Grand Ole Opry

Brings back all sorts of childhood memories of watching Hee Haw with my dad.

View from our room at Pop Century

Orlando bound!

On the plane, getting ready to go to Orlando for Wil's birthday -- very excited! (if a bit sleepy...)

Home again....

The weekend wasn't what we had originally hoped, of course... But we did have a great time. Seeing the "bait" (cows) at Area 51; going to the arts district in Vegas (who knew?!?); wandering around the Gaslamp Quarter and Old Town; watching the sun set from our balcony; and exploring the overwhelming (and, dare I say, overpriced) San Diego Zoo.

On thing that makes me very happy is that, no matter how much fun we have while away, I am always happy to be headed home again. Looking forward to seeing our furry little friends soon!!

San Diego

Flew into San Diego this morning... Spending more time sitting on the Tarmac than in the air.
But SD has been a pleasant surprise, from the killer tofu burrito at Pokez, to our pretty balcony at the hotel, to the sweetness (if Disneyfied history...) of Old Town San Diego.
We walked by 4th and B, the club where Adam was supposed to play tonight, and saw two guys hanging up a banner for a fight night. We struck up a conversation with them because I wanted one of the Adam posters on the door. They encouraged us to come to the show... "we've got girl fights, fights where you can tie up your boyfriend and wail on him.... And even little people!" ummm, maybe ...
Tomorrow we will hit the zoo, but I have to admit that I am already looking forward to getting home. A little too much travel for my old bones.

Vegas,baby

Look, we're not Vegas people. But it was a great place to see Adam Ant. Who then cancelled. So we are making the best of it and having a great, quirky time. Now in the arts district -- very vibrant!

au revoir, Paris - day 7

Random Paris memories...

- the "Mickey" breads at Disneyland Paris... no pretzels or ice cream bars, but lovely brioche...
- the candy seller near the Metro station... never managed to buy candy from him, but the display was spectacular
- the fancy fire extinguisher store... who knew there was a market for fancy fire extinguishers?!?
- the gold ring scam. Bless.
- the denizens of the Pharmacy nightclub beneath our flat
- Gustav Eiffel wrapped in protective plastic... looking somewhere between a Christo work and Katherine Helmond in "Brazil"...
- singing la Marseillaise surrounded by thousands of French fans watching France's opening game in the World Cup

I do wish we had gone for a run... or rented a velib bike.... or swam in the Josephine Baker pool. That's my plan for our next trip -- a Parisian triathlon of sorts.

I was surprised at how much Wil enjoyed Paris -- and, through him, I enjoyed it too. So I suspect we'll go back someday. If only we had more vacation!!!!

We got up early on our last morning, dragged our things to the RER and on to the airport, where we queued seemingly forever in a long and winding queue to get "out" of France. We somehow couldn't find anything to buy at the airport. Morocco rearing its ugly head again! It just made me think of Barcelona airport and their amazing shops. Perhaps we got shunted off into a horrible "you're flying to America so you won't buy anything" wing? But we settled happily into our seats on the plane... and were even happier to arrive home on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Not sure when our next trip to Europe will be... perhaps Italy in 2012? 2013? Who knows...

But our next "big" trip -- New York for the marathon!