Detours off Britta Blvd

Grandma last saw my house in June 2006, when nothing yet had been done except some minor repairs, some paint & some decorating. She's been seeing photos all spring of the kitchen remodel & other projects, so on her way to a wedding in Santa Rosa, she asked to come stay with me...hooray! This is the first time Grandma has visited me without other family around, so it was fun to have time to ourselves, like the Alaska cruise last year. :)

She stayed with my cousin in Menlo Park the first couple days, so my cousin brought her to my house the day after Labor Day so she could see my house too. My cousin was impressed, and she's difficult to impress, with much more expensive tastes than me! :) After she left, we finally got dinner started, with fresh sourdough bread, caprese-inspired heirloom tomato, feta & balsamic vinegar salad from my garden, and a new recipe I'd found for Bermuda Onion Marmalade, saying it went well with chicken or pork, so I had chicken breasts for us. Grandma was excited to see my experiment, so she was very interested in the recipe, and she helped stir while I got out other ingredients. Since it was an experiment & only a recipe for the marmalade, next time I would add the raw chicken in earlier, since some of the onions got extra carmelized, but it was so tasty Grandma requested the recipe! She's complaining about slowing down, but I want to be that healthy & active when I'm 95! That's Johnnie Walker Red Label scotch with water on the rocks as her favorite evening cocktail... ;)


Grandma eating chicken with bermuda onion marmalade and fresh sourdough bread, all made in my new kitchen! :)


The next morning we both slept in - hey, I was on vacation myself! - had a late & leisurely waffle brunch, then met Cyd at the Savannah-Chanelle winery in the Saratoga hills for free wine tasting since Cyd is a member. All 3 of us bought the 4-pack special of the 2006 Pinot Noir & the Pinot Noir Rose we tasted, so combined together we got the case discount too! I had thought we'd just go back down through Saratoga, but it was such a beautiful day & Grandma was enjoying the breeze in her hair in the Briata, so we decided to continue over the Santa Cruz Mountains to see the ocean! Grandma lives on the Pacific herself so it's not that exotic, but Puget Sound is a lot different than the California coast. ;)


In the Santa Cruz Mountains in the Briata after wine tasting at Savannah-Chanelle, heading for the ocean!


It was nearing 4pm when we drove through Santa Cruz, with a ton of rush hour traffic already starting, so we took Hwy 1 up just far enough to see some coast with some crops growing right up to the cliffs & pretty clear blue ocean. I knew there were some cool cliffs with craggy trees at Davenport, so we parked there, walked about 10 ft for the best view, then it was so windy we got back in the car & headed back. I used my GPS on my new iPhone to find a route to cut through the mountains back to Hwy 9, which took us down Big Basin canyon & up again, but was a very nice drive, and much better than just sitting in Santa Cruz traffic!


At Davenport on Hwy 1...gorgeous day!

We took it easy before dinner, Grandma enjoyed the sunny patio with her Johnnie Walker Red, then we went to Left Bank in Santana Row since I'd never been there & wanted to try it. We each had a different savory tart & shared the cheese plate, which was perfect portions for both of us. We had just enough time after dinner to check out Z Gallerie & Sur La Table before they closed, then I hooked up my laptop to my backyard projector & showed Grandma all the Eerie Elegance podcasts from last year up through current...she was impressed! It was funny to see them so huge...8 ft wide! Talk about extreme zoom for the eyeball painting! haha...


After-dinner entertainment...showing Grandma my Eerie Elegance podcasts at Cinema Brittahytta

Thursday morning I set Grandma's hair after leftover waffles, then we got on the road for Santa Rosa by around 1pm & got to the hotel just before 3pm. No top-down this time since freeway driving would have messed up her freshly-done hair! ;) We checked in & got in contact with her friends, then it was a big party on the deck outside Jonelle's & Grandma's room at first with Savannah-Chanelle wine, scotch, some of my sourdough bread, my homegrown grapes, smoked salmon from Alaska & other munchies from others, but then the bride's parents had bought BBQ & wanted the whole Dontos clan to come over, and their house was about 5 minutes from the hotel. Since there was no point in even trying to get through Bay Area rush hour traffic by leaving Santa Rosa that early, I went with them too, driving Grandma with me, close enough & slow enough we had the top-down for those few minutes, and that was a hit with everyone to see us with the top down...haha! We all went back to the hotel by about 9pm, when Grandma said "It's too early to go to sleep!" so it was back on the deck awhile longer chatting again. They were strongly twisting my arm to stay the whole weekend with them for the wedding & everything, and they are a fun bunch, but I declined & got home with no traffic around 11:15pm...whew!

