Have you heard Barack Obama is blaming George Bush and his administration for the current economic crisis we are facing? I don't know about you but just like the autobiography Obama wrote, I think he has some of his facts a bit messed up.
Watch this video and decide for yourself. Please feel free to google any of the facts contained in it to independently confirm them.
Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Bora Bora - Day 2
Friday, September 12
On Bora Bora we didn’t have breakfast included in our stay but prior to leaving Dammon, our ATV guide, “borrowed” (as he put it) a few grapefruits and a pineapple for us to take with us. So, our breakfast for each morning here was grapefruit and pineapple. It was delicious! The only bummer about breakfast was that in our room we had access to coffee BUT it was instant! However in the end I was able to solve this issue too with the large bottle of Bailey’s we purchased in the Duty Free shop at LAX airport. No more instant coffee taste now! I like my Bailey’s and coffee.
We figured today we would just hang around the resort and check it out in its entirety. We decided to snorkel this morning since the water was crystal clear and very blue! It was incredible! The resort had anchored these little floating docks in the middle of the water by the reefs to rest on from snorkeling or sunbathe at…your choice. As we snorkeled in the shallow waters from our over-water bungalow, we got into a bit of trouble when we realized the water was only about 14 inches deep. Struggling to get our feet below us and avoid touching the sharp coral, Katherine was not so lucky. In a split second that it took her to gain her balance putting a hand down for help, the coral had sliced a small flap of skin on her ring finger. Fortunately it was, for the most part, superficial but still deep enough to bleed. We surveyed our landscape to determine a better way out to the deeper water and begin our marine exploration. We saw a lot of marine life that we had not seen on Moorea. There were all kinds of those squiggly shelled clams with bright red, green, blue, tan, brown, and purple lips (if that is what you call them). Off in the distance I noticed a local man in a canoe who tied his boat to one of the buoys near our hut. He dove into the water and had a bamboo rod drifting in the water behind him. As Katherine and I got closer to him, we realized that he was fishing with a spear gun. As he speared each fish from his gun, he pulled the spear back to himself and pushed the spear completely through the fish and on to the end of the attached rope that the bamboo kept floating. He must have had at least 30 fish when we encountered him!!
The rest of our afternoon was spent eating at the restaurant by the pool, sunbathing, and then partaking in happy hour at the Hiro bar. Lounging by the pool and both of us reading, I finally finished the book I have been on-and-off of, “The Heroin Diaries” by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. This book is literally a diary of Nikki on drugs for an entire year and how he got clean. While the book is very intriguing, I think the best part of it was the last 20 pages. He had led an incredible life and it’s amazing that he isn’t dead! You will have to read the story for yourself. At happy hour, Maria took very good care of us and made some really great cocktails! We tried various drinks of all types of concoctions; the Honeymoon, the Moana Iti, and the local beer called Tabu. All were very tasty!
Dinner at World Famous Bloody Mary’s - details to come.
On Bora Bora we didn’t have breakfast included in our stay but prior to leaving Dammon, our ATV guide, “borrowed” (as he put it) a few grapefruits and a pineapple for us to take with us. So, our breakfast for each morning here was grapefruit and pineapple. It was delicious! The only bummer about breakfast was that in our room we had access to coffee BUT it was instant! However in the end I was able to solve this issue too with the large bottle of Bailey’s we purchased in the Duty Free shop at LAX airport. No more instant coffee taste now! I like my Bailey’s and coffee.
We figured today we would just hang around the resort and check it out in its entirety. We decided to snorkel this morning since the water was crystal clear and very blue! It was incredible! The resort had anchored these little floating docks in the middle of the water by the reefs to rest on from snorkeling or sunbathe at…your choice. As we snorkeled in the shallow waters from our over-water bungalow, we got into a bit of trouble when we realized the water was only about 14 inches deep. Struggling to get our feet below us and avoid touching the sharp coral, Katherine was not so lucky. In a split second that it took her to gain her balance putting a hand down for help, the coral had sliced a small flap of skin on her ring finger. Fortunately it was, for the most part, superficial but still deep enough to bleed. We surveyed our landscape to determine a better way out to the deeper water and begin our marine exploration. We saw a lot of marine life that we had not seen on Moorea. There were all kinds of those squiggly shelled clams with bright red, green, blue, tan, brown, and purple lips (if that is what you call them). Off in the distance I noticed a local man in a canoe who tied his boat to one of the buoys near our hut. He dove into the water and had a bamboo rod drifting in the water behind him. As Katherine and I got closer to him, we realized that he was fishing with a spear gun. As he speared each fish from his gun, he pulled the spear back to himself and pushed the spear completely through the fish and on to the end of the attached rope that the bamboo kept floating. He must have had at least 30 fish when we encountered him!!
The rest of our afternoon was spent eating at the restaurant by the pool, sunbathing, and then partaking in happy hour at the Hiro bar. Lounging by the pool and both of us reading, I finally finished the book I have been on-and-off of, “The Heroin Diaries” by Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue. This book is literally a diary of Nikki on drugs for an entire year and how he got clean. While the book is very intriguing, I think the best part of it was the last 20 pages. He had led an incredible life and it’s amazing that he isn’t dead! You will have to read the story for yourself. At happy hour, Maria took very good care of us and made some really great cocktails! We tried various drinks of all types of concoctions; the Honeymoon, the Moana Iti, and the local beer called Tabu. All were very tasty!
Dinner at World Famous Bloody Mary’s - details to come.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Moorea - Day 7 / Bora Bora - Day 1
Thursday, September 11
Today we got up early (7am) despite the hotel not remembering to give our requested wake-up call. We have scheduled a morning whale & dolphin watching boat tour with Dr. Michael Poole. The boat picked us up at 8:30 and we headed for the openings in the reefs. Dolphins and whales use these as protection from predators like sharks and killer (orca) whales. At the first stop, we were fortunate enough to see a large group of spinner dolphins. The spinner dolphin gets it name from the acrobatics it performs when jumping out of the water; it spins in the air. I snapped several pictures of the little guys and their spinning performances. We moved on further once the spinners decided to head out to sea a bit. We went across the northern shore to the west end without any success in spotting any whales. However, there was this annoying elderly couple (mid-60’s) that ended up splitting seats on either side of the boat. Unfortunately for Katherine and I, we were seated in the row in front of chatty Kathy. We would come to realize we regretted our choice of seats later in the tour. Ever since the first minute we left he dock, this woman would not shut up. It was impossible not to overhear her conversation with everyone in her vicinity and I amazed that she was truly an "expert" in all facets of everything! Damn, she must be a millionaire! She actually engaged us in a brief (thank god) conversation about where we were from. Our savior, the woman seated behind chatty Kathy asked her a question and ultimately rescued us from any further ear vandalism. By the end of the tour I think the other woman’s 2 ears had fallen off from listening to Kathy for 4 hours! We must have over-heard the same story 3 times from this woman and to top it off she kept calling over to her husband on the other side of the boat – about what it is that he was seeing from his vantage point. Man, no wonder he volunteered to sit on the other side of the boat to balance it out; he probably just wanted to get away from her on the tour since he knew what he was going to be subjected to! Poor man! Seriously, I would pay a doctor to diagnose me as clinically deaf if I was married to her!! It would be worth every penny. Unfortunately for us on this tour we did not get to see any whales despite it being whale season here. Kathy kept moaning and groaning about not getting to see any whales either, that at one point I was about to tie her up like a pretzel and throw her overboard! I’m sure she would have looked like a whale flopping around trying to untie herself! Hahaha!! You know when you are on vacation and you always hear the loud obnoxious people, you can pretty much guess they are Americans! I can’t count how many times here we have run into that. Even my wife, who’s American, was the first to point it out every time! Do they ALWAYS have to be the loudest in every situation? No wonder Americans have a bad name when they travel! I won’t even start with the quartet of American tourists that we encountered at Le Sud Restaurant on Moorea. Let’s just say it’s a good thing the waitress cleared all our utensils from the table because by the end of dinner I was looking for 2 forks to gauge my eyes and ears out with!
We gathered our stuff and were shuttled to the Moorea Airport. I have been to some small airports before but this airport is SMALL! And, it seems, there are 3 resident cats that live and roam about. The ticket counter is one booth, the weigh scales are manual scales that you could stand on and watch the needle point out your weight, and the x-ray machine – is 2 Tahitian guys that would much rather play guitar as they load your bags onto the cart. The flight to Bora Bora was a short 45 minutes but just long enough that I was able to catch a quick nap prior to landing. Ok, so I thought the Moorea Airport was small, the Bora Bora (BOB) airport was even smaller, if you can believe that! Once we found our bags, Katherine and I boarded a large shuttle boat to take us to the Resort. Here, we were staying at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa. I have to say, it is a very beautiful place! We have a great view of Mount Otemana as our resort is located on one of the outlying crater rims. Overall, French Polynesia (Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora) is a VERY beautiful place and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend time with my new wife, Katherine!! We are definitely enjoying ourselves.
We figured that we would just cruise over to the "city" and walk to someplace to eat. We knew that we had to take the hotel’s water ferry across but figured we could just walk to a small place for something simple. Thankfully I asked the reception desk about any suggestions for eating once we got across and he asked if we had anything booked as this was required…nope, didn’t know that! So he suggested the St. James and we went down to the dock to wait for the boat. Holy crap was it windy, I honestly thought I’d get blown into the water and here Bob is standing on the very edge to look at the myriad fishies hanging out in the spotlight under the dock. The ferry arrived actually a little early as I think it was carrying the Polynesian dancers and band to the hotel for that night’s performance. We got to the other side in the highly choppy and very fast little boat and were picked up for dinner.
When we got there I was a little surprised at the quaint and very romantic little restaurant. It is actually on the water but because of the wind we decided to eat inside. The staff spoke excellent English and the gent that seated us I assume is the owner and/or manager. He came over to the table shortly after we were seated and asked about my last name…turns out he is from LaRochelle in France! Such a small world…honestly it’s trips like this that make we want to hold onto my last name…everyone here is VERY comfortable with it and most everyone even knows the town and its history, location, etc. so it’s kind of fun for me. In the states everyone is a lot more comfortable with Bob’s name and mine usually ends up getting butchered.
The menu is so good that I really struggle with what I want to eat. Once Bob says that he is for sure heading for the fish I turn to the land selections. It’s a toss up between the beef filet with a mushroom cream sauce and potatoes au gratin or a roasted duck breast with blueberry sauce and vegetables. I make a game-time decision and go for the beef…obviously not really local, but I figure it is probably pretty good. Bob gets the Parrot fish stuffed with crab and sautéed vegetables (on my list for the fish side). We opt to skip the appetizer as we have not been left hungry anywhere on this trip, quite the opposite and we want to try a dessert if we have room. We choose a bottle of wine…they are out of nearly all the regular sized bottles of anything for less than $80 so we go to one of our last choices a Loire valley choice that turns out to be great…just like all the French wines we have had here so far (honestly, what a treat to be able to walk into the supermarket that has barely any food or drink that we are used to and the selection is akin to what we would get at the 7-11 yet be able to pick from between 50-100 different French wines at quite a reasonable price.)
