Just Another Day

Just a quick update and apology to my friends who blog and e-mail. I’ve not been to people’s blogs in forever, and I’ve been terrible with e-mail. Things will slow soon, and I appreciate you all keeping up with me via this site. Looking forward to a faster internet connection eventually and then a better chance to stalk you all! 🙂

We have just arrived at home after our second annual trip to Wisconsin Dells. Amy, Steve, and Jack Stepec drove up from Iowa to meet Trisha, April, Bill and I for another few days of fun! We enjoyed some repeat events – like staying at the Polynesian, eating at Moosejaw, and lying lazily by the pool, as well as some new additions to the trip – Noah’s Arc (the biggest water park in the country), riding the Ducks (amphibious vehicles that travel on land and water), and of course playing with baby Jack!!!

I’m going to give the wave pool at Noah’s Arc my vote for best event of the trip. I’m not a real fan of wild rides or the dark… Noah’s Arc is packed full of tube slides, most of which are dark. So, when we finally got to the wave pool I was relieved to find something a little more my speed. The pools are deceiving though – it’s 10 minutes of fighting the giant swells. It’s a workout – so much fun, though!

We ladies set off for a trip to the local outlet mall early Thursday morning. Each of us left with some sweet deals, and two hours later we were ready to head back to the guys, and the lazy river at our hotel. Despite using 30 SPF sunscreen, Bill and I both ended up with a little sunburn. So, we’ll have to continue to be extra careful throughout the summer. (Chances are we’ll be out already tomorrow as record highs are predicted!)

We completed our Dells time as we had last year: breakfast at Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty. This logging camp style restaurant serves up logger sized portions of pancakes, sausage, ham, eggs, hashbrowns, biscuits and gravy, and the world’s best doughnuts. We left full and happy to have spent another great vacation as a group. We’re looking forward to next year!!!

Axton Michael was born to our good friends Mike and Amanda back on April 21st. We’ve been anxiously awaiting to meet the little guy and finally had the opportunity this weekend.

We left the cabin Saturday morning and made the drive over to Brainerd to be at Axton’s baptism. Bill and I are so honored to be Axton’s godparents, and after a great couple of days with the Svir’s even more excited about our decision to move to Brainerd. We are reminded, often, of how fortunate we’ve been to have such great friends everywhere we’ve lived.

Of course there was a bit of reminiscing… back in college, Bill and Mike decided to make pies one night. They had great visions of starting their very own baking service B.S. Pies (based on their last initials or what they’re full of???) but the idea faded over time. We got a second glimpse at the chefs as they renewed their plans for culinary fame – this time with plans for a cooking podcast!

It was a fantastic weekend, as both Mike and Amanda’s families were a part of the event. We enjoyed bocce ball in the yard and catch phrase inside. Axton was quite a trooper – he was part of all the events without a single utter of displeasure. He is such a GOOD BABY! He’s probably relieved to have a little space – we fought for our turns at cuddling. (Bill won out most of the time…)

It’s such a fun time of life as we watch several of our friends become parents for the first times and even a few start planning their second and third deliveries. I suppose, some day, we’ll be right along side them. In the meantime, however, it’s so much fun to watch our friends as parents – – HOW GREAT THEY ARE!

We headed to Bill’s family’s cabin over in Cass Lake last Wednesday since Barb was down from Alaska and on her way to the area. Thursday Zac and Bunny (Bill’s aunt and uncle) came over, so we got to see their brand new car – they’ll be enjoying around 60 miles to the gallon with the sporty new purchase! It was fun to check out and even better to spend the whole afternoon and into the evening catching up. Barb and I ended the night with a dip in the lake.

The next morning we jumped on the bikes (my butt still sore from a ride the day before!) and had a nice ride around the local trails.

We even encountered a couple of badgers on our ride. I think that’s the first time I’d ever seen one… well, two!

Bill, Barb, and I headed into Bemidji (about 25 minutes away) to run a couple of errands and to pick up Bill’s Grandma Dunlap. She joined us at the cabin for the afternoon… what an amazing lady! At 91 years old she kept right up with the rest of us!

Zac and Bunny came over again – so, more visiting and a little birthday dinner in honor of Bunny’s day this week.

