Christmas in Phoenix 2010

We once again went to Phoenix for Christmas, only this time we went for a couple of weeks. I turned in my last final paper on a Friday morning, and in the early afternoon we were on our way to Phoenix. We spent the first week or so just relaxing - finally able to destress a bit and not think about school and work. This last semester was really intense for me, and I apologize to all my friends who I didn't see or communicate with during that time. This semester should be better.

One of the highlights was going to Rustler's Rooste, a Western steakhouse. Outside the front door is Horney the Bull, who was not the best smelling creature.


Here we all are with out tasty steaks and fixins. I should mention that this is the kind of place that has sawdust on the floor and a live country band.


At the end of the meal is cotton candy, which was enjoyed by all



And of course, with the Santa display


Paul's dad took us to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum about an hour's drive east of Phoenix. It had been built by a mining mogul who decided to build a fancy house out there and fill the yard with exotic trees and plants from all over the world. They had a particularly large Australian section with a bunch of these gigantic trees


The house is still there up on the rocks. They used to have an elevator which brought you down to the valley and the river that goes through there. The building is used for administrative offices now so it's nothing to tour. Still, it is neat to see it perched up on the hill like that with a huge retaining wall holding it up that reminded me of the old castles we saw in Southern France on our honeymoon.


While Anne and I spent some quality time shopping around Phoenix (seriously, the shopping is amazing, especially where you live in the middle of southern Indiana!), the boys took a trip out to Tucson and parts south of there. I'm not sure what all these pictures are of, but thought I'd share.

Here's a place where Paul got some sort of fried hot dogs, something on the idea of giant pigs in a blanket. Not sure I'd order them, but he sure looks excited about them!

From PHX Winter 2010

They also went to some place to look at rockets and other manly things that required the use of a hard hat.


...and went on some nice hikes

...and to a ghost town.


It was so nice to see the family and to have some time to take a break and relax. There is a rumor that next year the grandparents from Poland might be visiting for Christmas - we'll see what happens. It'd be great to see them too!

Halloween

Ok, so I realize Halloween was a long time ago, but we did throw together some pretty cool costumes. I think the best descriptions for them were "Santa's helper" and "a floozy". Of course they'd be hanging out together giving out Halloween candy!



And in our neighborhood, people apparently take golf carts to follow their kids around!

Kitchen knobs before and after

We finally decided on the style of knobs we wanted for our kitchen cabinets, and Paul carefully drilled through the cabinets and drawers to get these suckers on. Amazing what knobs do for the look and the function!

Kitchen before knobs...


Kitchen after knobs...


Yay!

Navy Ball in French Lick

This weekend Paul and I were invited to the Navy Ball for Crane Naval Base, held at the French Lick Springs Hotel, about an hour and a half drive south from us. What the heck were we doing at a Naval Ball, you ask? Well, as part of Paul's job, he's supposed to hobnob with area businesses, and Crane Naval Base employs a lot of subcontractors and local small businesses. For me, it was a great excuse to get dressed up for a ball and have a much needed mini-vacation! Since I doubt many of our friends will ever have the chance to head out to French Lick, I'll give a bit of history about it.



French Lick Springs is an old hotel that used to be a therapeutic getaway for wealthy people to go bathe in and drink the spring water that flows out of the ground there. There's actually two hotels - one in West Baden, called the Carlsbad of America, a National Historic Landmark known for it's impressive round atrium. We actually stopped at the real Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary) in the Czech Republic on our honeymoon. Pretty much the only similarity I noticed was that both places have springs. Beyond that, Karlovy Vary is a fancy, built-up city with lots of shopping and charming restaurants. It's also home to Becherovka, a delicious Czech herbal liqueur. French Lick and West Baden, on the other hand, outside of the hotels, have Denny's and a CVS and windy back roads. There is the French Lick Winery that makes sweet regional wines, though I can't say we were inspired to bring any home. The hotels had become quite dilapidated over the years, and several years ago Bill & Gayle Cook, owners of the local Cook Medical company, donated over $500 million to renovate the hotels. So they're pretty darn nice now!

We tried to get into the West Baden Hotel to check out the dome, but it was closed for a private event until Sunday afternoon.


But, the French Lick Springs Hotel has its own nice features. Here's the casino:


And the renovated lobby


And the Grand Colonnade Restaurant, which is probably the fanciest buffet setting I've ever seen


Here's the back courtyard.




And, of course, the "World Famous Pluto Spring" itself. I was glad I had been to Karlovy Vary so that I knew that the rotten egg smell was supposed to be there from the sulfurous spring water.


