We moved . . . into our first house!

Call us lucky ducks, but Jeff and I bought the first house that we seriously looked at. We were even able to get the seller to come down a substantial amount and we made it through escrow with no major hitches. And it pretty much came ready to live in - so all we have to do is landscape the backyard.

Going Back to Cali

Three years of hurricanes and tropical Kansas were enough for me! Actually we got a lot of good things out of our time in FL - got to stay in a beautiful house, Jeff got his degree, made some friends and ate a lot of great Italian food.

But California was calling - so we packed up our stuff and Simba and hit the road. We like to make the road trip more than just that - so we gave it a theme: Brew Pubs and National Parks. Jeff says we hit more Brew pubs than National Parks - but I wasn't complaining. Also, Mark was gracious enough to take the 200sx across country again - so Jeff and I got to ride together.

Oh, and our default hotel was La Quinta Inn - they are all pet friendly - no extra charges or notice necessary.



First stop: Savannah, GA
This place is oozing with Southern charm. It's like New Orleans without the debauchery. Tree lined streets with Spanish moss and plenty of period architecture. Not to mention a few good watering holes (we had some great beers at Moon River - and some excellent fried green tomatoes. This is one town that we would like to come back to and spend more time.



Second stop: Gatlinburg, TN
So the first park we went to was the Great Smokey Mountains. Google maps took us on a slight detour on our way to Gatlinburg, but we made it. Our hotel/cabin was kind of creepy, but it was the only pet friendly place in town. No one else was staying there, but you just got an erie feeling there, like you were not alone. We had dinner at the Smoky Mountain Brewery - and it was OK, but definitely 2nd place to Savannah. In the morning we got up early to take a quick hike through the Great Smokies and stumbled upon a steaming fresh pile of bear poo on the trail. We didn't actually see one, but we knew he was close.


Third stop: Memphis, TN
From Gatlinburg, we made our way to Memphis. We've been to Memphis before, but we liked it so we decided to stop again. Plus it was Memphis in May - a huge BBQ contest and festival - so Jeff wanted go and do some tasting. It was a beautiful day on the Mississippi River, but Jeff was disappointed to find out that you needed a special pass to taste all the BBQ.


Fourth stop: Salina, KS
There is not much that we wanted to see in the middle of the country, so we drove a whopping twelve hours (and three states) from TN to KS. Simba let us know that he was not happy with the long drive at hour ten - he emmitted this strange smell that reminded us of something dead. We moved as fast as we could to get him (and us) out of the car after that - only to find that Salina, KS wasn't so bad. In fact they had a really good mexican restaurant, Gutz, that even had vegetarian food for me.



Fifth stop: Denver, CO
We were blown away by Denver. LoDo was a great place to walk around, eat and drink. Our first stop was the Flying Dog Brewery. We were running late (as usual) so we missed their daily tour, but no worries - their tasting room is open all afternoon. There were two staffers working, one was drinking and the other was serving. They let us taste all ten beers on tap and then go around again. We were off to a great start....


Next we went to my favorite brew pub chain, Rock Bottom, and got a pitcher of Hef and a plate of nachos - I was in heaven. Then we proceded to check out a few other breweries and take some silly pictures. Don't worry folks, we were walking.



Sixth stop: Moab, UT
Driving from Denver to Moab was beautiful with some drastic changes of scenery. In Moab we were able to visit Arches National Park(it was like another planet) and go hiking in a light summer rain. Afterward we went to the Moab Brewery and had some cold beers and tasty food.



Last stop: Las Vegas, NV
You would think that we would be excited to be in Vegas - but we were just tired. We checked into La Quinta Inn and got Simba settled and then we headed to dingy old downtown for the Main Street Station Brewery. We got a sampler of beer and Jeff was able to order sushi, because it's Vegas Baby. Funny thing was when we left and were driving back to the hotel Jeff got out the camera and started taking pictures like a tourist. I was like "Haven't we been here like ten times before?" and he was like "Oh, yeah........"



Final Destination - Ripon, CA
We left Vegas in the morning for the long drive to California's Central Valley - where we spent the rest of the summer sitting by the pool and looking for jobs!

Honeymoon in Negril

So we took our honeymoon late - a year late. But it was well worth it. Previously we had adopted the outlook that cultural vacations were best. Sure you didn't get any rest, but you got a whole new perspective on the world. For our Honeymoon we decided to be cliche and go to a tropical island - Jamaica. And after quite a bit of research we decided to stay at Couples Negril.

Couples is one of the best all inclusive resorts in Jamaica. It truly is all inclusive: food, alcohol, water sports (most) and tips. And its for couples over 18 only. They have several resorts on the island, so why did we choose Negril? Because it is eclectic (read: nudists and hippies) and located on beautiful Bloody Bay. We found that it was the perfect fit for us - not that we are nudists or hippies - just eclectic.


We had a fabulous time. It was really relaxing sitting on the beach and floating in the Bay - but our most memorable times were when we left the resort. Forget pictures of us though - I think I'll l just share some pictures of our adventures.

We had a great time on the free sunset booze cruise. The catamaran takes you out to Rick's Cafe where you can swim into the cave, climb the stairs and then (pay the Rastas to) jump off the cliff. If you didn't want to jump you could just hang on the boat and sip a red stripe while Rasta Ralph sings to you.


