The Adventures of Ethan & Amanda

2010-01-30T20:18:00.000-08:00

Today is our last day in Sydney. For a last hoo-rah, Dave took us to the beach and gave Ethan a surfing lesson. Check out the video!

Day 17: 30 Jan-AU/Jan 29 -US

2010-01-30T03:30:00.000-08:00

Today, Dave and Jenny took us on a 2 hour drive to the wineries. It was an amazing drive in. The scenery was amazing, we actually saw a heard of kangaroos hoping along in a nearby field. And the country, you can't capture it's beauty in the camera. What a great last full day in the land of Aussies.

Day 16: 29 Jan-AU/Jan 28 -US

2010-01-29T03:45:00.001-08:00

Today we explored the Sydney zoo. Here's a photo of Ethan with his favorite animal. Wonderful views of the city and the bridge all over the zoo!

Day 15: 28 Jan-AU/Jan 27 -US

2010-01-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

Today we arrived in Sydney. Were staying at Dave and Jenny's with their family and Sledge the dog. Didn't do much, just arrival and Aussie BBQ for dinner. Yum!

Day 14: 27 Jan-AU/Jan 26 -US

2010-01-27T02:09:00.000-08:00

Today we went to St. Kilda beach and checked out a little bit of Luna Park and just walked the shore. There were a gillion kite surfers out, okay maybe not a gillion, but a lot. For dinner we hoped a tram and went back to Queen Victoria market for the 'night market'. Lots of food, music and drinks! Fun way to wrap up Melbourne. Sydney bound tomorrow!

Day 13: 26 Jan-AU/Jan 25-US

2010-01-26T02:05:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Phillip Island. It was well worth the 2 hour drive, we saw koalas, 'roos and watched the penguin parade at sunset. What a great place to spend the day!

Day 12: 25 Jan-AU/Jan 24-US

2010-01-25T01:59:00.001-08:00

Study and work. That's what we've been up to today. My online class started, so it's officially back to the books... or web for this semester. It's Sunday in the USA, so online time for Ethan!

Day 11: 24 Jan-AU/Jan 23-US

2010-01-25T01:54:00.000-08:00

Dinner on Hardware Lane is always a good time. Several restaurant options with host/hostesses outside bartering for your business. You can usually get a free drink out of the deal... everyone knows Ethan loves a 'free' something!

Day 10: 23 Jan-AU/Jan 22-US

2010-01-23T03:23:00.000-08:00

Today I went to the Melbourne museum. Small but had some neat stuff in it. My favorite part was the body/mind exhibits, learned some interesting stuff and reviewed some stuff I learned in CNA class.

The photo is of a blue whale skeleton. This thing was huge. *shiver*

Day 9: 22 Jan-AU/Jan 21-US

2010-01-22T03:28:00.001-08:00

Today we went to the Docklands for some touristy shopping and so Ethan could check out the expensive yachts. It was pretty overcast today, but don't let that fool you. It was a HOT one! Tomorrow we're gonna be coolin' down a bit.

Day 8: 21 Jan-AU/Jan 20-US

2010-01-20T23:48:00.000-08:00

Today Ethan and I walked around our temp-town, Hawthorne. Still not 100%, I'm takin' it easy tonight while Ethan plays another Satellite tourney. Tomorrow, I plan to do some touristy stuff...maybe.

Here we are enjoying some lattes in a little cafe on the main drag of Hawthorne. It's the closest thing we're going to get to a "cup-o-joe" here.

Guess there are some American things I miss. Cheers!

Day 7: 20 Jan-AU/Jan 19-US

2010-01-20T02:24:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no day 6. Still under the weather, down under.

Today, I was feeling about 75% so I decided to take it easy and use some public transportation instead of walking. Here's a photo of Flinders Station, one of two above-ground stations in the city. You'll also notice the round sign in the foreground... that's the stop for the FREE tourist shuttle. It goes around the entire city with a small tutorial around each stop. I took full advantage today!

Day 5: 18 Jan-AU/Jan 17-US

2010-01-17T23:40:00.000-08:00

This has been my view for the past 24 hours. Sick as a dog on holiday. Ug. Luckily, Ethan took a day off to take care of me today... well he did hit up the Sunday online tournaments, 17 hours late!

Day 4: 17 Jan-AU/Jan 16-US

2010-01-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

Today we got to our exchange house. Cozy and convenient. More pictures to come.

Day 3: 16 Jan-AU/Jan 15-US

2010-01-16T17:35:00.000-08:00

Today, in Australia, was my birthday. Ethan took me to a nice waterfront restaurant to celebrate.

The picture is a movie screen of the grill in the open kitchen... kinda neat watchin' your meat being cooked!

Day 2: 15 Jan-AU/Jan 14-US

2010-01-15T11:57:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Ethan played and I walked and walked and walked and walked around. Here's a shot taken in Queen Victoria Gardens. There are the most beautiful gardens (parks) here in Melbourne, right in the city. In the back ground you'll see the Victorian Arts Centre.

Day 1: 14 Jan-AU/Jan 13-US

2010-01-14T12:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the first pic-of-the-day. Enjoy!

We rode the ferris wheel and enjoyed the views of downtown Melbourne. We couldn't help but notice the three-legged, two-headed creature staring at us.

Viva Australia

2010-01-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

So we're off to Melbourne/Sydney for our second home exchange and so Ethan can play the Aussie Millions!

Stay tuned for 'pic-of-the-day'... and updates from the poker table!

This pic was taken in the rain

forest at the end of our San Juan trip.

Ringing in the New Year... Vieques style.

2010-01-06T08:29:00.000-08:00

For New Years we were still on the island of Vieques. The Foulkes clan surprised us with breakfast in bed!

We pretty much just hung out that day, then after exchanging gifts (A: dress, bracelet, earrings & E: "O" tickets) we headed into Esperanza to a very nice restaurant. After a wonderful meal (including the best ceviche and

fois gras I've ever had) we met the rest of the fam in the "plaza" to help them ring in the New Year.

Believe it or not, lil 'ol Vieques had a blowout. Bands, bars,

dancing and fireworks!

Felicidades!

Vieques

2009-12-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

We're having a wonderful time in Vieques. Our house is huge, it has a pool, a relaxing deck and a view of the beach that is to die for. In fact, there is a path that leads out to the ocean so it's only about a 30 second walk to the water. The past couple days have been stormy... at least it's a tropical stormy! So far we've built a sand castle, had a guacamole contest, shopped in Esperanza, opened presents, kayak'd in the BioBay and had plenty of fantastic dinners prepared by Chef Laura!

The sunset just a few short steps from our house.

Our island Christmas "tree".

Today is our anniversary and the family made us breakfast in bed. Brought it into us with candles and a card - what a nice way to wake up! Not sure what else we'll be doing to celebrate the anniversary and New Year. Ethan's got something up his sleeve... he knows I love a good surprise.

View from the upper balcony at our house.

Happy Holidays

2009-12-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone!

This year Ethan and I (along with the rest of the Foulkes crowd) will be celebrating the holiday and our anniversary in Vieques, Puerto Rico!

Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año!

Graduation

2009-12-15T16:11:00.000-08:00

I now have my CNA certificate. Here's a few pics from the graduation. We celebrated afterward, but I'm not sure why... I still have to pass my state boards then start applying for the RN program!

Guess it's just the tip of the iceberg!

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a great turkey day!

Quick update...

2009-11-24T16:20:00.000-08:00

Doing good in school.

Passed both my pass/fail midterms and got a 96% on my lecture midterm.

I can't believe midterms have come and gone. This course load is flying by!!!

Ethan is also doing well in poker.

