2006: Oct 28: Engagement & Halloween Party - NV

Story Created on Sunday, October 29, 2006 @ 11:00 am PST

I know this story isn’t a travelling trip to a different location but I figured this story qualified as an "adventure trip”. Yesterday, our wonderful friends hosted an engagement party for us. The night coincided with Halloween so this was an Engagement/ Halloween dress night. Since Doug n I might get married in Belize, our friends had a Belizean dress theme for our party. Some came dressed as a waterfall, palm trees, scuba divers, tourist, dreadlock Jamaican, Belizean worker, and conehead surfer? Others came dressed as: Franzia wine box, Ryan Seacrest, pirate, wonder woman, cross dresser.

Doug n I didn't have tropical costumes so we came out in our Halloween costume. We were the Pimp and Ho for the night!! We bought our costumes at Savers, our local thrift store that offered cheap clothes at cheap prices. But Doug didn't feel like he had a complete costume. He ended up buying a butt load of crap on "pimp.com". In the pictures you can see that he wore leopard "platform" shoes, what you can't see is that their 4 inch heels with glitter and di (dice) in the heels. I was soo proud of doug, he wore them from 4:00 - 3 am! What do you think of the necklaces (# 1 and $)? Or how about the plastic belt with the liquor flask attached? Oh wait, don't forget his pimp cup, pretty pimpin, huh? Don't ask me how much more he spent, crazy guy. Our engagement party ended in the early evening and a few of us headed over to a friend's Halloween party. My feet were killing me and I was up to my limit on booze. Feeling fairly sober, my night ended early at 11 pm hitching ride with friends. Meanwhile, Doug stayed out until 3 am. Today, you can guess that he's not feeling so great.

What a fun night we had. We have great friends here who we'll build lasting relationships.

2006, Oct 21: Apple Hill - Camino, CA

Story Created on Sunday, October 29, 2006 @ 10:23 am PST

Last week, Doug n I headed to Apple Hill located about 2 hours away from where we live. There's about 20 apple farms and several wineries around the Eldorado County - http://www.applehill.com. These orchards are usually open in the fall to early winter, you can buy homemade apple pies, apple crisp, apple butter, apple cider, apple donuts, apple beer, apples, and much more. But before I met Doug, I would convince friends to drive up to Apple Hill for the day. I've gone back every year for the past four years.

My friend's dad and her stepmom live in the heart of Apple Hill. For the past two years, they've been extremely hospitable to invite us over to stay the night with them. We are so thankful that after drinking much wine & eating apples, we're able to relax with good friends.

PHOTO 1: We went to an apple orchard that had a pumpkin patch.
PHOTO 2: Pumpkins growing on trees? Bobbing for pumpkins!
PHOTO 3: Pumpkin-miseltoe?
PHOTO 4: "I speak Turkish too!!"

2005, Jul 15 - Jul 17: Camping in N. CA

PHOTO 1: Camping near Bridgeport, CA heading towards Mammoth, CA. This was our campsite, beautiful huh? Looks like a postcard, only you couldn't see the attack of the killer mosquitoes!!!!! PHOTO 2: I think this was Virginia Lake? pretty huh? we rented a canoe and caught a few fishes in the lake. PHOTO 3: On our way back to the campsite, doug took the "shortcut" route and drove right over a big sharp rock! It was on a Sunday in the middle of nowhere. One vehicle pulled over to try to help but to no avail, their manly muscles were worthless to the tight tire nuts. luckily we had cell phone coverage and that there was a towing man avl on sunday.

2005, Dec 03 - Dec 10: Maui, HAWAII

Doug n I have been to Oahu on our own before but we decided that we should stray away from the touristy Honolulu area. We decided to go to Maui. A few years ago, my gfriend, Patty decided she had enough of the corporate life and decided to move to Maui. We met up with her one day and she took us to her adopted Hawaiian family, Carlina Babyian(?). We had lunch with her adopted grandma and adopted aunt. They had a big Hawaiian family dinner the night before and had yummy leftovers for us to eat. We listened to wonderful stories about Carlina's Hawaiian family. PHOTO # 1: We took this picture near Carlina's house. Her house overlooked the ocean.

