First, Happy New YEAR to all.
May 2009 be fruitful and healthy for all of you that still take a minute to read this space.
(On a side note if you are still checking for updates after my lack of posting over the past 18 months, then you are a very persistent person)
This year as one of my New Year's Resolutions I vow to blog more. Now a problem with that and the main reason that I haven't blogged much over the past year is the lack of unique user generated content.
In the past this has morphed into a 'Chris & Paty's Travel Blog' written by Chris. Well this year looks to be as sparse or more sparse in the travel department for the Tobin's so I will have to expand the horizons of the blog some.
That being said, be ready to hear my thoughts on Husky Hoops, Gonzaga ruining a potential Final Four run (yes, I am the ONE person who has CBSCS and was watching the Utah v Gonzaga game on New Years Eve on a channel called CBS College Sports (Ch613 on you DirecTV) and they did choke away another game, this time from behind), random small trips we take, occasional what is happening in my life posts and probably a LOT of Seattle SOUNDERS footall posts.
Yes, for those of you in a soccer cave, the city of Seattle lost the Sonics but gained the Sounders in the MLS this year. For me a fair trade as I transitioned the money I spent on my season tix for the Sonics to the Sounders.
http://www.soundersfc.com/
That's all from here. I'm not going to post every day or most likely every week, but I'll try to keep this up for my readers (/wave Shannon) a little better.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Intrigue in Spokane?
Lexi thinks to herself:
"They already got me a little brother to split attention from me, we have to draw the line somewhere."
As she does her best to choke the new Labradoodle......
Congrats on the new dog to the Spokane Tobins!
"They already got me a little brother to split attention from me, we have to draw the line somewhere."
As she does her best to choke the new Labradoodle......
Congrats on the new dog to the Spokane Tobins!
Monday, September 22, 2008
Seahawks Weekend
This weekend my sister and her husband came up for the Seahawks Sunday festivities. This was also Oktoberfest weekend in Fremont. And as usual, the Oktoberfest was an absolute blast.
Paty and I went up to Fremont and met Reid at around 2 pm. Natalie met us there as she drove up from Vancouver. The Oktoberfest is really fun, they treat it like a beer festival where you get 5 ounce glasses and there are 74 different types of beer. In order to get a taster of beer, you trade in a token for the beer. It did rain this year, but I think the beer might have made it so we didn't really notice in the end:
That was pretty much it for Saturday as those little 5 ounce 'tastes' of beer can really add up.
Sunday it was GAME DAY! for the Seahawks versus the hapless Saint Louis team. Which was good as the Hawks needed a win. Kenny Mayne raised the 12th man flag:
Me and Natalie at the game:
All in all it was a fun day. I had a few more pictures with all six of my friends and family at the game. But it turns out that those pics are on Natalie's camera. Odds are 59% that she will send me the pictures and I'll upload them here.
Natalie let it slip that she and Porfi are not really good friends. So after the game while she decided to nap, Porfi decided to have a little sisterly bonding time with Natalie:
Paty and I went up to Fremont and met Reid at around 2 pm. Natalie met us there as she drove up from Vancouver. The Oktoberfest is really fun, they treat it like a beer festival where you get 5 ounce glasses and there are 74 different types of beer. In order to get a taster of beer, you trade in a token for the beer. It did rain this year, but I think the beer might have made it so we didn't really notice in the end:
That was pretty much it for Saturday as those little 5 ounce 'tastes' of beer can really add up.
Sunday it was GAME DAY! for the Seahawks versus the hapless Saint Louis team. Which was good as the Hawks needed a win. Kenny Mayne raised the 12th man flag:
Me and Natalie at the game:
All in all it was a fun day. I had a few more pictures with all six of my friends and family at the game. But it turns out that those pics are on Natalie's camera. Odds are 59% that she will send me the pictures and I'll upload them here.
