A More Permanent Hell

Nin and I leave Monday for a week in earthquake plagued Southern California. Yay. We're spending three days in San Diego, where we will hook up with Roberta, then drive up to Anaheim to meet up with the rest of the Ladies Assemble gang for three days in Disneyland and Captain America II. I decided to try out an Instagram account for photos, if you'd like to follow our travels.

We had a great time! We'd booked a really good package at the Hotel Monaco, which was right downtown, and we walked everywhere. The hotel was lovely, and other than an issue I had at check in (I'm not sure if it was a lack of training or truly hotel policy)(And yes, I'm fussy, I admit it. I grew up in a hotel, worked in them for years.) everything from there on out was terrific, even the creepy love LOL Here's the thing, I'd tweeted on our way about our first stay at that chain, and after we checked in, a room service waiter brought us a bowl of strawberries with a hand written card, welcoming us and thanking me for tweeting about them. Now, since I tweet under Ithildyn, I was rather impressed with their detective skills. In a follow up twitter convo, they said they were glad they'd guessed the right guest. Their motto's something like 'love at first stay', so I said it was kind of creepy love, but I truly did appreciate it the lovely surprise - and I love strawberries!

The hotel itself is a renovated old building, and they've done a great job. The room has a funky traditional vibe, and they make the most of the space. My only wish was that the rooms have real shower heads. I can only assume that due to the age of the building, they can't, so instead they have these handheld wands bolted to the wall. Made for a very awkward shower. The bathroom itself however, was huge! And the zebra print robe gave me a giggle.

There's a wine social in the lobby at 5 every evening, which was a lot of fun. On Saturday, the host had SLC Comic Con on his name plate, and since those are usually where they're from, I had to ask. He explained that their staff tags had their guilty pleasure under their name. And he apparently was one of the organizers of the Salt Lake City Comic con. He said Stan Lee was their guest last year. They also have their staff massage therapist available to do a five minute complimentary neck/shoulder massage. I took advantage on Saturday, and she did an amazing job, knowing without me saying a word how messed up my neck is. Oh, and Friday, the host had her dog, Jazzie with her, and I made several trips back to pet the pup. Such a nice change from where I work which bans all pets from property. (We used to be able to bring dogs for a visit, but we had an animal hater employee complain, and so it was ruined for everyone.)

The package came with a dining credit in their lounge, and since their whole restaurant menu is available there, we didn't feel like we missed trying out the restaurant itself. We had some amazing food! I think the highlights were the duck toast, the cheese plate (had that twice!), and the mussels. Amazed at the mussels - tried them even though I don't like fish or clams etc..., but the preparation sounded so good. Yum!! The service was spot on. Even though it was jammed on a Fri/Sat night, the servers instantly noticed when my drink was empty and came to see if I wanted another. We did eat in the restaurant for Sat. morning breakfast, and I had biscuits with spicy elf elk sausage gravy. OMG! So good!

So a great stay was had! I can definitely recommend staying at their property in SLC, and I can only assume that the other Kimpton properties are just as great.

We did a teensy bit of shopping at City Creek: Sephora! And we had dinner one night at an Asian place called The Naked Fish. Before we headed home yesterday, we had our obligatory farewell SLC lunch as Squatters Brewery, which was delicious as always.

All in all, a much more relaxing weekend than going to Vegas. I think it was worth the extra two hour's drive to go to SLC instead.

or, this is what we get for being spontaneous.

strangevisitor7 was flying in to L.A. on business, and since it was only a 6 hour drive, we decided to head down after work on Friday. And ninjababe was just two days out from her birthday, so we decoded to go to Disneyland on Saturday. We were pooped, but still, we were having a grand time. And it had rained throughout the morning, and once it cleared up, it was cold - cold for SoCal. But that did a lovely job of clearing out some of the crowds. About 8pm, Nin started feeling unwell, by 9pm, the poor thing had lost the contents of her stomach. We will never look at A Small World the same way again. Our first thought was food poisoning, which would have been bad, since all three of us shared appetizers for dinner. But after getting Nin cleaned up, and waiting around till she felt she could travel (we were 45 minutes from our hotel), Casey and I were both still feeling fine. So we figured she had gastroenteritis aka 'stomach flu'. Of course, that brought up my next worry - it's highly contagious, and I'd drunk from her water bottle, soda, etc.. Not to mention we had to share a bed this trip. Anyway, we get ready to leave L.A. on Sunday, and I start getting texts from my assistant, telling me that the gorge was closed between Mesquite and St. George, that most of the streets in St. George were closed, and that there were people stranded in the gorge overnight due to the snowstorm we'd had on Saturday. I know if you live in an area that gets snow all the time, 6-11 inches isn't a big deal, but our cities don't even own snowplows! And we live in a rural area, which makes it worse. So we don't know if we can get home, and Nin's still not feeling great, so we decide to book a room in Vegas, and for Nin to go see a doctor Monday morning before we head home. Last night, we finally make it home. And guess what? Gastroenteritis really DOES have a 48 hour incubation period! I am so sick right now, I want to pull a rock over me. And it's been so cold -- makes it hard to remember that a few months ago it was 105 on a daily basis. It's been down to 5 at night. Our chickens are very unhappy, poor things. Though I must say, it's so pretty outside! I'm pretty sure this will be one Dland trip we won't forget.

