At Long Last...a New Post

Well folks, I know it has been a long time since I last posted. And many people were probably wondering why I was so negligent with my life updates. I know you all pined for my daily dose of humor and absolutely ridiculous events and to my loyal followers, a humble apology. But now that the "deal" is done, I can explain my absence.

As of December 17th, the company that I currently work for has been sold to a group of investors. Don't worry...I still have a job! But since the middle of July, I (and my one employee) have been working double (sometimes triple) time to get the deal done. Since I run the contracting department, most of the pre-closing work had to be completed in our area. So the pressure was on. This left little time for anything...at all. But we can now come up for air..job well done (if I do say so myself) and we made it through unscathed.

Alas, I am taking a much needed week off from work to try and get some color back in my cheeks.

Rest assured, 2011 will bring about a whole host of new events and equally as many new posts in the life and times of Smallshoo...aka..Little Birdie...aka Lesli-Ann. Cheers!

Infant Athletes?

Ok,

Looking for thoughts, comments, fits of rage, sarcasm, true honest to goodness opinions on the whole infant athlete/start training them young, phenomenon that seems to be taking over. I mean, I can remember being little and having "that friend" in the neighborhood who could never come over and play, or stay for dinner, or have a sleepover because they had some kind of practice in the morning, or the evening, or the afternoon, or a tournament on Saturday and Sunday. I was 6 and there were kids who were already ubber competitive at sports or dancing or gymnastics. I know that some little kids can be stubborn and demanding, but I find it hard to believe that they really decided at 3, 4, or 5 that they just HAD to be enrolled in an extensive hockey tournament program. BUT...this was the exception, not the rule among my little tiny friends.

Now, however, I feel that more and more parents are on a mission to have their kids grow up super fast (Tom Brady potty training at 6 months?????????) And it has become normal to be discussing what sports programs your kids are going to join while they are still sleeping in their infant car seats. I actually heard one mom say to another mom, "well, if I can get her to the Little Gym at 18 months, this could get her into gymnastics mode early enough that she could compete by 3 and it could really help to get her into a better preschool." Yes, that is EXACTLY what I heard. Now, I know that there are some private schools that may be hard to get into, but training an 18 month old on gymnastics in order to give them a leg up...really. I think I am now terrified to have children. My Gosh, by the time I procreate I will have to have my child writing a novel with one hand, spinning a basketball in the other while on a balance beam, all just to be able to get day care.

I was curious about this, so I started to randomly ask people I know, who have little kids, what their thought was on infant grooming and toddler sports. I was astounded by how many of them said. " well, I was never allowed to play sports as a kid and it hurt my chances of getting scholarships in high school, so I am totally enrolling my kids in 2 or 3 sports and hopefully one of them will stick." Wow. Was not expecting that one. I never played soccer or little league either, I was on a swim team for 13 years and we had no swim team in high school. I guess you can call that grooming gone wrong....Although, even if there was a team..Michael Phelps I was not. But I certainly don't have a burning desire to make my kids play every sport that I never played.

This whole thing is totally confusing to me. Maybe it is a New England thing? Maybe it is an affluence thing? I have no idea...but it scares me a little.

Little Birdie Makes Headlines!

Ok...nothing too over the top, but now I get to add "Press" to my website!

HERE COMES THE BRIDE!

The annual Rhode Island Wedding Expo was held this Sunday, Nov. 21, at the Green Valley Country Club.

By Kirsten Ferguson

This past Sunday, brides and bridegrooms-to-be came together to learn a little bit more about how to plan the perfect wedding day.

Vendors came to the Green Valley Country Club in Portsmouth and turned the banquet hall into a wedding wonderland. The products and services included wedding fashion, romance specialists, photographers, decorations, invitations and much more.

Each vendor donated gifts as part of the raffle for their own goods and services, giving guests a chance to win something special. Towards the end of the expo, Ana's Bridal Boutique and Tuxedo of East Providence showed some of the emerging bridal fashions by hosting a fashion show.
Everyone left with a little more bridal knowledge than they had come in with and lots of pamphlets and gift bags.

