It Wouldn't Be Christmas...

...without a mess in the travel plans. I'm glad I've realized this already and have been able to accept it. When the mess came this year, I was pretty ok with just sitting and waiting til things got fixed. But I really haven't had a Christmas since going to college that traveling went without a hitch.

This year's travel actually started out a little too smoothly. There were no issues getting a cab with Ant to the airport, everything in Cali was on time and going well, and even security was quick and easy to get through (we'll see how that is for the return trip with the new terrorist issues...). I had a short flight to Phoenix, and then a reasonable yet fairly short layover there. The problems began when we were scheduled to board the next plane.

Boarding what scheduled for 7:16. We waited for quite a while without hearing anything, wondering why we were delayed. There were no messages saying we were waiting for a plane, and in fact one was sitting at the end of the jet bridge. Eventually, we were informed that we awaited our crew coming from another flight. At this point, I was debating getting food; on one hand I was intended to land in about an hour and a half, could save money by not eating, and didn't want to be waiting in line when our crew arrived and boarding began. On the other hand, though, the longer I sat, the hungrier I got. When we heard another announcement 20 minutes later saying we would wait another 15 for the captain, I went ahead and got in line for Burger King. And I am glad I did.

We finally boarded about a half hour late, and were informed that we scheduled a POSSIBLE alternate landing for Denver, weather-depending. We would not know for sure, however, until we arrived and it was clearly too late to inform anyone picking us up at the airport of a change in plans. I was hopeful we'd be able to get in, though, since the storm was only starting.

As we approached Colorado Springs, all signs pointed to landing. However, we sat in a holding pattern for 10-15 minutes before being informed that we would in fact land in Denver. Apparently, there was a mechanical failure on the plane (having to do with the flap sensors on the wings used to aid in braking), and that, in conjunction with weather conditions, meant the runways in COS were too short for a guaranteed safe landing. Of course, this information was not provided in the air, and it only spread by passenger conversations; the airline itself did not inform us of what had happened.

When we did touch down, it was on the runway farthest from the airport and we were greeted by several fire trucks nearby. Thankfully they had no occasion to actually approach the plane, and we taxied in without a problem. When they finally decided to deplane the passengers, they still weren't sure how to get us to the Springs. We were told to wait in the boarding area, because it would be warmer than on the plan, as they figured out a plan. Of course, they left the door to the outside open for at least 20-30 minutes, so it was actually colder in the boarding area than it had been on-board. As we waited, several people decided they would simply have family come collect them in Denver; it was announced that this was fine, but as we were not a scheduled landing, there was no crew to remove their luggage from the hold.

Finally we were informed that the mechanical issue had been fixed, and we could line up to re-board the plane. A few moments later, and we were told it would be another 5 minutes, and they started checking us off a list. About another 20 minutes later, they informed us that we would not be taking the plane after all and they were organizing ground transportation. So we began the move to baggage claim.

At this point, we had landed 30 minutes late and probably spent another hour waiting in the boarding area. Of course it was late enough that all restaurants and bars were closed (I was glad I decided to get that burger). The Rock Bottom Brewery, dark and gated, that sat right next to our boarding area taunted us for the hour we waited there. Of course, the arrivals board in COS, where people were waiting for us, showed that we had arrived, and online updates stated that the plane was landed and only 20 minutes late. There was no information provided to them that we weren't even in the right city.

Of course, being as late as it was (by this time it's after 11 pm), even the trains between the concourses weren't running regularly. If you've never flown through Denver, there is a platform in every concourse to board trains transporting you between them and the main terminal. There are 2 trains that run, usually one in each direction, and digital signs informing you which side to board. When we arrived at the platform, we saw a train depart from one side, so lined up to wait there. Soon, however, there was an announcement made to board from the other side, as this position was closed. So we all shuffled over to the other side. Eventually, we got a notice that this side was out of order, and we should board from the other side, so we all shuffled back. An announcement finally came for an approaching train, but then it didn't come. It announced about 4 times, then informed us that "this position is closed" without the train ever arriving. We were shuffled between the two platforms about 6 times before a train finally came, unannounced, and we all crammed in through the open doors. Ignoring another message that this train was not operational, we simply got on the train.

