Here, there, everywhere.

2009-12-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Season's Greetings!

We're all wishing you a happy winter holiday, whichever one you choose.

We send out our wishes for peace, love, joy and friendship.

Love,
The Waechters

Here and Now

2009-12-03T12:11:00.001-07:00

Every semester it seems like school and teaching get more intense. As I put more work into becoming a great teacher I find that my schoolwork also takes up more and more of my time. I'm looking forward to being done with school, maybe then I can stop working these 60-80 hour weeks! The thing about teaching and being a full time student is that the job never ends. I can spend eight hour days at school and come home and still have even more hours of work to do. I'm not complaining, I love academic life, but it does make me unavailable to my far-away friends and family a lot of the time.

Know that this is where I sit for a good portion of the time I'm at home. Remember that while I'm at my desk writing, reading or grading that I'm near my computer. When I procrastinate I check my email and Facebook often. While I'm not so great at sending tons of emails, I'm awesome at responding to them (hey, my students email me up to 20 times a day sometimes). Please, always feel free to reach out to me online. I'm almost literally, always here.

I plan to take lots of pictures of our Christmas decorations, graduation, campus life and a bunch of the events happening in the near future. Blogging is a fun way to avoid writing those 50 pages coming up here at the end of the semester. The upside? I don't have anymore 900 page books to read... Until January, that is.

Lots of love,
Allison, Doug, Isis, Arwen, Lego, Thor, Oscar and Lola.

Nero the fish does not send his love, he's too busy bashing his head into things. Sorry, all of our animals can't be nice.

Give Thanks

2009-12-03T11:59:00.001-07:00

This year, we have so much to be thankful for. Doug and I are thankful for our first year of marriage, graduation, wonderful, supportive family, great friends (near and far), our menagerie of pets, new jobs, prospects of new jobs and all the fun we have when we're not working our butts off. We are acutely aware of how lucky we are and we are thankful for it every day, not just Thanksgiving. As we draw closer to the holiday season I get weepier by the day. It's the stress of the end of the semester and how much I love Christmas decorations.

I'm grateful for the small stuff too. I'm grateful for Tazo Chai Tea on cold, snowy days like today. I'm grateful for the beautiful setting I wake up to every morning, here in Boulder. I'm grateful for snuggly animals and my computer that keeps me connected to all the people I love. Today I'm grateful for the day off, I'll get to my real work eventually.

Wonderland Lake

2009-12-03T11:51:00.002-07:00

I could never hope to express to you how absolutely gorgeous Boulder is. I am, however, going to try to take quite a few photos of campus and sights around town this month while we're out and about. I'd like to share our life here with you.

These pictures are from a walk we took around Wonderland Lake over Thanksgiving weekend. It was 60 degree and sunny, which made it more than warm enough to go out without a jacket. We took Lola and Olive on a walk around the lake, which butts up against the foothills. Mind you, Wonderland Lake is just a block away from our house. Lately, we've been heading over there quite a bit. The walk around the lake takes about an hour, depending on how you choose to go home. It's also great for runs and there's a trail that goes right to the dog park.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl...

2009-12-03T11:44:00.001-07:00

For so many reasons, Doug and I made the decision to adopt Lola. Here she is in my mom's kitchen, squeezing her tired eyes shut. Lola is a foxhound/lab mix (according the Humane Society) and she's around a year old (also according to the Humane Society). We don't know a ton about Lola's life before us, but what we've found out about her personality so far we love.

Lola loves walks, playing with Alaina's dog Olive and adores the doggie beds we've bought her. She also loves other animals a lot. Her greatest sadness since being with us is that the kitties didn't love her on first sight. She is so sweet to them and never chases. Her little face gets so sad when they hiss at her. However, we respect the rights of Queen Arwen and Empress Isis to assert themselves. They reign supreme in our household and we appreciate that, as does Lola. We're at a point now where we can all be in the same 10 yard radius and take naps, so that's great. Lola also loves the ferrets, she's a little to young and excitable to play with them, those big paws are a big as their heads! She hasn't quite got a grasp on how big she actually is yet. She still has all that puppy awkwardness.

Right now she's snuggled up in her bed in my office taking a nap, I know she wants to go on a walk with Olive in a bit, so I'll keep working at these posts. It's a good thing she's resting up, we're going on a walk around Wonderland Lake... Even though it's 11 degrees out, the sun is shining and it feels like at least 20... Can't wait.

Snow day.

2009-12-03T11:35:00.001-07:00

We've had a lot of snow this year.

More marriage!

2009-12-03T11:34:00.001-07:00

Our awesome friends Kurtis and Krystal are getting married in December and Krystal was sweet enough to let me throw a bachelorette party for her. We had such a fun time, there was even a dance party in the living room. We played some silly games, shared food, lots of laughter and a few drinks.

I have to say how incredibly lucky I am to have met the women that I have in the last few years. As the time draws near for so many of us to part ways for other jobs, PhD programs, etc. I am realizing that these are some of the brightest, strongest, most beautiful women I've ever had the chance to get to know. For all the stress that grad school brings it's more than worth it to have made these friends. Ok, I'm overly-emotional this week, it's the end of the semester... Blah, blah, blah. Honestly though, I couldn't ever gush enough about these ladies.

Above: the ladies. At some point that hand motion, coupled with the cry "Unbelievable!" became an inside joke among us. We're not emulating turkeys or anything, just being ridiculous.

Below: The beautiful bride-to-be and myself.

One year, new job...

2009-12-03T11:25:00.000-07:00

So, this picture is pretty blurry, but it's possible that it articulates how fast things have been moving in the last year. We hit our one year anniversary on November 22. Even though we've been together for so many years it was fun and exciting to revisit the Hotel Monaco and Panzano, the spot where we got married.

Just before our anniversary we got some amazing news, Doug was offered a position with Pepsi Bottling Group. He's been working on a project with them this semester that gave him an opportunity to interview and they selected him! We'll be staying in Colorado for a while, which makes both of us so happy. We love living here and Denver was near the top of our "wishlist" for places to live. We're so grateful for all the folks praying for us and sending us all those good vibes! Thank you, you mean the world to us.