Chris Ricci checked out some of the stationary at Little Birdie Papercraft. Ricci is getting married on May 28. "This is the first fair we've gone to. We had put our wedding off a couple times because I was part of the number of the unemployed, but now everything is finally working. I got a job two weeks ago and we started re-planning again," said Ricci.

Credit Kirsten Ferguson

My Apologies

To anyone who follows my blog and received a weird email from me this morning...I apologize. Someone hacked my email accounts and it was a big mess. I am really sorry for the bother.

Your Little Blogger

....And Providence Plantations

The state of Rhode Island has a storied history as one of the United States' original thirteen colonies, but most of America is stumped at the origin of the name of the state. Unknown to most, the proper, full title is "Rhode Island and Providence Plantations", which is possibly the most original name in the country, and sets the state apart, from a naming standpoint, with the "Commonwealth" states. But how did that name come about?

History maintains that many explorers found the coastline of Rhode Island, but one navigator, Giovanni da Verazzano, found the site of modern-day Block Island, a part of the state and set apart to the south by about ten miles. In his writings, he described the island as separated from the mainland, triangular, and approximately the size of the Greek island of Rhodes. Founder of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, coming from Massachusetts and Plymouth, having been made aware of the name, believed he was referring to present-day Aquidneck Island (the colloquial name for the officially-named Rhode Island), home to Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth, and ascribed the name to Aquidneck. When Williams set down on the mainland, after having left Massachusetts to establish a more free society, he named the territory "Providence Plantations" in an attempt to affirm the guidance and care of God and the agrarian nature of the territory. And hence the legal name of the state.

Remind me again ...where...in there...you find the negative impact of slavery and hostility? And even if it was there, it's our history people, deal with it. Deleting it from our state name is not going to change history. If anything, it makes us look like we are hiding, running from our past. If we did it, own it! I digress, I don't think Roger Williams was too worried about being PC when he was thinking of a more free society.

Arguments For:
"This effort is not intended to rewrite history, but to create a better future for the generations of Rhode Islanders yet to come into existence." (Umm how exactly?)

"Clearly, no one alive today is responsible for the crimes of the past, however it is our responsibility to acknowledge our history as to ensure that the remnants of a hurtful past are discussed and laid to rest." (They are laid to rest. Call me crazy but I haven't seen any slave trade recently..)
"Voting For Rhode Island recognizes that when Roger Williams named the area "Providence Plantations" he did so without malice; however, as the state would go on to take a lead in the slave trade, the word "Plantation" would eventually change into a very negative term." (Perhaps, but isn't it better to embrace our history, and then teach people how it was and is wrong and educate our future generations to ensure it doesn't' happen again.)

If the name is changed, I guarantee you, my kids or grandchildren will never learn about it in school. History forgotten...what a shame.

Arguments Against:

“Will the November election be the first time voters anywhere could change history? Those seeking to shorten the state’s name have no documentation to support their case. This misguided initiative is based on myth, not fact. Falsely and mistakenly linking the “plantation” with slavery in Rhode Island could wipe out the accomplishments of founders Roger Williams and John Clarke and shred one of the most important pieces of our state’s history, which – when true and accurate – should be shared by all. In this case, the name had nothing to do with slavery – period." The word “plantation” means men banding together to form a colony. The Oxford English Dictionary defines plantation as “A settlement in a new or conquered country; a colony; An estate or farm, esp. in a tropical or subtropical country,…; The action of establishing or founding anything, e.g. a religion; A company of settlers or colonists. The historical definition of the word 'plantation' is 'settlement or colony' and is no way in reference to the most modern definition associated with slavery" --Brian Stinson (I second that!)