Patty lives in the town of Makawao which is at the bottom hill of Mount Haleakala, a Volcano in Maui. Doug n i rented a jeep and met her in her town. PHOTO # 2, 3, 4: We drove up Mt Haleakala with the jeep top uncovered. WHEW, by the time we made it up to 10, 023 ft, it went from warm 80 degrees down to freezing 50s.

Those who know me really well will tell you that I get motion sickness very easily. I was prescribed the motion sickness patch and it seemed to help with this challenge. But I think i was smoking something when doug convinced me to go on a Deep sea fishing trip with him one day. That morning of the fishing , the winds were just howling and the ocean swells were HUMONGOUS! needless to say, the patch didn't work and i ended up ralphing on the boat every 15 minutes from 6:00 - 1:00 pm. There were a total of 5 people fishing and 2 assistants on the boat admiring the picturesque views while i chummed the water. PHOTO # 5, 6, 7: Guess who ended up catching the ONLY fish for the day? ME! 12 lbs Mahi Mahi!

PHOTO # 8: This was in front of our Westin Resort. 'Tis the seaon in Hawaii.

2005, Apr 28 - May 01: New Orleans Jazz Festival - MS

The year before, doug came to New Orleans Jazz Festival for a friend's bachelor party. He had soo much fun that he wanted me to come too. New Orleans Jazz Festival was the best!! Doug n i were able to experience this wonderful, cultural event before Hurricane Katrina hit. PHOTO # 2: We had Hurricane drinks (no pun intended) with friends at Pat O'Brien's. We drank bloody mary's every morning, we ate and sucked the heads of crawfish every day, we devoured dozens n dozens of raw oysters. seafood in New Orleans is the way to go! I highly recommend going to support the local community and the cause.

2006: Sep 30: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Berkley, CA

This was our third time seeing Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in concert. but this was our very first time front row center (thanks to his friend Nick). Tom Petty was playing at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. Check out the awesome photos. Stevie Nicks was their special guest.

2004, Oct 21 - Oct 29: Puerto Vallarta, MEXICO

Doug received a wedding invitation from his friend who was getting married in Puerto Vallarta. Great Timing! we so badly wanted to go on a vacation and to see his friend get married was a BONUS!! PHOTO 1: overlooking one end of downtown Puerto Vallarta. PHOTO 2: doug n i rented a jeep and went all around puerto vallarta. i think we ended up going to a rainforest area called, punta mita.

PHOTO # 3, 4: we drove randomly to different areas of puerto vallarta and finally found this quaint, remote beach, Sayulito Beach. it was so hidden that only small population of visitors vacationed here.

2004, Jan 12 - Jan 19: Ambergris Cayes, BELIZE

This was our very first vacation that doug n i took together. doug so badly wanted to go to belize but i didn't know too much about it. i heard that belize had one of the largest barrier reef in the world to go snorkeling. So off we went together. PHOTO # 1: Our little cessna plane arrived into Ambergris Cayes overlooking the small island.

PHOTO 3: We stayed at Belizean Shores Resort. Our balcony overlooked the pool n jacuzzi that included a pool bar! PHOTO 4: Check out the awesome beach! Transportation around the island was: water taxi, bicycle, and golf cart. Doug n i snorkeled right outside our resort. We swam with nurse sharks n sting rays.

Doug n i had a really great time sampling some of the best seafood and some of the cheapest Belizean food ever!
All our friends ask us where is the best place to take a beachy vacation and we always tell them to go Belize. In fact, we love Belize so much that we're thinking of going back their for our wedding. Who knows???