Doug will graduate in December and start work in January, so there will be lots of changes around our house. We've decided to stay in Boulder for a bit, we have a great situation here and the bottling plant is nearby so there's no real reason to move right now. I'll graduate with my Master's Degree in May, which I am looking forward to very much. I've had a great few years here with all the amazing folks I've met and grown with. Luckily, since we're staying in Colorado (and Boulder, for now) we'll still be very close. However, it's time for a job. I'll be applying to teach community college for next year in the Fall. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I love teaching and I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to have a career that I love and that is so rewarding.

We're looking forward to a fun December. Doug's parents will be visiting us for graduation, which we're really looking forward to. We'll definitely miss Chad though. Hopefully, the lovely Jeff and Kristie will be coming in late December and my friend Libby will be here at the same time. We're having a giant New Year's Eve party, so stop by if you're in the area. Dress is semi-formal and bring your dancin' shoes!

New Neighbors

2009-12-03T11:10:00.000-07:00

This has been and insanely busy semester, but I'm going to post a bunch about what's been going on for those still paying attention.
First of all, at the beginning of the summer we got some awesome new downstairs neighbors/roomies. Pictured below are Alaina, Jean and Cathy. Cathy doesn't live with us, she was hanging out, being awesome and was forced into the picture. Alaina and I have known each other for a couple of years from school, it was great that she could move in. We've all been having a great time together. This picture was taken at our first all-house party. I'm lucky to have such beautiful and talented friends, and to live with two amazing teachers! We're a gaggle of girls in this house, as our pets are almost all female, leaving Doug with the ferrets in his "man club." I think he likes it. :)

Wildlife

2009-08-30T12:13:00.002-06:00

So... This is a video that my downstairs neighbor (and good friend) took, yesterday morning. It was in our backyard! Scary.

Happy New Year!

2009-08-23T14:25:00.002-06:00

Here we are again, another Fall semester. Sometimes it's difficult to believe that I've been in school for over twenty years, I'm only 27! It is strange that for the second semester in that time that I'm the teacher, as well as the student. I can't express what a gratifying experience it is to be a teacher and I hope that I have many more years of it ahead of me. Yet, there's something about this semester that's repelling me a little. I don't know if it's because I'm embarking on what may be my last school year in a while or exactly what. I just have this nagging feeling of sadness. It's like, whatever lies ahead after this year, it's likely that it'll never be like this again. I'll never be the student in the same way I am now, nor the teacher. Even if I were to pursue my PhD, which would be a pretty similar role to what I have now, it will be later and my life will have changed in all sorts of unimaginable ways.

So, cheers to the new year!

Back to School

2009-08-13T12:33:00.002-06:00

Doug and I are getting ready to go back to school. Doug is going back for the last time, which I'm sure he's thrilled about. Me, who knows how long I'll be in school? Technically, I'm done Spring semester. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a job in education and won't ever have to leave.

Basically, all we've been doing is cleaning and stocking up on all the essentials. For us, school starting is like a nuclear holocaust. We sort of batten down then hatches and just try to take cover. So the month before school starts we buy paper products, toiletries and even food. We super-clean the house, knowing full well it might be Thanksgiving before it gets a good scrubbing again.

My office keeps doing a rotation of messy to clean during the week as I try to get organized. Finding places for all the books coming in is getting difficult, I'm running out of shelf room. This is why we are a couple with bookshelves everywhere, even our headboard is a bookshelf. I've been planning my class for the last week and that hasn't helped the situation on my desk. As I write lesson plans and lectures I litter the floor around me with notes and all kinds of books. I had all my literary theory books out yesterday, in addition to all my writing guides and things were pretty overwhelming.

I'm starting to put everything back together now and hopefully soon my workspace will make sense again. I don't know much about Doug's office. It's like a treehouse (with a ladder and everything) so I don't do much except poke my head up there every now and again. He's been up there for days getting all his stuff together so that he can graduate in December. He's so much more focused than I am when it comes to that stuff. I just putter around for a while then I pick up a book for a few hours. It's not that I'm not being productive, it's just that I have SO much to do. I think I have five books going right now that I'd like to finish before things start up again. Good luck to me, I doubt it will happen. The terrible thing about being a grad student is that the homework never ends. I should have been doing more reading over the summer... I say that every summer.

So, while I probably won't be posting as many pictures this semester I'm going to try to keep up with what we've got going on. I forecast that the blog will be a bit more about me, since during semester I become very self-centered. I'll try to check in with Doug once a day or so to make sure he's still alive. :)

Putting the "here" in Here.

2009-07-12T19:54:00.001-06:00

Last year around this time we were just moving in. I had had it up to wherever with our last apartment and our not-so-fun neighbors so I started looking for a new place to live. Almost immediately we found this place. Our home came with a part-time roommate, Robin, who is the owner of the house and we don't see him much. Robin spends most of his time at his other home in the mountains. When we do it's great, he's doing so many amazing things. Anyway, it's been great for us to live here, we get the space we so desperately needed and a beautiful space to live.

Most of the blog so far has been about our trip and maybe this won't be so interesting for everyone... But... Doug and I have been doing so much work to get the house back in order since we got home that I really wanted to share. Vain? Yes, that's me. Isn't that why one starts a blog in the first place? I plan to share more of the "there and everywhere" parts of life soon. For now, here's "here."

The dining room

2009-07-12T19:11:00.001-06:00

Doug's bamboo used to be in one of our fish tanks, I transferred it to this pretty vase (that used to be a candle holder) for the time being. It seems to like it.

Here you see the whole dining room and the front hall.

The front porch

2009-07-12T19:09:00.001-06:00

Look at all my pretty flowers! Ignore that pot in the right corner, it's being moved out.

Yes, there's the water feature again, I just can't get over myself about it. I congratulated both myself and Doug for its success about a thousand times last night. That's not unusual, we're a sort of self-congratulatory pair. Mostly we just run around the house telling each other what a good job we've done. Then we complain about everything else. Hey, I never said we were perfect.

Cute little lights Doug hung for me, the glider and more flowers.

Here's a closer shot of the flowers. The petrified wood was all collected by my dad, my mom has a bunch too, it makes great garden adornment. I finally found a place to put those little birds I got in Mexico! Yay front porch!