So You Can't Blame Me

For not posting in ages. Trying to work full time and get a business up and running takes a lot out of you. Not to mention...you know how some guys gain "sympathy weight" when their wife is pregnant...well I think I am suffering from "sympathy sleep." Jay's hours for school have me all out of wack ...so when he falls to sleep around 9:30, I have been finding myself sleeping that early too. Not good. So my normal evening activities are either consumed with consultations, proofs, or falling alseep earlier. I mean, we don't want Jay to feel badly do we?

There will be a TON of stuff going on in the next few moths so please please please continue to read! I promise I won't stay deliquent for too much longer.

Little Birdie in Action

That's right folks, Little Birdie took to the streets this past weekend and headed to The Johnson and Wales Inn in Seekonk MA for my first Bridal Expo.

The Expo itself was small, but I signed up for three similar shows between now and Thanksgiving to get some practice before the big shabang. I'll be exhibiting at the Southern New England Bridal Expo at the convention center downtown.

The show went really well and my booth space came out very well for my first showing. I had my mom and my sister there to aid in wrangling in the brides. Overall I had 100 brides pass through my booth and gave out just as many cards. I also had 9 brides fill out information and appointment scheduling forms. Let's keep our fingers crossed that all goes well and I get some new clients!

Oh A Hiking We Will Go..A Biking We Will Go

New Hampshire was absolutely awesome. I might have put my dad through the ringet a little on this one, but he was great and did everything that I wanted to do..and no complaints. Not bad for a man with a bum elbow and a bum back. We went hiking, mountain biking, swimming, walking, shopping, photo taking, and eating. I have to put eating in there as an activity, because it always is an event when we go to NH> This year we even managed to roast a whole chicken in the convection oven in the condo AND we ventured on the wild side and grilled!

My condo in September was a totally new experience for us. Normally we are in North Conway when there is snow and all we do is ski. So I have to admit that I was a tad worried that we wouldn't have enough to do. Ummm..yeah, not the case. Who knew that there were tennis courts at the condo (normally buried under snow), or a river with rope swings and kayak launches. And of course, the ski trails that double as mountain biking trails. AWESOME. Needless to say, there were very few dull moments. We certainly had our fair share of adventures. And thanks to Lucas, discovered an incredibly fun and exciting version of a seesaw that was fun for all ages. (I'm not kidding, I think I had as much fun on it as he did) I have to have one of these! really!

The week started off a bit "rocky" when somehow I managed to hit the lens button on my camera and my new Nikon Telephoto lens when shooting off my camera, bounced off of two rocks, rolled down a waterfall and fell into this...

Now, a testiment to Nikon, I dove in the water to retrieve the lens (oopss..sorry), panic stricken, only to find that there wasn't even so much as a scratch on the darn thing. I was not sure that it would work at all, but there was a tiny glimpse of hope. I cursed myself over and over for not being careful. (you see I always yell at Jay to be careful with the lens, and somehow, 1 day into the trip I send it flying). No issues what so ever on the 3 week jaunt through the rockies.. but the white mountains were the real issue. If you can believe it, we dried out the lens and it worked, no issues. I still can't believe it. Those people at Nikon know what they are doing.

Anywhooooooooooooooo, we had a few adventures in hiking when we thought we were going for a nice scenic walk and ended up doing a 5 hour vertical climb up White Horse Ledge, or a 4 hour mountain bike ride that was awesome coming down...not so much going up. Darn tree roots! The beautiful Athena Falls that might have been a better hike to do on day 2 as opposed to day 7. We even got Lisa and Lucas in on a day hike. Think we tuckered the little guy out though. And for what it is worth, I know we told him they were dog paw prints...but Lisa/Dad...we know the truth.

White Horse Ledge (yes we hiked this)

View from the top of White Horse

All in all, a great trip. Jay was even able to get a few days in once he finished classes. We played 18 holes on a beautiful course. I had the WORST day of golf ever...but also the best shot of my life. A birdie on a ledge shot on a par 4. Dropped about 6 inches from the pin while the men hit their balls into the river. Nice. Looking forward to heading back next fall.

