Don’t Cry For Me Argentina! (part 1)

I don’t remember whether or not I shared the story of us getting robbed (okay – not that dramatic…our car got broken into) in Argentina…so sometime I will…but in the meantime, these are the pictures from the part of our trip that we DID have a camera for.  You’ll have to give Joel credit for the captions on the pictures…these are the comments he posted on his facebook album.

The ferry from Colonia, Uruguay to Buenos Aires is called the BUQUEBUS. Every time I saw this word, it reminded me of the BBQ BUS that would grill burgers at my elementary school on track day. My Casper peeps know what I'm talking about.

The steak in Argentina is a bit better than you get from the BBQ bus.

Katy operating the elevator like a pro. This is the first elevator I have been on that requires turning a doorknob

On our flight to Salta, our Nalgene bottle leaked about a liter of water into the overhead compartment above us. We found out that water pouring through the light fixtures does not cause an electrical fire in the cabin of a Boeing 737. Good job Boeing!

Blocks of salt stacked behind a mound of salt. FUN FACT: The Salinas salt flats are one of only a couple places on Earth with more white bricks than Charlie Sheen's basement

The fearless Volkswagen GOL, ye are the salt of the earth

Argentina is very high in sodium.

Want a mountain pass road that never needs plowed? Build it out of salt!

Argentine grape juice. Malbec = winning, DUH!

Lazy Lizard

I just found pictures of this outdoor bar/restaurant in Caye Caulker.  It sounds like people just hang out on the beach at the restaurant and go snorkeling right there.  Apparently the view of the sunset from there is awesome too.

Cheap drinks, tasty appetizers, laid back atmosphere…my kind of place!

We’ll just have to check it out!!

According to Lonely Planet, it is 18 of 43 things to do in Caye Caulker.  I guess we’ll be able to keep ourselves busy if someplace this cool is only 18th on the list!

Fly Away

Joel just got back from a fun weekend getaway with his dad, uncle, brother and Grandpa in Vegas. 
I got a lot of text/picture updates (mainly from Joel’s brother) but these two pictures were my favorite!

Outdoor Paradise

I got a spring magazine from Lowes the other day and it reminded me how much I want a great outdoor living space in my home someday.
Isn’t this just beautiful?

The Boise Song!

I grew up in Boise and still consider it home.  When I stumbled across this link posted by a facebook friend I went to elementary school with, I just knew I had to share it.

And if that isn’t fun enough…I also found the Spokane song…another place close to my heart after spending 4 years there at school

Now if only I could find the Casper song….

Hunting…for mushrooms

I’m always in awe of what amazing mushrooms the Pacific Northwest has to offer.  Shopping at Pikes Place Market always yields such cool wild mushrooms like the hedgehogs we found last month.

We just signed up to become members of the Puget Sound Mycological Society but unfortunately their April class has completely filled up.  After shooting off an email out asking to get put on the waitlist I got great news back that they are hoping to open up a MAY class - fingers crossed that we’ll be able to get registered for that class as soon as it opens!

In the meantime, I guess I’ll just have to take a look at the recommended reading list and figure out if we can make it out for some of the field trips!

 

MISSING!!!

Joel and I got a pet for Christmas.  His name is Gus and he cleans our house.   
Gus cleans our floors every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but after about an hour he gets tired and goes back to his home. Since he only plays for about an hour at a time, he only does the main portion of our house on a regular basis.  When we don’t close the doors to the bedrooms, he wanders into the rooms and isn’t able to find his way home. 
The other day Joel was the last one out of the house and FORGOT to close the bedroom doors.  That evening we couldn’t seem to find where Gus had fallen asleep and somehow this sign found its way to our front door.

I think it is about time we got a real pet…but maybe not since we can’t keep track of this one!

Spring has SPRUNG!

Flowers have finally started coming out and spring is finally here!!! I hope the nice weather sticks around for awhile.

This weekend I spent a little time playing with my new camera and enjoying SPRING!

Skagit River Brewery

On our way up to Bellingham on Saturday, we made a quick stop at the Skagit River Brewery in Mount Vernon for lunch.  After pouring over the menu, we finally decided to split the Brisket Sandwich and caesar salad.


