Sunday, October 18, 2009
New Truck
Here is my new big girl truck! Quite a change from a Ford Ranger. It's a silver 2009 GMC Sierra crew cab with 4 doors. Plenty of space for Brian, me, the baby, and the pups.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Vacation-New York City, New York
Finally, I am going to finish the vacation blogs!
Our view of New York City from our balcony on the cruise at 6am on 9-12-09.
Our last stop on our trip was NYC. Since we didn't board the ship on American soil, we had to be escorted through customs by security (Why? I do not know.) so we could reenter the USA. The only benefit I saw was that we got to bypass everyone else in line and get the heck out of there quicker.
After customs, we took a cab to our hotel for the night but since it was a little after 10 am by then, they did not have a room ready for us yet. No problem, we just left our luggage with the bellhop downstairs and began our sightseeing. We started about walking around some just taking pictures here and there and doing a little bit of shopping.
We got some chocolates from here!
Some of the various Broadway shows playing.
This is where the VMAs were held on 9-13-09. We went home that day.
We did a studio tour here and were able to see where Brian Williams anchors NBC Nightly News and where Saturday Night Live performances are held.
We just walked by here by got a picture anyway.
Ground Zero of the World Trade Center Site.
Eight years later, and this is pretty much all that has been attempted at a monument to honor the people that lost their lives here.
The Statue of Liberty
So after all of our sightseeing, we went back to the hotel to clean up for dinner, which we enjoyed at Red Lobster. After dinner, everyone was pretty tired so we went to sleep and headed out to the airport the next morning. We almost thought we were going to be delayed on the way back home due to a passenger mix up but it was soon corrected and we were well on our way. We even ended getting back to DFW 15 minutes sooner than expected. Now why couldn't that had happened at the beginning of our trip? Oh well, I guess it was a trip we'll never forget.
Our view of New York City from our balcony on the cruise at 6am on 9-12-09.
Our last stop on our trip was NYC. Since we didn't board the ship on American soil, we had to be escorted through customs by security (Why? I do not know.) so we could reenter the USA. The only benefit I saw was that we got to bypass everyone else in line and get the heck out of there quicker.
After customs, we took a cab to our hotel for the night but since it was a little after 10 am by then, they did not have a room ready for us yet. No problem, we just left our luggage with the bellhop downstairs and began our sightseeing. We started about walking around some just taking pictures here and there and doing a little bit of shopping.
We got some chocolates from here!
Some of the various Broadway shows playing.
This is where the VMAs were held on 9-13-09. We went home that day.
We did a studio tour here and were able to see where Brian Williams anchors NBC Nightly News and where Saturday Night Live performances are held.
We just walked by here by got a picture anyway.
Ground Zero of the World Trade Center Site.
Eight years later, and this is pretty much all that has been attempted at a monument to honor the people that lost their lives here.
The Statue of Liberty
So after all of our sightseeing, we went back to the hotel to clean up for dinner, which we enjoyed at Red Lobster. After dinner, everyone was pretty tired so we went to sleep and headed out to the airport the next morning. We almost thought we were going to be delayed on the way back home due to a passenger mix up but it was soon corrected and we were well on our way. We even ended getting back to DFW 15 minutes sooner than expected. Now why couldn't that had happened at the beginning of our trip? Oh well, I guess it was a trip we'll never forget.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Vacation-Halifax, Nova Scotia
From what we could tell of Halifax, it is pretty much a college town with a few tourist spots here and there. We went on a double-decker bus tour to a few stops around the city and the guide said there were about 5 different campuses in or around Halifax.
Below is a picture of the Citadel. It is a fort where the people of Nova Scotia used to fight battles hundreds of years ago when their enemies came upon shore from the Atlantic.
This picture was not intentional (well, the taking of it was). I just happened to be standing there when Brian decided to get the money shot and it just so happened that it looks like the cannon is aimed directly at my backside.
We enjoyed the music from a bagpipe player.
We also were able to watch the changing of the guards.
On the way back out of Halifax, we were able to enjoy the scenery.
Just before sunset, I snapped this picture of Halifax overlooking the Atlantic.
Up next, New York City aka The Big Apple.
