Saturday, January 10, 2009
Amanda's Side of Things
If you would like to see some photos from the trip and read about it from Amanda's prospective, please go to here. Happy Reading.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Our Trip to France Day 9
The Way Home
Well, 4:30AM came fast, even though I got 6 hours of sleep after falling asleep listening to the World Darts Championship auf Duetch. I heard my alarm, and even thought we turned up the ringer on our room phone, had I not been awake, I doubt that we would have heard it. We showered and got ready to leave and we checked out, but we missed the shuttle by two minutes. So we ended up taking a taxi to the airport. We checked, got some caffeine and pan de chocolats, and waited for our flight to Paris.
Got on the flight to Paris and arrived in plenty of time to make our flight. Or so we thought. WE made it, but had to walk across another terminal, go through 3 levels of security and Amanda even got stopped because she looked anxious. Well YEAH, we were 10 minutes past the time of the beginning of boarding, and the French guy said, well you have until 10:15. Well, no, because the flight was LEAVING at 10:15. So we get to the gate and get in line to board the plane. We did not have the oppertunity to seek an upgrade, but luckily we were in the rear of the plane where there were only two seats in our section. While in line, we heard this one gal say that she keeps forgetting that the Earth is round. Public education at its best.
We got on the plane, and the cabin crew start the process of counting the passengers. Well, they could not count and get the same number of passengers after each count, so we stayed on the tarmac for about 1 and a half hours before we taxied for take off. Even though we were late taking off, we were to get into Houston at about the same time we were scheduled to. I watched Eagle Eye and Lakeview Terrace with Samuel L. Jackson. I got about 2 hours sleep on the flight.
We got to Houston, went through customs and got into the line of the SLOWEST agent in the building. I am all for security, but when people getting off of a later flight make it through Customs before you do, then your agent is SLOW. Got our luggage, drove home, had a little snack and I went to rehearsal. Talk about dragging ass, it was a tough hall that last half hour of rehearsal. Later that night I felt sick, and did something I had not done on over 12 years, I threw up. Not a happy feeling. I found out later that everyone on the trip, even though we were on different continents that evening, got sick on Friday night. Went back to sleep and ended up getting 12 hours of sleep and I was able to go to rehearsal the next day bright and bushy tailed.
Well, that was our trip. I hope you liked keeping up with it, and I will try to put up some pictures shortly. Until then......
Well, 4:30AM came fast, even though I got 6 hours of sleep after falling asleep listening to the World Darts Championship auf Duetch. I heard my alarm, and even thought we turned up the ringer on our room phone, had I not been awake, I doubt that we would have heard it. We showered and got ready to leave and we checked out, but we missed the shuttle by two minutes. So we ended up taking a taxi to the airport. We checked, got some caffeine and pan de chocolats, and waited for our flight to Paris.
Got on the flight to Paris and arrived in plenty of time to make our flight. Or so we thought. WE made it, but had to walk across another terminal, go through 3 levels of security and Amanda even got stopped because she looked anxious. Well YEAH, we were 10 minutes past the time of the beginning of boarding, and the French guy said, well you have until 10:15. Well, no, because the flight was LEAVING at 10:15. So we get to the gate and get in line to board the plane. We did not have the oppertunity to seek an upgrade, but luckily we were in the rear of the plane where there were only two seats in our section. While in line, we heard this one gal say that she keeps forgetting that the Earth is round. Public education at its best.
We got on the plane, and the cabin crew start the process of counting the passengers. Well, they could not count and get the same number of passengers after each count, so we stayed on the tarmac for about 1 and a half hours before we taxied for take off. Even though we were late taking off, we were to get into Houston at about the same time we were scheduled to. I watched Eagle Eye and Lakeview Terrace with Samuel L. Jackson. I got about 2 hours sleep on the flight.
We got to Houston, went through customs and got into the line of the SLOWEST agent in the building. I am all for security, but when people getting off of a later flight make it through Customs before you do, then your agent is SLOW. Got our luggage, drove home, had a little snack and I went to rehearsal. Talk about dragging ass, it was a tough hall that last half hour of rehearsal. Later that night I felt sick, and did something I had not done on over 12 years, I threw up. Not a happy feeling. I found out later that everyone on the trip, even though we were on different continents that evening, got sick on Friday night. Went back to sleep and ended up getting 12 hours of sleep and I was able to go to rehearsal the next day bright and bushy tailed.
Well, that was our trip. I hope you liked keeping up with it, and I will try to put up some pictures shortly. Until then......
Our Trip to France Day 8
Well, today is our last day in Les Gets and it gets off to a lazy start. I sleep in until about 9AM and Amanda sleeps in until 10AM and we partake of some of the customary pan de chocolat and some sausage from last night's feast and some tap water as we have drunk all of the bottled water we bought yesterday. We lounge around and really do nothing the entire morning.
We start to get packed and ready to leave about 1PM and before Tori heads off to ski school we take our Goddaughter Lillia out in the snow on her sledge. In the States, it is called a sled. We take her around the corner from our chalet down the snow covered road and pull her up and down the road. Meanwhile, Nick is frolicking in the snow that happens to sink down to his privates, and eventually ends up stuck in the snow and we have to pull him out. We got some great pics and will be putting them up shortly.
As they take Tori to ski school, Amanda, Megan and I go to the Musee de Musique Mechinique. This was a great idea, yet the musee itself really kinda sucked. It had two parts. The first part we went to had automaton boxes that were used to advertise perfume in the store windows. They were little boxes that had moving people in that were depicting an event of everyday life like bathing, getting dressed, that had to do with putting on perfume and men shaving. BORING, to say the least. And it SMELLED!!!It was a cool idea, but some of them really did not work that well. Next was the musique mechanique, or music box. It started with the really big music boxes that were really little pipe organs that played when you turned a handle and the little cylinder with the pegs on it rotated and it played. We then moved to ones that had a metal disc instead of a wooden cylinder. These sounded like music boxes. We then moved to a miniature version with a metal cylinder that were places in different tings like chairs, desks and pictures. We gathered this ourselves as the lady giving the tour ONLY spoke French even though 3/5 of the tour spoke only English. Anyway, we then moved to the player piano and other music boxes that used paper to tell the thing what to play. We left after that to get back to the chalet in order to leave
We packed up the car and said our goodbyes and headed toward Geneva. It was a lot easier to gat back than it was to get from Geneva to Les Gets. The only complaint about Swiss Roads are that if you are going straight down the road, some of the signs make it look like you have to turn. VERY CONFUSING. We made it to the hotel and then we took the car back after filling it with 19 CHF worth of petrol. Then the adventure began of getting back to the hotel. We found the exit, but there really was no way to walk back, so we had to take a taxi for about a half mile for 15 CHF. Luckily the cabby stopped near us to look something up and we grabbed the cab. We got bak to the hotel and partook of the dinner buffet that had some delightful desserts at the end. We had some buche de noel, that really were not about noel, some great cookies and some fabulous raspberry mousse. The entries were good also. We had flavored rice, spaghetti with seafood, fillet of John Dorry (a type of fish), tortellini in pesto, carved roast, boiled shrimp, air dried meat, and other goodies.
We got up to the room and checked in for our flight and got ready for bed as we had to get up at 4:30 to be sure to catch the 5:30 shuttle from the hotel to the airport.
Until next time......
We start to get packed and ready to leave about 1PM and before Tori heads off to ski school we take our Goddaughter Lillia out in the snow on her sledge. In the States, it is called a sled. We take her around the corner from our chalet down the snow covered road and pull her up and down the road. Meanwhile, Nick is frolicking in the snow that happens to sink down to his privates, and eventually ends up stuck in the snow and we have to pull him out. We got some great pics and will be putting them up shortly.
As they take Tori to ski school, Amanda, Megan and I go to the Musee de Musique Mechinique. This was a great idea, yet the musee itself really kinda sucked. It had two parts. The first part we went to had automaton boxes that were used to advertise perfume in the store windows. They were little boxes that had moving people in that were depicting an event of everyday life like bathing, getting dressed, that had to do with putting on perfume and men shaving. BORING, to say the least. And it SMELLED!!!It was a cool idea, but some of them really did not work that well. Next was the musique mechanique, or music box. It started with the really big music boxes that were really little pipe organs that played when you turned a handle and the little cylinder with the pegs on it rotated and it played. We then moved to ones that had a metal disc instead of a wooden cylinder. These sounded like music boxes. We then moved to a miniature version with a metal cylinder that were places in different tings like chairs, desks and pictures. We gathered this ourselves as the lady giving the tour ONLY spoke French even though 3/5 of the tour spoke only English. Anyway, we then moved to the player piano and other music boxes that used paper to tell the thing what to play. We left after that to get back to the chalet in order to leave
We packed up the car and said our goodbyes and headed toward Geneva. It was a lot easier to gat back than it was to get from Geneva to Les Gets. The only complaint about Swiss Roads are that if you are going straight down the road, some of the signs make it look like you have to turn. VERY CONFUSING. We made it to the hotel and then we took the car back after filling it with 19 CHF worth of petrol. Then the adventure began of getting back to the hotel. We found the exit, but there really was no way to walk back, so we had to take a taxi for about a half mile for 15 CHF. Luckily the cabby stopped near us to look something up and we grabbed the cab. We got bak to the hotel and partook of the dinner buffet that had some delightful desserts at the end. We had some buche de noel, that really were not about noel, some great cookies and some fabulous raspberry mousse. The entries were good also. We had flavored rice, spaghetti with seafood, fillet of John Dorry (a type of fish), tortellini in pesto, carved roast, boiled shrimp, air dried meat, and other goodies.
We got up to the room and checked in for our flight and got ready for bed as we had to get up at 4:30 to be sure to catch the 5:30 shuttle from the hotel to the airport.
Until next time......
Our Trip to France Day 7 - Skiing Day 4
Today was the first heavy day of snow that they have had in Les Gets since Dec 17, and I have heard that that slows skiers down, but I do not agree. After having my traditional breakfast of French bread, some meat and some Coke Zero, I waited around the chalet and got ready for my last ski lesson of the trip. I got to the ski class and we headed to the button lift. Can I just say that I hate these damn things, well at least at first. You put this round “seat” between your legs at this thing pulls you up the slope. Well, I caught an edge and down I went. Two more times I tried and two more times I fell. So on the fourth try, I got the balance and other stuff right and up I went. I met the others on the hill and we practiced our turns while trying to keep the skis parallel. Well that did not quite happen. As I said before, this is where I did not agree that more snow on the slopes tends to slow you down. I still could not slow plow to a stop without a little bit of a turn. I did, however, almost start to get my skis parallel on turns to the right. We did this twice and headed up to the ski lift.
We took the Le Chevanne Express. This lift went from the bottom to the very top of where we needed to be. Now, as it was snowing fiercely, it got really freaking cold on the lift, especially the higher we got, the more the snow started to blow horizontally. And it stopped a couple of times, and that made it even colder. If I ever go skiing again, my Land's End squall jacket was very warm, but maybe a ski jacket would have been better. Anyway, we made it to the top and then we headed down the green slope, practicing our turns while trying to keep the skis parallel. Well, once again, that did not quite happen. I did not fall, but that deep snow had no effect on my ability to slow plow to a stop without turning. We went down and then found another button lift to go back up to where we started and did that again. After we did that, it started to snow really badly and I noticed that we were the only ones on our part of the slopes. That seemed a little disconcerting to me at the time. As it started to snow harder, my goggles started to fog up and get snow on them. That is something that can lead to disaster.
We took the button lift back up to the top and this is where it started not to be fun. Since it was getting close to the time for the lift to stop, we headed down a way that to me was about my ability. It looked like a prepared slalom course where the turns were very narrow and we were to do slow and wide turns. We for me, that was impossible. I could not go slow, turn slow, or see out of my goggles. After trying to turn slowly, I went into the side of the turn and down I went. After getting back up, I headed down path. As I was losing the ability to see out of my goggles, another hard turn in which I was supposed to take it wide cane along and down I went to prevent me from going over the edge. After getting up, frustration was setting in. Even leaning forward in my boots and snow plowing, i could not slow down and could not make tight turns. After falling for the last time, in which I could get back up, but the skis were pointing downhill as I was facing uphill, I kept falling and could not get any traction as the instructor and the rest of the class were at the bottom, I took of my skis and walked the rest of the way down the hill. THAT is when the instructor saw me and skies up to me. If I had not been the mild manners person that I am, I would have out my foot up this guy's ass. I told him that I was leaving tomorrow and he said bye-bye in his broken English, and I just said it back and he skied away.
I made it back down on the lift, went and took a shower and Amanda cooked a wonderful dinner of pasta with a garlic butter sauce, some faux tartiflette, sausages (which we always seem to eat with Nick and Tina), watched the fireworks from the town from the chalet, watched Meet the Fockers, saw a dance that Megan and Tori put together, counted down the New Year, and went to bed to get ready to drive to Geneva tomorrow.
Until then.....
PS. After I wrote the top part, the girls went out and got into a snowball fight with the neighboring chalet. The girls were cornered by the Merc so Nick went out to protect them. He should have turned off the security light as it came on and he got carpet bombed by the neighbors. They all shook hands and wished each other a Happy New Year. Later, the girls were out there again, so Nick snuck around the back of the house and hid behind a huge snowdrift and threw some snowballs like mortars and nailed one of the guys square in the head. That is when Amanda started taking pictures and that is when they started attacking the photographer. Amanda got nailed in the face with a snowball and they started carpet bombing the balcony so we hauled ass back inside as the war continued outside.
I found out later that the guys at the chalet next door broke all the glasses that they had on their balony during the snowball fight, so the women of the chalet locked them out of the chalet. The outside of both of the chalets are riddled with the affects of the snowball fight.
We took the Le Chevanne Express. This lift went from the bottom to the very top of where we needed to be. Now, as it was snowing fiercely, it got really freaking cold on the lift, especially the higher we got, the more the snow started to blow horizontally. And it stopped a couple of times, and that made it even colder. If I ever go skiing again, my Land's End squall jacket was very warm, but maybe a ski jacket would have been better. Anyway, we made it to the top and then we headed down the green slope, practicing our turns while trying to keep the skis parallel. Well, once again, that did not quite happen. I did not fall, but that deep snow had no effect on my ability to slow plow to a stop without turning. We went down and then found another button lift to go back up to where we started and did that again. After we did that, it started to snow really badly and I noticed that we were the only ones on our part of the slopes. That seemed a little disconcerting to me at the time. As it started to snow harder, my goggles started to fog up and get snow on them. That is something that can lead to disaster.
We took the button lift back up to the top and this is where it started not to be fun. Since it was getting close to the time for the lift to stop, we headed down a way that to me was about my ability. It looked like a prepared slalom course where the turns were very narrow and we were to do slow and wide turns. We for me, that was impossible. I could not go slow, turn slow, or see out of my goggles. After trying to turn slowly, I went into the side of the turn and down I went. After getting back up, I headed down path. As I was losing the ability to see out of my goggles, another hard turn in which I was supposed to take it wide cane along and down I went to prevent me from going over the edge. After getting up, frustration was setting in. Even leaning forward in my boots and snow plowing, i could not slow down and could not make tight turns. After falling for the last time, in which I could get back up, but the skis were pointing downhill as I was facing uphill, I kept falling and could not get any traction as the instructor and the rest of the class were at the bottom, I took of my skis and walked the rest of the way down the hill. THAT is when the instructor saw me and skies up to me. If I had not been the mild manners person that I am, I would have out my foot up this guy's ass. I told him that I was leaving tomorrow and he said bye-bye in his broken English, and I just said it back and he skied away.
I made it back down on the lift, went and took a shower and Amanda cooked a wonderful dinner of pasta with a garlic butter sauce, some faux tartiflette, sausages (which we always seem to eat with Nick and Tina), watched the fireworks from the town from the chalet, watched Meet the Fockers, saw a dance that Megan and Tori put together, counted down the New Year, and went to bed to get ready to drive to Geneva tomorrow.
Until then.....
PS. After I wrote the top part, the girls went out and got into a snowball fight with the neighboring chalet. The girls were cornered by the Merc so Nick went out to protect them. He should have turned off the security light as it came on and he got carpet bombed by the neighbors. They all shook hands and wished each other a Happy New Year. Later, the girls were out there again, so Nick snuck around the back of the house and hid behind a huge snowdrift and threw some snowballs like mortars and nailed one of the guys square in the head. That is when Amanda started taking pictures and that is when they started attacking the photographer. Amanda got nailed in the face with a snowball and they started carpet bombing the balcony so we hauled ass back inside as the war continued outside.
I found out later that the guys at the chalet next door broke all the glasses that they had on their balony during the snowball fight, so the women of the chalet locked them out of the chalet. The outside of both of the chalets are riddled with the affects of the snowball fight.
Our Trip to France Day 6 - Skiing Day 3
Today I woke up very sore in my calves and my traps. My traps from pushing on the show with my poles, and my calves, I have no idea why. I would have thought that my thighs would be the sore part of my legs, but my calves are absolutely painful this morning. Amanda and I did not sleep well last night as it got rather warm in our room last night. It seems to be very insulated both inside and out. I opened the door and got it about 5 degrees Celcius cooler in the room, which felt very comfortable. After getting some sleep, when my alarm went off, it was back up to the temperature it was before we opened the door. After I got up and eat a pan de chocolat for breakfast, I went back into the room, and it had cooled by 2 degrees. It must be our breath that is heating up the room. I would sleep with the door open all night, but I don't want my bronchitis to show up AGAIN, as it is getting better all the time. I still can't laugh yet, but it is getting a little easier to almost laugh, but I still cough while laughing.
Today was the day we hit the green slopes. After taking the red bubble up to Le Chevanne, we hit the bunny slopes for a couple of times getting used to turning, and off we went up to the green run. We got on the chairlift. For someone like me who is scared of heights, I was not afraid on the lift at all. It was rather cool and peaceful on the thing to watch the other skiers hauling ass down hill, especially the 5-7 year olds who just go with reckless abandun. Getting on the lift was east, you just sit down and let ti catch you, then you put the safety bar down. Getting off is a bit harder. As you approach the exit, you lift up the safety bar, and lift you skies and place then on the exit ramp. You push off the lift and then you fall about 5 feet downhill, but it is rather steep and you hope you stop before you topple anyone over. Luckily, I was able to stop in time.
We headed toward the green run and down we went. We took a little time getting used to the grade of the slope, which is to me a LOT steeper than the bunny hill. We did some turns and down we went. What a rush. I got the turns going rather well, but for some reason today, the snow plow method of stopping was not quite working. I was having to turn rather sharply to stop today. We had to cross across a blue run and THEN cross across a cable life WITHOUT hitting anyone or getting hit. Made is across and continued down the green run. We made it back to the chair lift, took the one next to it and back up we went. We headed down another green run, but still had to cross that same blue run/cable lift and went down the run again. Sylvan was trying to get us to turn with our skis parallel, but kept talking in French and I could not figure out how he was telling us to do it. I think that you have to lean the other way when you turn parallel, and that is the goal for tomorrow's lesson.
Got back to the chalet, took a shower while the other adults went to get a reservation for New Years Eve, killed a large ass spider in Megan and Tori's bathroom, watched the CSI about the Miniature Killer and then went to bed to get ready for my last ski lesson tomorrow.
Today was the day we hit the green slopes. After taking the red bubble up to Le Chevanne, we hit the bunny slopes for a couple of times getting used to turning, and off we went up to the green run. We got on the chairlift. For someone like me who is scared of heights, I was not afraid on the lift at all. It was rather cool and peaceful on the thing to watch the other skiers hauling ass down hill, especially the 5-7 year olds who just go with reckless abandun. Getting on the lift was east, you just sit down and let ti catch you, then you put the safety bar down. Getting off is a bit harder. As you approach the exit, you lift up the safety bar, and lift you skies and place then on the exit ramp. You push off the lift and then you fall about 5 feet downhill, but it is rather steep and you hope you stop before you topple anyone over. Luckily, I was able to stop in time.
We headed toward the green run and down we went. We took a little time getting used to the grade of the slope, which is to me a LOT steeper than the bunny hill. We did some turns and down we went. What a rush. I got the turns going rather well, but for some reason today, the snow plow method of stopping was not quite working. I was having to turn rather sharply to stop today. We had to cross across a blue run and THEN cross across a cable life WITHOUT hitting anyone or getting hit. Made is across and continued down the green run. We made it back to the chair lift, took the one next to it and back up we went. We headed down another green run, but still had to cross that same blue run/cable lift and went down the run again. Sylvan was trying to get us to turn with our skis parallel, but kept talking in French and I could not figure out how he was telling us to do it. I think that you have to lean the other way when you turn parallel, and that is the goal for tomorrow's lesson.
Got back to the chalet, took a shower while the other adults went to get a reservation for New Years Eve, killed a large ass spider in Megan and Tori's bathroom, watched the CSI about the Miniature Killer and then went to bed to get ready for my last ski lesson tomorrow.
Our Trip to France Day 5 - Skiing Day 2
Well, after a rocky start yesterday, today went GREAT. Stephan remembered me and told me to stick with him today with about 3 others from yesterday and about 8 new students. We headed up to Le Chavanne on the red bubble and headed directly to the bunny slope. We were going up the hill on the rope when some little French kid falls down from the rope with his skis going across where everyone has to go and the British guy in front of me goes down and I have no choice but to follow suit or else I would have run over him and the French kid. Man are the French kids WINERS!!!! Whenever one falls , they cry until someone comes over and helps them up. Sounds like me yesterday, but at least I did not cry. One little Frenchy laid there for about 15 minutes until my instructor helped him up. After taking off my skis and getting up and putting my skis back on, I made it up to the top and down I went. After snow plowing down the hill a couple of times, we learned how to turn while in the snowplow. We tried to follow each other down as close as we could, and we actually did quite well. We did this a could of times and then Stephan showed us how to turn with your skis parallel, and that I did not quite get. We tried that a couple more times, and then he announces that tomorrow we come back to the debutante hill, warm up and then go on the ski lift to a beginner run. SWEET. My instructor actually told me I did a lot better than yesterday. I made my way down on the bubble and mt Tori at the ski school, and home we went.
After everyone showered, we headed into town to get some supper. We ate at a place called Le Tyrol. It had a very English feel to it, except the waitresses so French. After Amanda and I split some very good onion soup, do you still call it French onion soup when you are in France, I had a great flat bread pizza with tomato, cheese and chorizo. It is not the chorizo we in Texas are used to, I think that it what French people call pepperoni, because that is what it tastes like. Amanda had a tartiflette, which is a baked dish with bacon, cheese and potatos which was VERY GOOD. The only part of the meal that was not fun was when we got the bill. €167 for supper. JESUS!!! The food as good, but not that good. After paying the bill, we headed home to relax and get ready for another day of skiing and shopping.
Until next time......
After everyone showered, we headed into town to get some supper. We ate at a place called Le Tyrol. It had a very English feel to it, except the waitresses so French. After Amanda and I split some very good onion soup, do you still call it French onion soup when you are in France, I had a great flat bread pizza with tomato, cheese and chorizo. It is not the chorizo we in Texas are used to, I think that it what French people call pepperoni, because that is what it tastes like. Amanda had a tartiflette, which is a baked dish with bacon, cheese and potatos which was VERY GOOD. The only part of the meal that was not fun was when we got the bill. €167 for supper. JESUS!!! The food as good, but not that good. After paying the bill, we headed home to relax and get ready for another day of skiing and shopping.
Until next time......
Our Trip to France Day 4 - Skiing Day 1
Well, there are some things that a 40 year old opera singer should start, and after today, I am starting to believe that skiing is not one of them. To see little 3-6 year olds HAULING ASS down the slopes is very disconcerting, but I am willing to give it the old college try. After putting on my ski gear and walking in the boots, I go and find the place for the adults that have never, ever skied before, and sure enough I found it and it was full of younger, and hipper people form all over the world. England, Denmark, Finland, French and the couple of Americans. We learn how to put on the skis and how to walk in them, which I found very strange and difficult, especially uphill. I could not for the life of me, get going uphill, until they showed me how to out the skis perpendicular to the slope and take little baby steps upward.
Then came the snow plow, which I kind of got, except my skis started going forward before I was ready and I could not lean forward fast enough and back I went and then down I went. I was the only one that fell doing that. It had to be someone, why not me. After getting helped up....more on this later....I finally slow plowed and thought that I was doing great.
Then came the part of going up the hill. In the beginner classes, you don't get to ride on a ski lift, you get on a magic carpet. You stand on a moving conveyer belt and you are taken up the hill. That was the easy part, then you head downhill. It was not until later, that I learned I had to be more spread for the snow plow, and I got going faster and felt that I could not stop, so in order to not hit anyone, I took a dive that would make Sonny Liston proud. Then came the part of getting up. I have never been one to get off the floor like the pro athletes who just sit on their haunches and up they go. I can get on my haunches, but that is it. So here comes the instructor again.....more later....and off we go. Snow plow here I come.
Next we go to a little bit steeper bit if the beginner hill. This time we are pulled up by a rope that you have to grab onto by hand. But first, you have to walk uphill to the rope. Not a chance for me to do that. Here comes the instructor to give me a hand and I grab the rope, and I turn into Sonny Liston again. He helps me up.....more later.....and make it about halfway up the hill with the rest of the class. We start to snow plow down the hill and I get going really fast and can't slow down, so in order not to get injured, down I go. Now, the instructors are up the hill helping the younger students, so I ask someone to have the instructor come down at his leisure to help me up. Then I go to get back to the rope, and I can't get near the damn thing. I start trying and I end up 15 yards farther down the hill than when I started and get help again from the instructor about 10 minutes later.
As the younger students start at the top of the hill learning how to do turns, I proceed to gradually get the hang of the snow plow, and I find a relatively flat piece of snow to get to the rope, and have about 4 successful runs of going up and down the hill. After the others finish turning, we all meet up to see how we have been doing, and I tell the instructor that I'll be back tomorrow to do this all over again.
After spotting Amanda at the bottom of the big hill after taking the tram down, we head back to the chalet, go get pizza at Pizzalino's, take a shower, write this, watch Crocodile Dundy 3, then get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Until then......
Then came the snow plow, which I kind of got, except my skis started going forward before I was ready and I could not lean forward fast enough and back I went and then down I went. I was the only one that fell doing that. It had to be someone, why not me. After getting helped up....more on this later....I finally slow plowed and thought that I was doing great.
Then came the part of going up the hill. In the beginner classes, you don't get to ride on a ski lift, you get on a magic carpet. You stand on a moving conveyer belt and you are taken up the hill. That was the easy part, then you head downhill. It was not until later, that I learned I had to be more spread for the snow plow, and I got going faster and felt that I could not stop, so in order to not hit anyone, I took a dive that would make Sonny Liston proud. Then came the part of getting up. I have never been one to get off the floor like the pro athletes who just sit on their haunches and up they go. I can get on my haunches, but that is it. So here comes the instructor again.....more later....and off we go. Snow plow here I come.
Next we go to a little bit steeper bit if the beginner hill. This time we are pulled up by a rope that you have to grab onto by hand. But first, you have to walk uphill to the rope. Not a chance for me to do that. Here comes the instructor to give me a hand and I grab the rope, and I turn into Sonny Liston again. He helps me up.....more later.....and make it about halfway up the hill with the rest of the class. We start to snow plow down the hill and I get going really fast and can't slow down, so in order not to get injured, down I go. Now, the instructors are up the hill helping the younger students, so I ask someone to have the instructor come down at his leisure to help me up. Then I go to get back to the rope, and I can't get near the damn thing. I start trying and I end up 15 yards farther down the hill than when I started and get help again from the instructor about 10 minutes later.
As the younger students start at the top of the hill learning how to do turns, I proceed to gradually get the hang of the snow plow, and I find a relatively flat piece of snow to get to the rope, and have about 4 successful runs of going up and down the hill. After the others finish turning, we all meet up to see how we have been doing, and I tell the instructor that I'll be back tomorrow to do this all over again.
