Sunday, February 28. 2010
Eating our way around
I think we are still going down the Oregon and Northern California route here. I took this picture for my parents who like old cars.
We were impressed as we managed to see lots of Elk...
And even went for walks in the forests...
We made the winding drive along the avenue of the giants to see all the humongous Red woods, and they really were. We both enjoyed seeing them. Still wonder where ALL the animals are! Hardly see any it seems any more...
I am not sure the dead pelican counts...
The first thing we did when we made it to my sisters was to unhook the car and take it to the car wash. It had layers upon layers of grime...
The second thing we did was go to Hap's Original Steak and Chop house for dinner. It was pretty good. Pricey somewhat for suburbia though... I was trying to be arty in these pictures...
The next night we had my niece so we went for the less cost options at Applebies for dinner. My niece does not like looking at the camera!
And I am afraid to say that our next days entertainment looked exactly the same...Out to dinner at Espetus Churrascaria, a Brazilian Steakhouse. Not quite as good as Texas de Brazil, but we still stuffed ourselves full with cow! This is actually a picture of my sister smiling...Very unusual! See what happens when she gets lots of meat?
Chris still had his tab over to green for more meat long after the rest of us had gone on to dessert!
Of which I am not sure how I found room for peanut butter and oreo ice cream pie but I certainly did and then whined all the way home! I am thinking maybe pasta tonight!
We were impressed as we managed to see lots of Elk...
And even went for walks in the forests...
We made the winding drive along the avenue of the giants to see all the humongous Red woods, and they really were. We both enjoyed seeing them. Still wonder where ALL the animals are! Hardly see any it seems any more...
I am not sure the dead pelican counts...
The first thing we did when we made it to my sisters was to unhook the car and take it to the car wash. It had layers upon layers of grime...
The second thing we did was go to Hap's Original Steak and Chop house for dinner. It was pretty good. Pricey somewhat for suburbia though... I was trying to be arty in these pictures...
The next night we had my niece so we went for the less cost options at Applebies for dinner. My niece does not like looking at the camera!
And I am afraid to say that our next days entertainment looked exactly the same...Out to dinner at Espetus Churrascaria, a Brazilian Steakhouse. Not quite as good as Texas de Brazil, but we still stuffed ourselves full with cow! This is actually a picture of my sister smiling...Very unusual! See what happens when she gets lots of meat?
Chris still had his tab over to green for more meat long after the rest of us had gone on to dessert!
Of which I am not sure how I found room for peanut butter and oreo ice cream pie but I certainly did and then whined all the way home! I am thinking maybe pasta tonight!
Thursday, February 25. 2010
A trip down the Oregon Coast Line for us...
Feeling quite grumpy this morning...I don't think I have an upbeat post in me. No reason I don't think other then probably that time of the month. Well, also had no cel service or internet really for 24 hours going down the coast line of Oregon. Did not think that was possible in the states nowadays. The only thing I could think of in my head was the Verizon commercial where it shows how much more coverage there is then ATT. Obviously ATT does not have a lot of presence on the coast of Oregon... Also was on some lovely northern california roads last night which practically shake everything off the damn RV. Then since we may have been on a "freeway" but it was no interstate, we did not find a place to stay until late.
It has been a bit of the "I hate RVING" couple days like "I hate BOATING" days you sometimes get... Since leaving...
- GPS Navigator died so we replaced that
-Realized how HORRENDOUSLY filthy the tow car gets while being towed (not like a tender on a boat!) and quickly got flaps of some kind to put on the RV, but the car is still thick with dirt and grime. I hate to see my paint under it.
-Lousy internet and cel phone service
-Poured incredible amounts of rain going along the 101 on the Oregon Coast. Stopped somewhere just before sunset which had "RV turnaround" to see the water, as it was blowing winds and crashing like crazy. Turned around where we were supposed to without unhooking car, but it was SSSOOOOOO wet, the RV got stuck. Yep, a couple hours ensued of trying to tow it with car, or back it, putting down boards etc etc in the pouring rain, and finally a policeman came to watch over us. Still no luck, so we had to get a larger truck with a cum along to tow the RV out. Continued on looking for a RV park in the pouring rain and I thought the RV just might blow off the highway.