A couple of good tournament runs the past few weeks...

let's keep up the good luck for the Aussie Millions in January!

Back to the Books!

Clinical.

2009-11-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today was my first day of patient care. What an experience! I feel like this is a really good decision that I (we) made. Besides being overwhelmed, exhausted and achey - I'm ready to get in there again next week and even more excited to start a further education program. I didn't find one nurse that didn't seem to willing to help me - a newbie. Everyone was really nice and the patients care was always kept at the utmost importance.

Thanks to everyone for all the encouragement you've been giving me! It really helps!!!

Two Day Ones

2009-10-27T21:51:00.000-07:00

Monday was my first day of lecture and lab.

Today was my first day of clinical.

Wow.

It's going to be an intense 7 weeks.

(Did I mention I'm doing a 15 week course in half the time?)

Feelings and Thoughts...

1) Motivated. BSN, RN in my future...maybe?

2) Weeks of reading ahead only helped me out the first day.

3) C.N.A. is SOOO much more than just a "certificate".

4) I hope Ethan can feed himself until Christmas.

5) I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

School

2009-10-17T16:39:00.001-07:00

Orientation... check.

Drug Test... check.

Registered... check.

Textbook purchased... check.

Uniforms bought... check.

CPR class passed... check.

TB test... check.

Physical... check.

I start school in 9 days. It was lots of preparation but I think I'm ready.

Wish me luck!!!

Wine Party/Condo

2009-08-18T11:23:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday we had a wine-n-cheese party.
It was a really good time. This gave us a good opportunity to take some 'real' photos of the place. Enjoy!

Our view.

We're the Tower on the right.

The pool.

The kitchen
and the pups.

The master bedroom.

The living/dining room.

Before the party started.

34 bottles later.

Am I Cuckoo?

2009-08-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided to go back to school. Yowzers!

It seems like it's been much longer than 6 years since I graduated from college. I've had two "careers", moved to Vegas, got married, visited Europe and traveled a bit of the US in an RV. Considering that I'm only 28, I've done quite a lot!

When I first entered college I had no clue what I was going to do. Being the first one in the fam to get a college degree, I don't think anyone really knew what to tell me to expect either. 4 years later I ended up with a Marketing degree. Not bad. Not great.

While we were in Massachusetts I really had a lot of time to think... what am I going to do once we get home? I've got the opportunity now, to make an educated decision about what I want to do. This time I will not make an uninformed, un-researched decision.

After talking to several nurses, family members, friends, etc. After hours of being online, researching campuses, online courses, certificates, degrees, etc. I've decided to take a baby step and enroll at the College of Southern Nevada.

I know, I know. You're thinking "Not that big of deal. It's just a community college." When having these thoughts, please keep in mind that I've already got 4 years of school (and 4 years of debt) under my belt. If you know me at all, I hate wasting time and money. This time around...I'll be much more efficient.

I'm going to take a 7 1/2 week program that, when completed and passed, will get me a certificate to be a Certified Nurses Assistant (CNA). The course consists of a class, a lab and a clinical. As a CNA, I will basically be a gopher for the nurses above me, doing all the grunt work. Hey, I don't mind. I like to look at it as an opportunity to shine! Actually, I am doing this course load so I can get back into the 'school routine' and see if I can handle going one step further and becoming an RN. I think if I can handle the things that I will have to do as a CNA, I can handle being an RN.

So whadda think, am I the next Nurse Ratched???

A Panoramic View.

2009-07-27T18:07:00.000-07:00

So, we've decided to make a home base in Vegas. Ethan found a great deal in the Panorama Towers (www.panoramatowers.com), which are conveniently located across the Bellagio. Soon the Harmon Connector will be finished and the Strip will be a 10 minute walk away. This will come in handy when Ethan decides to play live. It's only been a week and we think we like the condo life. The amenities in the tower include a mini-dog park, gym with fitness classes, car service and Starbucks coffee every morning. It's pretty nice so far!

We are still planning on traveling around in the RV every once in a while. In fact we have a trip planned to LA and San Fran next month. Of course we won't take off until we've thrown our house warming party! Stay tuned for more updates on condo living and photos as the new pad gets more complete!

they're back...

2009-06-23T21:41:00.000-07:00

So most of you know, by now, that we are back in Vegas. We have finally caught up with most of our friends and somewhat found a routine again. We'll call it a semi-routine. Ethan is playing at the Venetian almost everyday. I am takin' care of him, the pups and the 'home'. A few more options to keep myself busy may play out... those will have to wait for another blog. When we first got to Vegas we decided to make a couple home improvements...

We decided that the full size bed wasn't working for our combined height of 12'4, so we upgraded to a king-size Tempur-pedic.
Believe it or not, it fits!

A craigslist carpenter made us this nice storage chest as well... also serves as part-mattress holder. Good 'ol craigslist.

This upgrade was made in Massachusetts. Thanks to cousin Eric who 'helped' with this one. This used to be a regular box TV. Now is a flat screen that opens up into a cubbyhole. Very convenient and useful for RV living.

So other than my boring towel rack I hung, plant I bought and various organization racks I arranged, that's it for the home improvements.

I didn't think I would miss Vegas as much as I did. Only back for a month and I've driven the horrible rush hour traffic, got rear-ended on the Strip, argued with an irate person at the dog park...we are officially back Home.
Feels pretty good.

Goodbye East Coast...

2009-05-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

So we spent almost 2 months in the New England area. We got to see lots of beautiful country and visit lots of friends… some more than once!

April was pretty much filled with dinners/get-togethers with friends and family... and of course Ethan was able to get a few tournaments in at FoxWoods and Mohegan Sun.

May we had a bit more time to play.

I was lucky enough to get to see a little bit of Boston while up in the NE area. My best friend, Lindsay, and her boyfriend, Elliott, met us in Boston and we got to walk around the city to see the sights. We ate dinner at The Salty Dog in Quincy Market and topped the night off with a couple of cocktails at Cheers.

BTW – no one knew our name.

We were able to spend Aunt Phyllis’ birthday with her too!

It was nice to help her celebrate with a wonderful dinner by Chef Ma, some presents and a few balloons.

Later that week we went back into Boston for dinner with Ethan’s old Dimension Data ~~co-workers~~ friends. It’s always a good time with them.We had a wonderful dinner at Fire & Ice, which was a new experience for me. (Not the ‘wonderful’ part, the ‘Fire & Ice’ part.) At this restaurant, there is no real menu. There are all different types of food on ice, salad bar style. You go around and choose what food you’d like. Steak, broccoli, scallops, pasta, rice, chicken, peppers, potatoes, etc., then you take it over to the large round skillett area where 2 or 3 chefs are standing and they cook your food as you have light conversation with the person next to you. Then go back to your table eat and repeat. It’s pretty similar to Hibachi… except better.

The next weekend we drove up to Shelburne Falls, MA to camp with Dave (E’s childhood best friend), his girlfriend Cheryl and family. We did the usual camping stuff. BBQ’d, made a fire, hiked, drank beer, played horseshoes, got rained on and apparently dodged a tornado. That’s right – tornado. It was so windy that our camping buddies lost their awning on Saturday night. The weather could have been better, we had a wonderful time, and definitely a camping experience we’ll never forget!

That next Thursday we left the pups with Pops and headed to The Big Apple for another weekend with Lindsay and Elliott. We took a 4 hour train ride from Springfield, MA to Penn Station, which was another first for me. Turns out, the train is a pretty cool way to travel. Our trip to NYC was nothing short of amazing. Besides getting to spend time with my best friend twice in one month, we were able to stay in Rob & Risha’s apartment in Chelsea. For those of you who aren’t familiar with NYC (this includes me) Chelsea is the right in the city, near the Empire State Building and apparently is the gay district. What did this mean for us? Everything we needed was within walking distance, there was enough people around to make us feel not so tourist-like and there was quite a few fu fu puppy boutiques for me to drag Ethan into.

