Results tagged “Photos”

When the talking and giggling won't stop!

Katrina and I enjoy taking photos. We think some of them are good. So, when we heard about the Campbell County Art Show, we both wanted to give it a whirl. There were over 180 pieces of art entered in the show. There were student divisions (ages 5-10 and 11-17), and these were further broken down based on medium. Then there were categories for Novice (never entered an art show), Amateur and Professional. And these were also sorted by medium.

Pictures were to be dropped off between 8 and 9, then the judging would begin. Then at 1:30, winners would be announced. Katrina and I were going to go home between drop off time and announcement time, but there were so many beautiful pieces of art work to see and we were having fun hanging out with some friends of ours that were there, so we just stayed. We left for a bit to get some water and hit a couple of yard sales, then we came back.

Tomorrow my Grandma, Irene Orndorff, will turn 90 years old. Yesterday, our family celebrated her birthday in Strasburg, VA. Over 200 invitations were sent out. I didn't count how many people where there, but as you can see in this photo (which doesn't include everyone), there was a very good turn-out.

Of course, what else would you expect when you are celebrating the birthday of a woman who has spent 90 years in the same community, living, loving, and helping those around her. My grandmother has 7 children, 5 boys and 2 girls, all of who are still alive and kicking. She has 16 grandchildren if my count is right. And I couldn't begin to tell you how many great-grandchildren, and I think there may be one or two great, great-grandchildren.

My husband has a thing for monkeys...a few years ago, one mysteriously appeared on his desk at work and ever since then we have added to his interesting monkey collection. He has office monkeys, a monkey in a banana that I won at a carnival, and a set of office monkeys.

This year for Christmas, Katrina and I were wandering around Target and we saw it...the perfect gift for Daniel: Sock Monkey!

Sock Monkey was an instant hit with the family. He is always into some kind of mischief. Sometimes he helps Daniel with his work.

Stay tuned for the Adventures of Sock Monkey... As you can see...he's very photogenic!

Yesterday was a Red Letter day for Katrina. But first let me back up a bit.

For years, my daughter has been hounding me with ideas for her own business. She wanted to build a lemonade stand here in the neighborhood (understand, we have only a few neighbors, not really enough to make that endeavor worthwhile.)

She gives concerts and sells us tickets to come see them. She offers to do extra chores for cash. She will make handmade items and then try to sell them to us. She has talked about setting up a website and selling stuff through it. The problem with her selling us stuff is that...well, we aren't repeat customers. We each buy one of her items, but then we don't want to buy anymore and then she is left with unsold stock.

Last spring we suggested she try a bubblegum machine. I owned 8 vending machines back in the mid 90s. I made some money off of them, but once I had children, the time and money spent seemed less worth it. Places went out of business and I was looking to make way more money than what I was making. But what I was making would be more than enough for a 9 year old girl.

So, Katrina asked our hairdresser if she could put a bubblegum machine in her shop. Mandy gave her permission, but then the whole idea was put on hold. For those of you who are here with any regularity, you know we have been traveling a lot this year. We didn't want to be gone and abandon her machine for weeks on end. So we waited.

She didn't say anymore about it, but when I was thinking about what to get her for Christmas, I thought the bubblegum machine would be a perfect gift. It would get her started on her first real business adventure and it was a way better gift than the same amount of money spent on Littlest Pet Shop. I was thrilled with The Gumball Machine Factory. Their prices were good, their product (once it arrived) is well made and I was able to have them put a decal on the front of her bubblegum machine. She was so excited to get this gift. And for the few days it was in our house, she did a good business from visitors!

So, back to yesterday. We took the vending machine to Lakestyles and she watched with pride as Mandy was her first non-family customer. Here is a photo of Katrina and Mandy with the bubblegum machine in place.

December has been a busy month. We had a Christmas Cookie Party, 4-H Christmas party, gatherings with family and friends, shopping, cooking, decorating, and playing in the awesome snow. Since pictures are better than words, here are some at my Flickr account for you to peruse at your leisure!

I have a brief video, but it was too big for our poor Hughes Net Connection to handle. I'll try to upload it next time I am somewhere with a better connection!

Today was an awesome day! We checked out of our hotel around 9. Then we headed to the Te Anau Wildlife Center. We took a walk through the woods. We also learned about and photographed some of the local birds. Some pictures are below. For more, you can go to this Flickr link.

Unfortunately it was to cloudy to fully appreciate the beauty of Lake Te Anau, which is the largest lake on the South Island, but what we did see was beautiful and serene.

