In case you're wondering, it's the shell of orange carved to look like jack o lantern >:)
Monday, October 31, 2011
Halloween!
Someone made this for potluck party at work, so cute and creative!
In case you're wondering, it's the shell of orange carved to look like jack o lantern >:)
In case you're wondering, it's the shell of orange carved to look like jack o lantern >:)
Sunday, October 09, 2011
In the mail, on the fridge
Yay, Happy Birthday to me -- not thrilled about getting older, but who's getting any younger, right? Received this from my youngest adik, just in time for my BDay. Good timing ya :) Terima Kasi for the declaration, so thoughtful of you hehe didn't take pic of the card lah some more got teko...
It was intended to be placed alongside all the magnetic souvenirs collected from travels or whatever, so there is its new home. Oh yea, you can also see some of the souvenirs from relatives down under :)
It was intended to be placed alongside all the magnetic souvenirs collected from travels or whatever, so there is its new home. Oh yea, you can also see some of the souvenirs from relatives down under :)
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Short Vac Day V - Santa Fe, Four Corners then Kingman, AZ
Sunday - May 29th, 2011
Farewell Land of Enchantment and off to Four Corners then Kingman, AZ
Woke up pretty early in hopes of covering as much of Santa Fe as we can as we will be driving most of the day today. The night before, we made tuna salad in the bathroom of the motel! Brought Swiss Army knife and opened up two cans of tuna and mix with the yummy Chipotle mayo, left it to 'marinade' in the tupperware in the ice box. Then we also mix strawberries with the Greek yogurt we bought earlier in the day. We had some of the strawberries and leftover from yesterday's dinner for breakfast.
Checked out around 8:30AM and headed straight to downtown. We looked for parking on the street as all the parking structure charge steep fees for per hour rate. Santa Fe is more hip than ABQ for sure and lots of art galleries and arts are just about everywhere you see.
Started our exploration north of Santa Fe square toward City Hall and the courthouse. And made a big U turn and headed south toward the square. Everywhere you look there is a sculpture, this city is just filled with arts, I read Santa Fe has the most art gallery per square mile in the US!
We then make a big U-turn heading South to get to the Santa Fe square, where it's lined with more museums than any one of us could care for since we didn't really have the time on to explore. What I do enjoy is the sculptures and interesting looking buildings, a mixture of Spanish and western styles.
Then, we have the superstar of the plaza, at least in my opinion... the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, tucked away at the end of the street.
It was Sunday morning and a mass was well underway and as you could see it was packed, we only took the pictures from the entrance, looking through the window. We wanted to visit the Loretto Chapel that is a couple blocks away. We tried looking for it on the map and GPS but couldn't quite pin-point where the building is located. And due to time constraint, we figure we better get ready for our long drive to the Four Corners. So, we looked for a place where we can make ourselves something to eat as it was approaching lunchtime. We made some sandwiches and pulled some snacks out of the cooler and head south, almost like going back to Albuquerque.
From Santa Fe to Four Corners, it was going to be almost five hours and we were afraid that we might not make it on time before they close the gate as some visitors have stated.
It must be the tallest peak around as it seems to be visible wherever we go.
I've got to say, it was a little creepy driving this way to the Four Corners as there were not much traffic and we were kinda in a rural area where there is nothing but flat lands. There were a few times that I doubted if the GPS is taking us to the right direction so I constantly check that against my phone GPS.
Another hour or so into the drive, the landscape starts to change and we begin to see more hills and then the much awaited sign:
Pretty much smacked right in the middle of nowhere and a total disappointment. Well, it was something we wanted to see, so we came and saw and left hehe, of course with some pictures for evidence.
The wind blew relentlessly and for some reason I had a hard time standing on one foot, trying to be in four states at the same time, and other variations thereof:
Not much to see really other than the center point. If you see there are stalls at each side of the states and the were very little vendor selling souvenirs. When asked, they are Indian, I don't remember which tribe and they live a few miles away from here. So windy and dry, felt like total desolation here.
There were also barbecue/picnic booth set up at the outer areas surrounding the monument, but the benches were so beat up from wind. No bathrooms on site only porta-potties which were outrageously disgusting, and some without locks. Oh, did I mention there was an entrance free, not per vehicle, but per person? What a ripoff.
Almost an hour into this place, we were ready to get back on the road, knowing that there is another 6 hours drive to get to Kingman, our last stop for the day... absolutely clueless on what's ahead of us.
Sandstorm!