Athena Falls

Back from the Mountains

I'm back from a fun filled week in NH and have plenty of pictures to get up on here. They, of course, will be accompanied by my witty commentary about my trip! More to come soon.

The Art of the Call Back

I don't understand how these people don't get fired? Really. If I sat at my desk and let every call go to voicemail and then made no attempt to call anyone back, I really don't think that I would have a job for very long.

Yet, for some reason, the people that I call for my job never, ever, EVER return calls. It is truly ridiculous. I don't understand. Please, someone, enlighten me. How is it possible that their managers think it is okay to not return calls? Oh wait, that is because generally, I don't receive return calls from the managers either.

Is it a sign of the times? Do we live in an era where it is now acceptable to just not return calls? When did it suddenly become ok to ignore courtesy, customer service, general respect for our friends, family, and business partners by pretending that they didn't contact us. If someone walked up to you in a room and reached out to shake your hand, would you just stand there and stare at them and not acknowledge that they had their arm outstretch? I don't think so. So please tell me why people, especially while on the job, don't feel the need to show enough respect to return a phone call.

Perhaps it is the nature of the beast; the industry that I work in; The pitfalls of Provider Relations. I just don't get it. Pick up the phone people, call me back. Wouldn't you rather talk to me on the phone for 10 minutes rather than having to listen to my annoying voice leave you the same message for the 6th time! COME ON!

Chop Chop..Or You'll be Late for School

I felt like a mom sending her kid off to 1st grade for the 1st time this morning. I spent my time this weekend split between a work retreat.(ugh) and helping Jay get organized and ready for Convocation on Monday and School on Tuesday. For those of you who don't know, Jay has made the decision to go back and get a Bachelors in Culinary Arts, Nutrition and Health. He has an undergraduate in Business, Art, and Entrepreneurship so he is able to get his degree in just two years as opposed to 4. But he is going full force, full time and the rules for Culinary are astonishing! Gee-Pers! I'm just exciting about sampleing the homework.

Ahhhh, I also have a whole new appreciation for our days on our college campus.
As we trudged around campus getting uniforms, books, packets, health forms...blah blah blah I was totally pained with such jealousy for the fact that he gets to spend his time in class (chopping things!) and then has his afternoons to play ultimate frisbee on the quad, hang out, participate in Greek Week and just, be a kid again. God I miss the freedom of college. I would give my eye teeth to get to go back right now.

That said....I was not at all jealous of the 50 million things that he has to iron (impeccably) in order for him to even attend convocation and classes everyday. Paybacks a bitch! hahaha!

Being the wonderful girlfriend that I am, I was kind enough to iron his three chef coats, 4 aprons, 3 side towels, 2 pairs of dining slacks, 2 pairs of chef pants, his hat, and his neck thingy after a very exhausting day playing Kumbaya with my coworkers.

And so a new chapter begins.
I give You...Chef Jay (Cue the Top Chef Intro Music Now)

For those of you who fell over..yes, that is what Jay looks like with short hait and absolutely no facial hair. Who Knew!

A Moral Debate

So everyday I pass by the BP gas station that is on the corner of my street. This was never my "go to" gas station, I always frequented the Hess on the other side of my neighborhood. It was usually a good 10 cents cheaper than BP and they had more pumps so it was easier in and out. I also would pass by it on my way to and from work so it really was more convenient. But I can't deny that I would occasionally stop at the BP because it was right there, full service, and the guys there were super nice and never grumpy about the fact that they knew I was only going to their station on that day because it was cold, or rainy, or snowy and I had absolutely no desire to leave me car. They always had lines backed up at their station.

Now many would say, Lesli, of course they were nice, it's their job. But come on...we all know the truth. There are plenty of people who are out working who have absolutely no desire to offer any customer service at all.

