knitcole

Anniversary Week Day Six: Driving up the Coast of California

Mr. Coleman and I decided to drive up Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey partly so that we could see the beautiful California coastline along the way. After we left Hearst Castle we went just a couple of miles up the road to see the elephant seals. There is a large reserve in Ano Nuevo where a large colony of elephant seals live. We stopped to see them laying about in the sun and take a couple of photos. 

After we left the elephant seals we continued up the coast to Monterey. I advise you to do a couple of things if you decide to take this trek.

1. Have plenty of snacks available. There aren't very many, if any, places to stop along the way.
2. Take a smaller car. We had our Dodge Ram and it was a bit sketchy because the road is pretty small.
3. Stop and take lots of photos! It's gorgeous and you will definitely want to remember it.
4. Be prepared for a very long haul. It's a long trip, even if it is worth it.

Our drive was really lovely and it was the beginning of a great trip, although we decided to drive home the short way. We went to some amazing places in Monterey and I will make sure to share those with you soon so that if you are ever up that way you will know of some great places to stop.

Nicole

Here we go again!

*This post was created yesterday morning while I was still in Columbus but apparently it didn't post probably because I closed my computer before it sent. Oops!

This photo was taken on my last business trip. It's become a familiar sight for me since I started working in my current job almost one year ago. We travel A LOT! As I sit in my hotel room in Columbus, Ohio getting ready to pack up my things and head back to LA I keep thinking about what it means to travel. I mean I have accrued enough miles in less than a year to fly to New York and back almost 10 times! So I figured I would let you in on the good, the bad and the ugly of traveling, in my opinion of course. 

Good things about flying/traveling:

• It's the little things like having an empty seat next to you!
• Getting to see little bits and pieces of the country.
• Accruing lots and lots of miles that I can use to buy tickets. 
• Dropping in on friends and family who live in our destination spots, even if it is only for a couple minutes. 
• Paychecks! I mean c'mon, that's the only reason we all work, right?

Bad things about flying/traveling:

• I miss Mr. Coleman...A LOT.
• I miss my pups.
• I hate flying. I'm not kidding, I don't like it and it makes me sick half the time.
• Not being able to sleep in my own bed.
• Eating a lot of really great but really bad for you food.  
• Not being able to work on any knitcole projects. 

Things that make flying/traveling tolerable:

• FaceTime, I will never underestimate the power of being able to see those at home again. Isn't Sue just adorable when he's confused?
• Hotel coffee makers, I mean a cup of joe in the morning really makes life a bit more bearable. 
• WiFi
• Those big comfy beds with huge down comforters. 
• Cable! I don't want it in my home but it's nice to catch up on things we don't get to watch, mostly HGTV and the Food Network. 
• My boss...she's awesome. Really, she is. 

What are your favorite/less favorite things about traveling?

Nicole

It's been a long, long haul.

Wednesday the 11th, I left for a business trip that kept me away for over a week. To say it was tough and tiring is a huge understatement. I spent multiple hours in transit, usually on a plane, and managed to hit seven of the great 50 states. I worked like a madwoman and I missed home like I couldn't have imagined I would.This is pretty much how my trip went.

• Wednesday, 12:00 PM Leave LAX
• Wednesday, 2:30 PM Arrive Scottsdale
• Thursday, Work 12+ hours
• Friday, 11:00 AM Leave Scottsdale
• Friday, 3:00 PM Arrive Cleveland
• Friday, 9:00 PM Arrive Richmond
• Friday, 9:30 PM 3 Hour Drive to Maryland
• Saturday, See DC and Hang out with Family
• Sunday, 1:00 PM 3 Hour Drive to Richmond
• Monday, Work 12+ hours
• Tuesday, 9:00 AM Leave Richmond
• Tuesday, 12:30 PM Arrive Chicago
• Tuesday, 3:00 PM Work 8 hours
• Wednesday, Repeat Tuesday (Chicago to Dallas)
• Thursday, 1:00 PM Fly home to LAX
• Thursday, 2:30 PM Home Sweet Home!