The back deck

2009-07-12T19:06:00.001-06:00

I worked really hard out on the back deck today. While we were gone there were quite a few storms. There was debris from the trees and even some shingles scattered around, so I got out there early this afternoon and picked it all up. I had to hose off my umbrella and all our deck furniture. It's all nice to sit in again. Please ignore the jungle that is the backyard.

Please note the sign that signifies that cocktail hour happens here. :)

The chaise lounges complete with the new table I bought today at Target (that's for you Mama). We needed a place to put our drinks (and books or magazines) when we lounge. The little table was a perfect fit.

The Kitchen

2009-07-12T19:04:00.001-06:00

The kitchen didn't take a lot of work, though we did move that chair in from the dining room. At all our parties people congregate in the kitchen so we put our living room inside it. We have the dining room for our table and they're right next door. It's a cozy solution to a small problem. Doug and I probably watch TV in the kitchen more than anywhere else. Figures.

It's nice that there are bookshelves for my cookbooks. Those of you who were at my bridal shower may recognize that lamp. I love it dearly.

This is the kitchen itself. I'm about to mess it up to make dinner.

I'm lucky Doug does all the dishes for me. He's not so lucky that he has to clean it all up. He's very particular about the cleanliness of dishes. I shouldn't have said before that the kitchen didn't take much work. Doug works hard to keep the kitchen clean. Our counter tops are a dark green and it takes pretty much constant care to keep them looking neat and tidy.

The Family Room

2009-07-12T19:02:00.001-06:00

This, clearly, is the family room. The exercise bike in the background is less than aesthetically pleasing, but I wasn't about to move it for this shot.

A closer shot of my new (antique) card catalogue. Perfect for a bookish girl like myself.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jig.

2009-07-11T17:52:00.001-06:00

So, now that we're home, you might be wondering what we've been up to. I'd be happy to share.

We spent the Fourth of July with my mom and I hung out for a few days to grovel to my cats for forgiveness. Isis still puked all over her carrier on the way home, don't worry. Overall, they seem thrilled to be here. What they don't seem particularly thrilled about is being fed by the timed feeder again. So sorry, kitties.

Doug and I were both pretty exhausted when we got here. What we'd kind of forgotten was that we hadn't really cleaned up the house before we left. I mean it was sort of clean, but everything was still in disarray from Spring Finals Mania 2009. So we've spent the last few days getting everything organized and back in order.

Above, you'll see our project for this afternoon. A water feature! We built it ourselves! Neat, yes? We also went to the farmer's market today and now I feel like I need a nap.

At any rate, we're glad to be home, glad to have the house clean and glad to have a while left in our summer to have a few more adventures. Check back in, I plan to keep taking pictures and posting.

That's What You Get For Waking Up In Vegas

2009-07-11T17:43:00.001-06:00

Vegas. What can you say about it? It's kind of indescribable. I'll do my best.

Here's the view of the strip from our hotel room.

And here we are looking stunned by all the hustle and bustle.

We ate some good food (Bellagio Buffet, Burger Bar, etc.), we slept a lot and we walked the strip. That was about all we could handle from Vegas. It was so fun to go, but at the end of more than six weeks from home we were a little spent. Luckily THEhotel at Mandalay Bay is a great place to relax. We forgot to gamble (seriously), so that leaves me a gambling virgin, still. We're already married, so that was taken care of. All I can say is that we'll go back. I want to see a show.

Giant Redwoods Are the Bees Knees

2009-07-11T17:34:00.001-06:00

These are some of the very few pictures that we took of the giant Redwoods. Unfortunately, that day, bees decided to attack me. Doug swears he didn't actually SEE the bees, of course. While he was getting the tripod from the car they attacked. I ran down the trail screaming, as you do. There were a LOT of them. Maybe three. After that I wasn't really feeling the whole getting out and looking around thing. Anyway, we had a really nice drive through the forest. Bees can't get you in the car.

Is this beach vacation?

2009-06-27T17:35:00.001-06:00

In my family vacation was often "beach vacation" we'd go back to the same spot on Sanibel Island year after year, because... Well, because it was relaxing. We wouldn't do a whole lot, peel and eat shrimp, go to the beach or the pool, read. Somehow that defined what "relaxing" and "vacation" were supposed to mean. Sightseeing, hiking, or activity in general did not define vacation. In recent years, my mom discovered that beach vacation could be had on the Oregon Coast as well as Sanibel. So when we put our trip together I was excited for this portion of the trip, especially because it came near the end of the trip. I thought it would be a great chance to relax. While Wheeler was fabulous, and relaxing, it wasn't quite "beach vacation." For one thing, it wasn't at the beach. Wheeler is tucked inside Nehalem Bay, which is an incredibly idyllic relaxing place, it just isn't "The Beach." So we headed down the coast to Gold Beach and I started to see THE BEACH. When we arrived at the Beachcomber Inn I knew that we'd have to stay an extra night. Doug knew too. He asked at the front desk before I could even suggest it. I guess my not-so-subtle comments in the car had been heard loud and clear. But from the West-facing balcony of our room the ocean is very, very close and last night we fell asleep to the sounds of the waves. We were also treated to this pretty sunset and a jolly seagull friend**. He sat on the balcony next to us and peeked around to give us a friendly squawk and then he moved to the roof below to give me a better view of his handsome face. He was kind of hamming it up. There's very little going on in Gold Beach so when we went to the beach earlier there wasn't anyone else there. Doug got in the water for a minute, but the water is still very cold here. The wind stopped us from sitting down and hanging out, but we had a really nice time "combing" through all the beautiful beach rocks. Currently, I'm blogging with a view of the ocean, fresh salsa and chips and a PBR.

This is beach vacation.

** All views pictured in these photographs can be seen from the balcony of our room at the Inn of the Beachcomber, where the beds are comfy and the renovated hotel is beautifully dressed in classic "Arts and Crafts" bungalow style.

A drive down the 101

2009-06-27T17:13:00.001-06:00

I think that maybe we were starting to wonder what all the fuss about the 101 was, until yesterday. Somewhere in Central Oregon the road winds through steep cliffs blanketed in pine trees and to the west the Pacific sweeps dramatically into view.

At The Devil's Punchbowl, as the tide comes in the "bowl" fills with water and it churns menacingly.

We stopped off at the Dunes, which are expansive, to snap a few shots.