-Pulled up at the Walmart to stay over last night and lined up behind a few other RV,s. just as the one in front of us had had a tire lock and his holding tanks had exploded which we were now sitting in, thank you very much. And did I mention it really smelt? Like wanted to make you gag smell>
-Although there were a couple restaurants around here, I wanted to get far away from the sewage smell so we went to unhook the car and the battery would not turn over...
That was probably part of the reason both husband and i were grumpy and take out sandwiches from Arby's had to suffice!!
Making our way down the I5...Funny this funny little house on top of a bridge just north of Portland and of course it appealed to my quirky sense of humor.
We stopped in Portland for dinner with an old friend of mine from high school. Young high school, like i was 14, in SHAPE Belgium...We have a very large community of friends on Facebook, and it sure has been fun to catch up with them all, and also learn more about people you went to school with but actually did not really know at all then. The shared connections...especially for military brats. Had to really laugh when Beth mentioned touring every military cemetary in Europe with her father and I could certainly relate to that, and usually when it was freezing cold out. She thought she had relived the beach landing on NOrmandy a million times, and all I could think was i felt the same about Vimy Ridge!
Then to top it all off my MOTHER came up with this old newspaper clipping of me (note that it is freezing cold in this picture as well...)
Beth looks still the same as she did in high school I believe, hair just shorter!
She says that Portland has like a 100 top restaurants, and took us to one of her current favorites Clyde Commons, where Bazza had the lamb. How unusual for him!
I had some type of pork shank with friend spatzle, brussel sprouts (misnamed as it was about 4 leaves from brussel sprouts, not really brussel sprouts!)
And we all had a lemon meringue tart for dessert!
Stayed overnight at a RV park just south of town and this picture is just where we had the RV stuck the next night. You cannot see the water pounding up and wind blowing, but the police man told us that was quite calm for here and this time of year! We truly are good time sailors...
The next day was a bit better for seeing the water going down the southern coast line in Oregon. Lots of place where we first went over to the coast that you could not see any water because of the trees...
I have the name of this dredger somewhere, but it was a great setting for photo's!
AND we saw seals and sea lions! So wildlife viewing was good!!
It has finally stopped raining and we have crossed over into Northern California, so we will see what the next day brings!
It has been a bit of the "I hate RVING" couple days like "I hate BOATING" days you sometimes get... Since leaving...
- GPS Navigator died so we replaced that
-Realized how HORRENDOUSLY filthy the tow car gets while being towed (not like a tender on a boat!) and quickly got flaps of some kind to put on the RV, but the car is still thick with dirt and grime. I hate to see my paint under it.
-Lousy internet and cel phone service
-Poured incredible amounts of rain going along the 101 on the Oregon Coast. Stopped somewhere just before sunset which had "RV turnaround" to see the water, as it was blowing winds and crashing like crazy. Turned around where we were supposed to without unhooking car, but it was SSSOOOOOO wet, the RV got stuck. Yep, a couple hours ensued of trying to tow it with car, or back it, putting down boards etc etc in the pouring rain, and finally a policeman came to watch over us. Still no luck, so we had to get a larger truck with a cum along to tow the RV out. Continued on looking for a RV park in the pouring rain and I thought the RV just might blow off the highway.
-Pulled up at the Walmart to stay over last night and lined up behind a few other RV,s. just as the one in front of us had had a tire lock and his holding tanks had exploded which we were now sitting in, thank you very much. And did I mention it really smelt? Like wanted to make you gag smell>
-Although there were a couple restaurants around here, I wanted to get far away from the sewage smell so we went to unhook the car and the battery would not turn over...
That was probably part of the reason both husband and i were grumpy and take out sandwiches from Arby's had to suffice!!
Making our way down the I5...Funny this funny little house on top of a bridge just north of Portland and of course it appealed to my quirky sense of humor.