In fact, so close to the ESB that this is the view from the roof of their building.

We walked around a lot in New York, just checking out the sites. We did get to have a picnic in Central Park, ate at a few delicious restaurants (including the Foulkes family favorite Pio Pio) and have a nice brunch on Sunday. But the highlight of the trip was going to Fuerza Bruta on Friday night. This show was amazing. It’s about an hour and a half of pure craziness. It was kind of like an amped up Cirque du Soleil show, with audience participation and gallons upon gallons of water…and lots of strobe lights and techno music… and a clear ceiling that became an overhead stage as it moved up and down. Lets just say that I walked out of there dripping wet from head to toe… it was awesome.

So pardon the long (and long overdue) blog, but we were busy. We are officially headed back to Las Vegas. For how long? Who knows. Ethan will be playing the WSOP and all its surrounding events… in the meantime I’ll be playing catch up with friends in our city –

it’s been an interesting 5 months of life on the road.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

We spent Easter weekend in upstate New York. We all packed up in the RV (Ethan, me, Laura, Greg, Eric, Andy, Alex and the pups) and drove 4.5 hours to Ithaca to visit Steph (Al's girlfriend). It was an eventful ride. Ma rode up front, Ethan drove, the boys played Wii, I cleaned/prepared/hosted all while Pops talked about how great it was to be able to travel in such a way.

We got to the hotel where L&G were staying (and we were parking), met Steph and immediately took off for the vineyards! Who knew New York had vineyards...?!?! We visited three, one of which Steph and Al worked at for a short period of time. We were able to taste several different wines and five different ciders - all for a very small price I might add. (Wine tasting in Vegas is ridiculous!) The eight of us then enjoyed a nice dinner at a French restaurant in charming downtown Ithaca.

After getting kicked out of the parking lot for running the generator too long, we moved to a campsite. Luckily, Ethan found a site prior to leaving on the trip...just in case. This is where Ethan, Eric and I (and the pups) called home for the night. We left the campsite early that next morning and headed up an hour and a half to Rochester.

Uncle Robert and cousins Micheal and Julia took us to church for a nice Easter service then headed back to their house for some delicious food and family fun. The Kostin family made the dinner and the Foulkes family brought the desserts. It was a pretty awesome Easter collaboration...and everyone seemed to enjoy the Ostakaka I made.

After the dining/visiting we all packed up in the RV and headed back to Westfield...minus Robert on the back.

East Coast-ers

2009-04-06T20:23:00.000-07:00

We've been in Westfield, MA for a couple weeks now. It's been cold and rainy but we've been having a pretty good time. Ethan has played a couple of FoxWoods events... not much to report there. We've been seeing lots of friends and spending some good quality time with the fam.

Grillin' with long time friend, Mike.

Brutus had beers with his long lost friend... OB.

This weekend we're headed to upstate New York to spend Easter with Ethan's Aunt-n-Uncle + cousins + grandfather. Wish us luck... we're takin' everyone up in the RV. That's 7 passengers and two dogs! YIKES!

Ethan's birthday...

2009-03-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

...was pretty low key.

He actually played an all for nothing tournament near Fort Lauderdale the morning of. Unfortunately no great news there. (Although he did get 6th out of 54 players. Not bad in my book.) He decided weeks before that he didn't want to do his traditional Korean BBQ outing (due to lack of friends in the area) but wanted me to cook instead. No problem.

Menu

Wine: chateau ste Michelle chardonnay.

Appetizer: baked brie topped w/ carmel & nuts and served with sliced apples.

Dinner: salad, pork tenderloin with an herb de Provence/white wine sauce, garlic mash and steamed broccoli.
Dessert: birthday cake. (Angel food with a fresh strawberry sauce.)

Still in his 20's.

Cool gadget thingy - with a flashlight!

REALLY cool pocket knife with 2 blades!

Mickey Shmickey.

2009-03-15T12:45:00.000-07:00

We've been in Apopka Florida for the last week and a half. The RV Resort we're in has about 700 permanent/seasonal spots. It has a nice pool, mini-golf course and rec room. We've become buddy-buddy with two of our neighbors. The neighbor to the West a hippie in his mid-50s that lives in his trailer and does work for the campsite to make a few bucks here and there. He's a good guy... he sure does like to talk! To the East of us is an older couple (Gertrude & Rudd) from Virginia, they have a pretty cute dog and are always lookin' out for us. We actually caught them coming home late (10:30pm) last night... they were at the St. Patty's dance at the rec room and had the time of their lives! After "busting" them, they sat out and chatted with us for another half hour before turning in. We could tell that they had had a few green beers from the way Gertrude was slurring and Rudd was shaking his hips and yelling "I'm 75 and still shakin'!". It was pretty hilarious!

Last week we hit Disney World --- hard.

Monday: 1/2 of Magic Kingdom

Tuesday: Blizzard Beach

Wednesday: Epcot

Thursday: the other 1/2 of Magic Kingdom

Friday: Animal Kingdom

We decided to take the weekend off. Besides, we had to celebrate Ethan's Birthday (actually on Friday the 13th) on Saturday and Ethan's mandatory workday is Sunday. We'll be back at it tomorrow. We still have Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney to do... and we'd like to hit Blizzard Beach again. Would you believe that we're not even big Mickey fans???

Throw me somethin' mister!

2009-03-01T20:36:00.000-08:00

New Orleans was nothing short of an amazing experience. I've been racking my brain for weeks on how to write about this chapter of our lives...maybe a picture tour would be best...?

We met a new friend, Ron. The boys got competitive.

We ate crawfish on top of a building in the French Quarter.
(Yes, that's Ethan eating seafood.)

We saw a couple parades.

Some were more impressed with the parades than others. (Cutest boy in the Zulu.)

We got a few beads.

Believe it or not, there is life in NOLA outside of Mardi Gras. Really good life as a matter of fact. Ron took us to a spot in a suburb for some local fare. Catfish, alligator, gumbo...mmm!

We ended our trip with a fantastic meal at 7 on Fulton... if you're ever in the area, we highly recommend it! (Turns out that our waiter was from Henderson, NV - small world!)

We're in Apopka, FL now, about half an hour outside of Orlando. For now we're enjoying the wonderful weather, bike trails and cozy RV resort. We plan to hit Disney World this week, stay tuned for more...

State Park Livin'

2009-02-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a re-cap of this past week, not sure what we've been doing...but it's been pretty awesome.

Last Friday we went to see Disturbed at the Concrete Street Amphitheater in Corpus Christi. I'd been really anxious to see this band in concert... everyone that I'd talked to that had seen them said they were incredible. Incredible indeed. The venue was pretty cool too! I've always liked outside concerts. David Draiman's entrance really set the tone for the show. He was pushed out on a dolly in a straight jacket (Hannibal Lecter style) on stage. The drum kit is also worth mentioning. It was pretty was amazing... the biggest I'd ever seen.

Some may say I'm getting too old for this type of thing, but I've always been, and very well may always be a metal-head at heart.

On Monday, we decided to leave Jeter RV Park in Refugio and head 45 minutes SE to the WONDERFUL Goose Island State Park, near Rockport, TX. (Remember this place Ward family?) I was here, I'm guessing, about 20 years ago and took a photo at this sign.
It's no wonder we came here when I was a kid... this place is GREAT! We're parked bay side about 20 ft. from the water, about 1/4 of a mile from the huge pier and we even have our own cement picnic table. We've really taken to the "retired lifestyle" here. Ethan has been working on making best friends with our fellow RV'ers. The old folks LOVE Ethan, as you can imagine. Besides making friends, he's also been making shelves for a couple of the cabinets in our home, it's really made a difference in the kitchen believe it or not. I've put my bike to good use here. I've been trying to put a few miles behind me every day. The pups are getting plenty of exercise here too! They love it!

