Buffalo at Antelope Island near Salt Lake City
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Day 3 - Driving in Circles
Today was full of driving. In total we drove just about 400 miles... we left from Salt Lake City, drove out I-80, across the Bonneville Salt Flats, and into Nevada for lunch, then back. We then went North to Antelope Island where we drove and saw some sights. We then ended up back at Salt Lake City for dinner and back to the Hilton. A giant loop.
Buffalo at Antelope Island near Salt Lake City
Buffalo at Antelope Island near Salt Lake City
A new driver...
After two long days of driving, Steve decided to take a break... fortunately Racket took over for a bit... she just set the cruise control at 80 and kept the wheel straight as we headed back across the Bonneville Salt Flats.
(no joke... look at the speedometer)
(no joke... look at the speedometer)
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Day 2 - Bryce Canyon
We left Irwin yesterday and headed to Cedar City, UT where we stayed for the night. The drive to Bryce Canyon was supposed to take about an hour. Due to construction it took about 1 1/2 hours. We took the cats out for a short hike while at Bryce Canyon. We think the altitude and the heat got to the cats because they were acting a little funny. After some water, air conditioning, and some time relaxing in a nice hotel, they seem to have returned to normal.
We headed towards Salt Lake City around 5:00p. The drive took a while and we got to the hotel after 10:00p. A very long day!
Day 2 at Bryce Canyon
We headed towards Salt Lake City around 5:00p. The drive took a while and we got to the hotel after 10:00p. A very long day!
Day 2 at Bryce Canyon
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Gas prices???
On our way through Baker, CA, we stopped to take a few pictures of the world's largest thermometer and saw the gas prices... I'm glad we filled up before we left!
Escape from Fort Irwin
The best way to see Fort Irwin is in your rear view mirror...
The movers arrived on Monday at about 8:00a and packed what was left at the house and put it on a truck. They finished before 1:00p and left us at the empty house. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and then had dinner with the new Pediatrician who is taking Athena's place. Tuesday morning we had our final house inspection and then packed the rest of our stuff into the car... we didn't have enough room for another pack of gum. We made a successful escape around noon and headed out... they say the best view of Fort Irwin is from your rear view mirror...
The movers arrived on Monday at about 8:00a and packed what was left at the house and put it on a truck. They finished before 1:00p and left us at the empty house. We spent the rest of the day cleaning and then had dinner with the new Pediatrician who is taking Athena's place. Tuesday morning we had our final house inspection and then packed the rest of our stuff into the car... we didn't have enough room for another pack of gum. We made a successful escape around noon and headed out... they say the best view of Fort Irwin is from your rear view mirror...
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Return to the heat
Howdy from one of the hottest places in the US! I flew to Vegas last night. Athena picked me up at the airport and we drove back to Fort Irwin. The movers will be here Monday and we'll be headed out (hopefully for the last time) on Tuesday.
Hope all is well with everyone else!
Take care!!
Steve
Hope all is well with everyone else!
Take care!!
Steve
Friday, July 08, 2005
Two weddings and a funeral???
I thought I should post what's on everyone's minds right now. With the coming year seeing 2 Green weddings (M and K), will we have to put Mike on life support? :)
Congrats on the engagements!!
Congrats on the engagements!!
Monday, June 27, 2005
Pictures from Prague (Praha)
I've finally gotten a minute to post some pictures from Prague. The first 2 are from the Křižíkova Fountains in Prague. The fountains were synchronized to the soundtrack from Gladiator. The next showing used music from Metallica and Scorpions. Evidentally these fountains inspired the fountains at the Bellagio... obviously they needed to be on a larger scale for Las Vegas though :)
Fountains in Prague
Fountains 2
The next picture is of Týn Church. It is located in Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí)
Tyn's Church in Prague
Fountains in Prague
Fountains 2
The next picture is of Týn Church. It is located in Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí)
Tyn's Church in Prague
Monday, June 13, 2005
Back in the USA
It's been quite a while since my last post. I've since returned to the US. Things have not slowed down though since I left the UK.
My last weekend in the UK (Memorial Day), I went to Prague. I flew there on Friday and returned Sunday. I spent the entire time walking around the city and took lots of pictures. I also managed to locate a geocache while I was there.
