Check out the link to Pete's Pix on the right - It has been updated through Venice Beach CA on our vacation and there are some amazing pictures.
Enjoy!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Bull Dogs and Bull Frogs!
Just because we're back home doesn't mean that the baseball stops!
We went up to GreenBay to a new team in the Northwoods League, the GreenBay Bull Frogs. It's very much like the Madison Mallards (same league) and we had a lot of fun. If anyone is going to a game there - avoid the medium priced "seat-back" seats. This is a ridiculous concept of stapling a seat to a bleacher, of course with the seat there, there was no place to put Your Seat!
But the game was fun and very exciting as the Frogs came from a 4-1 deficite to win 5-4.
And the pups got a chance to play with their puppy cousins. Titan may only be 6 or 7 months old, but since we last saw him, he's grown to be a head taller than our kids.
Back home in Milwaukee, we were able to take another beer tapping-boat tour at our favorite Rock Bottom Brewery. Here are shots of the Milwaukee Skyline from lake Michigan.
And the pups, adjusting to not being on vacation - Mojo has found a new place to hang out when we're relaxing on the porch or listening to the baseball game.
We went up to GreenBay to a new team in the Northwoods League, the GreenBay Bull Frogs. It's very much like the Madison Mallards (same league) and we had a lot of fun. If anyone is going to a game there - avoid the medium priced "seat-back" seats. This is a ridiculous concept of stapling a seat to a bleacher, of course with the seat there, there was no place to put Your Seat!
But the game was fun and very exciting as the Frogs came from a 4-1 deficite to win 5-4.
And the pups got a chance to play with their puppy cousins. Titan may only be 6 or 7 months old, but since we last saw him, he's grown to be a head taller than our kids.
Back home in Milwaukee, we were able to take another beer tapping-boat tour at our favorite Rock Bottom Brewery. Here are shots of the Milwaukee Skyline from lake Michigan.
And the pups, adjusting to not being on vacation - Mojo has found a new place to hang out when we're relaxing on the porch or listening to the baseball game.
Wrap up
So after almost 7 weeks on the road we wound up right back where we started. After a brief stop in Milwaukee so Pete could start work we went back down to St. Louis for our July 3rd Cardinal game. Patty and Jeremy met us to go to the game, both of their first time in the New Busch Stadium. Unfortunatly it was a stinker of a game and we lost. But we got to see fire works from the riverfest down on the Mississippi River. Right around the top of the 8th inning, we got to see fireworks over the top of the stadium. I don't think the fireworks helped our pitcher, but they were pretty. We followed the game up by an all night (or at least until 3a) card marathon. Round Robin Eucher, I think it actually wound up being a pretty even match. July 4th we had a small picnic of yummy BBQ pork-steaks and more Eucher and then drove back to Milwaukee so Pete could work again on Thursday. I started work on a show that I'm doing in Beloit WI on Friday and I guess our vacation is officially over. Boo Hoo. But it was GREAT!!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Omaha
We are nearing the end and with some creative routing were able to spend the day in Omaha with family. Here's Pete with his God-daughter, Noelle. 
The timing was right on and our sister-in-law Ane invited us to her Uncle's fire-works party. We have heard about this annual party for years, Fire-works are her uncle's passion and he invites hundreds of people to his lake every 4th of July to see what he's been working on.
Our beach babies! Nieces Alysha, Skylar, Shayla and my God-daughter Autumn.
We headed out in time to get a good spot on the beach, the kids got to swim and we had some dinner, then settled in for some socializing before the show.
An unbelievable show, almost an hour of fireworks including some things I've never seen before. The highlight was a burst that skipped across the water back towards the beach - beautiful.
These running-water diplays were also pretty amazing. The party and the show were fantastic and a great way to wrap up the trip.
After the fireworks show while we were waiting for the traffic to clear there was time for some dancing with Uncle Pete!
Now we head back to Milwaukee so Pete can start work but after his first day, he's going to take a day off and we're back down to St. Louis to wrap up our trip where it started - at the Cardinal game in Busch Stadium!
