January 2012
8 posts
Boston and Providence!
We started out day off on Thursday by sleeping in just a little and heading out to an early lunch at Stephanie’s on Newbury. It’s usually a great spot to watch people walk up and down the street, but when we went outside, the winter rain had continued through the night and it was pretty wet outside.
We ate our lunch, including Jessica’s now infamous attack on their goat cheese...
Our 1st Anniversary Celebrated with Ice Cream!!
We started out the day by trying to get an early jump on the morning. Coffee and OJ was delivered to our door, and after getting ready, we headed out!
The first stop of the morning was at Mike’s Pastries in the North End of Boston. We drove around the North End checking out the tiny streets, looking at some of the historical stuff (1 if by land, 2 if by sea!), and trying to find parking....
A Year of Awesomeness
Well, it’s been a year!! We are so super excited. Things have definitely been wonderful, and change is in the air! As this little website can attest, we have had some awesome times, and as we peek into the future there are so many more exciting things coming down the line, especially with the little baby that has spent so much of it’s little life traveling across the states!
For our...
Getting ready to go...
So we have a trip coming up this week. It’s our 1 year anniversary and I want Jess to have a great time. So part of my plan is in planning everything, down to activities and lunch reservations, without her knowing a single thing about the trip, except we’re going somewhere cold. We leave Tuesday :)
Our First Journey of 2012...
Not a road trip, but an epic adventure nonetheless. :)
Valerie Nola Lentz .. look for her around the end of February 2012.
September 2011
3 posts
A Saturday cruise around Linn County, OR
With our Saturday open and no plans to do much, we decided to jump in the car and just cruise around a bit. We headed North up I-5 and took an exit towards a Pioneer Museum. We never found the museum, but we found a bunch of other great stuff, starting with Brownsville, OR. What’s cool about Brownsville other than it is a cool looking little town? They filmed Stand By Me there! We drove past...
Oregon Adventures With Lori!
Lori was able to join us in Oregon for a couple of days and I was more than ecstatic to have some company while Drew was hard at work. Monday morning, Lori and adventured around the great city of Eugene Oregon. I failed to bring the camera but our day consisted of Fish N Chips, Vintage shopping, and great Coffee. That evening, we scooped up Drew from work and made the trek to King Estate Winery...
All up in the Hood!
We woke up bright and early to grab my wonderful cousin Lori from the Portland Airport. Lori was coming in straight from work and was exhausted, but we weren’t going to let that put a hault on our fun day of adventure! First stop was along the Columbia Gorge.
Drew was more than excited to stop at the Bonneville Dam, and give us a lesson on hydro electric power and some other stuff that...
August 2011
18 posts
Portland! The Zoo! Leah & Chris!
We woke up on Saturday ready for a trip to Portland. Lori was coming in from Vegas on Sunday, so we wanted to go up and check out the city that Jessica has been wanting to go to for quite some time. We headed up I-5 with our first stop pinned at the Oregon Zoo. Seeing as how it is the only zoo in Oregon, we had some pretty high expectations. After getting our tickets and wading through the crowd...
To the Coast!
We woke up and headed down to the coast of Northern California!
After strolling around a bit, we headed off to find something I (Drew) have always wanted to see! Of course, Jessica made some new friends along the beach:
We even got to see 2 legendary heroes!
After driving through Redwoods National Park, we finally came upon something I have wanted to do since I was a kid!
...
Volcanoes! Cones! and Craters! OH MY!
We woke up and grabbed breakfast at our hotel in Bend, OR and then hit the road towards the South. The first stop along highway 97 was Lava Butte. We walked through the museum for a bit and then made our way up to the top of the cinder cone.
It’s a pretty crazy view to look down 150 feet at the heart of an old volcano, and just as cool to check out the scenery around you (including the...
Into the Mountains!
We decided to get a jump on the weekend and head up into the Cascades in central Oregon!
Along the way we made some friends and hung out with them for dinner!
We got to see some awesome sights on the way through the Willamette National Forest. We took the advice of my buddy Steve and drove the McKenzie Pass!
We got to hike around a little bit and check out the huge lava fields.
At...
Pretty Great Day
Yesterday started bright and early as we had breakfast with one of Drew’s Co Workers, Steve. Steve has the best laid back personality I have ever encountered, that guy takes “cool” to a different level. We headed out to New Day Bakery for some breakfast. Steve and I had the Mexican Scramble and Drew ate the Huevos Rancheros. Our breakfast was delish! Served with beans, rice and...
