My new favorite sport!

I went snowshoeing for the first time ever this past Sunday - WHAT A BLAST!! We (me, Diane and Sharon) went up a tram in Palm Springs to the top of the mountain where they had 3-4 feet of snow at least. There were tons of trails, and even though by my calculation there had to be at least 3000 people up there (tram holds 80, goes up every 10 minutes startign at 8 a.m.), we really didn't see many people at all. The day was gorgeous - it said 18 degrees, but it was definately warmer than that and no wind.

None of us had ever done this before, but it didn't take any instruction to figure out. . .it's just hiking with big pancakes on your feet. Now I've got a new sport that I can spend my $ on. . .though if you buy the shoes, you can probably snow shoe on mountains for free.

The tram in Palm Springs (not free!), was fun - it rotates around so you can see 360 as you go up and down the mountain. Click on the link above. . .they've got a webcam.  We snow shoed for 3 hours and then had fries and beers in the cocktail lounge - we didn't go to the restaurant because as Sharon pointed out "cocktail lounge implies no kids!"

Okay, just thought I'd point out my fun weekend. I'm off to Death Valley at the end of the week. . .2 complete ends of the spectrum!

Jan

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o

My new favorite sport!

Florida via security strip search

Omni @ day from my balcony!

Omni @ night from my balcony!

   

This week’s travel started out with yet another search of my bag at airport security! Ok, not a strip search exactly (as my joke goes. . ."they practically strip search you at the airport. Now I've got to shave my legs to get on an airplane.") but the TSA guy insisted I had the dreaded liquids in there. . .I didn’t. But just to make sure, he rifled thru my bag, ran it thru twice and asked me twice if I had liquids. I didn’t. Okay, forget that pawing thru my bag is a WASTE of time and resources because I travel every week and, oh, I’m not a terrorist, security is ridiculous! These people should not be our first line of defense. ..if someone wants to blow something up, I’m positive they could do it.

Luckily I got to the resort and calmed down… the omni @ champions gate in Orlando. It’s a beautiful place – I’ve been there a few times. . .pics are above.

The group was fun. . .small, but really fun. All women who work in the electrical field. I did my program Finding the Funny in Communications. . . it went over great.

I’m off to Kansas tomorrow. . .the group is having me close the convention. . . the opening speaker was none other than THE FONZ. . Henry Winkler. Darn he was on today, so I missed him.

I’m putting in a plug again for my UNIQUE Secret Santa and stocking stuffer gifts. . Cubicle Comedy Playing cards. These are actual playing cards with some of my work jokes on there along with some work humor. Do you want to know how to eat for free in the office? Check them out! They’re cheap and did I say UNIQUE. Picture is below and the link takes you to a HILARIOUS video (1.5 min.) about how they saved the day for the office. LINK TO FUNNY VIDEO

o

Florida via security strip search

6 cities. . .lots of travel!

Grapes that we stomped @ the winery

I luv Southwest airlines. . .after my sister mentioned Tuesday morning that the DC area was expecting major storms today (Thursday), the day of my flight, I was able to change my flight LESS THAN 15 HOURS OUT FOR ONLY $18 BUCKS! I could not have done that on any other airline. . .did I mention that I luv Southwest.

So my friends and I did some wine tasting over the weekend at the Gainey winery in Solvang, CA. . .very fun and HOT. I think it hit over 100 degrees – luckily there was plenty of chardonnay so I didn’t pass out. The party was fun – we got to stomp grapes, pick grapes, and drink grapes – I got the next 3 weeks, 5-fruits-a-day servings in a 5 hour party. Solvang is where they filmed the movie “Sideways” at, it’s near Santa Barbara and unfortunately most people miss Solvang and head to the more well-known Santa Barbara. Solvang is about 90 minutes from me, so it’s an easy day trip or overnighter. I had a membership at some of the wineries, but they couldn’t tell me when the monthly wine was being delivered – and invariably it would happen while I was on the road, and the wine would sit for a couple days. I still drank it, but I decided it was too much hassle, so now I just visit and buy a bunch there. I also live less than an hour north from Temecula – another great, not well-known wine town, and it’s where my friends and I (most of the same ones who were with me this last weekend) went up in a hot air balloon last summer. We had wine AFTER that.

This past week took me all over the map to 5 different cities, 6 if you count the winery, and I’m now in Washington, DC. . .show at the Hershey lodge - (you know, where they make Hershey's chocolate) later this week AND a chance to visit my family.
A few tips on chocolate:
--it was discovered 2,000 years ago in tropical rainforests
--the first people known to have made chocolate were ancient cultures of Mexico and the Americas
--chocolate comes from the Cacao seed and in ancient history, it has been used in religious ceremonies

Jano

6 cities. . .lots of travel!