data collection project among other things

Volunteer at the Animal Shelter walking dogs 1-2 days weekly
Experiment with some new recipes

Vegan recipes are coming my way this Summer

Bake bread :0)

I've got to make better use out of our breadmaker; I found a great recipe for homemade pizza dough - will try that soon!

Find us a new house for the Fall, and hopefully get to enjoy it for part of the Summer

We are looking at a few houses with a yard (and hopefully a view) so that I can garden

Continue endurance training to increase my running speed

I follow a treadmill routine: (Run @ 90% Max HR for 3 minutes + Equal Recovery) x 4

HomeRoom Curriculum Project

I've been tasked with a project to create meaningful easy-to-implement lessons for our schools' homeroom sessions

Safari Park Teacher Program

I am participating in a 3 day teacher experience at the SD Safari Park (formerly known as "The Wild Animal Park"); it seems like it's going to be awesome!

Video Continuing Education Training

I am taking a class as part of some continuing education

Visit Santa Barbara

Other than a brief stop at Starbuck's, I've never been. Sad, no?

Go to a Padres Game
Go to Del Mar Racetrack
Take Sydney to the Beach as often as possible
Chemistry Certification

I'd like to add a Chemistry certification to my teaching credential, but need to figure out how to do this.

Travel somewhere???

We have a few other things to get out of the way first, but are doing some research to determine a possible Summer trip (Ireland, Alaska, Iceland, or Thailand or all on the list)

Any other ideas???

Summer happenings...

2011-06-13T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm quickly becoming very unoriginal with my blog titles. Boo.

We had a pretty good weekend for my first one of the Summer, so I figured I should recap here for my own memories.

On Friday evening some friends met us out for drinks and dinner at The Prado in Balboa Park. I cannot believe that we've lived within walking distance of this place for nearly 2 years and hadn't been before. The ambience is so nice with views looking out over the lush canyons, and the food was really good. The next time that family or friends come in from out of town, we'll definitely be headed there!

We woke up extra early on Saturday morning to participate in a community clean up project called The Neighborhood Face Lift. We traveled to City Heights, and were assigned a home to "beautify" with other Chase employees. We spent about 4 hours painting and doing yardwork turning the home from this...

...into this...

After M's usual volleyball game at Ocean Beach we gussied up for the night before heading to dinner with some friends.

We finally tried out San Diego's "Asian corridor" and enjoyed some Mandarin food at a family-friend restaurant. At the end of the evening we decided to grab some gelato from Chocolat in our neighborhood...their gelato is awesome! They prepare it in machinery imported from Italy, using a recipe from their home country. We think it's every bit as good as the gelato we've had abroad!

On Sunday we were supposed to check out a polo match at the Del Mar fairgrounds, but decided to go on a hike of the Los Penasquitos Canyon instead. It was a nice 2.5 mile hike that ended at a mini-waterfall before turning back around to where we'd started for a total 5-mile route.

We had planned to partake in a bonfire at Fiesta Island that evening. I was really looking forward to some S'Mores, but due to some miscommunications, we didn't end up making it. That is one thing for my "summer list" that will have to wait.

Indian food @ TJ's

2011-06-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

I absolutely adore Indian food, but cannot always go out to eat it. So, when Trader Joe's started offering a few vegetarian delicious selections, I got excited.

If you haven't tried if yet, their Naan bread is really quite good. You can find it in the frozen section.

I also recently tried the Baingan Bharta with Malabari Paratha bread. One word is all that's needed to describe this treat...YUM!

Run (don't walk) to your store today & try this treat.

As an aside, I might try this recipe & this recipe over the Summer if I can figure out where to purchase garam masala.

Food!

2011-06-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

It seems that all we've done lately is eat, eat, and eat! With Summer on the brain, it's time that I start thinking about my exercise routine & honing in the excessive nutrition! This weekend was all about food as well.

On Friday we stopped at my school for a tradition the school is hoping to establish - Summer Splash Down - which basically was a family pool party. Being the only teacher there without children was a little weird, but nice to watch the students having fun. After this we met up with some friends at BASIC in the East Village for some wine, pool, and good conversation. I was starving at the end of the evening, and so we stopped off at one of San Diego's many taco stands (LOVE this aspect of San Diego living) for a California burrito (rice, potatoes, cheese & HOT salsa...yum!).

