The Tourist Trail (Puerto Rico, Part V)

In addition to hanging around the beach and casinos, we did squeeze some in some of the standard tourist sites as well.

Well, the first one isn't really standard: we took a tour of the US Coast Guard base. The daughter of Pat's parent's friend is stationed on the base right by our hotel so she met us for a tour.

Here is Mary Dwyer with Pat's parents. She was a great host, and it was interesting to get a glimpse into military life.

After our tour of the base, we walked up to Fort San Cristobal to poke around.

It was very pretty and green.

One day, we went to Puerto Rico's premier tourist attraction: The Bacardi Rum Factory.

The grounds were immaculate.

We took a little tram over to the tour.

Outside, we were given two tickets to try daquaries, mojitos, and Cuba libres, Bacardi's three most famous drinks. I drank a lot of mojitos in PR. Done right, they are fantastic.

We hung out for a long time afterwards.

On the way back, there wasn't room for all of us in one taxi so the cabbie just threw a lawn chair in back for me--it was funny.

After everyone else had flown home, Pat and I went to El Morro, the oldest and biggest of the San Juan Forts. It was impressive.



Here it is from afar.

And near.



Here is Pat.

We also went to the San Juan Cathedral. It was stunning.

And Ponce De Leon is buried there!

Thanksgiving Holiday

For the first time in recent memory, Pat and I traded in our annual Thanksgiving Camping Trip (AKA Annual Sufferfest) to visit my family over Thanksgiving.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinnner with all my mom's great comfort food.

Can you guess where we went the next day? Hint: check out those street lights. Yep, Hershey, PA. My mom was running a walk there, and we went out and did a quick 5k before being pressed into service at the registration table.

On our walk, we saw the World Famous Kissing Tower.

And no visit to Hershey is complete without going into Chocolate World where you ride in a little cart and hear the story of how chocolate is made. And, get this, it is free!

The line wasn't even too long, and, before we knew it, we were on the ride. This picture is funny because of the windmill painted on the wall in the background.

Here is the Kiss Depositor!

And the chocolate bar molds.

The weekend was so busy. After leaving Hershey we went up to Millersburg where my brother and his gal live for their tree lighting ceremony. It was a slice of small town Americana. A far cry from LB, CA, that's for sure.

Pat and I were freezing, and, of course, everyone was making fun of us. I don't know why...it was 40 degrees! Brrr.....

The next morning, two long-time friends from home came over with their five children. It was total mayhem--my mom's house is not made for kids. Of course, they found all sorts of ways to entertain themselves.

Morgan and Ellie, both about eight-months old, were hilarious.

Then we took a group shot.

And bundled everyone up to say goodbye.

The next day it was time for us to say goodbye. My sister Judith brought her five foster kitties down to meet us. She knows our weakness for kitties, and I am pretty sure she was hoping we would take a few home.

We were very tempted. They were so cute.

Who wouldn't want this kitty?

Here is who!!! My mom's cat Simon was not enthused.

Next Up: Christmas trip to Puerto Rico!

Katie Goes Hollywood

Even though we have lived in Southern California for two years (can you believe that?), I haven't done a good job of seeing all the show biz sights. So, a few weeks ago, I set out to hike up to the Hollywood sign.

We started in shady Bronson Canyon, a place made famous by the many TV shows and movies that have been filmed there. Little House on the Prairie and Bonanza, to name just a few, were taped here. BTW--this isn't our dog--he just jumped into the picture!

And, look, here is the bat cave from the old TV series!

At first, we couldn't even see the Hollywood sign but then it came into view. It looked very far away...

We hiked onward and upward and got closer to the sign.

The trail was full of very friendly people, and we asked a cute fellow to take our picture. My old college friend Rose is on my right, and Mardie, a new friend is on my left. Mardie has lived in Hollywood for 23 years so she was a terrific guide.

After about two miles of hiking, we came to the trail's terminus and as close to the sign as we could legally get. There were lots of tourist milling around...

Including this girl who was posing in front of the sign in a bikini while her friend took pictures. We were laughing so hard at this--I couldn't resist a clandestine photo of my own. Never a dull moment in Southern California.

Nine is Fine

This month, Pat and I celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary. Interestingly, we were not much struck by the fact that we have been married nine years. However, what did strike us is the fact that we have been together 14 years. Now, that just seems like a very long time. Now, I am sure that all of KUWK's faithful readers are thinking "Fourteen years? How can Pat and Katie even be old enough to be together 14 years?" Funny, that is pretty much the same thing we thought. Okay, I probably am not fooling anyone. We thought exactly the same thing you did: Pat and Katie are OLD! Even if we are not quite sure where the years went, we are sure that they were happy and full of adventure. We wouldn't have it any other way...

Before we went out to dinner on our anniversary, we amused ourselves by taking a family picture like the ones our friends with kids are always sending us. Aren't our kitties the cutest thing ever?

Spur of the moment trip to San Diego

A few weeks ago, Pat and I decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip down the coast to San Diego. Our original plan was to head down Sunday morning, see a baseball game, and then drive back. However, we decided Saturday to go down and spend the night. We got a nice hotel room in Old Town and had a nice dinner but I wasn't much for taking pictures that night so no evidence.

We stopped for bagels Sunday morning and then ate them at the convention center next to the baseball stadium.

Here is the view from our breakfast spot. Every time I go to San Diego, I think "this is a much nicer place than Long Beach--I wish Pat would get a job here."

Then we headed to Petco Park which is right downtown and easily accessible.


Here is the scoreboard in the first inning.

Our seats were very nice--just 15 rows up. Seats are cheap in September when the home team is way out of the pennant race.

It was a very beautiful day although we kept hoping those clouds would cover the sun--it was HOT!

I was rooting for David Eckstein of the Padres--one of my favorite scrappy players.

And Pat was rooting for Troy Tulowitzki of the Rockies because he went to Long Beach State.

But, neither of us really cared who won. We just had a nice time watching the game. There is something about baseball that always makes me feel relaxed and nostalgic...