Generosity

12/30/2016

I wrote the last post form atop my beloved soap box. This post, I write from my knees. It has been so humbling to be around such generous people. There has been no end to their ability to give of themselves. Examples of it have included the bus driver who called his taxi driver uncle to drive us, the people in the wrong house we knocked on who sent their 12 year old (?) son with us to make sure we got to the right house, Nena (who I stayed with last time I was in Llano Bonito) who gifted us with light-up crucifix from her mantle, and the Fernandez family, who let us stay with them and fed us endlessly. One of the most startling examples of generosity, though, has been that of Eligio’s time.

As I mentioned before, there are only two months in which coffee can be harvested – December and January. We didn’t learn this until after we had arrived, otherwise we maybe would have avoided Llano Bonito out of fear of being a burden. I know that in the United States (and especially in my own life), there is a stressed-work-aholic mode when timelines are near and the work is yet to be done. Socializing is one of the first items to drop off the calendar when work is needed, and I would be unlikely to accept guests at that time. Even when it’s not a huge deadline – even if it’s just mildly inconvenient – I’m likely to make up excuses not to be generous with my time. I think my time is my resource that I’m most tight fisted with. I’m happy to give/share/lend my stuff or money, but my time is often relinquished reluctantly.

Then there’s Eligio. Not only did he let us stay with us in his family’s home, he also sacrificed his work at a really crucial time of the year. Whereas his usual work day is from 5am – 6pm, for two whole days, he played host to us. He took us on coffee tours, brought us out to lunch, and really showed us Llano Bonito. We also saw him sacrificing his time for other people. We went with him to fix a plug at a friend’s house and later to pick up and drop off a computer for someone.  I think that I’m struggling to put into words how much his example of generosity meant to me. But that’s okay – it still made its impact, even if I can’t explain it. Hopefully I explained it well enough that the uniqueness came across. J

Ken’s Thoughts: Even though they have extremely little, they’re not afraid to give what they have. They reminded me a lot of the minister in the begging of Les Mis. Every meal they made for us was a different dish, and they were all delicious, and yet simple. I think that’s all my thoughts. 

Us with the Fernandez family

Coffee: It’s Not a Drink, It’s a Lifestyle

12/28/2016

I don’t even know where to begin with today – so I guess start at the beginning. We woke up at a leisurely 8:30 this morning. We had beans, rice, and eggs for breakfast with – to appropriately kick off the day – coffee! The best coffee ever, Ken says. Ken got goose bumps (happy bumps, we call them) drinking it. Then Eligio asked if we wanted to go on a walk to see the coffee. Yes! Always, yes.

So we went out the back door, and bam! We’re in the middle of the coffee plantation. because Llano Bonito is in the middle of the coffee country. So we walk through this maze of coffee, led by the best guide ever. 

Eligio told us all about the different coffee varietals, the dangers to the coffee plants, how important coffee is to the culture and livelihood of the people here (it’s the only crop they export and the lifeblood of the community), and how long his family has been here (80 years!). It was so eye opening to see the work behind something I take for granted every morning. He showed us the different dangers to the plants – bugs, fungus, parasites, etc. – and how they tried to combat each different danger naturally (mostly by introducing a different varietal, which in turn introduced a different adversary).

Ken and I even had the chance to help pick the coffee! We strapped the baskets onto our hips and picked for about 10-15 minutes, and together, we picked (according to Eligio) about 26 cents worth of coffee – woohoo! Clearly we weren’t cut out for this. But he said that we did a good job, and we were very selective in our choices (we tried to only pick the super red ones).

One of the things that really struck me about what I learned today is how dependent this community is on coffee and how easily it seems that it could be wiped out. So many things need to come together, and so many things need to be avoided, in order for there to be a good coffee crop to be harvested in the TWO MONTHS that it’s able to be harvested. Yep, you read that right. They only harvest coffee in December and January. The rest of the year, they prepare. They take care of the plants, prune them, clear debris, etc. but only for two months do the harvest the berries and get paid - $2/basket, $6/bag.

Living in Silicon Valley, there’s such a giant diversity of jobs and sources of income available. Would it be a huge deal if Google went under? Yes. Would it destroy all of Silicon Valley? No. Here, coffee going under could destroy this community. What it could look like for coffee to go under, I’m not sure. But it sure makes me want to get back on my soap box about organic, fair trade coffee! It’s a soap box I’ve forgotten for a while, but I’m always happy to pull back out and stand on whenever I have the chance. Especially after spending a day with Eligio. So many of the troubles they’re up against could be eliminated with the introduction on harmful pesticides, but they choose not to use them because they want to be natural. I really admire that, and that’s something I want to choose to support! But even more important that the organic part (to me, at least) is the fair trade part. For those of you who don’t know, fair trade means that the workers involved in the production of a product are treated and paid fairly. These guys work hard. The mountains are steep and hard to walk on, let alone pick coffee on. The baskets are huge, and it takes a lot of hard work to fill them up. It takes a lot of work to carry them up the hill. It takes a lot of work to load them into the truck. It takes a lot of work to load them out of the truck. Gathering coffee takes a lot of work – hard work! And these are families that depend on the fruits of their labor. Eligio even said that it’s extremely tiring work, but it’s what you do to provide for your family. And I really admire that! So, standing up here on my soap box, I’m declaring that I’m really going to try to buy solely organic, fair trade (emphasis on the fair trade) coffee whenever possible – even if there’s a slightly higher dollar amount.

Going back to our day, though, (a bit quicker now, because there’s something else I want to get to), we came back after our long walks and had a delicious lunch. Then we loaded into the back of the pickup truck to head down to the reservoir. I was grateful to be driving, because the last time I went down there five years ago, we walked. And it was a long walk. But this time, we piled into the back of a pickup truck! Which, if we’re being honest, is one of my favorite places to be. I don’t have any pictures of us there, but here is a picture of how I distinctly remember feeling:

The reservoir was beautiful! It stretched beyond what we could see. 

From there, we went to meet and visit all of Eligio’s family. They all live together in a little barrio (neighborhood). His parents are in the 70s and 80s and look healthier than I do! They had awesome fruit (we had passion fruit), a million chickens, and even some pigs. The pigs were especially interesting because a) they were HUGE, and b) the family catches the gas released from the pig poop and use the methane outgassing from it for their stoves. Holy crap (literally), that’s resourceful.

After coming back, some other people came over to drop off the coffee they had picked. Eligio and Pachi (his wife) took note of how much everyone contributed, and then we went with Eligio to “help” (we were no help) drop it off at a drop off point, which I’m having trouble describing. Thank goodness for pictures. They dumped the coffee into big, metal measuring devices, and after the device was full, the opened the bottom and it dropped through the wire floor into the huge basin below. Then Eligio received a receipt for what he delivered, which I assume he can turn in somewhere for money.

I have another thing I want to write about, but I’m super tired. Ken is feeling cuddly, and I’m feeling sleepy, so I think I’m going to call it here. Tomorrow will be a great day!!! And I want to be ready for it. Goodnight!