OMG the rolls…seriously…I thought I had died and gone to bread heaven. I didn’t think that Bob liked the doughy, "almost not done" bread, but it turns out that he actually does. So…these things kicked some serious butt from both our perspectives…I was good and only ate half of mine, Bob ate the other half, of course. Main courses arrive, wow, wonderful. I don’t like mushrooms and this filet was covered in a morel mushroom sauce, but I actually don’t mind mushroom cream sauces…I just removed the actual mushroom from the top of the steak and dug in. Perfect…really, really good. The au gratin potatoes were damn good as well. Bob got to share quite a bit of these along with a good chunk of steak. I tried his parrot fish and was pleasantly surprised at its buttery texture and non-fish taste. We ate everything…even the decorative vegetables around the plate.
We received from our very perceptive waitress the menu again for the desert choice and selected a crème brule with local vanilla. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and seriously, this was the BEST crème brule I have ever had and I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of this particular desert. Wow…Bob doesn’t even really like this very much usually (in the context of Bob not caring for anything sweet…) but I was fighting him for the last of it!
We took a walk around the rest of the restaurant at the point and saw the very lovely over-water seating areas…quite a nice place. I made a point to go over to the gent who had seated us and the chef happened to be there with him. I raved about our food and paid them our compliments. I will include the restaurant’s URL in this blog as well…truly a very nice place and I thank the young fella at reception for suggesting it, wonderful.
Today we got up early (7am) despite the hotel not remembering to give our requested wake-up call. We have scheduled a morning whale & dolphin watching boat tour with Dr. Michael Poole. The boat picked us up at 8:30 and we headed for the openings in the reefs. Dolphins and whales use these as protection from predators like sharks and killer (orca) whales. At the first stop, we were fortunate enough to see a large group of spinner dolphins. The spinner dolphin gets it name from the acrobatics it performs when jumping out of the water; it spins in the air. I snapped several pictures of the little guys and their spinning performances. We moved on further once the spinners decided to head out to sea a bit. We went across the northern shore to the west end without any success in spotting any whales. However, there was this annoying elderly couple (mid-60’s) that ended up splitting seats on either side of the boat. Unfortunately for Katherine and I, we were seated in the row in front of chatty Kathy. We would come to realize we regretted our choice of seats later in the tour. Ever since the first minute we left he dock, this woman would not shut up. It was impossible not to overhear her conversation with everyone in her vicinity and I amazed that she was truly an "expert" in all facets of everything! Damn, she must be a millionaire! She actually engaged us in a brief (thank god) conversation about where we were from. Our savior, the woman seated behind chatty Kathy asked her a question and ultimately rescued us from any further ear vandalism. By the end of the tour I think the other woman’s 2 ears had fallen off from listening to Kathy for 4 hours! We must have over-heard the same story 3 times from this woman and to top it off she kept calling over to her husband on the other side of the boat – about what it is that he was seeing from his vantage point. Man, no wonder he volunteered to sit on the other side of the boat to balance it out; he probably just wanted to get away from her on the tour since he knew what he was going to be subjected to! Poor man! Seriously, I would pay a doctor to diagnose me as clinically deaf if I was married to her!! It would be worth every penny. Unfortunately for us on this tour we did not get to see any whales despite it being whale season here. Kathy kept moaning and groaning about not getting to see any whales either, that at one point I was about to tie her up like a pretzel and throw her overboard! I’m sure she would have looked like a whale flopping around trying to untie herself! Hahaha!! You know when you are on vacation and you always hear the loud obnoxious people, you can pretty much guess they are Americans! I can’t count how many times here we have run into that. Even my wife, who’s American, was the first to point it out every time! Do they ALWAYS have to be the loudest in every situation? No wonder Americans have a bad name when they travel! I won’t even start with the quartet of American tourists that we encountered at Le Sud Restaurant on Moorea. Let’s just say it’s a good thing the waitress cleared all our utensils from the table because by the end of dinner I was looking for 2 forks to gauge my eyes and ears out with!
We gathered our stuff and were shuttled to the Moorea Airport. I have been to some small airports before but this airport is SMALL! And, it seems, there are 3 resident cats that live and roam about. The ticket counter is one booth, the weigh scales are manual scales that you could stand on and watch the needle point out your weight, and the x-ray machine – is 2 Tahitian guys that would much rather play guitar as they load your bags onto the cart. The flight to Bora Bora was a short 45 minutes but just long enough that I was able to catch a quick nap prior to landing. Ok, so I thought the Moorea Airport was small, the Bora Bora (BOB) airport was even smaller, if you can believe that! Once we found our bags, Katherine and I boarded a large shuttle boat to take us to the Resort. Here, we were staying at the Bora Bora Lagoon Resort & Spa. I have to say, it is a very beautiful place! We have a great view of Mount Otemana as our resort is located on one of the outlying crater rims. Overall, French Polynesia (Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora) is a VERY beautiful place and I couldn’t think of a better place to spend time with my new wife, Katherine!! We are definitely enjoying ourselves.
We figured that we would just cruise over to the "city" and walk to someplace to eat. We knew that we had to take the hotel’s water ferry across but figured we could just walk to a small place for something simple. Thankfully I asked the reception desk about any suggestions for eating once we got across and he asked if we had anything booked as this was required…nope, didn’t know that! So he suggested the St. James and we went down to the dock to wait for the boat. Holy crap was it windy, I honestly thought I’d get blown into the water and here Bob is standing on the very edge to look at the myriad fishies hanging out in the spotlight under the dock. The ferry arrived actually a little early as I think it was carrying the Polynesian dancers and band to the hotel for that night’s performance. We got to the other side in the highly choppy and very fast little boat and were picked up for dinner.
When we got there I was a little surprised at the quaint and very romantic little restaurant. It is actually on the water but because of the wind we decided to eat inside. The staff spoke excellent English and the gent that seated us I assume is the owner and/or manager. He came over to the table shortly after we were seated and asked about my last name…turns out he is from LaRochelle in France! Such a small world…honestly it’s trips like this that make we want to hold onto my last name…everyone here is VERY comfortable with it and most everyone even knows the town and its history, location, etc. so it’s kind of fun for me. In the states everyone is a lot more comfortable with Bob’s name and mine usually ends up getting butchered.
The menu is so good that I really struggle with what I want to eat. Once Bob says that he is for sure heading for the fish I turn to the land selections. It’s a toss up between the beef filet with a mushroom cream sauce and potatoes au gratin or a roasted duck breast with blueberry sauce and vegetables. I make a game-time decision and go for the beef…obviously not really local, but I figure it is probably pretty good. Bob gets the Parrot fish stuffed with crab and sautéed vegetables (on my list for the fish side). We opt to skip the appetizer as we have not been left hungry anywhere on this trip, quite the opposite and we want to try a dessert if we have room. We choose a bottle of wine…they are out of nearly all the regular sized bottles of anything for less than $80 so we go to one of our last choices a Loire valley choice that turns out to be great…just like all the French wines we have had here so far (honestly, what a treat to be able to walk into the supermarket that has barely any food or drink that we are used to and the selection is akin to what we would get at the 7-11 yet be able to pick from between 50-100 different French wines at quite a reasonable price.)
OMG the rolls…seriously…I thought I had died and gone to bread heaven. I didn’t think that Bob liked the doughy, "almost not done" bread, but it turns out that he actually does. So…these things kicked some serious butt from both our perspectives…I was good and only ate half of mine, Bob ate the other half, of course. Main courses arrive, wow, wonderful. I don’t like mushrooms and this filet was covered in a morel mushroom sauce, but I actually don’t mind mushroom cream sauces…I just removed the actual mushroom from the top of the steak and dug in. Perfect…really, really good. The au gratin potatoes were damn good as well. Bob got to share quite a bit of these along with a good chunk of steak. I tried his parrot fish and was pleasantly surprised at its buttery texture and non-fish taste. We ate everything…even the decorative vegetables around the plate.
We received from our very perceptive waitress the menu again for the desert choice and selected a crème brule with local vanilla. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and seriously, this was the BEST crème brule I have ever had and I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur of this particular desert. Wow…Bob doesn’t even really like this very much usually (in the context of Bob not caring for anything sweet…) but I was fighting him for the last of it!
We took a walk around the rest of the restaurant at the point and saw the very lovely over-water seating areas…quite a nice place. I made a point to go over to the gent who had seated us and the chef happened to be there with him. I raved about our food and paid them our compliments. I will include the restaurant’s URL in this blog as well…truly a very nice place and I thank the young fella at reception for suggesting it, wonderful.
Moorea - Day 6
Wednesday, September 10
Our ATV tour with Dammon. Short tour of 2.5 hours ended up being a 4 hr tour since we were his only customers for the day. Details to follow.
Dinner at Chez Luciano (Italian and pizza) – Katherine
The walk here was kind of interesting considering that we had never gone the direction from the hotel until today. The airport was this direction so we took the initial trip to the hotel this way, but obviously didn’t really pay that much attention cuz we had no idea where we were going, etc. earlier on the ATV tour we had come past here (twice…obviously on our way to the public beach and back to our hotel) and I had pointed out the restaurant to Bob both times and he had nodded. When we got back to the hotel and got cleaned up and ready to go he tells me that he doesn’t remember seeing it. Once we actually arrive here I understand what he was actually acknowledging on the ATV…the gigantic blue marlin on the top of one of the trucks parked in the mutual parking lot that I had completely overlooked because I was obviously looking at the restaurant. Anyway…Bob has developed a minor obsession with the crabs in the holes all along the road. There is a deep cement gutter that runs about 2-3 feet away from the road and all of these crabs (some of them are freaking huge) live in these holes all along there. It was drizzling and we had a big umbrella with us. It was a bit further than the trips into town had been and it was dark…the rain and the dark both bring out the crabs…Bob was on a hunt! To say that it was an amusing walk there and back would be an understatement. When we got to the actual place where the restaurant was across the street and we needed to cross there was a small stone bridge and two HUGE crabbies out of their hole. There was also the longest string of traffic on Mo’orea that I think ever occurs…there were literally 50-60 cars and trucks that we had to wait for in order to cross or even continue (the road was too narrow over the bridge to safely continue). The crabs didn’t see Bob’s shadow or hear him because of all the traffic and he took this moment to finally strike! At last he got to whack one of the little guys out in the open! We crossed the road and went in.