We grabbed brekky and lunch from the local supermarket and then drove to Invercargill. It was only a 2 hour drive and we saw sheep, cows, deer and a little rain. The land grew flatter and flatter.

We checked into our hotel and it was a welcome place to visit. We each had our own room. The way the hotel was set up was there was a main door, then off of that two doors each leading to a bedroom. Each bedroom had a bathroom, tv, tons of space, and some kitchen facilities. After all of our togetherness, you could practically hear the rejoicing as we each went into our own rooms...

As you can see Daniel was thrilled with the accomodations!

Today we got up slowly. Daniel was tired and had a few complaining muscles after yesterday's adventure. Katrina and I were ready first, so we even got to get in an extra game of pool. When I was growing up, we had a pool table in our basement and I would spend hours there. I am not as good as I was back then, but it was still a lot of fun to play.

We left Fox Glacier around 10:00 and began the long drive to Te Anau (without stops, it was a 6 hour drive). Along the way we stopped several times to take photographs of amazing views. It rained off and on in between bouts of sunshine.

We saw sheep, cows, deer. We walked along the Tasman Sea and found some beautiful rocks and loads of driftwood. We saw green fields, icy crags, and rolling hills/mountains covered with everything from Evergreens to tufts of grass. We drove through valleys, admired rivers, streams, and waterfalls, and saw a rainbow. And we took photos of rain in a valley below, then later drove through those patches of rain.

Not too much to speak of on the 14th and 15th. We left Nelson amidst a rainstorm. We drove to Greymouth. It was late afternoon by the time we arrived and we just hung out. We decided to do laundry the next morning and that fiasco ended up taking us 5 hours to complete because of one bad dryer. I am really hating laundry on this trip!

So, after that, we took a walk along the wall which has been built between the river and the town to help prevent flooding. And that was about all we did the whole time we were in Greymouth. We were all feeling kind of grey...

Today was a fun day. We got up early and headed to the Ferry Terminal. We needed to be ready to board at 7:40 a.m. and we were all good to go by 7 or so. The Interislander is the ferry we rode on and it was huge! There were 10 decks. There was a playground (think big McDonald's playground) on the second deck, along with two movie cinemas and a cafe. Cars, trucks, RVs, were parked on decks 3 and 5. On deck 7, there was a family room with a couple of tv screens (one news, one cartoons), some video games and a few toys, plus plenty of seating and big windows for looking out, a cafe, a reclining room (chairs like you would see on an airplane, but nicer), and a small store. Then on Deck 8, there was another reclining lounge, a food court, and a restaurant. On deck 9 there were passenger cabins. On Deck 10 there was an observation/sun deck. Quite nice! I had never been on such a large ship before. It was really cool and the three hours flew by!

We landed in Picton and picked up a new rental car and had lunch at the Dog and Frog (no kidding!). The food was great!. Picton is a quaint little seaside town and it looked a lot like Mayberry. Only about 12,000 inhabitants. The water was so beautiful - it was turquoise.

Here is a picture or two.

Today, we left the hotel a little before 10:00. Our first stop was a nearby laundry business that the hotel directed us to. While they offer laundry service at the hotel, the cost is by piece of clothing (for example: $9/pair of pants). This was not going to work for us, so we looked for a place that charged by the load. Well, we plugged the address into our GPS, Golem. But Golem pulled one of his normal stunts and told us we were there, when in fact, we were about 1 mile from where we needed to be. I got out with the three bags of laundry, thinking it was just a little way to go, and I kept asking in stores and being told it was just over there, then I would keep going and before I knew it I had walked about a mile, my arms were breaking and for my troubles, I was told that the place I was looking for had closed last month!!! The lady that told me that, then got out the phonebook and found a couple of other addresses for me before I began my trek back. Fortunately, Daniel had come looking for me in the car, so I didn't have to walk all the way back. We decided the laundry could wait one more day.....

Next we headed to Central Park because Katrina and Jack were keen to show their dad the Flying Fox ride and Katrina was really wanting just some playtime. The Flying Fox is an awesome zipline and the kids had a blast on it. I have some video and when I have better internet, I'll try and post some of these videos I have made. I did get some pictures of the kids climbing around.

After that, we headed to the Sheepskin Warehouse. In Australia, Katrina and I got some opal jewelry, that was our 'big' souvenir from there. Then here, we wanted something made from sheep (since they are everywhere. Katrina got some lovely boots and I am happy with my slippers. Plus I got a sheep wool steering wool cover to keep my hands nice and toasty warm!