We all got a little reading in – what I’m coming to learn as a must at the cabin. Bill’s pick was the Guiness Book of World Records from quite a few years ago. Watch out, folks, he’s armed with a whole new bunch of random facts! 🙂

Our return to the States was fairly uneventful. We cleared customs at JFK and ran to get our bags checked and through security to meet our flight 30 minutes later. Lucky (or not so lucky) for us, that flight was a bit behind. We made it into Chicago and sprinted to our next gate. Again, we made it just in time. Again, the flight was delayed. We actually boarded the plane and were then deplaned a few minutes later. (I had a momentary flash back to our trip to Valdez in 2000 when we sat on the plane for an hour burning fuel off and then were deplaned for a 12 hour delay!) The weather in Wisconsin was keeping us out of the skies, but we did eventually get moving.When we arrived at the Minneapolis airport, we were set to grab our  bags and head home. It’d been a long day, and we were coming up on hour number 24 of being awake, but we both felt awake enough to make the drive. Fast forward to an hour later – still waiting for our packs which would never arrive. So, we got our little form to call the airline and report our bags missing, and then we went off to pick up our car from the Park ‘N Go.

By the time we actually got our car the Holiday Inn across the street was looking mighty inviting. We got the last non-smoking room there, grabbed some fried food (yum!) and a couple of drinks downstairs in the bar, and then slept away our first night back in Minnesota. We hoped to grab our bags from the airport the next morning, but they still hadn’t arrived… so, up North it was with hopes the bags would be found and Fed Exed.

We made a stop to see Gram and Gramp once we hit Virgnia, but they were out for the afternoon. So, we’ll head their direction today, I think.  We visited with Jimbo, shared pictures from the trip, and ate some pizza to wrap the evening up.

This morning I realized that I was short a pair of running shoes – being that my bag is still not here. Anxious to get a little exercise in and unable to go for a job, I decided to go for my first real swim (the kind you actually stay in for more than 5 seconds). Dad had told me that the water was beautiful, so I anxiously changed into my suit and headed for the dock. Dad and I, apparently have different ideas of what beautiful water feels like… tolerable was more like it. But, at 7:00 on a Saturday morning, it was a great way to wake up! Every day should begin with a swim.

Bill and I began a list of things we’d like to do this summer. We don’t want to be tied down to the list, but we want to make the most of our days off. The list includes all kinds of random things – visiting a strawberry farm, spending a whole day canoeing, our vacation to the Dells, meeting our friends & their new baby for a Twins game – to name a few. It’s exciting to know that we still have lots of mini-adventures ahead of us.

This weekend is Timberdays in Cook. We’ll hit the parade tomorrow, but otherwise I don’t get overly excited about the annual festival. There is, however, a chance that I’ll get to see old classmates that I normally wouldn’t. I’ll look forward to that.

Let the summer begin!

Our trip to Galway was fantastic. We got signed in for a day tour out to the cliffs which included a walking tour along the way. The walking tour was great, as the guide took us through his family’s farm land and told us some of the history of Ireland. For instance, during the potato famine, people were put to work building stone walls just for the sake of a job. There was no purpose for the walls, but the government paid the people about a penny a day for their work. We also saw many of the 650 types of flowers that grow in the area… and cows.

Our guide, John, spoke of how natural it is for people to make use of the resources they’re given. In the next picture you can see Bill sliding on the rock slide – a tradition of generations of Irish children.

Our tour was conducted by a lovely guy named Paul. He drove the bus down the quite narrow roads, told us all about the scenery / history, and got us safely to our destinations. He was a fantastic guide!

Of course our main destination was the Cliffs of Moher, Ireland’s biggest tourist spot, and a beautiful one at that!

And today we’re heading back to the states! We’ve got a summer full of swimming, playing, visiting, and yes – Moosebirds, ahead of us! And perhaps we’ll start planning our next adventures. Would you like to join us?

Sleeping in a hostel isn’t terrible. I was reluctant to try them out, especially after hearing about the scary movie made about them. But Ireland has felt safe, so when we got off the bus in Galway yesterday and saw the Galway City Hostel across the street, we gave it a shot.

The closest thing to a private room that was available sleeps 4 (2 sets of bunk beds) and has a bathroom right in it. We paid about 20 Euros each for this room – so, far less than hotels and B&Bs cost. Bill and I got the room to ourselves, however there was the anticipation of getting mid-night roomies that encouraged my waking to every small noise. At a hostel (or at least this one) you leave the key in the outside of the door so that the people you’re sharing the room with have access as well. Things must’ve eventually quieted down, because I slept through the morning and woke up ready to go.

This Galway trip was a bit spontaneous, perhaps a result of the realization that our time here is coming to an end quickly! We had intended to stay in Killarney yesterday and hike through the national forest – stopping to see things along the way that we passed up on bike the day before. Unfortunately the beautiful weather brought with it a bit of sunburn, and we thought it best to not aggravate that situation. So, we took a bus up through Limerick and arrived in Galway just after 7 last night.