It was craziness! I came home so tired I could barely think. I spent any free time I had, which wasn't very much, working on another project or just trying to get some sleep. The three hour time change really killed me at first, I wasn't able to sleep until about 2:30 every morning and then I was away just long enough to get used to it so when I got home I kept getting up stupidly early. Being away that long taught me a lot about how much I really love my husband, my dog and my home.

Here is small photo time line, all from my iPhone, of how I spent my time away.

1. My dog obviously doesn't want me to leave, or she wants to come with me. Sweet little chihuahua stowaway? I WISH!
2. On plane #1...the first of many.
3. Work in Scottsdale! First day of work, sending kisses home to my Mister.
4. This lovely photo stands alone. I woke up to the sound of water pouring OUT of my sink and onto my floor. The sink was not turned on...no the water was coming up out of the pipes, filling my sink and then POURING onto the floor. I wish I had a photo of how much water actually went everywhere, let's just way when I called down to the front desk he said, "it sounds like you have a fountain in your room." Yeah, all this exactly one hour before I need to leave for the airport and I am neither packed nor showered. 
   
5. I spent all day Saturday in Maryland and DC with my wonderful sister and brother in laws, Charisa and Luke. They took me into the city and we saw a couple sights before heading home for a lovely homemade meal and some Wii. This photo is from the Trinidad and Tobago embassy.
6. Good ol' honest Abe. The Lincoln Memorial is truly impressive but the lack of water in the reflection pool was quite a let down.
7. While I was with his sister Mr. Coleman was with my family. This is my dad and my aunt Pammy, they're twinsies and you very rarely see such a nice picture of the two of them, (this is mostly because my dad refuses to smile willingly for photos.)
8. The Washington Monument. 
9. The three hour drive back to Richmond.
10. Dinner in Richmond where I met some lovely people including DeShawn and Larry.
11. I love a good front porch!
12. Bella. Sweet little chocolate lab.
13. FaceTime! I make the silly faces and Mr. Coleman just sits and laughs. FaceTime made being so far away feel a little less horrible.
14. Chicago in the afternoon.
15. Presbyterian church in Chicago
16. Rainy Chicago morning
17. One last flight.
18. A sight for sore eyes. My love at the airport.

I'm home and it feels so good.

Nicole

Highlights from Portland

Mr. Coleman and I headed up to Portland the weekend of my birthday to celebrate except we weren't celebrating my birthday we were celebrating his grandma's 90th birthday! I thought it would be fun to cover some of the highlights of our trip. 

1. Grandma Thelma

Meeting Mr. Coleman's grandma was the highlight of my trip. She is the sweetest little lady and she just adores Mr. Coleman. She couldn't stop telling him how much she misses him and how happy she was that we could come visit for her party. We had a wonderful time with her and we will definitely be trying to make a trip up to see her again soon.

2. The food!

We had some of the most amazing food while we were visiting Portland. First up, Jake's Grill.  

I had what I would venture to say was the best steak I have ever had at Jake's. It was amazing.

Clyde Common was a restaurant that I visited when I was in Portland in 2009 and I definitely wanted to go back with Mr. Coleman. We had a wonderful lunch there complete with a fantastic harissa sauce to dip your french fries in! Mr. Coleman and I will definitely be going back when we visit Portland next time. 

Wildwood was right across the street from our hotel and received great reviews online so we decided to walk on over and try it out and it was delicious! We both really enjoyed the food at Wildwood and it definitely proved once again that there is amazing food in Portland.

 
Kornblatt's New York Style Delicatessen was wonderful! It was perfect for our last meal in Portland. I had the best pastrami sandwich while Mr. Coleman had some crazy apple sausage egg thingy. 

3. Powell's Books

Powell's Books is an amazing and very large bookstore that takes forever to go through...that is, I'm sure it would if you attempted to try. We found some great books that we were going to buy anyhow and the used F. Scott Fitzgerald and fancy Tolstoy were the best of our purchases.

4. Tea Chai Te was one of my favorite things we did in Portland. I think tea houses are so great and since we don't have any here at home I always love when I come across one, (like Gong Fu in Des Moines.) 

