Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Honeymoon III

   Next morning Dane and woke up packed and headed to the Sea Lion Cave.  I really really enjoyed it! We heard so many seal/ sea lion noises on this trip it made me so happy :) I love watching them move. They shuffle along those rocks in such a funny way. We first watched them outside on a cliff looking down upon them then we went into this elevator that went down into the caves. This cave is the only known  mainland rockery for sea lions. The biggest, strongest sea lions will always have the nicest rocks and islands to sit at :)
   Dane and I then drove to Newport, Oregon. Dane wanted a trip from the Newport, California to the Newport, Oregon. In Newport the first spot we stopped at was The Oregon Coast Aquarium. I really liked that Aquarium. I was worried about going to another aquarium because Dane and I went to the one in Monterey, but this one was really neat too. It was a lot different from the Monterey one. The Monterey one you could tell just had more money. But this one had some really neat exhibits. It had a swamp area, where we saw this huge anaconda that was pregnant. A lot of the Newport Aquarium was outside so it had more of a feeling like a zoo.


There we saw vultures, seals and sea otters. I loved watching the sea otters they are now my new favorite animal. They would just swim on their backs eating then do a flip  and come back cleaning their fur.  The vulture was neat it has a whole in its head and a bald face so that it can put its head into animals remains easily and not keep bacteria on them.
   We then went to a Light house. The  Yaquina Head Light House. The light house was closed for the evening so we just went  to beach next to it. The beach was really unique it had all these cobble stones on the shore. The beach was quite windy and cold but those cobble stones absorbed heat really well so we got some good heat coming from below us.  We then ate at a restaurant called Moe's. It was good but I honestly think Dane and I were very sick of eating out. Even if we didn't eat out too much it was still a lot more then we ever did at home. Dane bought these really beautiful pictures from a gallery at Newport. I was worried about them but overall I think Dane made a good decision.
   Waking up at hotels room can be difficult for me. Those curtains can be very dark. At my home I can always wake up from the sunlight streaming through my blinds. Without sunlight my body has a really hard time. Anyways that was an issue. I kept waking up in the morning but felt like it was really early because of how dark it was so I kept going back to sleep. So I was just sitting in bed when Dane randomly wakes up and asks what time it was. I look at the microwave and it says 10:54 check out is at 11:00! Dane and I really rushed and made it for check out time. We then drove back to the light house to get a tour of the inside. It was cool to be able to walk into one. That light house is still in function. It is used only as a back up though since ships now use GPS's.  Guides were dressed up in old Captain uniforms :)
   Then off to Yellowstone. Oregon to Yellowstone was a pretty long drive. Dane and I did stop for a hike, it was a place next to the Colombia River. That was a fun little adventure. Dane likes to run a lot on Mountains. I thing I am not fond of. I just feel like I have no balance. Anyways, Dane was running and at times I was running trying to catch up with him. It made me think of "The Hobbit" running down mountains is not easy and they had to run from things all the time.
   Dane drove to Montana, planning on Stopping at a city called Missoula. When we reached that city it was pretty late and turned out there was a marathon going on so everywhere was full! Dane drove the whole night not finding any vaccancys. I kept falling asleep in the passenger seat. Dane is a lot better at staying awake than I am. We reached Yellowstone between 7 am and 8 am (Dane still not having sleep). It was really neat when we pulled up to the parking lot there were about 30 elk just chilling on the grass. They were so big! I was surprised. Dane then got a reservation for a campground. We then visited a few of the hot spots. It was really neat just seeing that steam come out of those rocks. Then we set up our tent mainly trying to get sleep for Dane. Dane didn't sleep too well. After about three hours of failed sleep we decided to go to Old Faithful. That was really magnificent to see.
   Yellowstone over all was a lot more big and a lot prettier than I ever expected. I think everyone should go to Yellowstone in their lives. The wildlife was exquisite. We saw so many bison right next to our car. We drove right behind a coyote. Saw a beaver on the shore. Dane called it the Animal honeymoon. We have seen a lot of wild life! I was feeling sad about not having a camp fire. So we bought logs to burn, matches, marsh mellows and hotdogs. A problem I never thought of with having a fire was starting the fire. I have done lots of camping with girl scouts and with religious activities that I felt like I knew how to make one. Turns out I didn't really.  The campsite did make it difficult though we didn't have any kindling near our campsite. So we made due with dead grass near us. I tried for a long time lighting a lot of matches. That fire kept going out. I gave up and quit so sad about my poor skills.  Dane then started to try (he hates fire) he persisted though and made a fire! I was so proud of him :) Then we cooked marsh mellows and hotdogs. Dane told me a few scary stories that got me nervous.
  The tent that night was really really cold. I was used to coast nights being 5ft in elevation now we were at 7000 ft. That made that night cold. Waking up in the morning it was so beautiful all around the campground! We then headed home driving through the Grand Teton. Very awe- inspiring. Then we made it home!
   Now we still don't know what we are doing we need to get to Maryland.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Being Married; sentimental thoughts