Our ratings (on a scale of 1-5):
Price:  3 – $13 for a sandwich and salad seemed a little steep for where we were but there was more than enough food in the one order for both of us for lunch
Food: 4 - It was a nice lunch, and while the meat was tender and the bbq was good, the caesar and bun for the sandwich both could have been better.
Service: 4 – The service was good and the staff was friendly, even though they seemed busy and slightly understaffed for a Saturday afternoon.

Go Gonzaga!

Go Zags!  I’ve got them winning the entire tournament…so they better not let me down (Joel is just glad I didn’t have to buy in with the bracket I made)

Spring is Coming!

We’ve got a little of this going on today.  Hopefully it sticks around for awhile.

We’re heading up to Bellingham for the day to celebrate my cousin’s graduation (far left).  When did we all grow up??

Free Luggage Tags!

KLM often has free offers for these awesome personalized luggage tags.  “Like” them on Facebook and customize your own tags!

I just ordered a set with this picture from our Argentina trip!

Mt. Saint Helens

Another amazing place in the Pacific Northwest

Loose Leaf Tea! Try for FREE!!

Teasta has a great deal going on right now.  Order 2 (different types) sample teas, use the promo code TRYME when you check out, and the tea will be shipped to you for free!!!  I just ordered the Tropical Green Tea and the Wild Blueberry Green Tea.

There are so many good flavors!

Cozumel

As I’ve said before, Cozumel is one of my all time favorite places.  I was looking back at the blog and realized that I never finished posting about our 2009 trip to Mexico.  At this point that doesn’t really matter, but I thought I’d at least share a few pictures from the Cozumel portion of the trip.

 

We rented a red slug bug to tour the island.  We rented it through Isis and found their prices to be fair and service to be good.  We’d definitely recommend them.

 

One day we spent about a half a day driving around the island.  Really it is just one big loop and if you drive the entire thing without stopping it would probably take an hour and a half or so.  We stopped at many different places and probably took 4-5 hours.

Cozumel has several different sites with ruins.  Not nearly as grand as Chichen Itza, but still really cool.  This was our stop at El Cedral.  

This is near the south point of the island.  The water was really rough and the shoreline was really rocky.

At one point on our drive we stopped and bought a coconut from a vendor on the side of the road.  It cost about $4, which is kind of ridiculous since the vendor just picks them up from the trees on the island, but it sure tasted delicious!

Also on Cozumel is a tequila museum.  I thought there would be more information on how the tequila is made..but really it was just a big store with free tastings. 

Back at our hotel, Fiesta Americana, we enjoyed blue skies, blue seas, and awesome snorkeling.  The snorkeling right out the door of the resort is actually some of the best on the island, and other snorkel tours take their tour groups there.

This was such an awesome trip!

AWESOME GAP DEAL!

Coupon for $25 off a $50 purchase (in store) at GAP when you enter your mobile phone number.

Dreaming of Summer Fun

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about what we want to do this summer.  There are still a lot of areas in the great Pacific Northwest that we haven’t yet explored.

I stumbled across this camping ground that I think would be great fun to visit.

Hopefully we’ll have a chance to pull out our trusty tent

And catch a few of these delicious creatures (I’m talking about the crab of course).

I’ve got the whole world in my house

Okay – not really…but I do want to have a map of the world as wall art around the house. 
I haven’t decided which piece I want, but with as much as Joel and I love to travel, I really think it would be a really cool addition that reflects our personalities. 
There are some modern pieces I like, such as this one (comes in a variety of colors):

Or maybe something a little more traditional (and detailed) like this one:

Beach Time!

In addition to our adventures at the ruins, our trip to Belize will give us some quality beach time. 

We’re planning to spend a portion of the vacation at Caye Caulker. 

Caye Caulker is a small island northeast of Belize City with a population of about 1,000 people.  Most everything is within walking distance and besides walking, the primary modes of transportation are bikes and golf carts– the island itself is about 5 miles long. 

I’ve read in several different places that the island reminds people of Cozumel, which is one of my all-time favorite places.  You can snorkel right off the shore, and there are apparently world class snorkeling sites less than 30 minute boat rides away.  (We definitely need to get an underwater camera…can’t miss shots like this!)

Eek!!! I’m so excited!!! I can’t wait for SUNSHINE and BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS! (Did I mention that Seattle got 1.5 inches of rain on Wednesday?  DEFINITELY ready for the sun!)

****Click on the pictures to see their website sources.