Wisconsin Vacation with Mom Brown

Keith and I have dying to take Indy on vacation... but taking him on a plane comes with its own set or issues.  (His crate is now SO BIG to fit the "must be sit without ears touching top" that it cannot fit in our car assembled.  Not to mention how we would carry it through the airport.)   If we were going somewhere for long enough it would be worth it... but for now, ROAD TRIP!  

Mom and Keith on the lake

Mama Bev has been wanting to go up to Kohler WI with us for a long time now.  There are many great golf courses for the summer, but in the winter there are also a lot of activities.  Better yet, they have a DOG FRIENDLY HOTEL!  We packed Indy's bags, picked up Mom from the airport and were soon on Indy's first ever vacation.  

If you have never met Indy, then you may not know that he likes to bark.  A lot.  Right outside the hotel there was a huge bear sculpture, and poor Indy thought it was going to attack.  It took a long time to get him willing to look away from the bear so I could snap this picture.  

The hotel was really great.  We didn't know what to expect from a pet friendly hotel, but the room was large and very comfortable.  Unfortunately, Indy was a little uncomfortable by the whole experience because he wouldn't lay down and had zero interest in his toys.  We thankfully brought his (smaller) crate to give him a safe space to be, but he was pacing the room whenever he was free.     We only stayed here one night, if we were there more nights Indy may have gotten used to the room and calmed down.  

The best feature of the room was the access to an outside door.  It was WONDERFUL to let Indy out while staying in the Room.  

We were in Kohler, so you would expect great things from the appliances.  I have NEVER IN MY LIFE seen a shower like this one, but as intimidating as it was at first, I now want one in my future home.

And this is just one side of the shower!

Indy may have been a little uncomfortable in a hotel room with new smells, but he LOVES the snow.  He had so much fun walking (and slipping) on the frozen lake and around snowy Wisconson.  

Dog bones, what could be more fitting for a picture?  

The hotel welcomed Indy with open arms, even if they did spell his name wrong.  In addition to his crate, we brought a sconic egg that is a bark deterrant for when we left the room.  He was a very good boy and didn't bark very much!

Indy may not have wanted to play with his toys, but he was still happy to go "In" various places in the room.

We wish that Indy were more welcoming to guests in our home, but we are so happy that we were able to successfully take him somewhere with us without major inconvenience or incident.

One of the best parts of the road trip was having Indy snuggle up against me for 2.5 hours.  (When he wasn't sitting directly in my lap.)  

Thank you, Mom, for such a great vacation!  

Chile for New Years

This past December, Keith and I went to Chile for New Years to visit our friends Sam and Caroline who have been living there since September 2012.  Alan and Jenn also went to Chile so we had a full PALS reunion in South America!

We spent most of the time in Santiago where Sam and Caroline have been living and working, but we also went down to Valapariso and Viña del Mar for New Years Eve.  We did so much exploring of the city, and had adventures including hiking, running a 5k with some stray dogs and eating LOTS of epanadas.

A view of Santiago

Everyone decided that it was worth bringing running clothes to Santiago, and there was even mention of finding a 5k for us to run together.  Since I was the only Pal to not run with the others, I decided that we should create our own 5k.  Keith and I ordered medals to surprise the pals.  We ran the first part of the 5k together, and then while Jenn and I continued the circuit the others ran a little further before meeting up with us at the end.  This run was a blast already, but it was made better by the fact that some stray dogs decided to adopt us and run the whole 5k!

Viña and Valpo were much colder than Santiago, so we didn't really spend a lot of time on the beach.  There was so much to see and do in these coastal towns that we didn't mind.  The murals in Valapariso were absolutely amazing, and we had a blast walking around the hills.

 

New Years was perfect.  We cooked dinner and chilled around our apartment before going to the beach for an epic fireworks display.   I am so glad that we got to visit Sam and Caroline while they were living around the world!

Do you want to see more pictures from our trip?  Check out Rebecca's Facebook Album: New Years in Chile.

(Of course, while we were in Chile we HAD to look for yarn shops in Santiago.  We found a whole district and everyone was very accommodating while I shopped.  You can read more about this over at ChemKnits.)

Flat Jackson

So I've been really bad about posting.... but here are the adventures from our Honeymoon (Dec 2011) as told by our little stowaway, Flat Jackson.

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Hello! My name is Flat Jackson and I went to Illinois to spend some time with my family, the newlyweds Rebecca (my cousin) and Keith (my buddy.) Flat me wasn't able to go to the wedding (I had not yet been laminated), but the 3D version had a lot of fund dancing at their wedding at the New England Aquarium in Boston.

Evanston, IL is a quiet college town just North of Chicago. I thought that I was in for a quiet relaxing vacation... but then there was a wild beast! (Just kidding, the American Eskimo Puppy never tried to eat Flat Jackson.)

Shortly after arriving in Evanston, Rebecca and Keith were going to leave for their Caribbean honeymoon. Guess what? They invited me to join them! I spent the trip traveling in the outside pocket of their suitcase, sleeping inside a Kindle Case so I could stay nice and flat.

We started our adventures on the Island of Saint Maarten, an island that is half owned by the French and Dutch (this is the World's smallest island owned by two sovereign nations!) Many different nations have sovereignty in the Caribbean, which leads to multiple different currencies being used, including US dollar, Easter Caribbean Dollar, European Euro, British Sterling and more. (Thankfully, most places were happy to take US dollars at a great exchange rate, 1 USD = 1 Euro!)

St. Maarten was only the first stop on our Caribbean adventure. We went on the Windstar cruise ship the WindSurf. This one of the largest sailing vessels on the ocean, and we spent a lot of time traveling under sail power. From St. Maarten, we traveled to 5 other islands: Martinique, St. Lucia, Dominica, Antigua and St. Bartelemy.

The layout of the boat looks confusing, but thankfully Rebecca and Keith were on this ship before for Mediterranean cruise so they were able to easily show me around.

Breakfast and lunch are almost always eaten outside on the deck. The ship was only about half full (~200 passengers) so there was never any trouble finding a place to sit.

Our room (called a "State Room") has two little porthole windows so we can see the waves.

The boat is small for a crusie ship, but it is still very big compared to many other boats. We weren't able to dock on many of the islands, instead we were anchor in the harbor and then take a tender (a small boat) to shore.

Every island was filled with breathtaking views....

It was also really relaxing to be on the boat.

Unfortunately, since I am not yet 18 years old, I was not able to go Snorkeling with Rebecca and Keith. But they did bring me along so I could watch!

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On Antigua, we had a lazy beach day.

Technically I was not a guest on the ship, I was more of a stow-away. This is why I didn't get listed on the honeymoon certificate!

I was sad to see our trip end... funny to see palm trees decorated for Christmas.

I thought my adventures would be over when we returned to Chicago... but in fact they were just beginning.

Rebecca told me that she is happy we had these cyber adventures. Now as they mail me back to Massachusetts, I haven't really left them at all!