Our trip to San Diego & #63: Go Kayaking

On Independence Day this year Bruce and I drove down to San Diego for his old roommate Brian's wedding. Since Bruce had never been to San Diego before (outside of the airport) we decided to make it a mini-vacation.

We stayed in Ladera Ranch on Wednesday night with our friends Jeff and Meredith. We saw some of the best fireworks I've seen in recent years at the show their HOA put on. We reclined on blankets and watched fireworks overhead - just like the shows I went to as a kid at my grandpa Jack's house. I felt nostalgic and happy and Jeff's and Meredith's little boy Jude is so charming and curly-headed. Bruce and I both love him.

Thursday morning we finished the drive to San Diego and went for a barefoot hike at Torrey Pines. We played on the beach all morning: finding crabs, collecting cool shells for my nephews, and playing in the surf.

We crashed in our hotel in the afternoon. It wasn't until I went to Trader Joe's that I saw that we were directly across the freeway from the LDS temple!

My cousin Liz and her husband Dave hosted us for dinner at their home. We saw them about a year ago when we went to Mesa, but they have a new baby Fritz (Frederick Russell), so it was fun to meet him and admire how big their oldest, William, is getting. William and I played chase in the back yard and also played in his sand box (shaped like a giant red crab). We shared our addiction to chocolate covered sunflower seeds with them. It's my favorite host/hostess gift these days.

Friday we woke up early to go to breakfast (forgettable place, but right on the water, which is cool), and then went sea kayaking at La Jolla coves and shores. It was my first time and I love, love, loved it! I can't wait to kayak again! We were gone for a few hours, did a little snorkeling (except for Bruce - the mask couldn't suction to his face because of his beard. oops...). Tropical snorkeling is way cooler, so he didn't miss out on much, but I loved swimming in the caves and seeing bright orange fish. I also spotted a jellyfish just before a group of people swam into it, so pretty much I saved the day!

We then went to Con Pane at Liberty Station which was fantastic! We bought tons of bread and ate delicious sandwiches and got a cinnamon roll to go. I think our favorite loaf was the rosemary bread.

That evening was the reception for our friend Brian and his new wife Silvia. We reunited with old friends - many unexpectedly - and ate great food.

That night we went to see my other cousin who lives in San Diego (Del Mar). Bruce hadn't met this cousin and his family (I have 100+ first cousins, so that's not too surprising...) and we loved visiting with them.

Saturday we drove home after going to the San Diego temple to perform some sealings. We stopped in north LA (canyon country) to meet our friend / adopted cousin Benj's son Soren (also adorable) and to give Benj and his wife Meg hugs.

A great trip! I'm only sorry we didn't eat more Mexican food :)

#53: Visit all 50 states

Remember this? Since going to Yellowstone, I've added 2 states to the mix - doesn't the Western US look much better now? I just need 3 more states to be half way to this goal and luckily I am giving myself longer than my 30th birthday to finish it :) Which states should I do next? I think Alaska should be on the list, for sure..

visited 22 states (44%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

#50 Visit Crater Lake, Oregon

View from the hike at Cleetwood Cove (National Park photo)

I was hoping to include some of the awesome pictures Bruce took when we went to Crater Lake the weekend after Labor Day, but I don't have them available yet. I'll update the post later to share them with posterity.

This was a glorious trip!

Bruce and I took Thursday and Friday off of work and drove the 8-9 hour trip up to Crater Lake National Park (near Medford, Oregon). It was a beautiful drive and we got to our campsite quite late. We car camped for 3 nights, and had 2 full days at the park.

The first day we drove around the rim (33 miles) and stopped at all of the overlooks (okay most of them). We took a picnic lunch and met a delightful retired couple. Since it was after Labor day, most of the tourists we saw were international visitors or older couples -- fewer families now that school is in.

Plaikni Falls (stock photo from Portland hiking site)

We went to the pinnacles and did a short (new) hike to a waterfall called Plaikni Falls. Then we returned to our campsite and played Rummikub, made s'mores and banana boats. It was the only night we had a fire, so we had to have all of our campfire treats that night :)

Day 2, we woke up early to go to our scheduled boat tour at Cleetwood Cove. It's one of the only trails that takes you down inside the rim along the lake. It's a very steep trail, but it was a beautiful morning and the trail is mostly in shade, so we enjoyed the hike down.

View from the western rim looking down on Wizard Island
(stock photo from a sacred destinations site. heh)

This was one of the highlights of the trip. I highly recommend that anyone who goes to Crater Lake do the boat tour -- specifically the one that drops you off at Wizard Island for 3 hours! It was so awesome! It is spectacular to be down inside the rim. After 30 minutes on a not very impressive boat, they drop you off on Wizard Island -- some folks fished, but most hiked to the summit. We did and picnicked at the top. It was fantastic! Also, I convinced Bruce to jump into the lake with me (twice!) It was cold, but it did not take the breath out of you, so I think that was actually pretty warm considering what we were prepared for :) Then the rangers picked us up and we still had about an hour on the boat touring the rim - we saw waterfalls, caves, and the Phantom Ship.

