After two weeks of looking at EVERY available property in DC and Northern VA we finally settled on a place and signed a lease! We move in on 01 Sep, but have no idea of when our shipment of furniture will arrive from Guam. The house is in a great location, very near to Eastern Market and a close walk to the Metro station for me.
Tom and I both started our new jobs this week. So far, so good. The process of house hunting was a full time job itself, so we are very happy to have that settled. I am pretty tired of living in a hotel and eating meals in restaurants and am looking forward to getting into our new place.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
In D.C.
We made it to Washington D.C. today. Hawaii was a nice stop for a few days, spending time body surfing and hiking. I added some more pictures from New Zealand in the post below, and I will post some more soon. For now, we need to find a place to live!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Overdue for an Update...all photos posted!
Disclaimer - Some of the photos will not upload, so I am just going to post the text, I promise to add the photos as soon as I can. I am adding some as I can grab access here and there.
So, it turns out that wireless access is not so common on the West Coast of New Zealand, imagine that.
We have been having a wonderful time, skiing, hiking, glacier gazing, caving, rafting, hiking, and driving. I will not do a long post right now, since this is our last night on the South Island, and we want to get out to see Christchurch some more. We fly to Auckland tomorrow, just for one night stay, then back to Guam. Don't feel too sorry for us though, we get four days in Hawaii before finally landing in DC.
We skied just one day. We learned that New Zealanders seem to like their slopes steep, and have a slightly more aggressive rating system on the slopes. The snow was great at the top, east cost icy at the bottom, but we had a great day. Harder skiing than we are used to, but beautiful views!
After skiing, we headed to Queenstown, stopping at some wineries along the way. The pass between Wanaka and Queenstown was quite hair-raising, but not as bad as the drive out to the first winery we visited. Here I am driving the van - that sign next to me says "Parachutes required". The drive was along the edge of a steep gorge - but I did fine.
The winery was right across the road from the bridge where bungee jumping started. I honestly thought I might try it - until I saw the gorge, and the bridge, and then I did not go anywhere near it.
Queenstown was OK, a bit too touristy and commercial for my taste, but a nice harbor.
We got rained out from our planned flight to Milford Sound from Queenstown - something we will definitely need to come back to New Zealand for. So, we headed back towards Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to the West Coast.
The pictures just don't capture how beautiful it was - partly because the mountain white caps blend in with the cloudy skies. Cloudy, rainy skies that did not go away for five days - and rained us out of a few activities. Anyway, here is another shot of Lake Wanaka, and then some of the drive.
We ended up on the West Coast, a beautiful, rugged coastline.
One of our goals was to see the glaciers, and maybe do a guided glacier walk. We saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joseph Glacier, but decided to pass on the glacier walk due to weather. Driving rain on a glacier just did not sound inviting. We did get a small weather window to hike out to the terminal face of the Franz Joseph though, and it was beautiful.
One very cool thing we did was caving and cave rafting. We hiked through a huge cave system and then floated on the river in the cave to see the glow worms, then out onto the river. The link to the website of the company is www.caverafting.com. There are pictures from our trip. Follow the link to "Online Photos" and then choose the Aug 3 Rafting Trip. There are photos of other people too, but Tom and I are in there.
If it looks like I have a black eye in some of the photos, that is because I do. I had a pretty good tumble skiing, and my goggle left quite a bruise under my right eye.
Near the rafting we also visited the pancake rocks on the coast:
So, it turns out that wireless access is not so common on the West Coast of New Zealand, imagine that.
We have been having a wonderful time, skiing, hiking, glacier gazing, caving, rafting, hiking, and driving. I will not do a long post right now, since this is our last night on the South Island, and we want to get out to see Christchurch some more. We fly to Auckland tomorrow, just for one night stay, then back to Guam. Don't feel too sorry for us though, we get four days in Hawaii before finally landing in DC.
We skied just one day. We learned that New Zealanders seem to like their slopes steep, and have a slightly more aggressive rating system on the slopes. The snow was great at the top, east cost icy at the bottom, but we had a great day. Harder skiing than we are used to, but beautiful views!