Honestly the first time that we spoke 100% French in a restaurant (well…I did…Bob tried to speak English but the staff didn’t really understand him). We were a bit confused as to how to get seated, so we opted to just stand up front where people were obviously ordering and picking up to go orders. We wandered to the back toward the kitchen area where the gent who was obviously the chef and I assume the owner was back cooking. He greeted us with his “signature cat being stepped on” screech which thankfully we had read about in Frommer’s and weren’t terrified of (although I think that Bob and I both looked around for a second to see if there would be a kitty running through the restaurant scared to death!) .We moved our way up to the counter and browed the menu (great selection) and decided on the ham, cheese and…of course, pineapple(!) pizza in a medium. The young gent comes up to us and my wonderful husband points and tells him what he wants in English…I give him a little more French and he gets it. I ask for beers and he asks if we want to stay here or to go and we ask to stay.
We move to a seat in the tiny little seating area and the owner comes back and is obviously speaking to us when he tells us that there is only one Tabu (we ordered two of these Tahitian beers). I feel pretty proud of myself for understanding him and answering him that we will have one tabu and one hinano. We hear a few more kitty squeals coming from the kitchen which are pretty amusing. As Bob and I are patiently waiting for our food and chatting I hear the chef come back again and turn to him as he says something I don’t quite get, and then he gives me a shake of his head. I notice something in his hand that he is tossing around (i think it is a dough ball)…I then get that he is trying to get Bob’s attention and shut my trap. Bob looks up and the chef throws him the “thing” in his hand and my wonderful and talented husband catches it in his “soft hands” like a champ…garnering applause from the chef. Come to find out it was a fake egg…the chef comes back to retrieve it and give Bob a little congrats…and a kitty screech;)
Our beers arrive and a bit later the pizza…it looks freaking huge and I’m thinking there is no way even with as hungry as we are that we’re going to finish this thing. We finish it without a problem…it was damn good, excellent crust (go figure…the one thing you can count on here, just like France, is that if you think that you’ve had the most awesome bread/pastry/croissant in your life…it will get topped) and of course the pineapple is always kick ass (excuse my French!)
Our ATV tour with Dammon. Short tour of 2.5 hours ended up being a 4 hr tour since we were his only customers for the day. Details to follow.
Dinner at Chez Luciano (Italian and pizza) – Katherine
The walk here was kind of interesting considering that we had never gone the direction from the hotel until today. The airport was this direction so we took the initial trip to the hotel this way, but obviously didn’t really pay that much attention cuz we had no idea where we were going, etc. earlier on the ATV tour we had come past here (twice…obviously on our way to the public beach and back to our hotel) and I had pointed out the restaurant to Bob both times and he had nodded. When we got back to the hotel and got cleaned up and ready to go he tells me that he doesn’t remember seeing it. Once we actually arrive here I understand what he was actually acknowledging on the ATV…the gigantic blue marlin on the top of one of the trucks parked in the mutual parking lot that I had completely overlooked because I was obviously looking at the restaurant. Anyway…Bob has developed a minor obsession with the crabs in the holes all along the road. There is a deep cement gutter that runs about 2-3 feet away from the road and all of these crabs (some of them are freaking huge) live in these holes all along there. It was drizzling and we had a big umbrella with us. It was a bit further than the trips into town had been and it was dark…the rain and the dark both bring out the crabs…Bob was on a hunt! To say that it was an amusing walk there and back would be an understatement. When we got to the actual place where the restaurant was across the street and we needed to cross there was a small stone bridge and two HUGE crabbies out of their hole. There was also the longest string of traffic on Mo’orea that I think ever occurs…there were literally 50-60 cars and trucks that we had to wait for in order to cross or even continue (the road was too narrow over the bridge to safely continue). The crabs didn’t see Bob’s shadow or hear him because of all the traffic and he took this moment to finally strike! At last he got to whack one of the little guys out in the open! We crossed the road and went in.
Honestly the first time that we spoke 100% French in a restaurant (well…I did…Bob tried to speak English but the staff didn’t really understand him). We were a bit confused as to how to get seated, so we opted to just stand up front where people were obviously ordering and picking up to go orders. We wandered to the back toward the kitchen area where the gent who was obviously the chef and I assume the owner was back cooking. He greeted us with his “signature cat being stepped on” screech which thankfully we had read about in Frommer’s and weren’t terrified of (although I think that Bob and I both looked around for a second to see if there would be a kitty running through the restaurant scared to death!) .We moved our way up to the counter and browed the menu (great selection) and decided on the ham, cheese and…of course, pineapple(!) pizza in a medium. The young gent comes up to us and my wonderful husband points and tells him what he wants in English…I give him a little more French and he gets it. I ask for beers and he asks if we want to stay here or to go and we ask to stay.
We move to a seat in the tiny little seating area and the owner comes back and is obviously speaking to us when he tells us that there is only one Tabu (we ordered two of these Tahitian beers). I feel pretty proud of myself for understanding him and answering him that we will have one tabu and one hinano. We hear a few more kitty squeals coming from the kitchen which are pretty amusing. As Bob and I are patiently waiting for our food and chatting I hear the chef come back again and turn to him as he says something I don’t quite get, and then he gives me a shake of his head. I notice something in his hand that he is tossing around (i think it is a dough ball)…I then get that he is trying to get Bob’s attention and shut my trap. Bob looks up and the chef throws him the “thing” in his hand and my wonderful and talented husband catches it in his “soft hands” like a champ…garnering applause from the chef. Come to find out it was a fake egg…the chef comes back to retrieve it and give Bob a little congrats…and a kitty screech;)
Our beers arrive and a bit later the pizza…it looks freaking huge and I’m thinking there is no way even with as hungry as we are that we’re going to finish this thing. We finish it without a problem…it was damn good, excellent crust (go figure…the one thing you can count on here, just like France, is that if you think that you’ve had the most awesome bread/pastry/croissant in your life…it will get topped) and of course the pineapple is always kick ass (excuse my French!)
Moorea - Day 5
Tuesday, September 9
Today was the first real day that we decided to do some activities associated with the resort. Breakfast as usual and then we went up to the activities desk to book some things. First on our list was a whale and dolphin excursion with Dr. Michael Poole. He was a student at UC-Berkley that was doing graduate work on whales and dolphins and liked it so much on Moorea that he eventually stayed. Now he has 6 month internships for student at the school to do the same. How cool would that be? We also booked and ATV tour with Dammon. It was a 2.5 hr tour with stops at a lot of popular spots along the way.
Now back out to the pool where we decided to take a 2-man kayak out. We figured we’d venture out from the resort to the outlying, natural coral reefs that were protecting the lagoon from the waves crashing upon them. Some of the coral heads were so big that as we paddled overtop of them and you could feel the bottom of the boat scraping across. At one point, we almost got stuck on one but there were just enough waves to keep us moving. We paddled around more enjoying the different colors and sizes of the coral along with the fish we could see from in the kayak. Before getting too tired, we headed back to the resort for some more snorkeling around our hut and the coral reef there.
Tonight was dinner and a dance show at the Tiki Village Theatre. Here is where they show you how the ancient Tahitian people lived, worked, and functioned as village. It was pretty interesting to see how every person played a part in the village. The Tahitian people lived entirely off the land and sea not wasting anything; from giant leaves used as plates to the underside of bark used to make cotton-like blankets and clothes. Nothing was thrown away. After an incredible dinner, the Tahitian people put on an amazing dance show complete with vaibrant costumes and fire tossing! I was quite impressive! The show was amazing and MUCH better than the one at the hotel the other night!
Time to go and we wanted to hit the gift shop prior to leaving and picked up 2 hand-crafted photo albums that were made right there in the village. After some confusion about how the restaurant was going to get all the patrons home (since transportation was included), they eventually piled Katherine and I in a cab with 4 other people from a neighboring resort and we were on our way. There was a return bus that had left approximately 10 minutes before we left and en-route to our hotel we passed that bus! I don’t believe our cab driver was adhering to the 60km speed limit! I’m not kidding when I say this but…I was scared! I mean really SCARED! It was raining, our driver was probably doing 80km, we just passed the bus on a road that barely fits 2 vehicles, and we barely missed taking out a dog that had strayed onto the road.
Prior to realizing a female Mario Andretti was behind the wheel, I asked Katherine to put on a seatbelt. I, too, strapped myself in for what I figured was going to my last trip ANYWHERE on this earth, gave a prayer to the big man upstairs, and just hoped we made it back to the Pearl Resort. All I could think of was our van being wrapped around a coconut tree on the winding curves in the road due to the drizzly rain. I don’t think I actually sighed any bit of relief until Ms. Andretti came racing up the resort drive doing Mach 1 and leaving an 80ft skid mark!! Even the other passengers in the cab were sighing relief when we stopped but they too didn’t sigh until after the driver got out. So...it was only me that was scared for my life. When I got out, I asked Katherine if I should drop to my knees and kiss the ground in front of everyone else! Enough excitement that driver has scared me to bed!
Today was the first real day that we decided to do some activities associated with the resort. Breakfast as usual and then we went up to the activities desk to book some things. First on our list was a whale and dolphin excursion with Dr. Michael Poole. He was a student at UC-Berkley that was doing graduate work on whales and dolphins and liked it so much on Moorea that he eventually stayed. Now he has 6 month internships for student at the school to do the same. How cool would that be? We also booked and ATV tour with Dammon. It was a 2.5 hr tour with stops at a lot of popular spots along the way.
Now back out to the pool where we decided to take a 2-man kayak out. We figured we’d venture out from the resort to the outlying, natural coral reefs that were protecting the lagoon from the waves crashing upon them. Some of the coral heads were so big that as we paddled overtop of them and you could feel the bottom of the boat scraping across. At one point, we almost got stuck on one but there were just enough waves to keep us moving. We paddled around more enjoying the different colors and sizes of the coral along with the fish we could see from in the kayak. Before getting too tired, we headed back to the resort for some more snorkeling around our hut and the coral reef there.
Tonight was dinner and a dance show at the Tiki Village Theatre. Here is where they show you how the ancient Tahitian people lived, worked, and functioned as village. It was pretty interesting to see how every person played a part in the village. The Tahitian people lived entirely off the land and sea not wasting anything; from giant leaves used as plates to the underside of bark used to make cotton-like blankets and clothes. Nothing was thrown away. After an incredible dinner, the Tahitian people put on an amazing dance show complete with vaibrant costumes and fire tossing! I was quite impressive! The show was amazing and MUCH better than the one at the hotel the other night!
Time to go and we wanted to hit the gift shop prior to leaving and picked up 2 hand-crafted photo albums that were made right there in the village. After some confusion about how the restaurant was going to get all the patrons home (since transportation was included), they eventually piled Katherine and I in a cab with 4 other people from a neighboring resort and we were on our way. There was a return bus that had left approximately 10 minutes before we left and en-route to our hotel we passed that bus! I don’t believe our cab driver was adhering to the 60km speed limit! I’m not kidding when I say this but…I was scared! I mean really SCARED! It was raining, our driver was probably doing 80km, we just passed the bus on a road that barely fits 2 vehicles, and we barely missed taking out a dog that had strayed onto the road.