Yesterday proved to be a fabulous day weather-wise, which began with my usual 2-hour shift at the SD Zoo. The orangutans were entertaining, and it was nice to see them again after a few weeks away. We later went to M's volleyball game in Ocean Beach, followed by lunch at the OB Smoothie Bar & Subs on Newport (delicious Acai bowls chock full of fruit).

After that we ran some errands and hurried home to make some bruschetta to bring to Darrin's house for a dinner he was hosting. He made a mean meaty lasagna - it smelled fabulous & I might have had a taste of the meat sauce...maybe ;0).

Darrin's pad with views of the bay, Coronado, and the ocean beyond

He was kind enough to make me a veggie version as well, and it was delicious!

The "chef" in the kitchen, making sauce

Today I was awakened at 6:15am by San Diego's Rock N' Roll marathon runners pounding the pavement past our front door. I was lucky enough to see the Kenyans make it to our place (~ 2 miles in) about 9-10 minutes after the start! Crazy, huh??? With a wave-start, it's 2 hours later and they've all gone by. Back to bed I go...

The band across the street

Brussels Sprouts...say wha?!?

2011-06-01T19:14:00.000-07:00

For many years brussels sprouts have been on my very short "no no" list...as in "Foods I will NOT eat." However, while in Budapest this past December I enjoyed a delicious preparation of this dish while eating at Owl's Castle. I recently decided to try my hand at making them myself after a coworker raved about her preparation. I have discovered a way to make them fabulous & I am so excited, I could not wait to share ;0)

The following is a very typical dinner for me during the week & takes ~ 25 minutes from start to finish...

Baked Sprouted Tofu Recipe

Open 1/2 of the tofu package
Slice tofu block into small cubes*
Place cubes in bowl & generously drizzle with Sesame Oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, and dried chili pepper flakes
Allow to marinate for 10-15 minutes (the longer the better)
Spread out cubes on cookie sheet & spray with oil
Bake @ 400 degrees for ~ 14 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking

* I used to take the time to press out the liquid from the tofu, but have found that I actually like the texture better when I don't do this. Individual tastes may vary.

Brussels Sprouts Recipe:

Slice sprouts in half, length-wise
Heat a generous serving of olive oil (1.5 rounds of the pan) in covered skillet
Toss in halved sprouts and allow to simmer
Sprinkle garlic powder & cajun spices (any yummy spice would do)
Add several (2-3) Tablespoons water
Allow sprouts to soak up liquid & steam a bit while they saute in the oil for approximately 15 minutes
When sprouts are lightly browned on outside, but can be easily poked with a fork, they are done! Voila!

Typical spices I use

Memorial Day Weekend

2011-05-31T09:27:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulously long weekend back in the Midwest, and it was an awesome way to celebrate the holiday. I took Friday off of work, which was a great call! Unlike last year, we actually had some time to see the city and our family & friends without being too rushed.

After a late, late (early morning) flight arrival into Chicago we caught a few hours of sleep at my parents' house before heading into the city for the afternoon. My Aunt Carol joined us and my parents for our trip downtown. Our afternoon began with a visit to Gino's East for the famed "Meaty Legend" deep dish that Matt just HAD to try. Knowing that we'd be having a heavy dinner, we all ate light. Matt said the 8-pound-pizza was all that it was expected to be and more, complete with 4 kinds of meat (italian sausage, salami, canadian bacon, and regular bacon).

After lunch we headed over to Groupon for a tour of Blake's workplace. It was a totally progressive spread, with row after row of open desk space, 25-28 year olds plugging away on MACs, and random creative drawings on every available whiteboard space. The workplace is a changing...

We had time to squeeze in a little Happy Hour in Little Italy before heading to dinner. Nick, Katharine and 5-month-old daughter, J, met us at Hawkeyes Bar for a quick drink. Although a short visit, it was great to see the growing girl (J, of course) and catch up a bit. After this we headed down Taylor Street to Tuscany, and met up with my cousins, Wendy & Tony, for a great dinner with family! With our bellies VERY full of pasta, gelato and wine we headed home for the day. It was great to see everyone.