After skiing, we headed to Queenstown, stopping at some wineries along the way. The pass between Wanaka and Queenstown was quite hair-raising, but not as bad as the drive out to the first winery we visited. Here I am driving the van - that sign next to me says "Parachutes required". The drive was along the edge of a steep gorge - but I did fine.
The winery was right across the road from the bridge where bungee jumping started. I honestly thought I might try it - until I saw the gorge, and the bridge, and then I did not go anywhere near it.
Queenstown was OK, a bit too touristy and commercial for my taste, but a nice harbor.
We got rained out from our planned flight to Milford Sound from Queenstown - something we will definitely need to come back to New Zealand for. So, we headed back towards Wanaka and over the Haast Pass to the West Coast.
The pictures just don't capture how beautiful it was - partly because the mountain white caps blend in with the cloudy skies. Cloudy, rainy skies that did not go away for five days - and rained us out of a few activities. Anyway, here is another shot of Lake Wanaka, and then some of the drive.
We ended up on the West Coast, a beautiful, rugged coastline.
One of our goals was to see the glaciers, and maybe do a guided glacier walk. We saw the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joseph Glacier, but decided to pass on the glacier walk due to weather. Driving rain on a glacier just did not sound inviting. We did get a small weather window to hike out to the terminal face of the Franz Joseph though, and it was beautiful.
One very cool thing we did was caving and cave rafting. We hiked through a huge cave system and then floated on the river in the cave to see the glow worms, then out onto the river. The link to the website of the company is www.caverafting.com. There are pictures from our trip. Follow the link to "Online Photos" and then choose the Aug 3 Rafting Trip. There are photos of other people too, but Tom and I are in there.
If it looks like I have a black eye in some of the photos, that is because I do. I had a pretty good tumble skiing, and my goggle left quite a bruise under my right eye.
Near the rafting we also visited the pancake rocks on the coast:
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
New Zealand is Amazing
As promised, some pictures from Sydney.
The Opera House (and us) during the day:
And, at night:
One afternoon in Sydney is really not enough, but when this is what is waiting for you on the other end of the plane ride, who would stay in Sydney any longer than necessary?
That shot was our first glimpse of New Zealand, taken from the airplane.
We spent an afternoon and night in Christchurch before picking up our campervan and heading to the open road. We have no real itinerary, just going where the wind blows us. Our first night we pulled into a camper park at Lake Tekapo in the dark, and awoke to this:
Actually, we awoke at 0630 to the pitch black of night - this photo was taken at 0800 or so.
We hiked by Lake Tekapo to the Mt John Observatory, famous for Stargazing and astronomical research. The views were amazing, especially the clouds over the distant mountains. I could not get enough of those clouds, which I dubbed pilleated lenticular clouds:
In case you need a closer shot:
Here we are at the summit of Mt. John. I love my camera timer.
Tonight we are staying in Wanaka - I am actually posting this from the campervan. Tomorrow we ski!!
I found out tonight that my Grandmother passed away, please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. I will be remembering her everywhere I look in this gorgeous place, and as much as I wish I could be with my family at this time, I know she would want us to stay and enjoy where we are. As Tom reminded me tonight, Gram loved to travel and spoke often and fondly of her trip to Hawaii. I love you Gram, and I will miss you very very much.
The Opera House (and us) during the day:
And, at night:
One afternoon in Sydney is really not enough, but when this is what is waiting for you on the other end of the plane ride, who would stay in Sydney any longer than necessary?
That shot was our first glimpse of New Zealand, taken from the airplane.
We spent an afternoon and night in Christchurch before picking up our campervan and heading to the open road. We have no real itinerary, just going where the wind blows us. Our first night we pulled into a camper park at Lake Tekapo in the dark, and awoke to this:
Actually, we awoke at 0630 to the pitch black of night - this photo was taken at 0800 or so.