Prior to realizing a female Mario Andretti was behind the wheel, I asked Katherine to put on a seatbelt. I, too, strapped myself in for what I figured was going to my last trip ANYWHERE on this earth, gave a prayer to the big man upstairs, and just hoped we made it back to the Pearl Resort. All I could think of was our van being wrapped around a coconut tree on the winding curves in the road due to the drizzly rain. I don’t think I actually sighed any bit of relief until Ms. Andretti came racing up the resort drive doing Mach 1 and leaving an 80ft skid mark!! Even the other passengers in the cab were sighing relief when we stopped but they too didn’t sigh until after the driver got out. So...it was only me that was scared for my life. When I got out, I asked Katherine if I should drop to my knees and kiss the ground in front of everyone else! Enough excitement that driver has scared me to bed!
Moorea - Day 4
Monday, September 8
Today was another day of relaxation. We started with our usual breakfast and then decided to go the Supermarche for a few more supplies. Later I decided to snorkel most of the afternoon while Katherine suntanned and read her book. I saw plenty of cool looking fish and sea urchins; a lot of which I didn’t see on my last snorkeling outing. A couple huts over where I was snorkeling around I saw 3 seahorses. Very cool!
Dinner tonight was at a place just down the road at a hotel called "Hotel Kaveka". The Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant was highly recommended by our shuttle driver Raymond (of Albert Tours). The place was decorated very appropriately for Tahiti with a grass roof inside and the pillars wrapped with the branch of a large tree and the leaves tied behind. It was really neat. The restaurant was built out, over the water and had a large pier extending from it into Cook’s Bay, named after explorer James Cook. Dinner was excellent too. Katherine had seafood spaghetti in a marinara sauce with shrimp, calamari, and mussels/oysters. I had a Shrimp in Devil’s sauce on rice – basically it was prawns in a "spicey hot" sauce. I think the term hot sauce to Tahitians means just a bit spicier than regular sauce. It was by no means hot, at least to my standards. But all-in-all, dinner was fabulous and you really couldn’t beat the ambiance!
Today was another day of relaxation. We started with our usual breakfast and then decided to go the Supermarche for a few more supplies. Later I decided to snorkel most of the afternoon while Katherine suntanned and read her book. I saw plenty of cool looking fish and sea urchins; a lot of which I didn’t see on my last snorkeling outing. A couple huts over where I was snorkeling around I saw 3 seahorses. Very cool!
Dinner tonight was at a place just down the road at a hotel called "Hotel Kaveka". The Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant was highly recommended by our shuttle driver Raymond (of Albert Tours). The place was decorated very appropriately for Tahiti with a grass roof inside and the pillars wrapped with the branch of a large tree and the leaves tied behind. It was really neat. The restaurant was built out, over the water and had a large pier extending from it into Cook’s Bay, named after explorer James Cook. Dinner was excellent too. Katherine had seafood spaghetti in a marinara sauce with shrimp, calamari, and mussels/oysters. I had a Shrimp in Devil’s sauce on rice – basically it was prawns in a "spicey hot" sauce. I think the term hot sauce to Tahitians means just a bit spicier than regular sauce. It was by no means hot, at least to my standards. But all-in-all, dinner was fabulous and you really couldn’t beat the ambiance!
Moorea - Day 3
Sunday, September 7
Today we awoke and had our usual breakfast that was included in our stay. It had everything from a cereal stand to an made-to-order omelette station. The only problem with breakfast was the annoying birds that were hovering like vultures for scraps. And, when you weren’t looking, the birds would be helping themselves to the peanut butter bowl! Once I saw this, no more peanut butter for me! We fiished breakfast and headed over to the bar for the free wireless internet to check some email and publish a few of our blogs. Not long after, the hotel staff came looking for us as we requested an upgrade to a sunset bungalow for the remaining 4 nights we were here. It was worth it too; a little more private and when you snorkeled from your deck the coral reef dropped off right there! The water was so blue and the fish and coral were incredible!
Dinner at Le Sud (French cuisine) - more details later.
Today we awoke and had our usual breakfast that was included in our stay. It had everything from a cereal stand to an made-to-order omelette station. The only problem with breakfast was the annoying birds that were hovering like vultures for scraps. And, when you weren’t looking, the birds would be helping themselves to the peanut butter bowl! Once I saw this, no more peanut butter for me! We fiished breakfast and headed over to the bar for the free wireless internet to check some email and publish a few of our blogs. Not long after, the hotel staff came looking for us as we requested an upgrade to a sunset bungalow for the remaining 4 nights we were here. It was worth it too; a little more private and when you snorkeled from your deck the coral reef dropped off right there! The water was so blue and the fish and coral were incredible!
Dinner at Le Sud (French cuisine) - more details later.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Moorea - Day 2
Saturday, September 6
Today was a day of relaxation. We laid around the infinity edge pool and both proceeded to get a little too much sun. Good thing we both had tans before arriving here otherwise, in my case, we be burnt and sporting some nice lobster tans! Not cool. Our overwater bungalow that we are staying in is very cool! It’s pretty much 2 rooms: a decent sized bathroom and a bedroom/living area. All the wood trim and accents are Teak wood and it is very neat. In the center of the room under the coffee table is a glass section in the floor that we could view the aquatic life through at any time. Plus, there is a deck off the back with a smaller side deck to swim/snorkel from. Later today Katherine sunbathed some more from our deck and I snorkeled around exploring the coral reefs and the fish that were living below each bungalow. Wow…there are so many types of fish and of all different colors! About an hour later and it was time to get ready for the Polynesian dinner and dance show that the resort was putting on. Dinner tonight was a seafood buffet and they even had tuna sashimi. The Polynesian dancing show was ok and even had some pretty young kids as part of the show. They were very good; one drummer and two little girl dancers.
Moorea - Day 1
Friday, September 5...
(Katherine blogging again)
We took the high-speed Catamaran from Tahiti to Moorea. Unlike the regular ferry to Moorea, this boat can venture from pier to pier in 30 minutes where the regular ferry takes 1 hr for the same trip! Learning our lesson from the ultra-expensive Sheraton Tahiti, we decided to venture into the town of Maharepa for some shopping and a visit to the local Supermarche for some snacks and other supplies like bottled water and beer. We hit up Maria@Tapas for dinner at the suggestion of Frommers and were not disappointed. Although we were the first to arrive we were pretty early as we wanted to catch their happy hour (Thursday and Friday from 6-7). They had one of our favorite beers, discovered on our trip to Paris: Hoegaarden. Bob quickly made a friend in one of the (obviously female) outdoor cats belonging to the establishment…a beautiful petite strawberry blond with eyes to match…he was smitten immediately. We ordered some nachos and salsa which our host obviously made herself upon order and proceeded to get the shrimp fajitas for me and the shrimp and tuna in coconut curry sauce for Bob. Both were excellent. More guests started pouring in and we enjoyed our meal overhearing our fellow Americans speak of their various and sundry journeys and lives. (BORING!) Miss kitty got fed at least a half dozen shrimp, removed of their curry and coco sauce by her kind suitor. She ate her fill and then wandered off to see what the other gents might be offering but soon returned to our table and the man of her dreams.
Later after dinner the owner personally gave us a ride back to our hotel, the Moorea Pearl Resort, and we got the chance to talk to her about life on Moorea and such. She was very interesting and gave us a ton of information and was extremely friendly. Meeting these kind of people on trips is great because you get more than just the tourist view of things. We must have chatted for 15 minutes in her car while sitting at the resort. Good meal, good friends, and now time for good night!
Tahiti - Day 3
This evening we went to the Belvedere Restaurant…OMG…about 2000 ft above the
Time for bed, catch you in the morning.
Tahiti - Day 2
(Katherine still blogging) :)
We woke up at 7:30, showered, dressed and headed into town. Le Truck (basically a converted truck bed with seats and a cover that acts as the most common local bus) picks us up across the street from the hotel and takes us into town for 130CFP (about $2) each. Once in town we discover
Bob got a little frustrated here because he was hungry and everything was closed. He apparently missed the part where I told him that it looked as if everything closes between 5 – 6:30/7:00. I got very frustrated because the place that we had picked via the Frommer’s book had apparently disappeared…the Voodoo Bar Lounge. Of course with the lack of street signs and a very general map from the guidebook even this tiny little metropolis became an exercise in frustration! We eventually settled on the fact that indeed we were in the right place but the restaurant was gone…replaced by something I do not recall the name of now. We did happen upon a little find, I absolutely LOVED the décor and the bartender was friendly if a little effete. The Mango Café?...yes, spelled with the question mark. They had a happy hour starting at 5:30 which we took advantage of until nearly 7 when we decided we’d try to find one of the three restaurants we had picked as possible dinner choices. One happy hour drink in particular was made with the whites of a fresh egg. Bob’s been pretty adventurous and opted to try this drink, Pisco Sour. We ended up at Lou Pescadou…Italian and pizza. There was a steady line up of locals picking up at least 3 boxes a piece of the pizza and the staff was friendly and the food, excellent. The portion size was a little too much and there was a bit of a language/translation barrier, but all in all I would suggest it.
After we hit the Roulettes for an amazing Crepe…chocolate, apples, vanilla ice cream flambéed with an alcohol I don’t recall…really, really good! And, the people watching was great as well. These roulettes are all on the waterfront and there were choices for everyone, but predominantly Chinese type food.
Tahiti - Day 1
Katherine’s Blog...(since Bob is still at the airport in our wedding and honeymoon story, I figure I’ll start with the honeymoon).
Tuesday, September 2
We arrive at about 10:00 pm and the transfer by Marama tours was very nice and got us to the Sheraton quickly and politely. Porter brought the bags to our room and we went to have a drink. Mojito…gross…not recommended! Bob had some local beer, Hinano, also pretty yucky. This totaled more than $25…after this we never bought anything other than an hour of internet in the hotel. Bedtime!
Heading back home to Phoenix, Honeymoon Packing.
Monday, September 1...
We awoke to the knocking of our door for the room service breakfast we ordered the evening before. It was fabulous; orange & pineapple juice, coffee, pancakes, and an omelet. We had a few people stop by and pick up some things left behind from the day before. Our mid-afternoon flight was approaching and we had to re-pack everything in order to get it all home. The Little Nell shuttled us to the airport in a very nice black Audi. I actually wouldn’t mind owning that model!
Back in
Our "Big" Day!
Sunday, August 31...
Katherine stayed with the girls and Gerry and I hung out until 2am-ish. Because we had a room at the Little Nell tonight, I had to pack all my stuff so that Katherine could stop by in the morning while all the guys were golfing. I didn’t want to get up early this morning but I wanted to do something with all my groomsmen the day of the wedding. I wasn’t really nervous, at least, that I could tell however I didn’t have much of an appetite.
