Heaven, I'm In Heaven . . .

. . . and my heart beats so that I can hardly speak. Yeah, I know it's a bit lame but that is pretty much how I feel!

Friday night this is where we were:

Yes, that is in fact the F Street Entrance to the Verizon Center and obviously we are headed to a Caps game. That is Andrew H. on the left. He and Josh have been best friends since preschool. Spence came to town specifically to go to hockey games. So it was to be a great night. HOWEVER . . .


This is my ticket to the game. If you look closely, you will see that is for Section 190, Row A, seat 5. Dan and I were given tickets by friends who have season tickets through UBS. Yes, were were SITTING ON THE GLASS ! ! That made it a spectacular night! This is the view from my seat (sorry for the crummy quality, I had to use my cell phone for the picture):

The player with his back to us is Mike Knuble, new acquisition from the Flyers. The player facing is none other than the Great 8, Alex Ovechkin, the best player in the NHL. Yes, his head was slammed into the glass right in front of me! And, yes, I pounded on the glass. How can anyone not love this game? Dan and I had a ball. The boys had tickets up in the nose bleed seats so we spent a fair amount of time looking for them and waving like lunatics.

I AM NOT DONE YET ! !

Twenty-four hours later (that would be tonight) Dan and I were at:

For those unfamiliar with the fountain, it is on the river terrace at The Kennedy Center where we went to see the opera Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. I know that I look in distress but I am actually trying to appear sophisticated which is remarkably painful for me. I bought tickets at the last minute thinking that I was buying seats on the far side. We ended up second row center. I know those aren't supposed to be great seats but we loved them. Three very good sopranos, one of whom was actually excellent and one amazing. Unfortunate tenor. It happens. Poor guy wasn't even the understudy but got thrown into the role tonight for some reason and just couldn't handle it. But the rest were quite good and the production was great. I still struggle with German opera but I'm trying to learn.

So, that's the perfect weekend for me, front row seats at hockey and nearly front row seats at the opera. It doesn't get much better than that.

Escape From Alcatraz? No, Just From Florida

OK, maybe that's overstating it just a little bit but I REALLY do not like Florida. I never have. We spent two days in West Palm Beach visiting a close friend and I must admit that every time I am in southern Florida it is reconfirmed to me just how much I dislike it. In fact, I played a little game with myself while flying out of Ft. Lauderdale: "What Horrible Place Would I Rather Live In BEFORE Willingly Moving To Florida?" My answers:

1. St. George, Utah (sorry Lori)

2. Phoenix, Arizona

3. Flint, Michigan (I probably would put Detroit lower than Florida but since I've never been there I don't really know)

4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

5. Buffalo, New York (Upstate New York is gorgeous, it's just colder than the dark side of the moon)

Anyway, we made it out alive and are now enjoying Washington, D.C. in my favorite time of year, autumn.

This is looking over the Potomac River from a foot bridge that crosses to Roosevelt Island. That's Georgetown in the distance, the spires of the University on the left and the towers of the National Cathedral on the right.

All I can say is that it is just a little cool and it smells the way autumn should!

First Stop

GREETINGS FROM . . .
No, Paris is one place we are NOT going. Hello from Las Vegas, first stop of a long trip. It has been a successful start to our adventure. Meetings for Do The Write Thing went very well and it was so fun to see old friends from all over the country. Especially fun is that my good, good friend Lisa is now starting work with the Program which means that she will be at all the meetings!

And a chance to see my friend Pat who is the DA of Houston and the toughest woman I have even known (and the biggest sweetheart).

So, tomorrow it's an early flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. See you in West Palm.

Aloha!

It may not look like the Hawaii you think of, but Hawaii it is - Kapalua Bay on the northwest side of Maui. We took a luxury vacation on the cheap, an absolutely beautiful condo at the new Ritz Carleton Golf club which Dan received for playing in a golf tournament earlier this year and free tickets using points on United. What could be better?

Dan played golf four days in a row and was happy as the proverbial clam. I joined him once for a drive around a beautiful course that is part of the Ritz. Yes, the wind is blowing so hard that the pin is bending. There were times when it was difficult to stand up straight! We were told that it was very early in the year for such hard winds. I spent my free time doing my favorite thing - reading by the pool.

A real treat was a trip to the center of the island, up in the mountains to visit the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm. I stood on the slopes there and decided that this is one of the places I could move to in a flash, as long as I could live, literally, on the farm.

Believe it or not, this is an avocado tree that has been pruned to grow like this. I love the old guy who runs the farm. He didn't know a thing about growing lavender or avocados for that matter, but just started experimenting. He grows about 50 different varieties of lavender and has great success. Not so much with the avocados. The severe pruning, which was does in an effort to facilitate harvesting, threw the trees into shock and they haven't produced any fruit. Gotta love an "experimenter" though.

The last day we took the Road to Hana drive which is truly one of the great drives on the planet.

With something like 54 one lane bridges and over 200 switchback curves it is a driving challenge, which we not only completed in the daylight but in the dead of night as well. Actually Dan did all the driving so he gets all the credit.

We went to Hana to see the new place that Dan's nephew, Rob Reynolds, bought there.

Yep, the view off the balcony. They are redoing the house but the grounds are spectacular. I think it's 7.5 acres and includes a 9-hole golf course. The Killers are doing pretty well! (Oh, Rob is the rock band's manager/lawyer.)

All in all, a wonderful six days. Dan has decided though that based on the luau we went to with the food and the dancing that next time he is going to Tahiti. He really liked those costumes!

I'm Still Here - Just Being Quiet

No, we have not kicked the bucket. We just got back to La Quinta at the beginning of September and things really haven't slowed down. How can there be so much to catch up? I mean, I get Dan being busy but, really, what am I doing that is all that challenging?

I do have a couple of things to put in before the next trip so I'll get to it - especially since we are leaving in two days!