Natalie let it slip that she and Porfi are not really good friends. So after the game while she decided to nap, Porfi decided to have a little sisterly bonding time with Natalie:
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Planes, Tranes and Autos (Belize Style)
I wanted to title this post:
Boat, Bus, Boat, Mayans, Boat, Bus, Boat
But that was too long for a title. However that was our route to the ancient Mayan ruins of Lamanai.
We were picked up at 7 am, an ungodly early time to be picked up when you are on day 6 of 8 in the Caribbean, by our first boat. The first leg of our journey was about an hour from San Pedro to the village of Bomba. It was pretty as we cruise through the mangroves:
This is the 'village' of Bomba, notice all the cool lilies. On our way back they were back down in the water as they are more of a morning dew type of flower.
Yes, this bus is as rickety as it looks in the picture. And to call this path a road would be generous. We had about an hour in the green machine to cover maybe 20 miles if that far.
Boat ride number two took us past one of the Belize's two main Mennonite settlements:
This is what the river looks like from the boat, it really is a jungle out there:
Did I mention that the boat moves MUCH faster than the faith bus? They absolutely cruise through these little channels in the river. It's not exactly eco-friendly tourism but the boat rides are pretty fun.
About four hours after being picked up at Mata Rocks Resort:
Lunch was provided as part of the tour so we quickly ate and then started doing what one does when at Mayan ruins, climb ruins:
The first of which was short:
The second was most definitely not short:
I was the first to the very top (like this is a big surprise) so I was able to do a self portrait with no one around. It's hard to convey how high this was. I guess you can kind of tell by how sweaty I got climbing up. On a side note, the day we went to Lamanai it was hot. Really hot. While we were baking in Belize, the Northern Caribbean was getting hammered by Hurricane Ike. An off shoot of this is that when a hurricane is spinning around somewhere in the Caribbean, the rest of the Caribbean is traditionally really quiet weather wise. Belize almost always has 10-15 mph trade winds coming off the see that keep the edge off the weather. Well because of the hurricane there was not a whisper of wind for three straight days and man was it hot. Try 100 plus degrees with 90% humidity and the aforementioned no wind hot.
Paty finally made it up:
Going up is easy, going down however is not. Paty contemplating the fall:
One of the cooler things about this site is the wildlife. There were Howler Monkeys (they really do howl, loudly) that we saw and wild tropical birds that would eat porfi for lunch.
Also some animals that I would have preferred not to see:
Here is the third of three pyramids that were at least partially restored. Lamanai is full of ruins that are just that, still ruins. You can see where buildings and maybe pyramids were but currently they are just mounds that you can tell used to be something. There is no apparent restoration project underway. In fact this last pyramid was the only one that had a large grass courtyard in front of it. Most of the other sites it would be forest right up until the restored part of the site.
That was all for Lamanai. I could write another 1000 words about the ride back, but it was just the reverse of the trip in with one twist:
The fuel line broke while we were literally in the middle of nowhere. Luckily they were able to fix the fuel line with a stick and a plastic shopping bag. I guess the name on the bus worked itself out as this could have been bad.
We did pick up three wooden bowls from the village of Bomba to serve salad when back at home. Surprisingly, these were really the only souvenirs we bought the entire trip.
Boat, Bus, Boat, Mayans, Boat, Bus, Boat
But that was too long for a title. However that was our route to the ancient Mayan ruins of Lamanai.
We were picked up at 7 am, an ungodly early time to be picked up when you are on day 6 of 8 in the Caribbean, by our first boat. The first leg of our journey was about an hour from San Pedro to the village of Bomba. It was pretty as we cruise through the mangroves:
This is the 'village' of Bomba, notice all the cool lilies. On our way back they were back down in the water as they are more of a morning dew type of flower.
Yes, this bus is as rickety as it looks in the picture. And to call this path a road would be generous. We had about an hour in the green machine to cover maybe 20 miles if that far.
Boat ride number two took us past one of the Belize's two main Mennonite settlements:
This is what the river looks like from the boat, it really is a jungle out there:
Did I mention that the boat moves MUCH faster than the faith bus? They absolutely cruise through these little channels in the river. It's not exactly eco-friendly tourism but the boat rides are pretty fun.