The point is, I feel terrible every time I drive by now because the station is dead. I don't think I have seen a single car there in weeks. They have all of these hand written posters and banners up that say " Locally Owned Station" because they know that many of their customers have stopped using their station becuase of the oil spill. Personally, I am right there with them. I have no desire to give my money to BP. But this certainly tugs at my heart strings a little when I know that I (along with most of thier other customers) who are head strong and have firm beliefs, are probably going to run this poor station out of business. It wasn't his fault that BP sucked. Not to mention the fact that he was a Getty until about 7 months ago. BP did a huge push to get independent stations to convert. He was one of them...and now look at him. And I can only asssume that BP is not offering any type of subsidy to the thousands of station owners just like him who may loose their entire investment.

If you were me..what would you do? Gas up because I am a sucker, or keep going back to the Hess?

Fantastic Nantasket!

Before you think I am being really corny..you should know that I actually went to a place called Nantasket this weekend...and yes, it really was a fantastic time. It is located in Hull Mass, just past Hingham. It is a sleepy little beach town but it was really fun and the package that we had was a great deal. My friend Aga had found it online and it proved to be just what the doctor ordered. The package was for two,called the "Girls Escape" and it included the hotel, a gift certificate to the hotel restaurant (which we thought might only buy a few cocktails but actually covered most of dinner!) two manicures, two pendicures, and two 60 minute swedish massages. Full use of the pool, hot tub, and spa and directly across from a gorgeous beach. We thought it was going to be too good to be true...like the hotel would have been a dump, or the beach was just a small patch of sand, but it was really nice. We had a room with a fireplace, and a balcony with ocean views and the beach was awesome. Totally worth it. I highly recommened. Seriously. Calgon totally took me away !

The Clarion Nantasket Beach Resort and Spa!

Our Room The beach (that was right across the street from the hotel)
The Spa/Salon

The Golightly’s Go a Huntin’

“Yeah, well, my family, they like the outdoors I guess.” Hello!! Oh I am sorry, I forgot that when I think of nature and the outdoors, that is EXACTLY what I get the urge to do. Sit for hours with a high powered sight rifle, and wait for Bambi to come by so I can shoot the life out of it and then run to have my picture taken holding its lifeless head. I can come up with a few other things to do in the great outdoors that don’t involve DEATH. Ugh. It was unfortunate that they were so nice because all of those pictures on the wall were giving me the heebegeebees. There was something to be said about the juxtaposition of the hunting pictures with the happy smiling pictures of his grandchildren, strategically placed in tires, holding various sporting equipment. Odd. Very Odd.

Since our Guest Bloggers Won't Blog...

I'll give you the gist so I can actually blog again here people! So...we return to the May Adventures of our Western Journey..Picture this Arizona...1912...ok, just kidding. In the absense of our guest bloggers, I am using the letter written to Cruise America after our trip so you can get an idea of why it was a good thing we relaxed and were in a good mood before leaving Sedona...

I give you.. Runaway Stagecouch (as the boys had named the "first" RV) Yes, you read that correctly, our First RV.

I rented an RV from Cruise America in Denver on May 15th and returned a different RV to Denver on May 29. When we left the lot in Denver, we noticed something sticky on the tires but assumed it was tar and that everything was fine because it had presumably been checked out by the mechanics in Denver. On May 18, we drove down a very windy road with switchbacks and a very steep gradient and it was obvious to us that something was definitely wrong with the front driver's-side tire and that the RV was not safe to operate. We took the RV to a Cruise America contractor in Flagstaff, AZ who advised that our tire was separating and very close to blowing out. He referred us to a tire specialist outside Flagstaff. We spent the day of the 18th in an industrial park in Flagstaff waiting for the tires to be fixed on our RV -- which both mechanics (the Cruise America contractor and the tire mechanic) had said was "undriveable." We had also experienced major inconveniences inside the first RV, including a ripped screen, an inoperable microwave (that almost fell out of the wall, drawers that flew open while driving, and a table that didn't convert into a bed. We had to forfeit our campground that night and drive on to Las Vegas to meet the manager at Cruise America in the morning. We also had to pay another night for two rooms in a hotel in Las Vegas and had to throw out a refrigerator full of food when we returned the first RV, as I'm sure you're aware the refrigerators take a while to cool down.

