Diamond Head State Park opened at 6:00 am. Merri Beth, Zander, and I were up early on Thursday, December 18 to hike to the top of Diamond Head crater, but we were not timing it to get there as the park opened. On the way, we caught an amazing sunrise, then hiked into the park around 7:00 am. Continue reading
It was our first full day of vacation on Oahu, Wednesday December 17. What to do, what to do? We decided to head to the North Shore and check out the Billabong Pipemasters surf contest, the finale to the Vans Triple Crown.
On the way, we stopped off at the Dole Plantation, home of pineapples and the world’s largest outdoor maze. (Note, it’s very touristy and over-priced.) We arrived just as they were opening and managed to skip a majority of the morning traffic in Honolulu. As we zipped along the H1, H201, and H2, we saw Aloha Stadium and enjoyed the scenery through Honolulu, Pearl City, and Wahiawã. Continue reading
After weeks of planning and months of anticipation our departure date had arrived. Vacation in Hawaii was on the horizon. We just had to get there first.
Mom arrived on Sunday, December 14. We watched some football and relaxed. Merri Beth and I were getting some packing done while getting things ready for our last day of work for the year. We couldn’t wait to have a few weeks off until January. Continue reading
We were ready for a long weekend on the Outer Banks, but first, Merri Beth and I had few errands to run in Raleigh. Sunsets and long walks on the beach were on hold for a few short hours.
We’d missed back to school shopping earlier in the month, which for us, includes a new pair of running shoes.We went to Fleet Feet on Wade Avenue to get fitted and score some new running kicks. After that, a quick lunch at Whole Foods (to-go) and we were off to get the kids from school. Continue reading
The agenda was overflowing at the OpenStack Summit in Atlanta, Georgia. There were almost 5,000 people attending keynotes, sessions, networking, and a little bit of night life. I’ve had a blast, learning as much as possible from the OpenStack fire hose. Here’s what my experience looked like from the OpenStack Summit, including some amazing pictures from the Georgia Aquarium. Continue reading
After arriving in San Francisco, California, on Friday, April 11, it was about an hour drive to American Canyon—our base camp for the weekend. Merri Beth and I were finally getting a chance to explore Napa Valley and we were super excited.
I was flying in from Denver and landed in SFO around 9:05pm. Merri Beth had a direct flight from Raleigh and landed around 9:25pm. We collected our bags and made our way to the rental car location at SFO. The line was outrageous and the wait was about an hour. We finally got our Mazda 6 with Oregon tags and were on our way to American Canyon. Continue reading
We woke up to several inches of snow on Monday, March 31. A winter storm had passed overnight and there was some fresh powder to play in today. Since we had been snowboarding all day yesterday, we wanted to change things up a bit. The family got ready for the day and headed south to Breckenridge. The roads had snow on them, so we were cautious and allowed extra travel time. Our first stop for the day was Good Times Adventures.
Zander didn’t know where we were going or what we were doing. It was a complete surprise. It was a long, winding, snow-packed road to get to our destination. As were approached Good Times, Zander saw some people dog sledding. And he was really excited. Surprise! Continue reading
Another full day of snowboarding was on tap for Sunday, March 30. We had a blast at Copper Mountain yesterday. First we needed some gear, then some lift tickets. We hit up the Pioneer Sports store that was conveniently located in our hotel. Snowboard packages were $32 a day and included boots, board, and bindings. Rental gear: check. Next, we printed out lift tickets to Loveland ski area at the kiosk, also conveniently located in the hotel lobby. Discounted lift tickets were $56 for adults and $25 for children. Lift tickets: check. Continue reading
Let Spring Break begin! Merri Beth, Zander, and I were at RDU airport on Friday, March 28 heading to Denver, Colorado. We had a direct flight on Southwest Airlines that left at 5:00 pm ET and arrived by 7:00 pm MT. Our plan was to get some snowboarding in this weekend. Meanwhile, Coco and the dogs would be enjoying Spring Break at the farm with Jim and Beth.
After arriving at the Denver International Airport, we got our bags, a rental car, and headed west and made a pitstop for dinner in Golden, CO. We ate at a place called Blue Canyon Bar & Grille, watched some of the NCAA tournament and enjoyed our food. We had about an hour drive before we arrived in Silverthorne—which would be basecamp for the next few days. Continue reading
I like my house on the weekend’s. You may like it to. It is fun. It was the 28th of December, 2013 when I wrote this. Continue reading