About four hours after being picked up at Mata Rocks Resort:
Lunch was provided as part of the tour so we quickly ate and then started doing what one does when at Mayan ruins, climb ruins:
The first of which was short:
The second was most definitely not short:
I was the first to the very top (like this is a big surprise) so I was able to do a self portrait with no one around. It's hard to convey how high this was. I guess you can kind of tell by how sweaty I got climbing up. On a side note, the day we went to Lamanai it was hot. Really hot. While we were baking in Belize, the Northern Caribbean was getting hammered by Hurricane Ike. An off shoot of this is that when a hurricane is spinning around somewhere in the Caribbean, the rest of the Caribbean is traditionally really quiet weather wise. Belize almost always has 10-15 mph trade winds coming off the see that keep the edge off the weather. Well because of the hurricane there was not a whisper of wind for three straight days and man was it hot. Try 100 plus degrees with 90% humidity and the aforementioned no wind hot.
Paty finally made it up:
Going up is easy, going down however is not. Paty contemplating the fall:
One of the cooler things about this site is the wildlife. There were Howler Monkeys (they really do howl, loudly) that we saw and wild tropical birds that would eat porfi for lunch.
Also some animals that I would have preferred not to see:
Here is the third of three pyramids that were at least partially restored. Lamanai is full of ruins that are just that, still ruins. You can see where buildings and maybe pyramids were but currently they are just mounds that you can tell used to be something. There is no apparent restoration project underway. In fact this last pyramid was the only one that had a large grass courtyard in front of it. Most of the other sites it would be forest right up until the restored part of the site.
That was all for Lamanai. I could write another 1000 words about the ride back, but it was just the reverse of the trip in with one twist:
The fuel line broke while we were literally in the middle of nowhere. Luckily they were able to fix the fuel line with a stick and a plastic shopping bag. I guess the name on the bus worked itself out as this could have been bad.
We did pick up three wooden bowls from the village of Bomba to serve salad when back at home. Surprisingly, these were really the only souvenirs we bought the entire trip.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Lamanai
More to come when I get a chance, but here is us at Lamanai.
My impressions of Lamanai:
Damn it's HOT!
This is really different than Chichen Itza.
Cool, Monkeys.
I don't think I could be wetter if I jumped into the Lagoon I am so sweaty.
Why haven't they restored more than like 20% of this place?
My impressions of Lamanai:
Damn it's HOT!
This is really different than Chichen Itza.
Cool, Monkeys.
I don't think I could be wetter if I jumped into the Lagoon I am so sweaty.
Why haven't they restored more than like 20% of this place?
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Fishing
As planned, we went fishing on Tuesday. And here are the pictures to prove it:
Snapper was first on the agenda:
It is hard to convey just how nice the weather is here. This is what constitutes a traffic jam on the water. San Pedro has really embraced the island way of life with time being a suggested thing instead of a way to regulate your life.
Baracuda was next:
The entire haul:
And here is the picture of our hotel from the fishing boat.
See that guy in the blue soccer jersey sitting underneath a palm tree? Yep, that's me. I bailed on the fishing and sent Paty out to represent the Tobin's. It's a long story that involved a mild case of Mantezuma's revenge, coupled with a fishing boat that didn't have a bathroom, an early wake up call and you get the idea. Paty did well though as you can see.
Since I didn't fish, I did most of the cooking (like this wasn't going to happen anyway). We again availed ourselves of the hotel bikes and rode to the local grocery and stocked up on supplies for the night.
The final tally was A LOT of different types of snapper and three baracuda. Here is what we did with them:
Dinner at the bar and the entire crew:
We actually had quite a bit of leftovers, but after feeding our extremely helpful hotel bar tender that helped us with the cooking utensils and the local security we still had a lot of fish left. Luckily for us the Belize Army has some troops here at the hotel and they happily ate ALL the extra food.