Today we set off on a tour that included Lord of The Ring(LOTR) filming sights, a seal colony, a winery and other opportunities to see the scenery and lay of the land. This ended up being about a 10 hour tour and is the last one we are signed up for during our big adventure. The tours have been great ways to learn a lot and to have someone else drive so we don't have to go through the headaches of driving and figuring out where stuff was. Our tour was a small one today, only 8 people.

In the morning we visited several sites where scenes from the various LOTR movies had been filmed. Of course, there is nothing left of the elaborate sets, but it was still kind of neat to see where things had been. We saw where Helms Deep had been built (at a quarry), where Rivendell had been built, where Legolas stood guard on the way into Rivendell, the tree that the Orcs danced around, the field that Gandalf took off through on his way to visit Saraman (sp?) and the pillars that they walked by during their talk, where Frodo, Sam, and the others hid from the Ring Wraith under the roots of a tree (the roots were built out of styrofoam, but the forest was real), and we saw the white cliffs that the Fellowship passes after putting their canoes in the water. Here are photos of what the places look like now:

Hiding from the Ring Wraith.

Rivendell was built just past the bend in the river under the electrical pole.

The area where Legolas stood guarding the way to Rivendell.

The white cliffs that you see behind the Fellowship of the Ring after they put their canoes into the water

Only 13 more days left before we return to the U.S. That is so hard to believe.

We got checked out of the Chateau around 9:30, had breakfast, and then began the trek towards Wellington. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive. We were suprised to learn that roads to the east of the mountain were closed due to the snow. As we drove along, we saw rain, snow, sun and clouds. A little bit of everything! We arrived in Wellington and got checked into the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor. After getting settled, Katrina and I wandered around a bit looking in stores and scoping out the area restaurants. We ended up ordering Pizza from Pizza King (very good) and now we are watching a little TV before turning in. So far this evening, we have watched Spiderwick Chronicles, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, America's Funniest Home Videos, and Barnyard. Tomorrow we have a tour of some Lord of the Ring sites and a Seal Colony. Should be fun!

Here are a few photos from our drive today.

I took some pictures after we left Waiotapu and headed to Tongariro, but forgot to put them in the last post (which was long enough anywaye, so here are those photos!

So on to October 9th....

Woke up at 8:22 this morning, then showered. We headed down to the included breakfast buffet. It was awesome! A couple of interesting items, there was fried, battered fish on the buffet, cloudy apple juice (looks more like pear juice to me), and 'kidneys' which looked like mushrooms to me, but there were mushrooms in another container... And of course kiwi!

We packed up and left about 10:30. Before checking out, we looked at the sulphur flats/bird sanctuary behind our hotel:

We arrived in New Zealand today. It was so nice that we didn't have to get up until 5:30...way better than 2 a.m. We arrived at the airport at 7:30 and then the going to another country ordeal - customs out of Australia, we were in lines for over an hour, then we had a hike to the gate, then we had about 30 minutes to find a place to eat. By the time we found a place, stood in line and got our food, we had 10 minutes to eat before going to the gate. Then the plane ended up boarding 20 minutes late! That will teach us to rush!

The plane was very plush! We had complimentary headsets, comfortable eats, had our own monitor and we could choose from movies, music, games, tv and learning about NZ. I watched 3 episodes of Boston Legal. The legal part is a bit of a stretch from what little I know, but I enjoyed watching William Shatner.

We were served lunch (with chocolate ice cream). there were pillows and a candy was handed out when we landed. Cupholders were on the seat in front of us next to the monitor, which made it way easier to hold onto your drink and not spill it. The only down side was the older gent sitting next to me who kept his elbow in my side pretty much the whole trip.

So we landed at the Auckland aiport at about 2:30:

Just wanted to chime in and say that we are doing well and are currently touching base in Sydney. Yesterday, we spent the day packing up (trying to rearrange luggage so it will be easier to sort as we are traveling through NZ. Most places we will only stay one night). We also had to get to bed early as we had to get up at 2 a.m. because we had a taxi coming at 3:30 a.m. to take us to the airport for a flight that left Cairns at 5:45 a.m. and arrived in Sydney at 9:45 a.m.

We are checked in here at Sydney and it is just another low key day. Some more rearranging of the luggage and we were able to leave two bags with the Hilton where we will be staying in two weeks when we return from NZ. That much less to lug around for the next couple of weeks:) YEAH!

Tomorrow, we have a 9:30 flight to NZ and will be there for 12 days. Not sure how much we will be online during that time. We will touch base when we can.

And I leave you with these pictures to show what happens when people start buying hats to protect themselves from the sun....

Jack models Daniel's two hats, my hat, Jack's two hats, and Katrina's hat.

Katrina models her hat, my hat, and Daniel's two hats.