Upon my return to Newcastle, I went and saw Star Wars and then had dinner with some coworkers. I spent Monday getting my apartment cleared out and wrapping up a few outstanding items with some of my coworkers. On Tuesday (May 31), I headed for home. 11 hours later, I arrived in Denver. Russ picked me up and helped me load my extremely heavy bags into his car. I think I had 6 or 7 total.
I took less than a 1/2 day to recover before heading into the office. The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy with work, and then traveling back to DC for Jimmy's wedding. While we were there Jimmy told me he felt really bad about spilling the beans about Laura and Basil. I tried to explain to him that we all had a great laugh over it and not to worry.
How's everyone else doing??? Not a lot of activity here on the blog! I'll post some pictures of Prague eventually and maybe some other interesting photos that I've taken over the past few weeks.
Take care!!
Steve
My last weekend in the UK (Memorial Day), I went to Prague. I flew there on Friday and returned Sunday. I spent the entire time walking around the city and took lots of pictures. I also managed to locate a geocache while I was there.
Upon my return to Newcastle, I went and saw Star Wars and then had dinner with some coworkers. I spent Monday getting my apartment cleared out and wrapping up a few outstanding items with some of my coworkers. On Tuesday (May 31), I headed for home. 11 hours later, I arrived in Denver. Russ picked me up and helped me load my extremely heavy bags into his car. I think I had 6 or 7 total.
I took less than a 1/2 day to recover before heading into the office. The past couple of weeks have been extremely busy with work, and then traveling back to DC for Jimmy's wedding. While we were there Jimmy told me he felt really bad about spilling the beans about Laura and Basil. I tried to explain to him that we all had a great laugh over it and not to worry.
How's everyone else doing??? Not a lot of activity here on the blog! I'll post some pictures of Prague eventually and maybe some other interesting photos that I've taken over the past few weeks.
Take care!!
Steve
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Athena Visits the UK
Forwarded from Athena's e-mail
Hope you guys are doing well. I just got back earlier this week from visiting Steve and the UK. I spent 12 wonderful days. I didn't want to come back. We had a great time.
I left on 20 Apr but didn't arrive until Thursday, 21 April. Despite having a very long flight the flight wasn't bad at all. Steve's company paid for business class which ends up being first class on British airways. You get a huge seat that reclines all the way back to a bed, your own personal TV and real food. No crowding. Nice flight....my best ever.
The first night I met Steve's "harem" of women co-workers and temporary UK boss (Art) and his wife (Susan) at an Indian restaurant in Newcastle. Friday I wandered around Newcastle while Steve was working. I saw many different churches/cathedrals, monuments, bridges, and a nice museum. Later that night we went to his boss' home to have a wine tasting. I have never had so much alcohol in my life...I started to get a headache after the 15th wine and had to slow it down..we ended up tasting about 20 wines, plus a few dessert wines. Too much alcohol for me but an interesting experience tasting wines from around the world.
Saturday morning Steve and I took a train to Edinburgh, Scotland. We stayed at the Caledonian Hilton which was a beautiful hotel, however it was partially undergoing reconstruction. When we arrived we wandered around the city and gawked at the beautiful centuries old architecture. Not only that but it was so green. Really beautiful. We walked along the "Royal Mile" which is where the oldest buildings are and the street ends at Edinburgh Castle. We also took a tour of Mary King's Close. Closes were small alleyway's that people used to live off of. Many of them were built over a long time ago however there were still some existing underground. Pretty neat. Sunday we took a 4-bus tour of Edinburgh and saw the sites. We saw the school that Sean Connery went to as an adolescent. We also saw Holyrood Palace which is the Royal residence of the queen when she comes to Scotland. Monday we went to Edinburgh Castle which was huge and neat. It also provided many views of the city itself. Monday night we headed back to Newcastle by train. I attempted to make my famous chocolate chip cookies for his coworkers because he was ranting and raving about how great they were. However I didn't have my normal ingredients and I had to figure out the different temperature systems (C instead of F). They came out okay but not my normal great cookies.
Tuesday I wandered around Newcastle again while Steve was working. I saw Castle Keep which was a really neat and tall castle. Who knew they just loved spiral staircases a long time ago...I guess to save room. No elevators then. I was out of breath by the time I got to the top. I also wandered around the Baltic flour mill museum which used to actually be a flour mill and wandered around the Tyne and Millennium bridges.