After spotting Amanda at the bottom of the big hill after taking the tram down, we head back to the chalet, go get pizza at Pizzalino's, take a shower, write this, watch Crocodile Dundy 3, then get ready to do it all again tomorrow.
Until then......
Out Paris Trip Day 3
Today is the day we drive to our chalet. After eating a great breakfast at the hotel that was included in the price of our room, not a cold Continental breakfast like in the States, it was a warm buffet with eggs, sausage, bacon, little petit pancakes, little mini chocolate donuts, petit cinnamon balls, fresh bread and other goodies. We have a “great” set of directions from Google Earth, and with Amanda acting as navigator, aat we go. It looked a lot easier on Google Earth Animated directions, as we got off the wrong exit off of the first round-a-bout. Whomever exported the round-a-bout should be drawn and quartered then ridden out on a rail. After going back round the round-a-bout, we headed the right direction. Thank God in France they drive on the correct side of the road. We only had to pay 2 tolls that added up to €3.70. We were doing great until the town of Clusses, where the directions and the nubmer of round-a bouts got confusing. We were going to stop and wait for our friends Nick, Tina, Tori, Megan and Lillia (our Goddaughter) at the McDonalds, but the parking lot was a madhouse, so we stopped in the parking lot of Ed's Store, a little town grocery store. After meeting up with them, we were on our way again.
I don't think that we could have gotten there with out following Nick the rest of the way, as the directions were just a little confusing. Then when we go to the chalet, the only icy road that we encountered was the one leading up to the chalet, and we discovered that the Prius is not good on ice at all, if you have to stop for anything, you lose the grip on the road. After sliding downhill for about 10 feet, Nick found a non-icy patch to get some traction and made it up the hill to the chalet.
The Chalet is INCREDIBLE. It has four bedrooms, two with en-suite baths. Go here for a look at the chalet. Amanda and I got the room off of the living room with an en-suite bath. Tori and Megan got the other room with the en-suite bath and Tina and Nick got the room with the three beds. After getting everything situated, the girls, Nick and myself headed into town to get our ski stuff. We all got our ski boots, polls, and since I am a beginner skier, that went and got me a special pair of skis. And since we were staying at a chalet that they normally do business with, we did not have to even out down a deposit. SWEET. We get back to the car and then Nick goes and gets his lift pass. After that, we headed back to the chalet to get ready to go to dinner.
We arrived at the restaurant and found out up opens in 15 minutes, so we head down the street to get some breakfast supplies for tomorrow at a little grocery called Shopi. We get meat, cheese, Cokes, and potato chips for starters. Amanda and I love to try potato chips that that have in Europe that we don't get in the States. They have Heinz ketchup flavored chips over here. And Worchester sauce, roasted chicken, salt and vinegar, prawn (YUCK!!!!), and others. I wish we could get the Ketchup and Worchester ones in the states. The ones that we got tonight we barbecue, roasted chicken and chorizo, two little bags each. We got to the restaurant and I have the local sausages with potatoes in a white wine sauce and onions. YUMMY!!!! Amanda gets the local bacon with pasta and cheese. YUMMY, except the pasta came in little squares.
We then took a look around Les Gets at night and it is a bigger version of Banff Canada, with lots of cuts shoppes that Amanda will no doubt be going to during our stay. We got back to the chalet and watched a little TV, then headed to bed, to get rested up for the first day of skiing lessons.
Until next time.......
I don't think that we could have gotten there with out following Nick the rest of the way, as the directions were just a little confusing. Then when we go to the chalet, the only icy road that we encountered was the one leading up to the chalet, and we discovered that the Prius is not good on ice at all, if you have to stop for anything, you lose the grip on the road. After sliding downhill for about 10 feet, Nick found a non-icy patch to get some traction and made it up the hill to the chalet.
The Chalet is INCREDIBLE. It has four bedrooms, two with en-suite baths. Go here for a look at the chalet. Amanda and I got the room off of the living room with an en-suite bath. Tori and Megan got the other room with the en-suite bath and Tina and Nick got the room with the three beds. After getting everything situated, the girls, Nick and myself headed into town to get our ski stuff. We all got our ski boots, polls, and since I am a beginner skier, that went and got me a special pair of skis. And since we were staying at a chalet that they normally do business with, we did not have to even out down a deposit. SWEET. We get back to the car and then Nick goes and gets his lift pass. After that, we headed back to the chalet to get ready to go to dinner.
We arrived at the restaurant and found out up opens in 15 minutes, so we head down the street to get some breakfast supplies for tomorrow at a little grocery called Shopi. We get meat, cheese, Cokes, and potato chips for starters. Amanda and I love to try potato chips that that have in Europe that we don't get in the States. They have Heinz ketchup flavored chips over here. And Worchester sauce, roasted chicken, salt and vinegar, prawn (YUCK!!!!), and others. I wish we could get the Ketchup and Worchester ones in the states. The ones that we got tonight we barbecue, roasted chicken and chorizo, two little bags each. We got to the restaurant and I have the local sausages with potatoes in a white wine sauce and onions. YUMMY!!!! Amanda gets the local bacon with pasta and cheese. YUMMY, except the pasta came in little squares.
We then took a look around Les Gets at night and it is a bigger version of Banff Canada, with lots of cuts shoppes that Amanda will no doubt be going to during our stay. We got back to the chalet and watched a little TV, then headed to bed, to get rested up for the first day of skiing lessons.
Until next time.......
Sorry for the Delay
Sorry for not updating about the trip but we did not have internet access in the chalet of the town that we were staying in, so in the next couple of days I will post the telling of the events that I have written in my word program.
Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for your patience.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Our Trip to France Day 2
Well, we are now at the Moevenpick hotel and casino in Geneva. After picking up our rental car from Hertz, a Prius mind you. More on the hotel in a minute. Our cousins Mark and Lynn have a Prius and they love it, but for someone who has never even test driven one, staring the thing is a different story. You have no key, just the fob. You hit the start button once and the menu screen comes on, but you have no idea if the car is on. You hit the start button again, and you still do not know if the thing is on, and the screen is in French. You hit the start button a third time, and I think the car turns off. After somehow getting the thing started, we make it to the hotel, after changing the language on the screen that tell you if you are using batterie or gas into English.
Luckily the hotel is just around the corner, and we get there without incident. All though, putting the Prius in park makes you think that you need a PhD to operate the thing. After discovering that the button with the "P" on it means park.....you would never guess that I went to Rice......only to push the button after I hear Amanda yell, "The car is still MOVING!!!!!", while getting the suitcases out of the boot....er trunk. We checked in and went up to the room.
The room is very modern and very Euro. Go here and look up the one in Geneva for pics. After taking a little siesta, we headed to dinner at the hotel restaurant and we both had the beef ravioli on a napolitain sauce. It was actually quite tasty. We then walked over to the casino, but did not go in.
Stay tuned for our exploits of driving to the chalet on Swiss and French roads, and me finding a place to buy some clothes as I seemed to have left one third (one shirt and pair if pants) of my planned wardrobe some where other than in my suitcase. Until then.......
Our trip to France Day 1
Well, our Switzerland and France trip got off to a rough start when I realized that all of my clothes would not fit in my garment bag, so at 10:30 Christmas Eve I start a journey to find a larger suitcase. Well, even the 24 Hour Walmart was closed, so I had to ask my in-laws if I could borrow a large suitcase, and luckily they said yes. On the way to the aforementioned in-laws house for Christmas presents and food on Christmas day, after putting all my clothes in a contractor bag, after getting half way to our destination, I realized that I have forgotten my toiletry bag. After going back to the house to get it, that put us over an hour late for the festivities.
The festivities and the swag received were outstanding and everyone made out like a bandit. We left for the airport only to discover that our favorite parking spot, The Parking Spot, was full so we did the next best thing. We drove to the next one and parked there. After getting into slight disagreement with the guy in the security line, Kharma showed up and the same pushy guy who was telling everyone else to hurry up, forgot to take BOTH of his laptops out of his bag and was there for a good 5 minutes after we had gotten through.
Kharma is now our friend as we get to the gate counter and Amanda used the delayed honeymoon line and no sooner then 15 minutes later, we have our business class seats on our Air France flight. SWEET!!!!!!!!!! As we sit down in our nice, large, comfortable seats, the champagne arrives. EVEN SWEETER!!!!!!! The meals were fantastic, which Amanda will chronicle in her blog later, and the movie selection was great. I ended up watching the Ed Norton version of the Incredible Hulk. Sorry Andrew, I will still watch the DVD you gave me. After that it was bed time, so we took our seats form their upright position to their reclined sleeping position. TRIPLE SWEET!!!!!!!! Our only complaint was the cabin got hot during the 4.5 hours of sleep time that we had. About 2/3 of the way through sleepy time, while coming back from the restroom, which IS larger is business class, I noticed some people had their chairs FULLY RECLINED. After a couple of minutes of button fiddling, I got my chair fully reclined and the REM began. After breakfast, we arrived in Paris and made our way to the gate at which I sit now writing this as we wait for our flight to Geneva.
I will keep all three of my readers apprised of our trip and the adventures of me learning how to and me skiing in the Alps. Until next time......
The festivities and the swag received were outstanding and everyone made out like a bandit. We left for the airport only to discover that our favorite parking spot, The Parking Spot, was full so we did the next best thing. We drove to the next one and parked there. After getting into slight disagreement with the guy in the security line, Kharma showed up and the same pushy guy who was telling everyone else to hurry up, forgot to take BOTH of his laptops out of his bag and was there for a good 5 minutes after we had gotten through.
Kharma is now our friend as we get to the gate counter and Amanda used the delayed honeymoon line and no sooner then 15 minutes later, we have our business class seats on our Air France flight. SWEET!!!!!!!!!! As we sit down in our nice, large, comfortable seats, the champagne arrives. EVEN SWEETER!!!!!!! The meals were fantastic, which Amanda will chronicle in her blog later, and the movie selection was great. I ended up watching the Ed Norton version of the Incredible Hulk. Sorry Andrew, I will still watch the DVD you gave me. After that it was bed time, so we took our seats form their upright position to their reclined sleeping position. TRIPLE SWEET!!!!!!!! Our only complaint was the cabin got hot during the 4.5 hours of sleep time that we had. About 2/3 of the way through sleepy time, while coming back from the restroom, which IS larger is business class, I noticed some people had their chairs FULLY RECLINED. After a couple of minutes of button fiddling, I got my chair fully reclined and the REM began. After breakfast, we arrived in Paris and made our way to the gate at which I sit now writing this as we wait for our flight to Geneva.
I will keep all three of my readers apprised of our trip and the adventures of me learning how to and me skiing in the Alps. Until next time......
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Sorry for the Delay; Star and Plastic Surgery
For the two or three people that have actually read this blog, my apologies for not writing in a while, but I just had to get this off of my chest. What the hell are actresses thinking when they have so much work done on their face that they look disfigured and NO ONE tells them that they look freaky?
Take the example of Lara Flynn-Boyle of Twin Peaks fame. She was a hottie on the show. On a recent episode of Law & Order, she actually looked like she had put on a little weight and did not look so much like a skeleton, but it was her face that actually had me screaming "What the Hell?????????"
She obviously has had some work done, and I admit that some of it looks all right, but when it looks like you have had collagen injected into your CHEEKBONES and look like a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts, some should say SOMETHING. Her upper lip looks like she was the recipient of a couple of stiff jabs from Floyd Mayweather, and she basically can't smile at all. And then her cheekbones made her look like she had a case of the mumps that had moved a little north.
Someone PLEASE let these starlettes know that they don't look like their former selves and thay they look WEIRD. Some may have a condition known as body dismorfia, but I think that they are just to damn vain, and don't see themselves as others do. And remember, friends don't let friends have lips that look like a caught fish.
Until next time........
Take the example of Lara Flynn-Boyle of Twin Peaks fame. She was a hottie on the show. On a recent episode of Law & Order, she actually looked like she had put on a little weight and did not look so much like a skeleton, but it was her face that actually had me screaming "What the Hell?????????"
She obviously has had some work done, and I admit that some of it looks all right, but when it looks like you have had collagen injected into your CHEEKBONES and look like a squirrel with a mouth full of nuts, some should say SOMETHING. Her upper lip looks like she was the recipient of a couple of stiff jabs from Floyd Mayweather, and she basically can't smile at all. And then her cheekbones made her look like she had a case of the mumps that had moved a little north.
Someone PLEASE let these starlettes know that they don't look like their former selves and thay they look WEIRD. Some may have a condition known as body dismorfia, but I think that they are just to damn vain, and don't see themselves as others do. And remember, friends don't let friends have lips that look like a caught fish.
Until next time........
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Look What Showed Up
Well, lookie here. The Houston Astros BATS made a surprise return to Minute Maid Park today. After a 17 inning loss last night, 13 hours later, the Mets and 'Stros went at it again. The Astros had their ace and All-Star pitcher Roy Oswalt on the mound against Dave Williams, who was fresh of the disabled list. Oswalt went seven innings and gave up three runs, all earned, and struck out 5 and walked one.
The Astros on the offensive side were outstanding, scoring all their runs by the end of the fourth inning. Chris Burke hit a two run home run in the fourth inning and Hunter Pence continued his torrid hitting getting 2 more hits in 5 at bats, including a triple in the 6th inning.
BOX SCORE
The Astros on the offensive side were outstanding, scoring all their runs by the end of the fourth inning. Chris Burke hit a two run home run in the fourth inning and Hunter Pence continued his torrid hitting getting 2 more hits in 5 at bats, including a triple in the 6th inning.
BOX SCORE
Houston Astros
The Houston Astros have been my team since I used to come see double header games at the Astrodome when I was a kid and in Little League. Last night they lost a heart breaker in 17 innings to the New York Mets. Carlos Beltran was responsible for the Mets victory. In the 14th inning, he caught a 430 foot fly ball from Luke Scott on Tal's Hill in dead center field at Minute Maid Park. You see, the fence in center field in 435 feet from home plate. That would have been a home fun in any other park in the Major League park in the country. In the 17th inning, he drove in the winning run with a single to right field. He has haunted us ever since he signed with the Mets after we made the playoffs with an outstanding run of 35-12 in our last 47 games to take the wild card in 2004. He gets booed every time he comes up to bat, and even after the outstanding catch last night, the fans still booed his last at bat.
The Astros are very frustrating to watch this season. Granted we don't have Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte this year, but Jason Jennings has been hurt, and the bullpen SUCKS. Closer Brad Lidge gets demoted. Dan Wheeler does a good job for a while. Lidge gets back to old form by allowing 19 scorless innings in middle relief, but when he is brought in to save his first game since losing the closer job, he blows the save by allowing a game tying home run. AHHHHHH!!!!
The Astros are very frustrating to watch this season. Granted we don't have Roger Clemens or Andy Pettitte this year, but Jason Jennings has been hurt, and the bullpen SUCKS. Closer Brad Lidge gets demoted. Dan Wheeler does a good job for a while. Lidge gets back to old form by allowing 19 scorless innings in middle relief, but when he is brought in to save his first game since losing the closer job, he blows the save by allowing a game tying home run. AHHHHHH!!!!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Toyota CR-V
My wife recently bought a Tea Green Honda CR-V and she loves it. She has only had it two weeks, but she is averaging almost 22 MPG of city and highway miles. That is a lot better than her Ford Taurus that she used to have. That thing never got close to 20 MPG. I will update on the CR-V as needed.
If you are in the market for a new Honda CR-V, go talk to Jon Fontenot at Gillman Honda in Houston. He will give you a great deal and treat you right.
Ric Flair 1988 wrestling interview
I LOVE PRO WRESTLING!!!!!! Yes I know that it is fake, or as wrestling aficionados like to say, predetermined as to who is going to win, but it is still exciting to watch. The death defying, high flying, chair hitting, blood spitting matches are downright exhilarating. But to harken back to the days of old, no one now or then could give an interview like the Nature Boy Ric Flair. The Dirtiest Player in the Game, in his prime, cut the BEST promos in wrestling ending each with his signature WOOOOOOOO!!!!
He was the Jet Flying, Limousine Riding, Kiss Stealing, Wheeling Dealing, Son-of-a Gun. As the leader of the Four Horseman, he held the NWA/WCW World title a record 14 times. He has held the WWF/WWE Heavyweight title on 2 occasions. He always had the Armani Suit, the Rolex Watch, the Bruno Magli shoes, the Porsche sunglasses. Make no mistake about it, Diamonds are Forever, and So is Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOO!!
First Post
Hello, this is my first post on my blog. This is an experiment to help my wife out with her blog, amandakey.blogspot.com, and to write down some of my thoughts. I hope you enjoy and come back often.
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