On the 19th, with the help of Cruise America customer service staff in Mesa and Las Vegas, we picked up a new RV in Las Vegas and continued on our trip. These employees advised us that our first RV, at over 100,000 miles and with a separating tire, should have never been allowed off the lot in Denver -- especially for a two week trip. The Cruise America employees at the Denver office, however, were exceedingly rude and, when we returned our RV, seemed intent to pick a fight with us. They also advised that they routinely rent RVs over 100,000 miles and that we were wrong.

I would appreciate a partial refund due to the unsafe condition of the original vehicle, other inconveniences in the RV, other expenses I had to incur and the fact that we lost an entire day sitting in the industrial park in Flagstaff (more to come on this) and the next morning/afternoon exchanging our RV and restocking the new RV.

Sincerely,
Daniel P. Riley, Esq.

Despicable Me

This is disgusting. I am the worst blog host ever. I need to find time for the shoo

The Buzz Around Town

So, in case anyone is wondering. Yes. I am still allergic to bees. I found this out the very unfortunate way yesterday during my lunch break at work.

I went to Lowes in order to look at their sheds. I need a new shed for my backyard and was just going to see what they had outside. I looked through most of the sheds (non of which were very good) and thought...what the heck, I'll look at the last one they have, even though it isn't in a style that I really wantet.

I opened the doors to the shed and was swarmed by wasps or hornets or something. I felt like McCauley Culkin for a minute! I freaked out ...of course. I put my harms in front of my face and must have swatted one of them. It of course..made them angry and boop! Stung right on the back of the arm by my armpit. Holy %^%^$^%$%^#%^&^^%$#$@#$#$

I went into the Lowes and told them to call my office and tell them I was on my way...oh and that they may want to go spray the hornets nest that is in the corner of their stinkin' shed! Lowes is only about 2 minutes from my office so I figured that was the best place to go. And seeing as how out President is and MD, I thought it a wise decision.

Let's just say my plan did not work out as well as I had hoped. BUT.... a giant swollen arm and an epi pen later...all was right with the world. But I was down for the count for the rest of the day. Ugh.

First of All...

How annoying. TCBOTB is taking away my blog background. I loved my background...it had a little birdie on it. Boo. I am not happy. Hmpf. Rahr!

You Want How Much?

Can someone please explain to me how this is possible..what ? you ask. That I can have a completely updated and beautiful house for...let's just say... ....a VERy reasonable amount of money, but when I want to try and update my garage, I have to pretty much sell my house to afford it. Are you serious people?

I got one quote from a company that wanted to charge me $92, 000 to do the garage. Yes, you read that correctly, it is NOT a typo. He actually thought it would be reasonable for me to pay almost what it would cost to buy a small home..in order to do a garage.

Mind you..this is a buidling that just has 4 walls people. We all do remember what a garage is, correct? So I asked that guy,
"OK, what would it be to just put the structure up and I would work on the rest." He says.. $80,000! Say what! That doesnt seem right.

And then...and then.... he says that this does not include any electrical or the foundation. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

Really people, Really?

Desirable Eyes... wink wink..

So, for all you Lady Gaga fans out there....you should know...I have desirable eyes. Yup, that's right, there are people out there right now who are coveting my eyeballs.

And for all of you who told me I had scary alien eyes when I was a baby. I say HA! to you now. Yes..that is right, I said HA!

Apparently, there is a big crazy right now to get the contact lenses worn by Lady Gaga in her Bad Romance video. The contacts make your eyes look like you are an anime character. They cover part of the whites of your eyes and give you that longing, doe-eyed look that men swoon for!

Start swooning fellas...cause you ain't gettin' any contacts with this lady over here. I got the real deal. Uh Huh!

I knew that my giant eyeballs were not all for naught!

Blink Blink...are you weak in the knees yet?