Wednesday evening we headed to London, England and stayed at the Waldorf Hilton. The next day Steve and Art had to go to an all day meeting. I was so excited that I wandered all over London on my own. By the end of the day I had walked 9 miles (I don't know what I was thinking). I saw Big Ben, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Parke, Kensington Palace, and many monuments. I didn't actually go in the places because some were closed and others were so expensive (around 12 pounds which ends up being 24 bucks). I wanted to go into Buckingham Palace and would have paid the fee however it is only open to visitors in August/September. I watched the changing of the guard for about 45 minutes....but after that I had enough of the changing of the guard. It was neat to see the men in their uniforms which looked like they had a large furry animal on the tops of their heads. I don't know how they saw since the hat seemed to cover their eyes. I wandered around Hyde park which is sort of like the central park of new york to London. it was so beautiful, green, and well kept. they keep the grounds with so many beautiful flowers. By the time I got back to the hotel I was so exhausted. We went to a great little Greek restaurant for dinner.
The next day Steve was working some more for about half of the day. I wandered a bit around the British museum, the bridges, and St. Paul's Cathedral. After lunch we both went to the British Museum which was just amazing. We saw the Rosetta stone (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html), the Parthenon marbles, and tons of other Greek and Egyptian relics. We were just in awe. We weren't able to see everything. We also unfortunately weren't able to make it to the national gallery. Later we went out for good Italian food and then saw "The Lion King" on the British version of Broadway. It was really good.
Saturday, after walking around everywhere Steve and I took the Tube, which is UK's version of the metro and visited more cathedrals, the museum again, Tower Hill---a huge castle, the Tower and London Bridge, and we walked around Notting Hill. Later that night we went to a beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral, St Sophia's, for the orthodox Easter service. We had never seen so many Greek people in one place in our lives.
Sunday we went on an organized tour. We saw Avebury henge and Stone Circle where there were tons of sheep and lambs. On the way we could see the beautiful green grass fields and the beautiful bright yellow orogold grain fields. We then saw Stone Henge---which was the one thing I really wanted to see on my trip. It was amazing. Unfortunately you couldn't go right up to it. It wasn't on as high of a hill as I thought. It was still amazing considering when it was built. We also saw the remains of Old Sarum Castle. We then headed to the town of Salisbury and saw the Cathedral there and where the house that they filmed Sense and Sensibility. The Salisbury cathedral contained one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta which was another neat piece of history to see. Also during the tour we drove past Sting's huge tudor mansion. Pretty neat.
Monday morning we awoke bright and early and headed to the airport at Heathrow Airport and headed our separate ways--Steve back to Newcastle (he will return to the US at the end of May) and me back to the desert in CA. I watched a ton of movies of great movies on the flight back to LA then I drove back to Fort Irwin.
It was a whirlwind trip but fantastic and I have lots of pictures and memories.
love
Athena (and Steve)
Hope you guys are doing well. I just got back earlier this week from visiting Steve and the UK. I spent 12 wonderful days. I didn't want to come back. We had a great time.
I left on 20 Apr but didn't arrive until Thursday, 21 April. Despite having a very long flight the flight wasn't bad at all. Steve's company paid for business class which ends up being first class on British airways. You get a huge seat that reclines all the way back to a bed, your own personal TV and real food. No crowding. Nice flight....my best ever.
The first night I met Steve's "harem" of women co-workers and temporary UK boss (Art) and his wife (Susan) at an Indian restaurant in Newcastle. Friday I wandered around Newcastle while Steve was working. I saw many different churches/cathedrals, monuments, bridges, and a nice museum. Later that night we went to his boss' home to have a wine tasting. I have never had so much alcohol in my life...I started to get a headache after the 15th wine and had to slow it down..we ended up tasting about 20 wines, plus a few dessert wines. Too much alcohol for me but an interesting experience tasting wines from around the world.