We ended the trip with a hike up to Watchman Peak at sunset. Then Sunday morning we drove home and stopped for church in Klamath Falls. It was a wonderful trip and our first of many family camping trips!

What we did (in August)

My precious sister-in-law Kristy with the Teton wildflower bouquet we collected for Bruce's mom

• Witnessed our dear friend Sarah's wedding to our dear friend Jed. Happiness! (and pictures)
• Went to Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana (barely) with the whole Christensen crew! 
• This included the beautiful Tetons, going to Yellowstone for the first (but NOT the last!) time, and family pictures :)
• I got some mild excema reaction between the fingers of my left hand. Traveling to Utah and Idaho only aggravated this*, sadly, so I had it throughout our vacation. :( 
• Bruce got very ill the day before we came home (Tuesday) **. Turns out he had an infection, but he is in good shape now with the antibiotics he got from our awesome doctor. Hooray for Dr. Tong!
• Not even a week after getting home, Bruce is off to Tahoe with his coworkers (for some reason Google did not invite spouses. Lame!). He left this morning.
• Bruce and I went without sugar in August. I went back on today and almost died.***

*Within 2 days of returning to California it cleared up. Truly California is the promised land.

**102.6 degree fever. No joke.

***I was placing an order for our anniversary cake**** and picking up some cupcakes for a friend's birthday at Icing on the Cake in Los Gatos when I decided to treat myself to the cookie dough cupcake. Big mistake. I couldn't eat another bite until another hour later, it was so overwhelmingly sweet. I had to pace myself and I just finished eating the last bite now -- 4 hours later. Unprecedented.
****I know, right? Just 6 weeks away!

#30 Witness Stuart's temple marriage

The happy couple!

Last weekend Bruce and I flew to St. Louis, Missouri to attend Stuart's wedding to Barbara Wittwer. It was extremely hot and humid, but St. Louis is so beautiful and green. We loved meeting the Wittwers, who are an incredibly sweet family, and we are so excited that Barb is now in our family!

Classic: beautiful Barbara and silly Stu :)

 We were so happy to have so many of my cousins come to St. Louis for the occasion! My Thomas cousins Glenn (with his wife Cindy & their beautiful boys + girl) and Melanie came as well as Jacob (with his wife Veronica and their sweet girls). On my mom's side (the Bradshaws), Hyrum and his wife Rae came. Jacob and my cousin Hyrum are two of Stuart's closest cousins, so it was so wonderful that they could both be there! Also, my adopted brother Dave Hodgman was there, so it really was complete.

The darling daughters of my cousin Jacob & his wife Veronica

It may seem silly to have my siblings' weddings on my list, but they really are some of the most important events I have had and hope to have in life. My brothers and sisters are some of my best friends and I love and admire all of them. It is wonderful to know that Stuart will have a best friend in Barb.

#40: Ride in a Hot Air Balloon

Happy Birthday, Bruce!

Bruce and I drove to Petaluma (up north in wine country, southwest of Napa) on Friday night. We had a really nice dinner at Le Bistro and then we planned on a sunrise hike on Saturday morning (Bruce's birthday). What better way to greet a birthday than with the sun?

What Bruce didn't know was that we were actually going to go on a hot air balloon ride. I couldn't figure out how to wake him up at 4:15AM, but luckily he has talked about a sunrise hike for awhile, so I lucked out!

While it was quite thrilling to drive up and see the huge balloons, the ride itself was very serene -- you really do just drift and float. That day we just explored the area and then settled down to watch "UP!" :)

Here is the slideshow of the ride:

Cause I'm a sucker for internet visuals

I got this via my cousin Alice via her SIL Ashley. Let's keep in mind that until my senior year of high school I had only been to 4 states: Arizona, California, Utah, and Hawaii. And I had been to 3 countries: US, Mexico, Australia. I've added 16 states and 2 countries since then. Don't you think I should add more countries to the mix? I do :)

Here are the states I've visited so far:

visited 20 states (40%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

And countries:

visited 5 countries (2.22%)
Create your own visited map of The World

6 Months

Bruce and I have been married 6 months as of last Saturday. To celebrate, we went to Arizona to attend the wedding of our mutual friend Benj Christensen. We are so happy for him and Meg :)

Photo lifted from Chris Perry's facebook. Thanks, Chris :)

It was fun to reflect on our wedding day 6 months ago - our ceremony, the day, the wonderful honeymoon afterward - and to hope the best for these two. Their wedding dinner was rather fabulous and the bride was beautiful. It was great seeing Benj's family again (since my surprise visit to them in Vienna almost 2 years ago!) as well as my grandparents, my Uncle Richard's family, and my Aunt Mary's family (with whom we stayed while in town).

Greetings from Vienna

Hello, my lovelies.

Turns out I missed my flight to Norway. I won't go into the tears and frustration, but instead will tell you I salvaged my weekend by flying to Vienna to visit the family of my dear friends Becca and Benj. It's been glorious weather and I still got to visit continental Europe for the first time. {Can I also tell you that Saturday night was the first night I slept in a bed since Tuesday? Fantastic...}

As for visiting my friends Inki and Robert, I will be in Norway May 17th next year ... I'm committed!

love to you all,
kt

Gone Fishing

Dearest Friends,

My backpack arrived today and so I am leaving for 2 weeks on vacation. I am going to Europe* and the exotic Midwest**.