It's weird that I keep wanting to write on this. I guess I didn't bring my journal and new things are happening... Am I have a strong feeling nobody reads this. So all is good. And I guess I need things to do when Dane is sleeping or playing games on his ipad.
    I have discovered on this trip I have grown sentimental. I keep thinking of my family and how I never want to leave them. I have never been a way from them for a very long period of time Maryland will be the first real far away place. 
  On this trip I was getting sick of Dane's ipod music so I finally convinced him to let me listen to "my" ipod for a bit. (It's not actually my ipod it his one of his. An old one that he let me borrow years ago so it has music that is his and music that I have put on it. )
   I really like musicals which he is not a big fan of.  I have found ones he can handle, usually they have to have a really strong story and can't have a lot of women "screeching". He doesn't like women hitting those really high notes.
   Anyways back to my story. I started playing Les Miserables on my ipod. It reminded me of all the road trips I took with my dad listening to these broadway musicals. My dad and I have very similar tastes in music. That is where I got my love for musicals, from my father. I had so much fun in those car rides with him. He also used to always take me swimming when I was little. Those were my most fond memories as a child. I bet it had a big deal with trust. I didn't really know how to swim for a while but he would always have me jump into his arms and he would always catch me. I remember doing that a lot in the pool in the Netherlands. The Sterrenbad.  Or he would swim me across the pool on his back. He got to do his laps and I got a free ride across the pool pretending I was running away from Native Americans attacking us with spears. That thought came to me from the Tape we used to sing to in the car it was an old Disney one that he used to listen to as a child. The song was about John Colter swimming away from the Native Americans. Dad was always doing fun stuff. I even liked practicing multiplication with flash cards with him. It just showed that he cared and was trying to teach me. I was quite annoying with those flash cards every time he would pull one out I would say "oh that is so easy" trying to think of the answer as I said it. He wasn't fooled :) 
  I definitely got my longing to travel from dad. He has traveled all over the world and still has a burning desire for more. Right now his real desire is to go to Israel. I always loved that he went on an LDS mission to Italy. I could always ask him language questions and culture ones. Eating at La Dolce Vita I liked for him to be able to tell me what everything was and also for him to converse with the woman from Naples. I love my dad. 
   I am missing my mom. Traveling on this honeymoon has really reminded me of our trips to Iowa. I don't really know why maybe it's simply the feeling of traveling to new places. My mom is very very kind. She does too much for people. I cannot count that number of times she has made a meal for me, or for everybody in our whole family. She has cleaned my room so many times she was always offering money or any help when I went to college. And for my wedding she did so much. I babysit our family for a week this summer while my mom and dad went to a much needed trip to Hawaii. It was so hard I couldn't believe what my mom does everyday. She cleans way way too much and cooks way way too much. 
   My mom is also a good shoulder to cry on. Which I did not discover until this summer. I had a lot of breaking points before my wedding. My mom was always there helping me, even when I snapped at her she would come. I am missing her pork chops and eggs this trip. Coming home from college she always made sure my room was clean. She also always to try to make meals for Dane. I always really like those. I loved sitting at the table with everybody. My mom would always call and check up on me. Always make sure everything was okay. Always get me to places I needed. I am not a fan of driving and have become aware of how much she drove me when she was tired. She had to wake up when I missed the bus stop. I really love my mom. 
    Over all I think my wedding day went really well. I was very excited to marry Dane. In the temple I couldn't believe my joy for the sealing. To be married to Dane :D He didn't seem that excited which was sort of sad. I know he was uncomfortable with the Temple though which was okay. 
   I was really happy with my hair and makeup. My hair sort of reminded me of a mix of Jane Austen and Emma Smith just older fashion which I really like. My sister in law Ashley Anderson told me about this big Jane Austen festival in England in the city of Bath. I really want to visit that some day. I was really happy with my dress. I loved that corset! I was pretty happy with my weight by the time I got married. I was at 126 lbs. Which is really good for me. I'm about 5"6. That diet "17 day diet" I actually liked. My mom could make really good foods following it. One thing I didn't like about it though was I only would have a bowel movement once a week. That didn't seem right. 
  I was really happy with all the people that came to the temple. I was not expecting so many. After getting endowed in the Provo Temple I was regretting having my sealing in the Logan temple it just seemed so far away. And the actual temple we got sealed at didn't seem that important. However, because of all the relatives from Dane's family that was able to come I was  happy with it. I was also very happy to be back in Logan. I don't realize how much I like Logan until I come back to it. 
   I was really happy with the reception! I thought it was gorgeous! I loved the flowers that Debbie Lewis did. She did an amazing job! I was really happy being able to stand next to a river. I was a little disappointed with how many came. I thought a lot more people from my ward would come. It made me want to make sure I try to go to weddings. It  makes people feel important. I was also very sad with the whole Lisa situation I can't get it off of my mind. I was really sad she and Ryan couldn't come and also her parents. Things got so hectic we ended up not having music. Which was sad too. Oh well. One other thing that was kind of sad looking back at pictures was the dead grass. Someone accidently put weed killer on the grass that killed the grass

