California Knows How To Party: Day Four

Our forth day in the Golden State was a special one because it was my birthday. The big 26 and what a day. Our fast passes were all used up and it was time to check out of the Marriot and head back up the 5 to Kim and Tony’s house to spend the evening in our most luxurious accommodations yet, Tony’s RV parked in the driveway. Lucky for us there was a vacancy. Don’t let the term RV fool you however. I am dead serious when I say luxurious accommodations. I’m talking personalized towels, fresh squeezed OJ made with fresh picked oranges, a private pool and hot tub with the temperature set just to our liking...the works. After a scenic tour of the valley by Greg and Nancy we stopped by one of my favorite restaurants The Cheesecake Factory. The food was great as always and we topped it off with some birthday cheesecake to go. Once we arrived at Kim and Tony’s all the grown-ups went off for a sophisticated dinner and left us kids to party. We did some shopping then headed to in and out for another double-double with Scotty and Bonnie. Then off to race go carts.


These were not just ordinary go carts that you could put the pedal to the metal the whole time and expect to stay on all four wheels. They had to be going 25 mph and inside a warehouse with slick floors. While we were waiting for our turn we watched as a very unskilled driver repeatedly crashed hard into the walls at it looked like it hurt. After a brief lesson on the rules and putting on neck braces and helmets, it was our turn and we were off. We all started out slow, but by the end we were sliding around the corners and bumping and passing people left and right (although I did T-bone someone pretty bad). Scott home the prize as fastest driver and Bri took home the prize prettiest go-cart girl. Kim and Tony better be careful or they may have some permanent residents living in their driveway. We were sad to leave the next day. Thanks for a great trip everyone!

California Knows How To Party: Day Three

I had heard that the best ride Disney had to offer awaited. The previous night Bri and Jeff kept me up by telling tales of "the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror." I could hardly sleep I was so excited. The next morning we were up early to be the first ones to experience the splendor. California Adventure opens later than the Magic Kingdom so we got another taste Space Mountain, Indiana Jones, Etc. But we were there among the first in line when Disneys new park opened for the day. We made a bee line for the Hollywood Tower Hotel and our California adventure officially began. This ride is AWESOME!!! It involves going into an elevator and dropping 13 stories. We rode it 7 times throughout the day-so many times that we even figured out tricks to make the ride better, like sitting forward when we buckled our seatbelts so we were further off of our seats when we dropped. And thanks to the dream passes there was hardly any waiting. We rode the Tower of Terror 3 times in a row and figured we should check out the rest of the park. We went on a sweet rollercoaster that is called "California Screamin" that shoots you off from the very beginning. And what would a day at a Disney park be without getting soaked at least once? There is no better ride to get soaked on than a ride called the "Grizzly Rapids." Jeff and I got absolutely soaked, and I was wet for the rest of the day. Apparently cargo shorts aren't the quickest article of clothing to air dry. We also rode "Soarin' over California" which was a way cool ride. We then hopped back over to Disneyland to have another round on our favorites. After a delicious lunch at the restaurant in the Pirates of the Carribbean ride (where they had Monte Cristo sandwiches!), we went on the Tower of Terror a couple more times and saw the Aladdin play that they had at California Adventure. It was nice to sit for a minute and rest our feet! We went for one last ride on the Tower of Terror, which is the picture at the top, and we were with a funny group of people! There was a woman and her daughter sitting in the second row on our side and the mom was claustrophobic! Why someone who was claustrophobic would go on a ride in an elevator, I have no idea. But apparently she didn't think it was a stellar idea either, because she sure doesn't look like she's having a good time in the picture. The guy sitting next to Bri on the back row was funny too. He looked like this big tough guy, and right after we sat down he grabbed the handles next to the seat and asked if Bri if she needed them. She told him she didn't, he said "Good because I need to hang on to them the whole time." After the ride began the words that came out of that mans mouth would have made a sailor blush. We had to check and make sure we were still in a Disney park. But it sure was funny to hear him scream like a girl (or as the Govenator would say "a punny whimpy girly man)! When the ride was finally over there was an awkward silence in our elevator which was broken by a "woooooweeey" from Greg on the back row to which the lady sitting next to Nancy replied "ah bull crap!"

