Spring Break '11 - Chula Vista, CA

This is pretty much all the girls did until we told them it was time to go "outside" for the day.

We spent our first day in Chula Vista at my cousin Tonya's house. It had been her birthday earlier in the week and I was so happy that we could visit them during our trip. While Tonya bbq'd for everyone, Mike took Jamie & I on a tour of his ship. He'd just gotten home from months out at sea and they were going to decommission the ship because of it's age.

Visiting the ship was the best part of the trip for Jamie. Especially getting to sit in the Captain's seat.

When we got back, Jamie & Mike had a poker re-match from years ago when we celebrated my Aunt Tami's 50th. (Mike won this time.)

Then we celebrated Tonya's birthday. Katie (my cousin Shawn's wife) made a wonderful cake.

It wasn't until we left that I realized I didn't even get a picture of Tonya and I together....I was bummed. Next time tho!

Spring Break '11

I had gotten the rv packed and ready on Thursday so that we could leave by 9am on Friday. After loading up the girls, we made a quick coffee/hot chocolate stop...we were already running 30 minutes behind, so why not? And this is pretty much where the girls stayed for the next 10-12 hours.

The driver's console remained full.

Our second stop, Best Buy in Eugene.

Makena's laptop wasn't fully charged and the outlets in the rv didn't work while driving. Who knows why the outlets do this, but there was some drama when we figured this out. Jamie saved the day buy picking up a converter at Best Buy.

We got back on the road, and then the fuse in the lighter plug blew because of the laptop. Jamie again saved the day by finding a second plug behind the dash board. That one apparently had more power because it lasted the rest of the trip.

We got back on the road. An hour in to our drive, I may or may not have been already bored.

I can't read, or do much of anything, while riding as I get motion sick. So. There. I. Sat. For many, many, many miles - for many, many, many hours. Until someone got hungry and needed me to make food.

Most of day was was pretty scenery. (See the Slow Trucks sign in the photo below: Really, they need to post a sign letting people know that we're going SLOW? Other drivers don't just notice that we are slow and know that they should pass us?)

When we got close to the Oregon/California boarder, the snow started to snow.

And as we got in to California, it was still there. Blue skies...but snow.

And then the blue skies went away. It just snowed.

But then it rained.

And the girls slept.

And Jamie and I continued to drive many, many, many hours. We finally stopped at a Rest Area around 2am. The lot was full, but Jamie squeezed us in to a spot between a semi-truck and a dumpster. (And I'm not talking a parking spot. Jamie literally squeezed us in the same spot as the semi.) Good enough for us to get 4 hours of sleep!

And then get up at 6am to drive many, many, many more hours.

Until we reached Chula Vista, CA - our first official stop of the Road Trip.

What one does...

...after sitting in the passenger seat of the rv for more than 16 hours and it gets dark outside.

A little of Vegas

I was planning to post pictures from Spring Break on the Blog, but they are all on Makena's computer and it is being testy with me today. Sooo...I'll have to post pictures from Jamie and I in Vegas last week. Jamie flew to Vegas for a conference on Tuesday and then I flew in on Wednesday. We decided to stay at the new Vdara hotel at the City Center. This is the perfect hotel for me - no smoking or casino.

The sunshine was an amazing site! Jamie and I stopped by Cabo Wabo for lunch and a Cabo Tea. This made for a very happy Amber.

Then we walked around a bit. The new Spring garden was up at the Bellagio and it was a beautiful butterfly garden.

Then we took a customer to dinner at Hugo's Cellar; a steakhouse in Old Town/Freemont Street.

The light show this time was of KISS.

Thursday was a rough day for us...from 10am to 5pm we hung out in a cabana by the pool. I know, my job often sucks.

After the pool, we walked around some more (something you always end up doing in Vegas), before finally deciding on the BOA Steakhouse at Caesars Palace for dinner.

The view at dinner.

And then walked around some more...

I must have mentioned Jean Philippe's Patisserie a few times, because Jamie suggested we go there for breakfast the next morning. And, I have to say, it was his best idea yet!

The flowing chocolate in the lobby makes your mouth water until you get to order.

Good Things #28

One Day Without Shoes | www.onedaywithoutshoes.com

Good Things #27

The Oregon Environmental Council posted something that I had to, of course, share:

Telephone books add tons of waste to landfills (660,000 tons per year according to the Product Stewardship Institute), and they are not easily recycled. Even in places where it’s possible to recycle an unused phone book, the best solution is to not print the phone book in the first place. The EPA says that not publishing a phone book reduces greenhouse gases by about three times as much as recycling.

Many people still need and want printed phone books[1], but for those of us who don’t, we should be able to opt out of receiving them. That’s the thrust of a bill in Salem—Senate Bill 525—which would move Oregon to an opt-in system for phonebooks. You would choose whether you want the phone book or not.

If you want to reduce clutter, protect the environment, and save your local government money, sign this petition to demonstrate that there’s popular support for this bill.