Joys of travel

So I know a lot of you think my life is so great because I do all this travel for work. Well, let me tell you, it's not all roses. Case in point - Thursday night. I know a lot of you experienced the joys of getting stranded places, etc when you went to Maine for the wedding. I complain about how difficult it is to get in and out of Maine. I have always said that DFW is the absolute best airport in the US. It's extremely easy to get in and out of. You can pretty much fly to anywhere in the US, every hour, non-stop and it's only a 2-3 hour flight.

The bad thing about this convenience is that when there's a storm it causes so much back-up at the airport because of the volume. This was the case Thursday night as I left Detroit. Before I even left the office I knew the flight was going to be delayed. Not only did I know from the flight status notification I received in my email but American also called me up to let me know it was delayed. I guess that's the benefit of having status. I decided to head to the airport anyway.

While there I found out that they pushed the time back another hour. I proceeded to find a spot to sit down that was near an outlet and took my computer out. I decided it was time to catch up on some of the shows I missed over the weekend that were stored on my DVR (good thing about being married to a computer nerd - have all sorts of gadgets). I knew there was work I should be doing but it had been a stressful week so I relaxed. I played some games on my phone, talked to Sean and did some people watching. I finally got annoyed with the speed of my wireless card and the sling catcher so I just turned it off and patiently waited for the plane to arrive.

I finally got on the plane. I have no idea what time it was - what's the point of looking when there's nothing you can do about it. Just about the entire plane was either Platinum or above (AA status) or part of a college swim team heading to UT for a meet. They missed their connection by the way and ended up chartering a bus and drove the additional 4-5 hours to Austin that night.

I finally landed in Dallas around midnight. The car was parked at a different terminal and I had a checked bag. So I hopped the Sky Link, picked up the car and then drove over to get my bag. Then I was headed on the drive home.

On the drive home I noticed some lights in my rear view mirror that looked like a police processional. It wasn't - it was about a dozen motorcycles, with people on the back, flying past me like I was standing still - and I was going 85.

New things I noticed since I was nearly the only person on the road - they raised the speed limit to 70 on one of the highways. They also raised the tolls. They must have figured out the new amounts based on the amount of miles (or fractions) there are between each of them. How else would you get a toll to be 47 cents, 26 cents or 1.08? The other thing they did is remove the booths to pay the tolls with cash. Now if you don't have a toll tag they mail you a bill. Interesting!

With all that said, I finally got home at 1 am, logged into my computer to replicate all the emails and work I did on the plane and finally headed to bed at 2:00. Since the next day was Friday there was no sleeping in and man was I tired while I had to sit on all those conference calls!!!

Making the move to Texas

Another term that's been brought to my attention since hanging out with Sean is "snowbird". Snowbirds are usually retired people that spend the winter months in warmer climates. With Sean being from Maine and I'm from Texas we decided that after we got married we would keep both houses. Seeing how I'm not too fond of the cold and Sean's not fond of the Texas heat we decided to live in Maine in the summer and Texas in the winter. With just having gotten married, this is the first time we're making the move.

Sean has season tickets to the New England Patriots so we decided to work in a game into us heading south. So we packed up all the things we needed to take to Texas with us (well almost all the things we needed to take - we ran out of room so we'll grab the rest when we go visit Sean's family for the holidays) and jumped in the rental and headed to Boston.

Our first stop was Big G's in Winslow, Maine. This is a favorite stop for us to grab lunch. They have some really fun sandwiches there. I like the Peter Cottontail. It has ham, turkey, muenster, stuffing and pineapple. We usually sit outside and eat so Duke doesn't have to wait in the car but it was a little chilly that day so we ate inside. If you make it up to Maine you need to stop by this joint. A little hint though, only order a half - and share the half. Here's a link to the deli - http://big-g-s-deli.com/ .

Our next stop was Freeport, ME. Sean keeps telling me about Freeport and all the shopping there is to do there. Living in Dallas you get spoiled when it comes to shopping and how you can get ANYTHING you could ever want or need (or don't need). I have not gotten that same feeling in Maine. Well JACKPOT - I found it and it was in Freeport all this time. I think Sean purposely kept this from me. We didn't have time to do much shopping but walked Duke around and looked for something warm to wear to the game. We ended up finding some gloves and hats on sale - BONUS!

We went into the LL Bean store too. Well, Sean went in. Even though they specialize in outdoor stuff the were not pet friendly. There were so many people walking around with their pets too. Here's Duke on the giant boot outside the store.