We stopped in Portland for dinner with an old friend of mine from high school. Young high school, like i was 14, in SHAPE Belgium...We have a very large community of friends on Facebook, and it sure has been fun to catch up with them all, and also learn more about people you went to school with but actually did not really know at all then. The shared connections...especially for military brats. Had to really laugh when Beth mentioned touring every military cemetary in Europe with her father and I could certainly relate to that, and usually when it was freezing cold out. She thought she had relived the beach landing on NOrmandy a million times, and all I could think was i felt the same about Vimy Ridge!
Then to top it all off my MOTHER came up with this old newspaper clipping of me (note that it is freezing cold in this picture as well...)
Beth looks still the same as she did in high school I believe, hair just shorter!
She says that Portland has like a 100 top restaurants, and took us to one of her current favorites Clyde Commons, where Bazza had the lamb. How unusual for him!
I had some type of pork shank with friend spatzle, brussel sprouts (misnamed as it was about 4 leaves from brussel sprouts, not really brussel sprouts!)
And we all had a lemon meringue tart for dessert!
Stayed overnight at a RV park just south of town and this picture is just where we had the RV stuck the next night. You cannot see the water pounding up and wind blowing, but the police man told us that was quite calm for here and this time of year! We truly are good time sailors...
The next day was a bit better for seeing the water going down the southern coast line in Oregon. Lots of place where we first went over to the coast that you could not see any water because of the trees...
I have the name of this dredger somewhere, but it was a great setting for photo's!
AND we saw seals and sea lions! So wildlife viewing was good!!
It has finally stopped raining and we have crossed over into Northern California, so we will see what the next day brings!
Tuesday, February 23. 2010
Cherry Trees in bloom...
Gorge Road where we live in Victoria is covered with cherry trees in bloom on one side of the road only. The side that gets sun! I went out to take pictures and my camera battery died short there after. That ok, people weren't too crazy about us pulling over to take the pics anyways...
We wondered if taking mom out for peanut buster parfaits at Dairy Queen and sticking a straw in it as a candle counted? We thought it did...
Very ambitious now, the rv and car are getting ready for a ROAD TRIP!! New mud flaps were installed to try and save my pretty car from rock chips...
Doesn't matter what we are doing Bazza has something to "fix"...
And we are ready. We are really going to like having our car with us. Off the island Sunday night on the 5 PM ferry, cost about $200.00 for us to get us and the vehicles off the ferry and we are on our way south!
You understand why I had to finish blogging about the Australia trip so I could move on to other trips!
We wondered if taking mom out for peanut buster parfaits at Dairy Queen and sticking a straw in it as a candle counted? We thought it did...
Very ambitious now, the rv and car are getting ready for a ROAD TRIP!! New mud flaps were installed to try and save my pretty car from rock chips...
Doesn't matter what we are doing Bazza has something to "fix"...
And we are ready. We are really going to like having our car with us. Off the island Sunday night on the 5 PM ferry, cost about $200.00 for us to get us and the vehicles off the ferry and we are on our way south!
You understand why I had to finish blogging about the Australia trip so I could move on to other trips!
charter yachts and go fast boats that go boom in the night.
Monday, February 22. 2010
Bright Lights, Big City of Sydney
On the road again... Since I just realized that we have to be back in the British Virgin Islands in 6 weeks, my opportunities for going down south are slamming shut quickly! We discussed options today, do we fly, take the RV, just take the car...just don't go or what? You know how I decide things quickly? Well, I am cleaning the RV and putting away all the crap we have scattered around from the last 3 months of not moving at all. Funny that, I had an old guy stop and want to look at our RV today as he liked the size. He mentioned that it looked like we were living in it...Very astute as there is so much crap laying around that would fly all over the place and decapitate us!!
The plan: Take the RV and car, head straight down to San Diego, spend a week or so there. Take a look around to see if we see potential RV spots that we may want to look into for buying. Then probably go by Palm Springs and see my great aunt for a few days, head up to Las Vegas, take in some shows, go to Texas de Brazil (FOOD!), let Bazza visit the Hoover Dam, and go metal detecting, and then come back up here for a week or two before flying back to the islands.
I will have to see if I have any pajamas or swim suits that fit before going back to the boat! I have a picture of me hitting the water trying to go diving and just floating on my back with all my appendages up in the air and not a hope in hell I will be able to put on enough lead to actually get under the water!