12/29/2016

I still want to talk about the other thing I mentioned (spoiler: it’s about the intense generosity of the people here), but after today’s events, I think I’ll finish up my coffee thoughts. Today we had the pleasure of touring the Cooprativa – the Coop (“Co-Op”) where they produce the coffee. There were multiple steps where they divided the coffee into tiers of quality based on weight, size, and shape. There were silos where it was stored and ovens where it was cooked. The coffee was baked in multiple phases (this is even before the toasting that most people were familiar with). It was crazy to see all the different parts. What was especially cool, though, was that before we got the tour, we got some time to ask the head-boss all our questions and he told us about the production. He ended up being our tour guide as well, so we were able to continue to ask questions. But it was interesting to hear his thoughts about the victories and trials of their business. This is when I pull out my soap box again, which is why I wanted to include it in this post. It’s still the fair trade/organic soap box, but now with an emphasis on the organic. The price of producing coffee in Costa Rica is really high, especially compared to neighboring countries. Each plant (I think I’m remembering this correctly) costs about $180 to maintain and produces about $200 annually.  Often times, all the coffee is exported because nobody local can afford to buy it. I was really impressed with this Coop, because they’ve started program to make sure their associates (workers) get to keep some of the coffee they make. They’ve also created programs to re-plant any trees they cut down for wood (for the wood burning ovens), ways to compost the pulp of the coffee and give it back to the farmers to hopefully increase the harvest, and a bunch of other ways to make sure they’re supporting their workers, staying environmentally friendly, and making good business choices. What I admire about this company is that they do all three – it would be really easy to just do the last one. SO, last time on my soap box, I announced that I was going to try and buy only fair trade, organic coffee. Now, though, I encourage you to do the same in order to support operations like this. Most coffee shops have a fair trade, organic option (Starbucks, Peets, etc.). AND, if you’re feeling compelled, you can even buy from Llano Bonito HERE.

Another shameless plug: BUY HERE!! 

(dang it, I couldn't find websites to connect to those intended links. BUT mark my words, I will find them and spam you with them.)

Okay, it’s late again. By which I mean it’s 9:15pm, but that’s late here in this early-rising community! We’re waking up at 5am tomorrow (whew!), so I should get to bed. We’re happy and safe! Can’t wait to write more. J

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! (Okay, Planes, Taxis, Busses, and Feet)

Yesterday was a MAJOR travel day. We arrived in Panama early in the morning, went through immigration and customs, stood outside, breathed in the air, and then went back into the airport. We only had a few hours for the layover – not enough to see the city, but enough to get a quick look around.

While waiting at our gate for our plane, Ken and I both fell fast asleep sprawled out on the airport floor. Only sleeping 1.5 hours in the night prior (red eye flight) will do that to you. We didn’t manage to get seats next to each other, but that’s okay. We were close enough that we could still communicate telepathically – by which I really mean making faces at each other. 

Our flight from Panama to Costa Rica was an easy one. From there, we took a bus to the outskirts of San Jose. The busses couldn’t enter the heart of the city, because there is a city wide festival/fiesta going on that people come from all over Costa Rica to enjoy. We wandered around the street festival, had some delicious street food and coffee, and eventually caught a taxi to the Musoc (a bus brand) station. From there we bought tickets to San Pablo on a bus that departed in two hours. With two hours to spare, we wandered around a bit more and stumbled into a bar. When we entered the bar, it was like a movie where the record scratches and everyone looks at the newcomers. Everyone turned and looked at us, the giant white man (gringo suave, as I’ve taken to calling him), and his blonde side kick. The bar was packed with 40-somethings, and the music was loud. I noticed later that a microphone was being passed around, and it was some sort of karaoke event. One the shock of seeing us set in, some people gestured us to join them, others gestured for us to go upstairs, others just kept staring, and others didn’t pay us any attention. Not wanting to wield our backpacks in the crowded bar, we headed upstairs where we ordered food we had no idea what it was and Imperial, the beer of Costa Rica. Both yummy.

Then we walked back to the bus station, and about a half hour later, we were off on our next leg of the journey!

The funny thing about this leg, though, is we had no idea how long it was. We knew we were supposed to be on this bus, and we knew we were supposed to ride it to the end, but we had no idea if it would be 20 minutes, 1 hour, or 6 hours. It ended up being somewhere in between (3 hours??), and by the time we arrived out our destination, it was dark and wet from rain. Our bus driver called his uncle, who is a taxi driver, to help us continue on our way to Llano Bonito. His uncle showed up in his jeep taxi, and we loaded our stuff in and were off! Super windy roads through super tiny towns. We hoped we were headed in the right direction, but if were being honest, we had no idea.

But we were! And eventually, he dropped us off in the heart of Llano Bonito! Success!! Except – we still didn’t know where we were staying. We started asking if people knew Eligio and Pachi, and walking in the direction they mentioned. And walking, and asking more directions, and walking, and asking more directions. And finally, we knocked on a door we thought was the right one – nope! But we were only two houses off, and their son would show us the way.

So Zach kindly walked us to the correct house, and we were welcomed with open arms! The fed us and gave us our room, and I their kids (where were about 12 when I was here 5 years ago) are huge! And my Spanish worsened, as did their English – so that’s been fun. But overall, we couldn’t be happier. They couldn’t be lovelier. And we are thrilled to be here.

I can’t wait to write more about Llano Bonito. Waking up here, the coffee, etc. But we’re going on a hike soon, and I want to make sure we’re ready.

But before I go, Ken’s thoughts!

Ken’s  Thoughts: Getting here felt like an adventure! It was fun not having all the details figured out and having a lot of room for spontaneity. I’m surprised how helpful people were. And how people didn’t seem to mind pantomime. And the meat on the stick from the street vendor was really good. I think that’s all my thought on the trip here. Oh, except also that it’s utterly beautiful here – it’s gorgeous!

Aaaaand, We're (N)Off!

Written on 12/26/2016. Sorry for the delayed post. 

Do you get it? “And we’re Noff” like Noffsinger? But also like Off to a new adventure? Clever, I know. Danyelle – I made a pun!

Okay, puns aside, we’re at the airport! Kenny has gone foraging for forks and water, and I am guarding the stuff. In an hour and twenty minutes, we’ll board our flight for Panama City, where we connect to head off to our final destination, Costa Rica! We’re going back to Llano Bonito first, (see this post, this one, this one, and this one), and then meandering our way northward until we fly out from Managua, Nicaragua on January 7^th. It’s a bit of a quicker turnaround than usual, but hey, that’s adult life, right?

We’re super excited. We don’t totally know what to expect, but that’s the fun of it! I’ve realized, though, that I’ve been a little bit more worried about this trip than other trips. I want to make it really good for Kenny, and I feel responsible because I’ve been to some of these places and I’m more experienced (albeit rusty) with this travel style. Whereas before I didn’t really care what happened, now, I’d feel really bad if I accidentally put us on a bus that brought us multiple hours in the wrong direction.  But Kenny, saint of a husband as he is, has assured me that he’s happy even if anything goes wrong. He’s just excited to be my adventure buddy. And I’m excited to be HIS adventure buddy. And I think this will be a really, really awesome 11 days. J  (Wow! Only 11 days! I’m excited to see what we can do with that time).

Kenny’s Thoughts: The blueberries muffins* I’m eating are delicious, and I’m very excited to be doing an international adventure again. And I’m excited for the coffee!

