Catamaran near Ketchikan

There was a lot of fog rising off the water.



Because of the rain there were a lot of waterfalls.

Swap Pictures

If Mandy takes my picture, I have to take hers!!!

Cottage on the River

If you decide you want to rent a little vila, this one sleeps 14 and I think only went for $140 a night. Running water and electric not included.

Poor Steering

So there was a slight problem with the steering mechanism in the kayak. It tended to want to go right when the pedals were straight.

The tree we hit (I was steering, but I think Mandy could have gotten us out of there).

Cruise Ship

That is our cruise ship way out there in the break between the trees.

In the Kayak

A little blurry, but we are in the two person kayak, making our way around. It was nice, it stopped raining long enough for us to kayak. Then once we got back into the little kayak house, it started raining again.

Rainy Kayaking

In Sitka, Alaska we went kayaking.




Before we could get into the inflatable to take us over to where we'd kayak, we had to put on rain gear.




Mandy was smarter than me, she brought waterproof gloves.

Early Excursion

We had to get up early, esp for a vacation to make it to our excursion.

Towel Animals

As with any cruise, we got our share of towel pets.

Hubbard Glacier

The cruise ship doesn't get very close, but it's still impressive.

Hot Chocolate

Mandy and I sit outside in the lounge chairs and enjoy some hot chocolate as we cruise by the glacier.

How far to NYC ???

After a little shopping in Juneau, Alaska we happened upon this sign... It's a long way back to NYC. :-)

Glacier Walk

While in Juneau, we took a helicopter ride up to the glacier. It was cold and rainy, BUT the glacier was amazing.
The talked about how this big rock has been traveling down the "river" for two hundred years. The guides refered to it as "Bob".

Junea, Alaska

After a day at sea, we made it to the largest of the United States, ALASKA!

Day at Sea

As we sail north, the land is really beautiful.

Sunset out of Seattle

For Mandy's 30th birthday, we went on a cruise north to Alaska.

Fuzzy Cow

As we were driving back to civilization, we passed this fuzzy cow close to the road. Christine tried to pet him, so he tried to hit her with his horns...

Highlander Movie Castle

I guess since the actual MacLeod castle is all lived in and stuff, they used a different one in the movie. So we went to see that one too.

Mooned by Highland Cows

Our last day on the Isle of Skye we walked down the road from the hostel to take a few more pictures. The cows were not highland fuzzy cows, but they did moon us.

The Castle MacLeod

Of course when in Scotland we HAD to see the ancestral home of the MacLeods.

Ferry to Isle of Skye

On the way to the Isle of Skye we took a ferry. I love the sign!!!

Chris IN the Waterfall

Chris was determine to get the shot, even if it meant getting in the cold water.

Deluxe Accomidations

We stayed in a hostel on out way up to the Isle of Skye. We got the entire house to ourselves. It can sleep up to 24.

Bouncy Castle Hamlet

How can Hamlet performed in a bouncy castle be all that bad? How about when Hamlet has to bring out the book cause he forgot his lines?

Sunset From Christine's Apartment

Thought it was a pretty sunset from the window in Christine's apartment. We were too lazy to actually go outside and take the photo, also since we were up higher, it was better.

Flowers, Flowers, and More Flowers

Since Chris had the new camera, we spent hours in the gardens taking photos of flowers.

Sconey Goodness

While taking lots of flower photos in the gardens, we stopped for a snack... I had a scone with whipped butter and strawberry jam. YUM!

Blue Sky

Chris somehow got some really cool photos of the clouds as we wandered around Edinburgh.

Nikon D50

Chris just got a new camera (Nikon D50) so we decided to play with it.

Unicycle Madness

Amy also has a unicycle... It was much fun to watch people try to stay on, esp in the backyard near the chickens.

Big Kite

We land in Scotland and immediately go to the beach. Met Christine's friend Amy there with the biggest kite I have ever seen... Chris was better at flying it, but he still had some problems.

Traveling...

so... how to start... okay, i have a college buddy out in san diego, and almost every year i fly out there to go to comiccon. so this year my jul/aug are a bit busy, so i got a ticket that would go from mht (manchester, nh) to san (san diego, ca) via ewr (newark, nj) then from san to rdu (raliegh, nc) again via ewr, then i'm going with chris from rdu to edi (edinburgh, scotland) again via ewr, edi to rdu (of course via ewr) and then back from rdu to mht (yes, ewr AGAIN). needless to say, slightly complicated, but two tickets, so one is mht-san-rdu-mht, the other rdu-edi-rdu.

i'm scheduled to leave mht for san thu after work (yes, i left a little early, 4pm). i get there for my 5:30p flight, and the flight out of mht is delayed by 2 hours, meaning i miss the last flight out of ewr to san. no problem, i can stay in ewr overnight, right? uhm, no. so then i can leave at 6:45a the next morning. that would be good, except i have to work. there are no seats on the 5:30p flight, but i can take a 1:30p flight, and make a 5:30p flight out of ewr to san. problem being, i'm working... so i figure i'll take a "lunch" for the 2 hours of my flight.