3D - Really?

We interrupt this regularly scheduled blog post about vacation to discuss a topic that is becoming increasingly vexing to me. The whole 3D phenomenon. Why does every new movie that comes out have to now be in 3D?

1. You have to go see these movies at the IMAX, which means I can NOT use my beloved movie passes and actually have to pay for the movie. At $12.75 a pop...I don't think so.

2. You have to wear those ridiculous glasses that are no longer those fun little paper disposable ones. Nope, these are plastic ones that they reuse. Yes, I said reuse. They claim that they sanitize them..but really? Do they? What if that 6 year old stuck part of those glasses up their nose. Yuck. I don't even want to think about it.

3. You have to go to the Providence Place Mall to see the movie. This means dealing with all of the people who are at the mall because it has air conditioning, fighting in the parking garage for a space that is too small to fit a bicycle, let alone a car, and having to PAY to park.

4. I want to be able to sit and actually watch a movie. I don't want to be PART of the movie. If I am focusing so much on all the things that are flying at me...do you really think I am paying attention to the plot. So we come full circle to the fact that I have just paid $12.75 to not really watch a movie.

5. What kind of evening am I looking at here too.. $ 25.50 for two tickets, $3 for parking, $7.50 for a popcorn, $8.50 for two sodas. Jeepers, I might as well give them my first born child to see this stinking movie.

So, tell me why is this 3D thing such a big deal all of a sudden? Tell me, really, I want to know. I just watched the new Harry Potter trailer for the last movie. I loved it so much that it gave me goose bumps. And then...at the very end it says..."Get the full wizarding experience as Harry Potter comes to you in 3D". NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ugh. Why can't we just go back to the regular movies so I can use my fun little movie passes, not have to fight any crowds, only have to drive 1.3 miles to the theater and be able to get tasty movie treats without having to take our a second mortgage on my house.

Excuse Me…Can we Buy Some Wood?

We stayed at the most wonderful little campground, in between Sedona and Flagstaff, called Oak Creek. Nestled amidst the trees and the mountains, this campground was completely hidden even though it was only a few hundred feet from the road turnoff.

Getting to the campground was a little iffy as we had to descend down a sheer cliff... on a road that was only about as wide as our RV.

Yeah.. here we go with the steepness again.

I was white knuckled for most of the way…(exacerbated by Jay saying to Dan…”Um…you cut it a little close to the edge there dude!) Clearly, a reason to freak. Not to mention that the RV was not handling quite as well as they would have hoped.........

Anyway, we make it to the site and it is now a bit late. After some serious strategic maneuvering by Dan and Jay to get the camper into the spot, (due to the world's largest garbage can and some very poorly placed decorative rocks) we were ready to eat and chill out. Alas, we were a little shy on fire wood. So Dan and Jay proceed to go on an “adventure” to get some wood.

In Jay's words…

“So we came across another camper that we thought may be able to help us. Leeeet’s just say he was a VERY EXTRA-LARGE man… squeezed into a schmedium shirt (for those of you not in the biz…a medium/borderline small shirt). And he was just standing there holding what appeared to be a very large log. He was just standing there….. with the end of the thing….. just sticking in his fire, so we thought perhaps he could help us out. 'So, like, do you have any fire wood that we can buy off of you? ' His reply…’weeeeellll, you want this ere stump?’ Dan and I just looked at each other, sighed, and walked back to the RV. So, umm…we don’t have any fire wood.” Hmphff

Apparently he was a very very very strange man.

The next morning was G-L-O-R-I-O-U-S! We woke up to find that our site was along a beautiful creek (Hence the name...duh!). I didn’t even get out of my pajamas. I know I am a slug. I took my coffee with me and the four of us spent some serious time just relaxing by the water, jumping around the rocks like we used to at the beach house. Pure relaxation.





Which, I suppose it is a good thing considering what we were about to encounter that day …..