On Saturday we stopped in to Blake's new apartment! After 27 years of living with my parents, he and Altera have finally moved out! It's a cute place only 5 minutes from his childhood home, but nonetheless, they are on their own and my parents are officially "empty nesters." We then headed down to Indianapolis for the rest of the weekend. My parents joined us this time, and we arrived to the McLaughlin household for a BBQ they hosted. They were kind enough to invite all of our Indy-based friends and their families, so it was quite the crowd. 15 children (most under the age of 5) and a number of adults - many of whom we had not seen in some time! It was great to see everyone in one fell swoop. A huge thank you to Paul & Lisa for playing host!

Sunday was race day and began pretty early. In true Race Day pattern, it was swelteringly hot and we came prepared with stocked cooler of beverages. It was my mom's first time at the race, so all were uncertain as to whether she'd enjoy this little bit of Midwestern "charm." Betting on drivers and rooting for them throughout the race helps to make the event more exciting, and we all had a good time. As is usually the case, beginners' luck took over and my mom's driver won the race paying her out as well.

After the race we headed out to Bella Vita on Geist reservoir, where boat-toting Hoosiers play at the end of the day. The scenery there is unlike what one would expect in Indy, and was a refreshing end to a warm day.

Before heading out of town on Sunday we met up with M's friend, Jake, for breakfast. It was good to catch up, and see that he's doing well.

Driving back up to Chicago, we stopped at our alma mater, Purdue. Although it was a holiday and students have already graduated, we took the time to drive around campus and check out the Alumni Center. Matt was saddened to discover that his fraternity house is no more - a patch of grass grows where it once stood - and his favorite bar is now a Five Guys Burgers & Fries. :0( Epic Fail.

I did manage to stop off at Chauncey Mall's Discount Den for a SUPER HUGE Diet Coke in a styrofoam cup - ah...the good old days after chapter meetings at Alpha Chi Omega! I present to you....the "DD Coke"...

We headed back home out of Midway Airport that afternoon, saddened to leave our family. We had a nice visit, and look forward to the next one.

Ridiculous Obstacle Course (ROC) Race!

2011-05-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we participated in a bizarre event at the Del Mar Racetrack - called the Ridiculous Obstacle Course (ROC) Race! It was a 5K full of ridiculous obstacles, including Lucha Libres trying to knock us over with large styrofoam spades, a snow hill, various mud pits, tire obstacles, and a host of other challenges. Our team dressed up as the 80's Nickelodeon TV show, "Double Dare," complete with shirts, goggles, helmets, and knee and elbow pads. It was a lot of fun, and we didn't do half bad! I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

On Sunday we had tickets to attend the Drew Brees Celebrity Golf tournament in north SD county. We spent a few hours walking the course watching some ex and current NFL players (among others) play a few holes each.

Actor, Ray Romano

Drew about ready to try for the money shot

NFL Player, Tony Romo

Rambling, rambling on...

2011-05-21T10:32:00.000-07:00

Hoping to plan our next big trip soon! In the meantime, some of the places I've been & my Top 9 favorites!

Create your own travel map or travel blog
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A nice little weekend

2011-05-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

We had a very nice relaxing weekend with very little school work involved, which equals a GREAT weekend for me! I have about 18 days of school left this year...not that I'm counting or anything ;0)

On Friday night we finally got around to seeing the first "Iron Man" movie. It was quite different from what I was expecting, but I liked it. I suppose this means I'll need to see "Iron Man 2" sometime soon, huh?

On Saturday morning I headed to the zoo for the usual observations I've been doing on Saturday mornings, and then headed to Ocean Beach for the first game of Matt's Beach Volleyball season. Although the weather initially wasn't great (we're experiencing the typical "May Grey" in SD right now), the sun did peek out of the clouds for a bit, and it's always nice to see and smell the ocean when we can.

After Matt's game we headed to South Beach Bar & Grill for some drinks and fish tacos. They are the bomb! On the way home we experienced a car breakdown on the 163 freeway, as my car overheated & we lost a serpentine belt that was just replaced on Wednesday! But the story gets better...no sooner had we just pulled over than we were tailed by a funny car resembling the Ghostbusters' ride in the 80's movie of the same name. A little old man dressed like a cowboy got out & immediately told us he'd try to help. We popped the trunk so that he could take a look. He informed us that we'd be requiring a tow, and handed over a few business cards so that we could spread the word about him - he is known as the "San Diego Highway Man" and is nothing more than a good citizen helping people in need stranded on the San Diego highways. He was awesome!