And in case you were wondering for what reason someone would partake of rotten egg-smelling water, here's Paul posing with the promotional message, "America's Greatest Laxative"


As for the Ball itself... I loved the floral arrangements - they had little LED lights in them so they glowed as it got dark


It started out with the important people being announced and going to the head table. These included high-up officers of the Navy, and people like the Lieutenant Governor. Here's the flag procession which preceded the National Anthem


After a bunch of speeches by a few different high-ups about this celebration of the Navy's birthday and a recounting of the many humanitarian efforts put on by the Navy (eg, medical care in Haiti, Pakistan, etc following natural disasters, among other things), they had a special ceremony for Prisoners of War. It was a really moving event. They had a table set up with one chair, and said how it was to represent that that the POWs are alone. Then they lit a candle to symbolize the strength of our POWs to stand up to their oppressors, and a red rose to symbolize the family waiting for them, and so forth. It really makes you stop and think about the sacrifices our armed services are making right now for our country. At the end of the speeches, they had the official cake cutting. I believe they had the newest Navy member present a sword to the most senior member, and together they cut the cake. (You can see the table-for-one on the right side of the picture)


Here we are at the table


After dinner, they had a live band and dancing. Before we turned in for the night, we hit up the casino with the $5 credits they gave us at the front desk when we checked in. We each got a free t-shirt and headed in for the slots. I wound up with a cool $3.75 in my pocket that I didn't have when I went in there, so that was pretty nice. I won't disclose Paul's outcome.


As we left the next morning, I noticed a high roller was visiting the casino. Check out that detail work!


Finally, here's a few scenes from our drive back to Bloomington.
This is where your grain get stored before it gets packed and put on grocery store shelves or fed to animals.


There are a lot of falling-down old barns around Indiana

Many people in Southern Indiana have farm animals


Here's a farm in Loogootee (which is where we got our former puppy, Rewley)


And we made a quick stop in Amish Country


They're great bakers - we got a huge thing of cinnamon buns - yum!


Just watch out for buggies!

Island Hopping in Southern New England, Part II

Following up on the post below, our next excursion was to Block Island. No one in my family had ever been to Block Island before, despite it being just an hour's drive and an hour's ferry ride away. We took the famous Block Island Ferry, whose commercials have charmed television watchers around New England with their caribbian beats and lyrics "sail away on the Block Island Ferry". Well, we took the ferry and it has no sails, but we were willing to overlook that.

Here I am getting ready for the boat to start out.


Before taking off, we checked out the fishing boats that were already done working for the day even though it was only 10am. This is where your Atlantic cod and whatnot comes from!


Here are my parents hanging out on the ferry (before the seasickness set in!)


When we got to the island, this boat caught my eye - check out the name on it! haha (in case you can't read it, it says "it's all I could afford")


After trading our sea legs for some land legs and having some lunch, we walked to the southeast lighthouse. It had been built near the edge of the island, which was eroding away (whoops!), so in the mid 90s they had to move it further inland. You can read all about it here, if you're into that kind of thing.



Near the lighthouse, you can climb down the cliffs to the beach. Some people may not realize that a lot of ocean beaches aren't all nice and sandy. There's big rocks all over the place, and it takes lots of work to move them out of the way for the nice smooth sandy beaches. Here, people have come and made some of those prayer rock piles that seem to be the thing to do when you have a bunch of rocks lying around.


Here's a neat looking cliff


And Paul, once again, tempting the Atlantic with his legs


Before we left the island, we walked around the touristy shops and stopped for some gelatto - yum!

The next morning, we went back to Bloomington and thankfully, all our flights were right on time. I wish we would have had more time to spend with my family, especially my grandma because she's had a really tough year.

Binsey seems to have had another good stay at her puppy summer camp (aka the kennel) while we were away. She was pooped when she got home, taking up her usual spot on top of the air conditioner vent

Island Hopping in Southern New England - Part I

I'll put this right out there - I'm not really a beach person. I don't tan; I just burn and the sun gives me headaches. But, for Paul the beach is a real novelty having always lived in landlocked places. So while we were close to the ocean, we went to a couple of interesting local places to admire the beach habitat.

First was Plum Island. It's located about 45 minutes north of Boston, and is a great example of a managed maritime ecosystem. It's made up of sand dunes (much like the dunes in northern Indiana) that serve as a storm buffer for the mainland - a big reason why much of it is conservation land. There are miles and miles of beach, plus hiking trails that go through the dunes. We were surprised it wasn't too crowded since it was a Saturday in the summer and they had free admission that weekend (normally $5 per car).

Here's Paul checking out the Atlantic. Yes, it's still cold in August!


Here we are walking the beach



What's interesting about Plum Island from a conservational (and maybe financial) standpoint is that it's partially man-made and partially natural, with some conservation mistakes put in (decades ago, they planted some pine trees there thinking it'd hold the dunes in place, only to realize it's not really a good idea to put non-native species in if you are trying to conserve the natural state). The marshland is a man-made section to serve as spawning grounds for birds and the like. They have a boardwalk going through it


And the dunes themselves. Those little bushes are the plum bushes from which the island gets its name. Paul tasted one, and said it was like a plum flavored cherry with a big pit. Here I am reading the guidebook from the visitor's center that leads you through the different ecological zones.



After the hike, we met up with our friends, Andrea & Mike for dinner at a Polish restaurant, Cafe Polonia, in South Boston. Since both our husbands are Polish, Andrea and I have come to appreciate the Polish cuisine! We're lucky that the only Polish restaurant in Boston (maybe in New England) does have good food.


After dinner, we went to JP Licks on Newbury Street (right near my old apartment) for ice cream - so good! Though, as much as there is good food in Boston, the traffic does not tempt me to move back!