Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thanksgiving
We headed to Texas for Thanksgiving, spending part of our week in Victoria and the second half in the Hill Country. We enjoyed seeing family and the warm weather. We found it humorous when people in Victoria started bundling up when the temperature dipped into the 60's. Claire did great on the plane and during the car ride due in large part to modern technology, i.e. a laptop and a rental car with a DVD player. Charles, Nana, and I all probably heard the Yo Gabba Gabba DVD one too many times, we keep on catching ourselves sing "I like fish," but it was preferable to a screaming Claire. We didn't take many pictures, but we did manage to catch one of the highlights of the trip, Aunt Joyce's donkeys. I'm warning you, there is way too much cuteness in the following photos.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Moon Lake Disaster
People are always trying to get us to go camping, but Charles has the requirement of running water. So, when our greyhound friends decided to do a group cabin camping trip to Moon Lake the last weekend in August, we were in. After about a week of making lists, packing, and cooking everything we could possibly need for two adults, one baby, and two greyhounds (we were dog sitting for our friend Emily) I felt prepared for four nights in the high Uintahs. This is what the back of the mini-van looked like.
The drive to Moon Lake was scenic and smooth. Claire slept for most of the three hour drive. Dug spent the first half of the trip perched atop the luggage in an attempt to get to me, but relaxed in the back of the van for the second half of the trip.
The cabins were pretty rustic, but they had running water, stoves, beds, and heat. We thought we were all set. We unpacked the van, fed the dog and ourselves, bathed an exhausted Claire in one of the big plastic bins we had used to pack food. She had the hardest time falling asleep and we couldn't figure out why until we discovered what looked like a huge bloody gash behind her ear, which ended up being a buffalo gnat bite that had really bled. We gently cleaned it, gave her some Baby Motrin, and she calmed down and went to sleep. Once Claire was asleep, we hung out at the campfire with the dogs until we felt our very squeaky bed calling us to sleep. As I was picking up before going to bed, I noticed some little black things in one of the dog's bowls. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't what I thought it was.
Around midnight, Claire woke up crying, which didn't surprise us, since we were in a new place. What did surprise me, was the fact that she wouldn't fall back asleep until three in the morning. Awesome. She woke up the next morning fairly happy and had a great time crawling around the cabin while playing with the dogs' leashes. I wasn't so happy when I discovered more black things in our skillet, and I could no longer deny we had little visitors. Despite being exhausted and a little grossed out, we had a nice day walking along the beach, taking a short hike up above the lake, and playing in the dirt. I don't think Claire had ever been dirtier or had ever had quite so much fun.
At bedtime, she fell asleep easily, and we spent a great evening hanging around the campfire with friends and the dogs, keeping our fingers crossed for a good night's sleep. No such luck. Claire was up at midnight, 1:30 , 3:00, and it took me 30 to 45 minutes each time to get her to fall back asleep. When she got up at 5:00 there was no getting her back to sleep, so we sat around the cabin and played until we saw a mouse scurry across the kitchen floor. We had been contemplating the idea of going home early because we were all exhausted and cranky, but actually seeing the mouse sealed the deal. Around 7 am, Claire decided she was ready for a nap and we all slept for about three hours. We spent some time playing on the beach before loading up the car to go home.
The ride home was uneventful, and while disappointed to be leaving early, we were glad to be home and away from the mice. Claire slept through the night, and there were no mouse droppings in my skillet in the morning. Charles now has a new requirement for accommodations - running water and no rodents. I discovered that I have gotten soft in my old age. I no longer have any desire to go camping. I'm fine with rustic, and I think I would have been okay with the rodents if Claire hadn't been sleeping so close to floor and crawling all over it. Moon Lake was beautiful, and it reminded me a bit of the mountains in Northern New Mexico where my family camped when I was growing up.
Despite the mice and lack of sleep, we had some really great moments and a lot of fun with our friends, and the dogs had the time of their lives. We haven't ruled out cabin camping in the future, and maybe we'll try again next year.
The drive to Moon Lake was scenic and smooth. Claire slept for most of the three hour drive. Dug spent the first half of the trip perched atop the luggage in an attempt to get to me, but relaxed in the back of the van for the second half of the trip.
The cabins were pretty rustic, but they had running water, stoves, beds, and heat. We thought we were all set. We unpacked the van, fed the dog and ourselves, bathed an exhausted Claire in one of the big plastic bins we had used to pack food. She had the hardest time falling asleep and we couldn't figure out why until we discovered what looked like a huge bloody gash behind her ear, which ended up being a buffalo gnat bite that had really bled. We gently cleaned it, gave her some Baby Motrin, and she calmed down and went to sleep. Once Claire was asleep, we hung out at the campfire with the dogs until we felt our very squeaky bed calling us to sleep. As I was picking up before going to bed, I noticed some little black things in one of the dog's bowls. I tried to convince myself that it wasn't what I thought it was.Around midnight, Claire woke up crying, which didn't surprise us, since we were in a new place. What did surprise me, was the fact that she wouldn't fall back asleep until three in the morning. Awesome. She woke up the next morning fairly happy and had a great time crawling around the cabin while playing with the dogs' leashes. I wasn't so happy when I discovered more black things in our skillet, and I could no longer deny we had little visitors. Despite being exhausted and a little grossed out, we had a nice day walking along the beach, taking a short hike up above the lake, and playing in the dirt. I don't think Claire had ever been dirtier or had ever had quite so much fun.