We hiked by Lake Tekapo to the Mt John Observatory, famous for Stargazing and astronomical research. The views were amazing, especially the clouds over the distant mountains. I could not get enough of those clouds, which I dubbed pilleated lenticular clouds:
In case you need a closer shot:
Here we are at the summit of Mt. John. I love my camera timer.
Tonight we are staying in Wanaka - I am actually posting this from the campervan. Tomorrow we ski!!
I found out tonight that my Grandmother passed away, please keep my family in your thoughts and prayers. I will be remembering her everywhere I look in this gorgeous place, and as much as I wish I could be with my family at this time, I know she would want us to stay and enjoy where we are. As Tom reminded me tonight, Gram loved to travel and spoke often and fondly of her trip to Hawaii. I love you Gram, and I will miss you very very much.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Sydney to Christchurch
We had a lovely afternoon in Sydney two days ago, then flew yesterday to Christchurch - I have some nice pictures, but can not post them up right now because I am in an internet cafe on their computer - just wanted to give a quick update. More pictures to come soon!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Katoomba "Bushwalking"
Today we did a five mile hike in the Australian Grand Canyon. The picture below is of rock formation in the canyon known as the "Three Sisters":
The conditions could not have been more perfect - clear blue skies, cool, but not cold and barely any other people around at all. The hike started at the top of the canyon:
The trail (and us on it) descended down, down, down many steps and switchbacks, through a beautiful Fern Glen and then traveled across the top of the valley (right where the sheer rock walls meet the forest in the picture above) to a series of waterfalls:
We climbed back out for the most spectacular views of all. That is Katoomba falls in the background:
Needless to say, I was just about in heaven. AND we saw wild cockatiels (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). I took lots of pictures, but I will just share this one.
We are staying in an old 1920's style guest house in Katoomba, and it is charming. I like this town, it reminds me of Brattleboro, VT for anyone who is familiar with that town.
Tomorrow we leave for one night in Sydney, then on to New Zealand for the remainder of our time south of the Equator.
Cheers!
The conditions could not have been more perfect - clear blue skies, cool, but not cold and barely any other people around at all. The hike started at the top of the canyon:
The trail (and us on it) descended down, down, down many steps and switchbacks, through a beautiful Fern Glen and then traveled across the top of the valley (right where the sheer rock walls meet the forest in the picture above) to a series of waterfalls:
We climbed back out for the most spectacular views of all. That is Katoomba falls in the background:
Needless to say, I was just about in heaven. AND we saw wild cockatiels (I have no idea if I spelled that correctly). I took lots of pictures, but I will just share this one.
We are staying in an old 1920's style guest house in Katoomba, and it is charming. I like this town, it reminds me of Brattleboro, VT for anyone who is familiar with that town.
Tomorrow we leave for one night in Sydney, then on to New Zealand for the remainder of our time south of the Equator.
Cheers!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
First Stop, Cairns, Australia
This is me on the Esplanade in Cairns.
We arrived in Cairns late last night and spent the morning today walking on the Esplanade and having a nice breakfast before heading the the airport for our flight to Sydney.
We leave for Sydney in about an hour, then board a train for the town of Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. So far, so good, we brought the computer (obviously) so I will try to do periodic updates here.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A-traveling We Go!
After a month of being displaced out of our house, a million loose ends to wrap up and all of the other things that go along with moving around the world again we are finally heading out on our way for DC (via Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, of course).
Tom and I depart tonight for Cairns, Australia, then on to Sydney for a few days before flying over to the South Island of New Zealand for 11 days of adventure in a camper van. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? We are both very excited about the trip.
We'll try to do some updates here, but we are not taking the computer (at least that is the decision at this moment) so we will be at the mercy of internet cafes.
Adios Guam!
Tom and I depart tonight for Cairns, Australia, then on to Sydney for a few days before flying over to the South Island of New Zealand for 11 days of adventure in a camper van. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? We are both very excited about the trip.
We'll try to do some updates here, but we are not taking the computer (at least that is the decision at this moment) so we will be at the mercy of internet cafes.