Troll Haven

2009-06-27T17:05:00.001-06:00

I forgot to post these pictures before, but this is something we did while we were in Washington. We were tipped off about it when we went to visit the lavender fields. I don't think I could explain what was going on out there very well, see the link below if you feel like you need to know the reasoning behind Troll Haven. There weren't any tours or anything going on the day we were there, it was just a bunch of trolls hanging out in fields. Way, way bizarre.

Go to Wanda's, or you'll be sorry.

2009-06-26T12:20:00.004-06:00

For the last few days, Doug and I have been staying in Wheeler, Oregon. It's been a bit of a change from the other things we've been doing. While we were in Port Angeles we discovered something: we're tired. We've been going and going from the moment we get up 'til the moment we go to sleep. I have only finished two books since we've been on this trip! For the last two days in Port Angeles we went to see the lavender farms out in Sequim and took drives by the ocean.

When we left Washington to drive down the 101 we agreed to just relax. We've had a bit of trouble actually doing so, though we're starting to have some success. We stayed in a restored, historic hotel called The Old Wheeler Hotel. The hardwood floors are original and there are a lot of really beautiful antiques. The bed is blessedly pillowtopped and there seem to be some sort of fluffy high-thread count sheets covering it. There’s a clawfoot tub in the bathroom that I’ve been making use of for the last few days in my attempt to relax. We finally made use of the common room two nights ago to play Bananagrams and we liked it, so we did it again last night. I swear, for two people who claim to love to “do nothing” we’re really, really bad at it.

The towns around Nehalem Bay don't have a lot going on. If you want to shop, there's some shopping. If you want to go to the beach, remember that it's cold. All in all, there's not much to go DO. So we've been antiquing, I found an old school card catalogue, which is really, really cool. Doug says we can fit it into the Jeep, so I'm taking him at his word. He's the packing expert, not me. I found a pair of really nice vintage cowboy (girl) boots that I'm dying to wear. We've been to the beach, watched TV, gone to eat some really yummy food and just generally hung out. It was hard at first, but sleeping all night is good.

If you ever find yourself in this area (Cannon Beach, Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler, etc.) we really recommend that you go to Wanda’s (in Nehalem) every single day for breakfast. Wanda’s may have the most perfect food ever. The eggs are light and fluffy, the bread is homemade and delicious, the bacon is to die for and two people can eat for around 20 bucks. Nothing is greasy and the decor is delightful, it’s cheerfully 60s kitch without being overdone or imposing. The beautiful outdoor deck is surrounded by lush greens and fragrant flowers, even if you’re inside it seems to give the whole back section a Edenic kind of glow.

Additionally, the Antique Mall in Wheeler kicks major antique ass. Even if you, personally, do not like to buy antiques it serves as a good afternoon of entertainment. They have everything beautiful and old and everything weird and old and I recognized some things that seemed like they were made around the time I was born. So that was a little scary, but otherwise, GO THERE!!!! Garbo’s also has some of the cleanest, best vintage clothes shopping that I’ve ever done. The lady who owns it is incredibly helpful and fun. Bring some socks, you’re gonna want to try on something from her giant selection of vintage boots and shoes. There are a pair of butter colored, knee high, stacked heel boots that were just a squinch too small that are still calling my name.

Anyway, I’m sorry there aren’t pictures. At some point, I think we both started feeling a little lazy. We’re going to be home around the fourth of July, so we hope we’ll see many of you then. For now, we’re off to Gold Beach for one more night on the Oregon Coast and then to see the Redwoods, then off to Vegas.

The Twilight Zone

2009-06-21T19:25:00.001-06:00

I know that you've been dying to know. Yes, it's true, I'm in the land of Twilight. Around here they call it the "Twilight Zone." Not too shocking, eh? If you've read the books by Stephenie Meyer or seen the movie then you know that the story takes place in this neck of the woods in Forks, Port Angeles and the Quileute Reservation. What you may not know is that Forks is nothing like it is in the movie or even in the book. Nothing. However, they are managing to capitalize on the novelty of being the setting of the bestselling novels. There are tours that will take you to all the hypothetical places in the books and I hear that Forks high school is holding a very interesting event in a week or so. Apparently, you can go to Forks High, just like Bella and Edward for a week this summer while school is out. I haven't heard the details, but the locals seem to find it ridiculous. Here in Port Angeles, I was told that Forks was falling apart before Twilight and that everything that is there now (a tiny main street area and a Twilight store) is because of the hype. I'm not so sure I know what to think. I know that Stephenie Meyer picked Forks out on a map without ever visiting, I wonder if she's ever been here?

La Push beach (where Bella hears the story of "the Cold Ones" from Jacob)

Forks, the Twilight store is featured - it's called "Dazzled by Twilight." I didn't buy anything. Doug wanted me to buy the t-shirt that says, "My husband sparkles."

Finally, the view from our campsite in Port Angeles. Look! You can see the mountains peeking out of the clouds, they do that a lot here. Very pretty. You can go to the restaurant that Edward took Bella on their "first date." Apparently, you can get the mushroom ravioli that she ate. Get this, the name of the restaurant is Bella Italia. I can't remember, was that was what it was called in the book? Someone go look that up and get back to me.

Folks around here seem to think that this whole Twilight thing is a lot of silliness. They seem to like it, but I'll tell you, they think the rest of the nation is sort of ridiculous. Never-the-less, almost everybody has a Twilight poster and they don't seem to be cashing in desperately. Just quietly enjoying their unexpected fame... From what I've seen anyway... I could be totally wrong. As for Doug, he suggests that the teenage boys around here try acting like Edward to get chicks. Dazzling.

La Push

2009-06-21T19:23:00.001-06:00

After our short walk through Hoh National Rainforest we decided to visit La Push, which is on the Quileute Nation Reservation. It was Doug's first time seeing the Pacific Ocean, so that was neat moment for me. As soon as we got there we were greeted by a lovely dog. He wouldn't let me take a picture of his face without trying to lick the camera, but you can see his fluffy tail, below. He was so sweet and he hung around us while Doug gave him some water. Then he left us for some kids with snacks. Fickle pup.