Some of the beautiful flowers!




.
    I'm pretty sure pretty much everybody from Dane's side came. His family is really supportive it is really neat to see. So many of them came to my bridal shower I was so surprised. With that bridal shower nothing could have gone better. I had such a good time! And so happy his family came I didn't think they would because I did not know a lot of them too well. I was really happy Ashley did a Pride and Prejudice theme with that too. I loved the music she had playing at it.  Ashley is always so nice and helpful. The games ended up good too. It was good though when Alyssa came and stopped them they were getting long after a while. 



some pictures from honeymoon












Thursday, July 7, 2011

Honeymoon II

Now I am in Florence, Oregon. Dane and I are just headed up the coast. We are at a motel called the West Villa.
   To continue posting about our honeymoon the day after Point Lobos we went to the Hearst Castle. Before this trip I did not know any castles existed in America I suppose that was quite a naive thought. We actually did not take the tours to the castle we just got to see it from a Telescope and read about it. It did seem really neat. All the pictures were breathtaking. What you can do if you are wealthy. We wanted to go to a place called the mission near Carmel but did not end up having time. We came back to the house Casa Blanca and played a card game with Lindsay, Kevin, Matt and Staci and Dane. I had a lot of fun. There have been a lot of games this week which have been fantastic. I even ended up liking Risk :)
  The next day we packed up a long with everybody else. It was sad to leave. We passed through San Francisco and ate at Jack in the Box. I did not really like that city it was really crowded. I had never been to a place where you needed tokens to go to the bathroom I wasn't a fan of that. I guess Germany you do have to pay  for the restrooms and I didn't mind that. We then headed off to a place called Fort Ross. I really really liked Fort Ross it was this old Fort that was made by Russians. Dane heard about it in one of his Anthropology classes. It was weird that no one we talked to had heard of it. At Fort Ross there were a lot of Germans so we think just Europeans know about that place. It was easy to imagine being there in the  1800's just imagining the Spanish charging we felt quite protected in the fort. The one thing the Russians really missed bread when moving to America so they started growing wheat here. I really like bread and am thankful for that.  I also really liked the Eastern Orthodox Church. Before this trip I had not ever been into an Orthodox church to my knowledge.

 We stopped and ate at this Fish 'n Chips place in a city called Fort Bragg. We did not like that city and we did not like that restaurant. We were expecting a cheap little place $5 dollars being the most. But it was more like $9 and did not taste that great. So people traveling through Fort Bragg don't stop there.
  Dane I then started driving through the Red Woods forest those were quite beautiful. They are so large! It's weird to think how old they are. Dane and I then stopped at this camping site it was called something like Red wood resort. The camping site did seem really neat it was just that we pulled in right before dark and were just needing a place to set up are tent not actually have a big fun camping trip. The place reminded me of how much I like to camp and how much I wanted to make a fire and cook hot dogs and
s'mores on it. Mosquitos were attacking Dane like crazy though. They always go for him. I don't think I even got one bite and he has a million. I wonder why they like him so much. We eat the same stuff. He jokes and says he tastes like candy. But honestly Mosquitos are weird they always liked my mom too.
  So far Oregon has been pretty. I have never been to this state before. I wasn't happy when I found out that we have to wait for people to pump up our gas here. I guess it gives people more jobs but I just felt like we could have done it much faster oh well. Tomorrow the one plan I know we are supposed to do is go to Sea lions cave. I am excited for that!
   The car ride has been pretty enjoyable Dane downloaded a lot of books on his Ipad before we left.  We have listened to a lot of different things which have been fun :)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Honeyoon!

Right now I am sitting in a tent in the backyard of Georgia White's home in Pebble beach. So far my honeymoon has been quite enjoyable. We started out heading toward the Grand Canyon. Neither Dane or myself had ever been to it. Driving to the Grand Canyon we stayed in this tiny city in Utah called Kanab. It was really neat there were lots of Native American shops we could look at also lots of things on old movies. A lot of Western films had been filmed there. Our hotel's theme was  old movies. After leaving Kanab we eventually made it to the Grand Canyon which was beautiful. The hike we decided on wasn't that great however. It was all down hill one way and all up hill the other way. So coming up made it really difficult. It was also very sandy and mules had recently plunged down it leaving their manure.
   After leaving Grand Canyon we wanted to camp but did not find any camping grounds that looked that great so we kept driving into the night. When it became late we pulled into a city. The city we stayed at started with an S. I can't think of the name it was. All it had was really ghetto hotels. We stayed at one that said it was Norwegien  owned. The host was not Norwegien we believe it was a way to be racist. Since all the other motels were owned by Indians from India. We left our motel as soon as we could.
    Then we drove to Newport Beach California where my Grandma Odette lives. The traffic was pretty descent and we were happy for our GPS. Grandma's house was a lot of fun. We really enjoyed talking to her and for her hospitality.  She gave Dane and old Winston Churchill coin from England. Which Dane was joyous over. He collects silver coins. She made us yummy food too, which we appreciated. In Newport we went to Balboa Island and also to Big Corona. Both of which were really pretty. I love the smell of the Ocean!
  We then headed off to Pebble Beach. Pebble Beach is really gorgeous. It is right next to the golf course which is right next to the ocean. Dane and I walked next to the cliffs and the shore. Which was a moment that took my breath away it was so beautiful. I felt like it was very romantic. Until Dane started whispering "romance" into my ear ;) The next day we went to the Monterey Aquarium. That aquarium was the best one I have been too. My favorite part was the sea horse room. Sea horses are so cool to watch! Their fins look like wings in the water they are moving so fast it looks like the sea horses are flying. Dane and I then walked to Fisherman's Wharf. I really liked Fisherman's Wharf there were lots of shops and seafood restaurants. We ate at one and I got there famous clam chowder bowl. Which was really good. Dane and I went to this neat antique store where I got a porcelain teapot from Delft, Holland. The next day we went Kayaking. That was a lot of fun there were a lot of sea otters right next to our boat! They are sooooo cute! I love them so much. I also love hearing all the sea lions and seals around here. The next day we went hiking at Point Lobos now that was really neat. The majority of our hike was jumping up and down on rocks next to the sea. There was a lot of wild life on those rocks. I believe I saw four starfish which I've never seen any in the wild life. There were a lot of crabs and just tons of shells.
   These nights have been quite enjoyable and we have had splendid company. And it's weird that Dane and I are still not finished. I kind of don't want to leave. Leaving is going to be really stressful  when we get home. Dane and I will be headed off to Maryland which I am really worried for.