So I trekked out the door at 7:45am and over to the North of Nell where I was meeting all the other guys. Twelve of us golfed this morning and we had a really good time. I think we had cracked our beers open by the second hole but I had no intention of having too many. I wanted to be very sober for my wedding. Word has it that you won’t remember much of the day as you are so busy with everything going on and talk with and thanking people for coming. We finished golf around 1:30pm. Regardless of which of the 3 teams we had today thinks they won, my 4-some won – it was MY day! Haha. And, the hockey stick putters were a hit. Not only did we have fun using them but other golfers were very interested in obtaining one as well and asked where to buy one. For those interested – http://www.hockeystickputters.com. They are becoming extremely popular so I wouldn’t be surprised if you find them in your local NHL team’s Pro Shop at the arena.
Despite my lack of appetite, I figured it would be best to eat something prior to my wedding. Gerry, Bill, and I grabbed a quick lunch at Zane’s. I like Zane’s – it’s a small little bar that is sub-street level and had great wings! I would recommend them for anyone who gets a chance to visit
Scott helped me carry my stuff over to the Little Nell and went back to get his stuff. All the groomsmen were coming over to get dressed in my room and we were leaving from there. I was alone for the first time today. I decided to sit down and write my vow at this point. I fired up the laptop and went to Google to search for “traditional wedding vows”. There I found was I was looking for; some ideas about how to write vows. I remember laying in bed a week ago and Katherine and I discussing what to write for vows. She said, “Just speak to me from your heart and say what you feel.” Once I completed the first sentence and how I wanted it phrased, I was off and running. Everything just flowed. Of course I had a bit of editing to do but overall, I was happy with what I wrote.
Shower and shave time since its 3:30pm. The guys started arriving and once dressed walked to the gondola and proceeded up the mountain. For those who have never been on
Now complete, we went back inside to the bar as guests started arriving. I ask a few of my groomsmen to usher guests to their seats and hang out with my best man, Brent Selman, in the bar and finish our beers. As the last of our guests are seated Sheri, our incredible wedding coordinator (high recommendations all around for her), herds me and the guys to the front of the Club. There, I see my mom and Alan grabs us for a quick mother-son photo opp along with a couple of me just leaning against a wooden column looking out over the gondola. The bridesmaids arrive and everyone lines up to headed to the Wedding deck for the ceremony. Michael, our Officiant, and I walk first and the rest of the wedding party followed coming down the steps and taking their place respectively. Michael and I stand there and watch each pair come down and converse with some small chat. Basically, I tell him that as Katherine makes her way to the bottom of the stairs, I will go over and take her hand, turn, and bring her back where will be stand to be married in front of all our guests.
As the last couple, Carrie and Ryan were making their way down to the deck, in my peripheral vision I notice Katherine coming out and stopping behind a large evergreen tree to conceal her from view. “It’s time,” I think to myself and just at that second Katherine comes walking out from behind that tree and I see her for the first time. She looks unbelievable! I expected her to look good BUT honestly, she was radiant; just stunning! I could feel the tears starting to well up in my eyes. I fought hard to hold them back! The only thing I could think of at that moment was I had better not lose it since I still had vows to make it though! Katherine took her time and slowly walked to me on the wedding deck as our guests stood to admire and snap photos. Once our eyes met we were locked on one another. It was absolutely amazing! As my bride approached the last step I walked over to her, took her hand, told her see looked incredible, and we returned to Michael taking our place in front of him.
Our 20 minute ceremony included a Cherokee reading, a poem by George Eliot, our intentions for marriage, vows, exchange of rings, and the pouring of our Unity sand. We are pronounced “Husband & Wife” and I kiss my beautiful bride. We walk back towards the Club and stop to allow guests to head into the Club for drinks and hors d’ouerves. Alan does his thing for the next 30 minutes photographing Katherine and I with family and the wedding party. After a few last minute photos of her and I, we stroll hand in hand up to the Club for our formal introduction as a married couple. Let the PARTY begin!
Our master of ceremonies, Mike Leopold, did an awesome job at dinner keeping things moving and interesting with speeches from the wedding party, our families, and a few friends. From the time I arrived at the top of mountain, the day had just been perfect! Even during the ceremony there was a little bit of rain and then the sun beamed back down upon us. Honestly, the only worry I had was the weather and I’m so thankful that it held off during the ceremony. I don’t think you can ever predict the weather in the mountains but the day was great; despite the hour long shower we received earlier in the day around 2pm. Dinner was spectacular as we ate grilled Elk Loin and a crusted Ruby Trout. Dancing, cake cutting, and plenty of drinking ensued and everyone looked like they were really having a great time. The Little Nell was even so kind to allow everyone to continue dancing and having fun 30 minutes after our original gondola departure time of 10:30pm.
With the evening winding down, Sheri gathered up all of our bags, gifts, champagne flutes, etc that Katherine and I had and as one of the last people on the mountain, we jumped in a gondola for our 18 minute ride down the mountain. Wow…we finally had some time to ourselves, completely alone in the dark of night. We reflected on a lot of what happened during the ceremony, dinner, and reception. What an amazing day! It really couldn’t have been more perfect!
We partied with most of our guests a bit more in the bridesmaids’ condo before retiring for the remainder of the evening to our quiet “Town Suite” at the Little Nell.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Rehearsal Dinner & Catching up with Guests.
Saturday, August 30...
Today was a day that people could explore the town of Aspen and do whatever they like; white-water rafting, a Jeep tour, mountain biking, paragliding, you name it. I elected to sleep in since I had quite a few beers last night. It was a good night of sleep for me. Katherine had to get up for a 9:30am manicure/pedicure appointment with her bride’s maids. I’m glad I didn’t have to get up that early. My day was filled with running small errands – getting the power cord to our laptop from Ryan, finding a card to go with my gift to Katherine, and go for a quick hike to some ice caves. Yep, an action packed day if you ask me! What seemed to be a simple day didn’t quite turn out that way.
First off, I was running into all our guests that I hadn’t seen yet. I stopped off for coffee and a muffin at Ink and ran into Gary Selman & Ken Abrams on the bench outside of the “Under Amour” store waiting for their wives to return from shopping. I had a 30 minute conversation with them and then onto Ryan’s room. Another 20 min conversation with him and Andrea and I was quickly falling behind my preset (albeit miniscule) schedule. Eventually I arrived back at our condo and my brother, his wife Nikki, and my 3 month old nephew Patrick stopped by. Patrick was hungry and Nikki was lunch! While they fed Patrick I decided to run out for a wedding card for Katherine. Big mistake. Figuring the easiest thing to do was to ask a shop vendor from one of the stores where I could find some greeting cards. They sent me across town to the market. I get to the market and look high and low for the card section; it’s non-existent. When I ask a clerk about cards she informs me that they do not sell them and send me up the street to Sandie’s Supply store. No problem, it’s 1.5 blocks away. Great…I’m here BUT…she’s is closed for the long holiday weekend (Labor Day). Son of a b----! And, yet again, I’m asking a store vendor where to buy cards. They tell me to go to Carl’s Pharmacy which is clear across town in the opposite direction of where I am and where our condo is. So I hike once again across town to Carl’s. I find the card I want and head back. At this point, my brother is probably wondering where I have been. He notices I’m out of breath and goes to ask me when I cut him off and say, “It’s a long story.”
I decided to get things ready for the rehearsal dinner which was held at the Snowmass Club in
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Our Guests Arrive in Aspen, Beers at Bentley's Pub
Friday, August 29...
Pretty much all our guests arrived today. Later in the afternoon, we headed out for a hike at the ice caves. Neat place although there was no ice in the middle of August. We took pictures anyway and get back to our condo in a couple of hours. Shower time!
We ran into most although not all but managed to have dinner at Mezzaluna with Katherine’s side of the family; aunt Delia, aunt Joyce, cousin Shara and her husband Kevin, along with a few of the bride’s maids. Dinner was fabulous. It was now time for the girls to get together for an evening with Katherine. The guys and I gathered at Bentley’s Irish Pub to have a few pints (or so). I saw quite a few people that I had not yet run into on the street. With some 80’s hair-band music playing in the background, the cold beer flowed and good times were had by all. Don Dole and I proceeded to close the pub as they pushed us out the door at 2am. We walked back to Don’s place for yet another beer that I’m sure I didn’t need. It was now 3am and I needed to head back to the condo. Shortly after my arrival home, Katherine and her aunt Delia appeared in the courtyard where we had one last drink, chatted, and then called it a night.
Pretty much all our guests arrived today. Later in the afternoon, we headed out for a hike at the ice caves. Neat place although there was no ice in the middle of August. We took pictures anyway and get back to our condo in a couple of hours. Shower time!
We ran into most although not all but managed to have dinner at Mezzaluna with Katherine’s side of the family; aunt Delia, aunt Joyce, cousin Shara and her husband Kevin, along with a few of the bride’s maids. Dinner was fabulous. It was now time for the girls to get together for an evening with Katherine. The guys and I gathered at Bentley’s Irish Pub to have a few pints (or so). I saw quite a few people that I had not yet run into on the street. With some 80’s hair-band music playing in the background, the cold beer flowed and good times were had by all. Don Dole and I proceeded to close the pub as they pushed us out the door at 2am. We walked back to Don’s place for yet another beer that I’m sure I didn’t need. It was now 3am and I needed to head back to the condo. Shortly after my arrival home, Katherine and her aunt Delia appeared in the courtyard where we had one last drink, chatted, and then called it a night.
Bad Night for Sleep, Marriage License in Hand.
Thursday, August 28...
I didn’t sleep very well last night. For “some” strange reason I kept waking up every half hour in a panic that I had forgot something or something terribly was wrong!! It was a long night. Today was just a day for us to walk around Aspen and see it in the summer time without snow since we were last here in February. We strolled over to City Hall and the Court House to get our marriage license. In 10 minutes we were finished. Can you believe in Colorado you don’t require witnesses to be married? Strange. I believe this was the last thing we had to do for the wedding. Now we can relax and proceeded to walk over to Zele’s for some soup and a sandwich. This is definitely a favorite spot of ours to grab lunch! A little more window and grocery shopping and we were set for the trip. It always helps to have a few snacks and beers on hand!
I didn’t sleep very well last night. For “some” strange reason I kept waking up every half hour in a panic that I had forgot something or something terribly was wrong!! It was a long night. Today was just a day for us to walk around Aspen and see it in the summer time without snow since we were last here in February. We strolled over to City Hall and the Court House to get our marriage license. In 10 minutes we were finished. Can you believe in Colorado you don’t require witnesses to be married? Strange. I believe this was the last thing we had to do for the wedding. Now we can relax and proceeded to walk over to Zele’s for some soup and a sandwich. This is definitely a favorite spot of ours to grab lunch! A little more window and grocery shopping and we were set for the trip. It always helps to have a few snacks and beers on hand!
Flying to Aspen for our Wedding...
August 26, was the last day of work for both Katherine and I prior to leaving for our wedding in Aspen, Colorado. We are so excited! If I haven’t blogged about this before, Katherine and I are getting married on August 31st and have chosen to perform this commitment of love to each other on the top of Aspen Mountain. Since the age of 13, it has long been Katherine’s dream to be married on the mountain and now both of us can make this dream come true.