Anyways, although we may be going on a road trip the blog is back in Australia still, and I need to get that finished up! I don't like being a week behind.
We went out for a tour of the Sydney the next morning. This apparently here is the oldest pub in Australia. And it had a cellar under it where they dropped drunk men to send them out on the whaling ships...
The obligatory picture of us with the Opera House in the background...and a couple other assorted city shots. It is a very pretty city.
Sydney Harbour is very protected. This is the only entrance into the large harbour area. They tell me the water is fairly clean in here, except we had had lots of rain the last couple days so it was pretty dark and brown. Apparently more sharks in here too! That was enough for me!!
I like the couple cuddling on the ferry in front of the opera house!
We met up with a friend of ours for lunch that day. Laila, used to run the yacht Fantasy Island in the BVI for a couple years and then went sailing around the world in high and low altitudes on a monohull. SHe is Danish and a heck of a sailor! I have put pictures of her before on the blog. She is working on a white boat that is docked in Sydney Harbour for the next few months and then I believe is going to PNG. She looks wonderful, thin and tanned. What can I say? She was always such a pretty girl!
No, I am not trying to get a picture of your breasts here Laila, I was much more interested in the food on your plate!
We enjoyed catching up with her and she has now bought a place west of Sydney, although her heart might just be still in the Caribbean methinks!
We had arranged to meet mom and dad on the steps of the Opera House late afternoon. Here they are oblivious! Not everyone gets their picture taken sitting on the steps of the Opera House!
Mom could not get over the fact that we were going to see Man in BLack, a tribute to Johny Cash in the Sydney Opera HOuse. THe show was sold out, but we were there hours in advance at the box office hoping to get some turned in tickets, as we knew the parents would love it. We did manage to get wonderful seats too! Well, most of us. Bazza lost out but he did not appear to be too sad about going back to the hotel room! It was a very good show....
OUr joy was complete walking back to the hotel in the pouring rain as we found a Belgian Chocolate cafe. Which meant dessert for everyone. It was MUCH better then a starbucks or TIm Hortons! MIne had frangelico ice cream on it...Don't know why I have not thought of that on the boat, our ice cream maker could do something like that easy!
Bazza had no problems stuffing his little chipmunk cheeks...
And I think dad was wondering HOW he was going to eat it all....
Went back to our hotel room and enjoyed the night lights of the city. Time to pack up and find a plane again in the morning!
The plan: Take the RV and car, head straight down to San Diego, spend a week or so there. Take a look around to see if we see potential RV spots that we may want to look into for buying. Then probably go by Palm Springs and see my great aunt for a few days, head up to Las Vegas, take in some shows, go to Texas de Brazil (FOOD!), let Bazza visit the Hoover Dam, and go metal detecting, and then come back up here for a week or two before flying back to the islands.
I will have to see if I have any pajamas or swim suits that fit before going back to the boat! I have a picture of me hitting the water trying to go diving and just floating on my back with all my appendages up in the air and not a hope in hell I will be able to put on enough lead to actually get under the water!
Anyways, although we may be going on a road trip the blog is back in Australia still, and I need to get that finished up! I don't like being a week behind.
We went out for a tour of the Sydney the next morning. This apparently here is the oldest pub in Australia. And it had a cellar under it where they dropped drunk men to send them out on the whaling ships...
The obligatory picture of us with the Opera House in the background...and a couple other assorted city shots. It is a very pretty city.
Sydney Harbour is very protected. This is the only entrance into the large harbour area. They tell me the water is fairly clean in here, except we had had lots of rain the last couple days so it was pretty dark and brown. Apparently more sharks in here too! That was enough for me!!
I like the couple cuddling on the ferry in front of the opera house!
We met up with a friend of ours for lunch that day. Laila, used to run the yacht Fantasy Island in the BVI for a couple years and then went sailing around the world in high and low altitudes on a monohull. SHe is Danish and a heck of a sailor! I have put pictures of her before on the blog. She is working on a white boat that is docked in Sydney Harbour for the next few months and then I believe is going to PNG. She looks wonderful, thin and tanned. What can I say? She was always such a pretty girl!
