A cool new travel video to build on what Matt started. Don’t blink or you’ll surely miss something! Happy Friday all!
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Travel
Nick and I started our 8 day Road Trip in the Pacific Northwest on Sunday. We left from Bend, Oregon in our borrowed mini van (thanks to the in-laws) and motored our way west to the Oregon Coast. We spent our first night in Newport and enjoyed the best fish and chips the area had to offer. On day 2 we continued up the Coast to our end point of Lincoln City, Oregon. Along our route, we pulled off frequently to enjoy the beautiful scenery. The shots above and below were taken at Cape Kiwana.
I can’t get over how intense the sand dunes are here. We are talking VERY LONG beaches here people…
My favorite roadside stop was at Cape Lookout, where we got a great shots of both Nick and I. Who doesn’t love a dramatic coastline??
Although disappointing because we couldn’t find the promised lighthouse, I love this shot I got at Cape Mears. Nick and I saw lots of parallels between this type of coastline and what we saw in New Zealand.
The hands down most exciting stop of the trip for me thus far was the Tillamook Cheese Factory. As you may know, I was the Cheese Buyer for SuperTarget for 2 years and I developed quite the fondness for cheese. And even though I got to tour many a food production facility during that time, I am still awed by the magic of watching cheese go from start to finish. Definitely put this on your to-do list if you’re in the area (although I must admit, the walls of people were intense). My crowd-averse husband definitely deserves a nod for hanging in there with me, despite being in his own personal version of hell.
Here’s a shot of me enjoying my Centennial Grilled Cheese, made with aged cheddar from 2009 (their 100th year of operation). It was mouth-wateringly good and well worth the 30-45 minute wait (Nick didn’t initially agree, but thank goodness I have some extra pregnant-woman leeway at the moment). Once that settled in my tummy, it was on to try a Tillamook Ice Cream cone. Thank the Lord I’m not lactose intolerant because boy oh boy do I love me some dairy products!
And here’s one final shot of us heading over the Columbia River into Washington State. If you want to see the full gallery of pictures, feel free to click HERE. I’ll write again in a few days once we get internet again…
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What a fantastic second week in Bend, OR! We got to check out a couple of the hot spots including Smith Rock (top 3 photos) where rock climbers do their thing. Unfortunately we went at a time of day when not many were climbing, but the beauty of the place was still impressive.
So cool to catch a glimpse of the moon during the day!
These final 4 pictures were taken atop Mount Bachelor which can be seen from my in-laws deck. We got to go to the 7000 ft point, as the summit (9000 ft) is only open in the winter when ski season is going on. In the shot above you can see both the 3 Sisters Mountain Group on the left and Broken Top Mountain on the right.
This is the Summit of Mount Bachelor and YES, that is snow!
Here’s a great shot of the Novak family!
And I managed to find the cutest little puppy to hang out with! Sorry for the brevity, but we just started an 8 day road trip with just the 2 of us! It’s been FOREVER since we’ve had any alone time and we’re relishing this pre-baby opportunity to chill. Only 2 weeks to go til we land in DC and 2 months (hopefully) til little Nia comes into the world! My how time is flying! Stay tuned for upcoming posts from the Oregon Coast and Washington State…
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We just wrapped up our fourth week of home leave (2 more weeks to go). A week ago we transferred from Minnesota to Bend, Oregon to visit Nick’s parents. This is my first time visiting the Northwest and WOW has it knocked my socks off. Perfect weather every day, fit people as far as the eye can see and views to rival New Zealand… Bend definitely has it going on.
Bend is a relatively small city, with just 75,000 people living here. What they lack in numbers, they make up for in charm. This places just oozes culture. Take the adorable Mill District, for example (pictured above). It’s set right on the river and was converted from an old mill into dozens of cute shops and eateries. Bike and walking paths abound and the river is always packed with tubers, swimmers, kayakers and canoers. In fact, during a majority of weekends in the summer you will find some kind of race going on in the water. This weekend we got to watch a Stand Up Paddle Board race (which was going to be followed up by a combined Dog/Owner Swim heat).
Here’s a beautiful shot I captured along the Deschutes River. You can see the kayaks blurred in the background, along with a tent from the weekend’s festival.
Bend may not be big enough for the major leagues, but it has drawn over 50,000 fans to its minor league stadium this year, where the Bend Elks play. We were lucky enough to join in the excitement of the last game of the season.
Not ones to waste time, Nick and his Dad scheduled a 2 and a half day Whitewater Kayaking Course for the first weekend here. The first day and a half were spent training, followed by a full day tackling the rapids of the McKenzie River (class 2 and 3 rapids). They came home exhausted but exhilarated.