Finally, the doors did close, and we were told that the next stop was "All C Gates," though we were already at the C terminal... But the train took off anyway, and we hoped for the right direction. As we began to slow, we thankfully did see signs for the B concourse. An announcement was made that we were approaching C gates, and that all passengers must exit. Nobody paid it any attention but to comment that we were shuffling through the Twilight Zone. When the doors closed again, it announced that the next stop was all C gates (again), and we kept our fingers crossed for continued misinformation. Thankfully, the train continued in the right direction, even if the announcements were going haywire.

When we finally arrived at baggage claim, several flights were flashing across the board, but no luggage came through, so we waited. And waited. On the walk down, I'd met another guy about my age, and we'd stuck together (which certainly made the evening a little more light-hearted). After some waiting, I set down my heavy carry-on. Eventually he sat down on the floor. After about an hour, I decided to stretch my legs and find a restroom. I almost hoped my leaving would prompt the bags to arrive, but no such luck; I returned to sit and wait some more. While we were all waiting, our shuttle driver even came in, questioned if we were the ones going to COS, and impatiently told us that they were waiting for us and we should get on. We, of course, were STILL waiting for our bags.

When they finally did arrive, about 1:30 in the morning (our flight was scheduled to arrive in COS originally at 9:30pm), they were all wet as though they'd been unloaded and left sitting in the snow for the last hour. But we finally had our luggage and all rushed to the shuttles. Then waited. With the air conditioning running full blast. Finally the front passenger changed the temperature to heat (these were several small 12-person shuttles, not a single large bus), and we waited some more. It turns out that a couple of the passengers, the two who had looked the most stressed from the onset, had not received their luggage. The airline finally decided they would just sort it out in Colorado Springs, and everyone was sardine-packed into the vans and took off.

Thankfully the drive down was rather uneventful. None of my group was all too pleased with the shuttle we got as there was a crack 2/3 of the way horizontally on the windshield, and the wipers didn't appear to be functioning well. In fact, the passenger side wiper was barely hanging on by the time we reached our destination, and the driver had only a small patch he could actually see through on his side. But there were no accidents or major issues on the road, and we finally arrived at our intended airport at 4am.

I was just glad that I had no pressing reasons to be home, my family was coming from a local home (some rides had come in from 1-1.5 hours away and had to leave), and that my dad was comfortable enough driving in the snow to pick me up when we arrived. Many of the passengers wound up spending the night in the airport to allow their families the night to sleep. In the end, this adventure finished (for me) about 7 hours later than was intended, and was, of course, a typical Christmas flight home...

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday of the year, and not because of the gifts, either. I've really just always loved the snow and the lights and that magic "Christmas feel" in the air. I do try very hard, however, to not jump the gun with the decorations and music, but once Thanksgiving is over, it's all about bringing it all out! These decorations have been up since the Saturday after Thanksgiving, I've just been a little slow getting them online.

Thankfully, I've collected enough decorations from the dorms and my apartment in Rochester that I really didn't need to buy much more for this apartment. The tree was bought last year in Rochester, and was definitely the most exciting purchase of the collection. The decor is fairly simple... just gold, red, purple, and silver baubles (as Liz calls them), some gold ribbon, and a box of candy canes! But I love the elegant feel it gives. Some day, when I'm filthy rich and have a big house of my own, I'll have 12 Christmas trees, all with different themes, spread all over in different rooms. For now, this is the first.

Of course, Christmas wouldn't be complete without stockings by the fire. We managed to find a couple very nice ones in the store, brought them home, and personalized them with our names. We have stockings with our names!!! They won't be stuffed this year, but I just couldn't have a Christmas without the stockings on the mantle.

