the windy/rainy city

it was starting to seem as though the texas weather was following us everywhere we went, but chicago helped up buck that trend in a big way. kat is a multiple visit veteran to this locale but this was my first venture into the windy city. btw, the name certainly fits, as we stepped off a curb at one point and literally got blow back up with a huge gust of wind. the big attractions on the agenda were bluesfest and a game at the legendary wrigley field. bluesfest was an adventure, from meeting and hanging out with family and friends, to being pelted multiple times with some of the largest rain i’ve ever seen! we had an off day, so we decided to hit yet another ballpark and visited us cellular (new comiskey) field for some afternoon baseball. the surprise of this trip was one of the snacks being served at the park… corn, cut off the cob and served in a bowl with your choice of toppings (kat’s favorite way to eat it)! what trip would be complete without a brewery tour? right! we hit up goose island and got schooled on the art of brewing extremely small batches. the beer was great too! finally the big day came… the cubby game. we hung out in the neighborhood for a bit before the game and soaked in the atmosphere. what a difference from san diego. people actually CARE about baseball there! the park was amazing and the crowd just as good. for once the team i was rooting for (the cubs) did not lose. whoo hoo! this was the trip of the year, and of several years for me, with too much to cover… so check out the pictures for more. 

adam’s pics of chicago
kat’s pics of chicago

a weekend in seattle

if you’ve ever thought that seeing all there is to see in seattle in one weekend is impossible… you’re right. but if you play it just right, you can pack a lot of cool stuff in anyway. of course the first thing anyone thinks of in seattle is starbucks… which would make the second thing anyone thinks of in seattle the space needle! if you do the space needle, you gotta do it up right with the 24 hour ticket that lets you visit in the daytime and then come back for a nightcap. if you’re lucky like us, the monorail will break, giving you the opportunity to see the sights on a loverly 10-15 block walk back to your premium hotel, who sticks you in the corner room where you can barely walk around the bed and can hear the elevator go up and down each time it runs!things did improve though and we were able to get on with our vacation, enjoying texas weather in washington. that’s right, super hot temps and no seattle rain in sight. some of the highlights included looking at wallets and purses made entirely of duct tape in the public market, enjoying a brew at the pike place brewery, enjoying some banjo and spoon music in front of the original starbucks, and of course… watching the padres lose yet again in another stadium. a couple things we didn’t know: the former president of the U.S. George Bush brings his wife to mariner games and wears pink pants while doing so! special ups go to trav and kerry for taking us to one of the coolest joints in the city… 13 coins!

kat’s pics of seattle
adam’s pics of seattle

what we learned in texas

vacation and texas may not normally enter the same sentence, but what better a reason to visit this strange country than for an old fashioned, down home wedding! from texas city, to galveston, to san antonio and houston, we toured much of the land and picked up a few lessons along the way…

• teeth are optional
• spitting on freeway is accomplished by moving to the fast lane of the freeway, opening your door, and hanging your head out the bottom of the door, so as not to get spittle all over the side of your ride
• butt fucker bugs – the area near the houston airport is riddled with them and they’re unmistakable, attached at the butt and unwilling to let go
• in texas bigger is better, which must be why girls with large bellies don’t feel the need to hide them by NOT wearing extra small shirts
• galveston’s favorite late night sport… parking meter pole dancing – only for those in peak physical and inebriated condition
• sublime is inescapable – this band will never die, it even lives on through cover bands in kemah tx
• irish bars are simply regular bars with an irish name – i don’t think there’s anything irish in texas
• built-in U turn lanes – apparently turning around and driving the other direction is so much of a priority, there is a special lane made just for this purpose
• sonic and whataburger – heaven on earth my friend… heaven on earth!
• san antonio – there aren’t many places to eat in downtown after 11 at night or before 11 in the morning… we found McDonalds and Denny’s!
• the padres play just as bad in Minute Maid park as they do at home
• remember the alamo!
  

check out kat’s pics
check out adam’s pics

back to the U.S. and us!

well the trip to australia was a great experience, but i was ready to get back to the good ole u.s. of a.! baseball and apple pie… or more accurately baseball, beer, nachos, hot dogs and peanuts! more than anything it was time to get our unstoppable team back together… katadam (as my sis would say). two weeks is a really long time! not something you really take notice of until you leave someone you have a hard time spending even minutes away from.

so this was our first (of many many) baseball games to attend this year, and was MY first time in angels stadium. the game was a slugfest which the angels took relatively easily over the indians. kat had the added pleasure of sitting next to the oldest living random stat generator in the orange county area! “did you know the detroit tigers are 0 and 7?!”, “the white sox and yankees only play at anaheim stadium once in 2008″, “no pitcher has even pitched a full nine innings” (we didn’t say he was accurate!) and he also asked if it was her first baseball game after she told him that she had already been to 4 games THIS season!

tribute

after almost 10 years since my dad passed away, the family is finally going to make the trek to yosemite national park and lay his ashes to rest in his favorite place. some of us will be making a trip up to the top of half dome, dad’s fave peak in the park, but this whole trip will be to honor him in one of the most beautiful places in california.