5. The Inn at Northrup Station was our hotel while we were in Portland. It's an all suite hotel that offers a great continental breakfast and has fun, quirky, bright colors everywhere and vases full of Starbursts and Tootsie Pops.

We had a really great time in Portland and both Mr. Coleman and I decided that we definitely want to visit again soon especially since his grandma is now over 90. I would definitely recommend all of the places in the post.

Where are some of your favorite places to vacation?

Nicole

Final trip update: San Francisco

We sadly left gorgeous Oregon and headed straight down to San Francisco! I love SF! It is my favorite city and it holds a special place in my heart. There's just something about it! Mr. Coleman and I got in around 3:00 PM and started our trip in SF with a drive across the Golden Gate bridge. I love, love bridges and this just got us off on the right foot.

*Please excuse the spots on the photos, after over 2500 miles there were A LOT of bugs stuck to the windshield.

We checked into the amazing Hotel Des Arts which was recommended to us by Mr. Coleman's sister, Charisa. It was just perfect! Every room is painted by a different artist and ours was whimsical and fun. I was a little worried we would get a scary room but we didn't! and we even had a claw foot tub in ours! I would definitely recommend it for the location and personality of the hotel. Parking wasn't too bad, (it was in a garage about a block away,) but the hotel is a little loud. 

We took a quick walk down to The Embarcadero and had dinner and drinks with my wonderful friend Lucrecia. (And yes that's her below and yes she is Korean.) I hadn't seen her in five years! We had a lovely time visiting and then it was off to bed for our busy sightseeing Saturday!

We got up early and headed off to Union Square to catch a cable car down to the wharf. Mr. Coleman had never been to SF as an adult so we stuck to a lot of touristy things that I had already done before but loved anyways.

After our cable car ride we visited Ghirardelli Square for some chocolate, stopped for some clam chowder and live blues band at Fisherman's Wharf, took a visit to the Aquarium by the Bay, walked UP to Coit Tower (I do not recommend this...walk DOWN from the tower instead,) stopped by Caffe Trieste for some coffee and Italian soda, played Beatniks bought a Kerouac book in City of Lights Bookstore, stopped by Vesuvius and then walked back down through Chinatown and stopped for some tea tasting! PHEW! It was a crazy busy day! We ended it with a nice dinner and then bedtime.

 

Sunday it was time to head on home but not before we stopped by Golden Gate Park and visited the Japanese Tea Garden. It was gorgeous of course, even though it was started to rain on us. It was the perfect ending to a very short visit to the City by the Bay and to our 2 week road trip.

3043 miles later and we finally made it home. There's just something about home that just can't be beat but vacations are always awesome too! I recommend you take one, I have plenty of suggestions if you need any!

All of my photos are posted to my Flickr if you'd like to see more.

Until next time!

Nicole

Trip Update #3: Klamath Falls, Oregon

After our stay in Dubois it was off to Klamath Falls, Oregon. This was by far the longest stretch of our road trip a staggering 16 hour drive! It was in no way fun either. Idaho is boring, (at least the part we drove through, my dad swears it is a gorgeous state,) and the first part of Oregon was all desert. We were on a road where we literally saw 2 other drivers in an hour! The only plus to this drive was The Grand Tetons in the beginning of the trip.

We got to Klamath Falls pretty late and since it was dark had no idea what it looked like. My dad and Rhons weren't too far behind us and we got checked into the timeshare and headed off to bed. When we got up in the morning we were greeted by a gorgeous view out our window and fantastic weather!

We spent our days in Oregon searching out fishing creeks and exploring the area. It was gorgeous! We got a little fishing in, (only my dad caught any fish,) and we took a ton of pictures! I love mountains and lakes and pine trees and there were plenty of all three everywhere we went. 

 



The pièce de résistance was our day trip to Crater Lake. It was absolutely and perfectly gorgeous. It was worth every minute we spent there and I can't say enough about how the National Parks Service has blown me away on this trip. We really have some amazing places right at our fingertips here in America.

Until next time!