The front door was a fun new addition to the decorations this year. I'm excited to have seasonal decorations, and having something on the front entry just makes this apartment that much more homey. Overall, I managed to keep my decorating budget this year to right around $20, which couldn't be better with the recession and working to establish ourselves in new jobs. I really couldn't be any happier with the feel we've had this season, and I'm sure they will stay up well into the new year. It's been great being able to work from home and enjoy the lights for the full season.

First Thanksgiving in SoCal

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since Thanksgiving, but I'm finally getting caught up with the adventures with Liz in November. This was the first Thanksgiving not going home for both myself and Anthony, and of course Liz was with us for her annual visit. So it was, of course, our first adventure in cooking Thanksgiving dinner ourselves. And I must say, it was very successful!

I had three hockey games in the early morning as part of our local Thanksgiving Tournament, so I was out of the house for the beginning of the cooking adventure. Anthony, as the most expert chef among us, was in charge of the turkey. With an excellent chef for an uncle, and a mother whose cooking is that of any legend, he certainly had all the help he could need just a phone call away.


Liz and I were tasked with the side dishes, which we were more than happy to do. We made Ant's mom's mashed sweet potatoes, tasty mashed white potatoes, the compulsory French's green been casserole, and tasty tasty stuffing. For dessert, Ant's parents had sent us a cheesecake from Junior's in Brooklyn, and Liz made her traditional Knobeloch-recipe Special K bars (peanut butter Rice Crispy bars topped with chocolate and butterscotch).

It made for a very delicious dinner, and an incredibly successful first Thanksgiving on our own. Of course the day after involved Liz's and my traditional Black Friday shopping, and Saturday was all about Christmas music, hot cocoa, and putting up the decorations! Picture of that are soon to come...

November Travels: Return to SoCal

After a few nice days of relaxing in beautiful Colorado, it was time to pack up and head back. After all, half the point of visiting was the roadtrip itself.

The morning we packed up the car started out like any other morning, except for an occasional snowflake drifting slowly to the ground. I didn't think much of it; we'd heard there may be a little snow as we got closer to Denver and then headed west. But within half an hour the streets went from dry to significantly dusted in snow, and continued to accumulate. I was actually impressed with how quickly Liz and I managed to pack the car and get out; we were gone about an hour after getting up.

With so much snow already accumulating at home, threats of a big storm west of Denver, and a little too much experience trying to get in and out of town during the winter, I was a bit nervous about our day's plan. The intent was to make it all the way to Las Vegas, which is about 12 hours in good conditions. Thankfully, though, there were only small spots of snow, and none caused any major problems aside from getting the brand new car incredibly dirty.

The trip was as beautiful as expected, with dramatic scenery and the trademark colors of the Southwest. We'd managed to find a MadLibs book at Garden of the Gods, and enjoyed all silliness that entails. It was an amusing review of our parts of speech, too, as it took a little reminding between the differences of adverbs to adjectives and so on. The drive made for a long day, but we enjoyed each others' company and the wonders of the open road. And the day was not without it's adventures; the most significant, and humorous, of these adventures came right around lunch time when we stopped for a bite to eat...

When I travel, I tend to 'treat' myself to the junk food I avoid on a regular basis. So that means I finally get to indulge in my fatty Taco Bell and McDonald's. This day was all about Mickey D's. As roadtrips go, a lunch stop of course also meant a bathroom break, and this is where the adventure begins.

I'm sure any of you who travel know the types of bathrooms you'll find - never really knowing what you're gonna get. This was one of those bathrooms. It was clean enough, but the trouble always comes with the doors. There were two stalls, so each of us got one, and drew figurative straws for locks. Liz's didn't work at all, and mine worked a little too well. When I tried to leave, the handle would no longer release. These weren't standard stall doors, either, but reached both unusually high and low. There was room to literally crawl under the door, but I wasn't interested in actually laying on a public bathroom floor, so Liz rushed off for help.

