Wendy

San Diego Girl

Wendy

Hello and welcome! I live in beautiful San Diego, California, but I was originally born in Texas and have moved 42 times in my life. I grew up on the move and travel is second nature to me. I thoroughly enjoy the outdoors. . .hiking, mountain biking, snorkeling (and I'll be getting scuba certified with some friends this summer). My most recent trips have been to Peru (hiking to Machu Picchu), Argentina (trekking through the forest to Iguazu Falls) and Beijing (climbing along some of the steeper sections of the Great Wall). Next August I was planning a trip to Iceland and later on a trip to Tenerife (in the Canary Islands). However, I will wait and see what the conditions are in Iceland next year with all this volcanic activity going on. I will be keeping this blog going to share my adventures whether they be great or small.

Medford Oregon

North America » United States » Oregon » Medford May 7th 2010

The Castle

San Diego Girl

Friday, April 30th It was a crazy, busy week at work and on Friday I headed straight to the airport after work. My brother, Tom, met me at the airport in Medford. Tom and I grew up being very close. . .he's only 1 year younger than me. We even took some highschool computer classes together. Although, he obviously was much better at computers than I am. He's a computer forensics scientist now. He helps put bad guys in jail by finding evidence of their crimes on their computers. . .how cool is that? (He took me through the labs where he works, but I'll talk about that more later on). Tom and I were also roommates in college my last year of undergrad and his first year of undergrad. We had sooooooooo much fun, but ... read more

A Vacation Day Well Spent

North America » United States » California » San Diego » Hillcrest April 27th 2010

George and Oscar

San Diego Girl

Today was a good day. I got to sleep in until 9 am. . .I usually get up at 5:30 am. Then I stayed in bed for a while, watching some mystery shows (Bones) with my cats. I don't know how they do it, but they always figure out who the bad guy is before I do! :) Oh well. . .I woke up still a bit sore from yesterday's walk. My muscles seem to be recovering quickly, but I had a huge blood blister on my right foot. I know. . .the picture is pretty gross. . .and yes. . .it hurts like hell. I essentially have a huge hole in my foot now. But hopefully it should be mostly healed up by next Saturday when I have a 20 mile walk. I'll be in ... read more

A Week Back Home with Friends

North America » United States » California » San Diego » Hillcrest April 26th 2010

Wendy and Nate

San Diego Girl

Wow! This has been a busy, but good week. I got to meet up with a lot of my friends and enjoy some fun times together. Wednesday I went out bowling with a group of friends from work. Paola arranged for a evening of bowling for all of us. I haven't been bowling in quiet a while. The last time was right after I got back from Peru three years ago and Nate and I went 'wig bowling'. Basically it means you have to wear a weird hat or wig while you are bowling. I actually got a lot of compliments on the purple wig I was wearing (I've including a picture with this entry. I know, I know. . .I'm a bit strange. :) Seriously. . .I wish there was a holiday every month wear ... read more

Back to Work

North America » United States » California » San Diego » Oceanside April 21st 2010

Work

San Diego Girl

April 21, 2010 So I've been back to work for a couple days now, but mainly have been catching up on paperwork. Today I get to get back into the lab and run some reactions. :) I've included some pictures of the company I work at in Oceanside. Oceanside is about 30 miles north of where I live in San Diego. I leave for work at 6:30 am to beat the traffic. I've also included a picture of my desk. When I'm not in lab, I'm there reading papers and writing reports. As you can see I've made my area very bright and cheery. When I worked for a different company I had a bigger office and I decorated the entire wall with postcards from all the places I've been. After a while, friends starting giving ... read more

Back in San Diego

North America April 20th 2010

Cafe Coyote

San Diego Girl

April 20, 2010 Sorry it's taken me a few days to start writing again. I was so exhausted and jet lagged when I got back from my trip. My parents picked me up from the airport. It was wonderful to see them. I'd missed them very much. They are kind of fun and crazy and I love them. Even though I was really tired, I thought it would be nice to go get lunch before they took me home to my apartment. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Cafe Coyote. It's a Mexican restaurant that serves amazing food. I had a fish taco, a spicy potato taco with rice and beans. The ladies make all the tortillas for the tacos from scratch. Their salsa is also really, really good. . .very spicy with lots ... read more