fri, about noon, i get an urgent call from work, and i have to stay on the phone... okay... so as my roommate drives me to mht, i'm on the phone with a onsite rep from my company... i check in, flight is about 30 minutes delayed, it's no big, i have almost 3 hours in ewr this time. i go up to the gate, plug in my laptop, keep talking on the phone. ewr has a ground stop. 4p the put us on the flight, and confirm that no one will miss flights. okay. we taxi out to the parking lot off the runway and wait for ewr to let us go... and wait... and wait... and wait... about 7p they take us back to the gate and let us get off and get food. talk to the person, we are supposed to have a "wheels up" time of 7:55p and although i missed my first san flight, i will make the last flight of the night. get back on the plane, go back out to the parking lot on the runway. i get a call from my friend in san, he just checked and the last flight to san that i was going to make, it's been cancelled. well now we can't go back to the gate, and we sit there until about 11p, when we finally take off for ewr. i got a free margarita, not sure it was worth it.

i get to ewr around midnight, call the airline and see when i can get out to san. the next available flight out to san is at 8p sat... uhm... i'm scheduled to leave san 10p sunday, that means i'll be there less than 24 hours... i call my friend, who has elite status, we talk, he gets me on a connecting flight through houston at 10:45a the next morning. i go catch the 1a train down to new brunswick, nj, and stay the night with another college friend. since i checked ALL of my clothing, i have nothing but the clothing i wore to the airport that morning, we go to a 24hour drug store and i get some contact solution and some grannie undies. get to sleep about 3:30a. get up again at 7a so that i can go back to the train station and catch the 8:30a train back to the airport... i get back to the airport and the flight from ewr to houston is delayed 2 hours... i call, and the next available flight (again) is the 8p flight that night... i made the executive decision that i will not be going to san diego, i will not go to comiccon, i will not see the wow booth...

okay, so when can i get to rdu? sun 6:55a... they say i can stand by on the 3 other flights today to see if i can get out, but it's not likely. and i have to go talk to the ticket agent cause i can't do standby over the phone. i go wait 45 minutes in the ticket agent line, get up there and get my standby ticket, go through security. get to the gate about 11a, sit around, can't play with my laptop cause there are no power outlets, so i just try not to fall asleep. about 12:30p they announce that the 1:30p flight (first flight available) is cancelled. at this point i give up, i call my parents to have them pick me up. i go back down to baggage claim, ask about my bag, i can't have it back. it takes my parents an hour to get to ewr from where they live in south jersey, so i go find a starbucks.

my parents pick me up, i go home, i go to sleep on the couch. i wake up, eat dinner, help my dad with some stuff on the computer, and since i'm going to rdu where my aunt lives, mom asks if i can take a desktop computer to her. means i'll have to check a rather empty other bag, and have to put the laptop in the same bag as the desktop. no big, i am asleep again before 9p, since i have to get up at 4a the next morning to get to ewr.

next morning, i get up, i use the computer to do an online checkin, so all i have to do once i get to the airport is give them my one bag. my dad drives me up to the airport, i go in to the baggage drop off. i wait in line for 45 minutes because they have 2 computers and one person doing all baggage checkins for online checkins... i go up to security, and i have to take not only the laptop out of the bag, but also the desktop. needless to say it takes me a few minutes to get them both back in, not nearly as nicely packed as originally, i rush down to my gate, get there as they are doing the "boarding all rows" deal, and my printed online checkin does not work... i am asked to step aside and wait. not a big deal, until they start calling stand by passengers!!! my seat!!! if i miss this flight, there are NO seats on any of the other flights on sun, and my parents are going out of town and will not be back until tue, so i'd be stuck somewhere?!?! they have 3 people trying to figure it out, and finally let me get on, but i have to gate check my bag with the two computers...

i arrive at rdu, go to baggage claim and the bag i checked in ewr comes out, but no bag from mht. chris shows up so at least that is good!!! go to that claims office, and indeed, the bag made it to san diego... no prob, i've been wearing the same cloths for 3 days now, what's another? yeah, okay, we go shopping. seems i've finally made it, all is going to get better.

i get to chris', decide i want to check something on my laptop. i open it and the screen is shattered.. at that point (i feel bad for chris) i sat in the chair and just sobbed...

this was the first time i think i ever thought, IS THE WEEKEND OVER YET!?!?!?!

Bob's Sail Boat

Sheri's husband, Bob, has a sailboat. He was nice and took me for my first trip on a sailboat! It was a nice sunset.

Marriage T-Shirt

I saw this while I was shopping in Target, I think.

Outdoor Fireplace

Mom & Dad have an outdoor fireplace so we burned some paper and sticks.