I honestly expected them to come back with a screw driver and remove the handle to let me out (yeah, I expected McDonald's to have a screwdriver on hand). After disbelieving Liz that her "friend is stuck in the bathroom!" (complete with British accent and all, in middle-of-nowhere-Colorado), two employees came in, and the guy crawled under the door to try and fix it from the inside (apparently they not only have no screwdrivers, but no keys, either). The final solution? Bust right through the door. I guess they're ok with having bathroom doors that just don't work.

With that adventure over, though the disbelief followed us for a while on the road, our next intended stop was Las Vegas!

If you ever visit Vegas, be sure to go at night if you can. And not just seeing the main strip at night, either. I mean drive in at night, especially from the east. It is BREATHTAKING! Imagine turning a bend along the highway through dark nothingness, and then laid out below you is a sea of lights. A vast, extensive sea of lights. There is just no other way to describe it. I've often enjoyed going up the mountains a little bit and looking down on Colorado Springs from above... I used to say it was like Christmas every night of the year. That holds nothing to Las Vegas. Absolutely incredible.

Surprisingly enough, we'd found a great rate on a room at the Bellagio, so upon arriving we checked in to the most prestigious hotel on the strip before going to explore a bit. Neither of us had a terrible desire to gamble, and we were tired from the day's drive, so we just walked out to the strip to enjoy the lights. It was rather chilly, so we walked to the end, had dinner at another hotel, and then turned back. It was fun to visit a few various casinos and compare the themed decor. Paris is certainly an interesting one, with a blue sky and fluffy white clouds painted on the ceiling for a perpetual summer's day inside. Returning to the Bellagio, we of course hung around to see the fountain show before coming back to the warm indoors. This is another attraction you don't want to miss, especially at night, with the fountain and lights choreographed to music (we saw All That Jazz).

Back inside the Bellagio we explored a little more, visiting the confectionery and chocolate fountain, and then wandering through their seasonal indoor garden. When Ant and I visited, it had been decked out for the summer season with snails made of roses, a giant windmill, Chihuly flowers 20ft tall, and a little greenhouse full of birds. Now it was all dressed up for fall, complete with creepy talking trees that would move and look at you as you passed. It didn't take too long, however, for the day to feel complete, and us to wander up and finally find our beds. It certainly did make for a great day, and despite the shortness of our visit in Vegas, that felt rather satisfying, as well.

The next day was just another quick four hours in the car, and returning to sunny SoCal. The previous days had showed us temperatures of 11 degrees mid-day; returning to LA it was well into the balmy 60s and even low 70s. It was certainly an odd return; we'd just come from a land of certain winter, returning to find it looking like October with colorful leaves still decorating the trees. It's taking some time to get used to living here, but at least I can look forward to snow in CO for Christmas again soon.

It's A Small, Small World

I was just blown away last night on our daily dinner-food shopping trip to the grocery store. I have always been fascinated by how small this world can feel, running into people (especially from hockey) all over the country when I've met them somewhere totally different. But this last week has been quite a testament to that fact.

To start, last weekend while working my regular hockey games I managed to have a midget team (that's high-school-aged, not small people) from San Diego. As I was skating over to the time keeper's box during warm-ups, I glanced over and noticed that one coach looked extremely familiar. When he turned to face me I saw that, sure enough, it was my old coach from the Rochester Edge, a team I'd played for my freshman year at college. I knew he was here in SoCal, and coaching in San Diego, but I hadn't expected to run into him, and especially not in Anaheim. This was certainly a nice surprise, and I enjoyed catching up a little bit.