We stayed with some of Sean's friends (Brian and Stephanie) outside of Boston. I was a little nervous because they have two young boys and Duke's not a big fan of children that age, they move fast and aren't very gentle typically. Brian's parents stayed with the kids while we went to the football game. This really made me nervous but all my fears were alleviated rather quickly when the sitters arrived. Duke settled right in and so did the kids. They were scared of Duke before their Grandma arrived. Here's Duke with the sitter and the kids.

We left early enough for the game so we could do a little tailgating. We had a feeling what we were getting ourselves into since it had been raining all day and had been cold. The rain was light enough when we first got there so the boys could set up the tents and such. Once they finished the rain really picked up. Here's one of the boys digging a trench to try to keep our area from flooding.

While we were enjoying our lunch the rain turned to snow - yes I said snow. Before we finished putting on all our layers to head into the stadium I had to get in the car and warm back up. Here's a look at Sean and Brian through the back of the car.

Sean's tickets are in the very last row of the stadium. Typically you wouldn't think of those seats as being any good but I really like them. Here's Sean in our seats all bundled up.

You can really see the snow coming down in this one.

Here's Brian, Stephanie, Sean and me in all our gear to try to stay warm. Some of the other guys that have seats in the same area were laughing that "Sean's wife from Texas" was at this game.

The game was a blowout. Once halftime hit a ton of people left. We took this as an opportunity to see what it was like to watch the game from a lot closer. Here's Sean from our new seats.

To give you an idea of the damage that was done from a scoring perspective.....

Again you can see the snow coming down but you can also see just how far that last row is up there.

Here's some game action from up close.

We ended up leaving at the end of the 3rd quarter. We had all had enough of the cold and there really was no game. I have to say that all in all it really wasn't that bad. It was cold but not unbearable. The worst part was the walk back to the car because it was sleeting and the wind was blowing pretty hard and it hurt your face.

The next morning we got up really early and headed to the airport. Sean ended up having to go to New York for work so I was making the official journey back to Texas alone. This was very difficult due to the amount of stuff we were dragging around with us. To give you an idea - I had a large, medium and small suitcase, my computer bag, purse and Duke. Sean had a medium and small suitcase, his computer bag and a backpack. Every checked bag we had was overweight but due to Sean's status they didn't charge us. Boy were we happy for that!!! Here's a picture of all the stuff I was bringing back. The medium suitcase ended up in the trash - it's seen it's last trip.

I had my mail forwarded for the time I was in Maine, however the USPS continued to deliver all the junk I didn't want. This is what 5 months of junk mail looks like. It took me over an hour to go through it all.

On top of all the suitcases we brought back, we shipped a lot of boxes to my friend Tamara's house. Here's all the boxes we shipped. A lot of it was wedding gifts that go to the Texas house and Sean moving into the Texas house.

I have unpacked all the suitcases and boxes so far. We ended up with 2 broken bowls, a broken Chi flat iron and a cut sweater of Sean's. It was wrapping one of the bowls that broke. I think that's not too bad a record considering what all was in those boxes and suitcases. Now I'm just waiting for Sean to get here so I can unpack the suitcases he's been dragging around the country. So now you have an idea of what it takes to be a snowbird. I'm hoping this gets easier and easier as we get things situated and in the house we want them in.

Saying good-bye to Maine with style

Sean and I have found a favorite new place to go when we're in Maine. Once a month the Lucerne Inn has a wine tasting dinner. When we went to the last one we saw they were having a Fall Festival to raise money for a lady that works there that has terminal cancer. It was a wine/beer tasting event so we decided to check it out. The theme was fall flavors and drinks. I didn't know they made so many different seasonal flavors in beer. The event was on our last night in Maine for the season. When we pulled up they had these cute pumpkins lit up that spelled out "The Lucerne Inn". This place is so cute and a wonderful wedding location - there was actually a wedding going on that evening. Of course it didn't compare to my wedding location (heehee).

Once we got in we saw there were several tables with different drinks and food to taste. We started out with the beer and ended with the wine. We sprinkled in the snacks throughout. Here's my take on all the things we tasted. Before you freak out it really was a taste so it looks worse then it was.