Today we both have a few errands to run and I’m having lunch with a couple programming buddies, Chris and Ron, whom I used to work with at the Scottsdale Insurance Company. Following lunch I arrive home around 1:30pm to find that Katherine is still out running her errands. She calls me around 1:50pm and I inform her that I’m home and I will check us in for our flight to Aspen tonight. When we originally booked out trip, we are both pretty sure our early evening flight out of Phoenix was at 6pm. Approximately 5 weeks ago, Delta called to say that the departure flight we were on had changed and that they would send the new itinerary. They did (although I didn’t pay too close attention to it – it was 5 weeks away.)
I checked us both in around 2:10pm and still haven’t paid close attention to the altered departure time that Delta had earlier informed us about. Katherine arrived home and decided to re-pack out bags since we had quite a bit of clothes for 4-5 days. While she was downstairs, I was upstairs on the Internet take care of some last minute banking. For whatever reason, I decided to look at what time our flight departed and noticed on our freshly printed boarding passes the time said…4:05pm. I looked at my watch. It read 3:05pm!! Oh S**T! Immediately double checking this and with sheer PANIC now setting in, I tell a friend of ours, Jen, who happened to be at our condo to yell down to Katherine that we NEED to be gone and headed to the airport, like NOW! Of course, she is surprised beyond belief and very obviously angry with me. She was yelling…”How did you not know what time we were departing?” Also, at this point, I’m sweating profusely. That tends to occur with me when I’m under such stress. “I didn’t look at the departure time on the boarding pass when I checked us in.” I replied. No time to argue, we have to go. Katherine shoves the rest of the clothes into our bags (3 suitcases along with Katherine’s wedding gown, my tuxedo, and a backpack with all our valuables) and we race to the airport. Fortunately Jen was there to give us a ride. With 55 minutes until our flight departure and us still at our condo, calling a cab would have been the death of me.
We throw our bags into Jen’s car; blow a couple red lights, arriving at the airport with a screeching halt after driving MACH ONE to get there ASAP. It’s also a good thing that we only live 1.5 miles from the airport! Katherine and I sprint to the Delta counter and check our bags in. Our first bag was exactly 50 lbs – which was the bag limit on our flight. However the second bag was 56 lbs! The Delta agent informed us our bag was overweight and we need to remove some things from it. Our first reaction was to ask, “How much for the extra weight?” The agent informed us, “Ninety dollars.” OUCH! At this point it’s 3:30 and our plane departs at 4:05. Oh…and I’m now drenched from sweat. My shirt is soaked to the point that I could wring it out. We open one of the suitcases and pull out a big sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and re-weigh the suitcase – 53 lbs, not enough. I went back into the bag and pull out my tux shoes and re-weigh the bag again. Fifty-one pounds, the scale reads. “Can you work with that weight?” I ask. The agent says “Yes” and we bolt for the security checkpoint! At the checkpoint, the TSA agent asks us for our ID and boarding pass. Again, still in a frantic hurry, I’m sweating my butt off; soaked from head-to-toe. Not realizing that I looked suspicious, I run into a blonde-haired TSA agent for the second time at the end of the x-ray machine. I grabbed the wedding gown and my tux and Katherine grabbed our suitcase and we headed for the gate with 10 minutes to spare. We sweat rolling down my face still; Katherine suggested that I go to the restroom and wash up a bit. On my way into the men’s room I run into the same blonde-haired TSA agent for the third time. I washed my face and dabbed my hair dry and go back to where Katherine was waiting at the gate. Once more, who do I see…the blonde-haired TSA agent at our gate. We finally board and make it on our flight taking our seats. The Delta flight attendants where great finding closet space to store our wedding attire without having to stuff and fold it into an overhead bin!
We arrive in Salt Lake City with a two hour layover. Both feeling hungry we decided to head up to the Terrace Restaurant for a quick bite to eat. Two dinners and 4 beers later we are ready to board our flight to Aspen. Once aboard the half empty flight the attendant again accommodates us by allowing us to keep our wedding attire is the seats next to us. I would definitely fly Delta again!
Now in Aspen, we departed the plane and headed to baggage claim to collect our checked luggage and call a shuttle. With luggage in hand and four calls to the shuttle service, we are relegated to getting a taxi since our limo guy is AWOL. Glad we paid for that! The survey about my stay will be sure to point this out. At 11pm we are now checked into our condo and we unpacked our things. At midnight we decided to walk around the corner to Zane’s Bar for a couple of beers and a few wings. After ordering from the bar and bringing Katherine our beers, I asked her where the backpack was since I didn’t remember unpacking it. “Oh SHIT…it’s in the back of the cab!” she says. I can’t even tell you the words that came out of my mouth! You see…our backpack had ALL of our valuables; both wedding rings, our brand new Canon Rebel XTI camera, 2 PSP’s and games, chargers, and most important to me – my wedding gift to Katherine, a Cartier necklace worth a handsome penny! That backpack being so expensive which is why we wanted to carry it with us at all times.
I quickly ask the bartender what the cab company’s number is and called that back immediately. The same gentleman that dropped us off at our condo answered and I told him I left a backpack in the far back seat of his cab and that I DESPERATELY needed it back! “I’m a block and a half away,” he says “I will be right over.” I ran back from Zane’s to the condo just as he pulled up. I open the door to the cab and reach over the backseat…nothing! I was about to lose control of all bodily functions at that point! “Oh crap!” (pun intended) I thought. Then I look over the seat and notice it had fallen over. WOW…I cannot believe I got it back as the cab driver proceeds to tell me he’s been running people steady from the airport since he dropped us off!! I can’t believe no one took the bag! Unbelievable!
Finally somewhat relaxed, I walk back to Zane’s where Katherine now has our wings and is half done her beer and informed her that I got the backpack back in our possession! Thank God! I’m sure worse things have happened for other people on their wedding but I probably would have died if we didn’t get that back! And…that was enough excitement for one day; time for bed! Let’s hope the rest of our time in Aspen is a lot more relaxing!
Today we both have a few errands to run and I’m having lunch with a couple programming buddies, Chris and Ron, whom I used to work with at the Scottsdale Insurance Company. Following lunch I arrive home around 1:30pm to find that Katherine is still out running her errands. She calls me around 1:50pm and I inform her that I’m home and I will check us in for our flight to Aspen tonight. When we originally booked out trip, we are both pretty sure our early evening flight out of Phoenix was at 6pm. Approximately 5 weeks ago, Delta called to say that the departure flight we were on had changed and that they would send the new itinerary. They did (although I didn’t pay too close attention to it – it was 5 weeks away.)
I checked us both in around 2:10pm and still haven’t paid close attention to the altered departure time that Delta had earlier informed us about. Katherine arrived home and decided to re-pack out bags since we had quite a bit of clothes for 4-5 days. While she was downstairs, I was upstairs on the Internet take care of some last minute banking. For whatever reason, I decided to look at what time our flight departed and noticed on our freshly printed boarding passes the time said…4:05pm. I looked at my watch. It read 3:05pm!! Oh S**T! Immediately double checking this and with sheer PANIC now setting in, I tell a friend of ours, Jen, who happened to be at our condo to yell down to Katherine that we NEED to be gone and headed to the airport, like NOW! Of course, she is surprised beyond belief and very obviously angry with me. She was yelling…”How did you not know what time we were departing?” Also, at this point, I’m sweating profusely. That tends to occur with me when I’m under such stress. “I didn’t look at the departure time on the boarding pass when I checked us in.” I replied. No time to argue, we have to go. Katherine shoves the rest of the clothes into our bags (3 suitcases along with Katherine’s wedding gown, my tuxedo, and a backpack with all our valuables) and we race to the airport. Fortunately Jen was there to give us a ride. With 55 minutes until our flight departure and us still at our condo, calling a cab would have been the death of me.
We throw our bags into Jen’s car; blow a couple red lights, arriving at the airport with a screeching halt after driving MACH ONE to get there ASAP. It’s also a good thing that we only live 1.5 miles from the airport! Katherine and I sprint to the Delta counter and check our bags in. Our first bag was exactly 50 lbs – which was the bag limit on our flight. However the second bag was 56 lbs! The Delta agent informed us our bag was overweight and we need to remove some things from it. Our first reaction was to ask, “How much for the extra weight?” The agent informed us, “Ninety dollars.” OUCH! At this point it’s 3:30 and our plane departs at 4:05. Oh…and I’m now drenched from sweat. My shirt is soaked to the point that I could wring it out. We open one of the suitcases and pull out a big sweatshirt and a pair of jeans and re-weigh the suitcase – 53 lbs, not enough. I went back into the bag and pull out my tux shoes and re-weigh the bag again. Fifty-one pounds, the scale reads. “Can you work with that weight?” I ask. The agent says “Yes” and we bolt for the security checkpoint! At the checkpoint, the TSA agent asks us for our ID and boarding pass. Again, still in a frantic hurry, I’m sweating my butt off; soaked from head-to-toe. Not realizing that I looked suspicious, I run into a blonde-haired TSA agent for the second time at the end of the x-ray machine. I grabbed the wedding gown and my tux and Katherine grabbed our suitcase and we headed for the gate with 10 minutes to spare. We sweat rolling down my face still; Katherine suggested that I go to the restroom and wash up a bit. On my way into the men’s room I run into the same blonde-haired TSA agent for the third time. I washed my face and dabbed my hair dry and go back to where Katherine was waiting at the gate. Once more, who do I see…the blonde-haired TSA agent at our gate. We finally board and make it on our flight taking our seats. The Delta flight attendants where great finding closet space to store our wedding attire without having to stuff and fold it into an overhead bin!
We arrive in Salt Lake City with a two hour layover. Both feeling hungry we decided to head up to the Terrace Restaurant for a quick bite to eat. Two dinners and 4 beers later we are ready to board our flight to Aspen. Once aboard the half empty flight the attendant again accommodates us by allowing us to keep our wedding attire is the seats next to us. I would definitely fly Delta again!
Now in Aspen, we departed the plane and headed to baggage claim to collect our checked luggage and call a shuttle. With luggage in hand and four calls to the shuttle service, we are relegated to getting a taxi since our limo guy is AWOL. Glad we paid for that! The survey about my stay will be sure to point this out. At 11pm we are now checked into our condo and we unpacked our things. At midnight we decided to walk around the corner to Zane’s Bar for a couple of beers and a few wings. After ordering from the bar and bringing Katherine our beers, I asked her where the backpack was since I didn’t remember unpacking it. “Oh SHIT…it’s in the back of the cab!” she says. I can’t even tell you the words that came out of my mouth! You see…our backpack had ALL of our valuables; both wedding rings, our brand new Canon Rebel XTI camera, 2 PSP’s and games, chargers, and most important to me – my wedding gift to Katherine, a Cartier necklace worth a handsome penny! That backpack being so expensive which is why we wanted to carry it with us at all times.