2003, Sep 3 - Sep 10: Macchu Picchu - Cusco, PERU

Original Story Created: Thursday, September 11, 2003 @ 9:47 am

I had met a guy from Match.com who was really interested in the spirituality of Macchu Picchu. I've never heard of this area at the time but i liked the guy and i was extremely passionate about traveling.... so surely I said YES to going. Unfortunately, that relationship shortly ended and left me with an unused $800 roundtrip ticket to Peru with only my name on it. I wasn't about to go to a foreign place like Peru with only my basic "donde es el bano" spanish in tow. Luckily my former roommate was Nicaraguan, I convinced him that he HAD to go with me. If I had gone alone, I think I would've ended up chop liver! Prior to leaving, I made sure I researched travel tours who could take us through the peru mts at an affordable price and had included many enticing amenities. We signed up with SAS Tours for a 4 day/ 3 night camping/ hiking trip. So off we went!!! We landed in Lima with big backpacks in tow and stayed there for one night in one of the hostels. PHOTO 1: Then we took a short flight to Cusco, Peru which sat on an elevation of 3600 m (approx. 11,810 ft) above sea level. Travelers recommended that you acclimate at least for 1 - 2 days from the high elevation before doing any physical activities. Prior to our trip, I really thought I was in pretty good shape for any physical activities, especially any issues with altitude. BUT I WAS SO WRONG!! I was dizzy, fatigued, and worse, vomiting all night. I slept all night and woke up the next day feeling much better.
1ST DAYwas an easy 5- 7 hour hike, starting at lower elevation at the bottom of the mt. @ 2720 meters on the Inca Trails. We viewed awesome snow-capped mts. PHOTO 2: Our 1st night our porters prepared our tents and delicious dinners at the campsite. Unfortunately, no showers were available. In fact, there were no showers until our last night (3rd night) - BLAH!
PHOTO 3: 2ND DAY CHALLENGE HIKE: elevation from 3200 m to 4200 m, we hiked up "Dead Woman's Pass". I can see why it was called "DEAD", the incline was amazingly steep! check out the porters who bore backpacks, cookware, camping gear, sleeping pads, etc while wearing only leather sandals. they make you, and i, and the stairmaster look weak! PHOTO 4: you see between the bottom of the two highest mt. peaks in the background, the bottom of the "V"? PHOTO 5: After hours and hours of hiking, I finally finished at the top of the highest hiking elevation: 4200 m (13,780 ft). During our hikes, we ventured through microclimates, rainforest, snowcapped mts, families living on the mts.

PHOTO 6: 4TH DAY OF HIKE - we had to wake up @ 4 am, hiked down a few hours to the ruin that overlooked Macchu Picchu. the sunrise hit the ruins like as though i was indiana jones who discovered a lost ruin. what an amazing site! PHOTO 7: after 4 days and 26 miles of hiking - AT LAST - Macchu Picchu!!! ending elevation: 2450 m (8,038 ft)

2006, Mar 9 - Mar 14: Whistler, CANADA

Original Story Created: Friday, March 17, 2006 @ 12:03 am

hey all! another story from bin! doug n i just got back from our very 1st snow vacation together! i have to admit, i've lived in (NV) for the past 11 years and i'm still not fond of the snow. often times, doug n i get away and head to warm weather during the snowy season; however, this time doug convinced me that a winter vacation was needed this time. why?
A) doug is PASSIONATE about snowboarding - he takes every opportunity to dump his body in the snow.
B) there's something about a long hard day of snowboarding and heading back to the ski lodge to drink some ice cold brewskies. this is known in french as"Apres" Ski = "After" Ski.
C) and last but not least, he wants me to share his passion so that in the future (if) we have kids, he wants us to enjoy winter vacations together.

so off we went to whistler, canada for approx 5-6 days. Why whistler you say? Whistler is rated as one of the top international ski resorts in the world. Also, whistler resort has an amazing ski village full of clothing shops, restaurants, pubs, dance clubs, etc. PHOTO # 2: one side of our hotel overlooked the mts & the gondola and then the other side overlooked the ski village.