 

We decided to get out and explore the city a bit. Like every other place we’ve seen on this trip, Galway is beautiful! We sat down by the water for just a bit and then set off to find a good place for a little dinner. We found a little Irish pub that advertised nightly traditional music, so we stopped there. I just haven’t had it in me to get a pint of beer (being that I think the stuff is nasty in general), however I’ve seen a lot of people consuming a hard cider (can’t remember the name now) and decided I’d give it a try. The music was much better than the cider, and we met a nice couple from New York. We’ve actually not encountered many Americans along the way, a fact which surprises me for some reason.

Today we are off to the Cliffs of Moher and then (hopefully) back in time to catch the last train into Dublin.

I’ve certainly been enjoying my time here in Killarney. I’m finding many reasons for there to be a whole Christmas song dedicated to this place. 😉

The bus ride from Cork down here was just incredible. The road was pretty windy, and the green was more vibrant than ever. We’ve been blessed with fantastic weather here, which has been lucky as we’ve resided in our tent during the past days.

We celebrated our second anniversary with a bike ride through the national park. It was beautiful… the flowers are amazing, a hidden waterfall topped off the trip (once we found it), and I eventually felt like I could handle a bicycle. (I’m so incredibly uncoordinated!)

We also walked into town and then out for dinner. It’s nice to not have a car – partly because I still can’t get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, and otherwise because it requires us to use our legs. It makes the two trips for ice cream yesterday seem almost negated. 🙂

Today we are thinking about packing up once again and jaunting over to Galway. We’d like to see the Cliffs of Moore if there’s time tomorrow, then we’ll head back to Dublin.

The time has gone quickly, and my favorite part has been just hanging out with Bill. It’s amazing where losing your routine and knowing no one else  will take your conversations… Case in point – as we passed by a field of sheep I commented how I didn’t really realize that they painted numbers on the sheep to keep track of them. Bill’s response: “I wonder if the shepherds ever fall asleep while they’re rounding (counting) them up.”

We’re looking forward to a couple more days of adventure and then to the adventure that summer always brings! Looking forward to catching up with you all! XOXO!

 

Ahhh, the weekend. It’s a concept that gets lost on vacation, I’m afraid. I’ve decided that there’s something about planning an over seas trip that makes you feel like you ought to be doing more. Luckily, we haven’t got caught up in that nonsense. 😉 After enjoying breakfast downstairs, I got a real start to my day with a nice soak in the jacuzzi. After Bill got his shower in we were off.

We ventured downtown again and spent a good hour and a half just walking. We were hoping to take a little tour to some Titanic museum but never did find the place. So, when it started getting a little drizzly, we agreed that our afternoon might just as well be spent at a movie. (We watched Pirates of the Caribbean 3 – not my genre…) After the movie we took off in search of a good spot to enjoy some tea and a scone (or for Bill, a croissant). This is a little English/Irish custom I could definitely get into!

Somewhere along the day we dropped into a book shop, and I picked up The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. I feel like somewhere along the way a friend recommended this read – the first couple of pages seemed interesting at least! So, I look forward to some lazy days in our tent in Killarney and the chance to enjoy this story.

After just a bit more walking we found ourselves, once again, taking the advice of our cabbie and stopping in at a wine bar. The cute little restaurant sits along the river and serves great wine and dinner. We enjoyed a good bit of time there, and then it was time to head back to the B & B.

Tomorrow we’ll be on our way to find a suitable campsite. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for decent weather. We’ll give camping in Killarney at least one night before looking for a hotel, hostel, or another city! More adventures to come!

Remember to check the gallery for new pictures! 🙂

Friday was a more relaxed day, as we spent about four hours of our time on the bus from Dublin to Cork. We found that the bus system is about a quarter of the price the rail system is, and the difference in time is not terrible. So, we hopped aboard and found ourselves in the charming city of Cork not long after.I didn’t know what to expect from Cork, but what we found is a busy riverside city. We grabbed a taxi to the Crawford House B&B. Our taxi driver was very nice and gave us a lot of good tips for getting around town and all the must-see places. Our accommodations in Cork include a cute little room with a bath – complete with jacuzzi tub. We’re truly taking advantage of the chance to relax out on our break.

We spent some time in the city center after dropping our bags at our room. There are several cute shops lined up and down the area. We’ve really got no room to pack anything back with us, though, so we instead enjoyed watching the other shoppers bustle about. (It is a long weekend here – Bank Holiday Weekend – so folks are out in full force.)

One interesting part of our walk was the English Market. It was like a smaller version of what I’ve experienced in a Mexican flea market. We walked through, looked at the fresh produce and dead fish and then headed out to find some already cooked and consumable food. At our driver’s recommendation, we enjoyed dinner at a little restaurant, Scoozi’s. My favorite part of the meal was the dessert special (imagine that) which included a lot of whipped cream, some chocolate, and hazelnuts. Mmmm!

We finished the evening off with a couple of episodes of 24 back in our room and then a good night’s rest. There’s nothing like the freedom of vacation!