November 29, 2006

Happy Birthday John!

Yep, John has made another successful 365 day trip around the sun; and indeed a celebration was in order. Coincidentally, Aaron also shared a birthday in late November so we all went out to celebrate with drinks at Triple Crown and lots of darts and foosball. Enjoy the pics!

There's the birthday boy, lookin' finer than ever in his 26th year!

John Leonard, John Trice, Gene,and Aaron hanging out at Triple Crown. Happy birthday John & Aaron

Think Bullseye, Feel the Bullseye, Be one with the Bullseye

November 22, 2006

Rita & Larry do San Diego

So the folks finally made it out to San Diego for a taste of So Cal living. And I think the consensus is that San Diego is a pretty darn cool place and the weather isn't so bad either :) We had a jam-packed 5 days of fun and really enjoyed sharing our new space and city favorites with family. We started out the trip with a trip by the Kashi office and then a trolley tour of downtown, Coronado Island, and Balboa Park. Saturday we drove along the coast stopping in Del Mar for a visit at Dog Beach (Miles was most excited we included this in the weekend's activities), Torrey Pines, La Jolla to check out the seals, and then finished the drive with a spectacular sunset at very scenic Point Loma. Sunday we changed gears and drove an hour north to Temecula for a day of wine tasting. Monday and Tuesday Mom and Dad were on their own as I had to go back to work but they didn't skip a beat. They drove back up to Temecula for a round of golf at Crosscreek Golf Course and on Tuesday they conquered the San Diego Zoo. Thanks for making the long flight out to the West coast we loved having you has house guests and I hope you plan another trip for next year!

Mileserific enjoying himself at the Del Mar dog beach...we could barely get him to sit still for the picture he was having so much fun running and frolicking!

Cute seals at La Jolla cove

Cheers! Me and the Folks enjoying the vino at Mt Palomar

Group shot at Ponte Winery

The Lighthouse at Point Loma with an amazing sunset and rainbow duet

November 19, 2006

Vegas Baby!

Wow, so it's been nearly a month now since we made our trek to Vegas, but we thought we go ahead and share our recap and pictures with you. The trip really was the best of both worlds. We were able to take advantage of all that is "Vegas" such as people watching, gambling, and eating good food as well as camp/hike/climb b/c really what trip would be complete without climbing! So we left Thursday after work and made the 5 hour drive up the 15 to Vegas. We actually camped the first night at Red Rocks Canyon (only 30 minutes from the heart of Vegas) and spent the day Friday climbing. It was absolutely beautiful and we thoroughly enjoyed being out in the sun and out of the office! Late afternoon Friday we changed gears and headed for the strip so that we could get settled and gear up for our first concert of the weekend. I guess I should of started out by telling you that the real purpose of our trip was to go to the Vegoose Music Festival. We saw our fav, Trey Anastasio both Friday and Saturday night and both shows didn't begin until after midnight. Friday Trey played a killer show with his band till about 2:30 am and Saturday he played with Phil Lesh and John Medeski...also equally as cool show and they played until 5:30 am. Not even 3 Red Bulls and vodka could keep me going that long, I started fading in the second set and we ended up leaving at about 5am. Brings new meaning to saying, "Vegas, the city that never sleeps". Like I said we also did all the normal Vegas activities. John played poker and did well the first night and broke even the second. I surprisingly did well at both black jack and roulette. We splurged and ate an amazing dinner at Emeril's Fish House at the MGM Grand. But probalby the highlight of the trip was on the way out of town we drove the 13 mile Red Rocks Canyon scenic drive. If anyone is venturing to Vegas in the near future we highly recommend doing the drive. It's only 30 minutes from the strip and it's like a mini Grand Canyon; truly amazing! Enjoy the pics!

A Field of Joshua Trees

Our camping spot at Red Rocks...pretty sweet place to wake up to and see the sun rising over the rocks.

Cool shot of JT

Can you find me...I'm like a Chameleon clinging to the rock.

The Vegas Strip from our hotel room at the Orleans. You can see Red Rocks way off in the distance.

Gotta love the camping stove in the hotel room....fajitas anyone? Fajitas in room 1420 come and get 'em!

Canyon shot

Well but, they do call it Red Rocks for a reason

Red and White Rocks

More dramatic looking rocks

Cool Cactus