In the past, I’ve snowboarded maybe about 7x until doug decided it was time for me to own my own board & bindings (I already had my own boots). I’m intimidated by the snow but then I’m extremely frightened being on a board AND on snow. Speed is definitely NOT my thing at all. You can only imagine that my intimidation started to turn into major fear on the slopes! Needless to say, one day doug took me on a ½ day pass, then the 2nd time doug took me for a full day. Let me just say that my flat feet in my boots were killing me with every turn I made in the snow! Not only was I in pain from my feet but I was in pain from falling on my b-tt too! Both of these 2 factors produced frustration and some major tear duct production while I was on the slopes!! If you can only see me, I had ski goggles formed condensation from all those tears i produced! Nevertheless, I pushed on with the challenge. Doug convinced me to take 3 chairlifts & one “Tbar” lift to view the top of the mts, the beautiful glaciers of the Whistler/ Blackcomb mts (Sorry no PHOTOS)! HOLY SH-T is all I could say! I was on one of the highest mts overlooking the inside of a 4.5 miles snowbowl – WOW! As my eyes were bulging out from amazement, my mouth was agaped when I saw people jump off the cliff to ski down!!! CRAZY PEOPLE I SAY! I told doug there was NO WAY I was going to get near that steep slope and he agreed that we should start a little bit farther down from the bowl. Let me say that if you don’t have the right equipment, you won’t enjoy yourself. I can tell you that my boots were killing my feet and I was just struggling to get myself down the mt. amazingly enough, I made it down every slope alive with all my bones intact – HOORAY!
PHOTO 3 & 4: On the contrary, doug wanted to stay on the mt. in fact, doug signed up for 1 day of heliskiing = helicopter skiing (except he snowboarded). The tour co. & others flew up to an untouched area up in the mts to board down. To those who don’t enjoy the snow … don’t ask me why he did this.


After 3:30 pm everday, “Apres” Ski was in effect. Every pub, every bar, every brewhouse was packed with skiers, snowboarders, families all ready to sit back and drink brewskies until the night ended. This was the BEST part of my night!! Sorry, I don’t have any pix of me snowboarding. That was the least of my concerns while being on snow!

2006, Jun 15 - Jun 18: Bonnaroo - Manchester, TN

Original Story Created: Thursday, July 6, 2006 @ 8:39 am PST

It’s that time again for a Bin & Doug Adventure Story. Our last story that was emailed was of our adventure trip to Whistler, CANADA where I bawled my eyes out on being on the snowy slopes. This time, we hit the road in an RV heading to Manchester, TN!!!

Doug loves the band, Blues Traveler …. He viewed their website and found out that they were playing at this 4-day music festival in Manchester, TN (June 15 – June 18^th). Where is Manchester? Manchester is about 60 miles from Nashville, TN. Doug was set on going to this 4-day music festival, check out the website: http://www.bonnaroo.com/2006/

By the time he booked the music tickets, hotel rooms were sold out in Manchester. PHOTOT 1: RVs were sold out within the circumference of TN. Doug decided that we should fly into St. Louis, Missouri (FREE on our SW credits), book an RV and do a 6-8 hour road trip down to Manchester. Along the way, we stayed at random campgrounds, one called Yogi Adventure Park in St. Louis that was walking distance from Six Flags Magic Mountain & Water Park. We decided to spend the entire day being a kid again! I thought it was amusing that while we were on the road, TN had signs posted on their highway stating, “Hit A Worker $10,000 Fine 14 Yrs Jail”.

PHOTO 2: Bonnaroo was set up on a 700-acre farm land with 80,000 people attending. Check out the aerial photo. VIP Access to Bonnaroo is DEFINITELY the way to go. Mucho Expensivo but worth it! VIP Parking within minutes from Centeroo (main fairgrounds), Lunch & dinner were free, beverages were discounted, VIP special seating at two of the main stages, portable showers were available… PHOTO 3: they even had portable flushable toilets with sinks, Royale Flush! The RV experience is another YES in my book. We had
our own bathroom, dining room, queen bed, stove, refrigerator & A/C. I can’t wait
for our next RV experience. DO NOT GO THE CAMPING TENT ROUTE!

PHOTO 4: Best two parts for me was: first, the Silent Disco Tent. Everyone wore wireless headphones and busted a move to a live DJ mixing, doing the congo line, & break dancin. Once you took off the headphones off, you were lost in the silent crowd. PHOTO 5: Secondly, was being up close to Rusted Root. They are one of my all time bands that I finally got to see. Great performance!

I’ve got two thumbs up for Bonnaroo, hopefully we can get a big crowd together for the next Bonnaroo/ RV experience!