Sunday, February 14 I was celebrating my gorgeous 14 year old niece's birthday at a Red Robin talking to my brother-in-law about the Olympics and how cool some of the events were that I'd been watching. Particularly Apolo Ohno. Out of nowhere he says, "We should go! The Olympics are never going to be so close, and the kids would love it! Could you go?" I'm like, of course!! So, we both searched the internet (Craigslist) for Olympic tickets while munching on Red Robin fries. We parted ways and when I called my sister later that night to figure out what the plan was, my brother-in-law said she was asleep but would call me in the morning.
Well, she did. At 8:15 am she called me and said "wanna go to the Olympics today?" I raced around the house looking for red, white and blue clothes and within 2 hours we had met up and my son & I had hopped in my sister's van and the 8 of us were in route to CANADA! My sister was busy on the laptop finding a hotel room for us. After a stop or two along the way for food, drinks and bathroom breaks we were in another country.
That night we took the subway to downtown Vancouver and walked blocks and blocks enjoying all of the Olympic excitement. The patriotism all over the city was so thick it was tangible. Every country was represented. It started to rain but that couldn't dampen our spirits. We made our way to the Olympic Torch but I have to admit I was a little sad there was a big cyclone fence around it, sitting a couple hundred yards away from the torch. Seeing it though sent chills down my spine.
The next morning we left our hotel room (about 45 minutes away from Vancouver) and drove to a subway station where we left the van and headed downtown. My sister exudes patriotism and just pure fun! She was busy on our subway ride painting our faces. Flags, stars and USA were artistically splattered on our faces. My niece Megan's face was covered with a flag, it was awesome!
As my sister & I waited with the boys for the others to get the tickets, we waited on the steps of a big building. As I was checking out my painted face in a small mirror a man came over and asked if he could take pictures. I said sure and seconds later he had a ginormous camera with a zoom lens the size of a cannon pressed up against my face clicking away like I was 80's Cindy Crawford. It was for Canada's largest paper, or so he said. Although, I couldn't find a picture on their website the following week.
We arrived at our event.... MEN'S USA HOCKEY V SWITZERLAND!! My niece had her picture taken with a young Swiss woman with a flag on her face and big ole flag. They were so cute. The stadium was packed and we had fabulous seats. Amazing since we had just got them the day before. The game was so fabulous and luckily we (USA) beat them 3-1.
I was hoping the kids would have an experience of a lifetime, but it was just as exciting or maybe more for me.
So, it's been a LONG time since I've posted anything. Where does the time go? I guess my son, Luke said it best a week or so ago. I'm driving and he says from the back seat, completely out of nowhere, "You know Mom, I think the reason time seems to go by so much faster when you're younger is because like say you're 40 and we're talking about 2 years, well, that's 1/20th of your life, but for me, I'm 8 and 2 years is like 1/4th!" Well, it actually confused me, but maybe that's cuz I'm getting old.
And, that takes me to my last bit of travel. Last month IT happened! I knew it was coming, but there was nothing I could do. No matter how hard I tried I still turned..... 40!
But, I did it in style. I thought what better place to be for someone who 'never wants to grow up' than Disneyland. On my birthday Eve I flew to California, actually returning to the scene of the crime, since I was born in sunny Southern Cal. We stayed in a super cool hotel next to Disneyland. Having a couple of drinks before hitting the rides gave it a whole new experience. I love the Indiana Jones ride and the final drop on Splash Mountain seemed so much steeper even though my head was down and my eyes were closed. I hadn't been to Disneyland in the Winter in years, especially at Christmastime when the castle is covered in gorgeous bluish white icicle looking lights. And, then came the fake snow blown down on all of us and the gasps from the true Californian's..... "Oh my gosh, it's snowing! It's beautiful, I'm gonna cry!!" Wow people, you really should get out, or head North. The non-fiction weather at Disneyland was absolutely perfect and for those few hours I felt 7 not 39 & 364/365ths. It was....magical.