Now, like I said, I'm getting fairly used to the hockey community feeling very small, and running into familiar faces in unexpected places. However, when Ant and I were doing our daily grocery shopping last night, I saw yet another extremely familiar face. At first I thought I was making an obscure connection to some movie star, but when he made eye contact and gave the same "I think I know you" look, the cogs really started working in my brain. Eventually I did place him, and the woman he was with... They were our Tango instructors at RIT this last spring. I couldn't believe it! What were THEY doing in Aliso Viejo?! Well, it turns out they've just recently relocated (a week ago) to the area for a job transfer. The coincidence just blew my mind, and I'm wondering how often we'll run into them on an evening shopping run.

So, that's my story of the morning. Just remember, you really never know when and where you'll run into someone again.

November Travels: Pike's Peak

You know how you never see the major attractions in your hometown unless guests come to visit? I feel like I've had a lot of new guests come home with me recently. Really, it's just been Liz, Anthony, and Ant's sister, but that's made for quite a few tours of town. And each time, of course, must include our own famous 14er: Pike's Peak.

The last two times I went up the Peak (once with Liz and Anthony, once with Ant and his sister) we took the cog railway. So this time visiting, and in the spirit of Liz getting her true western US driving experience, we decided to drive up for a change! Unfortunately, with all the snow that had been coming, we couldn't reach the summit; only the first 14 of 19 miles were left open. That did, however, get us above timberline, past the pavement ending, and above 11,000ft elevation. And, after all, we had seen the summit several times before, but had never driven the highway together. So off we went...

Considering the season, as well as the road being partially closed, there was very little traffic to cause problems. There was some ice on the road, and plenty of snow for Liz to write her name in, not to mention BITTER cold and wind the higher we climbed. But we saw the Big Foot warning signs and made sure to see both gifts shops on the way back down. And, of course, we got plenty of pictures on the way.

November Travels: Roadtrip to CO

While Liz visited for her traditional 2-week Thanksgiving trip, she decided it wouldn't be right not to visit my parents. They would be spending Thanksgiving in TX with Roger and his fiance, and plans hadn't worked out for us all to be together, but we could still visit the weekend prior! Plus, Liz wanted an American road trip, so off we went.

The first day was really nothing but driving. I'd had an early morning meeting to attend, so we left around 10am and drove just past Flagstaff before stopping for the night. The plan was to hit Four Corners early in the morning on our way in to Colorado. Apparently, in all of Liz's visits to the States, she has never made it to Four Corners. There's not much terribly interesting, but it's something worth being able to say, "yeah, I've been there." Plus, I've been DYING for a white Navajo horse-hair pot, and thought this would be a great chance to finally get one.

After a very long day of driving (and since the sun sets so early, several hours of night driving), we decided we'd come unprepared for roadtrip entertainment, and what we really needed was a MadLibs book. Well, that was an adventure in itself. After several stops in Flagstaff and one semi-crazy old man at WalMart, we were still without our MadLibs and entering no-mans land for the next day.

The next day placed us at Four Corners around 9/10am. I wasn't sure what time the gates would open, but we didn't have trouble getting in. However, it was even more desolate during the winter than I'd ever seen in other (summer) months. The best part about the monument are the Native vendors with their pottery, jewelry, and other artwork for sale, not to mention the Navajo fry bread. By the time we arrived, not a single booth was set up, though a few were arriving.

So, Liz took her traditional Four Corners photos, and we waited a bit for a few vendors. Unfortunately, none had quite what I was looking for. With the slow business of winter and the downturn of the economy, few sellers had serious pottery; most were small trinkets or souvenir-sized bowls. I did find one gorgeous Kokopelli statue in the style I wanted, but that particular vendor didn't take credit (many of them do, by the way). So, we continued on empty handed.

This second day of driving, we finally entered beautiful Colorado and got a nice taste of mountain driving. I really felt like I was coming home, being able to approach through the mountains, and apparently Liz felt the same way a bit. The weather wasn't bad at all, and though it was frigid and we saw snow, the road conditions were dry and clear. Perfect opportunity for Liz to have her first real mountain driving experience!