Hairy Trees

2009-06-21T19:21:00.001-06:00

Yesterday we went to the Hoh National Rainforest. Is rainforest one word? I don't really have the energy to Google it right now. Anyway, it was very cool, the trees look like they're growing hair. Typical to what you think you might find in a rainforest, it rained, so I didn't go taking tons and tons of pictures for fear that I'd get the camera doused.

Here is my darling boy, pretending that he is discovering the tree roots for the first time. Of course we were on a paved path with a fence, so it's all a cruel ruse.

Next, we have Doug explaining spelunking to me in the middle of the rainforest. Believe it or not, it actually had some relevant context, you just can't see it in the picture. There was a tree with exposed roots that one, theoretically, could have crawled through.

And finally, after I'd gone to all the effort to NOT get the camera wet I made Doug have a tiny little aneurysm by dangling the camera dangerously close to the water in this stream to get this shot. I said "sorry."

I hate needles.

2009-06-20T23:45:00.001-06:00

I see absolutely no point in going up in high things just because they are high. However, we had the tickets and so I went up in the Space Needle. I refused to go outside on the deck: I'M VERY AFRAID OF HEIGHTS. I was not wasting my up-high-brave-points on a tower that looks like a spaceship. I'm still recovering from the scary switchback hike in Grand Teton. So, here's Doug, and a bunch of other folks, enjoying the view.

Nerd-tacular

2009-06-20T23:35:00.001-06:00

While in Seattle, we bought this little packet of tickets that got us into a bunch of iconic "Seattle" type places. We got to go on a cruise in Elliott Bay, up in the Space Needle, the zoo and the Sci-Fi museum. We were tricked into thinking that we were going to be able to see Star Trek again in the IMAX, but that was a giant lie. At least the Sci-Fi museum, while not what I'd call "iconic" was pretty neat-o and had some Star Trek features.... Pretty sure we weren't supposed to be taking pictures, but I didn't see that sign 'til after. Promise.

So here's Doug with the original series set-up.

This is the actual 3-D model that they used for the movie "The Fountain." If you haven't seen that movie, you should.

Below, is a book about slide rules, Doug made me take a picture of it. Don't know why.

This is where I found out we weren't supposed to be taking pictures. Riiiiiight after I took a picture of The Dark Crystal exhibit. Sorry bout that. Luckily, all these pictures are really crappy in quality, so the Sci-Fi museum doesn't have to be mad.

Sleeping in Seattle

2009-06-16T21:22:00.000-06:00

Greetings from Seattle! Doug and I are having a great time. We checked into the Arctic Club Hotel last night and we've been having lots of fun since then. We went to the Seattle Aquarium and took a boat tour of Elliot Bay today. We're making some changes to our schedule and coming home a little sooner, so check for updates, coming soon!

Brave New Girl

2009-06-14T18:59:00.001-06:00

Here's me hiking. For those who are dying to know, yes, that is a John Deere cap I'm sporting. I liked it because it was pink and green and cute. So sue me. See how big I'm smiling? That's because I love hiking. I like camping too, just not as much as hiking. Sometimes I don't love camping so much for many days in a row. Please don't misunderstand me, I like to camp. I think part of the problem is that staying at KOA often means sacrificing scenery for showers. And I do love to shower. But I also love scenery. I'm so torn. This KOA is not scenic. It is bordered by a train track (a giant train just went by and shook the entire campground) and two trailer parks. There is a huge chain link fence that surrounds the place and closes at night. This KOA seems to be more of a seasonal RV parking spot, which is cool for the folks who do that, just not for us.

Anyway, Doug and I made some decisions about the rest of our trip and we're probably coming home about a week early in favor of spending an extra day in Seattle. Truth be told, when we stopped in at Lake Coeur D'Alene today I wasn't too impressed. Coeur D'Alene itself is absolutely adorable. It's a gorgeous lake/resort town and I'd love to stay there and go sailing and have nice, cute dinners on the posh Main Street area. But it all seemed pretty touristy and the hiking seemed like it was going to be more of the same. After doing a couple of touristy trails in Yellowstone and Glacier I think we both felt that we wanted to trade a couple days of crowded hiking for an extra day in Seattle. It seems to be high season here in Coeur D'Alene. We've been pretty lucky so far, most of the places we've been have been empty-ish. Believe me, I know that's not going to last.

We're such city kids.

Why so sad, Pookerton Bear?

2009-06-14T18:37:00.001-06:00

This is the face I make when my hike is canceled because there are grizzly bears all over the place.

Apparently, we entered Glacier at the best time to see bears. Sadly, we weren't given the chance to see any (sad for Doug, I had NO desire to see a bear). By the time we'd hiked about a mile up the trail we noticed people streaming back down the other way. Nobody said anything to us until a group of rather stoned-looking individuals laughingly mentioned to "watch out for them bears!" Which I took with a grain of salt because a) they looked stoned and b) there are so many warnings about bears at Glacier that it's hard to know what's serious and what's overly-cautious bear warnings. I understand now that it's all very serious. It wasn't until a very nice, very German couple came by that we knew that there really were bears. They explained that a mama bear and her cub were up the path about a half-mile and that's why people were fleeing. So, Doug and I turned around and sat on this dock for a little while to contemplate what we wanted to do next. A group of teenagers that were about to spear-fish came by and were excited by the news of the grizzly mama and her baby. Teenagers. They seemed to know their way about though, so I assume they weren't devoured. There is a beautiful lodge across this lake (Many Glacier Lodge) so we decided to go look around...

We were rewarded with these awesome views from the back deck of the lodge. Truly amazing. In the lobby we heard about another close-encounter grizzly sighting. Apparently a big male was eating a deer and got rather growl-y at some hikers on another trail nearby. We decided to call it good for the day, as we had no bear spray with us, and I had no courage to brave bear country without it.

This is Doug, looking jaunty on the back deck of the Many Glacier Lodge. We'd go back for a visit, in case you were wondering.

Avalanche Lake Hike

2009-06-14T18:23:00.001-06:00

I'm beginning to lose track of the days and time. When you only loosely have a schedule, I think this is what happens. Anyway, these are some photos from our hike up to Avalanche Lake in Glacier National Park. Glacier is phenomenal. First of all, the scenery is stunning, like most of the places we've been. Second, all of the water is aqua-blue! It looks a little like a theme park, but much cooler because it's real.

