Wade and I spent the weekend in Paducah celebrating Papa’s (Wade’s Grandad) 90th Birthday. We arrived late, late, late Friday night and spent most of Saturday with the Burch/Broach family. Wade was in charge of pictures and I served cake, which put me in the perfect position for snacking!
After the party we all returned to the house for a nap and then BBQ for dinner. Wade and I spent most of the evening there and then went to my mom’s house for a little baseketball and some dessert.
We didn’t do a lot of shopping in Ecuador. I bought an Alpaca scarf and a couple t-shirts, but my favorite discovery was cinnamon Trident gum. I love the soft gum, which I can no longer find in Cinnamon. It appears to still be popular in Ecuador. I managed to gather quite a supply before we headed home. Wonder if I should have declared the gum for customs?
I normally rant about bad customer service and I plan to do that again. But first a good review. I am extremely impressed with L.L.Bean. I have ordered from them before, but never had a problem. Last month I ordered custom totes for my sister and me.
My mistake, but I did order the bags monogrammed. When I received them, the color thread used for the monogramming didn’t coordinate (in my opinion) with the bags (not the one shown above). I didn’t think LL Bean would do anything because they were customized. I was wrong. They immediately offered apologies and let me choose whether to try a different color or get my money back. How nice. Why aren’t all companies like this?!?!
Now on to the annoying rant. Ethan Allen is a pain. I bought four prints on sale in the Ethan Allen store in Nashville. As they were wrapping up the prints, we realized one of them had a couple of large scratches on the glass. I asked if they could give me a better price for the damage and was told “no” because they were already on sale. I then asked if it would be possible to find one that was not scratched. The sales lady found me one in an Ethan Allen on the north side of Nashville. I paid for all four at the first store and picked up the fourth one on our way out of town. It was wrapped up and I didn’t look at it until I got to my dad’s house. It turns out I didn’t have four different prints, but three prints and a duplicate. I called the sales lady I had dealt with and she agreed it was their fault and then also informed me they don’t normally take back sales merchandise. It was determined that Melissa would return the print for me and the lady would find a replacement.
After many annoying days and few returned phone calls, I spoke with the manager. They told me the duplicate print had to be returned within 10 days of purchase and they were still trying to locate me a replacement print for the same sale price. Melissa makes the return and then the lady informs me that they cannot ship the replacement print to me. I will have to pay if I want it shipped. At this point it is three weeks later and much frustration. I find the print in Milwaukee for $50 cheaper. I leave a message for the sales woman and tell her to please refund my money and I will buy the print locally. She returns my call and says she has managed to “sweet talk” the manager into paying for shipping. Gee – think you should have done that to begin with?
I get back from our trip and still have no word on the print. I finally got an email today saying it was shipped to their store on 3/21, but they haven’t received it yet. Will it ever end?
I came back from my vacation expecting a little warmer weather. Wade and I had taken bets that the snow would have melted during our week away. We saw tulips and blooms all over the South. When we landed in Milwaukee we saw fresh snow. It turns out this is the second snowiest winter in recorded history. Below is the ranking:
It’s supposed to snow six inches on Thursday so there’s still a shot for us to have the snowiest winter in history. What a first year in Milwaukee!
Today was the big day – Daniel and Karen got married. Wade spent the morning running errands with Daniel. I went to breakfast at Waffle House with Liz and Adam’s parents. Then we dressed for the wedding and arrived willing to help. Instead we watched the comedy show going on in the groomsmen’s dressing room.
Then it was time for the ceremony. Everything went smoothly and the name is now Karen Chandler.
The next stop was the Fraternal Order of the Eagle for the wedding reception. Betsey and Dan were also at the wedding so we had a nice Tech reunion.