Have been vacationing in the four corners region with Nin and Roberta since Saturday. Yesterday and Monday, we were at Mesa Verde National Park, the photo below is at Spruce House, after climbing down a ladder into a kiva. The first day, we got caught out in a lightening storm on top of the mesa, and lightening hit the ground a few hundred feet in front of me. It was very scary. The next day we did Spruce House, Cliff Castle, and Balcony House. Balcony House included a 32 ' ladder and a climb out along the cliff face with just a chain fence between me and the cliff edge. I was shaking like a leaf, but am proud of myself for doing it!

Nin and I need to look into buying an old Jeep. Too many places around here we want to explore and need a high clearance of 4WD vehicle. We started down to here today, but it wasn't doable in a car. And it's not the first time we've been thwarted in our explorations! Our ultiame goal is to be able to do the Toroweap road which leads to this:


Somewhere along the way, Nin and I have become adventure girls. I blame Utah :D

So you know we went to the Grand Canyon, but one of the highlights was returning to Wupatki National Monument. What's Wupatki? It's an ancient pueblo ruin, the major one, in a park filled with many ruins of pueblos.



Wupatki is the largest pueblo in the park. A self-guided trail begins behind the visitor center.

People gathered here during the 1100s, gradually building this 100-room pueblo with a community room and ballcourt. By 1182, perhaps 85 to 100 people lived at Wupatki Pueblo, the largest building for at least fifty miles. Within a day's walk, a population of several thousand surrounded Wupatki.

Wupatki appears empty and abandoned. Though it is no longer physically occupied, Hopi believe the people who lived and died here remain as spiritual guardians. Stories of Wupatki are passed on among Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and perhaps other tribes. Members of the Hopi Bear, Sand, Lizard, Rattlesnake, Water, Snow, and Katsina Clans return periodically to enrich their personal understanding of their clan history. Wupatki is remembered and cared for, not abandoned.

ninjababe and I have been here several times over the years, and this visit mimicked our first - arriving at sunset after the last ranger had gone home for the evening. If you're ever in the Flagstaff area, I highly recommend you take the time to visit this remarkable historic site.

( Pics below!! )

I won't be up till midnight - need to get to bed for an early start in the AM - so Happy New Year to one and all! I sure hope 2013 is a step up from 2012.

We didn't do a big Christmas, since we got the new stove a few weeks before, so mine and ninjababe's present to each other is a one night trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to see it in winter (We go to the North Rim at least once a year, as it's about 2+ hours away, but it's closed in the winter.). It's about six hours from us, and the weather has been decent, so it's a go! We actually got a room in the park, 1/4 mile from the rim. Will be awesome, with no wasting time driving out to the nearest town to our motel. Especially as this is a one night, then home again, dealy.

We got home Monday - we drove in from Primm (Ugh, the rooms at Buffalo Bills are skeevy!) Monday morning, I went to work first, then came home. Been work, work, working, ever since.

Had an awesome time, made me totally homesick.

We got home Monday - we drove in from Primm (Ugh, the rooms at Buffalo Bills are skeevy!) Monday morning, I went to work first, then came home. Been work, work, working, ever since.

Had an awesome time, made me totally homesick.

Pretty much ignored the internet while I was gone, so no idea what coolness may have happened whilst I was away. Point me to it, if you think it be worthy :)

We had a great time, including a float trip down a portion of the Colorado, followed by fishbowl margaritas. Actually, I think tequila and/or margaritas were a constant of the last four days - Nin made her killer ice bucket margaritas twice for us. Survived intact, with no sunburn. My only mishap was late yesterday, when I was wading in the Virgin River back of our inn, and the current got underneath me and tipped me over. Banged up my hip and my upper thigh pretty good when I came down on rocks. Now, we're home, and I'm doing laundry, and getting ready for work tomorrow. If you follow me on Twitter, you already know I Lokied Nin and Jen really good, but will share the full story here at some point. Pictures will also show up soon as well.