No, I am not trying to get a picture of your breasts here Laila, I was much more interested in the food on your plate!
We enjoyed catching up with her and she has now bought a place west of Sydney, although her heart might just be still in the Caribbean methinks!
We had arranged to meet mom and dad on the steps of the Opera House late afternoon. Here they are oblivious! Not everyone gets their picture taken sitting on the steps of the Opera House!
Mom could not get over the fact that we were going to see Man in BLack, a tribute to Johny Cash in the Sydney Opera HOuse. THe show was sold out, but we were there hours in advance at the box office hoping to get some turned in tickets, as we knew the parents would love it. We did manage to get wonderful seats too! Well, most of us. Bazza lost out but he did not appear to be too sad about going back to the hotel room! It was a very good show....
OUr joy was complete walking back to the hotel in the pouring rain as we found a Belgian Chocolate cafe. Which meant dessert for everyone. It was MUCH better then a starbucks or TIm Hortons! MIne had frangelico ice cream on it...Don't know why I have not thought of that on the boat, our ice cream maker could do something like that easy!
Bazza had no problems stuffing his little chipmunk cheeks...
And I think dad was wondering HOW he was going to eat it all....
Went back to our hotel room and enjoyed the night lights of the city. Time to pack up and find a plane again in the morning!
Saturday, February 20. 2010
Sydney, Australia here I come...
I don't think my husband was amused with me yesterday. I told him I had bought him presents and when he found out it was a couple pair of board shorts for his trip back to the boat and the BVI in April he told me board shorts would only be a present if he was actually going on vacation. Spoil sport. I am always happy to go back to the boat for short periods as I get to go diving and take underwater pictures!
Mom and I had tears watching the movie Dear John last night. I knew I was in trouble when I saw it was adapted from Nicholas Sparks when the opening credits rolled. Dad said there was not enough shooting and Bazza twisted a piece of paper 16,000 different ways. I don't think it was their favorite. Wasn't their birthday so it did not matter now did it??
I think we are almost at the end of our Australia adventure, being that it is time for us to move on to the Sydney portion of the entertainment hour. Never having been there, I was looking forward to it and since it was the finale and we were going to shows etc, I decided to "break the bank" so to speak. If you are looking for a very nice place to stay in Sydney that has great views and is right in the midst of the action, try Grand Suites on Circular Cay. I know this is going to be something very unusual you hear from me, but I am not sure I have anything more then a couple minor things about the hotel that were not to my preference, but I would be too embarrassed to even write them down they would sound so petty! That is high praise indeed from me!!
The concierge/bellhop type person was incredibly helpful, so much so, that aft I finished checking in and before we were even shown our rooms, we had our entire time there planned, maps, ferry schedules, private tours and other shows to see. This is the first suite I have been in that i actually got Bazza to do up a diagram of the lay out etc as it had everything I would want, with lots of opening and curved walls...
Here are some of the views from our two rooms....
And here is some of the rooms. Can't believe I miss the living room looking out to the balcony and water!
This is looking at our building from the water.
After oohing and aahing and having a drink we made our way out for a walk and watched the old men feeding the Seagulls... They are baby seagulls compared to the seagulls we have in Victoria!
On the ferry we went. Sydney has great bus and ferry public transportation. Had to see the sights from the water and make our way over to Darling Harbour...
This is the cruise ship dock. It docks right in the middle of all the action as well. In fact there were tons of boats going every which direction ALL the time. Believe me, I have never seen anything like it! Even with living in the BVI...
Of course we had to take a picture of the Opera House from the water...
And Luna Park as well...
And just scenery.. Lovely ferry ride.
Found another Kangaroo for mom to have her picture taken with...
Had a pre theater dinner at Meat and Wine, or something like that..Maybe it was meat and water! Nice place, right on the water although it appeared that they shoved as many tables into the room a la Paris as they possibly could and had on a whole bunch of staff that were not familiar with the restaurant either. Service tried, but it really fell down.
By this time we were nice and hungry though!
