Monday, May 05, 2008

In Mariposa Grove (part of Yosemite Nat'l Park) we checked out these HUGE old trees. One of the oldest living trees, Grizzly Giant is dated at over 2,700 years old! Mike and I figured it would take at least 10 adults holding hands to encircle the base of this massive tree.

Although amazing for their age and size, apparently the wood in these trees is fibrous and brittle, and when they do topple over, they shatter like glass. The wood is unsuitable for construction, but it is used to make pencils, matches and toothpicks. Amazing - something so long lasting and massive....

Labels: California

       posted by Sue @ 9:50 AM
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Yosemite is where we got married, and will always be romantic for us! Behind us is Half Dome, Yosemite's most familiar landmark of granite.

Labels: California

       posted by Sue @ 9:46 AM
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Take a close look at that waterfall behind us...at 2,425 ft. that's the longest waterfall in the United States. We hiked up to upper Yosemite Falls to get a closer look at the thunderous water - it was really roaring with the early May runoff!

Labels: California

       posted by Sue @ 9:40 AM
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   Sunday, April 27, 2008

Surrounded by thousands of tulips, it definitely feels like spring! There were tourists here from all over the world - we heard German, French, Japanese and Russian spoken. Everyone was taking photos of each other - no translation required... not sure we'll see anything like this in Vegas!

Labels: Washington

       posted by Sue @ 9:47 PM
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   Friday, April 25, 2008

Wow - it's a good one. For those of you familiar with Vegas, the green building on the left is the MGM and the gold one in the right foreground is the Wynn. You can see the Eiffel tower of Paris!! Best yet, it's clear most nights, so we can actually enjoy this view!

Labels: Las Vegas

       posted by Sue @ 8:59 AM
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   Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Taking in the fabulous view from the Voodoo Lounge atop the Rio...and deciding whether or not we want to have Sin City as our home base in the future. Vegas is constantly reinventing itself, with the next new hotel, show, headliner - and now condos. Who knows? Do you think anyone will come to visit us there - maybe before a plane ride in the Eclipse 500?!

Labels: Las Vegas

       posted by Sue @ 8:56 AM
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   Thursday, April 03, 2008

March 31 was opening day - and the coldest in Seattle since 1967. Here is the color guard next to a giant flag unfurled on the field while the National Anthem was played. That alone was enough cause for goosebumps... but so was the snow that started in the 5th inning. We were thrilled that the M's pulled off a victory against the Texas Rangers, and that someone had the forethought to design this stadium with a retractable roof!

P.S. We skipped all the traffic mess and walked about a mile and a half from our condo to get to the game :)

Labels: Washington

       posted by Sue @ 9:24 AM
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   Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Quite the impressive capital, and you can see it from virtually everywhere downtown, as Lady Bird Johnson made sure buildings were situated at a height and angle to ensure visibility. LBJ and Lady Bird are revered here - their names are on everything!
We also checked out the UT Austin campus - right next to the downtown core. Austin is fiercely non-establishment and still a young city, despite their 40% population increase in the last 10 years. Downtown Austin reminded us of Seattle about 5 to 10 yrs ago - it's just getting the downtown core going (barely).

Labels: Texas

       posted by Sue @ 8:38 AM
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   Tuesday, March 18, 2008

The rainforest in WA has some dang big trees. This spruce is 58' 11" in circumference and 191' tall. And about 1000 years old!

Labels: Washington

       posted by Sue @ 5:24 PM
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Aberdeen is a little town on the WA peninsula that also happens to be the actual hometown of Kurt Cobain of Nirvana fame... "Come As You Are" is one of Nirvana's hit songs...hence the chamber of commerce sign. Not exactly the counterculture they were looking for...

Labels: Washington

       posted by Sue @ 5:20 PM
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Definitely wet, but beautiful, green and mossy. This is near Lake Quinalt on the Washington peninsula, west of Seattle. It was raining in Seattle, so we thought we might as well be in the rainforest!

Labels: Washington

       posted by Sue @ 5:14 PM
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   Wednesday, March 12, 2008

No we didn't play there (maybe someday) but we did drive out to Monterrey to gawk at a REALLY beautiful course. Can you believe they make chili here at their cafe that has prime rib in it??

Labels: California

       posted by Sue @ 9:17 PM
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This is a real haunted house! Sarah Winchester, heir to the Winchester rifle fortune, was convinced by a psychic that all the people who had ever been killed by a Winchester gun would come back to haunt her unless she continually built a house. So she did, for 38 years - construction proceeded 24 hours a day from 1884 until she died in 1922. There are 160 bedrooms and 47 fireplaces over 24,000 square feet.

It has stairways going up to the ceiling, bizarre passageways and the infamous door to nowhere (it opens to a 13 foot drop). Creepy!

Labels: California

       posted by Sue @ 8:55 PM
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   Thursday, February 28, 2008

Holy Cow... Da Bomba Shack on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands is THE place to be for the full moon party, not to mention when it's a Lunar Eclipse! We had a great view of the moon, but this place is wild! Dancing, drinking mushroom tea (no we didn't) and other libations, ladies undies hanging everywhere, gawking at the moon, more dancing...party central, mon!!

Labels: British Virgin Islands, Highlights

       posted by Sue @ 2:22 PM
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Heading into shore for a little local lobster and "Painkillers" (the local drink) with our crew...from the left Sue, Captain Dan Olson, Rita Dillon, Larry Anderson, Mike, Kathy Shelby, Debbie and Mark Woodrich.

Labels: British Virgin Islands

       posted by Sue @ 2:13 PM
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