Incidentally, all these photos were taken with my iPhone 3GS, which sadly has no flash, but has a camera with almost as high megapixels as my trusty Nikon Coolpix 995 from 2002! The top-down photo was when we were on the side of the road when we had to take a cellphone call, NOT while I was driving of course! ;)

Grandma said she had a really great time & I told her I did too! Maybe we can make this an annual event? :)

My grandmother & I had a fantastic time on our cruise from Seattle to Alaska last year, but when I got home I walked in the door to my freshly-printed proof copy of Eerie Elegance, so I never got the chance to blog the trip...bad Britta! However I did work hard on this Shutterfly photobook for Grandma for Christmas, and she loves having it & showing it to people. I admit I also showed my copy to anyone who would sit still long enough! Since Shutterfly has more advanced sharing options now, you'll probably have to click the "view larger" link to read the captions, but here's my trip to Alaska...Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Current Location: Brittahytta

Saturday was a frustrating day. We wanted to get going by 9am, so when I woke up hearing movement in the kitchen, I jumped up, took the sheets off my bed & started packing, but my mom was on the phone with Good Sam requesting a tech to come out. This RV has had constant problems with the levelers, and they had worked on the drive up, but now 3 came up but one was stuck down, and we can't drive with a leveler down. My dad learned on their last trip how to crank it up by hand, but it takes about an hour underneath in the mud, so he decided to use the service they've already paid for & wait for the tech to arrive. 3 hours later, the tech still wasn't there, Good Sam tracked him down, and another 2 hrs he showed up, then needed to leave to buy the right tool...so finally after 3pm we finally left Woodway! Sheesh!


Hired help doing the dirty work handcranking the last leveler up so we can finally get on the road!

At least while we were waiting so long already packed, I said we didn't have a photo with Grandma, so here we are...


Grandma & Britta in Woodway, with the dogs trying to squeeze in the photo

It's not very safe driving with risk of ice overnight, so with a break for a quick dinner out at BJ's Brewery for Dad & me since he needed a driving break, we only made it to Woodburn south of Portland, where I beat Mom again at Scrabble, and without levelers and such wind & rain overnight I had trouble getting to sleep and felt a bit seasick! We got going on the road again before 9:30am so made it to Medford by lunchtime when we ate in the RV after filling up at Costco, then over the still-snowy Siskiyou Summit in fairly clear weather. Oddly enough the coldest weather & only snow falling was all the way south of Dunsmuir near Mt Shasta, but the roads were still clear. We made it to Redding by 5pm, free wifi again, Mom finally beat me at Scrabble (I'm still ahead 2 of 3 games though!), and my mom & I watched the Sound of Music on TV while my dad realized he'd never paid attention to the movie before, but still gave up only halfway through watching. ;)


Still plenty chilly south of Dunsmuir by Mt Shasta

Tomorrow we should get to Sacramento sometime in the afternoon, then it's presents & dinner with my brother before I can drive to my house, so I'm not sure if I'll make it back the same night or sometime on Tuesday...I will be glad to see my kitties again & sleep in my own bed!

Current Location: Redding, CA

Christmas Eve morning we woke up to even more snow, which was great fun for Elsie, especially visiting the horse when he'd venture out of the barn, but required us to dig out the driveway enough so my dad could drive to get some last-minute groceries, let alone for our relatives to arrive later for dinner & presents. The driveway is probably 150ft long up a hill, and the snow was about 8" deep, so with a little help from my mom, my dad & I spent about an hour shoveling two tracks for tires, then more on the flat by the carport for turnaround and parking for more vehicles later. After my dad tested by getting the van down the hill in the tracks, I was already so overheated I was shoveling in my t-shirt & still sweating, but I kept going for another hour thinking that it would be better if it was clearer where everyone needed to park. I was also hoping the exertion might sweat my cold out of me, but my nose just kept dripping! At least it was a valiant pre-emptive attack against dinner calories, right?