The Army people mainly stay in their room during the day or lounge on the hammocks, and they patrol the island at night. Apparently earlier in the year they had some problems with tourists getting mugged. Well since 100% of their economy is tourism and the local police were either bad or complacent (more likely) in doing something about it the local businesses talked to the federal government and donated accomadations so they could send in the army to crack down on nighttime loitering. It has been worked extremely well and the muggings have stopped entirely. The only thing is, it's kind of a shock to see four guys come out of a hotel room in army dress and M16's the first time. But for sure we feel safe! And now they are fed.
All for now, Wednesday we were supposed to go to Lamani but our tour was pushed back to Thursday. So tomorrow is open, probably some island time for us!
Snapper was first on the agenda:
It is hard to convey just how nice the weather is here. This is what constitutes a traffic jam on the water. San Pedro has really embraced the island way of life with time being a suggested thing instead of a way to regulate your life.
Baracuda was next:
The entire haul:
And here is the picture of our hotel from the fishing boat.
See that guy in the blue soccer jersey sitting underneath a palm tree? Yep, that's me. I bailed on the fishing and sent Paty out to represent the Tobin's. It's a long story that involved a mild case of Mantezuma's revenge, coupled with a fishing boat that didn't have a bathroom, an early wake up call and you get the idea. Paty did well though as you can see.
Since I didn't fish, I did most of the cooking (like this wasn't going to happen anyway). We again availed ourselves of the hotel bikes and rode to the local grocery and stocked up on supplies for the night.
The final tally was A LOT of different types of snapper and three baracuda. Here is what we did with them:
Dinner at the bar and the entire crew:
We actually had quite a bit of leftovers, but after feeding our extremely helpful hotel bar tender that helped us with the cooking utensils and the local security we still had a lot of fish left. Luckily for us the Belize Army has some troops here at the hotel and they happily ate ALL the extra food.
The Army people mainly stay in their room during the day or lounge on the hammocks, and they patrol the island at night. Apparently earlier in the year they had some problems with tourists getting mugged. Well since 100% of their economy is tourism and the local police were either bad or complacent (more likely) in doing something about it the local businesses talked to the federal government and donated accomadations so they could send in the army to crack down on nighttime loitering. It has been worked extremely well and the muggings have stopped entirely. The only thing is, it's kind of a shock to see four guys come out of a hotel room in army dress and M16's the first time. But for sure we feel safe! And now they are fed.
All for now, Wednesday we were supposed to go to Lamani but our tour was pushed back to Thursday. So tomorrow is open, probably some island time for us!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Biking
Holy @#$% she CAN ride a bike:
On Monday we decided to take advantage of the free bikes that the hotel offers and explore the island a little.
Becuase I am that guy, I brought the garmin running gps odometer with us on the trip and strapped it to the handlebars. It is exactly 1.30 miles from our hotel to the edge of downtown San Pedro.
Paty did pretty well riding the bike, she takes a while to start and has problems stopping, turning or changing directions but other than that she does quite well. Luckily the island life pace is really laid back and the local are used to silly tourists riding around on their only road. Most of the traffic is actually golf carts instead of cars.
We ending up riding through San Pedro and across a toll bridge(that we didn't realize was a toll bridge, so we owe the city of San Pedro two US Dollars) and out into the part of town where some of the newer resorts and large personal house are. Exactly 3.6 miles from Mata Rocks Resort we found this absolutely awesome bar that was built on the end of a pier about 50 yards out in the sea, Palapa's:
We needed a break after the 'grueling' 40 minute ride, so we hung out at Palapa's for a while. Paty even took a dip in the ocean there:
Sadly we had to ride back to town:
At night we have gone to Papi's a few times, where Paty befriended the 'band':
Tomorrow we are fishing with another couple from our hotel in the morning and then as long as we catch something, we are going to have a bid beach feast at the Squirrel's Nest. Each night an older Dutch couple that is also staying here has been cooking their dinner on the charcoal grill that the hotel has. So we are teaming up with them to provide dinner for at least 6 people. Assuming we catch the fish that is.
All for now.
On Monday we decided to take advantage of the free bikes that the hotel offers and explore the island a little.