This is Doug, posing by the lake. I declined to have my photo taken because I was grumpy from the seven mosquito bites I grudgingly received on our way up to the lake. The hiking in Glacier was amazing, but as some of you know when I get a mosquito bite, it's pretty serious. They swell up really, really big and itch for about a week or two. Then I scar. It's not so fun. But I knew it would be a part of the trip, so I've tried not to be upset by it. I only have nine right now, so it's not so bad.

Here's the beautiful blue waterfall along the trail on our hike. I think it looks like this is a part of a mini-golf course. It's not. I wouldn't fool with you that way.

Delacey Creek

2009-06-11T20:41:00.001-06:00

Doug wanted me to pick out a hike for our last day in Yellowstone that was easy. So I picked out a six mile hike to Yellowstone's biggest backcountry lake (Shoshone) that was rated "easy." To it's credit, it would have been easy had it not been covered in snow for a good half of the way. However, on our way back there was a long portion of the trail that was covered in about a foot of snow. My feet do not make good snowshoes. I fell in a number of times and did a good bit of whining about it. It all came right in the end though we were told (during the first part of our trip) some bit about an "old" trail and a "new" trail and that kept us on our toes the whole time and was the cause of most of my whining at the end; "weeeeeeee're lost." We weren't, everything was just fine. There was a lot of rain, and so much mud I could've filled several baths, but it was very cool all the same. Shoshone Lake was huge and we were all alone, but it was raining a lot so I couldn't take pictures. Dragonfly eggs must have just hatched there, because there were dozens of the tiny ones buzzing about ineffectually. They were adorable, let me tell you.

Here was our biggest dilemma on the hike: Delacey Creek.

The creek winds throughout the hike for about three miles (though I'm sure it's much longer) and while it looks fairly innocent, it's rather frightening, actually. Though narrow, in many places it must be at least four feet deep... Possibly more, I didn't stick anything in to find out. There weren't any bridges or convenient logs, so we had to jump across. We made it (obviously) or this post would have started with a bunch of noise about falling in a creek.

We're in Glacier Lake National Park, now... Ready for more! Oh, and our campsite here is very nice. Many mozzies, but what can you do? (Chad, I'm using my little blue fan and I think it's distracting them!)

Grand Teton

2009-06-11T20:38:00.001-06:00

We're using the 1000 Greatest Places book as a kind of guide for our trip, which is really how I found out about Grand Teton National Park and the Jenny Lake hike. If we didn't have the book I'm not sure if we'd have gone, Yellowstone offers so much. Thus far, the book hasn't steered us wrong. Everything that we've done according to the book has been very accurate. The book told us that the Jenny Lake hike was beautiful, but very popular. That was true. After our hikes in Yellowstone we weren't as prepared to share the trail with other folks. Luckily, since we were doing the longer hike we only had comrades for the first half of the hike.... Comrades? That was a very nice adjective. What I meant was that people let their screaming children climb all over the rocks on a particularly treacherous patch of switchbacks and I thought I was going to die via the grubby hands of a nine year old. Deep breath. It all turned out ok. I did not kill the children and they did not kill me. Jenny Lake is gorgeous and The Grand Teton mountain range is really stunning.

The sun was actually shining, so when I set up this picture I couldn't see that bush that's blocking us. Never-the-less, it gives you an idea of how pretty things were.

I've determined that I only hike to gorgeous waterfalls or mountain lakes now. This trip is going to make me very, very hard to please. [Insert your own comment here about how hard I was to please to begin with]

There are a few other stunning pictures of this lake, but honestly, this is the only one that proves that I didn't buy a postcard. I cooked dinner staring at the lake and giggling to myself about how romantic my honeymoon is.

Old Faithful

2009-06-11T20:36:00.001-06:00

Here we are at Old Faithful, just before it erupted.

A few folks, myself included, expressed concern about the nature of my honeymoon. They (and I) wondered about all the driving, the camping and the long exposures to nature. After a few weeks of what is almost gratuitous natural beauty, I have to endorse our honeymoon choice with two enthusiastic thumbs up. Having lived in Colorado for most of my life I was pretty sure that I was being exposed to what might be the pinnacle of natural beauty in America. I wasn't sure that after I'd seen The Grand Canyon, some of the Pacific Northwest, the Everglades, Sedona and the Colorado Rockies that I could be super-impressed by nature. I was so, so wrong. Yellowstone in itself is a marvel that I'm not sure can be experienced elsewhere and then Grand Teton, which is only a few miles South is so different and so breathtaking that it would have been criminal to miss it. I'm ready to be impressed. Do your best, Nature.

Lower Falls

2009-06-08T21:47:00.001-06:00

This was an unexpected hike. Since it started snowing yesterday we thought we'd take it easy and drive around a little. We didn't know when we got out of the car that it was going to be a half mile hike down some pretty steep switchbacks. Little old ladies appeared to be doing it! The reward at the "bottom" was pretty spectacular. We were at the brink of the Lower Falls, which are taller than Niagra Falls. Doug used the Fujifilm for these, as there was nothing in the world that could get me to stick my hand over the edge with the Pentax. In fact, I could hardly look over the edge. I am such a baby.

Because of the bad weather, and the emergence of my inner princess we've been staying at a motel in West Yellowstone for the last few nights. We got to the campsite and I burst into tears when I saw that it was in a marshy area with tons of mosquitoes. I will also note that the temperature was dropping rapidly and it was raining... We'll be back to camping soon. Don't worry, I won't be like this the whole trip. An unfortunate side effect of the move to the motel is that there is only wifi in the lobby, so I'll have to be brief tonight. I have a few more pictures I'd like to share from Yellowstone, but I'll try to do that before we leave Wyoming/Montana.

Here's your little camera, dear.

2009-06-08T21:41:00.002-06:00

Mostly, I take the pictures with our new Pentax (which we love, btw) but Doug carries around my little brown Fujifilm so that he can snap pics of whatever catches his fancy. I thought I'd post a few that he's taken so far that I think are particularly fun. XOXO.

Us at Wall Drug.

Fairy Falls Hike.