Here's a mini-photo tour of Goose Island.

The pier at sunrise on a cloudy day.

Needless to say we didn't see any sunrise.

Fishing pier.

Bird with a killer beak!

We are parked on Trout Street, right next to Redfish Lane.

Yes, I get a kick out of that.

We were able to catch a magnificent sunset.

Tomorrow we're going to head to Padre Island, maybe go to the USS Lexington and hit a few historical marks. We'll be in this area for another week or so, then on to New Orleans.

Oh, will we be there just in time for Mardi Gras??? Who knew...

Don't Mess with Texas.

2009-02-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

After Tunica, we headed down south to visit our nieces again. We had a short two day stop in the Kisatchie National forest in Minden, LA. It was still pretty chilly, maybe 40 degrees during the day, but the sun was shining and that was all it took to get us into the camping mood. We pulled in pretty late in the evening, because of our 2 hour miscalculation from Tunica to Shreveport... oops. We're getting pretty good at the team-work thing, so it was pretty easy getting camp all set-up. The next day we took a 10-mile hike around Caney Lake. It was great, we spent a decent amount of time outside enjoying nature, which was especially needed after the tournaments. We even saw 3 white-tailed doe on our hike, one was a little too close for comfort - man those things can jump! That night Ethan got to build a REAL fire with REAL wood in a REAL fire pit - he was extra excited. We ate our homemade beef stew (I'm getting pretty handy in the mini-kitchen) by the fire, watched the sunset on the lake and talked about how the crocodiles might eat our pups if we didn't get inside... what a lovely evening it was!

We woke up that morning and didn't want to leave the forest, but we had two little girls that were waiting for us. The drive to Ft. Worth was pretty easy. Again, we thought we'd get there earlier than we did... I guess we need to start adding an hour on to each ETA. The weekend with the girls was awesome as usual. We ate at CiCi's pizza buffet ($5/person, quality, mmmm.), went to the Ft. Worth zoo, played with the pups and other kids at the RV site and for getting good grades we treated them to dinner at the Melting Pot. Claudia enjoyed helping the waitress make the fondue and Lexi could hardly keep her eyes open. It's always so great to spend time with them. Every time we see the girls, they teach Ethan and I so much about parenting, and they don't even know it.

After a short 2 hour drive (it was really 2 hours this time) we arrived in San Antonio. We stayed at a neat RV park called Hidden Valley for a couple of days. It was a "little piece of country in downtown San Antonio". We decided that San Antonio is a pretty neat city - we even got to wear our cowboy gear! Of course, we did all the touristy stuff, took a boat ride on the Riverwalk, paid our respects at the Alamo and bought Ethan a drug rug at Market Square.

We just can't stay in one place too long...

We arrived in Refugio, TX yesterday and haven't done much, except laundry and grocery shopping. Refugio is a cute little town about 45 minutes outside of Corpus Christi. And here we are, just chillin'... not for long I'm sure.

PS - I drove the RV for the first time, through Austin and San Antonio it was pretty nerve-racking but we made it in one piece.

Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLMH5lLuoIA

Wu-sup WSOP.

2009-01-27T15:32:00.000-08:00

The time we spent in Tunica has been nothing short of an interesting experience. Despite the lack of things to do, cigarette smoke-filled everything, rude people and nasty weather… we had a pretty good time.

Of course we wouldn’t have stayed over a week if Ethan didn’t do so well in the WSOP Circuit Events. Out of the five tournaments that he played, he got to the final table twice. He finished 5th place (out of 514 players) on Day 1 then on Day 4 he finished 2nd (out of 905).

Now I’ve never actually sat and watched the progress of said tournaments. Everything before the final tables was pretty boring… and I’m not just saying this because I’m not a card player. Any poker player will tell you it’s not much fun being in a big conference room with 500 to 1,000 smelly men, watching them fold, check, raise, call, fold, check, raise, call…and on and on and on for hours and hours. If you earn, and keep, enough chips to make the final table you’d better be prepared to play at least 14 hours of tournament before you break for the night. The afternoon of the next day you are rewarded with the final table, usually against 8 others, which could last well into the evening. Of course at this point things get a bit more exciting. I can’t imagine the stream of emotions that the players feel. They are moved to a stage with lights that are way too hot and the tournament director’s running all over the place; microphone in mouth, pretending he knows what’s going on. Lucky for me, I was safe and secure in a chair in the corner of the stage… and still I could hardly keep it together. Shove, all-in, call, flop, turn, river… Ah! It all goes really fast… and really slow at the same time.

Watching the table go from 9 players, to 8, to 7, to 6, etc. was so stressful. I nearly had an anxiety attack. In fact, the man beside me told me to keep my sighs to myself! With this said, I now have a whole new perspective on what my husband, and other poker players, do for a living. Without putting him on a pedestal, he’s the most patient, relaxed, easy going person I know. I don’t have any idea how he holds it together at the tables… live or online.

I believe that no experience is worthless. What did I take away from this not-so-great experience in Tunica?

Poker is definitely a REAL job.

Celebratory Weekend

2009-01-18T16:49:00.001-08:00

Friday Night

We started the night out with a tour of Sun Studios. For those of you that don't know, this is where Elvis (as well as many others) recorded his first song. It was very interesting, but the tour guide was a little cheesy... I guess you'd have to be if you're speaking to a bunch of blank faces most of the day. There were lots of awkward silences.

Here's Elvis's mic. The black X is supposedly where young Elvis stood facing his band mates, Bill Black and Scotty Moore, instead of Sam Phillips, who was recording in the room behind him. Shy, much?

After the tour, we went to dinner. My favorite food (at least has been for the last few years) is sushi, so Ethan found 'the best sushi in Memphis'. Earlier that day, he had tracked down a nice bottle of Sake and a cake and delivered them to the restaurant. It was a very nice surprise and the sushi turned out to be pretty good!

We finished up dinner then headed downtown for one last surprise. The performing arts is another one of my favorite things, so Ethan got tickets to see The Drowsy Chaperon at the Orpheum. Very cute musical and a beautiful building that was entertainment in itself.

Saturday Night

We (mainly me) decided that we hadn't seen enough stuff in Memphis yet so we decided to go to the Peabody Hotel and the RockNSoul Museum downtown. We arrived at the Peabody Hotel about 3 minutes before the famous duck walk... it was packed with tourists. We ended up hearing more than seeing. But we were able see one ducks tail feathers and grab a photo by the fountain! The RockNSoul Museum was just a few blocks away and ended up to be a tour of photos and narration... next time we'll go to STAX.

We then headed over to 2nd street for some famous BBQ at Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous. The place was packed but this restaurant worked like a machine and we didn't have to wait very long for a table. We got seated right by the window of one the open kitchens. I felt like we were in the action... we even got to see Nick Vergo reprimand a couple of employees. It was great!

After a great meal of ribs and brisket we headed down to B.B. King's Blues Club for some live blues music. We got great seats in the back of the club, where the music wasn't too loud and the view was good. We even met a few people from Kansas... small world!

It was a great Birthday!

Today, we're headed to Tunica, MS so Ethan can get some work done. I guess I'll be able to spend some quality time with the pups... and the spa employees. :)

Museums...