We arrived in the Springs early enough for dinner on Thursday, and had a few days to relax. Liz, of course, did plenty of her own shopping, and I did more packing to bring a few more boxes to California. Friday night involved an awesome vocal concert at the Air Force Academy by the Ten Tenors, a group of ... well ... ten tenors from Australia. Overall, it was just a few days to relax and enjoy Colorado Springs in the midst of our week-long road trip, but it was a great few days to be home again.

California Winter

So, I have been a little thrown by the seasons here in California. This month I've traveled to both New York and Colorado, and seen real fall and winter, only to return and be confused on the seasons again. It wasn't until VERY late November that things really started looking like fall, and apparently I'm just starting to see what California winter is.

I actually had to turn on the heat the other day when the apartment temp dropped below 65 degrees and my hands were too cold working on the computer. Actually, we turned it on and it wasn't even working! I suppose I didn't find that too surprising, considering I wouldn't have expected to need it. But all of yesterday was freezing cold and raining. And I mean ALL day; I don't think it let up until the evening. Then this morning it was only 34 degrees outside. Thankfully maintenance has a quick turn around on such repairs here, and I was plenty warm inside, but it was certainly interesting to see sunny SoCal's take on winter.

Anyway, I just wanted to post a picture for any of you wondering if California gets winter. I think this is about as much as I'll expect, and there is snow on the mountains today. And anyone who's wondering if I'll be missing the snow at Christmas this year, the answer is no... I'll be in CO for two weeks to get my fill!

Trans Siberian Orchestra

Last Thursday, Trans Siberian Orchestra came to Anaheim for a concert. I have been dying to see them for probably 6 years now, so Ant got us tickets to go!! We had seats about as far away as possible since we waited too long to book, but we were there!

With that said, the concert was NOTHING like I expected. I've played the Trans Siberian tracks at Christmas-time for several years now, and I always interpreted their performances as classical with a twist of metal, envisioning performances as such. I always pictured a fairly traditional concert hall with a medium to large orchestra on stage, and a small grouping to the side of some electric guitars, basses, etc. I'd always heard about their light shows, too, so I was expecting some cool photo-antics.

I was NOT expecting: metal with a classical twist, big 80s rocker hair, metal-style head banging by the musicians, and an overall metal feel. I was absolutely blown away by the show we actually got. Don't get me wrong; I'm still VERY happy we went, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I just had to adjust a bit. We were also far enough away that binoculars were necessary to see anything more than the lights/laser show. Luckily, the women sitting next to us had brought a pair, and were more than happy to pass them along when anything interesting was going on.

So, I would recommend for anyone going to see them to be prepared for lots of fog machine smoke (for the unbeatable laser show), and get tickets as close as possible. You want to see these guys up close! It was an awesome addition to our Christmas season kick-off.

Feeling Homey

As of late, I have taken great pleasure in making this apartment feel like a real home, especially after spending the last four years not putting much effort into making any college living very personal or homey. Over those years, I always felt it wasn't logical to try and settle in to a place I'd be leaving in a 9 months, or two years tops. I am now strongly against that opinion, and am all about being happy and comfy at home.

Of course, a big part of that change probably has to do with the amount of time spent at home. Now that I'm working from home, I do spend significantly more than just sleeping hours in the apartment. The picture above is our mantle piece decked out for fall (Halloween and Thanksgiving). I love having a place to decorate for the seasons! And below is a picture of my new(ish) home office, which has replaced our entirely unused dining room.














The following pictures (I know they're a little small), are around the main living room of our place. It is, actually, already outdated as you can see our old TV, which has been sold and (soon to be) replaced with a gorgeous plasma TV!

The last images (below), are of our bathroom. Perhaps a little odd, but I've enjoyed decorating it with a little more of a seaside theme. Ant loves everything Southwest, so most of the apartment has been accented more in that direction. But that left me a little bit bummed that it didn't work out as a California beach-home. So I took over the bathroom with chocolate, seafoam and dolphins!


For more pictures, and some of these larger, visit this link.