Becuase I am that guy, I brought the garmin running gps odometer with us on the trip and strapped it to the handlebars. It is exactly 1.30 miles from our hotel to the edge of downtown San Pedro.
Paty did pretty well riding the bike, she takes a while to start and has problems stopping, turning or changing directions but other than that she does quite well. Luckily the island life pace is really laid back and the local are used to silly tourists riding around on their only road. Most of the traffic is actually golf carts instead of cars.
We ending up riding through San Pedro and across a toll bridge(that we didn't realize was a toll bridge, so we owe the city of San Pedro two US Dollars) and out into the part of town where some of the newer resorts and large personal house are. Exactly 3.6 miles from Mata Rocks Resort we found this absolutely awesome bar that was built on the end of a pier about 50 yards out in the sea, Palapa's:
We needed a break after the 'grueling' 40 minute ride, so we hung out at Palapa's for a while. Paty even took a dip in the ocean there:
Sadly we had to ride back to town:
At night we have gone to Papi's a few times, where Paty befriended the 'band':
Tomorrow we are fishing with another couple from our hotel in the morning and then as long as we catch something, we are going to have a bid beach feast at the Squirrel's Nest. Each night an older Dutch couple that is also staying here has been cooking their dinner on the charcoal grill that the hotel has. So we are teaming up with them to provide dinner for at least 6 people. Assuming we catch the fish that is.
All for now.
Belize first days
Belize is nice. If you haven’t heard Madonna’s Isla Bonita lately go to itunes and listen to it, I’ll wait.
Back? Good, because the song totally exemplifies San Pedro. It is really pretty. We’ve settled into our hotel nicely. Basically it is 14 rooms built around a pool and a beach bar. The bar is great; everyone congregates there in the morning and night. We are planning on fishing on Tuesday and we will most likely do a big bar-b-que for all the guests that want to participate. The Squirrel’s Nest is the name of the bar and it is 100% what you would envision from a Caribbean beach bar. Locals and people from other hotels always swing in from the beach side and stop in for a drink or four.
We arrived on Saturday and went to town for dinner. The city is pretty quiet. It seems like a theme for us but this is the second vacation where we are in a really nice area and it is pretty much a ghost town. It is not as sparsely populated as Croatia was, but a lot of the restaurants and even some hotels are closed for the slow season.
Sunday we hung out at the Squirrel’s nest in the morning and in the afternoon we went snorkeling. As you saw earlier in our pictures, the reef is literally only 200 -400 yards out from the coastline. The boat for the snorkeling comes right up to the hotel dock and picks you up. And you make two stops for snorkeling in about 2.5 hours. We were able to snorkel with sharks. They are nurse shards, so they are bottom feeders and not aggressive. Good thing as the biggest of the 7 or 8 we saw up close was 9 feet long. Basically they look like those big algae eaters everyone has in their aquarium (placo’s or whatever the official name is).
As we didn’t sport for the underwater camera, I have no pictures to show you. Which is too bad as we also saw manta rays and lots of colorful fish on the reef. Here is a picture of myself on the boat and then Paty getting out of the boat. It was pretty small and the ‘group’ for our excursion was us and one other couple.
Back? Good, because the song totally exemplifies San Pedro. It is really pretty. We’ve settled into our hotel nicely. Basically it is 14 rooms built around a pool and a beach bar. The bar is great; everyone congregates there in the morning and night. We are planning on fishing on Tuesday and we will most likely do a big bar-b-que for all the guests that want to participate. The Squirrel’s Nest is the name of the bar and it is 100% what you would envision from a Caribbean beach bar. Locals and people from other hotels always swing in from the beach side and stop in for a drink or four.
We arrived on Saturday and went to town for dinner. The city is pretty quiet. It seems like a theme for us but this is the second vacation where we are in a really nice area and it is pretty much a ghost town. It is not as sparsely populated as Croatia was, but a lot of the restaurants and even some hotels are closed for the slow season.