Today was absolutely spectacular! We were up at 5 (today, Katrina was the one who was the hardest to get out of bed). In spite of the fact that we were ready to leave at 6:35 a.m., it was still 6:50 by the time we got downstairs to the vehicle and out of the building. It was like old home week when we got to the Tusa 5. There were several crew members there today who had been there on Friday and they were all pleased to see us back again. Considering the number of people that take their tours, it was nice to be remembered.

I just want to take a moment here and say that Australians are excellent at customer service and people back in the States should take some lessons. They make a real effort to learn the names of the people on the tours. We had a snack at a cafe after we got off of the boat and one of the ladies came and talked to us and asked us how our vacation was going, where we were from, what we had been up to and before we left she gave us a coupon for a complimentary drink with lunch should we come back. This is pretty indicative of the courtesy we have been extended everywhere in this country. It makes such a big difference to walk into a store, onto a tour, and have people treat you like you are more than just a customer. The funny thing is that here in Australia the minimum wage is twice what it is at home, and people here don't expect tips. But their service is so supreme, we have found ourselves giving tips on several occasions. I just can't stress enough what a wonderful experience it has been to be here and how wonderfully we have been treated.

Now, back to today. We knew our way around the ship today and it was nice to be able to help others when we saw them stuck or looking for something. We settled in and the ride today was calmer than Friday's. I didn't see anyone get sick.

We arrived at today's first spot on the reef and were given 2 hours to snorkel. It was absolutely amazing! We saw so many cool fish and other ocean life! I didn't want to get out at the end of two hours (but I was a little cold). Then we had lunch, a reef lesson, and we were off to another site where we got to snorkel and dive for an hour. If possible, it was more spectacular than the first site. There were these amazing canyons among the coral. I could have spent hours there, but we had to leave.

On this trip, we have experienced pretty much every mode of transportation: cars, 4WD SUV, 4WD tourist coach, buses, subways/monorails, trains, planes, ships, sky cable cars, and trolleys. We could be in a remake of the movie classic Trains, Planes and Automobilles!

So today, we were off on a great tour! We were picked up at 7:45 and driven to the Fairweather Station. Once there, we were checked in and given our tickets for the train. We were in carriage 9, seats 45-48. The Kuranda Scenic Train was something that Australians we met in Alice Springs were telling us we really must do. And that was lucky for us as we had booked this trip months ago. The train ride took about 1 1/2 hours to take us from Freshwater Station to the village of Kuranda. We drove through rain forest (which was fun to drive though, but probably even prettier during the rainy season). Here are some photos from our train journey.

Melissa looking out of the train.

At one point, we were on Horse Shoe Bend. We could see the front of the train and the back of it! Note all of the people with their cameras out of the window taking pictures of other parts of the train!

This is one of the photos of Barren Falls. These falls are spectacular during the rainy season. But locals here say that this is the driest Dry they remember and there wasn't much water flowing today. But still it was spectacular.

The train track we followed had 15 tunnels that had been carved by hand 100 years ago. It was and is quite an achievement considering that it not only went through the mountains, but the jungles as well.

Let me preface this by saying that if you like animals and you are in Cairns, you really, really, really should make this event part of your trip here! We had so much fun!!!!!

So we arrived at the Cairns Night Zoo and were checked in. One of the first to greet us was Sam - the Sulpher-Crested Cockatoo (he liked being scratched behind his ears and told us so by saying 'scratch' and tilting his head to the side.

After we were checked in, we were allowed to grab a drink while we waited for our food to be served. We had water (we have been drinking tons of water here), but beer, wine, and sodas were all available as part of the evening's events. Next came a Swaggie with a Didgeridoo and gave everyone a lesson and a chance to play. Video will come at some point. Then the buffet was ready.

Freshly grilled steak, grilled chicken, Spanish mackerel, sausages, baked potatoes, the world's best cole slaw, pasta salad, green salad and crusty bread. Then the desserts came out. Pavlova with fresh fruit salad and lashings of whipped cream. I was too stuffed to try it, but Daniel said it was very good. Jack tried grilled chicken, a baked potato and the pavlova. He didn't like any of it, but at least he tried it!

While we ate, Dave sang us some songs. Our particular favorite was Country Roads! I feel sure he sang it for us (as he sang it when near our table), but later he seemed surprised to learn we were from Virginia. We bought his CD as we enjoyed his songs so much. Not so sure that Sam liked the music though, he got a bit agitated a couple of times, screeched and flared his crest!

Next we were given torches and a bit of a talk on what to expect and what we could and couldn't do and off we went.