I quickly ask the bartender what the cab company’s number is and called that back immediately. The same gentleman that dropped us off at our condo answered and I told him I left a backpack in the far back seat of his cab and that I DESPERATELY needed it back! “I’m a block and a half away,” he says “I will be right over.” I ran back from Zane’s to the condo just as he pulled up. I open the door to the cab and reach over the backseat…nothing! I was about to lose control of all bodily functions at that point! “Oh crap!” (pun intended) I thought. Then I look over the seat and notice it had fallen over. WOW…I cannot believe I got it back as the cab driver proceeds to tell me he’s been running people steady from the airport since he dropped us off!! I can’t believe no one took the bag! Unbelievable!
Finally somewhat relaxed, I walk back to Zane’s where Katherine now has our wings and is half done her beer and informed her that I got the backpack back in our possession! Thank God! I’m sure worse things have happened for other people on their wedding but I probably would have died if we didn’t get that back! And…that was enough excitement for one day; time for bed! Let’s hope the rest of our time in Aspen is a lot more relaxing!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
My Fitness Bet...
Well...our bet is still on although I'm not too sure where Sam stands in terms of weight-loss. I actually jumped on the scale today and 210lbs displayed! How SWEET! Running is beginning to eat those extra pounds off of me. I just have to keep a regular schedule with it. That might be a bit hard to do, at least, outside. Arizona isn't the most glorious place in the summer for temperatures! Let's just say temps on average are usually between 105° and 120°...and dehydration sets in pretty quickly!!
Since I finished up the last project that I was working for my job I have not seen Sam. And, thus, I'm not too sure where he is relative to our bet. Not that I really care...I do...and I'm going to win the bet! My goal for the next 2 months is to drop 10lbs each month. I think that is conservative and reasonable...albeit, a lofty goal to reach. I'm up for the challenge!
I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I find my next contract and start working on another project for another company. My 12 noon runs will cease! I will have to find a gym nearby and continue my runs on the treadmill. Not quite as good as the outdoor pavement BUT it will have to do!
Maybe Thursday I will have to do lunch with Sam and Chris, just to see how Sam is coming along!
Since I finished up the last project that I was working for my job I have not seen Sam. And, thus, I'm not too sure where he is relative to our bet. Not that I really care...I do...and I'm going to win the bet! My goal for the next 2 months is to drop 10lbs each month. I think that is conservative and reasonable...albeit, a lofty goal to reach. I'm up for the challenge!
I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I find my next contract and start working on another project for another company. My 12 noon runs will cease! I will have to find a gym nearby and continue my runs on the treadmill. Not quite as good as the outdoor pavement BUT it will have to do!
Maybe Thursday I will have to do lunch with Sam and Chris, just to see how Sam is coming along!
More P90X and Running...
Well it's Tuesday evening...it has been a bit since I have blogged about our P90X routine. As I have previously mentioned, Kat and I have crossed over the 30 days threshold and have moved into Phase II. Tonight was Yoga X and, you know...I'm really starting to like Yoga more and more. I cannot believe the flexibility I now have...it's amazing!
I have let an extra day slide in between my planned running schedule. The plan is to run at least every 3rd day, if not every other day. Had too many things going on today and was able to get a run in prior to the temps outside reaching 98°. However, I did consider running at 4pm which is pretty much the hottest part of the day here in Arizona but then realize I would be drained for tonight's P90X workout. Wednesday's run will occur for sure!
I'm going for 3 miles again. Now that might not sound like much but when you have run a couple of half marathons, 3 miles should be nothing! But, since I have had a 2 year hiatus from running, I want to take things slow. I'm almost to the point that I'm running around the entire lake we live on. That's a good training goal - a 4.5 mile loop. I basically want to be able to run this at least 3 times per week while doing P90X! I can do it...only another mile and a half to go. I'm pretty sure I will be looping this lake by the end of next week at the latest! So...stay tuned for the next running report Weds.
I have let an extra day slide in between my planned running schedule. The plan is to run at least every 3rd day, if not every other day. Had too many things going on today and was able to get a run in prior to the temps outside reaching 98°. However, I did consider running at 4pm which is pretty much the hottest part of the day here in Arizona but then realize I would be drained for tonight's P90X workout. Wednesday's run will occur for sure!
I'm going for 3 miles again. Now that might not sound like much but when you have run a couple of half marathons, 3 miles should be nothing! But, since I have had a 2 year hiatus from running, I want to take things slow. I'm almost to the point that I'm running around the entire lake we live on. That's a good training goal - a 4.5 mile loop. I basically want to be able to run this at least 3 times per week while doing P90X! I can do it...only another mile and a half to go. I'm pretty sure I will be looping this lake by the end of next week at the latest! So...stay tuned for the next running report Weds.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
P90X Phase II and...running...
On another note, I have incorporated a running routine into my P90X training. Kat and I just passed over the 30 day window and we are now into Phase II. My body seems well adapted to the exercises now although there are a few that I still find tough to do; namely Half Moon, Warrior 3 (and all its adaptations). There are more but I still attempt to do them and hold them as long as I can.
I use a couple of other sites to map my running routes... runningmap.com & runnersworld.com. RunningMap is great for those of us that do not have a GPS route tracking gizmo. You can sign up (or not) and create the route you run and see the distance of your run. It's perfect!
Runner's World is just as good BUT the one thing I like about it (besides the fact that I'm a subscriber to their magazine) is that they offer a free online Training Log. That's right...I said "FREE". You can essentially keep track of your routes, what shoes you ran in (for mileage tracking), day/time/weather, route conditions, quality, and the effort of your runs. Like RunningMap, you can also plot out your route, name them, and make notes on them as well. One other cool feature is that you can link to your routes/runs from within blogs or what-have-you. And, thus, I plan to try a couple features out today. Here they are...
I use a couple of other sites to map my running routes... runningmap.com & runnersworld.com. RunningMap is great for those of us that do not have a GPS route tracking gizmo. You can sign up (or not) and create the route you run and see the distance of your run. It's perfect!
Runner's World is just as good BUT the one thing I like about it (besides the fact that I'm a subscriber to their magazine) is that they offer a free online Training Log. That's right...I said "FREE". You can essentially keep track of your routes, what shoes you ran in (for mileage tracking), day/time/weather, route conditions, quality, and the effort of your runs. Like RunningMap, you can also plot out your route, name them, and make notes on them as well. One other cool feature is that you can link to your routes/runs from within blogs or what-have-you. And, thus, I plan to try a couple features out today. Here they are...
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tough Loss for the Wings Tonight!
OUCH! 3 overtime periods...Fleury standing on his head...GREAT game! Unfortunately the bad guys won tonight. Seriously though, if it wasn't for Fleury, the Pens were finished back in the 3rd regulation period. He played great.
Thursday...game 6...the Wings will be ready. This also goes back a few blogs...I predicted the Wings in 6. This is the game...sorry Pens!
This game took so long that by the time it finished, it was too late for my run. More on that in my next blog...later!
Thursday...game 6...the Wings will be ready. This also goes back a few blogs...I predicted the Wings in 6. This is the game...sorry Pens!
This game took so long that by the time it finished, it was too late for my run. More on that in my next blog...later!
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wings/Pens...
Well...my Wings took a tough one on the chin the other night 3-2. OUCH...but what a great game! I have to say...the Pens showed up today to play. But...they really didn't have any choice. Back in your own barn...in front of your own fans...you had better "BRING IT". And, the did. Led by the phenom, Sidney Crosby. This kid is going to be great to watch over the next 15-20 years.
But the credit for the teams effort doesn't stop there. Crosby has a great supporting cast around him and they had an amazing season this year. Make no mistake...they are still in for a battle for the treasured Stanley Cup. The Wings won't let up and they will bounce back on Saturday night.
But the credit for the teams effort doesn't stop there. Crosby has a great supporting cast around him and they had an amazing season this year. Make no mistake...they are still in for a battle for the treasured Stanley Cup. The Wings won't let up and they will bounce back on Saturday night.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Red Wings are Stanley Cup bound!
Just a quick note to all the Detroit Red Wings fans out there. Stanley Cup baby...here we come! While I'm a big fan of Sidney Crosby and would love to see him win that elusive Cup, I'm rooting for the Wings all the way!
My prediction? I think it's going to be a great series regardless...HOWEVER...I say...Wings in 6 games. I will be sure to let my good friend and Pittsburgh native, Dave Denk, know the Pens are going DOWN. Sorry Dave...see you Saturday at your place!
My prediction? I think it's going to be a great series regardless...HOWEVER...I say...Wings in 6 games. I will be sure to let my good friend and Pittsburgh native, Dave Denk, know the Pens are going DOWN. Sorry Dave...see you Saturday at your place!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Week 3 - Day 19 & 20
Day 19 was Legs, Back, & AbRipper X. This is still a tough routine. My chin-ups are slowly getting better although on most I'm using the chair. A lot of the legs exercises were are getting down and are able to complete! We are definitely hitting a groove now! Next week is supposed to be a 'rest' week but that is just a non-weight week. Still gonna be Yoga, Kenpo, Stretching, and Cardio, I'm sure. I was definitely wiped out after this workout. Now I know why Yoga is put between Shoulder & Arms...and...Legs & Back. My arms in particular needed that rest time to recover (which they didn't get)!
Day 20 - today was Kenpo X. Great routine and a good sweat today as well. I'm seeing continued improvements in my flexibility especially my legs. Kenpo keeps you moving and the sweat doesn't stop. We can both feel our glutes today. I guess you can say...'Legs definitely kicked our butts'! Once we got going though we quickly forgot the minor aches. Another day completed! Whoo-hoo! Only 70 more days to go. Bring it on!
We're looking forward to Stretch X tomorrow...a perfect way to end a good week of P90X!
Day 20 - today was Kenpo X. Great routine and a good sweat today as well. I'm seeing continued improvements in my flexibility especially my legs. Kenpo keeps you moving and the sweat doesn't stop. We can both feel our glutes today. I guess you can say...'Legs definitely kicked our butts'! Once we got going though we quickly forgot the minor aches. Another day completed! Whoo-hoo! Only 70 more days to go. Bring it on!
We're looking forward to Stretch X tomorrow...a perfect way to end a good week of P90X!
Monday, May 19, 2008
Week 3 - Days 16-18
Cardio was a good workout but we seemed to have burned more calories on the Core Synergistics workout. Things are getting a 'bit' easier BUT that's just because we are getting the exercises down. Holly was still here and did the Cardio workout with us. We were all sweating our butts off.
Saturday(Day 17) was Shoulders & Arms, AbRipper X. Today is Kat's bridal shower and it's scheduled for later in the day. While I have the afternoon and early evening off I did some programming on an application that I have been working on at home. I decided to wait for Kat & Holly to make it home for Shoulders, Arms, & AbRipper. Unfortunately, the shower went a little longer than was planned and they got home a bit late (about 930pm). We decided at this point that it was too late to workout since we were probably on our way to bed in the next little while. Soooo...we skipped this workout and committed to catching up with Yoga X on day 18.
