The Wilsons Go Camping

If you went on the great camping trip with the FBC Batesville crowd in 1994, you were there the last time I went camping.

Until August of this year that is.

Chris and I packed up our car and drove about 3.5 hours east to Penticton, British Columbia to our camp site with some good friends of ours.

Our home away from home

The men on the trip called our weekend "gl-amping" you know glamorous camping since we had running water and restroom facilities.

You mean people go camping without that?

 Day One:

We rode bikes to several wineries.  The area is beautiful and we could not have had better weather.

We visited five wineries on the Naramata Bench: Upper Bench, Misconduct, Township 7, Red Rooster, and Bench 1775.

Been a while since I rode a bike, but fortunately... it's like riding a bike. 

This winery had my favourite Merlot.

The view from Red Rooster winery. 

After a long day of bike riding, we ended our day with a dinner of fish and poutine. Poutine, one of the foods unique to Canada, is french fries topped with gravy and cheese curds.  Our friend's parents started the first food truck in Penticton called Jeffer's Fryzz. It's delicious!

Day Two:

This was the more relaxing day of our trip. We retraced our ride to the wineries, in our car this time, and picked up some bottles of our favourites from each winery.

Then we came back to join our friends before heading off to our next adventure.

We rented inner tubes and floated down the channel. We didn't have our cameras to take pictures but here are some pictures from their website.

Until next year....

The Wilsons Go To Seattle

Back in March, Chris and I visited Seattle for a belated second wedding anniversary trip. The east coast hogged all the snow this past winter and left the ski slopes in the Pacific Northwest bare. Whistler’s loss was Seattle’s gain as we had great 60 degree sunny weather that weekend.

This trip marked the first time we could use our Nexus cards to cross the border.  We’re able to use a “fast lane” when crossing the border as we have already gone through a customs interview and application process. Instead of taking anywhere from thirty minutes to two hours, it takes five minutes (if that) to cross.

Best fifty bucks we have ever spent!

We drove for three and a half hours before making our first stop at:

REI flagship store

We spent two hours shopping here. (And by “shopping” I mean I played Candy Crush by their beautiful fireplace while Chris found boots for ice climbing while reassuring me that 'Vertical Limit' is not realistic.)

We ended up keeping our car parked in the REI lot and walking to the sites in the downtown area.

We determined that a city-pass would be our best bet and we resolved to see as many things as we could in the short weekend we were there.

The City Pass

The city pass combines admission for five attractions for a discounted price. It also enables you to skip the long tickets lines at most places as well.

The Space Needle

The Space Needle was built for the World's Fair in 1962. The observation deck is 520 feet high.  It's a small world story- my former boss at the 9/11 Museum worked at the Space Needle before coming to NYC. That was one of the reasons I wanted to visit.

A few yards away from the Space Needle we entered the:

Experience Music Project (EMP) Museum

Chris learned just how much I don't know about Seattle’s music history (or his type of music in general) when we walked through this museum.  I was able to recount some of what I had seen on E! True Hollywood Story about Kurt Cobain though. 

It was a neat experience to trace the music scene that started in Seattle. Some of my favorite highlights included:

The guitar sculpture:

The interactive musical instruments:

First Starbucks Store

Our first "we're just friends" because he lives in California and I live in Tennessee four hour date and our first "I guess we're more than friends now" kiss, (because God works miracles!) eight months later,  happened at a Starbucks in east Tennessee.

It was fun getting to visit the first one in Pike Place Market. I’m a sucker for all things sentimental.

  

The Science Museum

The kid in us loved this museum.

We enjoyed walking through the butterfly exhibit, seeing the scary dinosaurs, and running on the hamster wheel!

Ferry Ride

After walking nonstop for the first day and a half it was nice to relax during our ferry ride around the city .

If you look closely you can see the stadium where the Seahawks play. I don't do football, but I did find it interesting when our tour guide mentioned a few years that  an earthquake registered on the Richter scale from all those 'twelfth men' jumping up and down after Marshawn Lynch scored the "Beastmode" touchdown.

Crazy.

Seattle is a great city!

Charleston Edition

I just returned from a holiday in the sun. Yes that is a shameless reference to that Mary-Kate and Ashley movie.

I flew out on the red eye flight last Thursday night and arrived in Charlotte Friday morning. I enjoy flying the red eye going west to east, because otherwise it feels like I'm on the plane forever.

Well hello there Eastern time zone.

I'm not sure how I survived flying before without TSA pre-check. We got NEXUS cards earlier this year, mostly for my trips across the border into Washington State. I'm happy that they work at the airports.

The card is like a fast pass through customs. There's a lengthy online application and an in person interview with the custom border agents.

At US airports, the NEXUS machines take your fingerprints. At the Canadian airports, the machines scan your retinas. It flashes a green light (similar to an eye doctor's office) you stare at it and voila, welcome to Canada.

There are three things I liked the most about this vacation. 

Obviously spending it with my people. They are the best.

I read three entire books cover to cover.

Enjoying morning snuggles with my sweet nephew.

The Best Yes by Lysa Terkeurst. I cannot say enough about this book. On the third page I read "we must not confuse the command to love with the disease to please."  and I knew this book was written specifically for me.

People pleasing is one of my character faults. I'm learning that it takes so much of my time and energy that is better spent on other projects and keeping me from "my best yes" on more important projects.