Sunday we hung out at the Squirrel’s nest in the morning and in the afternoon we went snorkeling. As you saw earlier in our pictures, the reef is literally only 200 -400 yards out from the coastline. The boat for the snorkeling comes right up to the hotel dock and picks you up. And you make two stops for snorkeling in about 2.5 hours. We were able to snorkel with sharks. They are nurse shards, so they are bottom feeders and not aggressive. Good thing as the biggest of the 7 or 8 we saw up close was 9 feet long. Basically they look like those big algae eaters everyone has in their aquarium (placo’s or whatever the official name is).
As we didn’t sport for the underwater camera, I have no pictures to show you. Which is too bad as we also saw manta rays and lots of colorful fish on the reef. Here is a picture of myself on the boat and then Paty getting out of the boat. It was pretty small and the ‘group’ for our excursion was us and one other couple.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
MADE IT!
Almost 24 hours to the minute after my buddy picked us up at Casa de Tobin, we made it to our new casa for the week, Mata Rocks Resort.
After our encounter with Elvis in the Dallas airport we flew to Miami and had about 10 hours at the airport. So we stayed at the Miami Hilton in order to sleep and shower. The flight to Belize was pretty uneventful from Miami, we were on the right or starboard side of the plane so we didn't get a peak at any of the brewing storms over Cuba. We did fly straight down the Yucatan coast so Paty felt like she was going home.
Thankfully our bags met us in Belize. We had about 30 minutes in Belize airport until our little commuter jet took us to San Pedro, which gave us just enough time to stop in the airport and meet local legend 'The Jet':
All four feet five inches of the jet was a bundle of energy that claims to have 'the Carribean's best rum punch, 11 ingredients!' It was okay, but the Jet was a character and his bar was classic as you can see from the photos.
We arrived in San Pedro and this is the view from our hotel room:
The bar is a sort of local hang out on the beach. It's pretty cool. Paty is pictured down there getting ready to go tanning so she blends in a little better and stops looking like a gringa!
I am writing this Sunday morning, NFL kickoff morning. We are doing an afternoon snorkeling trip out to one of the reef spots. In the background of the picture from our room you see a brreakwater about 200 yeards out from the beach. That's the reef. It's the worlds 2nd largest barrier reef.
The reason we are going in the afternoon is because our Belize TV gets the local Fox Affiliate feed out of Buffalo. And you know what that means, SEAHAWKS are on live in Belize.
It's currently the second quarter and we need some help. I am thinking of making the transition from watching this epic match in the room to the thatch hut bar. The Seahawks need a change up right now and I need a Belikin. The local beverage of choice.
All for now, I will try to get something up soon.
After our encounter with Elvis in the Dallas airport we flew to Miami and had about 10 hours at the airport. So we stayed at the Miami Hilton in order to sleep and shower. The flight to Belize was pretty uneventful from Miami, we were on the right or starboard side of the plane so we didn't get a peak at any of the brewing storms over Cuba. We did fly straight down the Yucatan coast so Paty felt like she was going home.
Thankfully our bags met us in Belize. We had about 30 minutes in Belize airport until our little commuter jet took us to San Pedro, which gave us just enough time to stop in the airport and meet local legend 'The Jet':
All four feet five inches of the jet was a bundle of energy that claims to have 'the Carribean's best rum punch, 11 ingredients!' It was okay, but the Jet was a character and his bar was classic as you can see from the photos.
We arrived in San Pedro and this is the view from our hotel room:
The bar is a sort of local hang out on the beach. It's pretty cool. Paty is pictured down there getting ready to go tanning so she blends in a little better and stops looking like a gringa!
I am writing this Sunday morning, NFL kickoff morning. We are doing an afternoon snorkeling trip out to one of the reef spots. In the background of the picture from our room you see a brreakwater about 200 yeards out from the beach. That's the reef. It's the worlds 2nd largest barrier reef.
The reason we are going in the afternoon is because our Belize TV gets the local Fox Affiliate feed out of Buffalo. And you know what that means, SEAHAWKS are on live in Belize.
