BOISE

JUNE 17-20, 2009

 

We landed into Boise around 5pm. On Wednesday's throughout summer they have "ALIVE at FIVE" in downtown Boise which consists of music, beer, and entertainment. We decided to check it out. Unfortunately, it had been canceled this week. There were still a lot of people out and we went and had some Mexican food. After dinner we walked around and came across a splash pad in a courtyard. This little girl was one of a few kids running through it. She was just too cute and soon soaking wet.

The next day Mitch joined me on a 7 mile walk along Boise's Greenbelt. It runs along the river and is longer than 20 miles. Along the trail there is a zoo, parks, homes, golf course and driving range, and businesses. 

Many people ride their bikes along this path. 

 

(View of the River)

(Tons of Geese and their young in the park)

On our 3rd Day in Boise I walked along the greenbelt again for 5 miles. Later that afternoon I went to the driving range with Mitch and Jerry. After, we decided to go exploring and check out some huge houses up in the hills. After cruising around we spotted a dirt road that looked like it woul lead us to the top of the mountain. We found the gate and since it wasn't locked and didn't have any trespassing signs, we decided to go through. However, Mitch decided to squeeze through the gate and scratched the right side of our car pretty bad. After contemplating our mission, we went through to quickly find a dead end. We kept on our journey and came across the dam and some beautiful scenery. 

Famished, we stopped and had dinner at ONO Cafe, a hawaiian restaurant. It was amazing and made me feel like I was in Hawaii. After dinner we got a paint pen to try to fix the scratches on the car. Hopefully with a little dirt, they won't even notice. 

(Mitch and Jerry fixing the car) 

Our last day in Boise we headed downtown to have some lunch and kill time before our departure at 7pm. Once again the Farmers Market was going on but was much larger and more crowded than Thursday. They had booths with produce, spices, jams, meats, flowers, desserts, crafts, jewelry, and art. After we walked around we had lunch at Bonefish Grill which was excellent. Finally it was time to get out of Boise! Due to good weather it wasn't too bad, but 5 days was much too long for me! 

FIESTA DEL SOL

JUNE 7, 2009

Fiesta del Sol happens every June in Solana Beach, CA. There are various vendors with art, jewelry, clothes, fair rides, and great food! We started off at the beach first, where there were some people hang gliding over the beach. 

(Deedra, Me, & Kristin)

Then we walked around the fair followed by some beer, beer buddies, and basketball at Pizza Port. We headed down to the stage to go watch the Devastators and Donovan Frankenreiter. It was a great time with great friends on a wonderful Sunday Funday.

(Donovan Frankenreiter)

LAKERS FINALS!

JUNE 4, 2009

I was privileged enough to be invited to the first NBA Finals game at the Staples Center. Upon arrival I found out that I would be sitting in the 2^nd row! I was so excited. They were the best seats I have ever had. There were so many celebrities within reach such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguirre, Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, Rick Fox, Sofia Bush and Jack Nicholson. Best of all- The LAKERS WON!

HAWAII

MAY 22-27, 2009

Arrived in Hawaii about 12 hours prior to my parents flying over from Maui. I checked into the hotel and walked down to the Yardhouse to watch the basketball game. Afterwards I walked to Ala Moana Mall to walk around and get some of my favorite mochi at the Shirokiya, the Japanese Market. The next day we went to a little art & craft fair in town. They had some great local art and photography along with unique jewelry.  We went to China town to get some produce for the week up at the North Shore and how could I forget..my favorite- POKE!

We got up to the north shore to the home we were renting for the week. It was up in the hills, very secluded and full of fruit trees . It was a nice change of pace.  We layed out on the beach and enjoyed the sun most days and watched a lot of basketball. It was such a treat to have so many wonderful home cooked meals as well. I walked the bike path every morning, which was a good 5.5-mile loop. I could really get use to this. 

(Sandbar)

Memorial Day I went to the Sandbar with Jimmy, my friend from college, and some of his friends. It was such a fun day. When we got there the tide was very low and so there was a ton of sand, but as the day went on the tide rose and everything started to float away. The weather was pretty cloudy but we still had a great time playing ladder golf, flip cup and floating in inner tubes.

(Tyler, Me, & Jimmy)

(Johanne & Myself)

On our last night we watched the sunset at turtle beach where there was a turtle out on the sand. It was really neat to watch them swimming in the ocean as well. Till the next time…. ALOHA!