*I made them this morning to get rid of extra blueberries.

P.S. In the event that you read this before 8:15pm PT, please pray that there are some no-shows on our flight so that Kenny and I can sit together.

Noffsingers Take Over Yosemite

It may not be a huge international trip, but Ken and I went to Yosemite and it was lovely. I love scrolling through old blog posts, and I know that in the months and years to come, it will be fun to stumble across this again...in fact, I might end up posting a few other videos from past travels, just so they end up here.

But without further ado, here's our trip to Yosemite: 

Last Few Pages of the Honeymoon Chapter

It's odd to be writing a travel post from the comfort of an oversized chair in the middle of my living room, but it didn't seem right to move on to real life without a few closing words about the trip.

The food that Kenny brought back was delicious. I tried to imitate a delicious fig, cheese, and prosciutto sandwich we had at Cafe Two Ants (which, by the way, if you're ever in Sydney, you need to go there), and I think I did a pretty good job. Still room for improvement, though.

We were a little exhausted from all of the adventuring, so we spent all day (and a bit of the night) playing Pandemic Legacy. Eventually, we broke for Thai food (delicious!), and then back to it.

The next day, we woke up early to seize the day! We bussed it (~45 minutes) over to the center of town for the BRIDGE CLIMB! There was a lot of back and forth in our decision to do it. It's not a cheap activity, and we weren't sure if it was just a tourist trap. But literally everyone we talked to on the ship or in Sydney said, "Oh, you're in Sydney? Are you doing the bridge climb?"

The online reviews essentially all said the same thing: It's a great experience, but it is pricey.

What was it that helped us make the final decision?

This little piece of my childhood that I probably saw. . . 30 times(?) growing up.

You guys, I'm serious. I was a major Mary Kate and Ashley fan (literally in their fan club, when that was a thing). I would bring pictures of them to get my hair cut like them or get clothes like them, and I would watch their movies, rewind, and watch again.

And I remember watching this way back in 2000 when Our Lips Are Sealed came out, thinking, "When I go to Sydney, I'm going to do that."

And when I finally admitted that it wasn't the logical, adult part of me that wanted to the the bridge climb, but the 10 year old inside of me that's been wanting to do this for 16 years, Ken said, "I didn't know this was a childhood dream - we have to do it." What a wonderful, caring man I'm married to!!!

So we did it, and it was awesome!

Our guide was hilarious, the views were amazing, and (despite not being able to bungee jump off the bridge), it was a truly awesome experience!

After that, we went shopping on George street, then took a ferry over to Manly Beach.

It was fun to be on a beach with waves and sand again. It felt like the beaches back home, except warm. I bounced around in the waves a bit with Ken, then went in to read while Ken body surfed. It was your standard fabulous day at the beach. Bonus: neither of us got stung by the jelly fish they had warnings about.

From there, we decided to go to the O-Bar. The O-Bar is a shmamzy bar that Ken had been recommended to check out. It's on the 47th story of a super nice building that we literally tracked sand into. Ya, we're classy. In the elevator up, we tried to look a little less like beach bums (not super successfully), by holding our backpack instead of carrying it - but that's about all we could do. After that, we were at the mercy of the employees who would decide if we were allowed in or not.

My guess is because we were early (it was about 5pm), they let us in. The circular building has glass walls nearly all the way around, except for about every 15 feet there's a 3 foot pillar (you know, to hold the building up). The hostess sat us down right behind a pillar.

"Ummm, would you mind if we sit in front of a window?" I asked. "Uh - that wall is going to move," the hostess said.

Oh ya - duh. That's the reason we came to the O-Bar. The whole bar rotates. I felt a little silly for forgetting the main reason we wanted to check out the bar, but oh well. The wall would move.

And it did! And it was great.

The view was fantastic. All the views were fantastic. It takes about an hour and forty five minutes to do the full circle, and we were there for about thirty minutes. Enough to get all the harbor views and and drink two fancy-pants drinks. Time and money well spent, I'd say.

It was very kind of them to let us in. We returned the kindness by wiping the sand off our seats as we left. . . That's like the same, right?

Then we went on a great quest to find Bills again! They were so good for breakfast, we wanted them to be our last meal in Australia. Especially since I am now the proud owner of one of their cookbooks, and I wanted to scope out what their dinner tastes like. So we bussed it over to a different, closer bills location. Then it took a lot of walking (some in the wrong direction - my fault) to finally find it. Then it was closed.

I felt bad, because I knew Ken was hungry and I had let us down with my bills plan. I threw a fit, and he had a lot of grace with me, and then an employee came to open the door. She said (in broken English) that bills isn't open for dinner, then she went into the building. This was extremely confusing to me, because I had checked the hours online. So we just stood there for awhile, trying to figure out what to do. When she came out, she suggested (again, in broken English, so we were kind of guessing), that we go to one of the other bills.

Huh, so this bills must not be open for dinner. Strange, but okay.

Riding on the hope that the other bills was open for dinner, we started walking.

And walking, and walking, and walking.

And eventually, we arrived at bills. Famished. And ecstatic that it was, in fact, open for dinner.

Huzzah!

So we ate lots of delicious food, then cabbed it home. Played one game of Pandemic, felt humorously tired for how early it was, and went to sleep.

In the morning, we woke up and I tried my hand at an Australian breke. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Especially given that my goal was to use up leftovers.

Then we packed up for the great journey home!

The trip back was fairly painless. A twelve hour flight is uncomfortable no matter what, but we had an aisle seat and plenty of good movies and I was able to sleep a few broken hours, so that was good. Poor Ken, though, didn't sleep at all.

But we made it!

That sign in the back says "Welcome to San Francisco"

And immigration and customs were manageable, and we eventually found our Uber driver on the departures floor (did you know they're not allowed to come to the arrivals floor at SFO?), and we thought we were almost home!

Except.

Except when we got home, there was a man painting our deck bright red. Our house has one way in (including potential windows to shimmy through), so this man painting the deck was extremely inconvenient. This was something that was supposed be done the first week of January, and we essentially said, "We don't care. As long as it's done before we get home and move in on February 12th, it's fine with us."

So. . . we couldn't get into our apartment. And we had all our stuff. But it worked out well that the painter guy was there, because they had also changed the locks on our apartment (we didn't know this was happening) and he had the new keys. Had he not been there, we would have been locked out. 

So we locked all our bags in Ken's car, and drove to lunch.

Lunch was yummy, but we still had two hours until the deck would be save to walk on.

It was at this moment I had my brilliant idea. A movie! I asked Ken, and he was down. Without telling him what movie we were seeing, I bought tickets and drove us to the theater. He was stoked when he saw what it was.

The movie had us laughing the whole time. Just what we needed! I highly recommend it (except if violence or crude humor is unpleasant). Oh my gosh, I'm smiling just thinking about it.

Then we (finally!) went home, and we spent the night eating pizza and playing Pandemic Legacy then went to sleep. 

On Saturday - admittedly exhausted - we had a low key day. We played a lot of Pandemic Legacy (WHICH WE BEAT AT THE LEGENDARY ACHIEVEMENT LEVEL!!!!), opened a few wedding presents, had Eric's Deli for dinner, and watched a lot of Downton Abbey (only just staring season 4 - no spoilers, please). I'm trying to think of if we did anything else. . . but that may honestly be it. I think it's fair for us to have a lazy day, though. There had been a lot going on. 