Adios Guam!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Movin' and Shakin'
The movers are here today. They were here yesterday also, and they are supposed to be done today. It is hard to have the movers because you are not supposed to do anything. So, all we can do is sit and watch and check in every once in a while. This whole process is not so good for my nerves; hence the shakin' part of the title.
So, I know I promised pictures from Japan, and I am trying to get to that. We spend the weekend getting ready for the movers. We have too much stuff. We desperately need to down size, but we don't want to get rid of our stuff.. I can't imagine that we will have a house nearly as big as this one in DC; actually, there is no way we will have a house like this in DC.
Anyway, just updating you on the status of the promised Japan trip post. It will happen soon, but right now, despite the fact that I can not do anything, I am too distracted to sift through the pictures and actually do the post.
arg.
So, I know I promised pictures from Japan, and I am trying to get to that. We spend the weekend getting ready for the movers. We have too much stuff. We desperately need to down size, but we don't want to get rid of our stuff.. I can't imagine that we will have a house nearly as big as this one in DC; actually, there is no way we will have a house like this in DC.
Anyway, just updating you on the status of the promised Japan trip post. It will happen soon, but right now, despite the fact that I can not do anything, I am too distracted to sift through the pictures and actually do the post.
arg.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Home Again
We are home from Japan. We had a great time in Kyoto and Koyasan. I highly recommend Kyoto to anyone traveling to Japan.
We arrived home Tues night, and went to work yesterday and today. Mon and Tues of next week we have our packout and send all of our stuff across the oceans.
I will put more pictures up this weekend, but for now, i will leave you with this funny shot of Tom and I we took using the convex mirror on the street...
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy
Wow! What a week! Tom and I have both been very busy with work all week, it felt like the train just would not stop. For me it was a two day major typhoon exercise; for Tom it was getting the ship ready and then participating in a major training evaluation.
We finished the long work week, and started our vacation week with a yoga workshop this weekend. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday at a beautiful waterfront inn practicing yoga for five hours each day.
So now we feel refreshed and ready to start our explorations of the Kansai Peninsula in Japan. We will be visiting Mount Koya, Kyoto and Hiroshima. Pictures to come!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tom is Home!
Tom is home again, back from his last scheduled trip. Hurray!
He got home on Sunday morning and we had a pretty busy couple of days until we both went back to work on Wednesday. We hiked to the same underground cave pool I went to a few weekends ago - I took my camera this time, but it was so humid in there, that the lens and mirror in the camera would not unfog, so still no pictures.
We have another week until our vacation in Japan. I will keep you updated on our adventures.
He got home on Sunday morning and we had a pretty busy couple of days until we both went back to work on Wednesday. We hiked to the same underground cave pool I went to a few weekends ago - I took my camera this time, but it was so humid in there, that the lens and mirror in the camera would not unfog, so still no pictures.
We have another week until our vacation in Japan. I will keep you updated on our adventures.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
The Distance... Completed!!!
We had a great swim today! I am so proud of myself, Amy and Traci for completing the Cocos Crossing. 2.5 miles of ocean swimming fun!
I finished in 1hr 24min; Amy finished in 1hr 37min; Traci finished in just under 2hrs. It was harder than I thought it would be. Trying to swim straight is challenging when there is nothing to guide you. In any case, I am so happy about my time and really proud of all three of us who committed to training and did it.
Here are some more pics after the finish of me and Amy. More to come in a few days...
And finally, a prerace shot of Amy, Traci and I:
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Distance
Amy and I drove down to Merizo yesterday to look at the distance for our swim next weekend. We know that is supposedly 2.5 mi (although I think it is a little less), but we just wanted to see it. Our farthest swim so far was 2.2 mi; we are doing that one again today for time.
So, here it is. We will be swimming from the island back to the spot where this picture is taken from.
While we were down south, we took a little walk to the Priest's Pools. I have been wanting to go there, but it is very short little walk, and hardly seemed worth the drive down just to see the pools (yes, the drive is about 30 min-40 min, I know, I have lived on an island too long already!).
