A.J., Shaquita, and I took a leisurely kayak float down the lower Yakima river yesterday (starting just outside Ellensburg at the Big Horn launch site and floating to Big Pines campground). It was sunny and beautiful with nice cool water, and the current was running fast enough so we didn’t have to paddle much if we didn’t want to. It was so much fun, and I’m hoping we can go again later this month!
We rode the Coast Starlight train back from our short trip to Portland this week, and A.J. upgraded us to a “Roomette” sleeper car because it was such a ridiculously good deal… So that means we got dinner included (which outweighed the cost of the upgrade!) and I had a steak! So I guess now all I need is “Steaks in an Automobile” to complete the movie reference. 🙂
Here’s a few shots of our exclusive train experience… First, me in the Parlour Car (for sleeper room guests only) all decked out for the holidays. Next, me and Rainbow snuggled in the top bunk of our roomette, actually a pretty cozy bed, I even took a nap on the way home since our train had been so delayed and it was getting quite late. I could totally do a longer train trip in a room like this!
This was our puzzle this year at the annual Pederson Christmas reunion at Pleasant Valley (in Gary, SD).
The Admiral’s Club in Chicago has a fun selection of games to pass the time, we just played two rounds of Settler’s of Catan!
This is a view of our resort from across the beach, the oyster-shaped structure is the restaurant, Perla. Our room is on the third floor, way off to the right (it’s behind the palm trees in this photo). The view from our room is beautiful, and we have a nice large balcony that’s lovely for relaxing.
Did you know that the Pina Colada was invented in Puerto Rico? I’m having mine “sin alcohol”, I just think they taste better that way!
It’s like a movie poster… What an awesome photo!
We visited El Morro, the historic fort in Old San Juan, today. It is very impressive, especially to think about the manpower needed to build it and all of the history of wars and occupations it has had. It’s also a great place for kite flying, as most forts seem to be!
We had dinner at our resort restaurant, Perla, last night. It has a really cool feel inside (since it’s oyster-shaped) and a beautiful ocean view. The other photo is of some of the lobby decorations, way cool!!