Shoveling snow in Woodway, WA


( Christmas Eve Wedgie Revenge! )


Clouston Christmas Eve



( Christmas Day with Peterson cousins )


Britta holding little Solveig



( Merry Christmas Mom = most frustrating computer project ever! :P heh... )


Merry Christmas Mom! Dismantled 12" PowerBook, ready for new 250GB internal drive!


Today was a lazy day taking down my grandma's tree & trying to help her put away all her decorations since we're trying to wait out another day of snow before we try to get back on the road home. It was snowing several times today with large clumps again, but it's obviously getting warmer since the snow is more slippery & crunchy instead of the nice powder when we arrived. The dogs like the powder much better than this icy stuff. I hope everyone had a nice Christmas! Wish us luck getting home through more snow!

Current Location: Woodway, WA

After pizza lunch with my aunt & uncle, we made it to Seaside in gorgeous weather with ocean views. We camped in a nice place my parents had stayed at last summer, complete with wifi that reached from the clubhouse to our site (yay!), and an inside pool with jacuzzi...I knew I kept my bathing suit in my bag for a reason! My mom didn't have a suit so my dad & I went over after dinner to soak our weary bones...him from driving, me from sleeping on the RV couch that isn't helping my recent back issues, even with a chiropractor visit before we left...


Safest & nicest weather all trip up the Oregon coast from Newport to Seaside

Since Lori had commented on Facebook NOT to go to the Pig N Pancake in Seaside, that made my dad's mouth water for the Pig N Pan in his hometown Astoria! Since we were giving ourselves time for the ice to melt as much as possible, we had a leisurely morning, even finding some holly to decorate the front of the RV, then went straight to the Pig N Pan on the main drag of Astoria, carefully parking the RV. Browsing the menu I saw a seasonal special of fried razor clams with eggs...I haven't had razor clams in who knows when, probably since before I was in double-digits. There are photos when I was was 3 years old with my arm in the sand up to my shoulder digging for razor clams, then my dad's mom would fry them and they were tasty! So my mom thought it was disgusting, but my dad had to have some too off my plate, and I had a nice nostalgic moment for brunch. :)


Fried razor clams, eggs & pancakes at the Astoria Pig N Pan!

We had heard while filling up at the Warrenton Costco that people had been making it south from Seattle okay this morning, so we decided to go ahead and take Hwy 30 to Longview, then I-5 up to Seattle & Edmonds, since that would be quicker than up the coast to Olympia. Well, it was beautiful but a little nerve-wracking driving over completely white snow-packed roads...no wonder that highway had been closed just yesterday & before!


Beautiful but dangerous on the way from Astoria to Longview

I-5 from Longview to Seattle wasn't too bad, just a little icy but mostly clear, so we did make it safely to Woodway just before dark, with a little RV getting stuck issue in my grandma's yard, but not as bad as last year, thank goodness. My grandma says she has never seen such snow here and she's been in this house over 40 years. Elsie the black Lab who only saw snow for the first time last year, and only the barest dusting of white then, has had an absolute ball running everywhere, snorting her face in the deep snow, just like she did in the sand pile at my house when she was a tiny puppy. She kept wanting to go outside to play again tonight when Tule the older Lab was preferring to stay inside where it was warm. ;)

Unfortunately after running around in the snow helping my dad get the RV unstuck, my nose has started dripping & my throat is sore, so I guess my hopefully second Christmas in a row without being sick might not happen. I've already snorted some Zicam and will be turning in soon, uncharacteristically early, so hopefully tomorrow I can enjoy my Christmas Eve!

Current Location: Woodway, WA

We had decent weather, drizzle only and reasonable traffic, before dark pulling in to Sutherlin last night, just north of Roseburg, Oregon. The RV park had free wifi & local TV hookup, so after dinner my mom blogged & my dad was watching TV & laptop surfing while I made 3 jars of pickled salmon since we didn't have time to make it before we left. I was done & cleaned up before 7:30 so my mom & I played Scrabble like last year...but I was way ahead of her the whole game this year, and even with my last letter subtracting 8 points, I still beat her something like 235 to 187. Luck of the tiles, but since I was so far ahead already, I did show her how to lay her same 3 letters for twice the points...haha!