Then it was Sunday. What better way to end our honeymoon than with Valentine's Day. We woke up and immediately opened presents. I got Ken and awesome beer opener (you'll see it when you come over - it's awesome), and he spoiled me with opal jewelry from Australia. Then, since we were in the presents mood, we opened our remaining wedding presents. Totally, completely, totally spoiled. Thank you if you contributed!!!

Then, we spent the majority of the rest of the day setting up the house. We took a run to Target, I worked on setting up the kitchen, and Ken set to work on assembling the bed. This took the majority of the day until it was time for dinner, and Ken took us out to Ethiopian food near our house. Super delicious. Neither of us finished our meal, which was a bit shocking considering how much we were eating on the ship. . . there must be something in that cruise water. . .

Then we came up, finished off an episode of Downton, and called it a night. 

Then this morning, we woke up, I made breakfast while Ken showered, and then he headed off to work. 

I've been left unsupervised to continue in the effort of "apartment + boxes = home". Lots and lots of boxes, and still more to be moved over from both of our previous houses. But I'm up to the challenge! And I'm so thankful that Ken has given me the opportunity to not need to work right now so I can make this my priority. He's a really, really great man.

Okay, so this is it. I'm signing off on the honeymoon travels. I'm so curious and excited to see when the next time I break out this blog will be. . . I truly have no idea what the next adventure will be, but it's fun knowing who it will be with!

Being married is the best. This is the best. My life is the best. :-) :-) :-)

All smiles!!!

Until then!

:-) :-) :-)

The American Embassy (but not really)

Here we are, back in Sydney! The cruise was a great success. I’m back-posting some blogs that were written on the ship, but not posted because the cost is crazy to access the internet. We’ve set up camp in what a tour guide jokingly referred to as the American Embassy. i.e. McDonald’s (but here, they call it “Mackers”).

We’ve just gotten off the ship, and now we’re lying low for a bit until we’re able to check into our AriBnB, drop off our stuff, and seize the day. Who knows what the day will hold!!

In other news, being married is my favorite thing I’ve ever done. Ken is great. Everyone should have a spouse as wonderful as him. . . and I’m not at all saying that under the influence of these rose colored honeymoon glasses.

Change of plans regarding Mackers. Apparently, the American Embassy is letting us down. Wi-fi is down.  That doesn’t work very well when our whole goal of the morning is to kill time by posting the blogs. I’m holding down the fort with all our stuff (oh my gosh, we have a lot of stuff), and Ken is out searching for wi-fi. There was a Starbucks about a block away, so he’s scoping it out.

I was going to download pictures in the meantime, but he has the camera. So instead, I’ll write a bit more about our trip!

A bit about the ship. Ken and I were on the Dawn Princess and had an inside cabin. It seemed small when we first arrived.

Ken is back! He found a great location. My knight in shining armor. J J

Okay, now we’re at a new restaurant where we have a half hour of free wi-fi. That should (hopefully) be plenty of time to post up these blogs.

More about the ship. The cabin seemed small when we first arrived, but by the time we left, it felt like a cozy little nest, just the right size. It was fun living in such close quarters. It really threw us right into living together, no room for personal space bubbles at all.

The ship had lots of activities, but Ken and I did very few of them. The one thing we really did get into, though, were the art events. We went to a bunch of art auctions and a few seminars about art. We’re coming back much more knowledgeable about art. We know our favorite style is impressionism and intense impressionism. Daniel Walls and Slava Ilyayava (spelled wrong) were our favorite artists on the ship, and we understand a few different mediums of art. I’d consider it a success.

Us with our auction card

Now that I have Ken and the camera, I’m going to transition to downloading some pictures. But first. . .

Ken’s Thoughts: I’m sad it’s over. It really was a wonderful part of the honeymoon. I felt really pampered. I felt like I really got the time to get to know you (Lila) a lot better, like we both really wanted to. It’s also awesome staying in the same room and waking up together. I’m shocked at how much we both enjoyed going to the art auctions and learning more about art. It really was one of the highlights of the cruise. I feel like I can appreciate it so much better now. And see myself enjoying it more over the years to come. I was thinking about Champagene Bay. . . of all the places, that was hands down my favorite that we went to. I’m really confilicted about if I’d ever want to go back. We had such an amazing time there, I’m not sure if re-visiting it would be just as special, or if it would taint the wonderful time we had.

I was hoping to be able to put up pictures, but I we only get a half hour of free (weak) wi-fi here, so I don't think I'll be able to make it. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to find some good wi-fi and put them up! I have them picked out and everything.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom & Olivia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (it's Feb. 10th here)


---LATER---
I'm now at our BEAUTIFUL AirBnB that Ken booked for us. It's in the suburbs of Sydney, and we can see the whole Sydney skyline. He's out foraging for food, and I've been left to update the blog and figure out public transportation.

Tomorrow, we fulfill a childhood fantasy of mine, planted by Mary Kate and Ashley back in 2000. I'll give you a hint:

Here are other pictures and stories that I want to share:

When we were on an island (...Lifou?) we went horse back riding! It was great fun, but I had a horse that didn't like a different horse. Which would have been find, if the girl riding the other horse had been a competent rider. She wasn't, though, which made some moments a little stressful. But it was still a lot of fun, riding a horse through the rain forest. Totally a new experience!

Us at the top of the hill

We went on one tour on a different island that turned out to be a bit of a dud, UNTIL we turned it around. At one point, they brought us down this big staircase that brought you from a cliff to the ocean, and at the bottom of this staircase, there were kids jumping about 15 feet into the ocean. Ken and I had recently (on our horse back riding trip) learned about "princess rules". Which, essentially, means they limit the liability. On the horseback riding, it meant that we couldn't trot or canter. We assumed that on this excursion, it meant you couldn't jump off cliffs. SO, before anyone could have the chance to tell us no, we stripped down to our bathing suits, carefully climbed up to where the kids were, and jumped into the water. Definitely the highlight of the day. 

Us after jumping in the water (you can see the cliff over Ken's shoulder)

There were two fancy nights. The first fancy night, we dressed to the nines (is that the expression) and we forgot to use our camera (despite bringing it). Woops! Here are a few pics from the second fancy night:

And here is our ship as we left it: 

On to the next chapter! Including the food I'll make from the ingredients Ken just brought home, some delicious looking beer, and Pandemic Legacy (which we crushing, btw). 

My Husband Is a World Wonder i.e. Surf & Turf Night

Written 2/5/2016 evening

Tonight, Ken ate 7 surf & turfs.

That means 7 steaks and 21 prawns, as well as accompanying potatoes and veggies.

This is in addition to: a duck breast appetizer, won ton soup, a whole lamb entre, and burnt rhubarb napoleon dessert.

I’m really proud, in a weird way. Also slightly nervous for when we have teenagers, but mostly just really proud.

Great job, Kenny!

Champagne Bay: The Port of Happiness

Written: 2/5/2016

Today was AWESOME! Ken and I agree that it was the best day so far. Despite other days having snorkeling and turtles and horseback riding through the rainforest (we did that yesterday), today was the best.