as an added tribute, i had planned to get a tattoo of the yosemite/half dome logo on my arm. when plans were made to visit australia, i was thinking that elaine had a regular tattoo guy, and why not just get it done there. she then mentioned that she would also like to get the tattoo, and that’s when it became a family event. EVEN MOM GOT THE TATTOO!!! i thought this would be a cool way to carry a memory of my dad with me at all times, but it just got 1,000,000 times cooler since my sis and mom were going to rock the same artwork. i love it.

there was plenty of trash talking, but mom took to getting tattooed like a champ and proved yet again that she ain’t afeared of nuthin! way to go mom haha!

here are some shots of the work in progress

headed home

well after almost two weeks in melbourne, we did about everything humanly possible that could be fit into that amount of time. we headed into town via the train a couple times and saw some of the contrasting architecture, mixing the new with the old. one of the ‘news’ was the eureka tower which houses the tallest viewing platforms in the southern hemisphere. we got views reminiscent of the balloon ride from the 88th floor of this super tall building.

being the sports freak that i am, i couldn’t leave without experiencing an australian football game. we watched the magpies (rod’s fave team) destroy their opponent with relative ease. this game was crazy non-stop action and had almost a combination of several sports – volleyball, basketball, soccer, and a rugbyish style. some of the scuffles were intense and these guys can get away with a lot more ‘dirty’ shots than nfl players, but really there is no comparing these two sports. they are completely different and require a different skill set for the most part.

one of the highlights of the whole trip was watching the little penguins head to their homes from the ocean. there was no pictures at this event, so the caution sign was the best it would get on that front, but it was very cool to see the tiny birds huddle in groups from 10 to 100 and race across the beach up into the hills and eventually make it to their burrow homes.

with that it was time for me to head home on a pleasant trip of 14+ hours of flight… whoo hoo! but the reward was worth the trouble as it was finally time to return to other loved ones who had been missed terribly!

check out the pics of melbourne

padre blues

ever since i was a little kid, i grew up with vin scully. never have been a dodgers fan… shhh, don’t tell my dad…but when i saw this guy’s jersey, i HAD to snap a pic! i remember my dad eating fried bologna sandwiches (nasty) and watching the dodger games before i was even six! dodger games were a like a part of my dad’s spring/summer lifestyle when i was growing up. so much so that when my sis was super young, she thought parmesan cheese was really called FARMER JOHN cheese! THAT’S how often the games were on…enough to hear the sponsor’s name a million times each week!

ooh, and i’ve got a great tip for all you sports fans…ready?  …don’t stand in the line with the “mentally challenged” at the helm. i made the mistake of not looking to see who’s running the register when i chose a line…big mistake! i missed like 45 minutes of the game while waiting through a 6-person line! at least i made it back in time for the super-fun times of singing ‘take me out to the ballgame’ and plus the nachos are totally worth the wait!

well, the padres lost in the very end. i think i decided which angels hat is lucky for me and erik’s lucky jersey is still undecided. hopefully we figure out our lucky attire quickly! this was the last game for me and erik to solo it, well, except for his bro and madre that came yesterday, before adam and i can finally catch a game together. yes! more reasons to justify my beer and nachos only diet! it makes me wonder, do i really love sports…or am i just a fan of the food served at sporting events? i haven’t decided yet…

critters and the country

the sanctuary in healesville is basically a zoo or wild animal park with the animals indigenous to the area. we spent a couple hours checking out some crazy looking critters, MOST of which were awake!! highlights of the trip… hanging with my buddy the wallaby and hearing my sister tell my mom not to say IT (it being “a dingo ate my baby”) when we were looking at the dingos! lowlights: stupid wombats and taz devils were sleeping… booo!

on the way back, we were driving through the yarra valley, which is wine country out there and pretty similar to napa, ca. we stopped at a few of my sis’ faves including the place where her and rod were married. highlights of this part: well, wine tasting of course, and i also got to drive. wasn’t too crazy but it was in the country on relatively straight roads, and not in the busy city!

here are some pictures of the fun!

balloonaroonies

today was the day for adventure! we got up at the ass crack of dawn to venture out to a park in the cold of the morning and set off on a balloon flight over the city of melbourne. holy crap, are we insane? well…yes, but it turned out to be one of the most awesome insane ideas i’ve ever followed through on. the views were amazing as you will see from the pictures, and it actually wasn’t scary at all – coming from someone who is not exactly ok with massive heights. the roughest part of the ride was the landing, but we were lucky enough to have the best pilot. some of the other balloons that came in after us had it much worse. the evening was capped off with some bbq, beers and my sis’ friends. got to talk some sports and learn a bit about aussie football (which i’ll be seeing later in the week) and hear an interesting debate about how mustard sold here under the name “american yellow” is no substitute for REAL frenches yellow!

check out the pictures and beware, theres a ton!

time traveling

california to australia is one long ass trip, the end!

but really, i felt like a frickin time traveler as much as the time moved forward and backward and of course we lost a day too. i ended up at my sisters house in the morning time after a nice wait in the customs “queue” for like 2 hours. about 4-5 planes of asians came in at the same time, and apparently they had a lot to claim. i managed to stay up the whole day and take in a couple activities. first we snacked on some tasty shrimpers (with the heads still intact). not quite the same when you have to de-head them yourself. then we went to box hill to this crazy huge asian market, which rod referred to as “spot the aussie,” a difficult game at that place! there were a ton of little asian stores and butchers… and target! oooook then.

here’s some dumb pictures from the day!