Day 18 was Yoga X. Kat and Holly were looking forward to doing yoga but I, on the other hand, wanted to make up for my lost weight workout from last night. So, I decided to substitute Shoulder, Arms, & AbRipper X for Yoga X. Not only did I do shoulders and arms but I also upped the weight I was using from last time I did this routine. I used 10 lb weights last routine and thus decided to up that by 5 lbs to 15 lbs total. Great workout...as I busted my butt on this routine! I even think that I can up the weight some more in the next arm workout. I can feel it a little today in my biceps and I think that's a good thing! I even did the bonus workout today for the first time in one of any of the routines.
Saturday(Day 17) was Shoulders & Arms, AbRipper X. Today is Kat's bridal shower and it's scheduled for later in the day. While I have the afternoon and early evening off I did some programming on an application that I have been working on at home. I decided to wait for Kat & Holly to make it home for Shoulders, Arms, & AbRipper. Unfortunately, the shower went a little longer than was planned and they got home a bit late (about 930pm). We decided at this point that it was too late to workout since we were probably on our way to bed in the next little while. Soooo...we skipped this workout and committed to catching up with Yoga X on day 18.
Day 18 was Yoga X. Kat and Holly were looking forward to doing yoga but I, on the other hand, wanted to make up for my lost weight workout from last night. So, I decided to substitute Shoulder, Arms, & AbRipper X for Yoga X. Not only did I do shoulders and arms but I also upped the weight I was using from last time I did this routine. I used 10 lb weights last routine and thus decided to up that by 5 lbs to 15 lbs total. Great workout...as I busted my butt on this routine! I even think that I can up the weight some more in the next arm workout. I can feel it a little today in my biceps and I think that's a good thing! I even did the bonus workout today for the first time in one of any of the routines.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Week 3 - Day 15
Last night was the 3rd week of Core Synergistics. I have to say...our flexibility is improving. I can definitely tell a difference in my stretching. Kat's sister Holly is here and we invited her to do the workout with us if she wanted to. Holly elected to give it a shot and we were sure to inform her that some of the exercises were not easy, at least the first time. We were blasting through the workout and doing great. Holly did well too despite cutting the workout short. I can't say that I didn't find it tough the first time either. But she was pretty impressed with the program as a whole and wants to see how it turns out for both Kat and I.
Sweat was still rolling off us during Core today. If you're not sweating, you're NOT working!! I upped my "Stacked Push-ups" count by 10 today and hit 30 reps. Sweet! However, I still haven't started any morning core exercises once I get out of bed. Maybe it's because I know that I'm going to get a killer workout when I get home at night. Thus far, I would have to say that AbRipper X is the toughest workout! Bar none! Just like Tony Horton says..."I hate this workout BUT I love this workout!" Kat and I second that statement. AbRipper is just that...ALL ABS...11 moves, 25 reps each. Now even though that doesn't sound like a lot, it will KICK YOUR BUTT. There is still a couple of moves I cannot do especially since Tony chains about 3 similar moves together and expects your to rep out 25 per move! BUT...we do the best we can and hope toward the end of the program that we'll be able to keep up.
Lookout Cardio X...here I come!
Sweat was still rolling off us during Core today. If you're not sweating, you're NOT working!! I upped my "Stacked Push-ups" count by 10 today and hit 30 reps. Sweet! However, I still haven't started any morning core exercises once I get out of bed. Maybe it's because I know that I'm going to get a killer workout when I get home at night. Thus far, I would have to say that AbRipper X is the toughest workout! Bar none! Just like Tony Horton says..."I hate this workout BUT I love this workout!" Kat and I second that statement. AbRipper is just that...ALL ABS...11 moves, 25 reps each. Now even though that doesn't sound like a lot, it will KICK YOUR BUTT. There is still a couple of moves I cannot do especially since Tony chains about 3 similar moves together and expects your to rep out 25 per move! BUT...we do the best we can and hope toward the end of the program that we'll be able to keep up.
Lookout Cardio X...here I come!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Week 2 - Days 8-14
Well week 2 has begun and things are getting easier...well kinda. Its amazing that we have already started to gain balance and coordination for a lot of the exercises. And...the Banana move was not as tough this week as it was the first night last week! (But it was still tough!) We were able to complete the entire exercise (1 min) without resting! Last week, I died twice whereas Kat kicked my butt. I burned another 1150 calories in the W2D1 workout.
We have been doing pretty good with respect to our diets. We have incorporated lots of veggies, salads for lunch, granola snacks, no (or low) fat everything. In particular, we have been keeping an eye on our portion sizes. As I know from my past, this part is huge! I have a few weaknesses when it comes to food & drink but I have been doing great so far. I have NOT eaten any deep-fried food since the start of the program. Also, a BIG one...is beer. I have had 1 beer in the last 6 weeks (since the start of my bet)...not bad!! At this point I have seen my weight drop to 211 lbs from the initial weigh-in. This is definitely encouraging. Whoo-hoo! (as Homer would say.)
I won't say all the move are easy BUT the fact that we already have one week behind us has helped. The typical soreness is now a distant thing of the past. Most of this week I have just been waking up a little stiff since we are getting down the basics of all the moves. Our heart rates are still up in our target zones and thus we are keeping the caloric burn high! I bet on average I'm burning 900 calories. This week on Day 14 we decided to rest instead of do Stretch X. I had a late evening meeting with the Phoenix Java User Group and Kat's sister, Holly, was coming in for a visit for a few days. We have worked pretty hard and I think we earned the time off.
For the last 2 weeks...we have "brought it"...bring on Week 3!
We have been doing pretty good with respect to our diets. We have incorporated lots of veggies, salads for lunch, granola snacks, no (or low) fat everything. In particular, we have been keeping an eye on our portion sizes. As I know from my past, this part is huge! I have a few weaknesses when it comes to food & drink but I have been doing great so far. I have NOT eaten any deep-fried food since the start of the program. Also, a BIG one...is beer. I have had 1 beer in the last 6 weeks (since the start of my bet)...not bad!! At this point I have seen my weight drop to 211 lbs from the initial weigh-in. This is definitely encouraging. Whoo-hoo! (as Homer would say.)
I won't say all the move are easy BUT the fact that we already have one week behind us has helped. The typical soreness is now a distant thing of the past. Most of this week I have just been waking up a little stiff since we are getting down the basics of all the moves. Our heart rates are still up in our target zones and thus we are keeping the caloric burn high! I bet on average I'm burning 900 calories. This week on Day 14 we decided to rest instead of do Stretch X. I had a late evening meeting with the Phoenix Java User Group and Kat's sister, Holly, was coming in for a visit for a few days. We have worked pretty hard and I think we earned the time off.
For the last 2 weeks...we have "brought it"...bring on Week 3!
Week 1 continued...
Day 4 - Yoga X
I have never in my life attempted yoga; not because I didn't think it was manly (ok...yes I did) but I just couldn't see how it would help me. Well...ummm...I didn't exactly find it easy. There is a lot of moves that take some real balance and coordination! Not that I don't have any BUT it requires a little more skill than I currently have! I look forward to more yoga and nailing these exercises with ease in the near future.
Kat liked Yoga X even though we were both unsure what to expect. Next task for yoga...get the poses down; balance and all. We anticipate the next yoga routine will be easier since the other routines require speed, balance, and coordination...all of which is improving for both of us.
Day 5 - Legs & Back with AbRipper X
I have to say so far...I think this was the toughest day of the program for me, at least. I think mainly because there is a lot chin-ups! You name it, it's there...wide grip, narrow grip, reverse grip, crossover grip, this grip, that grip, etc. I'm sure it's tough in the beginning since the chin-up isn't a regular exercise for most people. For me...it's not either and it was tough! This routine kicked my butt...in a good way though. I felt good after and we both sweat our butts in this workout! It was probably the most we sweat so far; definitely was for Kat.
The next day I really felt this workout in my upper back. Chin-ups...dang-it! But, all-in-all, these will get easier as I get farther into the program. Bring on Kenpo!!
Day 6 - Kenpo X
We liked this workout! Heart rate was kept in target zone in the upper ranges. It is a contiunous, non-stop routine that will keep your blood flowing. Ok...the sweat poured off of us here too! All moves start simple enough BUT then each one builds upon it. I seriously don't think we stopped moving the entire time! And...we burned a tonne of calories...1250 myself and I think Kat was upwards of 700!
Day 7 - Stretch X
While this could have been a rest day, we opted to continue breaking our bodies in for the entire P90X Lean program! I, for one, have crappy upper body flexibility. My lower body is fairly good since I run and tend to stretch it well prior to runs. Kat has pretty decent flexibility all-around so I have some more catching up to do (like my core AM workouts)! This was a great routine to cap off a good week that broke my body in. I definitely needed the stretching.
I have never in my life attempted yoga; not because I didn't think it was manly (ok...yes I did) but I just couldn't see how it would help me. Well...ummm...I didn't exactly find it easy. There is a lot of moves that take some real balance and coordination! Not that I don't have any BUT it requires a little more skill than I currently have! I look forward to more yoga and nailing these exercises with ease in the near future.
Kat liked Yoga X even though we were both unsure what to expect. Next task for yoga...get the poses down; balance and all. We anticipate the next yoga routine will be easier since the other routines require speed, balance, and coordination...all of which is improving for both of us.
Day 5 - Legs & Back with AbRipper X
I have to say so far...I think this was the toughest day of the program for me, at least. I think mainly because there is a lot chin-ups! You name it, it's there...wide grip, narrow grip, reverse grip, crossover grip, this grip, that grip, etc. I'm sure it's tough in the beginning since the chin-up isn't a regular exercise for most people. For me...it's not either and it was tough! This routine kicked my butt...in a good way though. I felt good after and we both sweat our butts in this workout! It was probably the most we sweat so far; definitely was for Kat.
The next day I really felt this workout in my upper back. Chin-ups...dang-it! But, all-in-all, these will get easier as I get farther into the program. Bring on Kenpo!!
Day 6 - Kenpo X
We liked this workout! Heart rate was kept in target zone in the upper ranges. It is a contiunous, non-stop routine that will keep your blood flowing. Ok...the sweat poured off of us here too! All moves start simple enough BUT then each one builds upon it. I seriously don't think we stopped moving the entire time! And...we burned a tonne of calories...1250 myself and I think Kat was upwards of 700!
Day 7 - Stretch X
While this could have been a rest day, we opted to continue breaking our bodies in for the entire P90X Lean program! I, for one, have crappy upper body flexibility. My lower body is fairly good since I run and tend to stretch it well prior to runs. Kat has pretty decent flexibility all-around so I have some more catching up to do (like my core AM workouts)! This was a great routine to cap off a good week that broke my body in. I definitely needed the stretching.
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