Today, we were in Champagne Bay, which is a lazy little bay on an island of Vanutu that literally has no people living in the bay – they all live in a city about 45 mintues away. But for curise ships, they come in and set up. The women man the rows and rows of shops along the beach, and the men offer tours.  Ken and I walked in not knowing what to expect. We knew that the blue holes sounded cool  (big pools of water that are super super blue for some reason unknown to us), and we didn’t want to snorkel.

Just by walking around and being offered a million tours, we noticed that one person’s offer stood out. He mentioned a rope swing. We walked far away from the chaos to decide what we wanted to do, and we were both thinking the same thing: blue hole and rope swing.

So we went back looking for Waass, who had offered the rope swing. We were going to also ask him to take us to a blue hole. It had turned out, though, that during our dilly dallying (and shopping – we bought shorts for me to wear swimming), Waas had left with a different tour. We eventually found someone that was willing to listen to us, instead of try and get us to go snorkeling or to a coconut plantation. We explained that we just wanted to go to a blue hole and the rope swing. That’s it. We negotiated the price, the guy we were talking with called over a driver, and we were off!!

Our driver – Jean Pierre – was awesome. Super kind and friendly. As he drove, he would explain what we were looking at. What fruits we were passing, who owned the coconut plantations, how coconuts were prepared and exported, etc. We learned so much! It was a little funny, because every time we asked a question, he would slow the car way down to hear us. Sometimes even stopping in the middle of the highway. But the other drivers didn’t seem to mind, they would just go around.

Ken’s Thoughts: I thought that he gave us a very nice tour, and basic understanding of the island, and the culture, and the layout. Also about coconuts, the different plantations, and the import/export of the island. It was very pleasant.

Then he stopped on this little river with some guys sitting on some overturned dugout canoes. He got out and started talking to them. Then he came back and said that to get to the blue hole where we were going, we would either drive in ($5 admittance per person) or take a canoe in ($10 for the canoe per person). Well, that was a no brainer for us. We opted for the canoe, and Ken and I climbed in. It was the kind of dugout canoe that has a parallel connected log for balancing. Ken was in front, I was in the middle, and then the guy paddling was in the back. Jean Pierre said that he would meet us at the blue hole.

The ride in the canoe was amazing. The water was so clear, you could see all the way to the bottom, including all the fish. Nothing on the island can kill you (praise God!), so we were thankful to not have to worry about snakes or crocodiles or something. We could just enjoy the overhanging greenery, the lush forests, the clear and increasingly blue water, and – when the skies opened up – the warm rain. It couldn’t have been better. I felt like we had stepped right out of a fairy tale, or right into a romantic comedy placed on a post card. It was the best.

Then, we saw a little docking station a bit ahead, and we also saw – could it be!!!??? – and awesome rope swing! We were going to rope swing INTO a blue hole? Life doesn’t get better than this.  That was the catchphrase of the day.

Ken’s thoughts: Beautiful. The water was unbelievable, aquamarine blue. And it was just so peaceful, even though you could hear all the bugs and animals chirping in the brush around us. But the foliage was so thick, it really did feel like we were canoeing through the rain forest. Also, the canoe was clearly homemade, which I was very impressed by. Then, about half way through, when the rain kicked in, it was just so beautiful out there. And surprising, because the rain felt really nice. It was actually a fun experience, instead of cold rain back home. That’s my thoughts.

Then we climbed onto the shore. I put on my shorts to cover the worst of the sunburn from a few days ago, and stripped down to my bathing suit from my dress. Very quickly, Ken and I were in our bathing suits and ready for the water. We saw two people go off the rope swing ahead of us, so we new it was safe. The water was so clear, and so suddenly deep. We used a big hook to pull the rope swing in from the middle of the deep, royal blue swimming hole, and then pulled it over to the platform. Then you climb up a little ladder to a higher platform, hold on tight – and swing!

We swung about 25 feet out to the middle of the pool, and then dropped  about eight feet into the sapphire water. It felt SO GOOD. Oh my gosh, it felt good. There were a few people there before us, so we had to share the rope, but Ken and I both got a good number of swings in. The other girl – who was there even before us – said during her turn when she was on the top platform, convincing herself to jump, “You’d think after going a few times that it would be easy, but I’m not fearless like you.” Comments like that always make me smile.

Ken and I took lots of videos, too. I hope to eventually put together a “honeymoon” video to capture all these moments, so we’ll see how that goes.

We kept going on the rope swing until another group arrived, and we took that as our queue to exit. We both went a time or two more, than gathered up our stuff to go meet Jean Pierre.

Ken’s thoughts: I forgot how much work it takes to float in non-salt water after all of our days of snorkeling in the ocean.  I couldn’t believe how blue the hole was, especially in contrast with the deep rainforest colors around it. The spot felt so isolated and relaxing, that I really enjoyed it. Also, the family that was there before us was very friendly. I enjoyed sharing the watering hole with them. The swing was a ton of fun. Every time I go off a rope swing, the first time I go up a rope swing, my fear of heights kicks back in a little bit. But I had a really good time going off it. And I think the GoPro footage will be a lot of fun. That’s all I got.

Then it was back to the car to head home. We were expecting to go to two locations (rope swing and blue hole), but we felt like we scored having them two in one. Before we got in the car, Jean Pierre cut open for us a coconut that he had picked up during our drive up (he had pulled over and picked it up off the ground). It was crazy seeing the coconut opened. Something I love about traveling is seeing how food is grown. I didn’t realize that the coconuts that we buy in the store were originally covered by layers and layers of husk. Did you know that? Maybe. That’s okay, we both know it now.

Anyways, he shucked and pulled back all the husk, then cut it straight in half and let us drink the milk and eat some of the meat. It was SO GOOD, and this coming from someone that’s had a coconut every day for the past few days. Delicious.

Then we got into the car to head home. Jean Pierre kept being a fantastic guide, telling us about what we were passing, slowing down to hear and answer our questions. It was great. Then he saw a little stand on the side of the road, and he asked if we wanted to try an orange. Yep! We definitely did.

He pulled over, and got out and bought us an orange that was bigger than a softball. It seemed a bit more like a grapefruit, but really, was like nothing we had ever seen. He cut it open for us with his mini machete, and we ate it and got juice everywhere, and it was so good. Then he asked if we wanted to try a passion fruit, and he picked one off the ground and split it open. We said we definitely did, and we scooped out the innards of our giant passion fruit halves with our tongues. Similar to a pomegranate, you eat the seeds of a passion fruit. But unlike a pomegranate, they’re all loose and floating around the inside of the fruit. It was delicious, and we were so happy. This day couldn’t get any better.

But wait! There’s more!!

A short drive after that, we saw a large fruit stand. He asked if we wanted to pull over, and we said: Yes!!!! So we pulled over, and looked at all the fruits. He asked what we wanted, and we said we weren’t sure, and we trusted him. He picked out three coconuts, and cut off the tops so we could drink out the milk – so good! Now THIS was the best coconut I’ve ever had! Remember, I’m becoming a coconut expert. Then he broke them open and we ate the fleshy inside. We were thinking we were satisfied, but after a quick poddy break and a chance to realize that there was still a bunch of fruit over there we wanted to eat, we asked if we could get more. So we went back and got a big thing of bananas and a pineapple.

