New York City 11/2010

In November, we spent four days in New York City. It was a quick trip, and quite cold, but a lot of fun.

We saw our favorite Broadway show again - Rock of Ages. This time, Dee Snider from the 80's band Twisted Sister was playing the role of Dennis. He's only in the show for the month of November so we felt like that was a rare treat. After the show, he did a Q & A and we got this picture with him. I love how excited Chris is.

















We also saw Wicked on Broadway. This is a picture of the set before the show starts. Cameras are illegal at Broadway shows (during performances, anyway) so it's hard to get many photos.


















And here's a self-portrait of me waiting for the show to start. I tried to get Chris to take one of both of us but he was being difficult about it.


















We also ran into Adam Richman (from the Travel Channel's Man v. Food) doing a book signing at The Barnes and Noble in Tribeca. That was an unexpected little bonus. I love me some Man v. Food!



















We stayed downtown this time and our hotel overlooked The World Trade Center construction site. They work 24 hours a day so we could hear them all night long. They are making the two spaces where the original towers were into water features and those are some deep holes in the ground. It was interesting to watch the construction from 42 floors up.

San Francisco 11/2010

Shawn and I decided to make a spur-of-the-moment trip to San Francisco. Tyler's college soccer team was playing their last game of the season there and we decided we just couldn't bear to miss it. We booked a flight, hotel room, and a rental car around lunch time and left later that night around 8:00 p.m. I never do anything like that - I am such a planner!

Well, I thought we were just being so wild and crazy; but apparently, I was wrong. I ended up sitting next to a young man on the plane who was flying to Bali for a month to surf. He is a ski/snowboard bum who works at The Canyons and decided to just take a month off and surf before ski season. He didn't have any plans for hotels or anything. He said if he couldn't find a place to stay, he'd just camp on the beach. So much for thinking we were wild and crazy. This man officially burst my balloon.


















Some of the streets were so steep they actually made me feel nauseated to go up or down them.

Once, Shawn and I were walking up a hill to our car. When we finally got there and sat down in the car, I looked over at Shawn and realized he was breathing as hard as I was and that made us burst out in giggles. I'm not kidding, there are some steep roads.



















The sea lions at Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39 were fun to watch.

















I loved how they just piled up on top of each other and sunned themselves.



















They were loud, too. Every so often, one of them would lift his head and start barking.

















We ate lunch at Alioto's on Fisherman's Wharf one day. They serve seafood caught that day by the boats that are lined up in the harbor. I love fresh seafood and it doesn't get much fresher than right off the boat. I had a crab sandwich and clam chowder while Shawn had a seafood variety plate.





















So, I am officially obsessed with the self-portrait feature on the new iPhone (as you'll see in my other posts). If you aren't familiar with it, you can take pictures from either side of the phone, so you can see yourself on the phone if you're taking a self-portrait. It took a lot of effort on my part to line us up just right, but here we are in the hotel room one night. Shawn and Tyler on the couch and me at the desk trying to take our picture. I provided plenty of good entertainment for the Albretsen boys on that one. And they were such good sports to play along.

Soccer in San Francisco 11/2010

Because Colette couldn't go with us to San Francisco, I ended up being nominated to take pictures at the soccer game. It was hard. Those boys are moving pretty quick out there. Here are my favorites.

This is a good portion of the men's team from Dixie State College watching the women's game and cheering them on. They were loud and seemed to have a lot of fun.

















Tyler in action.

















My favorite part of this picture are the looks on the faces of those girls. I can't figure out what they were reacting to, but I like it.




















This picture of Tyler makes me think of the Matrix movies.















The kid fouled Tyler. It sure is a good think Tyler was wearing those white Under Armour things seeing how the kid has totally pulled Tyler's shorts off.















The keeper saved this shot, but only by the very tips of his fingers.















Kody (#5), standing to the right of Tyler (#7) cracks me up because he is the only one in the line jumping. Was he warming up? Just excited to play? Who knows.
















The boys did a tunnel for the girls team after they won. How cute. That's Tyler on the left in the gray shirt and black shorts.

















A grandpa of one of the kids on Tyler's team swore he could predict the outcome of the game with this thing he called his genie. He predicted they would win and they did.

Lombard Street 11/7/2010

No trip to San Francisco would be complete with a visit to Lombard Street!
















Affectionately known as The Crookedest Street in the World.























I got the chance to drive down Lombard Street and it was so much fun. You had to go very slow because it was steep, curvy, and there were lots of other cars. I'm so glad I was driving that day and got to be the one behind the wheel. Actually, I enjoyed it so much, I could have just gone around the block and drove down it again.

I can't believe people actually live on this street. Can you imagine trying to get in and out of your garage?


















And another iPhone self-portrait. I'm loving this gadget on my phone.

Golden Gate Bridge 11/2010

I think the Golden Gate Bridge is so beautiful. The color. The lines. All of it.

















During our trip to San Francisco, we stayed in San Rafael so we got to drive over the bridge several times as we went in and out of the city each day. Most mornings, it was hidden in fog.

















This showed the diameter of the cables on the bridge: they are huge!

Alcatraz 11/5/2010

Shawn and I visited Alcatraz in the middle of our San Francisco trip. This is what the island looks like as you pull up to it in the boat. The prison is the building at the top of the hill.


















This is a self-portrait of me in solitary confinement, taken with the iPhone camera. Not a very flattering picture, I'll admit; but I figure I shouldn't be smiling if I was in solitary confinement! For some reason, it makes me think of The Blair Witch project.