2009-01-15T19:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was my 3rd time to Graceland and it gets better every time. Of course, the older I get, the more appreciative I am... but those tricky marketers really know how to entice you. Since I was here last, they've added the Private Presley museum and re-packaged everything to look just a bit better than before. Fortunately we are visiting the area in the off season so the lines were non-existent and we walked through the mansion pretty much by ourselves.

Ethan's favorite room was the den, aka "the jungle room". Back in the day Elvis turned this room into a temporary recording studio, turns out that the green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling made for really good acoustics.

My favorite is still the TV lounge in the basement. Something about the bright colors and the freaky monkey on the coffee table has always attracted me.

Today we visited the Private Presley and the National Civil Rights museums. The Private Presley museum was a small room filled with displays of the King's service uniforms. It took about 15 minutes to look at everything and watch the video of the press release that was recorded the day of his return to the Memphis. The National Civil Rights Museum was much more interesting. The museum was built around the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. MLK was assassinated in the late '60s. The museum is a good place to be reminded of the past and be thankful of today. We even came face-to-face with Jackie Smith, 21-year-plus protester of the energy and money spent on the museum.

Tomorrow: we celebrate.

The Desk

2009-01-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

Finally! The desk is completed. Ethan has been going on and on and on about his work desk since we talked the idea over with Sean in November. I have to say, it turned out to be a pretty nice work station/kitchen table.

Before

After

Sean and Evan pumped this desk out in about 2 days. It has a curved top, two single-door cabinets, one double-door cabinet with shelve and pullout/lazy susan printer shelve. And, yes, we still have the kitchen table to eat on. Slowly but surely this is becoming more of a home...not just a house on wheels.

After all is said and done,

I am glad that Sean & Evan got a chance to bond with their new brother. Awww.

PS - We're in Memphis, TN for the next 5 days. Off to Graceland today!

Update to Now...

2009-01-09T13:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I must say that we have done quite a LOT since Christmas. Our holiday couldn't have been better. Evan and the girls came to Vegas for a few days before we left for our journey eventually ending up in Kansas. Here's a play-by-play of our ventures so far, although this blog entry would be far too long if I went into all the memorable details.

December 28-30
Our first stop was in Oak Creek Canyon, AZ, just a few miles outside of Sedona. Come to find out, 'adult only' RV parks exist. Of course the time that we have my 6 & 10 yr. old nieces with us, I book one of them, Zane Grey. Off to a rough start! It ended up to be no big deal, the owners were very nice. And the girls were phenomenal. We had fun in AZ. We went to the Montezuma Castle National Monument & Montezuma Well. Then at dusk we walked around a small Sedona neighborhood, close to Tlaquepaque, who was having a light competition. Due to our tardiness, our admission was FREE but we were unable to vote on the best lights.

December 30-January 1
Our second stop was in Las Cruces, NM at Hacienda RV Park. This was quite a drive (about 9 hours in the RV) but Ethan did a FANTASTIC job! I only drove for about 3 minutes, then got stressed out and gave up! Claudia really wanted to go hiking so we decided to pack a picnic lunch, pack the dogs up and go to La Cueva the next day. We drove around for quite a while trying to find a 'dog friendly' trail. We decided to break for lunch then Ethan asked someone at the visitors center for a suggestion. Turned out that there was a great trail for all 7 of us about 5 miles down a dirt road. After walking for a while, Missy, Bruty and Claudia were getting exhausted so we decided to turn back and head in for some authentic Mexican food; after all, we were in Las Cruces. Needless to say our dinner was delicious and our waiter was nothing less than a character! That night we had to celebrate - it was our 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! Surprisingly I remembered to put the top tier of our cake in the RV freezer before we left. We were so grateful to spend our anniversary with our nieces and brother. It was fun to shove the cake all over our faces...again. The girls really seemed to get a kick out of the concept too!

January 1-3
E2 and I were prepared to make it to the Lubbock RV Park in TX at a decent hour on the first day of '09. Well, about half way into the 5 hour drive we got a flat on the trailer. Thankfully there was a Wal-Mart about 5 miles away. E2 got the problem fixed, while us girls stayed in the RV and watched a movie. At this point of the trip we all were pretty tired of all the running around so we decided to just take it easy. We didn't miss the chance to learn a little while we were there. Claudia, Alexis and Ethan all learned who Buddy Holly was. Even though Ev and I were stunned that Ethan didn't know who Buddy Holly was, we still enjoyed the small intimate museum in the late musician's hometown. We finished the Lubbock stay with grilling, s'mores and family Wii time.

January 3
We headed up to Ft. Worth to drop the girls off with their mom. It was a sad day, as this was the beginning of the end of this family vacation. It was a short drive to the girls' school. They were especially excited to show us their surprisingly large elementary school. We gave our hugs, kisses and shed a couple of tears and we were on our way to Kansas...less two energetic, full-of-life, loveable young ladies.

January 4-5
After a short stay in the Purcell, OK Wal-Mart. E2 and I drove a few hours to Wichita, KS. We found a service shop for the RV and packed up enough stuff for a few days to stay at my oldest brother, Sean's, house. We stayed there for a couple days and got to watch our 20 mth. old nephew, Noah... aka Cooper... aka Coop... aka Coopster. We were grateful to spend two full days with him!

January 5-present: Happy B-day to Gavin, still in Iraq (1/5). Happy B-day to Elvis & Ann (1/8).
We have now got the RV out of service and are parked at 'the school-house', just a mile outside of my hometown, Augusta, KS. Jimmy, a friend of Sean's, has had the two buildings for over 10 years and was kind enough to let us dry-camp here for a couple of days while E2 and Sean make, customize and install Ethan's work desk. The second of the two school houses on this land was built over 70 years ago and has been renovated into a studio for the artist extraordinaire, Jimmy Lytton. Also, other carpenters who are in need of a temporary workshop have a spacious work area here to build things... such as, RV poker desks.

That brings us up to the present. I feel like we've done so much already. Strengthened relationships, learned new things, celebrated and enjoyed time together and we haven't even started the Adventures of Ethan and Amanda yet!

More (and more often) blogging to come...

Before and After

2008-12-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

I thought when I started the project, there's only so much you can do with the inside of an RV. While this is a somewhat true statement, the project of replacing the 80s fabric on all the valances and their sidemates became a much larger one than expected. I was always told, a job worth doing is worth doing right. So 4 weeks after the begin date, here we are. Before and After photos.

BEFORE
AFTER

BEFORE
AFTER

I still have more decorating to do. Bull's skull to get for the front, Elvis pictures to hang, etc. Of course, you can't appreciate the true beauty of the Cresendo until you see it in person...

Poll: Class B? or not to Class B?

2008-12-18T01:43:00.001-08:00

When Ethan and I purchased our precious Crescendo, Ethan took the dealer's word when he said, "Nope, you don't need to get a different license. Your class C will do just fine". Knowing in the back of my mind I shouldn't, I ignored this little detail while making the beginning plans of our adventure. After getting asked about this several times by several different people, we decided to look into the Nevada law for ourselves. Come to find out, in the state of Nevada you need a Class B drivers license in order to drive anything over 26,000 lbs. Our home on wheels weighs approximately 32,000 lbs. We just missed it by a mere 6,000 lbs. Ethan assured me that getting the license would be no problem.

Getting your class B isn't as you might think it is. There are 4 tests you must take in Nevada to earn a class B.
a) Written test. (Typical multiple question test)
b) Pre-inspection test. (A run through to show you know how to work the RV)
c) Skills test. (A "quick" test of parking, maneuvering, backing up etc.)
d) Drive test. (The final proof that you know how to handle the bus)

After studying the 100+ page manual for a week, Ethan went and took the written test. Passed, no problem. I had full confidence. Class B permit in hand.