Nicole

Trip Update Part 2: Dubois, Wyoming

After our stay in St. George Utah for four lovely days, it was off to Dubois, Wyoming and the Longhorn Ranch and Resort for Trever and Ingela's wedding. Our friends Trever and Ingela moved up to Wyoming earlier this year to manage their new business and we were so excited to take some time to visit their new home and partake in their wedding celebration. It was a 7 hour drive from Utah so we left early.

Mr. Coleman officiated their Saturday wedding so we arrived on Friday; once the other boys arrived from their drive from California it was time for a quick rehearsal and then it was off to the rodeo! There is a local rodeo in Dubois every Friday night and it was awesome. Roping, riding, silly games for the kiddos, everything a rodeo should be. Mr. Coleman fit right in with his flannel and jeans!

Saturday was all about the wedding. The boys and I, (I really missed our friends' wives and girlfriends when it was me and the four boys cruising around town,) headed to downtown Dubois for breakfast. Downtown Dubois is a small town...I mean SMALL. (Mr. Coleman said that he saw the sign and it said there are 900 people in Dubois.) We had breakfast at The Cowboy Cafe and then headed back to The Longhorn to get ready and head to the wedding.

Trever and Ingela's wedding was short, simple and beautiful. Dinner was amazing and the party that followed was fantastic. There was a great band and despite the rain, which the girls had a great time playing in, the party was moved inside and continued without missing a beat. All in all it was a great night and Mr. Coleman and I were both so excited to be a part of it.

We spent our Sunday saying goodbye to the boys as they left for California, saying goodbye to Ingela and the girls as they left for California and then exploring the local lakes and hills. We ended our night with a talk with Ingela's brother and then it was off to bed for our long 16 hour drive to Oregon the next day. Ugh.

We had a great time in Wyoming! It was beautiful and being that we both love Trev and Ingela, we can't wait to visit them again! Hopefully the next time it won't be such a whirlwind of a trip and we will be able to visit Yellowstone!

Until next time!

Nicole

2000 pictures later...

I'm ALMOST finished uploading pictures to my Flickr account. Don't worry I'm not trying to upload all 2000 of them, I'm just trying to get my favorites uploaded so that I can show them to all of you!

I wanted to give a little recap of my trip since I keep getting asked about how it was and where we went and what we did, so I'm going to start off today with Part 1: UTAH!

Mr. Coleman and I packed up the Dodge and headed out for Utah on the morning of July 26th. We had a busy weekend before our trip with our friends Dan and April's wedding, (which Mr. Coleman officiated and did a great job at,) but we were ready to hit the open road!

First stop, St. George, Utah! Only about 2 hours past Las Vegas, it took us six hours to reach my dad's timeshare. We got ourselves checked in and the truck unpacked and then we were off to dinner. I had seen a Cracker Barrel off the freeway when we pulled into St. George and since Mr. Coleman had never been we headed there for dinner. I had the fried pork chops which were divine! and Mr. Coleman had the chicken fried steak. Needless to say we both left happy and 5 pounds heavier.

That's Mr. Coleman with his welcome pack for being a first timer! We also got this ridiculous dessert and it left me feeling like this...

Anyhow, we didn't spend all of our trip at the Cracker Barrel! I promise! We were off to Zion National Park on Tuesday morning. It was an easy hour and a half drive from the timeshare and since my dad wasn't expected to be in until that night we decided to head on out for a hike at the park. We decided on the Emerald Pools trail, it is supposed to be a nice easy hike...well...we took a wrong turn and ended up on the Cayenta trail, which although not that hard it's not really that easy either. Add to it that it was a lovely 106 degrees in Utah that day...well, we definitely felt like we got our exercise in! We had a sweet little picnic at the end of it and then it was back home for the night. Side Note: If you look at my Flickr I know that I hiked in a dress but we didn't expect to have to hike as much as we did.

The next day my dad was there so we set off to try to find some fishing. We drove through Zion and stopped to take in the gorgeous Checkerboard Mesa (see photo below,) on our way to Duck Creek. We got our fishing licenses and stopped at Duck Creek campground to get our gear ready. Then we headed to the creek to try to catch some dinner. Well...my dad, the Fish Whisperer was the only one who caught anything! All I caught was a glimpse of a deer that I startled out of the trees. She was gorgeous and it was worth my $16 fishing license.