This morning the question was still which way to try to get to Seattle...I-5 through Portland required chains all the way through & had cancelled all flights, but there was even so much snow in Astoria those roads were closed! We have been on the phone with just about every relative up this way...my dad's cousin in Astoria, my dad's brother in Newport on the Oregon coast & my mom's brother-in-law up in Bellevue, WA. After joint road webcam views on cellphone calls & an inside report from the Oregon state police (my uncle has connections) that no chains required over Hwy 20 through Corvalis, we agreed that our best chance is to go up the coast, stay the night in Seaside just south of Astoria, and hope that tomorrow we can get through Astoria up the Washington coast through Seattle up to Edmonds. It's supposed to be warming up the next couple days, plus the coast should warm up sooner than inland. Hopefully this will work! Since we're driving through Newport this way, we're stopping for lunch to see my aunt & uncle, so that will be nice.

I've never seen so much snow up here on any of our Christmas trips, which has been the majority of my life...it sure LOOKS like Christmas, that's for sure!


Somewhere between Corvalis and Newport in Oregon

Current Location: Newport, OR

After at least 3 times reversing each decision yesterday, we are on our way in the RV up to Seattle, braving the "Storm of the Century" to get there! We're already north of Yreka to make it over the Siskiyous this afternoon. My dad was looking at going up the Oregon coast instead but the snowfall there is actually worse than inland! He scrutinized the National Weather Service forecasts yesterday and decided we could still try, since by Tuesday it's supposed to warm up, so by the time we get up that way we might be able to make it through. If we have to turn around we will, and we have our generator, gas & a very full fridge, plus down comforters so we can even sleep on the side of the road in the RV if need be. I just called my grandma that we are trying to come up after all, and she said there are 4" of snow at her house on Puget Sound north of Seattle, which is practically unheard of!

Wish us luck getting there, and I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

P.S. KittenCam is live again, and the round doorknob now on the bedroom door seems to be doing it's job...whew!

Current Location: north of Yreka

Tomorrow my grandma & I sail from Seattle to Alaska on the Celebrity Infinity! I fly to Seattle today, I am NOT bringing a computer, and my Treo service will be spotty I'm sure, so unless I break down & pay for some internet cafe time, I won't be posting until I get back next Friday evening. I am really looking forward to this, not only to get away from everyday drudgery and spend quality time with my fun grandma, but the beautiful scenery and fun excursions!

Here's the itinerary, with more details if you click...

Celebrity Infinity
Pier 66 Bell Street Terminal, Seattle

Fri, Aug 29, 2008
Seattle, Washington
Depart: 04:00 PM

Sat, Aug 30, 2008
At Sea

Sun, Aug 31, 2008
Sitka, Alaska
Arrive: 10:00 AM
Depart: 06:00 PM
( 02:00 PM Sea Otter & Wildlife Quest  )

Mon, Sep 01, 2008
Hubbard Glacier (Cruising)
Arrive: 12:00 PM
Depart: 04:00 PM

Tue, Sep 02, 2008
Juneau, Alaska
Arrive: 07:00 AM
Depart: 03:00 PM
( 12:30 PM Sled Dog Discovery & Musher's Camp  )

Wed, Sep 03, 2008
Ketchikan, Alaska
Arrive: 07:00 AM
Depart: 01:00 PM
( 10:00 AM Alaska Queen Paddle Wheel Cruise )

Thu, Sep 04, 2008
Victoria, British Columbia
Arrive: 07:00 PM
Depart: 11:59 PM
Victoria, British Columbia
( 07:45 PM Vintage Cidery & Farm )

Fri, Sep 05, 2008
Seattle, Washington
Arrive: 06:00 AM
disembark by 10am or so
I fly home 5pm-7pm

Updates when I get back! Hope everyone has a nice weekend!

Current Location: Brittahytta
Current Mood: excited

We're back! hp_jenorama, her husband, mrmouse and I all had a great time in Yosemite this past weekend! I think I might make it an annual effort to grab at least one Yosemite Valley campsite for a summer weekend, then see who can come along by the time the weekend actually comes along. :) Click to read the full details of each day if you like...

( Thursday - Arrival )


Ben, Britta, Jen & John at the Yosemite entrance sign


( Friday - Halfdome )


Ben & Britta at the back side of Halfdome, about 7800 ft, 3800 ft above Yosemite Valley floor


( Saturday - Mariposa Grove )


Ben, Britta, Jen & John around the campfire at North Pines in Yosemite Valley


On the long & stiff-calved drive home on Sunday, I had time to think and came up with this list...