Visibility was almost non-existent at some point depending how the wind blew. I have to admit, being thrown into my first sandstorm without warning is scary and was traveling about 80+mph, had to slow down to probably 25mph and sometimes to complete stop as all we could see was just haze of sand. Good thing there were not a lot of traffic.
Finally got out of the sandstorm when we approach civilization which is about an hour and a half later and boy were we glad to have that behind us. Oh yeah, as we exit the storm, we saw that 'structure' thingy that looked like it came out of Lord of the Rings... don't think it's the same one we saw earlier, but looks similar.
And final picture of the trip. We stopped somewhere around Tuba City to refuel the car and ourselves. Another 3 hours drive and we finally reached the motel a little after 10PM and we were dead. Did not even bother to shower before getting into bed. At least next day's drive home won't be as long and as bad.
There was a lot of driving on this trip. Was fairly surprised that the old GPS took us to all the places we wanted to go. It was a great trip though, forgotten about everything at work and home until on our way back. Next road trip is on the horizon.
Checked out around 8:30AM and headed straight to downtown. We looked for parking on the street as all the parking structure charge steep fees for per hour rate. Santa Fe is more hip than ABQ for sure and lots of art galleries and arts are just about everywhere you see.
Started our exploration north of Santa Fe square toward City Hall and the courthouse. And made a big U turn and headed south toward the square. Everywhere you look there is a sculpture, this city is just filled with arts, I read Santa Fe has the most art gallery per square mile in the US!
We then make a big U-turn heading South to get to the Santa Fe square, where it's lined with more museums than any one of us could care for since we didn't really have the time on to explore. What I do enjoy is the sculptures and interesting looking buildings, a mixture of Spanish and western styles.
Then, we have the superstar of the plaza, at least in my opinion... the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, tucked away at the end of the street.
It was Sunday morning and a mass was well underway and as you could see it was packed, we only took the pictures from the entrance, looking through the window. We wanted to visit the Loretto Chapel that is a couple blocks away. We tried looking for it on the map and GPS but couldn't quite pin-point where the building is located. And due to time constraint, we figure we better get ready for our long drive to the Four Corners. So, we looked for a place where we can make ourselves something to eat as it was approaching lunchtime. We made some sandwiches and pulled some snacks out of the cooler and head south, almost like going back to Albuquerque.
From Santa Fe to Four Corners, it was going to be almost five hours and we were afraid that we might not make it on time before they close the gate as some visitors have stated.
It must be the tallest peak around as it seems to be visible wherever we go.
I've got to say, it was a little creepy driving this way to the Four Corners as there were not much traffic and we were kinda in a rural area where there is nothing but flat lands. There were a few times that I doubted if the GPS is taking us to the right direction so I constantly check that against my phone GPS.
Another hour or so into the drive, the landscape starts to change and we begin to see more hills and then the much awaited sign:
Pretty much smacked right in the middle of nowhere and a total disappointment. Well, it was something we wanted to see, so we came and saw and left hehe, of course with some pictures for evidence.
The wind blew relentlessly and for some reason I had a hard time standing on one foot, trying to be in four states at the same time, and other variations thereof:
Not much to see really other than the center point. If you see there are stalls at each side of the states and the were very little vendor selling souvenirs. When asked, they are Indian, I don't remember which tribe and they live a few miles away from here. So windy and dry, felt like total desolation here.
There were also barbecue/picnic booth set up at the outer areas surrounding the monument, but the benches were so beat up from wind. No bathrooms on site only porta-potties which were outrageously disgusting, and some without locks. Oh, did I mention there was an entrance free, not per vehicle, but per person? What a ripoff.
Almost an hour into this place, we were ready to get back on the road, knowing that there is another 6 hours drive to get to Kingman, our last stop for the day... absolutely clueless on what's ahead of us.
Sandstorm!
Visibility was almost non-existent at some point depending how the wind blew. I have to admit, being thrown into my first sandstorm without warning is scary and was traveling about 80+mph, had to slow down to probably 25mph and sometimes to complete stop as all we could see was just haze of sand. Good thing there were not a lot of traffic.
Finally got out of the sandstorm when we approach civilization which is about an hour and a half later and boy were we glad to have that behind us. Oh yeah, as we exit the storm, we saw that 'structure' thingy that looked like it came out of Lord of the Rings... don't think it's the same one we saw earlier, but looks similar.
There was a lot of driving on this trip. Was fairly surprised that the old GPS took us to all the places we wanted to go. It was a great trip though, forgotten about everything at work and home until on our way back. Next road trip is on the horizon.
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