Sam Adams Light - Yummy! Will have to have this again when I feel like a beer
Sam Adams Coastal Wheat - not my favorite at all
Sam Adams Octoberfest - it was ok
Sam Adams Winter Lager - ICK!
Lindeman's Cassis - Black Currant flavored beer - very yummy!!
Lindeman's Framboise - Raspberry flavored beer - good
Lindeman's Kreike - Cherry flavored beer - extra yummy! It was like drinking a cough drop
Lindeman's Peche - Peach flavored beer - good too
Estrella Damm Inedit - a cross between a beer and a white wine - odd - but it could have been that we tasted it after tasting all the fruity Lindeman's (which tasted more like fruit then beer)
Magic Hat - Roxy Rolles - like drinking a micro brew - yuck
Southampton Pumpkin Ale - like drinking a pumpkin pie. you must try it if you can find it near you. was so good but couldn't drink too many at once
Sea Dog - Pumpkin - kinda nutmeg taste. wouldn't drink again.
Shipyard Pumpkinhead - kinda cinnamon taste. wouldn't drink again.
Gearys - Autumn - icky microbrew
Gritty's - Halloween - not as bad as Gearys but still a microbrew (yuck)
Ayinger - Octoberfest - nice and light and flavorful
Spaten - Octoberfest - heavier then Ayinger but still pretty good

Then we headed to the wines. Here's Sean posing with our red wine.

Kunde Zinfandel - California - good but not the best CA Zin I've had.
Root 1 Carmenere - Chile - very interesting - earthy flavor (but not like dirt)
Spanish Sons Tempranillo - Spain - earthy flavors (AKA tastes like dirt)
Red Rock Merlot - California - tasty
Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon - Australia - Napa California - not bad but a cab (which isn't my favorite)
Bridgewood Syrah - California - heavy

When I was in France a few years ago I learned about Kir Royal and really enjoyed it. At the wine table they were making a form of this drink like this:
1 Part Quady Elysium - California
3 Part Yellow Tail Sparkling - Australia

I ended the evening with a couple of these. In case you thought I remembered all this on my own then you don't know me very well. They actually gave us a handout with all the items and I jotted down some notes so I would remember later which ones I liked. Sean ended the evening with the one Port on the tasting menu and it ended up being the funniest notes I wrote down.

Sean: Needs a good cigar.
Tonya: You could light your mouth on fire and reminds me of when we were in Greece and got free wine cuz we tipped.

I just loved this ad they had hanging on the wall. The best part is the fine print at the bottom. In case you can't read it, it says "Available only while the weather sucks." LOVE IT!

They also had a "putting green" where you could donate money and you got 3 chances to make it into the pumpkin's mouth. Of course Sean had to try. He thinks now that he can technically play golf all year round that he's pretty good.

To my surprise he made one! Here he is with the prize he picked out. Big shock he picked a Sam Adams sign to hang in the bar in Maine. You can also see the cute pumpkins they had lit up to mark the tables in this picture.

So you don't think it was all about the drinking, there was food too. The food at the Lucerne Inn we have always found to be so good. The chef there is amazing. Here's some of the items we had.

Corned Beef
Sausage
Pumpkin/Squash Soup
Cheese and Crackers
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Apple/Cranberry Spice Cake - my absolute favorite!!! I could have eaten the entire tray!!!

We ended the night with Sean doing what he does - taking a computer apart. In case you've never seen the inside of a desktop computer I thought I'd through this picture in. He was helping one of his friends add some additional memory to their computer.

I hope this inspires you to look around your local area and see what fall flavors are out there and try them out. But keep this in mind - it was told to us by a lady at the event. "Never mix the grain with the grape."

Leaf Peeping

So another thing I'm learning about, and enjoying, is the fall foliage and how beautiful it is when you actually have four seasons. I was starting to wonder why Sean and I have stayed in Maine so late in the year but after yesterday it was all worth it. A term the locals use (and I'm starting to use) to describe the tourists that show up in Maine in the fall is "leaf peepers". In all reality, leaf peeping is dangerous. Imagine a bunch of people, with out of state plates, driving 5 mph, staring off into the woods instead of the road. It's beautiful to look at but very annoying to those of us that live here and have to drive behind these people.

Sometimes Sean can really surprise me and do something so sweet and thoughtful - yesterday was one of those days. He took Duke and me on a day date and it literally was an entire days worth of activity. Here's what all was involved.

First off we got up earlier then I would have liked (but I didn't mind in this circumstance) so we could leave Camp. We headed to Bar Harbour where we had breakfast at The Looking Glass. This was a cute restaurant at the Blue Nose Inn that sits up on a hill and overlooks the ocean. The entire wall was windows so you could take in the view. This is a picture of the view we had during breakfast.

After breakfast we went into Bar Harbour and looked around at a couple of the shops. We found the cutest bird feeder made of slate and birch by a local artist. We got it and will be taking it to Dallas where there aren't any squirrels. A couple of cruise ships were docked in Bar Harbour so the place was packed with people shopping. They all had foreign accents and wanted to pet and love on Duke since they hadn't seen their pets since they left on their holiday.