( Hiking lessons learned that I didn't foresee in my optimism )


The full Yosemite photo gallery is here if you'd like to see. Ben took a lot of photos too so we have separate albums inside the main album. :)

Next trip: Alaska, one week from Friday!

Current Location: at work

Trying to catch up starting back in mid-July...whew!

( The Police, take 2 )




( Chris Isaak )


( Alaska cruise coming soon... )


( Birthday Cinema Brittahytta )


Birthday Cinema Brittahytta


( new dining table )


New Dining Table


( more house projects )


Movie Screen Grape Trellis and Custom Window Box - thanks, Dad!


( garden harvest )




Saw The Wrath of Khan at midnight movies on Saturday...wow, the print was absolutely atrocious, with red starfields instead of black, awful pops & scratches, and even off track a couple times so that the line was in the middle with heads at the bottom...but the saving grace was the opening trivia contest where I won a poster for the new Trek movie coming out in May! Woohoo! Just too bad it's the Kirk poster, not Spock... ;)


Next up is Yosemite, leaving Thursday, hopefully hiking to the Halfdome summit on Friday with mrmouse, recovering with local hikes on Saturday, then coming home Sunday. I barely got the single campsite in March with the most stressful Saturday morning at 7am I've had in a long time! I tried this trip 2 years ago, getting an even better campsite in North Pines on the valley floor then, but an old friend scheduled his wedding the same exact weekend and I couldn't get another campsite date, so I had to pay the cancellation fee last time. hp_jenorama and her husband are also coming but won't be tackling the 12-hour Halfdome hike past two waterfalls and including cables along the rock towards the summit. This will be my first serious hiking since Scotland in 2005, and I haven't even been tent-camping since Scotland 1997, so I have been so looking forward to it! Even if the wildfires make the view hazy, that's no different than our view at the summit of Ben Nevis in 2005. ;) Wish us luck!

Current Location: at work

My grandmother and I will be cruising the Alaskan coastline in one month! Aug 29th-Sept 5th on the Celebrity Infinity sailing from Seattle, supposedly a very nice ship from at least two personal accounts. She's gone several times before and said to me "September is no problem...it's beautiful weather" to which I replied, "Grandma, I remember you said 'I've cruised the Caribbean in October plenty of times and hurricanes are no problem'...and the last cruise I took with you we ended up in Hurricane Roxanne!" haha...

At any rate, as of earlier today the cruise is now booked with an ocean view stateroom with excursions at each port, including a sled dog ride with time for husky puppy cuddling (how cute is that?!?), and a cider brewery & farm on Vancouver Island, among other cool things. I haven't been that impressed with the cruises I've been on before, but the Alaska cruises have sounded different, more for the gorgeous scenery, glaciers & wildlife than the sunbathing & partying of other cruising, especially since my grandma is turning 94 in November, and even though she's still doing very well, I'm not sure how many more years I will have to travel with her. For those of you who might be saying "traveling with grandma?!?" let me describe to you how she was dancing for her 90th birthday to "Five Foot Two" with her full glass of scotch on the rocks in hand, nary spilling a drop. That's MY grandma! :)

Current Location: Brittahytta

My work team has been so busy we have not done a nice offsite since August 2005 when we went overnight to the Sonoma Mission Inn, which was very nice & very fun. I saw a Rachel Ray Tasty Travels recently that highlighted the two Sonoma restaurants where we ate! After rescheduling many times since March, they finally could get our now almost 20 strong entire group to come out from Wednesday through Friday last week with only one person in Colorado unable to join us. Many came from the East Coast, one from London & one from Hong Kong, so for everyone to be there was quite a feat. Thursday was all day presentations, mostly very interesting since we had guest speakers instead of just ourselves, but the rest was good food, good wine, and good times. I did come back with 4 bottles of wine and promptly refrigerated them since my house was 94F INSIDE on Friday evening...ugh!