The timing was right on and our sister-in-law Ane invited us to her Uncle's fire-works party. We have heard about this annual party for years, Fire-works are her uncle's passion and he invites hundreds of people to his lake every 4th of July to see what he's been working on.
Our beach babies! Nieces Alysha, Skylar, Shayla and my God-daughter Autumn. 
We headed out in time to get a good spot on the beach, the kids got to swim and we had some dinner, then settled in for some socializing before the show.
An unbelievable show, almost an hour of fireworks including some things I've never seen before. The highlight was a burst that skipped across the water back towards the beach - beautiful.
These running-water diplays were also pretty amazing. The party and the show were fantastic and a great way to wrap up the trip.
After the fireworks show while we were waiting for the traffic to clear there was time for some dancing with Uncle Pete!
Now we head back to Milwaukee so Pete can start work but after his first day, he's going to take a day off and we're back down to St. Louis to wrap up our trip where it started - at the Cardinal game in Busch Stadium!
South Dakota
Pete had it in his head that the sun would go down on us in South Dakota so we drove the entire width of Wyoming and around 9:00p (with a huge storm to the north of us and just a little light left we pulled into our camp in South Dakota. Even though we had a beautiful campsite, we had some drama. Our matress pump finally gave up the ghost so we had to improvise a bed of towels and lap blankets - luckily the ground was not gravel. We had a jerk of a camp host who walked right into our camp despite the protestations of Mojo and ordered us to put our torches out (there is no fire ban listed in the camp ground at this time) taking away the only light we have to finish setting up. And with only one stake left to finish securing the tent, Pete hit a root. But we got everything together and made dinner and after being in the car for almost 11 hours we went to bed. 
We got up very early and broke camp (slowly... like people who drove 10 hours one day and have another 8 hours of driving ahead of them!) And we were off to the Crazy Horse monument. I was here about 10 years ago and am anxious to pull out the pictures when I get home to see what progress has been made since I was last there. It's still an on-going work of sculpture and to get an idea of size - all of the Mount Rushmore sculpture would fit in Crazy Horse's head. The small door opening in the center is tall enough to fit a 10 story building. 
The pups were allowed to join us on the viewing porch and someone (actually from Missouri!) was nice enough to take a nice family picture of the four of us.
On to Mount Rushmore, about 18 miles away. It has also been very developed since the last time I was there. Pete loved it. It's pretty awe inspiring and they have done a great job of building up the monument as a whole with a grand plaza leading up to the monument and a big amphitheater at the base of the monument. The artist's studio is still as cool as I remember it, but unfortunatly none of my pictures turned out (showing the model and the monument in the same shot) hopefully when we get Pete's pix back, we'll have one.
Even at Mount Rushmore we can find Baseball - the ice cream shop at the visiters center is called Team Rushmore in honor of the baseball team of drillers who worked on the monument. There were lots of pictures of them playing ball with the giant president heads looking on in the background! Now we head to Omaha, driving the entire width of South Dakota!
We got up very early and broke camp (slowly... like people who drove 10 hours one day and have another 8 hours of driving ahead of them!) And we were off to the Crazy Horse monument. I was here about 10 years ago and am anxious to pull out the pictures when I get home to see what progress has been made since I was last there. It's still an on-going work of sculpture and to get an idea of size - all of the Mount Rushmore sculpture would fit in Crazy Horse's head. The small door opening in the center is tall enough to fit a 10 story building. 
The pups were allowed to join us on the viewing porch and someone (actually from Missouri!) was nice enough to take a nice family picture of the four of us.
On to Mount Rushmore, about 18 miles away. It has also been very developed since the last time I was there. Pete loved it. It's pretty awe inspiring and they have done a great job of building up the monument as a whole with a grand plaza leading up to the monument and a big amphitheater at the base of the monument. The artist's studio is still as cool as I remember it, but unfortunatly none of my pictures turned out (showing the model and the monument in the same shot) hopefully when we get Pete's pix back, we'll have one. 
Even at Mount Rushmore we can find Baseball - the ice cream shop at the visiters center is called Team Rushmore in honor of the baseball team of drillers who worked on the monument. There were lots of pictures of them playing ball with the giant president heads looking on in the background! Now we head to Omaha, driving the entire width of South Dakota!