Ethan then went on to read forum after forum about the pre-inspection test. He found it to be a bit more involved. After studying for another week, from the online material and a homemade checklist, Ethan took the test. At this point I still had full confidence and thought he might be taking this a little too seriously. I couldn't have been more wrong. He FAILED.
(Let me just take a moment to explain how shocking this was. Not to Ethan as much but to me! Unlike myself, Ethan can't remember ANY test that he's ever failed. I was so sure he'd have no problem with any of this. I think this is where I stopped making fun of him for studying so hard.)

After studying for two more days, Ethan went back and took the pre-inspection test. Passed, onto the skills test. Within a few minutes of backing-up...he FAILED, again. AH! Unbelievable.
This will be the appropriate time to explain how Ethan was getting the RV to the testing center, 45 minutes to North Las Vegas. In Nevada, you can drive your RV if you have a permit and someone with a full Class B license in the passenger seat... Ethan found Jerry on craigslist. For $50/day Jerry would go with Ethan and the Crescendo to the testing center and wait for the result. Back to the story.

After Ethan failed the skills test, he and Jerry took 3 hours and practiced backing-up in an empty parking lot. He was sure to get his license now!

After a couple days, he and Jerry went back to the testing center for the skills test. PASSED! YES. Ethan and the testing agent moved along to the final step! The drive test. After 30 minutes of driving around the testing agent told Ethan she was cutting the test short because he's not going to pass. He needs to watch his speed in school zones but keep his speed up at all other times. ANOTHER FAIL!

Instead of paying Jerry for another day, I strongly suggested that Ethan leave the RV there for the night then go to the testing center early in the morning and go 'stand-by' instead of making another appointment. After all, it's almost go time for our trip! Nothing like waiting until the last minute. Luckily, or maybe the agents had pity on him, he only had to wait a few minutes and was taking his drive test by 8:30 am! Finally... he PASSED! After paying Jerry $150 and a few failed attempts, he finally passed!

That's the story of Ethan's Class B.
It only took 2 weeks and $150 more than expected.

Keeping what you've just read in mind, take a moment to put yourself in my shoes... now, please choose one of the answers below. What do YOU think I should do???

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

France Home-Exchange Follow-Up

2008-12-10T22:58:00.000-08:00

For those of you that are new to our blog, Ethan and I spent 3 weeks in France honeymooning/home-exchanging in August. It was a GREAT experience and to make the experience that much better, we landed a front page spot (of the travel section) in the Boston Globe. Thanks Laura!

Left: Blaison family in front of our house.
Right: Amanda on Blaison's front porch in Sannois, France.

Does this photo look familiar? Ethan took this action shot while we were crusin' our rented bikes all over Versailles.

These scans are small so if you'd like to read the article, visit this link.
http://www.boston.com/travel/articles/2008/11/30/home_values_only_grow_in_these_exchanges?s_campaign=8315

More RV blogging soon...

Photo Tour

2008-11-29T09:50:00.000-08:00

As requested, here are some photos of the inside of the RV!
I'm currently working on re-covering the 80's decor with something a little more up to date. Stay tuned for the before and after photos.

The Crescendo

2008-11-23T21:55:00.000-08:00

We've been talking about 'it' for a while now, so we finally did it! About a month ago our 41 foot long home-on-wheels arrived from Arizona. After a 2-hour run through with the delivery man and a short exchange of check for title, Ethan and I were officially Recreational Vehicle owners. My last day of work was last Thursday and the planning has begun.

We're going to do a couple of short trial runs before we head out for our roadtrip around the US! We don't have a detailed, prioritized or scheduled plan yet... and we're not so sure we'll have one at all. We are just looking forward to being on the road with our pups and having the ability to roam around the country for a while! We are so greatful to get the opportunity to do this at our age, so we are going to make the most of it!

I'll be updating the blog frequently! Feel free to comment on the first post with suggestions on where to stop on our journey.

Last Full Day

2008-08-28T04:15:00.000-07:00

Last night we planned to go to the restaurant that our exchange family had suggested. "Moulin de la Galete". We found our way there and it was closed for the summer. Ironically it opens the day we leave. It looked like a really neat restaurant and apparently it is famous for it's view and the museum right by it. The Moulin de Sannois musee was closed as well. Bummer.

We ended up at a little restaurant in Ermont Eaubonne. We had our pasta, drank our wine, ate our dessert. The woman serving us decided she liked us and gave us a free digestif.

Today is our last full day. We are sad. We're just packing up and cleaning. We brought way too much crap. I have no idea how we're going to get all of this in back to the U.S.

Au Revoir France!

Versailles & Moulin Rouge

2008-08-26T05:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday was Versailles day.
To be honest, it started out pretty miserable. We got off the RER only to find that we bought the wrong type of billet (ticket). Ethan put on his charm and we got away with only paying 6e's to get off the train instead of getting fined the 20e the other tourists were having to pay. Whew. This is yet another perk of being married to a poker player!

We walked about 2 blocks to the Versailles entrance where we stood in the longest line ever! (This was when we realized we should have taken the Versailles website seriously when they noted: "Purchase tickets in advance.") After waiting for I don't know how long, we finally paid our admission. This gave us just over 2 hours to look around, not near enough time. Good thing it started to rain! Arg.

We started out through the apartments, saw lots of paintings, really old furniture, huge fireplaces, etc. We made our way to the gardens - the security guard was nice enough to tell us to wait 15 minutes and the admission would be free. Thanks dude!

This was when the day trip started to get better! What a sight the Gardens were! It had stopped raining and since it was late in the day and getting a little cold, there was hardly anyone there! We decided to rent bikes - what a great idea this was! The Gardens is a huge area and there was no way we'd get to see as much if we were on foot. We rode down a dirt road to the Grand Trianon (Again, the late in the day factor and Ethan's smile, got us in free). This was very cool but went through pretty quickly because I didn't want to miss the Petit Trianon, Marie Antoinette's pad. We missed it by a hair - this security guard didn't really care about Ethan's charm.

We had about 20 more minutes with the bikes so we decided just to ride around the Grand Canal real quick. Well 10 minutes into the ride, we found that we hadn't even gone 1/3 of the way - it's a lot bigger than it looked! We turned around and headed back. A romantic bike ride along the Grand Canal ended the day perfectly.

Monday, Moulin Rouge.
This was fun. We got to the Moulin Rouge area pretty early. I wanted to go to some of the stores, Ethan loved it - NOT! He hates the little souvenir shops, I guess I don't blame him. He'll be glad I got that extra postcard 20 years from now! Most of the restaurants didn't open until 7 pm so we decided to have a drink before hand. After one beer, two gin fiz's and Ethan's long island incident, we headed over to the restaurant. Shortly after arriving we decided that we picked the Applebee's of fine dining in this area of Paris. Oh well, the service was good, the food was above average and the wine (as always) was great!

We walked up a couple blocks to the Moulin Rouge and headed in. It was pretty crowded, in fact, really crowded. We sat close to the back of the venue and got our free bottle of champagne. I shortly decided that it was just a headache in a bottle, Ethan didn't let it go to waste. Féerieas was a great show! It was much like a Folies Bergere show but had miniature horses and more fake singing. The costumes were incredible and the dancing/kicking kept my interest for the entire 2 hours! Very entertaining and a worth while experience. I guess you could say we ended our evening with the cancan last night!

Today starts the end of our honeymoon. We're headed into Rouen one last time. We'll have dinner with Antoine and give him back the working GPS he lent to us and head back to Sannois tonight. Tomorrow and Thursday we'll clean and pack up. Ethan might have to carry me to the airport - I have a feeling I'll make it difficult to leave.