When the water is higher, the pools are nice for swimming, but it has been so dry here that the water was sort of stagnant in the pools, so we just looked.
I am leaving for Hawaii on Monday morning (for work), and will be back on Friday evening. Hopefully I will get some swimming in over the course of the week since the race is next Sunday.
So, here it is. We will be swimming from the island back to the spot where this picture is taken from.
While we were down south, we took a little walk to the Priest's Pools. I have been wanting to go there, but it is very short little walk, and hardly seemed worth the drive down just to see the pools (yes, the drive is about 30 min-40 min, I know, I have lived on an island too long already!).
When the water is higher, the pools are nice for swimming, but it has been so dry here that the water was sort of stagnant in the pools, so we just looked.
I am leaving for Hawaii on Monday morning (for work), and will be back on Friday evening. Hopefully I will get some swimming in over the course of the week since the race is next Sunday.
I am pretty excited about the race - it should be fun! My goal is to finish in an hour and fort five minutes - we'll see!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Potluck
I have a huge kitchen which is underutilized about 90% of the time, especially since I generally cook for just the two of us, or often, just myself. I hosted a potluck dinner last night for wives from the ship and some other friends. It is nice to see the kitchen utilized to it's fullest potential.
Everyone always ends up in the kitchen anyway so it is nice to have a kitchen that accomodates lots of people.
This cake was very easy and so delicious. It actually tastes like Turkey Hill cookies and cream ice cream (tempting Jennifer?). It really does. It is a dangerous cake, thank goodness I waited until I had other people to share it with before trying the recipe, or I may have eaten the entire thing myself, and considering the ingredients it is a VERY good thing I could not eat the whole thing myself.
Everyone always ends up in the kitchen anyway so it is nice to have a kitchen that accomodates lots of people.
The theme was to bring a dish from your heritage. I made hasluski (cabbage and noodles) which is from my ethnic and NEPA heritage and a yummy desert from a new recipe I found online (not actually my heritage, but amazing). All of the food was so good, we had Puerto Rican, Peruvian, Korean, Mexican, Italian, Southern, Mid-western, Polish and Slovak dishes.
Here is a shot of my cake: 
This cake was very easy and so delicious. It actually tastes like Turkey Hill cookies and cream ice cream (tempting Jennifer?). It really does. It is a dangerous cake, thank goodness I waited until I had other people to share it with before trying the recipe, or I may have eaten the entire thing myself, and considering the ingredients it is a VERY good thing I could not eat the whole thing myself.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Mount LamLam
Hooray for hiking success!!!
I was able to convince Amy to hike with me again today. She is slightly distrustful of my hike-leading ability following a few stories of failed hikes. None of those are really my fault though, it is the trails in Guam.
Anyway, we hiked to Mount LamLam, the highest point on Guam, today. At first we had a hard time finding the supposed trail junction with the trail to another peak, but I found it, and we made it to the top!
It was a fun hike - and now, I may take a nap.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Cave and Kitchen Adventures
This was a fairly uneventful week and weekend. Today, I went hiking to the underground cave/swimming "pool" at Pagat Point with a friend. I don't have picutures because of the water, but maybe I will work something out the next time I go there.
Yesterday there was a sizable fire across the island which filled the air at my house with smoke and floating ash. Today, the fire seemed smaller but closer. For anyone who did not know already, not only does Guam suffer from occasional typhoons, regular earthquakes and persistant hot hot hot weather, we also have grass fires in the dry season. Fun.
I did not really want to spend time outside yesterday with the smoke, so I embarked on an adventure in the kitchen. I decided to make pierogis. The inspiration for this adventure was a combination of reading too much of a food blog online and an honest craving for homemade pierogis, like we have in back home in NEPA.
Some of them looked decent, and some of them didn't. I will only show you a good looking one. However, they tasted fine, but just not right. Not the exact taste I was hoping for. Ah, well, it was my first try at homemade pierogis, and now I have many of them in my freezer. Who knows, maybe they taste better when I have not spent almost two hours making them... even though the recipe said 45min.