At bedtime, she fell asleep easily, and we spent a great evening hanging around the campfire with friends and the dogs, keeping our fingers crossed for a good night's sleep. No such luck. Claire was up at midnight, 1:30 , 3:00, and it took me 30 to 45 minutes each time to get her to fall back asleep. When she got up at 5:00 there was no getting her back to sleep, so we sat around the cabin and played until we saw a mouse scurry across the kitchen floor. We had been contemplating the idea of going home early because we were all exhausted and cranky, but actually seeing the mouse sealed the deal. Around 7 am, Claire decided she was ready for a nap and we all slept for about three hours. We spent some time playing on the beach before loading up the car to go home.
The ride home was uneventful, and while disappointed to be leaving early, we were glad to be home and away from the mice. Claire slept through the night, and there were no mouse droppings in my skillet in the morning. Charles now has a new requirement for accommodations - running water and no rodents. I discovered that I have gotten soft in my old age. I no longer have any desire to go camping. I'm fine with rustic, and I think I would have been okay with the rodents if Claire hadn't been sleeping so close to floor and crawling all over it. Moon Lake was beautiful, and it reminded me a bit of the mountains in Northern New Mexico where my family camped when I was growing up.
Despite the mice and lack of sleep, we had some really great moments and a lot of fun with our friends, and the dogs had the time of their lives. We haven't ruled out cabin camping in the future, and maybe we'll try again next year.
Monday, August 31, 2009
July Recap
I constantly wonder where the time goes, and when my baby became such a little person. I've been totally delinquent in keeping track of all of the fun and exciting things we have done this summer. We started July with a visit from my Aunt Sally and Cousin Emma. We all had lots of fun eating out, playing with Claire, and catching up.
Shortly after Sally and Emma left, Charles, Claire and I were off to northern New Mexico for eight days. We spent the first couple of days in Santa Fe with my cousins, Carolyn and Amy, and Amy's husband Joey. Despite some trouble sleeping the first couple of nights, we had a blast. We ate tons of Mexican food, wandered the plaza, and had a great evening hanging out at Amy and Joey's. Before we headed to Taos, we stopped by Joey's studio to watch him blow glass. Claire had more fun chasing an empty Diet Coke bottle around the floor of the studio while we watched Joey do his thing.
We took the High Road from Santa Fe to Taos, where we spent the rest of our time in New Mexico. We did some site seeing around Taos in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I attended a workshop at the Taos Summer Writer's Conference while Charles and Claire napped and swam. In the evenings we sought out Mexican food and ate our fill of New Mexico red and green chile. Claire had guacamole at just about every meal and tasted her first posole.
I moved away from New Mexico twelve years ago, but I still feel like I belong there. There is something about the sky, the mountains, and the people that feels so familiar and comfortable, and I was glad to share it with Charles and Claire. I hope that as the years pass (I plan on dragging them back as often as possible) that they will come to love New Mexico as much as I do.
Claire and Emma.
Shortly after Sally and Emma left, Charles, Claire and I were off to northern New Mexico for eight days. We spent the first couple of days in Santa Fe with my cousins, Carolyn and Amy, and Amy's husband Joey. Despite some trouble sleeping the first couple of nights, we had a blast. We ate tons of Mexican food, wandered the plaza, and had a great evening hanging out at Amy and Joey's. Before we headed to Taos, we stopped by Joey's studio to watch him blow glass. Claire had more fun chasing an empty Diet Coke bottle around the floor of the studio while we watched Joey do his thing.
Claire, Me, Charles, and Amy at the Zia Cafe.
Patterson girls.
Claire and Joey.
Claire and Carolyn.
We took the High Road from Santa Fe to Taos, where we spent the rest of our time in New Mexico. We did some site seeing around Taos in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I attended a workshop at the Taos Summer Writer's Conference while Charles and Claire napped and swam. In the evenings we sought out Mexican food and ate our fill of New Mexico red and green chile. Claire had guacamole at just about every meal and tasted her first posole.
Charles & Claire at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge.
Claire & Me at the Gorge Bridge.
I moved away from New Mexico twelve years ago, but I still feel like I belong there. There is something about the sky, the mountains, and the people that feels so familiar and comfortable, and I was glad to share it with Charles and Claire. I hope that as the years pass (I plan on dragging them back as often as possible) that they will come to love New Mexico as much as I do.
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