That night we learned that "Zorba the Greek" is a movie worth watching...we haven't seen it yet, but plan to do so soon. This all came about as we were dining with Margie & Stan at a Greek restaurant in Chula Vista, known as Zorbas. They have been coming here for years and always talk about how fun it is, so for Stan's birthday we decided to head there together. We are normally a bit leery of buffets, but the food here was all very good. We stuffed ourselves silly, drank a little too much wine, and enjoyed the entertainment - traditional Zorba dancers and belly dancing women who danced with fire! It was pretty cool...much better than we could have anticipated.

Sorry for the blurry pics...it was dark!

Today we met some friends for breakfast at Swami's Cafe, near the beach in Encinitas. We had planned to head to the beach so that their 18-month-old son could play in the sand, but the weather was not cooperative. We explored the area a bit (love it up there!) and then headed home to run some errands and take Sydney out for a nice walk. We ended up near the harbor front strolling past the USS Midway, some cruise ships, and around the shopping of The Embarcadero.

We returned home for a workout, some dinner, and are now capping off our night with some relaxation at home.

I Love a Clean San Diego Day!

2011-05-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

In honor of the "Earth Month" of April, the club I advise at school sponsored an electronic waste collection yesterday. We worked from 9am-1pm collecting the community's old electronics - from televisions to DVD players, to old cell phones. The school/club will make some money off of the event, and we feel more green for having done it.

We filled a full semi-truck!

Baby Giggles...

2011-04-30T10:41:00.000-07:00

...is there anything better? Just had to share!

Three of my favorites....

2011-04-12T20:56:00.000-07:00

Now that we've returned from Costa Rica, I am starting to sort through our many photos. Here are two more of my favorites...

And, of course, they would be of primates! :-)

Forever remembering Uncle Sal

2011-04-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

We arrived home yesterday to news that my Uncle Sal had passed in his sleep on Sunday night. Although suffering illness for many years, he always made it through with a fighting spirit. His spirit has moved on to a better place, and we will all forever remember his character. Our thoughts are with my Aunt Carol, the cousins, Wendy & Tony.

Dia Siete

2011-04-09T23:14:00.000-07:00

On our second to last day in Costa Rica we finally got to do what I'd been waiting for the entire trip...see monkeys! We awoke early so that we could head into the Manuel Antonio National Park. After a suggestion with a woman on the hotel's shuttle, we decided to hire a tour guide at the park's entrance. They abound as soon as the hotel's drop off guests, so we hired a knowledgeable official park guide who also happened to carry a large telescope, which proved to be helpful in spotting animals in the trees.

He walked us through the park, pointing out the exciting specimens left and right. We discovered a few medicinal plants and plenty of wildlife!

A red-eyed tree frog

The frog above looks like this when awake...

Gorgeous Tucan

Tree iguana...chilling

Bats!

A sloth

Pretty beaches, surrounded by jungle

We ended our 2-hour hike before Noon and still hadn't seen monkeys. He told us that they'd come to the beach around Lunch time, when they could steal food from the public. We were unsure of whether to believe him or not, but decided to stick around for the potential showing.

In the meantime, we complete a hike up to the highest points in the park. As we neared the beach on the downward side of the hills, we finally heard it - the whimper of a capuchin! We went running down toward the sand and discovered a lot of the little guys seeking lunch. Matt got extremely close to them, which I did not appreciate. But, it was extremely cool, nonetheless. After a long photo shoot we ventured down the length of the beach and discovered HUNDREDS of black and white capuchins in the trees! I was in heaven :0)

We spent a lot of time watching the playful little guys, and eventually decided to head to a more remote beach for a bit of a rest in the sand. The rain clouds rolled in shortly thereafter, so our rest was not too lengthy. We headed into town for a pizza lunch before heading back to our hotel for the afternoon.

Cute towel animals in our hotel room

We hung out in our hotel room a bit, reading and watching TV before cleaning up for the night. We decided to try out a popular tourist spot for dinner, El Avion. This place is actually quite infamous in American history as it's commonly known as "Olli's Folley" hearkening back to the days of the Iran-Contra scandal and Oliver North. The restaurant features a former military cargo plane that has since been sold to the restaurant owner (for pennies on the dollar) and turned into the bar of the restaurant. It is quite popular with American tourists, and as a result, we did not eat here but merely had a drink, snapped some photos, and departed.