Another kind of Wildlife
We weren't allowed to leave our pups at camp while we were in Yellowstone because they would be in danger of a wild animal attack so they were able to enjoy the park with us. There were even several places where they could join us as we walked away from the car to look at the sites. Mojo (who had NO use for the many buffalo that we saw in our travels) gave us a little scare when we stopped to take pictures of the bears and didn't close the window as much as we should have. We looked back at the car and he looked like he was going to make a break for it and show that mama bear who was boss. Nobody said he was a smart mutt! 
A rare shot of Puja up at the window. She usually keeps herself firmly planted on the floor between the seats, but we were stopped on the road because of construction and she allowed me to let her sniff out the window.
As we were leaving the park mojo discovered a new spot in the car for a nap. I don't know if it's cooler or just a different view - but it made us laugh a lot!!
Another picture that, although it doesn't do the nature justice, was a great shot of our Yellowstone experience.
A rare shot of Puja up at the window. She usually keeps herself firmly planted on the floor between the seats, but we were stopped on the road because of construction and she allowed me to let her sniff out the window.
As we were leaving the park mojo discovered a new spot in the car for a nap. I don't know if it's cooler or just a different view - but it made us laugh a lot!!
Another picture that, although it doesn't do the nature justice, was a great shot of our Yellowstone experience.
Wildlife in Yellowstone
We saw a lot of animals in the park and were fortunate enough to get pictures of many of them like this lovely deer. 
This guy could not manage to go the speed limit and backed up traffic for miles!
While we were hiking to Tall Falls we saw this mother and baby having dinner. There was another fawn that I couldn't capture because he was having too much fun leaping around in the grass ahead of mom.
This was the highlight of our trip to Yellowstone for me, we saw this mama bear and two baby's less than 50 feet from the road. They seemed completely unphased by the crowd of people taking their pictures. We saw another young bear running around on the side of the road and I snapped several picture, but they all look like big-foot sitings; indistinct and slightly blurry!
Even though we didn't get pictures of them, we saw a huge Elk our first night in the park and a Coyote that almost darted in front of our car as we were leaving the park.
This guy could not manage to go the speed limit and backed up traffic for miles!
While we were hiking to Tall Falls we saw this mother and baby having dinner. There was another fawn that I couldn't capture because he was having too much fun leaping around in the grass ahead of mom.
This was the highlight of our trip to Yellowstone for me, we saw this mama bear and two baby's less than 50 feet from the road. They seemed completely unphased by the crowd of people taking their pictures. We saw another young bear running around on the side of the road and I snapped several picture, but they all look like big-foot sitings; indistinct and slightly blurry!
Even though we didn't get pictures of them, we saw a huge Elk our first night in the park and a Coyote that almost darted in front of our car as we were leaving the park.
The Beauty of Yellowstone
We got to Yellowstone late afternoon and although there was still camping available in the park, we were told that there were a lot of people in the park ahead of us looking for spots. We ended up getting a wonderful spot at the Indian Creek campground. There are lots of rules here to keep the bears out of the campground, it's just a little disconcerting!
We tried to see everything in Yellowstone in one day. Unlike Zion, it's a lot of driving, the speed limits are only 35-45 miles an hour and sometimes that feels too fast. You have to be completely vigilant so that you don't hit any of the wildlife wandering around the park, but we managed to see a lot. We saw a lot. This is Liberty Cap, a rock formation created from an inactive geiser, but we thought it looked like our own vacation Garden Gnome!
This is an active Hot spring bubbling in the rocks.
The creek below a beautiful waterfall - one of at least seven in the park. If you look in the upper left-hand corner, you'll see Pete comuning with nature.
What trip to Yellowstone would be complete without seeing Old Faithful. We learned that it is less faithful than it used to be and we were lucky enough to arrive just 15 minutes before it erupted. It's pretty cool.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Artists peak was one of the highlights of the day at Yellowstone. Pictures will never do justice to the beauty of this artist's point.