Love Letters by Debbie Macomber. This is the third book in a series based on a bed and breakfast  called the "Rose Harbor Inn."  The books follow the guests that stay at the B&B.

The books take place in the Pacific Northwest which is one of the reasons I enjoy reading them.  Many of Macomber's books have been made into Hallmark movies    such as "Mrs. Miracle" and the series "Cedar Cove." Her books can sometimes feel predictable, but I always enjoy a book that ties up loose ends in a nice little bow. The next one in the series, Silver Linings, comes out Tuesday, and I'm looking forward to reading it.

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. Holy Cow! I read the entire book on my five-hour flight from ATL. It has a similar feel to "Gone Girl" with many twists and turns. Emily Blunt has signed on to play Rachel in the film version and I cannot wait to see it.

Food. Nom Nom.

I love all things southern and southern food ranks up there.

We haven't been going to Charleston very long as a family so we're still finding new restaurant gems.

Page's Okra Grill came recommended to us and I in turn highly recommend it.

Crab cakes, hush puppies, fried okra, and mac & cheese

Great key lime pie!

Until next time...

The Wilsons Go To Whistler

Last weekend, Chris and I took a day trip up to Squamish and Whistler, B.C.  Our work schedules can get quite hectic and our dates take a little more planning these days, but are oh so worth the work they take to make happen.

We got an early morning start and headed up the Sea to Sky highway.

We made a stop at the Starbucks in Squamish.  My brother got me hooked on their “You are Here” mugs…My Whistler mug is the seventh in my collection.  

After nearly running out of cabinet space, I promised Chris I would only get mugs that have meaning to us (aka not just buying mugs during a layover at an airport-however tempting that might be for me.)

While we were in Squamish, Chris pointed out the Chief, his favorite rock to climb in Squamish.

It's a long way up...

We then went hiking to Brandywine Falls. It was a beautiful, warm day and the trail was not very crowded.

Chris enjoys taking photos and has graciously let me share them on my blog.

And that Johnny Cash song remained in my head for the rest of the day...

After our hike to the falls we hopped back in the car.  Our GPS stopped shortly after passing Squamish…Luckily there were plenty of street signs to direct us to Whistler.

We wandered around the village.

It reminded me of a town in a Hallmark movie. Lots of cute shops and restaurants.

We picked out a few Christmas gifts, including an ornament for our tree.

 (In July? You may think…  I know-I’m really turning into my mother. And that’s okay with me. )

We shared a cone of cookie dough ice cream from Cow’s to celebrate National Ice Cream Day!

On our way home we got to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery.

We look forward to visiting in January to go skiing for our third wedding anniversary (as long as the snow fairy visits the mountain this year!)

The Wilsons See 'Merica: Part Two

The conclusion of our trip: 

Day Four:

(734 miles)

We met up with my best friend from grad school Deidre for breakfast in Coralville. One of the nice things about moving around is that you have friends all over the place. Deidre is one of those friends where we just pick up where we left off. She visited us twice in New York and it was so nice to be able to visit her town!

So blessed to have a friend like her!

After our visit we drove quite a long ways through the Midwest. So thankful for all their farmland that produces our fruits and vegetables. It is a beautiful part of our country!

"Oh beautiful, for spacious skies"

I would most describe the Midwest as one of my favorite Dixie Chicks songs:

“Many precede and many will follow

A young girl's dream no longer hollow

It takes the shape of a place out west

But what it holds for her, she hasn't yet guessed”

Everybody join in “WIDE OPEN SPACES…”

My acapella 90s singing was not the only thing we did on this trip.

For example we also discussed sustainable energy sources and what our government needs to do about it. 

Wind Mills Galore!

After driving through Minnesota for a while and a long time in South Dakota (the 46^th least populous state) we made it to Rapid City, SD for the evening.

This was our longest travel day of our excursion and we were exhausted at the end of it.

Day Five:
(375 miles)

That morning we drove about 30 min to Mount Rushmore, nestled in the city of Keystone, SD (population 342).

As you enter the National Park you’ll go under the flags of the fifty states. Each column is marked with the year that each was state was admitted to the union. 

Representing New York, admitted into the Union in 1788!

450 thousand tons of granite were removed from the mountain to construct the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. No workers died or were seriously injured during its construction from October 4, 1927, and October 31, 1941.

Gutzon Borglum's sculptor's studio of the monument (1/12 scale)

 Did you know that Thomas Jefferson wrote the first known recipe for ice cream? Guess we know who my favorite President is now. 

We had lunch at Belle Fourche, SD before getting back on the road. We passed ever so briefly through Wyoming before entering Montana.

We passed Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, MT before stopping in Billings, MT for a yummy Cracker Barrel dinner. We spent the night at a hotel nearby.

Beautiful mountains in the distance.

Day Six:

(550 miles)

We stopped in Butte, MT (rhymes with chute, although it still made me giggle) for lunch before passing through Idaho and continuing our drive to Spokane, WA.

This would be our twelfth and final U.S. state to go through. 

Day Seven:
(430 miles)

We drove six hours to the Canadian border where we, after some minor issues, were able to enter the county.

Finally! We're close!

We settled in our hotel room in Vancouver early that evening, thankful and grateful for a safe and uneventful trip.

Mission Accomplished.