This blog is dedicated to Marianne Moore January 17, 1967-May 14, 2008 After our trip to Paris, we flew back to Manchester, spent the night, and began our journey southwest through Wales to catch a ferry over to Ireland…which we almost missed. Uncle Bill’s Irish luck definitely played a part in our “just in the nick of time” arrival at the dock. Once aboard the boat, after some lunch, and a raid of the duty-free shop by Marianne and me, our epic Rummy Card War began. After I kicked everyone’s behind (or did I), we all settled in for a nap. [View Full Entry]

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Hello to all! It has been a few months since we’ve posted a blog, but we haven’t done much. The winter here is just cold and wet enough to keep us inside. At the end of March, we were fortunate enough to have my Uncle Bill and Aunt Marianne come for a visit from Tucson, AZ. We were able to spend about two weeks together, and got some traveling in. Our first stop…Paris, France! We flew into Paris from an airport about 100 miles southwest of Scotter. After we took our taxi to the hotel, we headed out for some dinner [View Full Entry]

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I just realized that I created this blog for you all but never published it…duh!!! I’ll blame it on the color of my hair… To ring in 2008, we decided to go to Dublin...RANDOM!! We got a group of 10 people together and took off on New Year’s Eve around 4:00pm. (It’s only a 45 minute flight.) Upon our arrival, we hopped on our transfer bus to the hotel, ate a great dinner, and set out for the night. Like the rest of Ireland, there are pubs everywhere, but the most internationally notorious area for nightlife in Dublin is the Temple [View Full Entry]

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Dec 22-29, 2007 Our Christmas Ski Holiday began with a 2 hour flight into Salzburg, Austria. Okay, imagine you are on an airplane, the seatbelt sign it lit…the captain comes over the PA and says “Ladies and Gentleman we have been cleared for landing, Flight Attendants please take your seats.” A few minute pass…you hear the landing gear open up and come out of the plane. A few more minutes pass…then…you proceed to witness a dumbass get out of their seat to rummage through the overhead bin. HELLO?!? A Flight Attendant comes over the PA&helli [View Full Entry]

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HAPPY CHRISTMAS!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Being away from our family and friends during this time of year isn’t easy. Although the project is moving along and we remain busy at work, we’ve still managed to keep the spirit alive in Scotter! As you can see, we put up a tree, got a few gifts, and tried some English Christmas Crackers (see below)!! We opened gifts early because we leave for Zell Am See, Austria on Saturday morning at 8:30 for our ski holiday. We want to wish everyone a very happy, safe, and healthy holiday and new year!! English Christmas Crackers [View Full Entry]

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Cardiff, Wales Friday, October 19th Brent and I set out on Friday morning at 9:30am towards Wales. We had 231 miles to travel, and in all it took us about 4 hours (30 minutes of that was sitting in stationary traffic) to get to our hotel. We ate a quick bite of late lunch, and took a quick cat nap before getting ready for the concert. The Police Concert One of the highlights of our trip was going to the concert. It was an incredible show, both vocally for Sting and musically for the band. The trio played all of my [View Full Entry]

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Sunday, September 2nd, 2007 Sardinia, Italy Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea (after Sicily), and lies about 120 miles west of the Italian peninsula. Sardinia is a very ancient island rich in history and legends with traces of human settlements from the Neolithic Age, dating back to 1700 BC. Sardinia is a precious natural resource, containing thousands of rare or uncommon animal and plant species. Its waters are teem with fish and shellfish, and its broad valleys turn into golden oceans of wheat in summer. Its rugged mountains, pocked with c [View Full Entry]

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Saturday, September 1st Today we celebrated Clayton’s 66th Birthday! Corsica is the fourth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and is located southeast of France. Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea, politically Corsica is considered part of Metropolitan France. The island's pleasant climate, beautiful mountains and breathtaking coastlines make it a popular destination among the French and other Western Europeans. However, the island has not had the same level of intensive development as other parts of the Mediterranea [View Full Entry]

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Friday, August 31, 2007 Today is Clayton and Nancy’s 39th Wedding Anniversary!! We wondered why the ship was rocking…the Captain said high winds, but we’re not sure. Pyramid of Cestius The ship docked at a port called Civitavecchia about 60 miles from Rome. We took a bus trip into the city and began our tour through the Aurelian Wall. The first thing we see is a pyramid called the Pyramid of Cestius, a funeral monument built in 12 BC. It stands 30 meters high and is covered in white marble. This pyramid was built just subsequent to the Romans conqu [View Full Entry]

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Thursday, August 30th Today we celebrated Brent’s 33rd Birthday! Our first stop on the Mediterranean cruise was at the birthplace of the Godfather…that’s right, Don Corleone’s homeland, Sicily. Sicily is an autonomous region of Italy and the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is home to over five million people and noted for producing agricultural products like grain, oranges, lemons, olives, olive oil, almonds, and wine. Our tour took us through the countryside to the small town of Alia. Perched on the southern hillside of the Palermo p [View Full Entry]

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