After the reception hall was cleaned up and returned to pristine condition, Wade and I made a quick trip to the mall. I had bought him a shirt at Dillard’s when I was in KY and he didn’t want it. There are no Dillard’s in Milwaukee so we carried the shirt with us the entire trip to return it in Huntsville. The shirt was quickly returned and we joined Adam, Liz, and Adam’s parents for dinner. Then we sat and talked in the hotel lobby till almost 12:30 – we are trying to plan another joint vacation.
After an all night flight from Quito to Atlanta (arriving at 6 am), none of us were in top form. Wade and I were leaving everyone in Atlanta and renting a car for our drive to Madison, Alabama for a wedding (or so we thought). After much arguing with Delta and paying a hefty fee (they wouldn’t let us have our bags without the fee), I realized I had gotten our itinerary wrong. I just knew from day one that we were leaving the group in Atlanta. It turns out we were supposed to leave the group in Nashville. Wade was great about it and just said, “I’m glad I have a wife who makes mistakes.”
We retrieved our bags and the nice woman at the National Car Rental counter had sympathy for us. She got us a one-way rental to Huntsville for the same rate we had secured in Nashville. Jamie’s boyfriend had arranged an early birthday breakfast and we finally got out of the airport and on to breakfast. We had a wonderful “Southern” breakfast – grits, biscuits, gravy, etc.
Wade and I alternated driving and finally arrived in Madison, Alabama for Daniel Chandler’s wedding. We checked into our hotel and both took a nice long nap. We woke up in time for a quick visit to Daniel’s house and then on the rehearsal at the church.
We hadn’t given the wedding much thought and were doing good to arrive with appropriate attire. We were pleasantly surprised to realize Adam and Liz would be at the wedding too! Adam and Wade were excited to learn the rehearsal dinner was being held in an old jail.
Today was a leisurely day. Our flight is not till 9 pm. We spent the day in the hotel and most of it in our room playing spades with Melissa and Chris. We switched partners various times over the week so I am not sure who ended up the overall winner. We ordered room service and were basically lazy all day. What a nice way to end a wonderful trip!
Most of today was spent traveling. We packed our bags and boarded a flight for Quito – high altitude and cold temperatures. We had quite a bit of free time and I was excited to use the gym and spend a few hours with my book. The first activity of the evening was a visit to Quito Colonial City. A parade was arranged for us and we enjoyed seeing the native dress and dance.
The next stop was the Santo Domingo Convent for dinner. We dressed in white robes and had a delicious dinner with roses covering every surface. 80% of the world’s roses are grown in Ecuador so they are always in abundance. During dinner we were serenaded by an Opera singer and entertained by a well known finger painting artist.
A smaller group of us wanted a second round of scuba diving. Guy, Sonya, and I joined a few others and spent our morning with the same dive crew. This time I saw most of the same animals except I saw a hammerhead shark up close! At the end of our second dive, the dive master motioned for Guy and Sonya to surface, but wanted me to stay down longer. This is unusual and definitely not the safest course of action. The dive master had quite a bit of air left and shared his with me so that I could experience more underwater time. Guy and Sonya didn’t stop for their safety stop and had to go back down, but it worked out fine and there were no ill effects.
Digital image
We were quite late returning from the dive and had to join our group at the Charles Darwin Station – a refuge for land tortoises. I came into the tour part way, but I did get a picture with one of the large turtles. Sadly the guides weren’t too keen on us sitting on the turtles backs.
The night activity was themed “Pirate Night”. We all received pirate decorations in our room and were asked to wear them. Wade and I ended up being some of the more tame people present. The dinner was local dishes and included sushi – but the freshest sushi I have ever tasted. The tuna was outstanding!
The days start early on the boat so our group was hiking Punta Espinosa, Fernandina Island by 8 am. I am continually fascinated by the wildlife and spent most of the morning watching the sea lions play in a small tidal pool.
After a quick lunch and a nap for Wade and I, we were off for some deep sea snorkeling. The small area near our boat had penguins, sea turtles, and sea lions. They were all very friendley and wanted to play. We were just finishing up our snorkeling as the rain started.