VEGAS VACATION

MAY 19-21, 2009

A busy few weeks at work led Tyler and I out to Vegas for a few days to get away. We got a great deal at the Hard Rock hotel for $50 a night, so we couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately, we didn't know that we would end up having the worst service while we were there. I guess you get what you pay for. 

Waiting for our room to be ready, we decided to go to the pool and relax. We found that there is a new crowd hanging around the pool, this duck and its ducklings. They seemed right at home, cruising around, all they needed was a beer.  

When are room was finally ready we ended up having a nice view of the Planet Hollywood & Paris Hotel. After watching the Laker game we decided to head over to the Palazzo Hotel to go to LAVO. After a few "expensive" drinks, we met up with my friend Taboda and decided to venture over to Caesars Palace. 

(PURE Nightclub @ Caesars)

The next day we laid at the pool and enjoyed the sun. We watched another basketball playoff game and then headed to Sushi Roku at Caesars for a nice dinner. We walked over to the Bellagio and headed to "O" the Cirque de Soleil show. This was my 4th Cirque show and they are so fascinating and the actors are extremely talented. 

Everyone always says you need a vacation after Vegas, but we had a really enjoyable time. We relaxed, partied, and most importantly, can't wait to go back in July! 

ST. MAARTEN

MAY 17, 2009

After flying all day and night and being up for 24 hours, we landed in St. Maarten from Romania. We made our way to the hotel, checked in, and immediately headed for the breakfast buffet on the beach. We were starving, tired and becoming delirious. After we were done stuffing our faces, Chris (pilot) and I headed for the beach for some R&R and of course to work on our tans! There were a ton of fish in the crystal clear water and the water was very warm. 

The runway to the airport of St. Maarten is next to the ocean so you can watch the planes touch down while you are hanging out on the beach. When the planes land sometimes they get low enough that you can touch their wheels. However, when a plane takes off, it can be very dangerous depending on the size of the plane. This sign is posted...  

The jet blast of the plane is known to rip of your clothes, break windows of cars nearby, and push people who try to hold onto the fence into the ocean. Here is some video footage of a plane landing in St. Maarten. I wanted to cut the beginning off, but the women trying to get dressed is just too funny to cut out. 

After hanging out on the beach all day I decided to go visit my 

favorite gift shop. This store gives you free samples of the liquor they have for sale. My favorites are their homemade rum that comes in 

many different flavors and their banana liquor which is amazing on

ice cream. Later that night I ventured over to the bar on the beach for some dinner. They had live reggae music and the best mahi mahi 

burger I have ever had. To put the icing on the cake, we came back to find our boss passed out in the lobby of the hotel, hat on the ground 

and glasses crooked on his face.

(Sorry, I cannot publish that photo as this time) 

SWITZERLAND & ROMANIA

MAY 11-16, 2009

We landed in Geneva, Switzerland after a long red eye flight. We found out we were staying at the Buffalo Grill, which happened to be in France. We were not very excited…and when we got there, we were really disappointed. We were staying in a remodeled barn  that served horrible food. The place was cowboy and Indian themed and probably the worst place I have ever stayed. 

(Buffalo Grill and Hotel)

(Countryside in Switzerland)

While I was there I went on several long walks along the countryside. There were so many bike paths that went all over the country so it made exploring easy. Through the country I came upon some beautiful churches, wineries, cottages, and land. 

(Church in Switzerland)

 In the town we were staying in they deliver mail in this motorcycle. Attached to it is a little cart that holds all the mail. Quite interesting.  

(Border between France and Switzerland)

On my last full day, I ventured into the city of Geneva with a map and walked about 12 miles that day. The city was absolutely beautiful. There was so much history, churches, and great shopping. Unfortunately the city was very expensive. In the Parc de Bastions they had huge chess boards that were surrounded by people playing. The park had a lot of statues and had a feel of Central Park, on a smaller scale. 

(Huge chess boards in the Parc Des Bastions)

(Cathdrial of St. Pierre)

(Jet d'Eau)

(View of the river at dinner.)

After Switzerland we had a quick layover in Romania for about 24 hours. On our way to the hotel, our driver decided to take us through the back streets of town. I thought I was going to die…from his driving. I noticed there were so many stray dogs. Supposedly the city has a very bad dog problem. During the night, the dogs will form packs and attack people walking on the street. I opted to stay in my hotel during my stay. The city was run down and a lot of buildings were under construction, but not getting finished. We ended up staying at one of the nicest hotels in town across from one the largest Palaces in the world.