We ended up eating dinner at La Cantina BBQ down the street from El Avian. The food was pretty good as we dined al fresco, and the live band created a nice atmosphere.

After dinner is when things got interesting. We headed back to our hotel for our usual nighttime ritual of checking emails in the hotel's office. Matt departed for the room a few minutes before me. As I approached the door to our room, I could hear him on the other side of the door hitting the floor with a heavy object. Thinking that he was likely hitting an insect (which abound in this country), I opened the door to find a smashed SCORPION! My reaction was initially a vocal, "Wow!" until Matt told me that he'd been stung. At that point my stomach dropped to my knees, and I felt nauseas. We both ran out of the room, ran down the few flights of stairs to the hotel's main desk and proceeded to yell for "Un Paramedico! Rapido! Es un EMERGENCIA!" The desk clerks tried settling us down by informing us that the scorpions in Costa Rica are not poisonous; but, not knowing whether to believe them or not, we were incredibly scared. Matt tried his best to stay calm, so as not to pump his blood (and the scorpion's toxin) throughout his body faster than absolutely necessary. I, however, was not so calm as I went running through the hotel's restaurant, screaming to find out if anyone was a doctor!

We were told that the paramedics would take close to 1 hour to arrive. At this point Matt and I were both thinking the unspeakable - he would die in that amount of time. After about 20 minutes of ice and rubbing alcohol on the stinger spot, sitting with an elevated foot, and trying to stay calm, a tour guide of an American tour group showed up and informed us that, indeed the scorpions were not poisonous and if Matt was allergic, he'd already have had a reaction. This helped us to rest a little easier.

Around 20 minutes later the paramedics did arrive. They escorted us to our room where they proceeded to conduct a thorough medical examination of Matt, injected his butt cheeks with a steroidal drug and an antibiotic, and wrote us a prescription for an antibiotic. We had all calmed down considerably, and it seemed that all would be fine, barring no infections from the pathogen-riddled stinger.

With all of the lights turned on in our hotel room, we attempted to sleep for the night. But, due to the rain in full force outside, the local fauna - a "Halloween crab" - had taken over the hotel grounds. We could hear 100's of crabs in the walls of our room, scratching their claws along the drywall. All we could imagine were scorpions infesting our room, and did not sleep much. Contemplating a room change, the desk clerks basically laughed at us, likely thinking of us as "stupid Americans." We sucked it up and made do. The rest is history...

Now proudly displayed in a Mason jar in my classroom!

For size reference - his stinger packed a punch!

Dia Seis

2011-04-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up to a nice breakfast at our B&B before being picked up by a private transportation trip to Manuel Antonio. The ride was not far, in terms of distance, but we did have to settle in for a 4-hour + trip. About 45 minutes into our ride we came upon a small smattering of houses along the mountainside - and it just so happened that Don Juan, himself (from the coffee plantation), was standing in the front yard of one home! Our driver pointed him out to us - how very random!

We stopped for some ice cream along the way, as well as to sample some of the strange fruits growing in the area - including a fruit that houses cashews from a cashew tree! I had no idea how cashews grew, but this fruit was unreal...it tasted and smelled exactly like the nut!

Later on we pulled over by a river delta to see the area's crocodile population.

When we were very close to Manuel Antonio we happened upon a group of macaws in the trees along the coast.

We arrived to our gorgeous hotel - the Hotel Parador - during a rainstorm and quickly checked in before heading back out. The hotel had a patch of rainforest on the grounds, so we headed out for a walk through the trails. It was muggy, so it proved to be a very sweaty walk, but led us out to some pretty vistas.

We returned to our hotel for a little R&R before Happy Hour and dinner, all taken at the hotel's restaurant. A torrential rainstorm fell while we were dining, so the evening ended in a flurry of open showers all around.

2 for 1 drink specials

Matt's plantain wrapped ahi tuna roll (called the "Tico Roll"), which he said was fabulous!

Dia Cinco

2011-04-07T08:42:00.000-07:00

The bridge walk through the clouds

Today we explored the cloud forest by zipline! We've wanted to do this for quite some time, but wanted the location to be just right. The cloud forest was definitely it! Ziplining is one of those experiences that is extremely terrifying and thrilling at the exact same time. At times I could not wait for it to be over, but at other times I wanted to keep going more.