After I got my shopping fix, we got in the Jeep and headed up to Cadillac Mountain to become leaf peepers. Sean had taken me leaf peeping around Bangor last fall when we came up to Maine to get our engagement pictures taken. That was at the beginning of November though. It's only the beginning of October and it looks like we are almost to peak season. Here's the view we had during our drive.

On your way up the mountain there are several places to pull off the road and take pictures. Our first stop you could see Jordan Pond. It amazing how the trees change earlier around water. It was cloudy so the colors aren't as vibrant in the pictures as they were in person. Here's a picture of Duke in front of Jordan Pond.

When the sun came out you could see the colors better.

Here's Duke and me enjoying the view. As you can tell it was a little windy and chilly.

We made it to the top where the clouds were rolling in. We were so high that we were actually in the clouds. Here's Duke leading us around the paths.

This is the view from the top. I just loved the color of the ocean in some of these but in this one I loved the islands in the background.

In this picture you can see the two cruise ships. They were HUGE!!!

Duke and me enjoying the view.

Duke and I went hiking down the mountain a little to see if we could get a better view.

On our way up the mountain we noticed a waterfall on the side of the mountain. The parking spot was actually on the other side of the road so we stopped on our way down. There isn't a river at the top of the mountain so I guess this is just run-off because it's rained so much lately. Perfect example of the stupidity of the leaf peepers is that while we were taking picture someone actually stopped their car in the middle of the road to look at the waterfall. Coming up the mountain the waterfall was right at the end of a sharp left turn.

Duke enjoying the waterfall view.

There was also a cute bridge over a creek with beautiful leaves we wanted to get pictures of. Here are some of my favorites.

Seeing how Sean grew up in Maine sometimes he knows some special places most people don't know about. He really wanted Duke to get to see the ocean so he took us to one of those special locations. It was beautiful to see the ocean up close with the changing trees in the background. Since no one was there we let Duke off his leash to run around. He had so much fun sniffing all the new scents and chasing the seagulls.

Duke running around in the sand, ears a flopping.

Duke and me on a rock in the water.

After the ocean stop we headed to Sean's parents house for a visit. Then we headed back to the Camp to drop off Duke and went and had dinner with Brian and Julie. It was such a great day with my two favorite boys and now I'm officially ready to head back to Dallas!

Experimenting with Apples - Take 5

So when I finished making the pies (see Experimenting with Apples - Take 4 post) I had some of the apple mixture left over. I didn't have another pie crust so I had to come up with some other dessert to make with it. Here's what I came up with.

Ingredients
See Experimenting with Apples - Take 4 for all other ingredients
Dried Cherries
Dried Strawberries
I used sliced almonds instead of the walnuts
Phyllo dough
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray
Pam for Baking spray
Sugar

Mix the cherries and strawberries into the apple pie filling mixture. Take a muffin pan and spray it with Pam for Baking spray. Coat with sugar. Place a slice of phyllo dough (cut into a square to fit the muffin pan) into one of the muffin holes. Spray with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray. Repeat with three more slices of phyllo, spraying in between each slice of phyllo. Fill up the phyllo muffin shell with the apple filling and top with the crumble topping. Bake at 350 for 50 or so minutes.

Here's what it looks like after it's baked.

Another angle.

Serve it warm with a scoop of ice cream and ENJOY!

In this one you can see the sugar crystals on the phyllo dough.

Experimenting with Apples - Take 4

So over the weekend I figured out we still had a TON of apples left. It was time to get serious about using the apples up so it was time for some traditional baking. I decided to make an apple pie. The kitchen in Maine is not that big and doesn't have all the luxuries needed to do some heavy baking so I was on the lookout for a recipe where I wouldn't have to make the crust. I found a recipe but I changed it up a little. When it comes to sweets I try to be sensitive to the amount of calories and sugar in the recipe. Here's the recipe as I made it.

Apple Pie with Crumble Topping

Pie Filling
Premade pie shell of your choice
Enough apples to fill your pie shell
Lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup Splenda
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup melted butter
3 tbsp flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Pie Topping
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup Splenda
6 tbsp butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped walnuts


Peel and cut the apples into thin slices and coat with lemon juice to keep from browning. Mix up the sugars, honey, butter, flour and spices until well blended. Coat the apples with the mixture and place in the pie shell.

In a bowl, mix up all the topping ingredients and mix with a fork to cut in the butter until crumbly. Place the topping on top of the apples in the pie shell. Place in a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for 60 minutes.

I actually doubled the recipe and made two pies since I had two shells. I didn't actually keep them so I'm not sure if they were good but the feedback I got was that they were.


Here's a view of one of the pies from the top. It sort of looks like a giant cookie.

Picture from the side to see the filling oozing out.

The house sure smelled AMAZING!!!