Monday, July 30, 2012

Arriving Home

Driving through Idaho, we stopped at Shoshone falls, near Twin Falls.  It takes some time to get to, and in the end you have to pay in order to get the good views of the falls, but it was worth the trouble.

The rest of the drive went ok.  Frankie proved himself to be a good road tripper.

Thanks to all our friends and family for such a great trip. See you soon!

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Heading Home

On day one of our trip home we detoured to Snoqualmie Falls.  It’s amazing that hundreds of feet away fromthe falls it’s like it’s constantly raining, making picture taking somewhatdifficult.  On the way back to theinterstate, we picked up some Rainier cherries.

Along the way, we stopped for lunch at one of those gasstation/subway places.  The town (don’t’remember the name) had fantastic views of snowcapped peaks.  At the station, we tried out the make yourown milkshake F’real machine, which was amusing to watch.

We stopped for the night in Ontario, Oregon again.  But before we got there, we were treated to anice sunset along the way and we stopped for a few pictures.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Seattle Day Two

Saturday morning we headed out to Woodland Park Zoo with Lisa.  Luckily our hometown zoo membership has reciprocity with this zoo allowing us 50% off admission.  It was chillier than we had anticipated, so we wrapped tiny guy up warm in a blanket and bought him a hat which though a little large (adult size), worked out great for him.
Woodland Park was really fun.

 Some of the highlights for us this time:  The Kunekune pig, which looks like it has a cat style fur coat, colors somewhat reminiscent of Ro Cat.  The freaky komodo dragon, which almost looks like a man in a lizard costume.  Frankie also loved the room where you can feed the birds with the popsicle sticks covered in bird food.

Next we all met up with Nick for lunch at Ivar’s.  Good fish ‘n chips and chowder.  We followed up with gelato and the nearby shops.  We then headed to Pike Place!  At Pike Place, we strolled around, had some mac ‘n cheese at Beecher’s, and took lots of photos.

Next up, we went to Alkai Beach to take in the skyline.  It was a nice night for photo ops and the days weddings seemed to agree.  Frankie even did some flying (see photo).

For dinner, we went to the Luna Park Café, always a favorite.  The milkshakes were good and as usual Frankie was flirting and made a friend with the table behind us.  We then headed back to Alkai Beech as sunset approached.  Again we got to see more wedding parking comedy.  

Friday, July 27, 2012

Seattle Day One


Friday morning we went out to breakfast at Portage Bay, which has a really neat “toppings bar” for which certain items on the menu allow a single visit.
After breakfast, we headed to the Japanese Garden (one of them anyway).  It was a bit smaller than the one in Portland, but still nice.  We spent a lot of time taking photos and got many nice ones.
Next we met up with Lisa and Nick at the Pacific Science Center.  While waiting for out designated time, we went to see the butterflies and the rest of the exhibits.  The King Tut exhibit was really cool and really packed.  But I have to say there’s some false advertising going on since they are showing the King Tut Death Mask on all the advertising materials, and yet it’s not part of the exhibit.
After King Tut, we hung out around the fountain area and picked up some dessert for later.  For dinner, we met Aroon and Aarthi for pizza at Pizza Pulcinella where the pizza is good and the dessert pizza is even better. We recommend the Chiaia and the dessert pizza, Il Segreto di Pulcinella. AWESOME!

Thursday, July 26, 2012

To Seattle


Continuing on our way to Seattle, we headed out early, making it near Seattle by lunch.  We stopped at Aroon and Aarthi’s, dropped off some things, and took Aroon out to dinner at Chutney’s and picked up cupcakes at Trophy Cupcake.  

It was chillier than we had anticipated in Seattle and Frankie’s jacket still had a bunch of sand in it, so Misty stepped into a second hand clothes store in the same complex with Chutney’s and Trophy Cupcakes and bought Frankie a really awesome knitted jacket.

Afterward, we met Lisa and Nick for ice cream after at Molly Moon.



Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Oregon Coast

Wednesday morning we had a quick breakfast and headed out toward the coast, stopping to visit with a few people on the way. By the time we got to Florence, we were ready for an early lunch, so we stopped at Mo’s for some chowder.

Next, we headed up the coast that we hadn’t seen for two years, enjoying all the familiar sights we’d enjoyed in years past. We stopped at several places along the way. At Cape Perpetua, we stopped to see the blow hole and well (Thor’s well). We had actually never stopped at this spot before, so it was a treat to see for the first time with the tiny guy.
Another place we stopped, we let Frankie play on the beach and get his toes in the ocean.