Joyce and I made the most of our girl time by scheduling RELAXING things to do. We got Manis and Pedis, went to see the movie The Help, took long walks and went out to dinner one night. It was nice to have some quality time to ourselves!
Since I put in a shot of Nick’s Mom, I thought I should throw in a picture of Nick and his Dad too. Here they are on top of the Pilot Butte lookout. Aren’t they a cute pair?
It’s tough to explain how breathtaking this scenery is because the pictures just don’t do it justice. That’s the best I’ve got though, so it’ll have to do. Above is a shot taken from the Lake Paulina Peak lookout which is part of the Newberry Caldera. All of the formations in this area were shaped by the volcanic eruptions that happened long ago.
I’ll leave you with a beautiful shot of Lake Paulina Falls. If you look towards the bottom of the shot, you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of a beautiful rainbow!
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As some of you may remember, we had booked our dream trip to Bhutan back in early 2011, about 2 weeks before we found out we were pregnant. Unfortunately, the altitude of Bhutan is such that they do not want pregnant women visiting there, so when the pregnancy test came back positive, the Bhutan trip went bye-bye. Since that was supposed to be our last big ‘hurrah’ before we got pregnant, we suddenly saw our visions of child-free travel slipping away.
We continued to go about our lives, packing up from Manila and starting home leave in the States. The thing we noticed though is that despite all the domestic travel, the thought of not having an international trip on the calendar to look forward to left us feeling a bit glum. So we started talking about it one night, playing with the idea of still doing an all-out Babymoon trip for just the two of us, despite the fact that we would have a baby by that point. The more we talked about it, the more excited we got.
The thing is, since Bhutan was larger-than-life in our minds, this replacement trip had to match it in worthiness. There are very few places on earth that hold that same kind of awe for us, but it just so happened that one of them would be quite near to us in Peru. And what mind-blowing, once-in-a-lifetime location would that be, you ask?
Well, none other than the Galapagos Islands!
Named as the first World Heritage Site back in 1978, these beautiful islands are a photographer’s paradise with hundreds of exotic species found nowhere else on earth. The strange thing is, because of the absence of natural predators, the animals are fearless; allowing you to get right up close and personal with them. While neither of us know much about wildlife, it seems like the perfect way to immerse ourselves in something new and different!
Best of all, we get to balance all our outdoorsy time with pampering on the luxury cruise ship that we’ll be staying on. The Celebrity Xpedition is one of a handful of ships that have permission to bring in cruisers, with only 100 people aboard each ship. A typical day includes a morning and afternoon outing with a naturalist (2 different stops each day) and an evening briefing on what we’ll see the next day. It includes all the typical amenities of a cruise ship, just with a much smaller number of guests.
We booked it yesterday and have been absolutely giddy ever since. Never mind that it’s not until the end of 2012 or that we’re not quite sure who’s going to watch our baby…. I trust that it’ll all come together. The cool thing is, now we have another fun place to add to our research list. And with a year to study up, I’m pretty sure we’ll be quite knowledgeable by the time we go (or at least Nick will!)
Where are the Galapagos Islands located?
600 Miles West of Ecuador
Animals of the Galapagos
All photos taken from Flickr with permission from R Alba. Click here for the full gallery.
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My belly is finally getting some substance to it now that I’m 2 weeks into the third trimester. Nick and I are currently in Bend, Oregon with Nick’s parents and I’m taking advantage of the beautiful views and peaceful environment. The picture above is a shot from their deck with Mt. Bachelor showing in the background. It’s become one of my favorite places to take my afternoon nap. :) I’ll have more shots for you from Oregon and Washington State in the next few weeks, so check back!
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How freakin’ cool is this that I can share our photobook online?!? Nick made this one, but I’m on Year 2 (which will be released sometime in the next month). Hope you enjoy it!
PS – We HIGHLY recommend Blurb for making Photobooks. Inexpensive, good quality and lots of customization options!
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So last week I had the chance to go on my first-ever Medevac for the Foreign Service. The term sounds a little scary and that’s because usually it is just that – A Medical Evacuation. Medevacs are used when appropriate Medical care for your condition cannot be garnered at post (and by appropriate they mean something on par with what you’d get in the States). Each region has a Medevac hub (in our case Singapore), where the Regional Medical Office is available to assist with these extraordinary cases.
Thankfully, my Medevac was for a routine pregnancy test that would be standard in the States but is not performed in the Philippines. The test is called the First Trimester Scan and is used to screen for potential genetic defects. The Philippines bans this test because they believe if you knew that your child had a genetic defect then you would want to abort it. Never mind the fact that abortions are illegal here too. Doesn’t make a ton of sense to me but fits in with what I know of the Catholic church’s influence here.