Beaver Street Brew Pub – the Growler

Can I just say, I heart Beaver Street Brew Pub! First there is the cheesy deliciousness that is the Beaver Street Fondue. It has Red Ale in it and then it is served with beer bread cubes and veggies. OH MY GOD! Then there are the burgers. I (being a burger connoisseur) will say that I think this may have been one of the best burgers that I have ever eaten. Perfectly cooked, topped simply yet just right. I couldn’t stop eating it. Lest we forget the giant beer pretzels with the horseradish mustard, the bacon and cheese stuffed steak and my personal favorite….the Brewers Platter.

I couldn’t believe how yummy this was. I was so fat and happy when we were done that I just wanted to pass out. But that would be a no no. Why? Because… if I passed out…. then I would miss out on the Growler. A good ole’ fashion jug of pure scrumptiousness.
When we got back to the RV, Jay decided to put the Growler in the freezer to get chilled. Perfecto. Alas, it wasn’t until he jumped out of bed in the early morning (I thought he had a nose bleed) that we all realized that Jay had forgotten the Growler in the freezer when we all went to bed. Booo. Luckily, it thawed out enough during breakfast that we were able to drink it that day. Ahhhhhh Heavenly.

Yes, I am aware that this may frighten small children.

The Gum is still there...

Jay turns around and sees Lesli. This is what he sees...

10 minutes later

10 minutes later than before

10 more minutes

This is Me... apparently asleep with my eyes open. Notice the gum never fell and I ddin't move an AT ALL.

On The road Again!

Police: Sir, Your Papers. Jay: Scissors! Ha! I win.

We made our way through Utah with the sunning BEAMING. It was an absolutely gorgeous drive as we passed through Monument Valley, seen below, and through the Navajo Nation into Arizona. I was a little disappointed that we were doing this drive on a Sunday. Mainly because it meant that there were no little old Navajo ladies selling their goods along the roadside. We saw countless little roadside stands, but alas. No little Navajo ladies. I was a little bummed. But to be honest, the view of the gorgeous stone monuments was a very easy distraction!

We, of course, stopped for a few crucial photo ops that could not be missed!

Mexincan Border!

Once in Arizona we forged on as the sun started to go down. There was a light haze in the sky and the air was so comfortable. It was picturesque as we were driving, and then, all of a sudden, we are stopping and parking. I have no idea why, and I am completely confused. I thought that we were heading straight to the campground. We were no longer in the desert and had entered Kaibab National Forest, where we were camping for the night. Dan, Jay and Alyson are all very excited and they are telling me to hurry up and get out of the RV. So I rush (grab the camera of course) thinking I am going to get my first glimpse of wild life. Not quite. Dan had made the executive decision to head straight to a viewing site at the Grand Canyon. Since the sky was so amazing, and the sun was setting, he knew I just HAD to see it then. It couldn’t wait until morning. Man was he spot on!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew it was Grand….(hahaha) but had no idea what to expect. It surpassed anything I could have imagined. It is ridiculous how little they set your expectations in elementary school.

After I soaked in as much as I could, we hopped back in the RV to get to the campsite before the sun set. Alyson was having a somewhat strange craving for hot dogs and smores so we went to the Grand Canyon General Store….loaded up on camping must haves…and set up for the night. The Knob Creek came out in full forces and we enjoyed a lovely dinner of Thai Curry Chicken over Basmati Rice, hot dogs, and smores. (For anyone wondering, Jay took is dinner duty on the trip very seriously.. We ate like Kings!)




When we woke up the next morning, Jay and I were fascinated by these funny little lizards. They had these bright blue bellies. Anyway, they would scurry around and then stop cold dead….do 10 little pushups, and then take off running again. I am sure it had to do with some spring mating call or territory thing…but to me, it just looked like morning calisthenics. I won’t lie. They made me feel like a bit of a slug. Damn exercising lizards!
The rest of the morning was spent gazing at the Grand Canyon as we hiked around and took more pictures. Then…onward to Flagstaff and Sedona!