On the way back from the cliffs it started to rain, hard. Some people looked for cover and some just soaked in the warm summer rain. It passed within fifteen minutes and some Jamaican fishermen approached our boat. The Captain stopped and traded a pitcher of beer and some rum for a lobster and a few fish.


We also went on excursion to Mayfield Falls. It was a full day tour where you drive in the mountains and then walk through the mineral springs. The drive was crazy. It was really neat to see the countryside, in really remote areas people would come out of their homes when they heard a car (guess they didn't get much traffic up there).


And in town we saw some neat things too. Below a Father is "carpooling" Jamaican style.


I love Jamaica.
What they say is true: Once you go, You know.
I'll be back.

The Wedding

Jeff and I (kind of) met for the first time in a barn in Modesto, California. It was Almond Blossom weekend and his band had come up for a show. I had a lot of fun earlier that day and by the time Jeff got there I was sleeping on a pool table. We were actually just friends for a year or so after that. Finally on Halloween of 2002 we realized that we could not deny the attraction anymore and we started dating. On Valentines Day of 2004 he slipped a ring on my finger. And in May of 2004 we moved from Long Beach, California to Cape Coral, Florida.

Since then we have moved back to California - but the best thing I got out of all of our time in Florida was an unforgettable wedding weekend. We invited about 50 of our closest friends and family to join us for a sunset beach wedding on Sanibel Island. Many of our guests arrived on Cinco de Mayo (05/05/05) and we all met up at Jalepeno's in Fort Myers to celebrate.


The following day most of the men were divided between two outings - fishing and golfing. I think the ladies decided to just relax. Later that night we had a "rehearsal dinner" where no one rehearsed anything - but we did eat some good southern BBQ, drink some cold beers and watch a few gators cruise by in the canal.


Saturday was the main event. And it all went really smooth - except for the hairdresser fiasco, which after three beers and a good cry was resolved.


My gift to our guests was a designated driver tour bus which would pick them up from their rental or hotel and drop them off there at the end of the night.


My brother Mark, the Maid of Honor, was charged with hosting the bus which was actually early! So Mark directed the guests to the poolside cabana at Casa Ybel to wait for the wedding to begin.


Bless Pastor Spengler for the quick (20 minute) ceremony - Jeff and I didn't like all that attention.


Afterward we had all the guests gather on the beach for a group picture.


Then everyone went to a poolside cocktail hour while we took more pictures.



Finally we all moved upstairs for dinner and dancing.


That night my Dad drove Jeff and I to our hotel down the street. When we got to the room Jeff realized he had left his overnight bag in the car at Casa Ybel. So I changed into jeans and flip flops and we walked about a mile down the dark and windy beach back to Casa Ybel. The next day we headed off to Miami for a mini-honeymoon. The neat thing was a lot of our guests decided to go extend their trips and travel around the Caribbean. It was a fun and memorable weekend for all.....

Huricane Charley

Just weeks after moving to Florida we were greeted by Hurricane Charley. A category 4 storm that targeted our new home. Being fresh to Florida we decided to pack up Simba-cat and evacuate to Fort Lauderdale; but before we left we had to secure the perimeter. We brought in all the patio furnituree and - because the expected storm surge would be 12' and the house is at an elevation of 11' - we stacked as much furniture as we could onto the beds.

After doing all that we could - we got the heck out of dodge. Only to receive a phone call from our moving truck. The driver stated that he had just arrived in Cape Coral and wanted to deliver the goods. I told him that we had evacuated and that he should do the same. He said that he would and we agreed to reschedule the delivery after the storm.

As the storm was making landfall we got a call from Jeff's parents. The neighbors had called them to tell them that the large tree in the front yard had already fallen down and that it looked like it went through the front window. We were both imaging the worst as this storm had barely even started.....


We went out to dinner that night at Bucca di Beppo and tried not to think about the storm. But how could we when Fort Lauderdale was starting to feel the effects of the storm too? It didn't help that when we told the waitress our situation she announced to the entire restaurant, "Hey everybody, this is Jeff and April and their house got trashed by hurricane Charley." Everyone laughed and cheered. Needless to say that waitress got tipped with about $0.83 in spare change.

The next morning we got up and headed back to Cape Coral. It was reassuring to see a caravan of Florida Power and Light trucks heading the same way. We stopped in Naples to hit a Home Depot for supplies. We were surprised by the damage we found that far south. Palm trees snapped in half like toothpicks. Luckily we also thought to pick up water, gas and cash before heading into the disaster area.



Upon returning to Cape Coral we found that the power was out, tons of trees were knocked down, all kinds of debris were laying in the street and almost every street sign had gone missing. We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the house, because although the huge tree was down in the front yard - it had not blown in the front window! We did find our mailbox down the street and some of the gutters had been torn down, but the interior was untouched.



More good luck - our house was on the same power grid as the fire station down the street, so we were only without power for a few hours. Our poor friends only a mile away were out of power for almost a week. Now for the bad luck.

Our moving truck had not evacuated far, in fact he had gone up to Punta Gorda which is pretty much the exact spot that the hurricane had made landfall. We got a call from him stating that the truck had been knocked over in the storm and that he would be by to drop off our stuff the next day. He said to expect some water damage and broken glass - which is exactly what we got. Overall though we came out of the situation pretty well. There were a lot of people who lost their homes and businesses, a few even lost their lives.

And that was just the start of a few very active hurricane seasons.