The next day, my official birthday we flew to VEGAS!!! The pilot, of course, announced my birthday and then a bag was delivered to my seat with mini bottles and some not so mini bottles. We stayed at the brand new Aria, which is part of City Center, a city within a city. Located right on the strip, next to the Monte Carlo, it had only opened 3 DAYS before we arrived. I'm thinking we were the first in our hotel room, woo hooo! Our room was absolutely fabulous!! When you walk in and enter the hallway to the bedroom the huge floor to ceiling wall of plush curtains across from the door slowly starts opening. What lies behind the curtains is a grand view of the Las Vegas strip. There are these little mini computer things, I'm sure there is a technical name for it, next to the bed. With one touch you can control the heat/air, open and close the fancy curtains, control the t.v. and radio, room service and more. You probably could order up anything you wanted. It was so cool and I usually don't care about that kind of stuff but this was.... AWESOME! The colors of the room were super classy in dark browns and taupes with a ginormous Superior King bed and big, tufted headboard. The big, flat screen t.v. even personally welcomed us when we entered the room.
I'm not a very subtle person, people were saying happy birthday wherever we went, maybe it was because of the big birthday cake sunglasses I sported all over town.
We did the usual Vegas things, had some drinks, gambled and did a lot of walking. If you have to turn 40, which most of us do, this was the way to do it. A weekend of laughs, rides, Mickey and Elvis. Forty is pretty darn fun!
If you're lucky enough to be in Bunol, Spain on the last Wednesday of August, you can participate in the world's largest tomato fight, possibly the world's largest food fight. This tiny town sees red in an explosion of tomato seeds, pulp and guts! And, who could ask for any more fun?! Over 90,000 pounds of tomatoes are available to be hurled, chucked, flung, flicked, rubbed, smashed, grinded, catapulted, heaved, pitched, propelled, jerked, tossed and lobbed at your nearest neighbor whether it be your best friend, mother or stranger. I've had this Festival on my Bucket List for a couple years now and with the economy and my own personal economy I couldn't afford to make this year the one.
So, my dear sister thought if Tina can't go to Tomatina we'll bring TomaTINA to her! And, boy did she! This past Saturday 20 of us gathered at my sister's property armed with plenty of goggles and a sudden fear of tomatoes. My sister, the Master of Ceremonies, cited The Rules thru her megaphone before we began. Your basic food fight rules, "You must smash the tomato in your hand before chucking it at someone, if you step off the tarp no one can throw a tomato at you and you as well can't hurl one at someone on the tarp. No one leaves with a white shirt (o.k. that one wasn't on there). And, when the siren blares you may begin and again when it blares you must cease fire."
To kick off the onslaught of tomatoes Isaiah, the winner of "guess the amount of cherry tomatoes in the jar" contestant, was able to pick one person to pour a can of tomato sauce on. The innocent Kobe was desecrated! And, with the quick blare of the siren we were off!!!
We all dashed for the kiddie pool in the center of the tarp overflowing with juicy tomatoes and the battle was on. Having large hands came in handy on this beautiful, sunny, Saturday. Scooping up handfuls of mushy tomatoes I hugged friends I hadn't hugged for a while, even patted them on the head. I mashed tomatoes on my son's head, chest and tummy. Why not? The shirt we had made for him said TomaLuke with a bulls eye on it! The barrage of vegetables, or are they fruit, lasted about 20-30 minutes, longer than one might think. At the end, before the siren, we were all moving in slow motion, gathering up whatever energy we could to make sure no child was left behind, left behind with a white shirt.
After the battle, the rope came out. It was time for tug-o-war in the tomato mush! The girls beat the boys and had them soaking up more of the red slop!
Some hiked back up the hill to the house, others rode ATVs to the hose showers awaiting us. A delicious spaghetti dinner was waiting for us. Followed by Bianca's famous cupcakes!
It was such a wonderful, fun day, we plan on making it a tradition! Tomatina has nothing on us!! Thank you sis!!
I have been a complete blog slacker the past few months and I apologize. It's not a lack of things going on, there are always things going on. Just enough to keep me running ragged and to keep the hair dye industry in business. But such is life, right?
I started this post almost three months ago when I returned from a lovely long weekend in the D.R. Russ had been planning a trip to Costa Rica for a month or two, I think it ranks in the top 3, maybe top spot on his Bucket List. So, he asked me to go, I contemplated it for a couple weeks. But, in typical Tina fashion (not that I am usually a procrastinator) the night before, yes, literally the night the trip I decided YES I would go!! I packed my bag which included a few bikinis, a few cover-ups, some capris and t-shirts, the usual zip lock bag with all of the 3 ounce bottles and tubes I could cram in it and I was ready to go.
