Buffalo wedding, Niagara Falls honeymoon?

Bridge and Christian tied the knot!!!! It was a lovely weekend where we met up with friends of old and made new ones as well.

The ceremony and reception were beautiful, just like the bride!

I have to admit though that my favorite part of the weekend was our excursion to Niagara falls. We did the Cave of the winds tour. It was a religious experience! The sheer power of the water cascading down on us, I believe in Mother Nature!

More pics are here.

Visit Home: Minnesota

Summer, as can be seen by previous posts, is a great time for our household because CD is off work and we can take a lot of trips: camping, seeing new sights and all our favorite people. We love vacationing with CD's parents, Paige and Dave; we always have tons of fun. So it was a no brainer to head to Minnesota and spend time together: swimming, playing cards, eating and relaxing.

Here Paige and CD enjoy some of Dave's great homebrew:

CD and Dave man the grill:

One of our first days there, we took the canoe to the St Croix and enjoyed some paddling around. We love canoeing and have considered getting a canoe to enjoy near home, although the temperatures in Humboldt are much lower and we might need wetsuits!

Also, on the agenda, was some home repair. Dave is changing out a few of the deck posts that have rotted with moisture. CD and Dave enjoyed a quick trip to the hardware store to get these gigantic drill bits. And so it begins...

Then, CD tried it too:

As an added bonus, a lot of flowers in Paige's garden were in full bloom providing some sweet nectar for the honey bees.

Finished garage!!!! ummmm, I mean.... Man Room!

CD's skills!!!!

Another action shot:

Finished!






...and getting organized

CD relaxing on the futon (Thanks to Pat for the dartboard and darts)

Point Reyes National Seashore

Weekend of camping with old and new friends.

Wendy and I had to actually pencil in this weekend months in advance to make it work. In the past, we've agreed to get together "sometime this summer" and the season just slips away and we've missed our chance. Not this time! The weekend was certain, but the location was still flexible. Some of her fellow friends were headed to Point Reyes to see a band they knew playing the local pub in town, so it was agreed that this was going to be a very fun weekend. Additionally we would hike, drive around to see the local sights and share some meals.

CD and I drove down Friday and met Wendy mid afternoon. It was great to spend a bit of time with her and catch up on family and work and all things in between. Wendy is one of my oldest friends, ever since we bonded in AP History in high school. Her boyfriend Stu and friends Meghan and Jordan arrived after dark. We had the radio going and the fire burning and apparently we got a bit too loud. To be expected with a group of six sharing stories and jokes! What a good group!

CD and Jordan enjoy some brews:

Wendy and Stu stay warm:

On Saturday, we did a half-day hike to the beach, but the fog was thick and visibility limited. The one good thing was that it keep us cool by shielding us from the sun!

Meghan, Wendy, Stu, Catherine and CD:

The afternoon was spent driving around when we stumbled upon a small town festival with oysters, beer and live music! There was also a massive library book sale where CD and I scored some great books, classics and bestsellers alike.

That evening, we dined out in Point Reyes Station and then headed to the local bar for some great blues music and heated pool games.

Stu carefully selects an oyster:

Sunday morning, we went to see the lighthouse. It was beautiful and although there was quite a bit of wind, the sun was shining brightly.

On our way home, CD and I met up with a former housemate from college, Barb. She lives in Berkeley now which means we're getting back in touch and I finally met her husband Justin. Lovely people!

We drove up highway 1 until Fort Bragg which was just about sunset time. A great summer weekend!

Ashland, Oregon (aka Ladies Mini Road trip)

Our friend Kim, who regularly resides in Denmark, visited Humboldt for most of the summer; she is dating CD's plane mate Dave.

We've enjoyed great dinner parties with them and at a recent one, we came up with the idea of going to Ashland, Oregon. I had heard very good things about this town: they have the Oregon Shakespeare festival and it is home to the University of Southern Oregon. It was a great small town!

CD and Dave wanted to fly there, but there was no way that all four of us could pile into 'Victor', as I call the plane. So they flew and Kim and I drove. During the progress of the planning, another friend joined in the fun; with the addition of Bella, it really became a Ladies mini road trip!

On our way there, we stopped in Crescent city and picked up the fixings for a picnic on the Smith river. Unfortunately, the drive was much longer than the fly-in, so we didn't have enough time to take a dip or dilly dally. Kim and Dave brought a bunch of food for dinner and then we caught "Much ado about nothing" at the Shakespeare festival.

Dave and Kim enjoy some ice cream after the show:

The drive back was even more fun. After dropping off the boys at the airport, we went to Dagoba Chocolate for lots of sampling. I also picked up a few xocolatl bars for my upcoming work trip.

Bella and Kim outside of Dagoba:

Quite nearby was Weisinger's of Ashland, a local winery where we absolutely "had to" try their delicious wines. I didn't imbibe too much since I was driving, but instead picked up a couple of bottles to share with CD later.

On our return, we stopped at the same spot on the Smith river to take that much anticipated dip. The weather wasn't ideal, but we dared each other to get in and once we did, our reward was sunshine. We had a great time!

Our last stop was introducing Kim to Paul Bunyan at the Trees of Mystery: