Are you hungry now?

A great picture that Chris took of a homemade crab ball
while we were vacationing at Chincoteague Island, Virginia.

Boaters Beware

You know how sometimes you are traveling
around with your spouse and you take turns
photographing your adventures, then a kind
stranger comes along and offers to snap a
photo with both of you in it...Well, buyers
beware...nice photo, heh?


Fortunately, he realized his mistake. See honey,
I told you we would have some fun on this trip.
We rented a canoe at Cascade Lake, NC. What
a pleasant 2 hour adventure we had. Our goal
was to paddle down to a place called "Hooker
Falls", no not where a lady of the night gets her
high heel stuck in the crack of the sidewalk, but
this...


Proof that we had fun....


After, we went into Brevard and had a nice lunch,
and met this interesting fellow on the bench. He
owns the Chocolate Shop behind him. Story goes that
he had no desire to run a chocolate shop, knew
absolutely nothing about how to make chocolate,
but managed to end up running a successful
business. Something about an "odd couple"
leasing the empty shop from him, with the
intent on running a chocolate shop, set it up
with all the equipment, then supposedly got
another calling from higher above and split
town. Well, this guy's daughter bought him
a book on how to make chocolate and after
692 attempts at making chocolate that was
edible, he was in business. Willy Wonka, eat
your heart out! Didn't see any little men with
green hair though, rather disappointing one
might say.

Blast from the Past - #9

The Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

www.Amsterdam (wild, wacky and wonderful)

Well, I have decided to return to Amsterdam, figuratively that is....

Your assignment, if you choose to accept it....As you are sorting through the various photos, 5 brownie points to those who can pick up on one item that shows up twice. (This blog will now self destruct in 5 seconds)

Still there? OK, first test. What is so unusual about this photo?


Oh yes, how did that get there???


I am confused, are you? Come on, pick a style and go with it!


If you ever get a chance to try this beer you won't be disappointed...


Why pay all that money to go into a museum, when some of the classics are outside for "gratis"


OK, so the guy with the Mickie Mouse ears may lower the price on this one...


Fabulous architecture is everywhere...


Well, at least it doesn't say "Feel free to smell my cheese"


Some more free artwork....


What are we all waiting for?


For those who missed my attempt at humor...."the cows to come home".

You think you had a rough night, check this guy out.


Somehow I think the fish is going to be worse off than our last fellow...


Orange you glad you came to Amsterdam? Orange you glad you are reading my blog? OK, no more orange, but that is near impossible in Holland...




Anybody pick on the item that repeated itself? Well, here's a clue...





And no it doesn't signify the "Red Light" district.

It is actually... The coat of arms of Amsterdam is the official symbol of the city of Amsterdam. It consists of a red and black shield with three silver Saint Andrew's Crosses, the Imperial Crown of Austria, two golden lions, and the motto of Amsterdam. Several heraldic elements have their basis in the history of Amsterdam. The crosses and the crown can be found as decorations on different locations in the city. Read more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Amsterdam

Blast from the past

I would like to start a posting called "Blast from the Past". Just random pictures from our past. This will either be just a short blip into our past or spur me on to do a full length posting later on. Anyway, here's the first of many to follow....



Our trip to Hawaii in October 2003.

Pictures from a trip home

My parents have sent me some pictures of my last trip back to the U.S. in April. I'll be posting something on them soon.

Here we go....

Here I am being welcomed home by Mom and Dad. It was good to be home after such a long time away, but coming from a military family we all understand that long separations are part and parcel of serving your country.

A family photo in the kitchen.

Also waiting at home, was my nephew and niece. We got to spend some quality time together. Boy have they grown up!

Mom had a really great surprise waiting for me. She had "Bart" detailed as a birthday present. Boy was he looking good. The weather was just the right temperature to take him out for a spin with the top down.



Mark and Irene are having a good time on the "farm". Here's the coop, I can taste the fresh eggs right about now.



And here's the beginning of a new home for them. I called Irene last night and she was busy painting away. Sounds like things are really moving along. Can't wait to see the finished product. And to ask them about the process, as we eventually want to build our own home as well.

United States of America - Vacationing in the homeland

It has been at least a year since I have been back to the homeland from Norway, and I imagine this happens to all nationalities, it felt really, really nice to be back in my country of origin. As much as I like to travel and experience different cultures, it always feels great to be back home.

I started off my US adventure with a couple of very nice days in Maine to visit my parents, my sister's family and the Racine family. Sorry, no pictures to post as I didn't have a camera with me. Unfortunately our little camera died on us and Chris had the new camera in Maryland. (Mom - if you have any photos I can put here, just send them via email). I had a really nice time catching up with family and friends. It was also a very special treat for me to catch up with my nephew and niece who were staying at my parent's house that week. Jesse (yes, I spelled it right this time) and Brooke have certainly grown up since I last saw them.

Mom and Dad are doing fine in retired life, and Mom is certainly keeping busy with her effort to support the troops. Now I hear that both of them are working with the "Elks" club, creating a Field of Remembrance and Honor for Veterans Day. A person will buy a flag in honor of someone, the flag is flown a week before Veterans Day, then on Veterans Day a ceremony will be held. All the money raised goes towards the Vets and the National Education Foundation of the Elks. And many thanks go out to Mom and Dad (and John "the mechanic") for taking excellent care of "Bart" while I am away. Bart for those of you who don't know is:



After my visit to Maine, I then headed to Maryland to catch up with Chris and our daughter. Again this was just a few days visit, but it was again time well spent with family. Brittany now has her own little nest, although sparsely decorated it is a nice little place and one she can call home. Chris, being the good Mom that she is, added a few things to her place that gave it a bit more comfy feel. Here we are outside of her nest on the covered porch:

I also got to see my daughter play indoor soccer, what a proud moment for me!

Well, part of the plan when returning to the States was to be able to help our daughter celebrate her 24th birthday. She wanted to go to the zoo for her birthday, what a nice choice for her special day. Here's Mom and daughter enjoying the day:

A bunch of us were there to help celebrate her 24th Birthday. Here is the Motley crew of relatives that helped celebrate:

And here she is looking great for her grand day out:

After our time in Maryland, Chris and I headed down to North Carolina. We had big plans to get some things started on our dream house.....but you will have to wait until I post the next blog..

Vie c'est sage!

Two guesses on where we may be! OK, so you didn't need two.



As stated in the previous blog, a four hour train ride and we were in Paris. We rented a quaint, small room in the Latin Quarter of Paris. A European two star hotel is not the ritz, but our room was clean and we had a 4th floor room with a view of a nice Parisian street that was full of life, a bakery and a host of shops and restaurants. Also, it was only a 5 min walk to the nearest metro. The metro was wonderful and convinient public transport during our stay (well except for all those stairs I had to lug 2 large suitcases up and down). Chris did force me to wise up on our way back to Norway and we hired a Yellow cab to the airport.


Well, since I am short on time here I'll just hit some of the highlights of our trip:


What trip to Paris is complete without a trip to the famous museum, "The Louvre".

Here is a photo of the large glass pyramid that you enter through to get to the museum.

Monet's gardens and house. It has been a long time coming, but I finally managed to get Chris down to Monet's gardens in Giverny, France. It was a short train ride from Paris to Vernon, then a real short bus ride from Vernon to Giverny. I was in a "black and white" kind of mood throughout the trip, so this posting will give you a sample of some of those shots. The camera was non-stop as there were so many interesting subjects to photgraph. Maybe when I get more time I'll post some more.

Here's a photo of the bridge you will see in many of Monet's paintings:

Chris pointed out this cat to me on our way back to the hotel one day. Looks like it is up to no good, but hey when you have nine lives you can afford to be mischevious now and again.

Well, on our last day of the trip we decided to go up in the Eiffel tower. We only had time to go up to the second level, but the view was fantastic. Here's a shot with Paris in the background.

The tower is certainly a magnificant sight to see up close and personal.

"Au revoir" as the French say....

Amsterdam Trip

Well, we went off on an adventure last week. A short two hour flight and we were in the Netherlands. Such a laid back place for such a large city. Amsterdam had so much to offer in the way of culture, food and interesting sights.

Here a few sights that we came across and probably what many people associate with Holland:

Flowers. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we ever had the opportunity to visit any tulip fields, but there were some wonderful flower markets scattered about the town.

Wooden shoes. Plenty of these on display at all of the tourist shops. Funny, I didn't see any of the locals wearing any though. They are even selling this design in a soft, slipper design now, so you to can now be fashionable on your way to a good night's sleep.

Say "Cheese!" Yes, a plethora of cheese (and smells) await those who visit Amsterdam. Every kind of cheese for every kind of taste can be found.

Well, I have one more short blog to write before I surrender the laptop to Chris. The blog will be out of action for awhile. But before I go....it is off to Paris on a high speed (4 hour) train ride from Amsterdam.

Spanish Fly

Now that I have your attention!

Chris has just returned from a 3 day trip to Barcelona. I don't have a lot of time at the moment to post the details of the trip, so here's a photo of Temple de la Sagrada Familia (a cathedral designed by Antonio Gaudi) to tide you over until we both sit down and tell you a little about this Spanish city that lies just off the Mediterranean Sea.