Lazy Weekend

2008-08-24T02:43:00.000-07:00

Friday we didn't do anything. I think Ethan was exhausted from the Lille/Belgium trip, I guess I'll admit I was a little tired too. About 6 pm I was going stir crazy in the house so I talked Ethan into taking a walk up to one of the local cemeteries. The cemeteries are really beautiful here. Here's some photos of the one about 3 blocks from our 'house'.

Saturday we went to the flea market! As all flea markets are, it was filled with second hand clothes, dishes and household items, and some of the most amazing antiques and furniture ever! There were people everywhere. We bought a few items, Ethan got to haggle with a local (got him talked down from $210 to $65) and after a couple hours of exploring we found the metro and headed home.

Today is Versailles day! No haggling for Ethan.

Northern France & Belgium

2008-08-21T07:54:00.000-07:00

We arrived at The Moulin Rouge on Monday evening. It was sold out - arg! Today I went online and purchased my tickets for this upcoming Monday. At least we know when to get off the Metro now?!?

Lille
Tuesday morning we woke up and started our journey to Lille. It was only a short 2.5 hour drive and we arrived at the Jardin Vauban. This bed and breakfast place was great. It was in an old apartment building that the owner bought and renovated. The manager was Thai and offered an authentic Thai meal and 1 hour Thai massages. We decided against both. We stayed in the Chocolat Room (highly recommended by our new friends, Allen and Alex). The room is very modern - a tiny taste of Vegas life. After we dropped off our bags we ventured out.

We saw a cathedral, had a snack at a cafe and bought a couple of tarts at a boulangerie. It started to sprinkle so we decided to head back to the BnB to rest and get some warmer clothes. During my nap, Ethan put his master google'ing skills to use - he found a wonderful place to eat dinner.
The Estaminet 't Rijsel, is a Flemish pub. On our 1 mile walk it started raining, so we stopped in a really neat bar/nightclub. The bar owner had a little wispy haired terrier of some sort that greeted us at the door and almost lead us to our table (he didn't climb stairs). After our cocktail and the weather let up, and we started back at it.

We walked the cobblestone streets, people watched, and checked out the buildings. Finally we made it to our destination. We sat outside at the pub and I ordered the most delicious chicken plate I've ever had. Ethan had some ham dish. Back to the chicken, I picked up the bone and it fell right off the thigh meat. It was drenched in a "local cheese", so delicious. Ethan kept dipping his frites in my cheese, fair enough since he's the one who wanted the chicken in the first place. If you're ever at Estaminet 't Rijsel in Lille, France... order the "poulet au maroilles". Oh yeah, and take your time reading the menu books - they're ALL handwritten!

Brussles/Bruxelles
Just a short drive from Lille to Belgium, about one hour. After yelling at the GPS for a few minutes we found our way to the mid-city hotel. We checked in and decided to hit the touristy part of town. In the center Ethan found lots of chocolate places we just HAD to stop in.
After buying several Euros worth of chocolate and walking around looking at more cool buildings, touristy shops and statues we decided to find a place for dinner.

We ended up at a pretty nice restaurant. Apparently there are magic shows done by the owner every other weekend - we missed it. We did however; see some pictures of some familiar faces who had performed there - Penn & Teller, Lance Burton. Interesting enough I guess. We ordered some food, nothing special, along with our beer sampler. Ah yes, delicious. Pink, yellow, dark, etc. It was all delicious. We ordered one more for each of us, it was getting quite chilly so we decided to stumble back to the hotel.

Back in Sannois now, I cooked dinner at home. We'll go and check out Versailles next week. A tout a l'heure!

Oink. Oink.

2008-08-18T05:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday we woke up and got on the train to Paris. We stopped at a cafe and had brunch. Our meal consisted of the most delicious croissants we've had yet, cafe au lait, salad, scrambled eggs, Rose vin and cheese burgers (I ordered the salmon and ended up with a burger somehow). For dessert we had fromage blanche. This wasn't the array of soft cheeses we were hoping for, but a yogurt of some sort. Very sour if there wasn't enough sugar. On to the Eiffel Tower we went. As you can imagine, this is very toursity. Tons of people waiting in line to climb up the tower, people enjoying their picnics (among other things) on the lawns and police guarding the area. We chose not to wait in line and didn't realize that we could've brought a bottle to enjoy, so we walked around for a bit, caught the end act of some street dancers and decided to head home.

Sunday we woke up on the early side of morning and headed right down to Notre Dame. We got there about 20 minutes before the international mass started. We were able to stage our spot and get a 3rd row seat for the mass! Victory! Unfortunately for us, the mass was mostly in French. Only one reading (or the verse of the day for us Lutherans) was read in English. Oh well, it was still pretty cool. Ethan wouldn't let me take photos during the service, I guess he was probably right...but I was able to get one.

After the service we walked around the cathedral to get out and saw all the magnificent stained glass, statues and alters. Here I was able to take plenty of photos.

But the most amazing part of this place of worship is the outside.

After getting ripped off at a touristy cafe (touchy subject for Ethan) we made our way across the bridge to the boats. This was great! There are all types of boats that are there catering to all the tourists. You could have lunch on one, then grab another to take a Seine River boat tour. We decided to hop on and take the boat to Champs-Elysees. After stopping by the Jardin Des Plantes, Hotel De Ville and Louvre (to let people on and off) we arrived at our destination. The ride wasn't long, maybe 30 minutes but well worth the 12 euros ($17.65) we paid. After a longer-than-expected walk we arrived at the Arc de Triomphe. (The shops on Rue de Champs-Elysees are so strategically placed. You HAVE to walk by Louis Vuitton and all the other outrageously expensive shops to get to the Arc. Damn marketers! Ha!) It was all worth it. This was just another amazing sight. The detail of the sculpted warriors and angels on the sides of the Arc is unbelievable. The tomb of the unknown soldier is also a sight to see. After a short photo shoot and deciding not to go up, we went on our way. Don't worry - we got left.

So, call us the Griswald's, but we got a lot of sight seeing done this past weekend. We're going to plan our trips to Lille, Belgium and London today, then head down to the Moulin Rouge tonight!
I'll keep you posted!

Per your request

2008-08-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

The house we are staying in is perfect. It's cottage-like (see photo in previous blog), it's got three small bedrooms upstairs, a nice living area and kitchen on the main floor and downstairs there is a spare room, washer/dryer, freezer, etc. It's very close to the train station, which we are getting very good at taking. There is a Carrefour right down the road, so we can get fresh baguettes and croissants daily, along with paper towels, veggies, etc. It's kind of like a super Wal-Mart. We'd rather go to little markets, but sometimes necessity kicks in. Also, down a few blocks is Ville Centre (the center of town). Here we have shops, cafes, hotels, etc. Very nice just to walk around a while. The weather, pretty great here. During the day it's just right - maybe around 80 degrees. At night when it gets dark (usually about 10 pm) we put on our jackets. We had to buy a umbrella because it will sprinkle every other day, but just for a few minutes.

The night before last we went to Le Chaumiere with Karrie, Antoine and baby Abby. This was quite an experience. We drove about an hour and a half (no, we didn't get lost) to a small village outside of Rouen. We winded through the skinny roads, down the hills past the farms and on to a brick street that led us to the restaurant. Karrie knows the owner so we sat in the back of the restaurant, which we had to walk through the kitchen to get to. Pretty neat to see the cooks who are preparing your meal. The owner took our order... we had an apertif and chatted a bit. Our meals came. Veal, steak with roquefort and white fish. When the main course was finished the waitress brought out a piece of wood that had six different types of cheeses. We all chose a few and enjoyed some of the most incredible molds ever! After drinking quite a bit of Calvados we said our final goodbyes and headed home. This time we took the right highways and were in bed by 2 am!

