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Charlottesville, Virginia

Monday I explored Charlottesville, Virginia, and the surrounding area.  It's very hilly here and quite green.  Everything is in bloom this time of year and it was a pleasant 78 degrees with a slight hint of humidity in the air.

I spent the morning working from Java Java, a java joint in the downtown pedestrian mall area of Charlottesville (nice place).  Everyone I met today was asked how they like living here, how humid is it in the summer, and how bad are the mosquitoes.  They all agreed that Charlottesville is a great place to live, but that it's sticky in a hot and humid kind of way in the summer (yuck).  The Java Java coffee dude told me he feels like a "mosquito buffet."  One lady warned me that "those mosquitoes will carry you away, honey."  There was another guy who didn't think it was too humid and said the mosquitoes weren't that bad, but he was from Florida and of course he'd say that.

Petoskey & Harbor Springs

We have some friends who are planning a trip to my favorite part of Michigan, Petoskey and Harbor Springs.  I just typed a long email telling them all my favorite things up there and thought I'd post it for anyone else planning a trip.  Follow the link for where to stay, where to eat, and what to do!

Petoskey Pictures

I just finished uploading the rest of our batch of photos from the trip last week.  So much fun.. I can't wait to go again.. maybe next month ?  I'd spend all summer up there if I could.  I put all the photos up in one big batch.. I'll go through in the next day or two and sort them out a little better.  Have a look here.

One more thing.. I fixed the picture links in the previous Petoskey and Traverse City posts.  They should actually show you some pictures now instead of telling you there are none.  Sorry about that!

DayTrip: Traverse City

We drove over to Traverse City today and took one of my favorite scenic tours out onto the peninsula to Old Mission, Michigan.  This 18 mile stretch out into Little Traverse Bay reminds me so much of California.  It's a two lane road that ends at the Old Mission Point Lighthouse (another link here), and along the way are beautiful stretches of grape and cherry orchards against clear blue water.  Surprisingly, the water looks more like something you'll see in the Bahamas.. it's that turquoise color from the white sandy bottom.

We stopped at a You-Pick cherry orchard along the route and got some pictures of us all sampling.  They should have weighed us before we started.. we picked 5 lbs and probably ate that much too!  Get this.. 5 lbs of cherries for $7.00.  Fun times. 

Petoskey Vacation, July 2006

Here are some of the pictures I've taken so far.. more to come!  You can see our campsite and the view of the water we're enjoying.  Temps have been in the 70's and it's been sunny.  I took a bunch of pictures of parades today and will post those later in the week.

Pictures are here.

Vacation Headquarters

Here's a peak at American Spoon in Petoskey, Michigan.. my wireless work spot while on vacation.  They have several locations in northern Michigan, but this picture is the actual one I'm in right now.  That's right, I still do work while on vacation.  I know it's terrible.. but it's how I get to take so many lengthy vacations!  This happens to be one of my favorite spots up here anyway.. they have gelato (like ice cream, but better) and espresso drinks, which I love.  They're open later in the summer so I've been coming up here in the evenings to do work stuff which I actually enjoy doing anyway, so don't feel too sorry for me!

Petoskey

It's that time of year again when we make our annual trip up to Petoskey, Michigan to enjoy a week of camping by the lake, bike riding, parades, fireworks, and festival type stuff.  You can see the fireworks from three cities from where we'll be camped.  During the day it will be in the upper 70's or low 80's and at night down in the low 60's.  From our campsite we can ride bikes or walk to the marina, park, and downtown.. pretty much everywhere in Petoskey.  Harbor Springs is one of my favorite places in the world and it's just 15 minutes away.

This is truly the highlight of my entire year.  It is such a good time and I highly recommend it if you're able to make the trip.  My parents are normally up here visiting for a few weeks around now and they've always gone with us, but they have other plans this summer so we've invited [gasp] my mother-in-law.  I should have some good pictures to post when I get back....

Here are the pictures from our July Petoskey trip in 2005 and our second trip last August.

Living Abroad

And now for the big announcement...

If you've read my blog for very long, you'll know that I really like to travel.  I've been fortunate enough to travel most of the US, several parts of Mexico, Jamaica, Aruba, and England.  It has been a lifelong goal of mine to experience living in a foreign country as a resident, and not just a tourist.  Visiting some place for a couple of weeks is great and you can generally fit most of the tourist destinations in a trip like that, but I want to take a year and become a resident where daily life and customs are completely different than they are here in the US.

Texas Bound

Sunday morning Zachary and I loaded up the car and headed south, leaving behind a few inches of snow on the ground for some sunny and warm days in Texas.  We'll miss the girls, but they'll have fun doing "girl stuff" and won't miss us a bit!

We had a nice trip and made it down in two days.  The weather when we got here was all that we had hoped for.. upper 60's/low 70's and plenty of sunshine.  It didn't take long to get the Miata keys from my dad, put the top down, and reacquaint myself with the joys of a 5-speed convertible.

Weekend Trip: Petoskey

This weekend we loaded the kids and our friend Megan into the car and headed north to Stafford's Bay View Inn in Petoskey.

Stafford's Bay View Inn was a wonderful place and we'll definitely be staying there again when we go to Petoskey. A full sit-down breakfast was included with the room and it was top notch. They even had cookies on our beds when we arrived, and brought extras for the kids! Next to our room was the libary where they had books, games, tv, fireplace, and wireless internet. The Bay View Inn was setup more like a large bed and breakfast rather than a hotel. It was very cozy and comfortable.

We enjoyed window shopping in Harbor Springs, lunch at Turkey's, and treats from Tom's Mom's Cookies on Saturday afternoon. Next stop was tubing at Boyne Highlands (that was fun!). We had a sleigh ride scheduled for Saturday night, but there wasn't as much snow as we would have liked (almost none), so that was cancelled and instead we lounged about in the library room and played Monopoly. Fun fun fun! Pictures are here and I'll get the video posted in a day or so (as soon as I get the new iLife '06).