In Yachats, we stopped to visit with our friends Shannon and Marv. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay long and had to head on our way on up the coast, heading back over through Portland and up to Vancouver. We found a place to stay near another old favorite for dinner, Burgerville.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Around Eugene

Tuesday morning we headed to an old favorite of ours (and many other people we suppose).  None other than Brail’s, well known for its fast and greasy breakfast.  Good waffles, bacon, and good sausage.  TJ joined us and gave us the lowdown on the city and county’s budget problems (hello 4-day school weeks and no police).


After breakfast, we headed to Trader Joe’s that we have missed so much since moving from Oregon.  We mentioned as much to the cashier as we were checking out and he let loose that they were opening a Trader Joe’s in Salt Lake City later in the year.  Once the story was corroborated, we had reason to celebrate.
After Trader Joe’s we headed back to possibly our favorite restaurant in Eugene, that of La Perla.  The fococia al Beppe and Gianni brought back fond memories of many dinners here.  We have since attempted to duplicate their roasted garlic offerings, we great success!
Next we headed to Alton Baker park to show Frankie the ducks and other water animals.  Unfortunately, there’s a new fence nearly all the way around the pond and of course we got rained on.  Good fun either way.

The Foresters hosted a wonderful BBQ dinner for us and some other friends from ORI.  Kathy even brought out some old baby toys that Frankie enjoyed playing with.

Monday, July 23, 2012

To Eugene!

Monday morning, we headed out towards our old hometown of Eugene.  We visited ORI and Alan’s old office and colleagues, and went to lunch with Kathy at Newman’s fish market. In the afternoon, we met up with our friend Chris and went to the international café area at 5th Street Market. We had the best carrot cake and cocoa from Marché. Eugene lived up to our memory and managed to rain on us this day (and subsequent days we visited Eugene).



We met up with Chris again that evening to go to our favorite sushi place, Sushi Domo!  Good stuff, including some of our favorites like the crazy roll!

We then crashed at TJ and Kathy's house after a nice catch up session. Tiny guy was just tuckered. 

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Corvallis

It turns out that Salt Lake isn’t the only place where many businesses are closed on Sunday.  Corvallis’s “downtown” is nearly dead on Sundays.  Not many places open, but we were able to find lunch at the Old World Café.  We had a nice walk through Corvallis and then got to see one of their nice co-op’s.  We also got to visit one of our favorite grocery stores, Market of Choice, where we got fish for the evening’s meal. 

After dinner, we wrapped up warm for a walk to the University Campus where we had dessert at Yogurt Extreme.  This was the first self serve frozen yogurt experience for any of the three of us.  Tasty flavors and tasty toppings.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Around Portland


Saturday morning, we picked Jen up and headed to meet Rita and Josh at Portland’s Saturday Market. It is always entertaining to walk around Portland and see the crafts at the market. After the market, we all loaded up and drove to have lunch at Escape From New York Pizza, some of the best pizza on the planet.  Next, we walked around the 23rd area, stopping at Moonstruck to get chocolates. We saw a tree branch fall right behind a skateboarder and everyone around commented at how lucky he was to not be one second behind.

Next, we stopped at the new Saint Cupcake after going to the old one despite our GPS’s instructions. We actually drove past the new one first (as I’d programmed it into the GPS), but thought it was either something else, or just a second location.  But alas, the original (or at least previous) location is gone!  It’s now replaced witha “coming soon” to be called simply “Fish Sauce”.  Appetizing…
Cupcakes loaded, we headed South for Corvallis, home of the Beavers and our friends Kevin and Laurel! We arrived to a warm welcome at their new house and had home made pizza, mmm tasty!  Frankie enjoyed their cat (Zorra) and the awesome, non-barking dog (Tess).

Friday, July 20, 2012

Arriving in Portland!

Continuing our drive to Portland, we headed out after acontinental breakfast.  We stopped atMultonomah Falls and were amazed at how humid and muggy it was, stepping out ofthe car.  As we later heard from friendsin Portland, it had been unusually muggy the past couple days, and the waterfrom the falls was only adding to it.

It was hard to take pictures of Frankie at the falls becausehe couldn’t take his eyes off the lower falls.
Pressing on, we made it to our hotel at the Residence Inn, unpacked, then headed back out to meet our friend Jen at an old favorite, Beta Lukas (Ethiopian).  We all shared the veggie platter and then headed to Pix, a dessert place where we each got a treat.  Alan had the “Concord”, a chocolate taste treat.  After Pix, we went back to our hotel and witnessed Frankie’s first crawling. As my Grandma Dorothy said, "put him down in a strange place and he will crawl!" He went back and forth on the carpet going after a metal fork.
Later in the evening, we were able to meet up with our good friends Rita and Josh at our favorite food carts at 12th and Hawthorne.  We got Perierra Crepe’s and Potato Championfries.  Yum!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Roadtrip begins

Let the road trip begin. Our bags are packed, Frankie’s things are packed (pack and play, check, diapers, check, toys, check), and we’re ready to go!

