Victoria and the Maiden Voyage

For Memorial Day weekend we went up to visit Matt's grandma. We left on Thursday evening after work. I had driven the Suby with the kayaks on top to the office and because it was nearly flooding outside, received a few Noah's Ark jokes. It proceeded to rain very hard the entire way up. It was a bit nerve wracking between the darkness, the heavy rain, and our first long trip with the kayaks (aside from moving from one town to another). We made it just fine and at about a quarter to midnight. Our plan originally was to get up and catch the first ferry over to Victoria, but we were not confident in our ability to get up after arriving so late. Turns out we both woke up the next morning without an alarm... at 6 am. [...]

Field Trip

Was in the field this week north of Seattle and wanted to share some photos. We had progressively nice weather, but the rain left large puddled areas along our access roads and determining draining solutions was challenging.

A beautiful and chilly morning with some patchy fog.
[...]

Naked Snowshoeing

Matt, Suz, and I went snowshoeing with Naked Winery on Feb. 9th. We met at the White River West Sno Park with a bunch of winery members. Just like the winery- all the members are fun-loving and easy-going too! This was our first event with the winery outside of tastings and wine pick-up parties. Matt and I went to REI and rented the gear. It was a lot of fun and my first time snowshoeing in years.

We trekked and along the way dug up previously buried bottles of wine. They were marked with fake red roses- easy to spot, right- but apparently someone not in our group thought they should collect them. We spent some time looking for two of the bottles after the roses went missing, but we found eventually! If only they'd known there was wine underneath! We maybe went 1/2 a mile to a mile the whole round trip, stopping every 10 minutes of walking to uncover another bottle. It was a blast and I wasn't the only one who wished they'd eaten a bigger breakfast.  [...]

McMinnville

Matt planned a really fun winery weekend to celebrate my birthday. I was very grateful to get out of town! We went to McMinnville and stayed at the Hotel Oregon and toured 3 wineries: Youngburg Hill, Yamhill Vineyards, and Amity. It was incredibly foggy all day, but it made beautiful hoar frost. 

The itinerary: Text from Grape Escape Winery Tours with italics comments from us. We are not expert wine tasters and we didn't take notes, so I will put down my amateur comments for what I remember.  [...]

Xibalba

Day 4: Monday, December 10

The ATM Cave entrance.
http://mayawalk.com/

This morning we met at 7am down at Mayawalk for a quick breakfast before we load up. We're heading out on a full day trek to Aktun Tunichil Muknal or the ATM. Brian isn't feeling well and has to back out. So, there's 10 of us plus 3 guys and another girl who aren't with our group. From the time we load up into the vans, the story is solely from the perspective of the part of the group who rode with Aaron and went into the cave with him. The other guide, who was amazingly knowledgeable, was Gonzo. Both are caving buffs who worked with and led the original archeologists when the artifacts were first discovered. They have a long history with the ATM. Some people may have been with both people throughout various parts of the journey. 

It takes about 45 minutes to get to the parking lot where we will unload and pack out the food and gear to the start of the cave. Part of it is paved, but a better portion of it is unpaved and quite a bumpy ride in a 9 passenger van. Every now and then a dinging warning alarm like the one you'd hear to fasten your seat belts goes off. Aaron, the owner of Mayawalk, has decided to be one of the guides to lead us on this adventure, and he lovingly pats the dash and tells the van "It's going to be okay, baby." Apparently one of the other guides drove too fast through a muddy hole on the way to the cave and it got the sensor wet. They had ordered a replacement, but something was the wrong size so they had to send it back, and were still waiting on it to arrive. He is really hoping that we don't dock the company in a review for the sensor going off about every ten minutes. The other van has no air conditioning and a few other minor problems aside from just being old. He said he's had plenty of people give poor reviews based solely on the transportation to and from the cave. This is utterly unfair. It's Central America and you're out here to be on an adventure. This is all a part of the whole wonderful experience. We gave them good reviews. [...]

Cayo

Day 3: Sunday, December 9

Today is our first official day and we're heading to San Ignacio in the Cayo District near the western border with Guatemala. We are incredible excited to get rolling to the jungle! Belize City was an interesting time, but after two days, it's time to move on. In my opinion, if you are ever in Belize City all you need is 2 hours. One hour to see the sights and shop the local crafters- they're all within half a mile of the Swing Bridge (most are far less than that) and an hour to eat (I recommend Neiri's). Then move on to the Cayes or the Cayo. 

Sam and Louise in San Ignacio

We were told breakfast would be at 7am, but when we got upstairs to eat we were told breakfast was now at 7:30. All fine and good; we are quite alright drinking coffee and chatting on the balcony. Take that! The bus we wanted to catch is at 8:30, so we did the after-breakfast dash to get our bags and get to the station. The hotel called 4 cabs for 12 people. They all showed up in under 60 seconds and not everyone was ready. The first cab drove away with 3 people in it. The next had 2 people. (We're off to a great start here.) The had the remaining 2 cabs wait which had 3 and 2 people, not counting Emilio was at the front desk making sure everyone had turned in room keys and checked out (and also getting scolded AGAIN by the owner). Wait a minute, that's only 10 people total. We're missing 2 people! But we only just met everyone, how are we supposed to figure out who's missing? After consulting the girls in the other car and trying to remember everyone, none of us can remember seeing the two blonde girls from St. Louis get into any of the cars. They were in the lobby with their bags right before the cabs came and Gail said she saw them walk to the back of the hotel. No one has seen them since. Emilio was leaving to join us in the cab and we're trying to tell him what we think going on. It doesn't look good to lose two people on the first day. We searched the hotel, recounted in our heads, and still couldn't figure out what happened. [...]