He suggested that we drive up a bit to the shade (he had seen me re-applying sunscreen like the irish leperchon I am), so we got into the car, drove up to the shade, and got out of the car to feast on our new fruit. I swear, the bananas and pineapple were not even the same fruit we have back in the states. They were explosions of flavor! The pineapple was SO juicy and sweet – not at all acidic. The banana was like banana ice cream on steroids. I image Ken will explaint he flavors in a bit more flavor, so I’ll leave that to his part, but let me just tell you: they were great.

Then we got in the car and drove back to the beach. Jean Pierre was a great guide! I recommend looking out for him in you’re ever in Champagne Bay.

Ken’s Thoughts:  The passion fruit, the bananas, and the pineapple were the best I’ve ever had – probably the best I ever will have. I was honestly very blown away by them. I was so glad that our driver took the initiative to stop and try the fruit, since we had been talking about it in the car. Also, the locals were really friendly and let us use one of their restrooms when we were taking a while at the fruit-stand. Oh, I forgot about the coconut. That was also the best coconut I’ve ever had. I left the fruit-stands feeling totally satisfied. I couldn’t believe how sweet the pineapple was, and how it wasn’t acidic at all. I could have eaten a bucket of that stuff. I had no idea real bananas tasted like that. I think that’s about it.

So now that we were back on the beach, Ken went to scope out the food while I went to the bathroom. When I found him again, he was excited about the lobster. There were tables and tables full of boxes of live lobsters and crabs – and people kept walking up with more of them, as if they were just caught. Ken had picked out a good one, and they took it right from the box to one of the cooking fires behind the tables. We watched as more people came and chose their shellfish. There was one lobster that probably weight about the same as Natalie (my sister in law). Maybe not quite, but it was huge. Ken estimates that it was about 20 inches from head to tip of tale. I really hope someone got that one, but we were stuffed from gorging on fruit. We still got a pretty big one, though! After it was done cooking, it was bright red. I didn’t realize lobsters change colors when they’re cooked! I thought there were red lobsters and black lobsters. But nope! The black lobsters turn red. Crazy sauce.

Anyways, when our lobster was done cooking, the laid in on a big banana leaf and cracked it open for us, then wrapped it up in the leaf with some lime. Then Ken and I found a nice place on the beach overlooking the beautiful  bay to eat our delicious lobster. I know nothing about lobster – I think this may have been my first lobster – but I thought it was dang good.

We were feeling pretty satisfied. There wasn’t much to do on that lazy beach, and even if there was, I don’t know if we would have wanted to do it. Instead of seeking out another adventure, we grabbed to Vanutu beers, sat our butts in the sand, and soaked in the world’s best honeymoon until it was time to get back on the tender and head back to the ship.

I love being married to this guy. It’s so much fun to share these best days with someone that I’ll have forever to relive the memories with. Especially someone so attractive. J Life is good. 

Ken’s Thoughts: Our day closed just as the whole day went, just that it was hard to believe any of it was real because it was so good. I knew I wanted to have fresh lobster on this trip on one of the ports, and when I went over to the shellfish area, I was very excited to see the quality and quantity of their lobsters and crabs. They had two of the biggest lobsters I’d ever seen, but they were a bit out of our price range (and hunger level), but we picked out a still huge lobster for a very reasonable price. And they cooked it for us right there on the spot, cracked it open, squirted lime juice on it, and served it to us on a giant banana leaf. I don’t think I’ll ever have lobster as good as that again. It’s the best food I’ve had in a long time – that lobster was unbelievable. Because it was so fresh out the ocean, it tasted like it was pre-seasoned perfectly with sea salt. There was just a ton of it, and it was all mouth-watering. Albeit, very messy.  After that and disposing of the remains, Lila suggested we get beer, and it couldn’t have sounded better. So, plopping down on the white sandy beaches, each with a beer in hand, looking at the post-card worthy view, I’d easily say this was my favorite port day that we’ve had. It was all really special. And I enjoyed every minute of it. I’d say those are my thoughts. 

Mystery Island and The Great Sunburn of 2016

written 2/3/2016

You guys, cruises are awesome. I gave up on trying to blaze our own trail, and I’ve resigned myself to happily being herded to the beaches they’ve chosen, then back onto the ship.

A bit about ship life:

Ken and I are famous for two things on the ship: 1) Eating a lot, 2) Being newlyweds. At the meals we go two, it’s not unusual for us to each order two peoples’ helpings, or get asked, “Are there more coming from your party?” “Umm. . . nope, just us.” We wore our “Just Married” shirts the first day on the boat, so whenever anyone sees us being gross and kissy, or they hear we’re on our honeymoon, they ask if we’re the newlyweds that were wearing the shirts the first day.

We’ve also become art conosuiers. Actually, that’s a gross overstatement. Art enthusiasts. We’ve gone to two art auctions and an art lecture. The auctions are funny, because Ken and I seem to be the only people there that are excited. Even when someone buys a paining for thousands of dollars, they don’t even crack a smile. If you weren’t excited about that painting, you probably shouldn’t have bought it. Just sayin’. Speaking of buying paintings, Ken and I got one! You can come over and see it anytime. Except now, because they’re shipping it and it won’t be there yet. Also, Ken and I are on a cruise and will not be home. But we’re really excited about our little painting! It was way less than we expected, and I was secretly a little offended by how low it was compared to the others. I wanted to tell everyone, “don’t you see how great this is??!! It’s WAY better than that one! What do you mean that one is ten times more??” But I didn’t say anything, because I didn’t want anyone else to bid on it. And then we won.

On port days, we seize the day early and are in the first group of people off the ship. Today, we went to Mystery Island, which is a tiny little island with a population of zero. You can walk around the whole island in about 30-40 minutes. Picture the most picturesque island you can imagine: clear blue waters, tropical plants, white sandy. Yep, you’re picturing Mystery Island. The locals that work there (glass bottom boat tours, snorkel gear rentals, etc.) all come over from the main island across the way, which is much bigger and also super beautiful.

View of Mystery Island from the ship

So, we unloaded onto Mystery Island and Ken and I rented some snorkel gear ($10 each for all day!!). Then we covered ourselves in sunscreen and started snorkeling, and it was awesome. This was day three for us of snorkeling, but still totally enjoyable. Reefs everywhere, fish everywhere. Super cool.

We were trying to stay aware of where all the snorkel and glass bottom boat tours were going, thinking maybe that’s where all the cool stuff was. We noticed that they were all out near where the waves were breaking. I estimated that was probably about a five minute swim, and suggested we go out there. Ken was game, so we had our quest.

Okay, so instead of waiting ‘till the end to let you learn the lessons of the day, I’m going to let you learn them right now:

1. I’m bad at estimating distances
2. Currents/tides make things harder
3. Sunscreen containers mean what they say about lasting 80 minutes

It turns out, it wasn’t a 5 minute swim. Ken even wisely recommended that we headed back mid way, for the sake of sunburn, but I said, “No! We need to win!”