We finished off the day waiting in line for pretty much the first time during the trip so we could ride Space Mountain one last time, and Mom & Dad watched the fireworks on mainstreet USA. Good end to day 3!

California Knows How To Party: Day Two

Monday was busy, but we had no problems waking up early for a trip to the happiest place on earth. And the Magic Kingdom did not dissapoint! Our motto for the days we spent at Disney land were two fold: 1 Save your steps, and 2 WWDD (what would Dane do). By doing this we were able to harness the spirit of our cousin and Disney maniac Dane and maximize our Disney adventure. When the park opened our first stop had to be Space Mountain and it didn't disappoint. We grabbed a fast pass and boarded the best ride at Disney to start re-living our childhood.

After Space Mountain, we decided to go visit our long lost friend, the alpine yeti. Since the Matterhorn always seemed to always be closed when we were kids we wanted to get a ride before it broke and was closed again. So we headed in the direction of lederhosen clad Disney staff to what would be the best ride of the trip. However the ride wasn't as great as I remembered. (Maybe I associated the ride with delicious Disney churros.) But it was still the best ride of the trip. Why, may you ask? Because after walking off of the Matterhorn holding our necks after whiplash pains set in, there were a couple of Disney employees handing something out. We took it, not knowing the joy that would soon ensue. The theme for this year at Disney is "the year of a million dreams." Those employees were fulfilling dreams by giving dream fastpasses. These allowed us to go on any ride in the fastpass line at any time. Combined with our regular fastpasses, we never had a long wait the whole time we were there. We hit up all the classic rides, Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Tea Cups, Mr. Toads Wild Ride, Indiana Jones, the Jungle Cruise and only stopped to meet our favorite characters. Not Mickey or Donald, but the Toy Story cast.

On the Tea Cups we set a new rotational inertia record almost throwing Bri right out of the Mad Hatters party. It took all the balance we could muster to make it to the exit gate without falling

over.

We thought it would be nice to cool off at splash mountain (twice). After all it seemed like the cool thing to do. The line was forever long and with our dream fast pass, we just strolled to the front. It was real hot and we wanted relief so we came up with an idea to put the heavies up front. Jeff, followed by Greg, Andy, Nancy, Bobbie, and little Bri in the back. As soon as the ride went off the boarding platform, the nose submarined and as the water came flooding over the front end we knew the choice would have serious consequences. A tidal wave of water was awaiting us in the briar patch.

Here is a picture of the ride before (nice and dry),during

and after. We were pretty much wet to the bone for the rest of the day.

And no ride brought us back closer to those carefree childhood days than Autopia! The cars aren't quite as fast as I remember, but Bri still made good time around the track (and looked good doing it too). But Jeff was a speed demon and beat us (there is a great picture of us eating his dust and him and Bobbie turning around and laughing). Greg and Nancy were busy bumping a couple of kids from England.

We finished the day off with some din in frontierland and prime seats for fantasmic. On the way out we watched Tink fly over Cinderella's castle. Great end to day two!

California Knows How To Party: Day One

Last week the Bergies packed up and headed on a dream vacation to sunny California. We were accompanied by our usual traveling companions, Jeff and Bobbie, and found the best tour guides that Golden State had to offer...former California resident and I-5 drivers extraordinaire, Greg and Nancy. Our first day of vacation began with a Cinnabon at SLC International and a plane ride to Burbank. Not wanting to waste a minute, we headed straight from the airport to our favorite two spots, the beach and In and Out Burger. The weather was nice and we started with a ride along the boardwalk on tandem cruisers complete with baskets.

We stopped for a bit to check out the boardwalk and rode the Ferris Wheel, giving us a great view of the ocean and the beach.

