Our Vacation!

1
Our Vacation!

• October 2003

2
Day One - Friday, October 3rd

• We left the Moscow-Pullman area by 345 pm.  We
  drove to the Spokane Airport, parked in long-term
  parking, and caught a shuttle and checked in at
  the airport.  Our flight was delayed about 20
  minutes and we finally took off for Seattle
  around 800pm.  We had a long layover in
  Seattle...we took the time to stretch our legs,
  eat a little snack, and watch lots and lots of
  CNN on the airport TV's.  Larry King Live had
  Stedman Graham (Oprah's boyfriend) as the
  guest...we watched that interview A LOT!  We
  finally left Seattle and were pretty saddened
  around Midnight when we flew over Spokane and
  Moscow! (we'd been "traveling" since around 400
  and by midnight we were right back to where we
  started...what a bummer!) hehe. 

Stedman Graham
3
Day Two - Saturday, October 4th

• We made it to Chicago around 515 on Saturday
  morning where we changed planes again.  We had a
  little bit of a layover.  Again, we walked
  around, used the restrooms, and tried to get our
  circulation flowing again.  I have to say, the
  restrooms here were amazing!  The toilets had
  plastic coverings on them and you pushed a button
  and the plastic covering moved to a new, clean
  section.  It was awesome!  I've never seen such a
  clean and nice restroom!!!  While we were walking
  to our next plane we passed none other than
  Stedman Graham...the guy we'd been watching on TV
  all night!  He looked just as tired as we
  were...he had taken the red-eye and had just
  arrived home to Chicago.  He was talking on his
  cell phone and I was joking with Chad that he was
  calling Oprah to have her pick him up!  After our
  celebrity sighting we got on our final plane for
  that part of the trip and headed to Maryland.  We
  arrived in Baltimore about 10-15 minutes early,
  at 925 or so!  Kim was there to pick us up -) 
  We got our luggage (it all arrived safely) and
  headed home. 

4
Day Two - Continued

• We watched the Virginia Tech-Rutgers football
  game on TV.  Actually, I watched the first half,
  but Chad watched the whole thing with his dad. 
  At half-time Kim and I went shopping for last
  minute food things for the next days party.  The
  Hokies won 48-22.Saturday night the street where
  Kim and Les live was having a Block Party, so we
  went with them to that.  It was a pot-luck, so we
  had lots of yummy food and got to meet all of
  their neighbors.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature
  didn't realize we were having an outdoor Block
  Party and she decided to start with some rain and
  wind.  Chad and I were pretty tired, and getting
  pretty cold, so we left about an hour earlier
  than everyone else.  By about 1000 Saturday
  night we were exhausted and headed to bed.  We'd
  been awake for over 36 hours and boy could we
  feel it! -)

5
Day Three Sunday, October 5th

• Kim and Les planned a party for this afternoon,
  so we spent all morning getting the house and
  food ready for everyone's arrival.  Around 200
  family and friends arrived.  We ate lots of yummy
  food and got to see a lot of people we hadn't
  seen in over two years!  By 600 everyone had
  headed back home and it was just the 4 of us
  again.  We had a nice, relaxing evening at home.

6
Day Four Monday, October 6th

• Our first day of no plans!  Chad and I did our
  4-mile run that we had been preparing for since
  June.  It was wonderful.  Running in a place that
  was several thousand feet lower in elevation than
  Moscow, with more moisture in the air, was
  fantastic!  After we stretched and showered, and
  started to feel the effects of our run in our
  legs, we did a little driving around...we went to
  one of the malls and walked around a bit. 
  Basically we did a whole lot of nothing on this
  day...it was great!  We slept in, ate lots of
  leftovers from Sunday, and enjoyed being in
  Maryland with Kim and Les again.

7
Day Five Tuesday, October 7th

• The 4 of us got up at 500 am and hit the road at
  600 am.  We headed north, through Delaware, New
  Jersey, and then to New York City.  With all of
  the traffic jams that we hit we got to NYC around
  1200 or 1230.  I gotta tell ya, the Big Apple
  was absolutely incredible!  We saw Ground Zero
  (where the Twin Towers used to be),

8
Day Five Continued

• Rockefeller Center,

• Times Square,

9
Day Five Continued

• the Brooklyn Bridge,

10
Day Five Continued

• Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty, just to
  name a few things. 

11
Day Five Continued

• There were a million people, tons of cars
  (especially taxi's), and so much going on...I can
  definitely see why people say it's the city that
  never sleeps!  I definitely want to go back and
  spend a whole weekend there!  Our tour of NYC
  consisted of Les driving around, dropping us off
  at a corner so that we could get some
  photos...Les would drive around the block in
  circles until we were ready to get back in.  We
  never stopped to park because parking was 7.50
  per HALF HOUR (if you could even find a space in
  the first place)!  After driving around for a few
  hours and really getting a feel for the city we
  got back on the interstate...we wanted to get out
  of there before rush hour! 