We made it back to the boat just in time for the rappeling. Dad and Laura didn’t participate, but most of the kids did.
I started the day with an early wake up call for scuba diving. Of all the families, only ten of us are certified divers. I dove with Guy and Sonya. The underwater wildlife is amazing. They have no fear of humans, which allows us to get very close. I could touch them if I wanted. I saw White Tip Sharks, Hammerhead Sharks, Galapagos Sharks, Sea Turtles, Sea Lions, Moray Eel, and a Manta Ray.
While I was scuba diving, the rest of the group was hiking to the top of Cusin Rock on Bartolome Island. Below is a picture Melissa took. The views are breathtaking.
After lunch, the boat made a stop at Puerto Egas, James Island for hiking and snorkeling. On the beach we swam with sea lions and saw a baby sea lion on a ledge nearby. Did I also mention there are crabs everywhere?
The theme for dinner tonight was “White Night”. All of the ladies were gifted with jewelry made from local stones and the men received cuff links made with local stones.
Last night was a rough night for Wade. We aren’t sure what he ate, but he was violently ill all night long. He seemed to have mostly recovered in time for our flight to the Galapagos Islands, but he isn’t at 100%.
After we were shown to our rooms we only had a few minutes before the activities began. The first was a short hike on Cerro Dragon, Santa Cruz Island to see the marine and land iguanas.
My dad belongs to a group called WPO (World Presidents Organization) which provides him with a lot of business contacts, classes, and vacations around the world. Growing up most of our family vacations were with this group (or rather the younger group YPO) and they were always fantastic. This is the first time I have been on a YPO trip since high school. Most of the vacations have large numbers of families from all over the world. This vacation was limited by the number of rooms on the boat in the Galapagos Islands. With only 100 people things were planned a little differently and started with team building exercises at a local hacienda. Our family of 10 is by far the largest and is already causing a lot of laughs.
The next stop was a local market and a short speech from the mayor.
Dinner was at a waterfront restaurant with a fireworks show at the end.
The official trip with other families does not begin until tomorrow. We decided to fill the day with local activities. Laura arranged for a guide and off we went to the cable cars, an authentic Ecuadorian lunch, and the Museum on the Equator. Quito is at an elevation of 9,000 feet, but the mountains around it are even higher at 14,000 feet. The cable car ride was a lot of fun, but the day was overcast and visibility was low.
The next stop was for lunch. Our guide picked a small local restuarant that served us a traditional Ecuadorian meal. I remember the empanadas were fantastic and the main dish of pork was very similar to the Puerto Rican food German cooked me while living in DC.
Our last stop of the day was at the Equator Museum. Strange phenomenon are known to occur on the Equator and this museum allows you to experiment. We all watched the water go down a drain both on and off the Equator line. We also tried to balance a raw egg on the head of a nail. Melissa was by far the quickest; I was slow but determined; and poor Chris never quite got it. The museum also detailed tribal traditions such as creating shrunken heads and practicing with blow guns.
As a side note, we learned that guinea pigs are not pets in Ecuador, but considered a delicacy. I don’t think I will be trying that particular local treat.
Wade and I were picked up by the shuttle at 7 am. We flew to Atlanta and met up with the rest of the family for a bite to eat. Below you see Chris (my sister’s husband), Dad, Wade, Me, and Sonya (Laura’s son’s Guy’s wife) on the left and Tammy (a friend of Sonya’s), Laura, Guy (Laura’s son), and Grant (Laura’s son) on the right. Melissa is taking the picture.
After a five hour flight, we arrived in Quito, Ecuador around 9 pm. A shuttle picked us up and quickly delivered us to our hotel. We were all starving and discovered that the bar served tapas and sushi.
Wade and I are heading off to the Galapagos Islands for a family vacation with my dad and Laura. All of the kids are going and we should have a ball! I doubt I’ll have internet while I am gone, but I’m sure there will be lots of pictures when I get back.