And no trip to the Santa Monica boardwalk would be complete without a funnel cake! Gooey, greasy, delicious fried bread coated in powdered sugar like only the boardwalk could produce.After our bike ride we headed straight to the water for some body surfing and sandcastle building. I knew Greg was a great attorney, but I had no idea that he dabbled in architecture. I must say that thanks to his vision and expertise, our sandcastle was the best on Venice Beach (although mistaken by some passers-by for a prehistoric turtle). Notice the height and majesty of the castle and its creators.All that building, swimming and suntanning made us hungry so we went to In and Out for the first of many times. We didn't know exactly where one was located, put like a pack of hound dogs tracking down a raccoon, we "quickly" found our favorite fast food joint. I heart Double Doubles and Neapolitan shakes. We didn't have long to savor our feast because it was soon time to head to the Angels game.

This game pitted the Angels vs the struggling Baltimore Orioles. The stadium was huge, the bats were hot, and thanks to some fierce cheering from the 3rd base line the Angels dominated the O's. Vlad Guerrero even hit a 3 run homer in honor of us...well maybe not in honor of us, but it was still sweet. By the time we got back to the Hilton we all had no problems getting to sleep.

Canoe Camping

The summer heat was cramping our style so Dad offered to take us up into the mountains for a cooler climate. The spot of choice was Causey Dam for some canoe camping. Lucky for us Brooke and Andy were available. So we loaded up our two favorite canoes, Tippy and Titanic, and off we went. We arrived late in the day and headed straight for camp to reserve our camp site. As luck would have it, Brooke and Andy made friends with a beaver who lead us all the way to our secret camping spot. The Wild life continued to be abundant at times to a fault. At our campsite a family of cute spiders decided to take up residency in our campfire ring. Brooke and Bri love being so close to nature...and by love I mean hated. They spent the first half of the night curled up in their camp chairs, making sure that no part of their bodies were touching the ground, cowering in fear. The next day however, nature redeemed itself, and Bri found a whole family of one of her favorite animals, BABY DUCKS.

And I would be remiss if I did not mention the food. Oh the food. The abundance and quality of which I have never seen on a camping trip. Brooke and Andy made some of the best tin foil dinners I have ever had. And for dessert, my famous dutch oven peach cobbler (the secret ingredient is love). For breakfast we called upon a San Fransisco favorite, Monte Cristo sandwiches dipped in Lindsay's home made strawberry jam.

A trip to Causey wouldn't be complete with out a jump off the surrounding cliffs! Notice the grace and agility of the divers.

What a fun weekend!

Adios Fuji...Hello Bianchi

About a year ago I was given a circa 1978 Fuji ten speed made of solid steel. It belonged to the Principle investigator at the lab where I worked at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. When the Doc moved to become a big shot dean at Duke University Medical School, he was looking to unload some stuff and gave me his old Fuji. It was the perfect bike to turn into a single speed. With a few purchases on E-bay and Nashbar, some deals from the Cycle Smith, and with an old wheelset I had, the beauty you see before you was created. But alas, a few weeks ago tragedy struck my baby and the frame cracked just above the bottom bracket. Grief stricken, and with no where else to turn, I went back to the Cycle Smith to see about a new frame...and as luck would have it a shipment of Bianchi's fresh off the boat from Italy had arrived that day. With a little (& by a little I mean a lot) of persuasion, Bri got me the best graduation gift of all time.
Behold the Bianchi Pista Concept!

Quilting Extravaganza

When I found out that Linds was going to have a baby, I thought that I would make her a puff quilt. Dawna, Linn, and Addi have made a lot of them, so I figured that I'd join the club and get one under my belt, especially since they're so cute for new babies. I had no idea the quilting extravaganza that would ensue! Thanks to Mom's generous fabric donations, I got a jump start on the quilt over spring break when I had some extra helpers (aka Addi and Linn) around. We watched all three seasons of The Office on DVD while we pinned and cut the quilt every night! Andy even helped! (But he is a very manly quilter). Then I put it off until I was done with finals, as I figured I should focus on school. After finals were done, I had no excuses left! Without Addi there to coach me along, I recruited Linn (again!) and Bobbie to come and help since there was no way that I'd get it done by myself! Bobbie did have some other enticement (Willow) to come up and hang out.

Linn and Dawna were good enough to rescue me when I thought that the quilt would never get finished! But it finally got done, and just in time for Lindsay's shower! It fits in the crib perfectly! A lot of work, but well worth it for my soon-to-be nephew fetus!