We raced to the airport, always racing, just practice for the Amazing Race. And, about 4 steps from the car at the airport Russ realizes he has left the tickets on his fridge at home. UGH! We race back to his place, get them and race back to the airport, missing the plane by 10 minutes or less. We hemmed and hawed for a while at the airport, looking at other options and decided to Plan B would be Dominican Republic.
We landed in Puerto Plata without a hotel or a clue about where we were going to go or what we were going to do. I was excited about that!! We walked out of the aiport and were approached by a few taxi drivers speaking in Spanish, of course, the language of the island. Neither Russ' or I speak Spanish, at least not well enough to impress my grandmother. Russ knew of a good town not far from the airport and asked them to take us there. They asked which hotel and Russ said, "I don't know, a nice one" and I bark "pero barato!" I'm not sure but I hope I'm saying, "but cheap". They nod in agreement and we hop in the taxi. Driving along the coastline of the D.R. is gorgeous. White sandy beaches, palm trees blowing softly as if to be slow dancing and beautiful splashes of color against the blue sky from the numerous kite boarders.
Soon we are in the town of Cabarete and pulling up at at this hotel, chosen by our taxi driver, after our lengthy Spanish conversation, not really. A beautiful hotel, absolutely perfect, right on the beach with an infinity pool reaching into the warm, Atlantic Ocean. Big suites with all the amenities you could ask for. The only amenity I was really hoping for was a lounge chair near the pool & ocean, depending on my mood. You know what mood I'm talking about, do I want to be sandy? Do I want to walk more than 4 feet to cool off? The result was a chaise almost in the pool. They even had gorgeous cabanas around the pool. Can life getting any better? I'm pretty sure not.
Russ had always wanted to learn how to kite board and this was obviously the place to learn. We meandered down the beach, stopping in the beachfront shops and lesson sites. He arranged to meet Sammy, his instructor the next morning. The next three days Russ underwent a pretty extensive training for kite boarding and within a few hours was mastering it. Being completely buff, a surfer, a snowboarder and everything else doesn't hurt. I didn't have much desire to learn. Well, honestly, I would love to learn, but the chaise lounge chairs & cabanas screamed my name MUCH louder than the grueling, sweating, exhausting lessons did. Maybe next time. After hours of being bashed by waves and kite boarding Russ joined a couple games of beach volleyball. Does this man ever stop?! And, how can I be so exhausted from lying in the sun, drinking Diet Coke and the occasional dip in the pool?
Each day I would flop out of bed and roll out to the pool for more sun and relaxation and every night we would walk down the main street finding a new restaurant to try. The restaurants all have indoor and outdoor seating where your seats are often bean bags or wicker couches halfway buried in the sand. So cool! Beautiful twinkling lights or funky Japanese lanterns hung from the palm trees and the only thing to worry about was trying t make it to every restaurants Happy Hour.
There are a couple casinos near or in Cabarete, so we found ourselves at one steps from our hotel and found that we were the only ones there! We quickly lost some money but were saved once some more kiteboarders came and joined in.
The speed of the island, or at least Cabarete is perfect. Not the speed limit for cars, but the speed of the people, the lifestyle. It's nowhere as slow as Roatan, Honduras, where I had to beg for a young woman to take my order at a Popeye's Chicken while doing her make-up. And, yes, she worked there! And, not the quick, hustle and bustle of ..... New York City. It was so relaxing and beautiful and I can't wait to return!
Most of my vacations consist of about a month of planning, sometimes a week and even last month, one was less than 24 hours. But, last August my sister and I decided to "branch out" and made reservations for a couple of tree houses at a one-of-a-kind resort built in the trees where long term planning was a must. Out 'n' About Treehouse Treesort in Southern Oregon was a totally unique adventure that was the center of many fabulous, family memories.
A few days ago my sister, her husband, their four children, my son Luke and I headed South, to the very bottom of Oregon. Stopping at our favorite, Rice Hill for ginormous ice cream cones. Arriving to this B & B in the trees Luke and I headed up the 40 stairs or so to our sweet wooded escape, Peacock Perch. It was very cute, small, but it is a treehouse. A double bed and a smaller (half twin) sized bed as well. A small fridge and sink are in the room too. Getting to my sister's treehouse was a different story. Several spiral staircases later and 2 long suspension bridges, which made you feel like locals were going to jump out of the woods and start shooting arrows at you (Indiana Jones-esque) and you were finally at Treezebo. The highest treehouse floating at 37 feet up in the air. When the wind blew the "house" swayed in the breeze. Faaaa....reeeaaaky!!!! The swaying wasn't for me, so I quickly exited the branches for solid ground.