We started our trip Thursday afternoon hoping to make it as far as the Idaho/Oregon border at Ontario, Oregon.  The drive went pretty smoothly and Tiny Guy had a good time.  We stayed at the Sleep Inn and saw a pretty purple sunset after we unpacked.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

2,200 miles and a tiny guy...

Here is the plan:

Friday, June 29, 2012

We'll always have Moab...

Sunday morning we decided to go out to breakfast.  We weighed our options, read the reviews, and decided to go to the Jailhouse Cafe.  Just a few comments on this place.  First of all, do not go here if you are at all in a hurry, or are planning to do anything else for the rest of the morning.  This place is slooooooooow.  The food is ok, the bacon was extremely good, but we unfortunately hadn't planned for a two and half hour 'lunch' because that is what time it was when we finished.

On our way out of town, we went into Arches and drove to the Windows and Turret Arch.  They have just a short hike around them, so it didn't take long.  We saw a guy who had a dog in a stroller made specifically for carrying small animals. Is he not well? Nope, the owner carries him everywhere. That is pretty dang cool.


Afterward, we made the drive home and tiny guy cried from the parking lot at Windows all the way to Green River.  After some lunch, we continued on our way.  Back in Salt Lake, we showed our friends around the house and then headed to Tsunami for sushi before their flight out of town.

Here is a slideshow of our favorite pictures. Enjoy!

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hiking we wil go!

Saturday morning, we opted for a quick breakfast at the hotel's continental breakfast. It was decent, as expected, a waffle maker and some cereal. Then we headed out to meet our friends to hike Delicate Arch.

It was less windy in the morning, so we decided to give it a try, see how the tiny guy did. When we got to the parking lot, it was completely overfull. A guy cleaning trash cans told us we could park on the road 100 yards away. We headed up and parked, but then noticed "no parking" faintly written on the side. By the time we were ready to go, there were another dozen cars parked with us. Walking toward the parking lot, we noticed newer posts saying "no parking", so we just assumed the writing on the road was old and decrepit.

Onward we hiked. The trail is not too difficult, but is very exposed (no shade). We all had hats and sunscreen, and it wasn't all that hot out yet. The breeze was cooling, so we didn't mind it so much.Tiny guy was doing very well, much better than the day before. When we reached the arch, there were boatloads of people, as expected. We spent a while at the arch, taking pictures, eating snacks, and then headed back down the trail. Not too far down, tiny guy fell asleep in the backpack and drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the hike down.

We headed back to town and ate lunch at the Moab Diner. We all laughed at all the items in the menu that were "smothered" in their "famous green chili". We decided to order a bowl of this famous green chili so that we could smother our respective dishes, but alas, they forgot the green chili. We will never know if it is famous.

After lunch, we walked around town, checking out the souvenir shops and art galleries. We picked up some delicious cupcakes from a ice cream shop. Sadly, Misty only picked up one peanut butter cupcake. We could have eaten several! The ice cream at the shop was pretty good too. Cookies and cream for Misty and mint chip for me. The best thing about the shop was the one of the employees had her baby with her, in a backpack!

From here we split up with our friends. They were going to head back to Delicate Arch for some sunset shots and Misty and I drove out to Dead Horse Point State Park and Canyonlands National Park with tiny guy. Amazingly, he slept through both parks. When we stopped at viewpoints, I simply carried him in the carseat. The views from Dead Horse Point and the Green River Overlook are amazing. Aroon and Aarthi had nice views at Delicate Arch, but Aroon having misplaced his tripod, so didn't have much luck with the camera. It took them quite a while to make it down the trail in the dark (with lights of course). Since dinner places were closing, we ordered some pizza from across the street at Paradox Pizza just before they closed. By the time it was ready and picked up, Aroon and Aarthi were pulling into town, so they joined us at our room for pizza and salads.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Moab or Bust

Friday morning, we packed up the tiny guy, his gear, our stuff and headed out on the road a little before noon.  Along the drive, I recognized many cities and landmarks from my past trips to Moab, but it had been a long time, and it was surprising to see what had changed.  There are now giant windmills at the base of Spanish Fork Canyon.  The classic Arby's where I ate so many lunches in Wellington is now gone.

We stopped about halfway, around Wellington, to eat a late lunch.  Frankie had slept pretty much the entire way by this point.  Then we continued on to Moab.  Frankie slept the rest of the way!