So on to the test! The Doctor spent nearly an hour scanning the baby from head to toe using the Ultrasound machine. He literally went part by part and made sure every finger, toe and limb was accounted for. The scan could also get pictures of the baby’s internal organs, so we also checked for each organ system as well. It was wicked-cool to see the baby’s heart up on the screen and have the doctor point out the 4 chambers to me! He was also able to see bone structures (like the curve of the spine) and rule out any skeletal disorders. Oh, and then there was the blood systems too, where he pulled up this picture of red and blue veins surging through the baby’s body. Can I just say that I am AWED by technology?
This process was sooo calming for a first-time Momma like me. Not only was I assured that my baby had every bone and organ it needed, but that it also had a mere 1 in 12,000 chance of having a genetic abnormality! I’ll also be a tease and tell you that I got an 80% confirmation of what the gender should be, but I’m not telling until it’s 100% certain… :)
So that was my first-ever Medevac experience! Thanks to the US Government for assuring that we get access to top-quality care overseas! Our growing family greatly appreciates it.
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I’m well aware that I owe you a MAJOR apology for not posting for the last week. It’s just that I’ve been so damn tired and I had to go on Medevac to Singapore for 3 days (more on that in my next post – nothing to worry about). I was thinking the best way to win your hearts back would be to show pictures of adorable animals. I know, I know – it’s not going to make up for all those posts I didn’t write, but hey – it’s a start!
So DRUMROLL PLEASE…. here they are:
The Animals of the Singapore Zoo!
The Highlight of the Day: Feeding the Kangaroos
The hands-down best part of the day for me was getting some 1-on-1 time feeding the Kangaroos. They were so gentle and cute and we were even allowed to pet them! I loved every minute of it, even getting Kangaroo slobber on my dress. I was so thankful to have a good ‘Kangaroo experience’ at this zoo because I left the Melbourne Zoo traumatized because the Kangaroos just laid on the ground the entire time looking dead. Let’s just say it was not the first time Kangaroo sighting that I had hoped for. I’m pleased to say that this more than made up for it! A quick shout out to my fabulous travel companion Rebecca, who made sure we made time to fit in fun moments like this! XOXO
PS – As you may have guessed, there are boatloads more cute animal pictures waiting for you over at SMUGMUG! :)
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It is decided. We’re going ALL-OUT for our final trip in Southeast Asia. I can’t even begin to explain the ginormous amount of pressure we had placed on planning this trip…
You see, it was absolutely critical that we pick the **PERFECT** trip because:
- It is the only major trip we’re going to take this year (aside from taking home leave in MN and OR and relocating to DC)
- It’s our very last trip in Asia (I mean, what if we never come back to this region of the world??? Learning Spanish often means you get permanently stationed in Central and South American)
- We intend to have a baby in the very near future, so this could very likely be our last kidless trip!
Knowing that, some of the factors we rated most important on this particular trip were:
- Something we wouldn’t do with kids
- Something adventure-oriented that took advantage of our good physical health
- Something we may not be able to afford later on
- Something exotic and off the beaten path
- Someplace peaceful and serene with no people and very little tourism (Nick’s requirement, not mine – it seems that living in a city of 13 million is starting to get to him)
And honestly, after all that narrowing, there was really one clear choice: The Kingdom of Bhutan
Why We Knew Bhutan was “THE SPOT”
- The Population of the entire country is just shy of the 1,000,000 mark (and the country is roughly the size of Switzerland)
- The National Sport is Archery
- The country is 75% Buddhist, 25% Hindu
- The country has no Diplomatic relations with the US (the other 3 are Cuba, Iran and North Korea – interesting company, huh? )
- The country had no paved roads until the 1960′s, launched television in 1999 and got cell phones in the early 2000′s.
- The country didn’t open to tourists until 1974.
- The literacy rate is 42% and life expectancy is 66.
- The country does not measure GDP, instead they measure something they call Gross National Happiness (NO LIE).
- The country has an average elevation of 8,000 feet above sea level and is bordered to the west by the Himalayas.
- There were only 30,000 tourists in 2010!
Truly, this is the land that time forgot; perhaps the last Shangri-la on the planet. I can honestly say that I am STOKED beyond belief!! I know this will be the highlight of our year. Now that we’ve selected our Butanese tour operator (required for travel in the country), booked our flight on the country’s only airline and wired our money (no credit cards accepted), all we have to do is count down the days until mid-April!
I’ll share more about our plans in upcoming posts but for now I’ll just leave you with a map of Southeast Asia so you can see exactly where Bhutan is located! It gets a bit lost between China and India, so look closely…
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