Visiting Family in Craig, CO (July 25th&26th)

Every now and then my work schedule enables me to do some personal travel on the weekend leading up to my client visit. I flew into Grand Junction, CO on a Saturday morning, then drove up to Craig, CO to visit with my aunt and uncle and meet my cousins for the first time. Which wouldn't be such a big deal, but my youngest cousin turned 12 during my visit. Hmmm. Must make more time for family in the future. After I arrived in Craig we drove over to Steamboat to walk around, have dinner, and enjoy weather that isn't 117 degrees.

We went to dinner at a local steakhouse in Steamboat where they had an open grill for the patrons to cook their own steaks. It was quite tasty.

The next day Dave and  Krista took me on a stroll around Craig. There is a chainsaw art competition every year, and the entries are kept at the local park and around town. It's amazing the detail in these sculptures, considering a chainsaw is the tool.

Next we went to the Craig Museum, and met Clyde the Elk. I highly recommend this stop, as there is a lot of the history of the settling of the area, along with some very cool antiques.

Our last stop before I had to head back down to Grand Junction was the Nature Walk. Amazingly enough, my allergies didn't bug me at all, and it was nice to enjoy a brief walk with my family on a beautiful summer day.

Lake Tahoe

I was in Zephyr Cove, NV, right outside of Lake Tahoe. It is beautiful there, although it is 50 degrees cooler than my home in Gilbert! There was still plenty of snow on the ski runs (I wish I skiied).


I stayed at the MontBlue Resort and Casino. It was an excellent place to stay, affordable, clean, and the restaurants were amazing. We ate at the steak restaurant, and it was one of those where the booths are all up against the wall, with heavy velvet drapes to draw closed for a more intimate dining experience. Since I was there with a work colleague, we dined at a table, but I enjoyed the people watching nonetheless. We were even given a complimentary dessert at the end of the meal!


I loved being in Tahoe, it was 35 degrees and sunny, and a welcome change from Arizona. I wish you could add scent to the blog, the smell of the fresh water, the bite in the air, and the pine trees. I'm looking forward to taking a weekend vacation up there sometime.

Mexico City

I studied in Mexico for 6 weeks one summer in college, so whenever I get a chance to go back, I jump at it. This trip is a work trip (I love this part of my job!!), and I'm traveling with Chase. So far we have had a very good trip (please refer to her blog for the beginning) and I have had plenty of opportunities to practice my rather rusty Spanish. To me, Mexico is a place that tears at my soul. There is so much history; the land is rich in culture, in people, in different environments and terrains, but it has more than its fair share of adversity, with corruption, pollution, and poverty always right in the way. But there is a beauty and strength here that is undeniable.

However, a 3 day business trip isn't much of a chance to explore the richer sides of Mexico, so here are a few pictures from the 5 block radius around my hotel, the Camino Real Santa Fe. This area is a business district, with plenty of high-rise office buildings, including the Ford Tower, Jose Cuervo Corporate offices, and many other corporations, both foreign and domestic.







And, something that has absolutely nothing to do with Mexican history or culture, a Starbucks cup from the local shop. (there are two within walking distance of my hotel). It is nice to know that almost wherever I travel, I can always be comforted with something from home, namely a non-fat no-whip, venti cafe mocha. . .

Hot Child in the City

Well, I'm not really that hot, but Albuquerque isn't much of a big city either, so I suppose we're even. :)

I'm traveling; my first trip in a long time without homework or other obligations, so I took myself out on the town, researching live music venues for my favorite band, the Mojo Farmers.

I had dinner at one of my favorite local spots, the Flying Star Cafe. It is a hip joint, with magazines to borrow or buy, and an excellent menu. I highly recommend the pasta pomodoro. There is always good music playing, in fact the set tonight could have been from my Mp3 player.


After dinner, I went over to the Launchpad, a great place right downtown for live music.




The show tonight was excellent, 3 performers all doing acoustic sets. I even bought the CD of the opening act, Alexa Wilkinson. She has an amazing voice, so please visit her myspace page. Next up was Joshua Radin, who has an amazingly deep voice. Unfortunately for me, most of the songs were sad, lost loves, breaking up, etc.

Ingrid Michaelson, the headliner for the evening, is a true MySpace success story. She started posting her songs on myspace, got a break by getting a song on an episode of Grey's Anatomy, and the rest, as they say, is history.

All in all, a very good way to spend the evening, and hopefully, my Mojo Farmers will be playing in Albuquerque very soon.

F1 Racing-Hybrid takes the Cup!!

For our annual team building event, my coworkers and I went to the F1 Race Factory in Tempe. It was a blast!! We did two separate races, each consisting of 21 laps. I love to drive fast, but mostly on flat, straight freeways. The curves on the track are slightly harder for me, and I finished third to last and second to last, respectively. Eric took the trophy, with a healthy lead over second place, held by Kevin, and the bronze trophy went to Scott. Afterward, we had dinner at Monti's Casa Vieja, a good steak place in the oldest building in Tempe. I'm looking forward to racing again soon!

San Francisco

I have to admit that San Francisco is one of my favorite cities, and is definitely a great place for work conference, and an even better spot to vacation. The food is excellent, both in variety and quality, there is plenty of wine, and of course, the ocean air just adds to the experience. Overall, I would say that San Francisco has to be the most laid-back city I've ever visited. It just has a relaxing quality about it, that even during a work conference, is evident.


Now, that isn't to say I didn't have a good time at the conference. I work with an excellent group of people, and we were able to go out after a good dinner to enjoy Irish Coffees near Pier 39, see the view from the top of the Drake Hotel at the Starlight Room, which is the perfect club to get an after-hours drink, and have a great evening.


What trip to San Francisco isn't complete without a tour of a winery? We visited Viansa Winery in Sonoma. While the wine here wasn't my favorite, the view from the picnic grounds was breathtaking.

I'm looking forward to the next work conference, and of course, my next vacation to San Francisco.