It's currently the second quarter and we need some help. I am thinking of making the transition from watching this epic match in the room to the thatch hut bar. The Seahawks need a change up right now and I need a Belikin. The local beverage of choice.
All for now, I will try to get something up soon.
En Route
Thanks to airline miles we were able to secure a vitually free ticket to Belize. Our flight went Seattle to Miami to Belize. But the Seattle to Miami flight actually stopped at Dallas for about an hour. Which made the flight much longer and kind of sucked.
But it did give me a chance to meet Elvis in the Dallas airport:
But it did give me a chance to meet Elvis in the Dallas airport:
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Belize, HERE WE COME
10 Day Forecast
Going to be hot and rainy it looks like. That's okay.
We are spending seven nights at the Mata Rocks Resort. It is on San Pedro Island. For those of you not familiar with San Pedro, it was the island that Madonna sang about in 'Isla Bonita'.
We fly out Friday to Houston then on to Miami. We get to Miami around 11 pm and leave Miami about Noon on Saturday, we opted for an airport hotel instead of the airport benches for 12 hours. Then we get to Belize City around 2:30 on Saturday and hop on a small puddle jumper plane to San Pedro where the 'Taxi', it's actually a golf cart, pics us up and take us to the hotel for the duration.
Paty has all these ambitions to do you know stuff while we are down there. I myself have ulterior motives. For those of you that we have talked to lately you will know that we, especially Paty, need a vacation. So the 'stuff' referred to earlier will be strongly interspersed with some quality hammock, beer and beach time as well. Of course there will be the inevitable wander through town on Sunday looking for a sports bar with the Seahawks game on. But that goes without saying.
All for now, check this space in the coming days as I might have some 'user generated content' to post.
Going to be hot and rainy it looks like. That's okay.
We are spending seven nights at the Mata Rocks Resort. It is on San Pedro Island. For those of you not familiar with San Pedro, it was the island that Madonna sang about in 'Isla Bonita'.
We fly out Friday to Houston then on to Miami. We get to Miami around 11 pm and leave Miami about Noon on Saturday, we opted for an airport hotel instead of the airport benches for 12 hours. Then we get to Belize City around 2:30 on Saturday and hop on a small puddle jumper plane to San Pedro where the 'Taxi', it's actually a golf cart, pics us up and take us to the hotel for the duration.
Paty has all these ambitions to do you know stuff while we are down there. I myself have ulterior motives. For those of you that we have talked to lately you will know that we, especially Paty, need a vacation. So the 'stuff' referred to earlier will be strongly interspersed with some quality hammock, beer and beach time as well. Of course there will be the inevitable wander through town on Sunday looking for a sports bar with the Seahawks game on. But that goes without saying.
All for now, check this space in the coming days as I might have some 'user generated content' to post.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
GAME DAY!
Yesterday was the EPIC event that is a playoff home game. As most of you know that read this space, I am a season ticket holder for many sports in Seattle including the Seahawks. We hosted the feckless Washington Redskins at QWest field yesterday afternoon.
The weather in Seattle has been sketchy, including a pretty nasty windstorm that woke me up the mnight before the game. We delayed our tailgate activities by an hour as we were concerned that the canopy might blow away leaving us exposed. Here is what we came up with starting at 9:45 AM for a 1:30 kickoff:
We started the tailgate with Bloody Mary's and Breakfast Burritos. Then continued with an international selection of beers, beer battered bratwurst and something that looked like carmalized onions that Joe brought.
We made it with plenty of time for kickoff and the pregame festivities. Since we entered through the convention center to avoid the Uncommonly long lines around the rest of the entrances we didn't get one of the rare free green hats that you might have seen everyone wearing on TV.