Papa's Soul food Kitchen
After that amazing brewery we went to eat at Papa’s Soul Food Kitchen. We were more than excited for the Purple drank. I had Chicken and Waffles and Drew had the Fried chicken. We weren’t thinking about our waistlines obviously! Ended the night with a great walk around the area. Eugene seems to be very similar to Austin, College town with plenty of good food and live music.
A Trip to the Coast
After work today, I ran to the hotel to pick up Jess for an adventure out to the Coast. I’ve heard there are some awesome sand dunes out there and some great clam chowder. Along the way we stopped at a little picnic area and found this amazing river running behind the picnic sites.
We met a couple from Victoria, BC who were on their honeymoon and were driving down to Mexico. I snapped a...
Off to Oregon!!
We’re headed off to Oregon today for a while! I’m gonna go out there and work from the corporate office, while Jess is going to chill and find things to do :) Updates will be coming soon!
To start, our flight just got cancelled, then rescheduled. Instead of arriving into PDX tonight at 9, we get there at 11:30PM. Oh well, midnight drives to Eugene can be fun :)
June 2010
18 posts
Biggest Lake Ever! Lake Amistad!
I read a Texas Monthly article a while back featuring the lakes of Texas. On the top of the list was Lake Amistad. Seeing how I’ve been dying to see this spectacular body of water, I was excited to see it on the horizon. Lake Amistad is HUGE and there are different points of entry, along with campsites all over the place. While we were there, we checked out the dam and toyed with crossing...
Seminole Canyon
In theory this place is supposed to be pretty cool, but seeing how it was 5200 parks later, I was kinda over reading all the history. I basically just wanted to see the big hole and move on so I breezed through all the info. Drew remained very interested, and like a small child, I was tugging at his shirt to get going. I however did learn that the KANGAROO RAT (my new fav animal) does not live...
Over the Pecos High Bridge
322 ft. above the river make this awesome bridge the highest in Texas. The Pecos High Bridge pops out of nowhere and doesn’t look to rowdy when you’re driving over it. BUT, if you hang a right and go up to the overlook, its pretty rowdy.
We stopped for a bit at the spot where the Pecos and the Rio Grande come together. The views were awesome and we even spotted some goats climbing...
Law West of the Pecos
He had a pet bear. He didn’t have a jail so everything was a fineable offense. He held trial either in the bar, or on the front porch of the bar. He held a boxing exhibition on a sand flat in the Rio Grande because it was illegal in the US. Any way you look at it, Judge Roy Bean was a bad ass. We had to go visit.
Chisos Mountains @ Big Bend
WOW ohhh WOW was I not expecting such serene beauty. As we made our way into the Chisos Mountains I was completely astonished by the views. The desert turned into lush mountain landscape, and finally now I understood how bears live in this area. As we winded first up then down the mtn we reached our final destination. By this time the temperature had dropped 20 degrees and I was thankful for the...
Rio Grande Village @ Big Bend
After the an hour and a half trip back to Panther Junction, and then another 45 minutes down the East side of Big Bend, we arrived at Rio Grande Village. This is the 2nd of the 3 “park within a park” stops at Big Bend.
I had an earlier conversation at the hotel with a fellow traveler who had been at Big Bend the day before and he’d told me about peddlers that would float...
Santa Elena Canyon @ Big Bend
When we got close to Santa Elena Canyon we were able to see one of the oldest border walls in existence. The mountains shot up thousands of feet from the ground except for the nook that had been carved by the Rio Grande.
We drove the trail down and with a quick hike behind us, we ended up at the Rio Grande River!
We hung out around the river and got our feet wet for a while before...
Three Parks in One!
After a well needed rest, we jumped in our trusty truckster and headed towards Big Bend. The landscape changed pretty quickly and it was really exciting to see these huge mountains take over where the desert floor left off.
We drove the 20 mile stretch to park HQ, stopping along the way so I could get into storyteller mode (preparation for my next career as a Park Ranger) and recite the...
Alpine, Texas
We were starving and ready for bed after the Marfa lights, but with a long road ahead of us we pushed to Alpine, Texas. The home of…. umm.. a Univeristy or something and .. A 24-HOUR DINER! I opted for a burger and Jess went with the French Toast.
After a chat with our Chef de la nuit, we reviewed our lodging options. The Bien Vinedo Inn looked like a winner from the outside, but was...