The next day it was back to Zion for Mr. Coleman and I while my dad went to pick up his girlfriend from Las Vegas. It was our last day in Utah and we decided we were going to visit the Weeping Rock and tackle the Narrows Hike. The Weeping Rock was an easy little hike and it was gorgeous up there! Don't Mr. Coleman and I look like we were photo shopped against the background? The Narrows Hike was amazing, we didn't quite know what we were in for but since you are hiking in water we didn't make it all the way to the caves at the end, apparently that takes hours. We went up until we had to start heading back to make sure we got back to the timeshare in time to wash clothes and pack up for our 8.5 hour trip to Wyoming in the morning. 

We really loved Zion National Park and I would highly recommend it! Make sure you have a few days to discover it all and try not to go in late July when the lowest temperature is about 105 degrees during the day! Keep an eye out for my post about Wyoming!

Until next time!

Nicole

Hello from Dubois, Wyoming!

Hello friends! I am sitting here at the computer from my cabin at The Longhorn Ranch in beautiful Dubois, Wyoming! 

I've been wanting to share some pictures from my trip with all of you and I wasn't quite sure what would be the easiest way to do this but I think I have figured it out! I have created a Flickr account; I needed it for something else as well but I decided that it would be the perfect place to put some pictures from the trip for you all to peruse at your leisure. A lot of the pictures are of Zion which was just gorgeous! It's really hard to take a bad photo of a place that looks like this!

 

So if you want to check out more of my photos, visit me on Flickr. My name is nicole@knitcole.com or you can simply click HERE.

I am going to try to blog more while on the trip but without WiFi in a lot of the places we are traveling it's been a challenge. I can post from my phone but the photos always come out HUGE so with the Flickr account I can blog from my phone and add the photos there and then it won't overwhelm my blog. 

Until next time!

Nicole

 

Road Trip Preparations

Getting ready for a road trip is a lot of work! I've never really had to do the work myself, usually Grandma or Aunt Pammy took care of it all but now that I'm a big kid and venturing out on my own it's time that I take care of all the preparations myself. 

This means that food shopping, car prepping, packing and all of thinking ahead must be done by me...and Mr. Coleman of course! I have made several lists and we have taken care of our Wal-Mart trip, dry cleaning and just this morning we put some TLC into the truck. 

Mr. Coleman got up this morning and took the truck to Wal-Mart for an oil change. An oil change, new wiper blades, new air filter and freshly pumped up tires only cost $60! I was astounded. What a deal. I'm definitely taking my truck to Wal-Mart the next time I need an oil change...that is if my truck is ever up and running again. 

After we got the truck home we gave it a quick bath and then it was on to very important matters. Mr. Coleman's truck has a very, very annoying little problem. The passenger side mirror is just the right distance from the truck to cause an extremely annoying whistle. I don't know if all 2006 Dodge Rams have this problem but it's way irritating and since we will be road tripping and sure to have the windows down we decided it must be remedied! (For the trip anyhow.)

So Mr. Coleman decided that with a little cardboard, tape and ingenuity he could jerry-rig something right up! Here was the first shot at it. It was a very humorous occasion, that's why you see so much smiling in the photos. 

There was a little break to add even more cardboard!

This was the final result of attempt #1.

 But Mr. Coleman was not satisfied so he decided on a different method. 

For the record...this method, although hilarious, did not work. 

So Mr. Ingenuity decides that he is going to use a method involving both plastic and cardboard to achieve the desired effect. 

 

EUREKA! 

 I must say it works quite nicely! Mr. Coleman did all of this today to make sure that it will hold up while we drive around for the weekend. It may look janky but it's VERY effective! We laughed A LOT while all of this was going on and with all of the stuff that we still have to do before we leave it was nice to have a little laugh. I can't wait to leave! Monday can't come soon enough! 

Remember, if you want me to send you a postcard like I mentioned here, just make sure to get your address to me. 

Until next time!

Nicole