Park City Skiing - Feb 2011

A friend of ours was doing her residency in Salt Lake City, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to go skiing there.  We decided on a weekend trip to ski in Park City.  We skied at Park City Mountain Resort Friday night and Canyons Resort on Saturday.  We flew into SLC and drove to Park City and stayed at the Marriott for one night.

Lake Tahoe Ski Trip - January 2011

When we go skiing in Tahoe, we usually stay at a friend's family condo.  We flew into Reno one weekend on a Friday and drove to South Lake Tahoe to the condo at Lake Village Resort.  It was snowing and foggy when we landed.  We usually take the quick route through Carson City, but decided to take the scenic route along the lakeside.  We drove from the 395 to 431 to 28 to 50.  It's about the same distance, but the roads are more windy.

Girls Weekend in Napa Valley - October 2010

I had never been on a girls' trip and always thought it would be fun.  Some friends that I’ve known since high school invited me to Napa for a long weekend.  Good friends and good wine, I could hardly wait.  We all flew into San Francisco and had our flights timed within 20 minutes of each other.  We all ended up being delayed due to the fog in the bay area, but still managed to all get there about the same time.  We rented a car with Fox Rental and got a Chrysler 300 and it looks like a Bentley, so we kept referring to it as “The Bentley” the whole weekend.  We got some really strange looks when we called it that in public around other people.

Yosemite May 2010

Traveling during holiday weekends is usually not recommended, but we both had a 4 day weekend.  Why not go somewhere?  I had been looking into visiting Yosemite National Park for the past couple of years.  We had a trip planned for Labor Day weekend a couple years back, but cancelled it due to other plans and the fact that the waterfalls would have all been dried up.  Memorial Day weekend sounded like a good time to go as the waterfalls would be in full flow. 

Belize - April 2010

This trip was planned to attend a friend’s destination wedding.  They got married at a resort in Hopkins and we decided to go a few days early to go diving in the Cayes (keys).  We chose to stay on Caye Caulker instead of the popular tourist destination, Ambergis Caulker.  Caye Caulker is smaller and more laid back according to my travel guide.  I used Moon Handbooks Belize guide to help plan the trip along with the trusty TripAdvisor website. 

Sydney, Australia - January 2010

Day 1, Jan 10 – Arrival

As I mentioned before, flying domestic Qantas flights are great.  We flew them again from Cairns to Sydney and during our 3 hour flight enjoyed a pasta meal and an ice cream bar.  They also played a movie, but we chose not to watch it.

We arrived in Sydney in the early evening and were picked up by a friend of Mike’s.  We were staying with him, his wife, and their new baby girl during our stay.  Their apartment was located in Potts Point and had a fantastic view of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. 

San Francisco - April 2009

San Francisco is one of our favorite cities to visit. We stayed with some friends in Laurel Heights and had some good food and lots of fun.

ATTRACTIONS

Fisherman’s Wharf

I love going to the Wharf even thought it's touristy and gets really crowded on the weekends.  We walked down there after taking the bus from Golden Gate Park.  We got off at the embarcadero and walked all the way to Ghirardelli Square to meet some friends.

Ghirardelli

Great stop for a chocolate fix.  I got hot chocolate and Mike had an ice cream sundae.

Chinatown

We went tea tasting, which we'd never done before. You go in and sit at the counter and they pour you several teas to taste and tell you what they are good for, like digestion or relaxation. Our lady kept telling us the tea wasn't for "yummy yummy" but for health benefits. We ended up buying some for their taste. However, I don't remember what the benefits are for "Blue People" and "Siberian Rose".

Afterwards, we ate at R&G Lounge.  Our friends recommended this place.

California Academy of Science.

This is a cool museum with a rainforest, aquarium, living reef, living roof, and a planetarium.

"The Academy's green rooftop will keep the building's interior an average of 10 degrees cooler than a standard roof would. The plants also transform carbon dioxide into oxygen, capture rainwater, and reduce energy needs for heating and cooling."

RESTAURANTS

Chin Sushi Bar 

Our friends took us here as it's one of their favorite sushi places in San Fran near their neighborhood.  The rolls were really good!

Q Restaurant 

A cool funky restaurant.  We sat at a table with a tree through the table.  The food was pretty good.  Our friends love the tater tots and we all shared a large order.

R&G Lounge

I wasn't really happy about eating here once I saw shark fin soup on the menu.  It's a very popular place to eat in Chinatown, but people don't realize the deal with the shark fin soup.  Please watch the movie Sharkwater.  (Yelp Review)  I started a Yelp account after eating at this restaurant.

Giorgio’s Pizza

We grabbed a quick bite here before heading to the airport to go back home on Sunday.  Good food and inexpensive.