Lights, camera, Marfa?
Ok Ok so after spending some time perusing around this artsy town we took the adventure nine miles East on US 90. The wonderful city of Marfa has made a great viewing platform to catch a glimpse of the Marfa lights. My interpretation (Jess) is there are some crazy lights glowing over the city in the mountains. I saw them first hand and although I originally thought traffic, after thinking about it...
Marfa.....
Leaving the Indian Lodge was a lot more difficult than I would ever imagine, But the hype for Marfa was so intense we dusted off our boots and pushed forward. Drew and I were beyond excited to see the newly renovated town and to learn about what had drawn so many people to this desolate location.
We arrived and drove around, and then drove around again. We were very confused as we couldnt...
An Indian Lodge and the Davis Mountains
We headed back down the mountains and onward to Davis Mountains State Park.
We pulled into the park and headed towards the Black Bear restaurant to grab some dinner. Since we had never been to this park before we had no idea about the awesome lodge that the restaurant is part of. We stopped into the gift shop and added a new member to Emma’s stuffed animal collection. Geronimo the...
5th largest telescope in the World!
Winding through the Davis Mountains and climbing up steep grades, we rushed to make it to the McDonald Observatory before it closed.
We parked the car and walked in to see the HET!
What a really cool and amazing thing! I can totally understand the lack of enthusiasm that you might feel from driving through the mountains for hours only to go look at a bunch of mirrors, but I was totally...
Balmorhea State Public Pool
Our journey continued East on I-10 out of El Paso. To get there, we drove down Zaragoza in the El P, to check out an old Mission, drove past an Indian Casino (gasp! We didn’t stop?!?! I KNOW!!! but yeah) and catch a peak of the border wall and Juarez. It looked pretty rowdy and I was glad we weren’t getting any closer to it.
After a couple of hours of travel we came to our first State...
Tacos? Burritos? Same thing?
After waking up in our comfy airbed in the basement of an El Paso home, we got ready and headed out to breakfast and to get on the road. Ernie and his sister took us to one of their favorite spots: La Choza Menudazo & Tamalotes. We tried to figure out why tacos are called burritos and flautas are called tacos in El Paso, but no one had the answers.
Jess rocked a bowl of stomach and I had...
Family in El Paso
The most amazing part of having great friends is the great family that comes with them. My BF Ernie is pretty awesome and its obvious that this is because of his amazing family.I hadn’t seen the Hernandez’s since graduation and they welcomed Drew and I into their home like we were part of the fam! Before the festivities we made a stop at the BREAD STORE to load up on snacks and some...
Taco Soup?
Sunday Morning in EL PASO! Ahhh what to do? Drew and I contemplated leaving this town or staying one more day. All is took was lunch with Ernie to make us stay. Chicos Tacos was the choice destination. I had been before, but this was a must for Drew. An order of 6, a burger, fries and burrito made for a memorable experience. El Paso turned out to be a small town after all as we bumped into Chris...
The Reception
After a 3 hour post-ceremony break, we headed over to the rooftop of the Plaza Theater for the wedding reception. We got off of the elevator, signed the guestbook, and found our assigned table. We were sitting with some of the bridesmaids and friends (Me, Jessica, Cynthia, Kim, Rosa, and Allison.)
The DJ was playing some really fun music and we all ultimately ended up on the dancefloor....
May 2010
48 posts
The Church Ceremony
We hopped in a cab and made our way over to the church. The wedding was being held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral here in El Paso. As we came in the front doors of this awesome building, the live quartet that was perched on the balcony filled this gorgeous and spacious place of worship with perfectly balanced music. We walked up to our seats behind some friends and took in the beauty of this...
A great lunch and more awesome beer.
It seems like everywhere we go in this City has a great selection of beer. All the restaurants, bars, and clubs have really got their stuff together. I have never been to so many random places within a single City where each spot carries a huge beer selection and its all pretty damn good.
We stopped in at the Oasis for a bite to eat before we headed to the wedding. Jessica had Salpicon Salad...
Champagne and Hair styling at 8:30 am
Bright eyed and bushy tailed I met the girls for breakfast in attempts to catch the shuttle to the salon (we missed it and cabbed it over to Westend). Jessica (the Bride) made some great arrangements to have us all together at the salon for hair, make up and champagne! Girl time was awesome and again great time spent with my ladies :)