The final stop of the day was Tall Falls. Another very pretty waterfall in the park.
We tried to see everything in Yellowstone in one day. Unlike Zion, it's a lot of driving, the speed limits are only 35-45 miles an hour and sometimes that feels too fast. You have to be completely vigilant so that you don't hit any of the wildlife wandering around the park, but we managed to see a lot. We saw a lot. This is Liberty Cap, a rock formation created from an inactive geiser, but we thought it looked like our own vacation Garden Gnome!
This is an active Hot spring bubbling in the rocks.
The creek below a beautiful waterfall - one of at least seven in the park. If you look in the upper left-hand corner, you'll see Pete comuning with nature.
What trip to Yellowstone would be complete without seeing Old Faithful. We learned that it is less faithful than it used to be and we were lucky enough to arrive just 15 minutes before it erupted. It's pretty cool.
The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Artists peak was one of the highlights of the day at Yellowstone. Pictures will never do justice to the beauty of this artist's point.
The final stop of the day was Tall Falls. Another very pretty waterfall in the park.
The road to Yellowstone
We left Zion and headed North toward Yellowstone. We made a quick stop in Cedar City so I could show Pete the Shakespearean Festival - the town has exploded in the past 12 years since I worked there, it was amazing. We headed up the entire length of Utah to Ogden (just north of Salt Lake City) 
The Ogden Rapters were home and we couldnt pass up our last chance for baseball until we see the Cards in St. Louis on the third. The park was great, the town was lovely and the view from our seats in the stadium didn't suck either!It was a pretty good game until the end when the poor Rapters coughed it up and lost to the Orem Owls.
We probably lollygaged a little in the morning, but it was worth it. We continued north after spending too much time trying to take a picture of the Great Salt Lake! We passed the Grand Tetons, the were grander than the 'Great' Salt Lake! and finally got to Yellowstone!
Zion
The grandure of Zion National Park was a huge culture shock after the over-stimulation of Vegas. We got to the park mid-afternoon and were actually able to camp inside the park. The view from our site is of a big rock formation called the Sentinel. The park is as beautiful as I remember it and Pete loved it. 
In an effort to protect the nature of the park, they have cut down on the amount of individual traffic allowed in the park. You can only drive in so far and then you have to take a shuttle to all other parts of the park. For us it was perfect. Our campsite was about a 2 minute walk to the shuttle and after setting up camp, we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening exploring the park, getting on and off of the shuttle for the things we wanted to see. 
We took a short hike up to weaping rock and listened to 400 year old water drizzling down the mountain. The whole park is beautiful After the calming effect of the park, we went back to the site, had dinner, played some cards and headed off to bed. Once again we left the rain fly off and went to sleep staring at an unbelievable number of stars. 
More Vegas
Saturday morning we slept in a little, the city that doesn't sleep is starting to catch up with us! Pete and I were on our own for a couple of hours because Dad was in a poker tournament in which he took Third Place! So we explored the MGM and New York, New York a little more since we were awake this time. We actually got to see the lions at the MGM, but they were all asleep, not very interesting. When we caught up with Mom and Dad we explored the M & M store which included a 3-D movie then the Coca-Cola store (not as cool as the M & M store) Then we went to lunch at the ESPN Zone (Pete's dream restaurant!) TVs everywhere, baseball on a big screen in front of big lounge chairs - and the food wasn't bad either!.
We walked back over to give the puppies a break and then back down to the strip. We explored Cesars Palace and watched the Atlantis show. Then prowled around FAO Schwartz and a three story trojan horse.
Then we headed back over to the Greek Isles casino for the Rat Pack Tribute show. This was a blast!! We were sitting in the front row at a big half circle booth, the guys did a great job of being the rat pack and the show was great. After the show we were off to Freemont Street to see the old-school strip and a light show. We continued to wander around downtown including a beer at the Hog and Heifer (biker bar in downtown Los Vegas!). Then we went back over to the strip to have a late breakfast before turning in for the night exhausted!
Tomorrow - Back to nature and the whirl-wind part of the trip where we see how many states and national monuments we can see in a week! But Vegas has been GREAT!
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