Today’s the Big day! Heading out on our fabulous Cruise in the Bahamas.
Going to be radio silent for 7 days. I’ll regale you with pictures and stories upon our return.
Dim Sum for me, but not you.
When we travel we always attempt to eat out at local places and avoid the Chains. We don’t really eat at the chains at home either.
We also always try to have something we can’t get at home.
Lunch today was Dim Sum at the little local Asian restaurant. There were mixed reviews on yelp most of which were takeout complaints.
We ventured in and I can say we were very happy with our meal. It’s not served from carts like other places which means everything is made fresh to order.
Shrimp Crepes
Beef Short Ribs
Steamed Lotus Paste Dumplings
Steamed Pork Sao Mai
Hom Sui Gok (Fried pork dumplings)
Juicy Pork Buns
All said and done we were very happy with everything we ordered.
Road Trip Fun
We arrived In Baltimore earlier today. Had a nice Fried chicken lunch then wandered the Inner Harbor taking in the sights.
Up next is dinner with a friend. Then who knows what. Happy Weekend everyone.
The Nest
So it’s been a nice relaxing pre-vacation weekend away.
Our friends called a couple weeks ago to see if we wanted to join them at their lake house dubbed The Nest.
We hit the local farmers market, had a drink at Catskill Distilling, then took a pop over to Bethel Woods the home of Woodstock 69 and 94. It’s funny that this also happened to be the 45th Anniversary of the weekend.
Below are just some of the pics that tell the story of the fun we had.
Sandy the Greyhound
Our Sandy passed away this AM in The Hubbys arms. We were all going through the morning routine before work, potty time for them, him getting dressed and them coming back in for treats before he left for work. I had left about 10 minutes before this. After giving them all treats he was walking down the hall when he heard a thunk. he found her on the floor seizing, He comforted her until the end and let her know it was her time to go and we would always love her. He called me in the car on my way work to return home and meet at the Vets to say goodbye. For a 14.5 yo she had spunk and was always looking to make sure she was part of everything in our life, butt rubs and ear-gasms were required daily affections.
This was the very first picture of her we saw from her foster home.
Sandy came to us in Jan 2006 as a re-home after we lost Crystal to cancer a few weeks earlier. The Greyhound Group President matched us with Sandy and we met her at her then foster home. Our Jonny and her bonded immediately and we knew the match was made. Sandy was named Bambi by the previous family and we were not going to keep that name (sounded too much like an adult pole dancer name). She became Sandy, never blinked an eye and knew early on she was staying with us.
Over the years there have been some interesting Pretty Kitty (skunk) stories and the special bubble bath required after such play dates. Sandy loved everyone at Meet&Greets and enjoyed going, all the while encouraging our scaredy-cat Duncan to get with the program, these people are here to see us perform, its Show Time. Sandy also helped us with 6-8 fosters over the last few years. She was a great role model to our fosters, those families know how well we treat all greyhounds in our home.
She didn’t come with us to Grapehounds this year as we knew she was too frail to go. It wasn’t the same trip as in past years but we knew she was better off staying home and resting all weekend with my sister.
Run free Sandy go find Jonny and Grandma. You will always be our toothless wonder with dragon breath and the heroine of the Pretty Kitty stories.
Below are some pictures of her including her signature look of her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
Note: The hubby actually wrote this as an email to our Greyhound adoption group. I made some minor changes to protect the unknown.
Taco Loco
Nothing beats a fabulous lunch. Las Chicas Taquerias in Owego, NY never fails to deliver on this.
Everything is made fresh here and it shows.
For starters we had Beef & Bean Dip with chips.
The hubby ordered a Carnitas Taco and a Pollo Lima Taco
I had a Carnitas Taco and a Pescado Baja.
Driving along
In my rented automobile.
The hubby is driving, I’m semi-navigating and Duncan the Greyhound is in the way back probably napping. Sandy due to her age and a bit of frail health is staying home with my sister.
It’s that time of the summer, Grapehounds weekend up in the Fingerlakes of New York.
Our first stop has become a tradition. A few years ago we found this awesome Mexican restaurant in Owego called Las Chicas Taquerias. Everything is made fresh there and it’s locally owned.
Tonight is the welcome reception/check in for the event. The real winery hopping doesn’t start until tomorrow.
There are 27 Wineries, 1 Distillery , and a Brewery. Based on previous years we have already crossed off 5 wineries that we aren’t interested in. That being said we have 6 that we have to visit. So that leaves 16 that we will most likely visit at least half of, more if time allows. Overall it will be a great weekend.
Cheers!
Hunting scavengers
So this weekend The Hubby and I teamed up (partially out of convenience) and partook in an Adult Scavenger Hunt to celebrate my Sisters 30th Birthday (which is in August). The activity was a surprise to her and based on the end result everyone who participated had fun.
Below are the images we captured as part of the Hunt, the goal was to get as many points as possible from the 30 clues and tweet them using a hashtag. My Girlfriend was the creator and judge.
Here we are Team TheBFandHusband
1984 – A picture of the number 1984
Twins – take a picture of twins
(not technically a picture we took but a picture of the Hubby and His Twin Sisters)
Party of Five – a picture of someone with 5 Children. This is a picture of my Parents. Had to involve my Mom in some way since she isn’t with us.