Saturday morning Steve and I took a train to Edinburgh, Scotland. We stayed at the Caledonian Hilton which was a beautiful hotel, however it was partially undergoing reconstruction. When we arrived we wandered around the city and gawked at the beautiful centuries old architecture. Not only that but it was so green. Really beautiful. We walked along the "Royal Mile" which is where the oldest buildings are and the street ends at Edinburgh Castle. We also took a tour of Mary King's Close. Closes were small alleyway's that people used to live off of. Many of them were built over a long time ago however there were still some existing underground. Pretty neat. Sunday we took a 4-bus tour of Edinburgh and saw the sites. We saw the school that Sean Connery went to as an adolescent. We also saw Holyrood Palace which is the Royal residence of the queen when she comes to Scotland. Monday we went to Edinburgh Castle which was huge and neat. It also provided many views of the city itself. Monday night we headed back to Newcastle by train. I attempted to make my famous chocolate chip cookies for his coworkers because he was ranting and raving about how great they were. However I didn't have my normal ingredients and I had to figure out the different temperature systems (C instead of F). They came out okay but not my normal great cookies.
Tuesday I wandered around Newcastle again while Steve was working. I saw Castle Keep which was a really neat and tall castle. Who knew they just loved spiral staircases a long time ago...I guess to save room. No elevators then. I was out of breath by the time I got to the top. I also wandered around the Baltic flour mill museum which used to actually be a flour mill and wandered around the Tyne and Millennium bridges.
Wednesday evening we headed to London, England and stayed at the Waldorf Hilton. The next day Steve and Art had to go to an all day meeting. I was so excited that I wandered all over London on my own. By the end of the day I had walked 9 miles (I don't know what I was thinking). I saw Big Ben, House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Hyde Parke, Kensington Palace, and many monuments. I didn't actually go in the places because some were closed and others were so expensive (around 12 pounds which ends up being 24 bucks). I wanted to go into Buckingham Palace and would have paid the fee however it is only open to visitors in August/September. I watched the changing of the guard for about 45 minutes....but after that I had enough of the changing of the guard. It was neat to see the men in their uniforms which looked like they had a large furry animal on the tops of their heads. I don't know how they saw since the hat seemed to cover their eyes. I wandered around Hyde park which is sort of like the central park of new york to London. it was so beautiful, green, and well kept. they keep the grounds with so many beautiful flowers. By the time I got back to the hotel I was so exhausted. We went to a great little Greek restaurant for dinner.
The next day Steve was working some more for about half of the day. I wandered a bit around the British museum, the bridges, and St. Paul's Cathedral. After lunch we both went to the British Museum which was just amazing. We saw the Rosetta stone (http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html), the Parthenon marbles, and tons of other Greek and Egyptian relics. We were just in awe. We weren't able to see everything. We also unfortunately weren't able to make it to the national gallery. Later we went out for good Italian food and then saw "The Lion King" on the British version of Broadway. It was really good.
Saturday, after walking around everywhere Steve and I took the Tube, which is UK's version of the metro and visited more cathedrals, the museum again, Tower Hill---a huge castle, the Tower and London Bridge, and we walked around Notting Hill. Later that night we went to a beautiful Greek Orthodox Cathedral, St Sophia's, for the orthodox Easter service. We had never seen so many Greek people in one place in our lives.
Sunday we went on an organized tour. We saw Avebury henge and Stone Circle where there were tons of sheep and lambs. On the way we could see the beautiful green grass fields and the beautiful bright yellow orogold grain fields. We then saw Stone Henge---which was the one thing I really wanted to see on my trip. It was amazing. Unfortunately you couldn't go right up to it. It wasn't on as high of a hill as I thought. It was still amazing considering when it was built. We also saw the remains of Old Sarum Castle. We then headed to the town of Salisbury and saw the Cathedral there and where the house that they filmed Sense and Sensibility. The Salisbury cathedral contained one of four remaining copies of the Magna Carta which was another neat piece of history to see. Also during the tour we drove past Sting's huge tudor mansion. Pretty neat.
Monday morning we awoke bright and early and headed to the airport at Heathrow Airport and headed our separate ways--Steve back to Newcastle (he will return to the US at the end of May) and me back to the desert in CA. I watched a ton of movies of great movies on the flight back to LA then I drove back to Fort Irwin.
It was a whirlwind trip but fantastic and I have lots of pictures and memories.
love
Athena (and Steve)
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