I look like a giant pink marshmallow in my raincoat... It's so pouffy! But Doug says he likes the colors in this shot. :)

Fairy Falls HIke

2009-06-08T21:39:00.001-06:00

The weather really held out for us and we did this awesome 7 mile hike up to a place called Fairy Falls. One of our books says that 99% of people who visit Yellowstone never go more than a mile off the road, we're so glad we're not them! We also got a chance to be alone with one of the park's geysers, Imperial Geyser. We didn't see too many folks out on the trail, well, not many people anyway. There were, of course, plenty of bison. We had to backtrack at one point instead of completing the loop, we entered a clearing and there were thirty or so bison grazing right across our trail.

Snapshots of Yellowstone

2009-06-08T21:35:00.001-06:00

This is actually in Bighorn National Forest, which was a really nice surprise. When we left South Dakota neither of us knew that the entire trip was going to be gorgeous. Wyoming is pretty stunning.

Right before we actually entered Yellowstone four bison came charging at the car. We were shocked. However, we're old hat at it now. In Yellowstone they go wherever they please. Here's one with her baby. They're really pretty sweet... The babies anyway.

These are a just a few shots from a hike.

Faces in Rock

2009-06-08T21:30:00.001-06:00

For folks on a giant road trip we're pretty bad at touristy stuff. We were at Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore for a grand total of about and hour, total. We did watch the movie at the Crazy Horse memorial, so that was neat. But we took these pictures, just to prove we went there.

Alien World

2009-06-02T21:40:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure how great I'm going to be at blogging on this trip. I'm so worn out at the end of the day! This morning we were woken up around 5 by a bird noise that sounded pretty painful. The little bugger was just happy to see the sun, but I could have done without his squawking. We decided to take just a few shorter hikes today and then drive the Badlands Loop that goes through a significant portion of the park. It allows you to see many of the different rock formations as well as a ton of animals. Of course, we were dying to visit the prairie dog town because that is where they've relocated the black-footed ferrets. We didn't see any, so Doug took it out on the prairie dogs - see below posts for more on those shenanigans.

... Speaking of shenanigans... I almost vomited when Doug skipped out to this little precipice. Then he started waving his arms around and I could barely take the picture. There was a lot of scolding about husbands dying on honeymoons.

Here he is trying to make up with me.

Tomorrow we're getting up REALLY early to see the sunrise, so that bird won't get the best of me. We're also doing a much longer hike through the interior of the park. I'm looking forward to it, and some good sleep tonight.

I got the blues.

2009-06-02T21:29:00.001-06:00

My friend from the gas station.

I wanted to take him with me.

These pretty blue birds are all over the place here.

Blue flowers.

Doug and the Animals

2009-06-02T21:04:00.001-06:00

Doug, with his new friends.

Doug, scaring the prairie dogs.

So, it turns out that if you run at prairie dogs, making monster noises, they will make a high pitched yelping noise. All the prairie dogs in the field came out of their little holes to shake their tales and yip at Doug when he did this. Isn't he darling?

Home away from home.

2009-06-01T22:36:00.003-06:00

I am very, very tired. We did so much today. I'm all snuggled into my camp cot and Doug is snoozing next to me while I finish this up. We aren't roughing it too much. We're staying at KOA campgrounds for most of the time that we're camping. If Doug were on this trip by himself or with a tougher crew he'd probably stay somewhere a bit more rustic. But I'm a babyhead and want to take clean showers. KOA has that! It's raining a little, but we managed to get the tent set up and have dinner before anything got too wet. I took a few pictures of how things are set up...

This is the actual view from our campsite.

Look! We can still set up a tent.

Our little home.

Pooh requested a bandanna. After all, this is the West. That's a genuine Wrangler bandanna, buddy.

On the road again.

2009-06-01T22:25:00.002-06:00

I have been on a trip to South Dakota before. I was twelve or thirteen and my dad was convinced that when we moved from Indiana to Colorado that the best thing for us was to see the West. I think after several days in the car with me and my sister he and my mother were tired of road trips. I don't blame them. We argued like crazy and I was thirteen and very angsty. In all my angst, I'd forgotten that South Dakota is really, really majestic. The sky looks so big that I imagine I can see the curve of the earth. After the lush green of the Midwest the prairie is breathtaking. It was cool to see Doug's reaction when he saw the Badlands for the first time. We drove through part of the park to get to our campground and he was really amazed.

I'm pretty amazed too.

Corn Palace? What?

2009-06-01T22:15:00.001-06:00

Ok, I know you can't really see it. But that whole palace is made of corn. Doug wants me to make sure you know that it's only a corn facade. The whole thing is not actually made of corn. No, I don't know what's inside. We jumped off the highway, sped into the town of Mitchell, hopped out of the car and took these pictures. That's all.

That's a statue of corn and a guy dressed up as corn behind us. I love South Dakota.

We get by with a little help from our friends.

2009-06-01T21:59:00.002-06:00

This is Kristie and Jeff:

We love them.

This is Clyde. Bonnie refuses to be photographed. She's too sophisticated for such things.

We love them too.

We are so, so lucky to have friends like Kristie and Jeff. They took us in for four days and showed us an amazing time. Jeff is Doug's best friend from high school and we are blessed to have them as grown-up friends. We had such a great time with them in St. Peter that we actually forgot to take pictures. We played disc golf, watched cartoons, stuffed ourselves with great food, drank some kick-ass beer that Jeff made, played with the kitties, chatted up a storm, slept in and were generally shown a good time. Kristie kicked my butt on a run and Jeff got Doug out in a field to practice events for the Highland Games - which he competes in. He may have convinced Doug to sign up for later this summer. Doug in a kilt? Throwing things? Amazing.

The bottom line is that we can't say enough fantastic things about what a pleasure it was to be with our friends, that we miss for the rest of the year, for four whole days. Seriously, they're that great.

Additionally, a shout out goes to our other Minnesota pals, Alyssa and Shawn. We only got to see them for a few hours but we enjoyed every minute of it. We love you guys.