School Days -Take a picture of 2 or more team members playing on a play ground. Plus 2 bonus points if one team member is hanging upside down from something. Bonus point if it is at a school/playground that was important in Michelle’s life The more original the place the more points.
Bear Hug – photograph a team member hugging a bear.
Stairway to Heaven – Take a picture with team members on a staircase, one team member should look like they are sledding down the stairs. And naturally The Girlfriend had to Selfie it.
Ryann’s Raucous – Our Niece loves to take pictures with her “Silly Face” take a picture making Ryann’s Silly Face.
Somewhere over the Rainbow – Take a picture of a Rainbow, bonus points for an actual rainbow, double bonus points for a double rainbow.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road – Team members on a brick road, bonus points for a Dog.
If I only had a Brain – Team member with a Scarecrow.
Put me In Coach – Picture of Team member sliding into Home. We took this creatively, everyone else went to the softball field. I slid into my actual Home.
She thinks my Tractors Sexy -Picture of a Team Member on a Ride on Mower (I guess this is some country song).
Emmaus – Team members at the Emmaus Retreat Center (you would really have to know my sister to get this one).
Mananita – Team member giving someone flowers.
Drum Corps – A picture of the Drum Corps Logo.
It’s a Parade – Picture of members of the team with instruments marching.
Dodgeball – You can dodge a ball but can you dodge a Wrench, picture of your team members interpretation of this line.
Road Trip – Picture of the Team in the Car.
Penguin Plunge – Picture with a penguin.
Work it – a picture of a team member working at a place my sister has worked.
Danbury Whalers – a picture at the Ice Arena with a Whalers Logo in it.
30 – Picture of the Number 30.
These were all of the ones we were able to get in the 2 1/2 hours we had to get them completed. Afterwards we met at a local bar and had some drinks and a bite. The Hubby and I came in 3rd out of 5 teams, not bad since everyone else was a team of 4 and we were only 2. Naturally my Sisters Team came in first.
My Dance card is filling up
And by dance card I mean Summer. After the 4th of July that consisted of us and some friends sitting under the Breezeway gazing longingly at the pool through the rain drops I need some weekend fun.
It all begins the end of July with our annual trek to The Finger Lakes for Grapehounds weekend. This year we will most likely only be bringing Duncan with us as Sandy just isn’t dealing with old age very well. The less stress we can put on her the better she will be. We will get my sister to stay at the house with her while we are gone.
The fun will then continue on for us until the Holidays hit in December.
August we are going on cruise number 16. It has been a hell of a year and this is much needed. We debated back and forth on where to cruise from and how long and what’s the best value for the money. The Airlines pretty much helped us to make the decision to NOT fly to Fort Lauderdale (which is the port we prefer to cruise from). The Car Rental agencies helped us to make the decision to NOT fly to Houston and drive to Galveston to cruise from there (which we haven’t done since 2007).
What we did decide on was driving to Baltimore and cruising from there. This will be our 2nd time in Baltimore but our first time cruising from there. We are going to drive down Friday and spend 2 nights, our friends who we convinced to cruise with us will most likely drive down and join us Saturday night, then we leave on the cruise Sunday.
It will be a glorious 2 days at sea, then a stop in the first of 3 ports Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos. This is a new port for us and one we look forward to visiting. The Next stop is Half Moon Cay, the Carnival Cruise Lines private island, then we stop in Freeport, Bahamas (we will treat this as a sea day as we have been there done that). One last sea day back to Baltimore and then it’s the long drive home.
After that September becomes Wedding-Palooza! There are 4 weekends in September and 1 is filled with a parade, 1 so far is empty, and the other 2 are filled with Weddings of really good friends. The first one is local(ish) across the state an hour just staying overnight on the Saturday, 2 of the girls from our bowling league that I thought their wedding would never get here.
The second wedding is in WAAAAAY upstate NY practically on the Canadian border, we will spend 2 nights up there. The best part is that I get to see my friend Holly whom we haven’t seen in a few years. DAMN YOU! Why hasn’t anyone invented transporters yet.
October seems to be the only month we don’t have anything planned as of yet. There may be a Halloween party or 2 thrown in.
November finds us back up in the Finger Lakes for Deck The Halls weekend. We had so much fun last year that we may end up making this an annual trip as well. There is a vast difference in the weekends, where the greyhound one is laid back and carefree, but the Christmas themed one is up beat and energetic, maybe it’s the difference in weather.
Not much else to report here, work is work, and Drum Corps chugging along nicely with about a parade a week which is perfect.
On the Road
And away we go. Heading to Lake George, NY for a weekend away with the Drum Corps.
This weekend is The Hudson Valley Firemen’s Convention. The parade isn’t in Lake George proper as it has been previous years but it’s close enough to stay there.
The big parade is tomorrow, which as of right now we aren’t marching in due to our fire company canceling on us. We are however marching in the Fun Parade tonight. I’ve packed my tiny hat and my tutu to wear. Pics will follow later.
Fear the Drum Major 