We also tried something called "The Superman" during which we each jumped off (free falling) of a platform approximately 30 feet up. From there, the inertia kept us going as we swung out "Tarzan-style" over the forest canyon.

To give you a better idea of what the whole experience was like, I'll post several photos & videos here...

Ready to fly...

Looking like huge nerds in our gear

After the zipline we continued through the forest by walking along the bridge walkways, walking along above the treetops at times several hundred feet above ground level. We were literally walking in the clouds. We saw a lot of gorgeous vegetation, but no striking animals - which was disappointing. Nonetheless, it was serene and unlike any place we'd been before.

Some scenes from the forest...

After walking through the forest, we departed for a coffee plantation tour of the Don Juan coffee plantation. The plantation began just over 20 years ago by Don Juan himself, who has become a sort of icon around Santa Elena. In addition to his mug being plastered all over the plantation's signage and products, he also owns a restaurant of the same name in town. We didn't have high expectations for this tour, but it seriously blew us away! We had no idea how ignorant we were of coffee!

Did you know that the only difference between light roast, medium roast, dark roast and espresso is the number of minutes each is roasted? The standard amount of roasting time is 23 minutes, and each roasting level thereafter has two minutes added to the total roasting time. In the process of roasting though, alkaloids such as caffeine are destroyed. So, although dark roast coffee is generally the most popular among drinkers (at least in America), it has the least amount of available caffeine. And the flavor we experience from this roast? That's burned bean flavor, folks! Ew! So, for the most bang for your buck, it is best to grind light roast (most caffeine, least strength of flavor) with dark roast (least caffeine, most strength of flavor). We will never go back to drinking coffee the same way again.

We learned so much in a short period of time, met Don Juan and his doggie, Tequila, and enjoyed some excellent coffee at the end of the tour.

The coffee plantation tour...

Don Juan, himself

Oxen pulling a cart to gather beans

The machine that pulls the outer shell off of the coffee bean

The coffee bean

After the bean has been sun-dried

A primitive (but effective) method of separating ripe from unripened beans

Squeezing sugary juice from a sugar cane

The result - Sugar Cane Juice!

Beautifully decorated oxen cart

The roaster

Some photos of our space at the B&B...

The grounds around Claro de Luna Lodge

Dia Quatro

2011-04-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

For our fourth day in Costa Rica we changed destinations, heading to the cloud forest of Monteverde. We departed on a group bus in the morning, took a small boat across Lake Arenal, and eventually continued through the mountains up to the town of Santa Elena. Although extremely friendly with the backpacker crowd, this town is a nice jumping off point for all things cloud forest.

We checked into our cute B&B, Claro de Luna, and explored the foliage and horses surrounding the room. I marveled at the neighbor's vegetable and herb garden...oh how I'd love to make meals based off of what was coming in fresh that day! We spent some time walking around the steep streets of town, being chased by stray dogs looking for a bite to eat, and finally settled on a pizza joint for lunch. The pizza was actually fantastic, and the establishment's friendly kitten was a nice companion ;-)

That evening we went on a nighttime forest walk - in the dark - with flashlights, a guide and a group. We found quite a variety of wildlife peering out at us from the trees, including: a mexican hairy porcupine, a coati, agoutis (huge rodents), a tarantula, a wolf spider, leaf-cutter ants, katydids, and a host of other little things. We learned a lot, and were scared a lot! Imagine walking around in complete darkness, with the forest all around, and hearing animal noises left and right. No thank you!

Crossing Lake Arenal, with the volcano in the background

Our cute B&B suite

Hello little neighbor!

He desperately wanted pizza!

A coati

An agouti (aka "a large rat-like animal")

The beautiful Morpho butterfly ("mariposa" in Spanish)

A wolf spider...yikes!

Under a large tree in the forest

Looking up at the Mexican hairy porcupine...can you see the top of his face?

Yes, this is the Orange Kneed Tarantula...she was as big as M's hand

This is a Worker Leaf-Cutter Ant - he was gripping these pants with his mandibles; interestingly,
they used to be used as sutures for surgery as they will not let go unless the force is too great.