Yesterday there was a sizable fire across the island which filled the air at my house with smoke and floating ash. Today, the fire seemed smaller but closer. For anyone who did not know already, not only does Guam suffer from occasional typhoons, regular earthquakes and persistant hot hot hot weather, we also have grass fires in the dry season. Fun.
I did not really want to spend time outside yesterday with the smoke, so I embarked on an adventure in the kitchen. I decided to make pierogis. The inspiration for this adventure was a combination of reading too much of a food blog online and an honest craving for homemade pierogis, like we have in back home in NEPA.
Some of them looked decent, and some of them didn't. I will only show you a good looking one. However, they tasted fine, but just not right. Not the exact taste I was hoping for. Ah, well, it was my first try at homemade pierogis, and now I have many of them in my freezer. Who knows, maybe they taste better when I have not spent almost two hours making them... even though the recipe said 45min.
In other news, I have started training for the 2.5 mile ocean swim from a small island off Guam, back to Guam. The race is at the end of May, and I think it will be fun. My training parter and I swam for an hour on Friday, and that was probably the longest I have swum (swam?) continuously in a long time. I will keep you posted on my progress!
Just for good measure, and especially for Katie, who likes to see picture with me actually in them (as opposed to behind the camera), here is a picture from our accidental overnight hike a couple months ago. There are several more over on Flicker, including a few shots of the luxury accomodations we stayed in.
The short version of the story is this: We (Tom, Steve and I) shuttled cars to achieve a one way full-day hike, the book got dropped off the side of the mountain, the trails in Guam are notoriously poorly marked, we hiked in what now seems like the wrong direction for hours, most likely on a pig trail (yes, I said pig trail), it got late, we decided to sleep in an abandoned old radio tower shack (to avoid getting more lost), at first light we found a trail and it took us roughly 20 min to hike out - to a road that was many many miles from where we parked a car, a friend picked us up, end of short version.
Happy Easter
Happy Easter everyone. Today is Easter here, although not for most of you yet. I have to say, one thing I am looking forward to about moving to DC is being in a resonable time zone!
I am having a few people over for brunch this morning, and going to a potluck this evening with other wives from SEQUOIA. Hopefully my brunch dishes will come out well, and if they don't look great, at least taste good!
I made some muffins last night and am making french toast baked in honey pecan sauce, and baked eggs in tomato sauce with multi-grain toast to please both sweet and savory breakfast eaters. I resisted the temptation to make potatoes and other sides.
Here is a picture of the muffins - I am experimenting with taking photos of food!
I adapted a recipe for basic wheat muffins, and did some with blueberries on top and some with blackberries. I am pretty happy with how they came out. They are somewhat dense and not too sweet. I like them, I hope my guests do too!
I am having a few people over for brunch this morning, and going to a potluck this evening with other wives from SEQUOIA. Hopefully my brunch dishes will come out well, and if they don't look great, at least taste good!
I made some muffins last night and am making french toast baked in honey pecan sauce, and baked eggs in tomato sauce with multi-grain toast to please both sweet and savory breakfast eaters. I resisted the temptation to make potatoes and other sides.
Here is a picture of the muffins - I am experimenting with taking photos of food!
I adapted a recipe for basic wheat muffins, and did some with blueberries on top and some with blackberries. I am pretty happy with how they came out. They are somewhat dense and not too sweet. I like them, I hope my guests do too!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Manta Rays from Pohnpei
I finally located the photos another diver sent me from when we dove with the Mantas in Pohnpei.
It looks like I am touching them, but I am not!
It looks like I am touching them, but I am not!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Ski Japan!
A few weeks ago we took a trip to Japan to go skiing. The scenery was beautiful, the snow was fantastic, the mountain was not crowded, and the runs were long and fun. We had a great time Our hotel was right next to one of the gondola lifts. All we had to do was wake up, eat a huge buffet breakfast and stroll out the door and onto the gondola. As far as easy goes, it really does not get any better.
As you can tell, we had a great time. I have come to really like Japan. I recommend visiting there if you ever have the chance.
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