I love you, I'll miss you and my iPhone, but it's time I go exploring...

xoxo
kt

*London, Bergen & Oxford
**St. Louis & Chicago

Bergen, Norway

I'm going to visit my dear friends Inki & Robert who live in Bergen, Norway in May and I was just looking at flikr sets getting excited. I thought I would make a mosaic and show you where I will be on May 15th!

MIA: why

Traveling to this (where I saved these), then taking this to visit these relations, while traveling for business here.

Where I will be until weekend.

love
kt

Sausalito

My sister Laura and I went to Sausalito last weekend. Laura started out with a mani/pedi at our favorite place (which also happens to be about 500 yards from my office), and then picked me up. We drove up through San Francisco, over the Golden Gate bridge, and took the first exit east to downtown. Even though it was overcast and drizzling, we were delighted with the beautiful sailboats and the charming mainstreet.


We found our bed & breakfast was in the heart of downtown. We checked into the very lovely Gables Inn. We had a 2-bedroom Suite "The Spruce Room":


I took a ridiculously hot bath before we went to our dinner reservation at The Spinnaker, where I ordered Sea Bass with mango & strawberry salsa. It was delicious. Laura ordered a very rich, heavy mahi with crab & brie. Wow.

We then returned early to talk late into the night (not that late) and slept a LONG while.

The next morning was a little frazzled as we found out that I had an allergic reaction to some cleaning agent / laundry / potpourri (SOMETHING) in the bed & breakfast. We had to (sadly) check out early as I was not feeling well. Luckily, it was all resolved in time for us to eat lunch at the Sausalito Bakery & Cafe. We shared a Tuna Melt and bowl of fruit before enjoying downtown window shopping & ice cream for the rest of the afternoon.


My mother was so good to help us find a reservation at the Four Seasons in Palo Alto for that night (so that we wouldn't have to cut our vacation short), and the price was half of what the B&B was, so we wrapped up our shopping and headed back to the Peninsula.

We returned crossing the Golden Gate Bridge (I took this from my iPhone)

We stopped in Menlo Park to eat dinner at Cafe Borrone and buy books at Kepler's (I splurged), and then checked into the Four Seasons.

We finished the evening snacking on the cheese, grapes, thinly sliced salami, bread & honeycomb, berries, and ginger ale we ordered from Room Service. Laura read Cold Comfort Farm, I read Thirst by Mary Oliver, and I took a golden bath (using the glittery gold bath melt from LUSH).

I'm ready for my next vacation.

Best Things about Memorial Day Weekend

• delicious BBQ pork loin sandwich at Boston Blackies
• watermelon-strawberry frescas
• seeing U of Chicago campus
• the sass (don't take that out of context)
• walking along Lake Michigan
• being with T every single day =)

Chicago

In the sun, you are the white city.
Beaming and proud, hard in the heat; Sparkling in your ivories and greys.
Stone slabbed, white peaked, you are unrelenting.
But with the moon, you bend down unto the lake: warm, caressing.
Reflecting its tones, you are gleaming, glistening, blue.

Leaving late, late tonight, returning late, late Tuesday.
So much to love about Chicago :)

Of Cherry Blossoms and General Conference

I went to Washington, DC this weekend to visit Jocie, the cherry blossoms, and to listen to General Conference. It was lovely!

ps. Jocelyn had a new sidekick...


(I'm just saying...)

My Holiday in Holladay, UT

I found my street:
If only the Distribution Center had spelled it correctly when they embossed my scriptures.

Saddddddd

Seattle Report: Pike Place Market

Friday morning I flew to Seattle for Strawbs' wedding. My first time in Washington State!

Strawbs and (now) Mrs. Strawbs!

Pike Place Market

I went with my Nielson cousins in a bus to Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle. Strawbs has 10 siblings (one is on a mission right now) and they and their spouses and I all piled in the bus. It was a nice bus. We crossed the water and had a great time listening to Strawbs give us a tour as we went downtown.

kt, delighted to be on the bus:

Lizzy's husband:

At Pike Place, we all piled out of the bus (at Pike & Pine) and split up. About half of us ate cheese together at Beecher's; cheese and mac & cheese (made with penne), and grilled cheese. My aunt Mary bought No Woman cheese. "A nutty Jamaican cheese with cloves and brown sugar." Yum.

Then, Strawbs & soon-to-be-Mrs. Strawbs took me to the fruit market, where I bought dried strawberries (wow!) and a comice pear. We also sampled white truffle oil, pumpkin butter, and lavendar raspberry jam.

The fruit was too beautiful:

We then went back to Pike & Pine and got hot chocolate and ginger snap cookies (giant three dollar cookies). They were so soft and good, I kept thinking about them all weekend and have not stopped thinking about them since.

BRB: gone to Seattle

for Strawbs' wedding!

brb

I'm in the city that I love.

Be back on Monday!