( Wednesday lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni and wine tasting at Miner, Peju & Alpha Omega )


Wine cave tasting at Miner Family Winery, Napa Valley, California


( Wednesday dinner at Tra Vigne )


Dinner in the Tuscan courtyard at Tra Vigne, Napa Valley, California


( Thursday all-day meetings, then dinner at Redd, plus local hangout Panchas )


Playing pool at Panchas, Yountville, Napa Valley, California


( Friday cooking class at Cakebread Cellars )


Making green salad with seared sea scallops in the cooking class at Cakebread Cellars, Napa Valley, California


After the class others left for home, but my carpool, a couple others & the big boss went down the road to their favorite winery St Supery, and since they're club members there, we got free tasting upstairs. Good for their business since with the 40% off the sauvignon blanc & moscato, I think everyone left with at least 2 bottles or more! I liked the moscato and it was clear enough on the palate that I thought my friends who are not fond of syrupy dessert wines might enjoy it too. We finally got on the road back to the office about 4:30, and even with traffic we made decent time to get to Foster City by 6:25pm. The worst was the rental car air conditioning only working sporadically in the 104F heat as we left Napa!

(Of course you'll notice there are very few photos with me in them because I was photographer. Other people were taking photos & getting group shots, but I haven't seen those yet, so if any are good enough I'll edit later. The complete collection of my photos are in their own Gallery album here if you'd like to see.)

(EDIT 6/24: a few co-worker photos have been added to the end of my Gallery album if you want to see me in some photos.)

Current Location: at work

I'm off for my work team offsite in Napa until Friday with only my Treo, no computer...until then!

Current Location: at work

Disneyland was fun, I ate too much & bought too much. I almost didn't bring shorts, but it was so hot I was really glad I did! Even though there were several tempting things that I was actually able to resist buying, I still ended up with Jack Skellington slippers, headband, t-shirt, and they even now have Jack Skellington Mickey ears so I couldn't resist those. My Haunted Mansion pin I bought 2 years ago fell off & disappeared the first night, and I couldn't find the same one to replace it, and worse was my little tiny iridescent Tinker Bell charm that I've had probably about 30 years got lost sometime Saturday night. Guess that means I shouldn't display any pins or collectibles when at Disneyland?

( More about the weekend... )


Dale, Britta & Chip


Britta wearing her Jack Skellington mouse ears

Who knows when my next Disneyland trip will be, so I'm glad I was invited to go with this group. I'm pretty sure my first trip to Orlando will be a group trip when the Worlds of Harry Potter opens, then we'll go to DisneyWorld & Universal in the same trip. Hopefully that will work out!

Current Location: at work

Friday was such an exhausting day of travel to get back home, I just did my trip laundry & tried to unwind with my kitties, then slept in Saturday. Ebony must be upset with me since Cyd verified no more accidents happened while I was gone, but as soon as I got home, Ebony peed on the down comforter again, then again Saturday morning on a replacement comforter after we got up, then after a one-hour afternoon shopping trip for groceries, she peed on my velvet bedspread and my sheets! *sigh* My "relaxing" day was doing many loads of laundry instead of organizing photos and writing up my trip. I did go to the Jack Conway Trio's gig Saturday night, and thankfully no more accidents that evening or today, so maybe my "punishment" is over. I've been re-reading the book my old roommate gave me many years ago "Is Your Cat Crazy" of case studies by an animal behaviorist/cat therapist, in case that gives me any clues. So far it doesn't seem to have a situation that fits Ebony, but I'll keep reading.

Enough of kitty messes, and back to my trip recap! I have now posted my photos in my gallery, and you can keep reading below for more details. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, very very nice to get away from the cold & rain at home, I successfully paced my drinking & partying so I remember everything and was tired but not hungover, my small part of our group presentation went well on Thursday morning, with people actually laughing at my jokes, and my favorite quote was this:

"How old are you, Britta?"
"How old do you think I am?"
"You have no wrinkles at all - you could be twelve!"

Hahaha...even though I know he'd already had plenty to drink and had ulterior motives, it was still nice to hear. :)


( Sunday - Miami South Beach )


View of Miami from my hotel room


( Monday - Bon Voyage )


Miami at sunset from onboard the Majesty of the Seas


( Tuesday - Nassau, Bahamas )


Our Nassau beach excursion


Formal Night Dinner


( Wednesday - Coco Cay, Bahamas )


The beach at Coco Cay, Bahamas


( Thursday - Key West, Florida )


Conch fritters roadside stand in Key West


Krazy Karaoke


( Friday - Home Again )


Ships docked at sunset at Nassau

I hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Current Location: Brittahytta