Centered in the compound is a campire for everyone's use, also a building with a couple of bathrooms (including showers) and a kitchen. Outside the kitchen were bbq grills and camp like stoves. In the evening other tree campers bbq'd, boiled, grilled, roasted and even sautee'd their dinners along side us. There was a stage that was just finished being built, it had a beautiful mural on it and temporarily held a foosball game. Around the treehouses were a couple of rope swings. They were usually in use with kids doing their best Tarzan. Also on the grounds was a volleyball net, horses (for horseback riding), horseshoes (the game, but probably also on the aforementioned horses feet) and the lodge. In the lodge, were you check in, there is a t.v., internet access, books and board games. Breakfast is included and was WONDERFUL! All you can eat cereal, oatmeal, quiche, waffles one morning (french toast the next), toast, juice, coffee and more. Plenty of seating inside and out; we sat outside on a deck enjoying the beauty while fueling up for the morning. The only warning is to watch out for the Hamburglar, one of the resort's boxer looking type dogs that will snatch the food from your hand if you're not looking.
We arrived Friday, settled in, looked around, played some volleyball (I have almost professional volleyball playing teenage neices) and then had dinner. The next morning we awoke, had a big breakfast, played around a bit, lounged by the morning campfire and realized it was only 9:00. I was quickly reminded of the slow crawl of time that occurs when you are camping. So, after a short discussion we decided to head to the Oregon Caves. Only 30-45 minutes from the tree houses and a destination none of us had been. We arrived at the Caves after a stomach-upsetting curvy ride. We joined some others for a 90 minute tour through the caves. Over 500 stairs and areas where you must duck down to a 45 inch height. Not too hard for my 43" tall nephew Josh. The caves were truly beautiful, gorgeous marble walls and some that look like whimsical delicate sand castles dripping from the ceiling. It's amazing! We all had a great time! We stopped for mexican food in Cave Junction before heading back to the resort for some dare devil activities.
Our sign up for zip lining was for 4 possibly 5 people. Laura hadn't decided and I frankly wasn't sure I would be doing it. After my fearless neice Megan was suited up for it she started in on me, "Tina... you just got to, come on, you'll love it, you just have to do it, you said you would, pleaseeee........". What could I do, my 13 year old neice and my 11 year old nephew were ready to fly through the trees I guess I could. Within a couple minutes I was sporting the army colored nylon diaper harness, leather gloves and a small white helmet (not very attractive but if it protects my noggin). There were 4 or 5 others from another family joining us. Kyle, our young and very pierced instructor quickly taught us how to steer, how to stop and how to scream. Oh wait, no, I got that one on my own. There were three runs, that's what I'll call them. The first one we climbed up a wooden ladder to a platform about 20 feet perched in a tree. The instructor there would hook the metal clamp that was dangling from my body to the line and when I thought I was "ready" he let go of me. It was a blast! It was across a meadow and not too far off the ground. The more you weigh, the quicker you zip, so I was pretty much a bullet on a zipline. I felt like Chevy Chase on Christmas Vacation when he sprayed his sled with butter spray and flew thru the snow. When the first run was over we were instructed to follow the path thru the woods to another platform. This one was cool, it was right in the center of a very wooded forest. There was though a gap in the trees that we would be sailing thru. Wheeww!! When the 3rd instructor (a young woman) said, "You'll be zipping thru the woods, and when you start to come out of the woods you'll see Kyle on a platform on a tree, you'll need to stop there". Wait a second! Should I seriously have been paying attention to the breaking and steering instructions. I have to land myself on a platform with a guy on it?! Yep! As I shot thru the jungle at about 60 mph I cleared the woods and saw Kyle standing on this itty bitty platform 50 feet off the ground. You've got to be kidding! I have to stop on that. I was sure I was going to plow Kyle off the platform and just plunge to my death, our deaths. But, for some reason I was all of a sudden an expert and landly perfectly on the platform. Two more people joined us on the placemat sized platform in the sky. I was terrified, even though I was now linked to the tree. That still didn't comfort me as I struggled to find a place to stand or as Kyle said, have a seat. Finally, it was my turn to leave this napkin sized platform in heaven. You couldn't just step off the platform either, you had to shimmy down the side of the tree, stepping on sawed off branches.