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you’ll know that I don’t like hiking, and I always forget that I don’t like hiking. (See: Ghana, Peru, Costa Rica, China, etc.). This ended up being a similar. Once the quest began, I needed to finish it. Regardless of if parts along the way weren’t totally fun, or if I wasn’t prepared, or if I almost cried (don’t tell Ken).

So, remember how I thought it was about 5 minutes? It was slightly under two hours until we hit the point we had our eye on (which ended up being a sunken ship – totally cool!). Granted, we were looking at cool things along the way, so it’s not like we were bookin’ it straight out there, thank goodness! I don’t think I would have had the strength, especially with the current working against us. Here’s some of the stuff we saw on the way out: sea slugs, fish, fish, fish, fish, giant sea urchins, fish, etc.

On the way back, after exploring the ship, we saw even more cool stuff. I saw a huge sea turtle! And we saw a fat, grumpy fish that looked like a huge tadpool. And we also saw a giant clam. And, of course, lots and lots of fish.

Ken estimates he his head was about 10-12 inches across. Maybe 2 feet long. Pretty cool! I thought the swim in would be a lot easier because now the current would be with us, but it turns out I saw still kinda wrong. The current was at a diagnol, so even though it did help some, it still required significant effort for me to make it to shore. Which is not to say it was a great feat for a normal human, but this is coming from a girl whose favorite and best swimming strokes are dog paddle and float. Meanwhile, my fishy husband (how fun is THAT to say) helps me when I get tired, and that’s great. I was near crying at the end because I was so worn out, but then he held my hand and we swam the rest of the way.

When we reached land, I felt like the girl at the end of Gravity, except that we crawled up onto slippery rocks, which is kinda  a hard way to end it. But that’s okay.

Ken thinks that it was probably between 2/3 of a mile and a 1 mile out to the ship wreck, but I’m fairly convinced that it was about half way back to Australia.

Back on the beach, we sat until we dried off (not long. It was SUPER hot) and then I reapplied sunscreen, and Ken jumped back in the water.

We were feeling pretty burned out, so we gathered up our stuff, and moseyed our way to the other side of the island where the tender (little boat that brings us to our cruise ship) was. Along the way, we got coconuts to drink/eat, which were delicious.

Then back to our ship and into our room to shower. This is when we were able to confirm what we had only suspected and feared: that the sunscreen bottle was serious when it said 80 minutes in the water, and our three hour escapade had long exceeded the limit. Ken and I are both burnt to a crisp on our whole backsides. Ken also wants to add that coral scratches on sun burn don’t feel good – poor guy. We’re now all Aloe-d up, and are laying very still on our beds.

Overall, I would call today a success!!!! We found the shipwreck (which, honestly, we couldn’t even see ‘till we were half way out there), we spent time on a beautiful island, I  saw a turtle butt, we saw a giant fish and a giant clam, and we enjoyed some fun time together. Sunburn was totally worth it! 

Ken’s thoughts: That island was so beautiful. It was unbelievable. I couldn’t believe we were there. How can people be so willing to spend money on stuff, but not on experiencing things like that? It really was something special. Sunburn was totally worth it. That sunken ship was really damn cool. I’ve only ever seen that in movies. I’ve never discovered a sunken ship before, overgrown with sea life and coral. I should have checked in side for treasure!

Update with hindsight (2/10/2016)Ken was totally right - we should have turned back when we had the chance. The sunburns were brutal, and we're both peeling quite a bit. He says it was worth it, but I think he's just being nice to me. But nothing we can do about it now. We're now half tanned, saw a sunken ship, and have a great(?) story to tell.  :-)

You Guys, Being Married Is The Best

There’s nothing I use Microsoft Word 2010* – or this old but trusty Asus computer for – except for travel documentation. As a result, you can imagine my thrill when I popped this bad boy open .

Except, as you hopefully know, there are a couple key differences with this go-around. Mainly: I’M MARRIED!!!!! Huzzah!!!! Is there anything better? I submit that there is not.

This means that I expect quite a few other things to be different in this travel. Hostels probably won’t be making an appearance, because we’d rater opt for private married people time. There will be far less of the questions: “What do I want to do? Where do I want to go?” because I’m no longer just and “I”. I’m a “we”. Which, so far, is far more enjoyable.

It’s crazy to think I’m no longer an “I” during my travels. I’ve gone to 27(?) countries as an “I”. If people didn’t want to do what I wanted to do – who cared? I went and did it anyways. It was my money, my time, my choices, my independence, my travels. I remember even being distinctly protective of wanting to stay independent. When I was in Costa Rica, for example, a few days after the University for Peace program had ended, I was taking a bus to who knows where, and I saw one of my former classmates for the program in the back of the bus. He saw me, and started walking to the front of the bus. Not wanting to share my adventures with him, essentially as soon as he got to the front, I said, “Oh shoot, this is my stop – bye!”  and jumped off the bus. I had no idea where I was, but I was confident I’d have fun figuring it out new independently. Kinda crazy, right?

Fiercely independent. It’s a disease.

But I think it’s a disease that fades. I don’t know if it’s with time or exposure or something else, but I remember so distinctly at the end of my big (again, independent) Europe trip, feeling a sense of closure on the long-independent-trips chapter of my life. While I still think independent travel is a blast and everyone should do it at least once, theirs is a certain sadness and loneliness to it. You don’t have anyone to retell your stories with, you don’t have anyone to sleep on during long plane flights, you don’t come home with inside jokes or shared memories, and you constantly have to put up with the question, “You’re traveling alone? Aren’t you scared?”

Which is not to say that I won’t travel again by myself, but I seriously doubt that I’ll travel for by myself for multiple months. Why should I, now that I’ve met my favorite person and literally vowed to always be his adventure buddy.   

Which brings me to this AMAZING man I’m traveling with, and this wonderful adventure that we’re on. We got married on Saturday (1/23/2016), and had the most perfect wedding we could have asked for (large shout out to my mom and dad who made it happen!!!!). I wore a beautiful, fluffy dress and Ken wore a tux with Captain America cuff links, and we made vows, exchanged rings, and had a hell of a party. People continually told us that there was so much love and attention woven into the day – which almost made me want to cry. What I really wanted for the day is to marry Ken, have Christ represented, and have our guests feel loved and cared for. I think (hope) we accomplished those.

But I could go on and on about the wedding, so I should probably cut myself off early.

Cut to: us driving away in our crudely expertly painted get-away car.

Ken drove us off to an undisclosed location, which ended up being Seven Gables in Monterey. Holy moly – this place is beautiful. We got there late, so they had left the key for us. Angie and Jesse had already dropped off our suitcases, so they were all ready for us (thanks!!). Ken carried me over the threshold into a room with a giant bed (just one! ‘cause we’re married! and it’s awesome), old victorian-y furniture, and HUGE windows overlooking the Monterey bay.  

We took our time at Seven Gables (Sat night – Mon afternoon) for some much needed relaxation. We woke up and had breakfast, went for a walk along the bay, came back to couples massages in our room (they come to you!!!!) and then went down to the lobby for wine + cheese. I could get used to this honeymoon thing. From there, we went out to dinner at a fancy European-smorgasbord restaurant, where Ken ordered spaghetti and I ordered lamb, and we ended up trading dishes than taking most of both of them to go. Turns out, we had eaten a lot of the cheese and weren’t super hungry.