I've never been in my cube at work in the middle of the night before, let alone on a weekend! In about an hour I'll be sharing a cab to SFO with co-workers as we take our flight to Miami for this year's kickoff trip. Last year was Vegas, and this year they say it's cheaper to send us on a cruise to the Bahamas instead! We sail from Miami on Monday, Nassau on Tuesday, private Royal Caribbean island Coco Cay on Wednesday, Key West on Thursday, then fly from Miami back home on Friday. Except for Key West we don't have any personal free time on shore, so it doesn't look like I'll get the chance to swim with dolphins at Nassau...too bad since I've always wanted to do that! I do wish I felt acceptable-looking in any swimsuit, but c'est la vie since there's nothing I can do about that right now anyway. Since I don't need it and connectivity is so expensive, I am NOT bringing a computer with me, which feels very strange. I think the last flight I took where I did not bring my own laptop was September 2005 to Scotland & London! Needless to say, live updates from at sea will be unlikely, unless I find some time and feel like paying a few $$ for a quick post. We'll see how it goes. If not, see you Friday!

P.S. Since it just was a matter of plugging the power back in, the KittenCam is working again for anyone who would like to peek at Ebony & Onyx. After a week with no accidents that I could find, Ebony peed on the down comforter again just as I was leaving the house tonight, so it's been cleaned best it can for now, doused with enzyme and with a rag towel over it, and the comforter is staying there as a barrier against my actual bedspread or linens being ruined if she decides she's punishing me. The joys of being a kitty mom! :P

Current Location: at work

We had an uneventful drive back to California...well my dad drove the entire time of course since it was HIS new toy. ;) We saw the beautiful fresh snowfall over the Siskiyou Mountains as we drove on the clear & safe road, Mt Shasta stayed hidden behind clouds, and the worst driving weather was between Weed and Dunsmuir through Shasta National Forest, but thankfully the snowfall was light along with the traffic so no problems for us. The weather stayed misty the entire way back down into the Central Valley, much gloomier than bright snow, but Christmas was over anyway. ;) We got back at dusk with enough time to unpack the essentials, pack my car, and go to my brother's house for his presents and dinner out together. I left his house after 10:30pm but missed traffic that way, so I was back home with my kitties even unpacked before 1am. They so far have not gotten mad at me and are plenty cuddly & fun, but I also haven't left the house for any extended length of time since I've been back, since I was getting all my Christmas decorations packed away. We'll see what happens when I have to leave them to go to work again in 2 days!


Siskiyou Mountains in southern Oregon - taken out the RV window while moving on the I-5 freeway!

I now have all the photos in a Gallery album if you'd like to see how the giant front windows of the RV let me take a lot of pretty landscape photos while we were in motion. :)

Never fear, I will start the new year with cute kitty photos again. Happy New Year everyone!

Current Location: Brittahytta

By the Thursday afternoon my uncle's family had all caught a cold so we were uninvited to Bend anyway. We picked a good day to drive today though, since rain all day but no snow, and Seattle is scheduled for snow again Saturday & Sunday. My dad is still not letting anyone else drive the RV even though he's complaining about being the only one driving, and I keep offering to drive! ;) We're south of Medford for the night, with wifi included at the RV campsite. My dad still insisted on using his Verizon aircard instead as I easily connected to the wifi & was showing them all Nora the Piano Cat I had just stumbled upon last night. Am I the last person to see Nora? I wonder if my kitties will play piano like that...haha! My mom & I played Scrabble again tonight after a yummy pizza dinner, but she caught up past my early 20 pt lead playing QUAD on a triple word score for 42 pts, and I was stuck with only one vowel each turn thereafter! I caught up so I wasn't so far behind & was able to play all my letters on my last turn - first time for me ever! - but she only had a G left which was only 2 pts, so she still beat me by less than 10 pts. This is two games in a row we've played until 1 letter left, which is shocking for us, but maybe it's a normal occurrence for more frequent Scrabble players? Since we play one game in a blue moon maybe we just don't know it happens more often. ;)

Tomorrow is hopefully all the way back to Roseville, but we still have to cross the Siskiyous and get past Mt Shasta...wish us no snow please!