I ordered an iced mocha tino or something that i swear had about two ice cubes blended into it (which anyone who knows me, knows that that would drive me crazy!) AND had an entire can of whipped cream squeezed on top. It quickly became Bazzas... Speaking of ice, I was surprised that ice was not a particularly large thing in OZ. I spent a lot of time asking for extra ice. You would think with the humidity it would be. Apparently having to use copious quantities of ice is mostly an American thing!
Had to laugh, as my father, going over the fixed menu prices and not seeing any hambuger helper, thought he was being quite safe when he chose cheese as his appetizer....
You can probably tell by the look on his face that his idea of cheese and what he received on his plate were NOT one and the same thing...
I don't think the Bruschetta was a hit either, although it looked good.
My caesar salad had an entire poached egg on it!
We all had steak, which was average, and then walked over to the theater to see WICKED. We all enjoyed the production very much and two weeks later I am still humming "defying gravity" all day long! This was a very good day...Next morning is the Sydney Tour...
Mom and I had tears watching the movie Dear John last night. I knew I was in trouble when I saw it was adapted from Nicholas Sparks when the opening credits rolled. Dad said there was not enough shooting and Bazza twisted a piece of paper 16,000 different ways. I don't think it was their favorite. Wasn't their birthday so it did not matter now did it??
I think we are almost at the end of our Australia adventure, being that it is time for us to move on to the Sydney portion of the entertainment hour. Never having been there, I was looking forward to it and since it was the finale and we were going to shows etc, I decided to "break the bank" so to speak. If you are looking for a very nice place to stay in Sydney that has great views and is right in the midst of the action, try Grand Suites on Circular Cay. I know this is going to be something very unusual you hear from me, but I am not sure I have anything more then a couple minor things about the hotel that were not to my preference, but I would be too embarrassed to even write them down they would sound so petty! That is high praise indeed from me!!
The concierge/bellhop type person was incredibly helpful, so much so, that aft I finished checking in and before we were even shown our rooms, we had our entire time there planned, maps, ferry schedules, private tours and other shows to see. This is the first suite I have been in that i actually got Bazza to do up a diagram of the lay out etc as it had everything I would want, with lots of opening and curved walls...
Here are some of the views from our two rooms....
And here is some of the rooms. Can't believe I miss the living room looking out to the balcony and water!
This is looking at our building from the water.
After oohing and aahing and having a drink we made our way out for a walk and watched the old men feeding the Seagulls... They are baby seagulls compared to the seagulls we have in Victoria!
On the ferry we went. Sydney has great bus and ferry public transportation. Had to see the sights from the water and make our way over to Darling Harbour...
This is the cruise ship dock. It docks right in the middle of all the action as well. In fact there were tons of boats going every which direction ALL the time. Believe me, I have never seen anything like it! Even with living in the BVI...
Of course we had to take a picture of the Opera House from the water...
And Luna Park as well...
And just scenery.. Lovely ferry ride.
Found another Kangaroo for mom to have her picture taken with...
Had a pre theater dinner at Meat and Wine, or something like that..Maybe it was meat and water! Nice place, right on the water although it appeared that they shoved as many tables into the room a la Paris as they possibly could and had on a whole bunch of staff that were not familiar with the restaurant either. Service tried, but it really fell down.
By this time we were nice and hungry though!
I ordered an iced mocha tino or something that i swear had about two ice cubes blended into it (which anyone who knows me, knows that that would drive me crazy!) AND had an entire can of whipped cream squeezed on top. It quickly became Bazzas... Speaking of ice, I was surprised that ice was not a particularly large thing in OZ. I spent a lot of time asking for extra ice. You would think with the humidity it would be. Apparently having to use copious quantities of ice is mostly an American thing!
Had to laugh, as my father, going over the fixed menu prices and not seeing any hambuger helper, thought he was being quite safe when he chose cheese as his appetizer....
You can probably tell by the look on his face that his idea of cheese and what he received on his plate were NOT one and the same thing...
I don't think the Bruschetta was a hit either, although it looked good.
My caesar salad had an entire poached egg on it!
We all had steak, which was average, and then walked over to the theater to see WICKED. We all enjoyed the production very much and two weeks later I am still humming "defying gravity" all day long! This was a very good day...Next morning is the Sydney Tour...
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