Wade has only been at his new job for four months, but evidently they think he is awesome. They had a Concept Summit for new ideas and Wade won first prize – a $100 gift certificate that could be used at a group of local restuarants (Bartolotta Group).
We decided to use the gift certificate tonight and chose Mr. B’s Steakhouse – they even let you make the reservations online! We had a wonderful evening and excellent steaks. I asked Wade if there was any chance of getting that second gift certificate back. Now we have another great restaurant to take visiting family to. I can’t wait to try out the other restaurants in the group.
The day has just started but it is going really well. My contact stayed in overnight and all the fuzzy edges are gone. The eye is definitely on the mend!
We got a call from our realtor that the sellers signed our addendum. They will fix the three things we wanted done from the home inspection. There should be no stopping us now! New house on April 22nd – an almost birthday present.
Madison is always very energetic and excited to see us after we leave her alone. I was gone all of yesterday and she was especially hyper and needy when I got home. I sat down on the floor to play with her and she got in my lap. Then she pawed my face and scratched my eye. I knew it hurt but I wasn’t sure how much damage she had done. I had a little trouble with it all night, but I could watch TV and cook dinner without too much trouble.
I woke up this morning and couldn’t use my eyes. The hurt one would immediately water and the other one couldn’t seem to focus. I also had a pounding headache. I called Wade at work and he called to see if the local Wallgreens Walk-In Clinic could treat a scratched eye. They said yes so I walked over. The guy took one look at me and told me I needed to go to the emergency room.
My awesome husband found an eye doctor who would squeeze me in this morning. (They actually have an office next door to our apartment building but it isn’t open today, but I get to go there for my follow-up.) They were wonderful! They immediately took me in to a dark room and gave me numbing drops. Then the doctor came in and did a quick evaluation. He commented that he didn’t want me to have to wait knowing I was hurting. They gave me a contact to wear for the week and a bottle of pain killer drops for my eye. It’s amazing that I can now see and type. Things are slightly blurry, but there is no pain!
I know everyone is waiting with bated breath to hear about our new house. I haven’t updated in a while so be prepared for the saga.
As part of the initial contract, the sellers added a contingency that the contract on their new house had to be accepted. They had a verbal acceptance so we weren’t too concerned. What should have taken three days turned into seven. Then we find out that the sellers of the other house are not in touch even with their realtor. We wait a few more days and then find out the entire deal has fallen through. Now we have the choice of waiting for our sellers to find a new house or we can start the house hunting process again. Wade and I decide to keep looking but not cancel our contract just yet. A few days later we get a phone call saying our sellers have found a new house but they need to change the closing date to late May. Wade and I don’t like this idea at all. The date gets moved to the end of April and we now get the appliances with the sale of the house. All that is left now is the home inspection.
We had the home inspection today. There were no large issues, but a few small ones. We made our requests are now waiting to hear what our sellers think. Hopefully it will go without a problem. Wade and I are ready to be done with all this craziness. We both went to the home inspection and realized we have a lot of work to do – stripping, painting, remodeling bathrooms, etc. At least we are bored with apartment life and ready for a challenge!
Milwaukee is obviously the place to be! I got an email a few weeks ago from Cassie, a friend from DC, saying she was going to be coming in to town. She arrived tonight and Wade and I took her to dinner. Wade chose a restaurant he had been to with Chad and Sarah – what a winner! I can’t wait to take family when they come to visit.
Today was full of games. Wade had a work bowling thing so I went along to cheer. I met a friend’s significant other and rooted for the team. The only problem is the large amounts of smoke in the alley. Yuck. Wade and I then spent the evening at a pool hall. We haven’t played pool since we lived in Atlanta and were pleasantly surprised to find this place was huge with no wait on a Saturday night. To put icing on the cake, this pool hall had a Mexican restaurant inside. We played pool and ate Mexican! I even won one game all on my own (I normally win because Wade scratches).