Wednesday

2009-05-27T10:05:00.002-06:00

Today, it's cold and rainy in Wisconsin. It's my kind of day, it doesn't rain enough in Colorado. Everyone in Doug's family is at work so Doug and I are tooling about the house, getting ready to leave. Both of us are finding that we need a lot of naps. Doug's on his first and I'm probably going to go for a second here in a few minutes. It seems like the end of the semester took an extra toll this year. There was a lot going on, trying to get ready for the trip and all, maybe that's why we're so pooped now. Doug set up the tent in the garage earlier, which was neat. We set up our cots and pretended to be camping. I think that will all work out well. Since we didn't get to go camping at all last summer (getting ready for the wedding sucked up all our time) we wanted to make sure that the tent was OK. It is, so we're pretty much good to go. We have one more "personal stop" this weekend. We're headed to see our friends Jeff and Kristie and Alyssa and Shawn.

At any rate, I didn't think anyone really wanted to see pictures of the rainy day, the laundry or the tent set up in the garage. Certainly, nobody wants to see any pictures of me. My left eye is almost swollen shut. It turns out I'm a little allergic to Fleet Farm... Though that was a really fun trip, I'd never been there. They have everything! But I digress; below are pictures of the ferrets. They had a little trip outside in the yard yesterday. Lego was too wild and fast for us to get any pictures of him. He kept hopping around and racing under things, towards the water, under the house, generally all the places a ferret parent doesn't want their fuzzy friend going. The other two were a bit more cooperative, though Thor gives the camera dirty looks whenever he sees it.

Here's a snippet of Thor and Oscar's trip:

Thor, giving the camera "weasel face," he would rather play than be a model.

Thor, sniffing the water. He wasn't allowed to go for a swim. We're so controlling.
***

Unlike Thor, Oscar is really good at posing for pictures, he's actually a little bit of a ham.

Here he is posing majestically in the grass.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T17:37:00.000-06:00

We're in Wisconsin now, with Doug's family. After we got here we spent a day or so resting, then we headed up North to Lake St. Germain for Memorial Day weekend. Doug's family has a great place up there, right on the lake. We spent a fun weekend eating, sleeping, fishing and napping. It was a great time. We'll be off on the next leg of our trip, to Minnesota on Thursday.

2009-05-25T17:31:00.000-06:00

Memorial Day Shenaningans

2009-05-25T17:29:00.000-06:00

Chad, with attitude at the camper.

Allison, also with attitude, at the camper.

Down to the dock.

Chad, in the lake, late at night. Now, how did that happen?

You get a line, I'll get a pole...

2009-05-25T17:21:00.000-06:00

Chad is an expert fisherman and he took us out on the lake for a couple of days, fishing. Other than my "off the dock" experiences, this was my first-ever fishing experience. I got my first fishing license and everything! I remarked to Doug later that it's the first "official" document that I've signed my name, "Allison Waechter." It really does feel like our honeymoon all of a sudden. I found out that as much as I love animals, I'm a bit mercenary when it comes to fishing. I actually liked sticking my hook through the minnow's head to bait my hook. Shocking. Perhaps if I'd had a more wholesome attitude I would have caught more than one fish the whole weekend.

Here's my darling, periwinkle rod that Chad bought me...

...And the fish I caught with it!

2009-05-25T17:04:00.000-06:00

Chad and Doug during a cocktail cruise. There's a lot of love there.

The Boys in Plaid.

Doug waving "bye-bye" to St. Germain.

Nebraska and Iowa

2009-05-21T12:54:00.000-06:00

Anyone who has made the drive through Nebraska will recognize the Arch. Doug and I have seen it several times now. We never get out to go inside, though we've heard that you can. As it is, I always take a picture of it from the car, just to prove that we were, again, there. What I often forget about Nebraska and Iowa is that there are a lot of wind turbines. Honestly, there are no pictures that can express how incredibly huge and strange they are. In certain areas, where the land is hillier you can see them rising from behind the hill and it's a little like something out of a science fiction movie. They are difficult not to stare at, as you pass them for miles and miles. It can make you feel a little sick, especially when the wind is strong enough that they're all spinning at a fairly quick clip. Doug has a vehement dislike for them, so I didn't ask him to stop so I could take a picture. These are just the best ones I could take from the car. I won't lie to you, I find them spooky.

Sunrise on Day One

2009-05-21T12:42:00.001-06:00

We left Boulder around 4 AM, after a trip to Safeway to stock up on stuff for sandwiches. You really need sandwiches on a road trip. Really, you do. Don't try to do one without them. By the time we got to Nebraska the sun was coming up. The first stop of our trip is to Wisconsin to drop our ferrets with their "grandparents" and to visit Doug's family. Since we had the fuzzy little ones with us we couldn't stop at a hotel, so we made the whole 18 hour trip in one day.

Left Behind

2009-05-21T12:35:00.000-06:00

We hit the road yesterday morning at 4 AM, but we're leaving these little cuties behind. The ferrets (Lego, Oscar and Thor) are being hosted by Doug's parents. Doug's brother, Chad, built them a fantastic enclosure that is being called "The Thunderdome." They seem to love it already. I'll have to post pictures before we leave. Don't let the photo through the bars fool you. Those ferrets love their house.

Arwen and Isis, our cats, went to stay at my mom's house. They love her (maybe more than us) so they're already in the swing of things there, from what we've heard. My mom's garden is home to birds and squirrels, whereas at our house there are only pesky squirrels. All the sunshine and open windows are a huge draw at my mom's. Plus, she's a great snuggler. :)

Last Snow

2009-04-25T15:55:00.001-06:00

RMNP

2009-04-25T15:24:00.000-06:00

Rocky Mountain National Park

2009-04-25T15:23:00.001-06:00

Moosen!

2009-04-25T15:23:00.000-06:00

Walden

2009-04-25T15:22:00.000-06:00

Sand Dunes National Monument

2009-04-25T15:21:00.000-06:00

Scuba Diving at Chatfield

2009-04-25T15:19:00.000-06:00

Aspens in Autumn

2009-04-25T15:18:00.000-06:00

2009-04-25T15:17:00.000-06:00

Winter, above Boulder.

2009-04-25T15:16:00.000-06:00

Here.

2009-04-25T15:10:00.002-06:00

Doug and I have lived in Boulder, on and off, for almost nine years now. We love it here in Colorado. We're lucky enough to have this summer off together to travel. Starting in May we're hitting the road. We'll travel through Nebraska, Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah. Before we leave our own beautiful state, I thought I'd post some pictures of what we're leaving behind.

2009-04-25T15:09:00.000-06:00