After checking at our hotel, we headed out to Arches National Park to meet our friends Aroon and Aarthi at the visitor center.  From here, we drove to Balanced Rock and combined cars to head toward the northwest corner of the park.  We ended up hiking all the way to Landscape Arch in quite a bit of wind.  There's a lot of sand on this trail, and Frankie didn't care for the blowing sand.  He doesn't like to keep his sunglasses on, so it's hard to protect him from the wind.  Misty forgot to put her hiking shoes on and had hiked the entire way in her sandals.  At this point we weren't so sure about going to Delicate Arch in the morning.

Upon returning to Balanced Rock to reclaim our friend's vehicle, we notice the full "super" moon was out and in great view behind Balanced Rock.  Aroon got out his tripod and I snapped some hand held shots. It was at this point that Aroon somehow 'lost' his tripod. We have come to the conclusion that he accidentally put his tripod in someone's car!

After sunset, we drove back to Moab and ate dinner at Pasta Jays.  Dinner was tasty. Misty had the 'Baked Lorenzo,' linguine baked in a tomato cream sauce with crumbled sausage, topped with freshly grated parmigiano cheese. Yum!

We found that Frankie had admirers at the nearby tables.  One lady, as we were getting ready to leave, stopped us and said something like, "You probably wonder whether your baby is really cute, or if it's just your parental bias... well let me tell you, your baby is *really* cute!"

After dinner we headed back to the Moab Valley Inn for a much needed night of rest. For dessert we took a piece of the 'Lemon Berry Cake' to the hotel and it was light and perfectly sweet. It was such a big piece, it took us two nights to finish it!



Thursday, June 14, 2012

Montana, Final: Heading South

Sadly, all good things must end. The family visit was refreshing. The trip south, home, was not as quiet as the trip north. Tiny had a tough last hour of the drive. But considering the amount of time he did well, we feel the trip a success.

Leaving Butte I am always sad. It seems stuck. Never changing. Everything is right where I left it. Someone should dust it off and shake it up a bit. I appreciate the things of my past but I wish for the people and town, a happier existence.

Next up, we have an exciting trip to MOAB! We met up with Aroon and Aarthi and enjoyed the sites and treats of the small desert town. I'm excited to say that it being only 4.5 hours away means we will visit more often!





Monday, May 21, 2012

Montana, Part 5: The Visit

We were lucky enough to have awesome family that let us just hang out. Good meals and good conversation. Frankie, as always, was a real charmer. Below is some video and pictures, please scroll through...


Saturday, May 12, 2012

Montana, Part 4: Eating Out

We picked up Grandma Dorothy and headed to breakfast before heading to Bozeman. I LOVE a good diner breakfast. In fact, I compare all breakfasts to Bobo's in Tucson, AZ. Seriously. If you haven't experienced Bobo's, you have not had a true diner breakfast. Apple pancakes... enough said.

Anyway, we hit Joe's Pasty Shop and it was perfect. Just eggs, hashbrowns, toast, and bacon. Little man just hung out in his chair. We invert the old wooden high chair and set the car seat in it. It is stable and he is at the table with everyone. Then of course he dosed off, sideways in his chair. We were able to enjoy our meal and he got in a morning nap, score!

After breakfast, we headed over Homestake Pass in search of more family and the beautiful Bridger mountain range. I dislike driving Homestake. It is curvy and in the winter, a real pain. Luckily, our trip was nice weather. A tad on the windy side for driving but I'll take wind over snow any day.

Our tips for eating out with little folks:

  • Choose a child-friendly location. Children's menus and courtesy highchairs indicate that tots are welcome. This being said, I am a parent who loves that there are restaurants that are adult only.
  • Avoid busy places and avoid dinner rush. If the wait is too long (or the service too slow) baby may be ready to leave before you even get a table.
  • Make sure baby is safe and comfortable, do not rely on availability (or condition) of restaurant high chairs.
  • TOYS!!! Bring along some new/interesting table toys. Empty plastic cups, plastic spoons, and jelly packets work too
  • Do you like to watch people eat? No, baby probably won't either. Feed the tot too! Pack your own foods in small containers or take a jar/pouch of baby food. Or if done correctly, baby can enjoy some of your food (without risk of choking).
  • Don't leave a mess. Don't be that wet-cracker-ground-into-the-table-and-carpet mom. It isn't right for the restaurant to clean up after tot invasion.
If baby keeps busy, you can do more eating and enjoy your time and meal. If it doesn't work out, eh. You tried! You have plenty of time to try again. And one last thing, don't forget to tip. ;)