Below is a picture of the Citadel. It is a fort where the people of Nova Scotia used to fight battles hundreds of years ago when their enemies came upon shore from the Atlantic.
This picture was not intentional (well, the taking of it was). I just happened to be standing there when Brian decided to get the money shot and it just so happened that it looks like the cannon is aimed directly at my backside.
We enjoyed the music from a bagpipe player.
We also were able to watch the changing of the guards.
On the way back out of Halifax, we were able to enjoy the scenery.
Just before sunset, I snapped this picture of Halifax overlooking the Atlantic.
Up next, New York City aka The Big Apple.
More of our Vacation
I guess I'll finish the rest of our vacation now that it's been almost two weeks since I put the beginning on here.
So, after we left Montreal and finally got to St. John, we decided to just chill on the cruise for the day since we had already missed the previous two days. We enjoyed the buffets quite a bit and did not feel guilty if we wasted some food. In our minds, we were making up for the food we didn't get to eat the days we were not on the cruise due to the delay in flight and the cruise not letting us on at the terminal when they had not left yet and we were standing there looking at the ship. We also enjoyed a nice sit-down dinner two of the nights we were there so we would not get burnt out on teh bad food from the buffets. It was also nice to have someone wait on us instead of waiting in line with half of the other passengers on the ship.
We had previously gone on a cruise in 2004 to Cozumel and Playa del Carmen out of New Orleans so we were able to join the Past Guest Reception on September 9. Basically, it was the cruiseline's way of thanking us for choosing them again and paying their salaries. By going to the recetion, we were provided a one-time pass to have free alcohol and some special-made appetizers that would otherwise be extra if we were not there. Of course, being in my condition, I did not participate in the alcohol but everyone else took advantage of the freebies.
Of course, we couldn't resist playing a little CHING CHING while in the Atlantic. I almost lost $20 in the slot machine because I forgot to cash out, but some nice gentleman that was sitting beside Brian and I told me when I came back by that it was still on the machine so I better get before someone else did. A couple days after that, Brian sat down at a slot machine and someone else had done the same thing. We never saw anyone sitting there so Brian was able to play off of $22 that was not our own. We did play a game of bingo as well because you can win a decent jackpot (if you actually win). But, at $20 per game per person, we only played one game each and decided our money was better spent doing something else.
On our first full day on the cruise, we ported in Halifax, Nova Scotia where we were actually able to do some sightseeing. On to the next blog for that update.
So, after we left Montreal and finally got to St. John, we decided to just chill on the cruise for the day since we had already missed the previous two days. We enjoyed the buffets quite a bit and did not feel guilty if we wasted some food. In our minds, we were making up for the food we didn't get to eat the days we were not on the cruise due to the delay in flight and the cruise not letting us on at the terminal when they had not left yet and we were standing there looking at the ship. We also enjoyed a nice sit-down dinner two of the nights we were there so we would not get burnt out on teh bad food from the buffets. It was also nice to have someone wait on us instead of waiting in line with half of the other passengers on the ship.
We had previously gone on a cruise in 2004 to Cozumel and Playa del Carmen out of New Orleans so we were able to join the Past Guest Reception on September 9. Basically, it was the cruiseline's way of thanking us for choosing them again and paying their salaries. By going to the recetion, we were provided a one-time pass to have free alcohol and some special-made appetizers that would otherwise be extra if we were not there. Of course, being in my condition, I did not participate in the alcohol but everyone else took advantage of the freebies.
Of course, we couldn't resist playing a little CHING CHING while in the Atlantic. I almost lost $20 in the slot machine because I forgot to cash out, but some nice gentleman that was sitting beside Brian and I told me when I came back by that it was still on the machine so I better get before someone else did. A couple days after that, Brian sat down at a slot machine and someone else had done the same thing. We never saw anyone sitting there so Brian was able to play off of $22 that was not our own. We did play a game of bingo as well because you can win a decent jackpot (if you actually win). But, at $20 per game per person, we only played one game each and decided our money was better spent doing something else.
On our first full day on the cruise, we ported in Halifax, Nova Scotia where we were actually able to do some sightseeing. On to the next blog for that update.
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