Last Day in Beijing

Asia » China » Beijing » Changping » Changping April 16th 2010

Wendy in Front of Famous Restaurant

San Diego Girl

April 16, 2010 Today is my last day in China. I fly out tomorrow on April 17th at 12 pm and land in San Diego on April 17th at 12:22 pm. . .it’s because I cross the International Dateline from West to East. . .I wish my flight was only 22 minutes long! I’m grateful, though, that I’m not in Europe. . .I’ve been reading on CNN about how the volcanic ash from Iceland has been causing all flights in and out of Europe to be cancelled for the next few days. I’ve been so busy the past couple of days finishing up reports and preparing a presentation for the Vice President and Project Team at the company I’ve been work with here in Beijing. I did not know I would be doing a presentation. . ... read more

A Night at the Opera

Asia » China » Beijing » Changping » Changping April 14th 2010

Heroine of the Opera

San Diego Girl

April 14, 2010 Last night was absolutely amazing! I didn’t back to the hotel until late last night and I had reports to write, so I’m just getting to this entry now. The theatre is very close to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in Central Beijing. Everyone working there was dressed in very old style clothing. The inside of the theatre was decorated with beautiful silks and elaborately carved wood and red lanterns were hung everywhere. There were many displays of figurines dressed in examples of costumes. I’ve included some of pictures of these so you all can get a feel for how opulent and outrageous some of the garments were. We weren’t supposed to take any pictures during the performance, but I took a couple quick shots with my flash off. In addition to ... read more

Excuse me. . .I have a frog in my throat

Asia » China » Beijing » Changping » Changping April 12th 2010

Spicy Frog Legs

San Diego Girl

April 12, 2010 Oh my gosh. . .it’s Monday evening and I am feeling so, so, so much better. The day didn’t start out that way. I felt like death when I woke up this morning. I was really dizzy and shaking all over. But Danbo and I had some important reports to prepare so I got myself up, showered and dressed. I went downstairs to the hotel restaurant for some coffee. After a couple of cups, I started to feel a little more human. Danbo met me for breakfast and confessed that she was getting sick too. Her symptoms are about a day behind mine, so I hope she starts feeling better tomorrow. She was running a fever and looking pretty weak this afternoon. We got our work done and were also able to do ... read more

My weekend adventures. .

Asia » China » Beijing » Changping » Changping April 11th 2010

Entrance to Bejing University

San Diego Girl

I’m sorry but the entry for the past two days is going to be very brief. I have a cold and my energy level is very low. April 10, 2010 (Saturday) The dust storms are gone and the day was bright, sunny, and warm. Danbo and I went to Beijing University to meet a professor there who does research in biodegradable polymers. We got a tour of some of the grounds of Beijing University. It was lovely. The flowers were blooming on the trees. There is a small lake with many trails and little bridges. I enjoyed both the tour and visiting with Professor Du. Afterwards we went into work for a little while to check on some reactions and then I came straight back to the hotel and crashed for the night. April 11, 2010 ... read more

T. rexes and Toilets. . .

Asia » China » Beijing » Changping » Changping April 9th 2010

T. rex skeleton

San Diego Girl

April 9, 2010 Last night I dreamed that I was being chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex. Fortunately I discovered that I had a spray can of T. rex repellent with me. . .think of it as mace for dinosaurs. Unfortunately, the nozzle was clogged and I couldn’t get it to spray evenly into the T. rex’s eye as he kept trying to eat me. So instead of repelling him, I was just making him madder. Seriously. . .don’t ask me where my mind comes up with stuff like this. I gave up a long time ago trying to figure it out. Instead, I’ve decided to embrace my eccentricities. So I woke up to discover that the weather has taken a nasty turn. The dust storms have returned. The air is thick with dust that stings the ... read more

Joined	March 21st 2010	Trips	2
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