12
Day Five Continued

• By 400 we had crossed over the river and were
  back in Jersey.  We headed north and went to West
  Point, New York...home of the United States
  Military Academy (Army).  We got a hotel and
  spent the evening in this fairly small town.

13
Day Six Wednesday, October 8th

• We woke up to a very dense fog.  After checking
  out of our rooms we went to the West Point campus
  and walked through their visitor center.  We
  didn't want to pay 7 a person to take the tour
  to actually go on their campus, so after walking
  through the Visitor Center and watching a 15
  minute movie about West Point we got back on the
  road.  On our way home we made a pit stop in
  Hershey, Pennsylvania...home of the Hershey
  chocolate factory.  We went to Chocolate World
  (their visitor's center and gift shop), went on
  their ride through a simulated factory where you
  learn how they make chocolate, and then we got
  some yummy chocolate to eat.  You can't visit
  Chocolate Town USA without eating a little bit of
  chocolate, right?  Right!  While we were in
  Hershey there was a HUGE car show going on in
  Hershey Park.  You can't believe how many people
  and venders there were in this little town.  It
  was incredible!  After feeding our chocolate
  cravings we headed back to Severna Park.  We ate
  a yummy spaghetti dinner at home and chilled.  We
  headed to bed fairly early...tired out, once
  again, by traveling!

14
Day Seven Thursday, October 9th

• Our second day of rest for this trip!  Another
  fantastic day of doing very little.  We
  thoroughly enjoyed it!

15
Day Eight Friday, October 10th

• We woke up and hit the road...this time headed
  for Blacksburg, Virginia...the home of our alma
  mater!  We got into town around lunch time and
  went to our favorite restaurant in the
  area...Macado's.  It was heavenly.  This was the
  one restaurant we had been craving, and missing,
  here in Idaho!  We walked around campus, drove
  around town, and felt completely at home.  The
  colors were starting to appear on the trees and
  it was absolutely wonderful.  We visited some
  friends on campus and soaked up the scenery.  We
  had hotel rooms south of Blacksburg in Dublin,
  Virginia.  It's about a 10-15 minute drive.  We
  spent a quiet evening in our hotel rooms.

16
Day Nine Saturday, October 11th

• Game Day!  We got up and headed back to
  Blacksburg.  On the road we came upon the
  Virginia Tech Football Team as they headed to
  town, too.  Their two buses had police escorts
  the whole way!  A lot of fanfare for this team,
  that's for sure!  The team always stays out of
  town for football games, even home games...it
  gets them away from the football craziness and
  helps them get in the zone!

17
Day Nine Continued

• We parked on campus and walked to the stadium. 
  It was neat finally seeing the changes to the
  stadium in person...it looks great now!

18
Day Nine Continued

• Kim and Les walked around campus and watched the
  game in the Student Union Building while we went
  to the game.  Our seats were on the 40-45 yard
  line....absolutely fabulous!  The game was
  outstanding, the Hokies played great, and we won
  51-7!  After the game we hung out with our friend
  Brad (who was also the best man in our wedding!),
  we ordered pizza from our favorite pizza place,
  and then we headed back to the hotel to eat. 
  Another yummy meal and relaxing evening!

19
Day Ten Sunday, October 12th

• We packed up, checked out of our rooms, and went
  back to Blacksburg for one last visit.  We drove
  around town, bought a few things from our old
  grocery store, and then grabbed some lunch.  We
  were then on our way, once again, headed back to
  Severna Park.  We ran into a couple of traffic
  jams, and finally made it home around 730 or so
  that evening.

20
Day Eleven Monday, October 13th

• Our third, and final, day of rest for this
  vacation!  We visited a few more people and
  enjoyed the area.  By this time we had seen
  everyone we could and did everything that we had
  hoped to do.  It was a nice, relaxing day.

21
Day TwelveTuesday, October 14th

• We slept in and enjoyed a relaxing morning with
  Kim...Les went to work and was gone early in the
  morning.  After we got everything packed up and
  ready to go we went for a walk in a nearby
  neighborhood to loosen our legs up before our
  flights.  We ate lunch and then headed to BWI. 
  Our plane ended up leaving 15 minutes late,
  around 300.  We flew to Denver and had 5 minutes
  to get to our connecting flight.  We ran through
  the airport and made it just in time!  Whew!  Our
  flight from Denver to Spokane went well.  We were
  going straight into a strong wind, so our flight
  took a little longer than anticipated.  Luckily
  we arrived safe and sound by 630 pm.  All of our
  luggage arrived, too...we were a little worried
  that it wouldn't make it onto our plane.  We got
  our luggage, took a shuttle back to our car, and
  got on the road heading home.  Even though we
  hadn't eaten a real meal since lunch we weren't
  really hungry, so we drove straight home.  We got
  everything taken into our apartment, had a quick
  snack, and were in bed by 920.  Traveling had
  tired us out so minutes after we were in bed we
  were sound asleep.  I don't think either of us
  moved all night until our alarm went off this
  morning!

22
The End

• October 3 - 15 2003