The weather really decided to cooperate as much as we could hope for by game time. Here are a few pics of the pregame hype and pyrotechnics:
I didn't DVR the game but I've talked to a few people that said that QWest field showed well on TV where it pertains to the crowd noise. Let me tell you, they stadium was LOUD. Not loud, but LOUD. I'm writing this blog on Sunday morning and my ears are still ringing and my voice is still hoarse. All four of us came home slightly hoarse. Speaking of the four of us, here is the crew:
After the game we came home to partake of some celebration champagne. We watched the Jags take out the hated Pittsburgh Steelers (I'm still bitter from Super Bowl XXXX, and no I won't let it go) and then watched the Husky versus Cougar basketball game. Unfortunately the #4 ranked Cougars (how weird is that statement?) were able to hold on to a 56-52 victory at Hec Ed. But it was a really good game.
On side note, I've watched a lot of college basketball over the past few years and that Cougar team has a really good chance to make the final four. Mostly seniors and Juniors, great guard play, a slow down ball possession offense that never turns the ball over, very competent big men, the lowest points against average in the nation and a player or two who can create their own shot when nothing is brewing all add up to a team that is going to be REALLY hard to beat in the tourney.
It's tough to say if I'll get behind them during the tourney time. I normally support the local teams as well as the UW, but I already sense a little Adam Morrisonesque bandwagon starting to pick up steam with some of these Cougars. It's hard to believe how 'big' of a basketball fan some of these Cougs are when they rarely if ever sell out their home games.
Now I am going to be an emotional wreck this entire week waiting for the Seahawks at the Packers on Saturday. I really like our chances. Our defense is playing really well and Matthew along with the WR's are an under appreciated unit nationally. Plus you have to like the odds with a Mike Holmgren coached team going to Lambeau field. Coincidentally Lambeau field is located at the corner of Lombardi Avenue and Holmgran Way.
The weather in Seattle has been sketchy, including a pretty nasty windstorm that woke me up the mnight before the game. We delayed our tailgate activities by an hour as we were concerned that the canopy might blow away leaving us exposed. Here is what we came up with starting at 9:45 AM for a 1:30 kickoff:
We started the tailgate with Bloody Mary's and Breakfast Burritos. Then continued with an international selection of beers, beer battered bratwurst and something that looked like carmalized onions that Joe brought.
We made it with plenty of time for kickoff and the pregame festivities. Since we entered through the convention center to avoid the Uncommonly long lines around the rest of the entrances we didn't get one of the rare free green hats that you might have seen everyone wearing on TV.
The weather really decided to cooperate as much as we could hope for by game time. Here are a few pics of the pregame hype and pyrotechnics:
I didn't DVR the game but I've talked to a few people that said that QWest field showed well on TV where it pertains to the crowd noise. Let me tell you, they stadium was LOUD. Not loud, but LOUD. I'm writing this blog on Sunday morning and my ears are still ringing and my voice is still hoarse. All four of us came home slightly hoarse. Speaking of the four of us, here is the crew:
After the game we came home to partake of some celebration champagne. We watched the Jags take out the hated Pittsburgh Steelers (I'm still bitter from Super Bowl XXXX, and no I won't let it go) and then watched the Husky versus Cougar basketball game. Unfortunately the #4 ranked Cougars (how weird is that statement?) were able to hold on to a 56-52 victory at Hec Ed. But it was a really good game.
On side note, I've watched a lot of college basketball over the past few years and that Cougar team has a really good chance to make the final four. Mostly seniors and Juniors, great guard play, a slow down ball possession offense that never turns the ball over, very competent big men, the lowest points against average in the nation and a player or two who can create their own shot when nothing is brewing all add up to a team that is going to be REALLY hard to beat in the tourney.
It's tough to say if I'll get behind them during the tourney time. I normally support the local teams as well as the UW, but I already sense a little Adam Morrisonesque bandwagon starting to pick up steam with some of these Cougars. It's hard to believe how 'big' of a basketball fan some of these Cougs are when they rarely if ever sell out their home games.
Now I am going to be an emotional wreck this entire week waiting for the Seahawks at the Packers on Saturday. I really like our chances. Our defense is playing really well and Matthew along with the WR's are an under appreciated unit nationally. Plus you have to like the odds with a Mike Holmgren coached team going to Lambeau field. Coincidentally Lambeau field is located at the corner of Lombardi Avenue and Holmgran Way.
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