Last night we went to Le Cafe Du Commerce. (http://www.lecafeducommerce.com)
Mary and Rich gave us a meal here (along with a strong recommendation) as a wedding gift. Thanks to both of them! We had the onion soup - mmmm! Ethan had the 'Authentique andouillette A.A.A.A.A. grillée, frites maison'. I had the 'Ravioles fraîches, fromage et champignons, gratinées au Beaufort'. My food was, délicieuse. Ethan's was...lets just say it tasted a little strong. We had red table wine (all the wine here is fantastic) with the meal and afterwards Ethan ordered the 'Dame blanche' and I had a cafe au lait. I wanted cheese, but we were way too full! The maitre'd was pleased with our willingness to try to speak French, we didn't even look at the English menus he gave us.

On to the Eiffel Tower today!

Jeanne d'arc & The Louvre

2008-08-14T00:41:00.000-07:00

We started off on our own a couple days ago. Went to Rouen on our own, parking wasn't as difficult as we thought and the communication wasn't quite a huge barrier. Went to the dungeon (donjon) where Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'arc) was kept hostage.We wanted to go in, but like most places around here, they were closed at odd hours. Did some shopping then headed back to the Mansion for dinner and a little poker before we headed out. Karrie and Antoine's friends think Ethan is a celebrity...ha!

Our 1.5 hour drive turned into a 3 hour venture. We've learned that if you take a wrong turn here in France, it's a very long way back to the way you came. Poor Ethan, I slept and he drove.

Yesterday we drove down to the city, big mistake. It's worse than driving in NYC. It took us about 1 hour to get to the Louvre. Spectacular. We walked around for about 5 hours and didn't even come close to seeing everything. We strolled down a few blocks where there was a carnival going on. Rode the ferris wheel that over looked the museum, city streets, etc.

The Mona Lisa is behind us.

I took this photo for Sean.

This is from the ferris wheel. My photography skills are getting good...eh Earl?

Enough for now. We are taking the bus/train to the city today. Hopefully that works better than driving. Then off to one last dinner with the Formosa family before they leave on holiday!

Day 2 & 3

2008-08-11T16:08:00.000-07:00

I think this will be the last time I title the blogs by days - it may become a countdown, that's not good.
I was so excited to have our first full day, I only slept 3 hours that night...oops.

Yesterday we ventured out to a small town, not sure of the name. We were originally were looking for a grocery store, never got there. We parked on the side of the street, got out and found a bakery. We decided to walk around and bought some flowers for Karrie (Abby and Antoine), Ethan's cousin.

We set the GPS, hoping it would work this time, and headed out to a small town called Les Essarts. Ethan about had a nervous breakdown at the toll booth, I about died of exhaustion, but we made it to the gas station where cousin Karrie met us. She led us down small roads through the village then we hit the dirt roads and winded our way down to the mansion. Yes, MANSION.

We had no idea that we'd be staying in a mansion built in the 1800's. Apparently soldiers stayed here during WW2, they've got the bullet holes to prove it. There is a forest of apple trees behind the 'meat house'. (This is where they would skin and prepare the meat of the animals they would eat, back in the day!) In the mansion, there are about 9 bedrooms, no insulation, a winter garden, bare floors, hidden closets, no ac, broken windows, 5 cats, one Dalmatian (Daisy, she's the cutest thing ever!), etc. It's awesome, I could go on and on and on. We're in heaven here, that's why we'll be staying a more few days.

Today we went to Rouen (sounds like raw, in the nose) "little Paris" and had lunch, shopped, saw the place where Joan of Arc was burned, prayed at a Cathedral, almost bought some French boots.

We came back to the Mansion, Karrie and Antoine's 2 friends came over and we had a three course meal. Delicious wine, delicious fish, delicious cakes, mmmmm! Over the four hour dinner we drank four bottles of wine and had three different types of fish, how indulgent!

Now it is 5 am and I have no idea how I am still awake. Ethan is teaching our hosts how to play poker (shock).

until later, ALF

Day 1

2008-08-09T13:58:00.000-07:00

Phew. What a day!

After a better-than-expected meal and a 3 hour nap on the airplane (thank you, Tylenol PM) we landed in Paris. The airport was way bigger than we thought it to be. We went through customs and got our luggage just fine. Our driver George was waiting for us just outside the doors. We knew it was him b/c he was holding an 'Ethan et Amanda Foulkes' sign. Kinda nice to have someone waiting for you. It was about a 20 minute drive from the airport to the Blaison residence. Nice and quite with the occasional awkward laugh while George and Ethan tried to communicate. I kept my mouth shut and my nose to the window.

We arrived at the house where Chloe (daughter) was waiting for us. We paid George, grabbed a business card for a ride back and introduced ourselves to Chloe. This here, was the start of an uncomfortable day.

We went into the villa-cottage looking home and Chloe showed us the most important things in the house....exchange book, car keys, bedroom, wine, etc. She left pretty quickly; after all, how much can you say/hear "Merci" and "Bien" before someone gets sick of it. We made ourselves at home, put some of our things away in the empty drawers left for us and then took a nap.

Ethan wouldn't shut up. "Get up, get up, get up." I guess he didn't have Brutus to do his dirty work, so he annoyed me until I gave in and opened my eyes. After we drank a cafe we got ready to hit the town. We decided to stay in Sannois, too much effort for Paris today. Ethan decided he wanted to drive. I thought it'd be best if we walked, but he was persistent and he ended up being right. Downtown Sannois is about 5 miles away from the house, but it was getting late and we didn't want to be walking the streets at night.

We found a hotel/restaurant that looked nice to dine in. We walked in and said BonJour! to the maitre d'...he instantly replied with BonJour. BonSoir! then something else in French. Ethan replied in French, we want food. Do you speak English? (Mistake #1) We got a stern look, the maitre d' basically said no and then led us to a table. The waiter came over and asked comment talle vous, we didn't respond. (Mistake #2) He laughed (cackled really) and asked us how are you? Awesome, we were still nervous but started to feel better. (Mistake #3) We somehow ordered two girly drinks and ate our hors du houvres. They were good, cucumbers, olives, spicy carrots, some bean thing and bread. Yummy. I had the steak, Ethan had the chicken skewers. In the middle of the meal we were on edge about being the only Americans in the place. Ethan was trying to keep it together but was so shaky he ended up dropping a piece of chicken in his lap. (Mistake #4). This made the waiter laugh and probably feel a bit sorry for us. I ended up spilling water on my lap (Mistake #5) but nobody saw that one. Both of our meals were tasty. We decided to have some more cafe then head home. Of course we didn't leave before the waiter had the chance "accidentally" spill a cup of cafe on us. We jumped out of our seats at the empty cup (Mistake #6). Very funny David.

Finally we made it home, after trusting the GPS to get us there (Mistake #7). Now were having a bottle of wine and playing on our computers.

7 big mistakes our first day, not bad right? More later I'm sure.

-A&E

Au revoir!!!

2008-08-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

As most of you already know, Ethan and I are finally headed to France for our honeymoon-home exchange. I've decided to give this phenomenon they call 'blogging' a try. I'm not the best writer but I promise to post frequently, or at least when interesting stuff is seen or happens.

We leave Friday morning. Stopping in ATL, then 9 hours to Charles De Gaulle. Our home exchangers will be arriving at our house Friday evening. Everything is ready...I think! We never knew how much work it would be to get ready for this exchange, whew! Glad we're done.

Salut tout le monde!
The Honeymooners.