Dia Tres

2011-04-05T21:00:00.000-07:00

On our third day we woke early in order to have some breakfast before meet our shuttle headed to the river. We were going white water rafting! Although we'd been rafting once before in Bali, these were level 3-4 rapids, so the intensity would be a first.

We had an absolute blast battling the rolling rapids, coming very close to falling out of the raft a time or two, and getting absolutely soaked! The instructors tried their hardest to up the intensity of the experience, and the photos do it all the justice it deserves.

Mid-way through rafting we stopped for some fresh-cut pineapple and watermelon (absolutely the best EVER) and saw an entire troup of black howler monkeys calling away from the trees above (no photo...boo). The trip was capped off with a traditional "Tico" lunch of casado (rice and beans, beans and rice, meats, sauces, and veggies).

When we returned in the evening, we hung around our hotel a bit before heading out to the bustling downtown of La Fortuna (I kid, I kid...), which has absolutely nothing bustling about it. We settled on the most vegetarian-friendly restaurant we could find and had a casual dinner before heading back for the night.

Dias Uno y Dos

2011-04-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

After nearly 24 hours of travel we finally arrived in Costa Rica! We had barely slept after an overnight flight from LA to San Jose, we prepared ourselves for a 3-hour drive to the Arenal Volcano region of the country. Although we arrived in the early dark, we could tell that we were going to love this area! The temperature and humidity level were perfect - one of the only things we dislike about San Diego weather is how cold it gets in the evenings. This was ideal.

We settled into our villa, unpacked our belongings, and headed to dinner at our resort's open-air restaurant. The food was fabulous, and it was nice to know if that we had a great choice right on site. We managed to stay up without falling asleep in our plates, and popped into the resort's warm pool, fed by the nearby volcano's heat. This was enough to lull us to sleep, so we quickly returned to the villa for a good night's rest.

Our villa at Arenal Manoa Hotel

The next morning we woke up fairly early and headed to the resort's full-service breakfast buffet, and thoroughly filled up on beans and rice, fresh fruit, and plenty of other yummy treats. An umbrella drink was in order, so we later sat around the pool, soaking up some sun and sucking down some frothy beverages at the pool's swim up bar. The sun was intense and after only 30 minutes, I was already feeling the effects of an oncoming sunburn. We decided that the rest of the day was to be spent in the shade, so the butterfly conservatory sounded like just the ticket.

We took a long cab ride to the research station, and enjoyed a nice tour of the grounds. The employees indulged my biology interest, and led me to the incubation room so that I could view the pupa and larva in their various stages of development. We later walked from butterfly house to house to view the various butterfly species on exhibit. Some of them were just amazingly gorgeous. While walking around we could hear the call of some black howler monkeys, and shortly after decided to head out in search of these primates. We walked a 30-minute trek around the grounds and could see some movement in the trees, but didn't have any close encounters.

On the way out of the gardens, Matt spotted a toucan while I was in the restroom. Unfortunately, it was gone by the time I got out. Supposedly they are quite rare to see in the wild, so he considered himself lucky to have seen it.

M's frothy Pina Colada

View of the volcano from my poolside recliner

The volcano was smoking

Some of the resort grounds

Butterfly larva

The "lab"

The Owl Butterfly

Happy Hour at the Resort

When we returned we enjoyed a little happy hour at the hotel, and then were picked up by a shuttle service, that drove us to the famous Tabacon Hot Springs Resort for a soak in the facility's many hot springs. It was an interesting place, and one of the more interesting things we've done in the evening - soaking in HOT stone pools surrounded by the jungle. We followed up the soak with dinner at the resort, and then back to our villa for bed. It was the perfect first day, but not at all the type of experience we usually get when we travel. We were already starting to fall in love with Costa Rica!

Matt at Tabacon

And we're off...

2011-04-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

We leave for Costa Rica tomorrow evening. We'll be busy running around all day getting packed, preparing for our house-sitter, and seeing old friends before flying out of town. We'll return on Monday, April 11th. Ciao!

Show me the money...

2011-03-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm back to work full-time, my days are jam-packed full of teenage craziness. The club I advise, EcoFuture, has been helping the San Diego Zoo with an enrichment project by decorating gourds for animal treat puzzles. Some of my students were offered an extra credit project to decode & make a batch of cookies, according to rules of DNA and protein synthesis. Here is a collage of some students at work...