You better Belize it

Day 2: Saturday, December 8

Today is our first full day in Belize. It's also our monthly date anniversary! We ate breakfast at the hotel for $6 BZ each. I forgot to mention anything about currency. Here they take U.S. and Belize dollars. One Belize dollar is two U.S. dollars- the easiest conversion rate ever. If you've never traveled outside the U.S., aside from Mexico and Canada, this area is a great place to start. They speak English (and Creole and Spanish), have the same standard wall outlets- no converter needed!, and they take U.S. money with a very simple conversion to Belize currency.

On the way to the zoo. West of Hattiesville.

The hotel called us up a cab to take us to the main bus terminal in the sketchy-don't-walk-there part of the city. I'm sure we would've gotten lost anyway with all the not-street streets and road construction. The bus station is hectic with food stands, people coming and going and hanging out, taxis, and buses. There isn't much of a solid bus schedule- everything runs on Belize time. I think it took us about 10 minutes to get a handle on what was going on. We asked at least 2 people, who were standing by the gates where passengers load and unload from the buses, if that bus was going to the zoo. We thought any bus heading west would stop there, but determining which bus that was proved challenging. Neither of them were much help. Finally, a random old man came up and pointed us to a counter where we bought our tickets. We were supposed to get on the West Line bus in terminal 1. All the buses are school buses like we used to ride as kids- Blue Bird- but now they've been painted rasta colors and fly down the road making stops whenver someone wants on or off. There are official bus stops, but if you're just on the side of the road and flag one down, they'll pick you up. It was $3BZ each to the zoo and ticket attendant on board let us know when we were there. [...]

Destination: Belize

Day 1: Friday, December 7

For our wedding, we didn't ask for traditional wedding gifts. We're both adults who have been living on our own for years, and pretty much owned all the basics. Instead, we asked for contributions for a honeymoon trip. I don't recall how exactly we decided on Belize. Matt had traveled through Central America several years before. I think I wanted to see that part of the world and visit Tikal. This past June, Matt found the Land of Belize trip that Intrepid offers, for half off. We immediately booked it. There were limited dates, but they worked out. We picked December 8- 15. It's a slow time of year for both our jobs, but not so close to the holidays that traveling on standby would be impossible. It was also key that our vacation to the Maya holy grail wasn't overrun by crazy apocalypse freaks. Traveling with Intrepid takes and draws a certain type of person (usually). We only packed overnight hiking packs. You're traveling with a group of people (up to 12) and a local person who will be your guide. The guide's job is to tell you about the area, give you recommendations on where to eat and what to do, but most importantly, make sure you have transportation and sleeping arrangements taken care of ahead of time, so you can focus on the journey and having fun. We were very much looking forward to this trip's itinerary because we get to see the city, the inland Cayo district with jungles and caves and ruins, Tikal in Guatemala, and end with a few days to unwind and work on a tan in Caye Caulker. It has everything we're looking for in 8 days. [...]

Wenatchee, Tehaleh, and Trial

Last week of November 2012. Matt was in trial and I was in the field. Only one of us was able to take pictures. These are my favorites.

Our work took us through an orchard.

[...]

Two crazy weeks

Disclaimer: It's been a month of long hours outside, so I apologize for the rather dry dialog.... my brain is running on fumes. Also, I really wish I had taken more pictures in Anchorage, but I was having such a great time with all my friends, that it never crossed my mind!

While I was out working on the bridge (see previous post) I got a call about going to Alaska with Gabe! Really, that was all I needed to hear before I as nonchalantly as humanly possible said "Sure" while inside I was jumping up and down with excitement. This would be my first time back in state since 2010 when Matt and I went to Megan and Aaron's wedding. 

The job was up at Eielson AFB in the Interior about 30 min SE of Fairbanks. The project itself was simple enough- getting vertical and horizontal data on over 200 water quality monitoring wells. We worked with Chris from EA Engineering who was a huge help and the unofficial third person on the crew. I wish I could have taken more pictures, but the military frowns on that. We watched F16s all week. No matter how many times you see them screaming overhead it never gets old! [...]

Oregon Move Day 6: The Last Leg

http://shotinthedarkcoffee.com/

We woke up in Twin Falls and did the same thing we did every morning. Once loaded into the car it was off to find coffee and breakfast. Everything (ie not fast food) was more in the downtown area- the opposite direction of the interstate. Maybe a mile down the road I saw a coffee sign and flipped a U-ey. A Shot in the Dark Coffee House. A cute place that reminded me a lot of the coffee shops back in Alaska. You know the kind that feel like you’re in someone’s living room. Lisa, the owner, was working the counter. She’s cheerful and easy to talk to. We ordered our coffees and breakfast. She has a menu of to go meals. She explains the breakfast sandwiches are 2 eggs, your choice of meat, veggies, and a variety of sauces. Doesn’t matter what you want it’s all the same price. It takes her about 15 minutes to make them both and they are huge! More importantly they are amazingly delicious! The coffee is local and also delicious. If you are ever in the Twin Falls area please stop by and enjoy what the shop has to offer we highly recommend them. [...]

April 29, 2011

Our wedding!

our guests rented out the hotel, the ceremony was in the courtyard/ bar area, reception was poolside. 

[...]