Then, that night, Ken revealed one of his wedding gifts to us: Pandemic Legacy!!!! Here’s something you should know about me and Ken: we both enjoy cooperative games and if you had asked either of us what our favorite time together had been up until this weekend, we probably both would have said my birthday weekend at the cabin. During that weekend, we relaxed and ate pizza and played Pandemic the whole weekend. So you can imagine my excitement when I heard about Pandemic Legacy. It sounded AWESOME! But Ken – for whatever reason – didn’t seem enthused. And I couldn’t figure out why. We’d have friends that talked about it, and he’d act like it didn’t sound like the coolest thing, and then changed the subject. We’d be in a game shop, and they’d be talking up Pandemic Legacy, and he’d say something like, “Ya, that sounds cool, I guess. . .” then ask a question about a different game. Meanwhile, I would have bought it in a heartbeat months ago if I had any inkling that Ken would play it with me, but his lack of enthusiasm just left me shouting internally, “What is wrong with you??!! How do you not realize that this sounds awesome!!!!”.

Little did I know that sometime around July, my sneaky husband had decided to get Pandemic Legacy for our honeymoon, and as a result, subtly discouraged me from getting it myself. Please note that this is crazy for two reasons. Primarily, 1) We weren’t engaged in July, and 2) This feat would be like using only subtlety to discourage a fat kid from eating cake for six months – and having it work. Well done, Kenny. The game is the coolest.

Okay, so climbing back from that rabbit trail. . .

Seven Gables was a weekend of much needed relaxation. On our way out, we did the 17-Mile drive in Monterey. Holy moly, that’s beautiful!!!!!!! Wow. Crazy. Like, really, really beautiful. I would highly recommend it if you have an interest in any of these things: pretty nature, pretty houses, pretty drives, pretty beaches, anything else pretty. Really, really beautiful. And such a great way to wrap up our Monterey chapter, that ended way to soon.

From there, we went back to our house (our house!!!!!) to drop off some stuff like my wedding dress and reorganize our suitcases a little bit.

(Mom: that reminds me, can you pick up the wedding dress and the box under it when you’re dropping off my car? Both are in the hall. Wedding dress goes to a well reviewed dry cleaner, box goes to Danyelle).

We also ordered pizza, a

---BREAK: I was writing the above on the plane to Sydney, until my computer ran out of batteries. This blog has been resumed on 1/28/16 at 8:54am from bed in Sydney ---

So, we ordered our pizza, at which time the pizza delivery guy told us that the address we had given him didn’t exist. So that was, obviously, a bit confusing. Turns out, our address is 883 not 833. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused you! Luckily, I think the only thing that will be impacted by this is it will take a little bit longer for us to get our marriage license, giving that it’s being mailed to a non-existent address.

Regardless, moving right along, pizza was followed by an Uber ride up to SFO, where we commenced “Operation Get Free Stuff on Our Honeymoon”. Which was marked, namely, by our “Just Married” t-shirts.

While we didn’t get as much free stuff as we may have hoped (first class, please?), we did benefit from this operation. Apparently, our seats weren’t together on the plane, and, after seeing our shirts, the person checking us in made some changes and got us seats together. Woohoo! Then, in security we were split into two different lines, and the woman overseeing everything looked at Ken, looked at me, and said, “Did you just marry him?” “Ya,” I said. “Do you want to be with him?” she asked. “Yes, please!” I said. And she let me cut across all the security lines to meet back up with Ken. Then someone bought us bourbon at the bar, so I’d say it’s been an overall success! I would recommend this operation to any newlyweds.

The flight was fairly painless. Ken watched a lot of movies, and I slept a lot. The food was great and plentiful. American airlines, take some notes.

Upon arriving in Sydney, we taxied to our AirBnB  - a sweet little studio loft in the Kings Cross area. We dumped our stuff, took some much needed showers, and headed out to seize the day (and lunch!).

Our day seizing consisted of primarily going to the zoo, which was awesome. It was really well laid out, so we were able to make and execute a pretty good plan of attack. Favorite animals include: sun bear, red panda, wallabies, koalas, and a cool red tailed bird. Least favorite animals: spiders. Disappointingly allusive animals: platypuses.

Ken + me taking the ferry to the zoo

Ken comparing himself to bears

After the zoo, we set off to find what became our white whale of the day: The Lord Nelson Brewery + Pub. We hadn’t yet purchased our Lonely Planet book for Sydney, and it turns out that the maps that we had were entirely unhelpful, but we somehow got it in our head that this is where we wanted to go for dinner and beer, and after 45 minutes of searching, we couldn’t be dissuaded from our quest.

We finally found it nowhere near where we expected it to be, and it was totally worth it.

I probably ate the equivalent of 10 potatoes, between the wedges and the mashed potatoes. Okay, probably not 10. But definitely 4. And a meat pie. Hey, have you ever had potato wedges with cream cheese and sweet and sour sauce? Me neither, but trust me. It’s delicious. Holy crap, it’s delicious. We also had great beer. I had a pint of Lord’s Blood, and Ken had a tasting flight.

A quest well worth it, if I do say so myself!

Then we tried to get back with public transportation, which ended up being harder than we expected and we eventually just caught a cab.

And now we’re up and about to go on a quest for some breke (breakfast) this morning.

Life is awesome.

I LOVED getting married, but BEING married is way better.

Cheers!

---1/29/16 at 10:45am---

It took longer than expected for “post blog” to make it to the top of the priority list, so I wanted to quickly catch you up to where we are now so we don’t fall too far behind.

Yesterday, we set off to seek the allusive “bills” restaurant for breakfast. If you know anything about me (actually, if you know weird breakfast facts about me), you know that my Bills is my favorite breakfast in the States. So I got excited when I read somewhere that Sydney has a good bills (not the same chain) of their own.

And. Oh. My. Gosh.

My breakfast at Bill's

It was AMAZING! Ken says: “best dining experience I’ve had in a long time. Food was delicious, but you still felt healthy after words. Also, they treated us really well.” We left with smiles,  happy tummies, and a cook book. Can’t wait to cook from it!

Then we went on our own Sydney scavenger hunt, choosing a task, walking around the city ‘till we accomplished it, then choosing the next one. It let us walk what seemed like the whole city, accomplishing tasks like getting me a new bathing suit, getting ken shorts, etc. Super fun!

Then, back to the house to dress up for THE OPERA at the Sydney Opera House. We saw Barber of Seville, and it was awesome and wonderful.  Ken says: “I was really impressed that they did it in the traditional style that there were no microphones or amplifiers for the singers. And it’s a beautiful building. And the performers were top notch. Really good!”

Classing it up at the opera

Now, we’re at an awesome breakfast café. Ken had The Big Breakfast, and I had a fig + deliciousness sandwich.

Then we’re off to our cruise!!!!!!

Bon Voyage!!!!

P.S. Mom, can you let the Noffsingers know this blog exists and help them subscribe if they're interested. 

P.P.S. A nice person at the cafe we're at is letting me use his phone as a hot spot, so I don't want to upload pics right now and destroy his data. I will do it later. :-) 

*I write my drafts in Microsoft Word 2010, then upload to my blog once I hit free wifi.