Current Location: Medford, OR
Current Mood: sleepy

Lo & behold, a white Christmas! My grandma's house is very close to Puget Sound, so the warmer coastal air very rarely lends itself to snow even though the inland Seattle area might get it more often. We have seen some flurries the 23rd or 26th before, but actual snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day has only happened once ever before in my mom's entire life in the Seattle area, and that was in 1990 when we were all there! We couldn't believe in the early afternoon on Christmas Day when fluffier blobs started coming down along with the rain, not sticking to the ground until about an hour later. My parents' new black Lab mix Elsie, only a year-and-a half-old, was wondering what this weird white stuff was coming from the sky & on the ground! I was hearing Jack Skellington's "What's This?" song in my head as Elsie sniffed & ran around in the snow. ;)


White Christmas in Woodway, Washington!

We obviously did get here safely, but the RV got stuck in the mud in my grandma's backyard when we arrived after dark, so the morning of Christmas Eve was spent waiting for the Good Sam winch truck that never arrived, with me helping my dad work with long scrap wood, concrete stepping stones and lots of digging, and we eventually got it out & parked on more stable ground. My grandma kept announcing incredulously that I was the youngest person here for Christmas! :P She would much rather have some young kids around for Christmas, and so would I, but that wasn't to be this year. We still had a fun family Christmas, especially when the snow arrived. Since she lives in Seattle, my cousin Kristina on my dad's side came to visit this afternoon with her son Anders who I hadn't seen since he was a baby and her 7-month old daughter Solveig I hadn't met yet. What a cutie! No snow here today, not even any rain, but several inches of snow is forecast for tomorrow for Seattle and all along I-5 south through Oregon, let alone the more easterly route over Snoqualmie Pass we are planning on going to stop by Bend, OR to see my mom's brother & his family on the way back down to California, so we're staying at my grandma's house an extra day. The forecast is back to rain by Friday so hopefully that will be safer driving in the giant RV. No, my dad has not allowed me to drive the RV yet, even though I have earned my keep researching in all the documentation for possibilities why the hot water heater wouldn't work and figuring out the little-did-we-know-how-highly-useful walkie-talkie system that came with the RV, and in ice & snow he is not going to let me drive his new toy anytime soon. That's fine with me as long as he stays awake driving the whole way! My parents have no schedule except New Years parties, lucky them, but I have to get back to work on Jan 2nd, let alone get back to my kittens!

I hope everyone has been having a nice Christmas!

Current Location: Woodway, WA (Edmonds)

Finally time to post from I-5 driving through Oregon in my parents' new RV, ~100 miles south of Portland, still on our way to Seattle for family Christmas. My parents have a Verizon aircard USB modem that works okay but not super-fancy. I did try to set up a local Airport network from my MacBookPro so we could all share the connection, but I must not be doing something right since they could all join the network I made but not get online through it, so instead we just pass around the USB modem and take turns being online. My dad has become addicted to the Internet since he reitred in October...he gets the dirtiest jokes I've ever seen from his friends! haha...


Onyx & Ebony in their Christmas collars - they kept them on my whole party last Saturday night as guests came in shifts to meet the kitties...who were friendly! Maybe they'll be my party kitties?


A typical morning for me now - kitties everywhere! Challenging to use the sink & get my makeup on!


Ebony LOVES jingle bells! She kept stealing those ornaments off the tree & playing with them around the whole house for the entire evening!

Giant thanks to Cyd who is checking on the kittens every day for me while I'm away. I hope they don't forget me! I even set up the wifi webcam in my bedroom to be able to check on my kitties, which worked the first night, so my parents & I got to see them cuddling together comfy on the down comforter, but by Friday afternoon it had stopped working. I suspect the kitties stepped on the power switch on the power strip or were wild enough to unplug the webcam power...oh well! The ride is too bumpy for any detailed Photoshop work, so I still have yet to do my Christmas e-card with my kitties. That will be done when we've stopped so I can still send it out by Christmas Eve. :)

Last night as we were in the RV campground outside Roseburg, OR, my mom & I played Scrabble. I stayed about 20 points ahead the entire game, getting lucky with being able to put down 2 letters for 15 points several times, but she was able to use up all her letters before me so she caught up a little. Final score has been forgotten but was something like 261 to 250? This is the first game I've ever played where only a single letter was left! Check out the board!


Final Scrabble board - a Peterson family milestone to have only one letter left!

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

UPDATE 10:30pm: the KittenCam is now working again! Thanks Cyd! :D

Current Location: driving on I-5 somewhere in Oregon
Current Music: Christmas CDs