You see, I have a real problem with getting down from places. I'm much like our cat Snoopy we had growing up. Several times he found himself 40 feet up a large Douglas Fir tree only to be brought down by the local, bored fire department. Just 2 months ago I was at my sister's house and was admiring the tree house my brother-in-law had started. After climbing the "ladder", I sat on the platform, about 15 feet off the ground, I realized I couldn't get down. The three options I had weren't really options for me. I couldn't back down the ladder, The huge nails poking in one huge branch wouldn't hold me and the rope, well, I'm not a fireman so I can't slide down a rope. After much help and encouragement, my neice Megan helped me belly crawl down the trunk of the tree. Several years ago I was on the roof of our house painting the second story. I had easily climbed up the roof and had wisely brought my cell phone with me. After several attempts to climb down the ladder I called my sister and her and the kids came to "talk me down" from the roof. This time, if there hadn't been a wire leading me to the ground, I think I might still be up on that platform.
After I was safely on the ground and a ziplining expert we had the option of doing the Tarzan swing. Still wearing the army diaper you can chose to be linked to a rope that with the help of a golf cart pulling you up, you are hoisted 50 feet up a tree. They let you go and you free fall for a second before swinging out over the rest of us, who are too chicken to do it ourselves. It looks horrific and it's hard to believe we pay to be tortured for things like this. But, Megan (my neice) and Carson (nephew) did it. So, their dad had to do it as well. His voice seemed to change as he swung thru the air. I think it was the sound of fear.
That night we baked potatoes and corn-on-the-cob on the grill and o.d.'d on watermelon before perfecting our s'mores.
We zipped thru the forest, crawled thru caves, lived among the chipmunks in the trees and ate s'mores til we were sick; it was the perfect getaway!!
Last summer I shared with you our adventures in Africa. These moments changed our lives. But, I want to change their lives. On a more permanent basis. I believe God brought the Oyaro family into my life for a reason. They need help. Joshua and Catherine are struggling each day to keep the children they have taken into their home. With 10, sometimes 11 children in the home it can be expensive. They are very thrifty with their money, eating the cheapest food possible day after day. The rent for their house is only $160, but for them that is a lot of money. For us, it isn't. I explained in an earlier blog a conversation I had with Catherine. She talked to 3 of the orphan children in her home about the possibility that they may have to return to the bad orphanage they were in before. They cried and told her they wouldn't eat, and begged to stay with them. Of course they have stayed and the Oyaro family continues to struggle.
They are both pastors at a very small church and don't make an income from that. She has her own Pharmaceutical kiosk, where she sells aspirin, vitamins, etc. But it doesn't make very much money. They are a very loving family that have done a fabulous job of raising all of the children that have been brought into their lives. They consider them all "their children".
That's where you come in! You don't have to know them, you don't even have to know me. But, if you've stumbled across my blog and feel the desire to help please contact me. I dream of having 20 people committed to donating $10 a month to them. That will cover their rent and give them a little extra for food. Heck! Why don't we go for 40 people and $20 a month!?! The Oyaro's want to buy their own property that they can have a bigger house on so they can take as many children in as possible. They have been approached by others to take in more children, HIV orphans. But, they don't have the room and they don't have the funds.
Ten dollars a month is ..... not much for us. But, it's the world to them, it actually means survival for them. It means me skipping lunch out one day. Or a couple coffees for some of you (sorry, I'm beginning to sound a bit Sally Struthers like).
Let's form a club for them. Maybe "Lukenya's friends". That is their nickname for Luke. Please let me know if you're interested. If you can't donate every month that's o.k. Anything is better than nothing. Every cent counts. The Paypal account I set up for them can't be used. But donations can be made to WoMen of Purpose, an organization that sponsors them, based in Newberg, Oregon. It's a tax write off too! Please email me at tbrowntravels@verizon.net if you can help.
I'm a single mother of a fabulous 8 year old boy. I am so lucky with good friends and family, good health, a nice house and good job.
I love to travel to pretty much everywhere. I love Africa, Italy, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Guatemala, Peru and Australia. Oh and of course the Caribbean. I love seeing other cultures and meeting people from such diverse backgrounds. I love children and developed a strong connection with the children in Africa.
Life is short and I'm enjoying it!
